Shmuel's Film Festival continued today, setting my all-time record for the most films seen in the least amount of time.

The third film on my list was Run, Lola, Run. After seemingly every escribitionist out there raved about this film, I figured I ought to check it out, so off to the Angelika I went, where it was showing on two screens. (The Blair Witch Project was showing on another two, many showings of which were already sold out, but I have no intention of seeing that film. Horror doesn't interest me.)

It found the film to be a very cute, rather entertaining bit of cinematic fluff. And its soundtrack -- which largely consists of very kinetic techno songs -- is now somewhere in the middle third of my List of CDs to Buy Once I Win the Lottery. And that's about all I can say for it. Frankly, after all those positive reviews I'd read, I'd expected better.

I suspect the problem is that this is a very visual movie, and I am not a visual person. Furthermore, I think it requires viewing skills which I've never developed, not having a TV set. As a result, I found bits of it hard to follow. In particular, the "And Then..." sequences showing what happened to various characters down the line flew right by me.

To the very limited extent that I did follow those sequences, I was utterly unable to discern any connection between them, and what happened in the various characters' encounters with Lola. Perhaps a slight difference in their interactions might have changed their lives, but it's utterly beyond me how that happened. The short-term stuff, okay. The long-term stuff seemed random.

I also felt that the split-screen bits with Lola running in slow motion were excruciatingly dull, and the only parts where the film really dragged. Note to directors: shots of a person running along a street in which we see the person actually zooming along can be interesting. Shots of a person running in which the person appears to be running in place, with the background moving behind her, are boring. At least to this viewer.

One thing I did like about this film is that, being a bit of a runner myself, I both was able to identify with Lola somewhat, and was left feeling that I really ought to be doing more running, more often. I rather envied her mad dashes through the street. I also was, umm, skeptical that she would be capable of coming to a halt and talking to people without having to catch her breath, but found myself willing to suspend my disbelief in that regard.

It was mildly amusing to note where the English subtitles failed to match the German dialogue. Not that I know any German (aside from a smattering of Yiddish), but in some cases it was fairly obvious. A couple instances of scheiss were ignored, for instance...

(Yes, there I go on the profanity again. Sorry; I can't help it.)

The end-credits were interesting. For one thing, they scrolled downwards, rather than upwards, and I found myself wondering whether that was typical of German films or not. Either way, the names for the various crew positions may be even more fun in German than they are in English, given the tendency to use ever-growing compound words for everything.

At any rate, there I saw Shakespeare in Love for the second time. And while it wasn't quite as good as it was the first time (naturally), the ending -- from the start of the first performance of Romeo and Juliet onwards -- was still magic.

I should also note that this was my one opportunity of the four theatres I went to over the past two days to pull out a book and relax before the show started. The Angelika's too dark, the local dive was too light (and I got there only a couple of minutes before the previews, anyway), and I arrived too late to the Cinemart in Forest Hills, which had been pretty decent in that regard when I saw Beloved. But this place is perfect in that regard. The seats, the lighting, the background music, everything. I think it's my favorite theatre, all told.