Notes from NYFF - Part III

Okay, so I'm entering Jabberwock territory here, but I have to put on record some of the more wtf conversations I overheard at NYFF:

Conversation 1

[scene] Man in Slacks, Random Art Student Type and Falstaff are standing in queue outside Rose Hall box office, waiting to pick up tickets. Woman enters stage right, eyes the queue for a while then walks up to Man in Slacks.

Woman(W): "Are you waiting for tickets?"

Man in Slacks (MS): "Yes"

W: "You shouldn't have left it so late, you know."

MS (visibly taken aback): "Errr....yes, yes, I suppose not"

W: "Still they might just have tickets"

MS: "Yes, let's hope so."

W: "They do sometimes. Though not always. And today's shows are all sold out online. What will you do if they don't have tickets?"

MS: "Oh, I don't know. I'm sure I'll think of something."

W: "Yes, but you won't get to see the movie, will you? That's why I always get my tickets well in advance."

MS (with minimal politeness): "Yes."

W: "Still, at least you're right in front of the line. So you have a better chance. Not like these other people." (ignores glare from said other people)

MS: "Yes."

W: "So you must have got here really early, huh? And they haven't even bothered to open the box office yet. I bet you've been standing here for a long time. It's just twenty minutes to the first film, you know. You'd think they'd have opened it by now."

MS: *shrugs*

W: "Now, see, if you had already had tickets you wouldn't have to wait like this."

*exits to sound of gnashing teeth*


Conversation 2:

In the line waiting to enter the theater to watch Lust, Caution - a line in which I, my friend T and one middle-aged vaguely East European looking woman are the only non-Chinese speakers.

Man (M) to East European Looking Woman (EELW): "You are watching this film - Lust, Caution?"

EELW (with polite smile): "Yes."

M: "How come you want to watch this film?"

EELW (with polite smile frozen in place): "huh? I'm sorry, what?"

M: "Why you are interested in Chinese film? Are you Indian?"

EELW (polite smile disappears): *mumbles something and turns away*

[T and I spend the next five minutes discussing this little known Indian fascination for Chinese films. We wonder if there's such a thing as an Indian-Chinese film - perhaps a sub-genre of sweet and sour plot lines with item numbers thrown in? We then consider what we'll tell him if he turns to us next. We can't decide whether we want to go with "Oh, we're just here for sex scenes. Asian women - so hot!" or with "Oh, we've always taken an active interest in Japanese cinema."]