Look, I personally love every minute of the Sydney film festival, especially the screenings at the State, and I think it gets better every year, but I can't help but feel a large portion of older Sydneysiders buy tickets to complex and confronting foreign films just so they can storm out in disgust.

Also another typically great Sydney experience: if it's not a sold out session, no one really gives a toss about "reserved seating". Case in point: at my session of the new Errol Morris documentary Standard Operating Procedure tonight I duefully moved towards my reserved seat, only to find a dozy, dishevelled old codger (possibly without even a ticket) had plantet himself in my seat. It was Bob Ellis.

For nerdy film and media buffs like myself and the people I work with, this is our grand final season, and possibly my favourite time of year to be in Sydney.