The Palm Springs International Film Festival might have had more than 200 movies this year, but I could only manage to see 15 of them over two long weekends. I wish there had been time for more but I left the desert this afternoon feeling very satisfied with what I saw - except for one real dud which I will get to later. My criteria for choosing what to see depends on the scheduling, the buzz on the film, the stars, and if there's gay content, all the better. What was really cool was seeing rising stars and likely Oscar nominees Emile Hirsch and Ellen Page in smaller roles in movies that I did not know they would be in.

This morning, I headed out to the Palm Springs Regal 9 for the 10 a.m. showing of "Sparkle" which had an amazing cast headed by Stockard Channing who was at the festival over the weekend introducing the movie at various screenings. She told me that it is a film that she is "very fond of" which is clearly why she is championing it. It tells the story of an aging singer (an amazing Amanda Ryan) who accompanies her son (Shaun Evans, pictured with Channng) and both find themselves in unexpected romances. Bob Hoskins and Leslie Manville round out the cast. Channing does a lovely British accent, Ryan is a wonder and Evans is someone worth keeping your eye on. He's not only absolutely adorable, but he is a wonderful actor and his performance is superb. I liked this movie very much.

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Packed in four movies on Saturday with one of the highlights being "How About You," an Irish film with a dream cast that included Oscar winners Vanessa Redgrave and Brenda Fricke and Oscar nominee Imelda Staunton. along with Haley Atwell and Joss Ackland. This is a comedy set in an Irish retirement home where the residents have formed a very dysfunctional family.

Redgrave may have only gotten seven minutes of screen time in "Atonement," but in "You Belong to Me," she gets to do many things and we are reminded - yet again - that not only is she one of our finest living actresses. There's a scene of her singing in a pub that I will not soon forget.

The film's young director, Anthony Byrne, traveled from Ireland to talk with the sold-out audiences at the Camelot Theater after the screenings. I asked him how he got the cast together. He said Redgrave came on board first then the rest of the cast came together. He also explained why the movie was dedicated to actress Joan O'Hara whose character dies of cancer early on in the film after she appears in several moving scenes with Atwell. Turns out that O'Hara was dying in real life during the filming and passed away before the final edit. It gives her scenes all the more poignancy because the lines she speaks could very well have been some of her own thoughts at the time.

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Yeah. So? I sometimes cry at movies OK? But gawd, I almost did one of those blubber cries watching my fourth film of the day, "The Stone Angel," on Saturday night. Maybe it was the fatigue? Ellen Burstyn's death scene just blew me away. What an amazing actress, better than she's ever been. This is based on the well-known book, obviously, but I had never read it so it was all new to me. It was like "a Trip to Bountiful" in some ways but with the extensive flashbacks so well done that by the time the film meets up again to the current day, you are right there - understanding the characters and their tragic journeys.

Ellen Page has a small role as the girlfriend of one of Burstyn's sons. Also in the cast are Christine Home who so superbly plays Burtyn's role as a young woman, Cole Hauser, Kevin Zegers and Dylan Baker. Director Kari Skogland was there to introduce the film and it was clear what a labor of love this project was to all involved.

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Being the shallow man that I am, I chose "You Belong to Me" based almost soley on this picture in the program alone! Can you blame me? So I settle in to watch it and this is the opening scene and you're thinking, 'This is gonna be smokin!' Not quite. They break up moments later and the jilted one decides to rent an apartment in the exes' building. So it seems like we got a gay stalking movie here, right? Cool. Forget it. Turns out it's the landlady who is the stalker and she is played with delicious glee by Patti D'Arbanville. She is so good because it is so veru gradually that we find out that she is nuts...and why. Even though this flick wasn't what I exected it to be, it was still enjoyable as a thriller.

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With a stellar ensemble cast that includes Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, Kevin Bacon, Emile Hirsch, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Julie Delpy and Andy Garcia, "The Air I Breathe" seemed like a can't miss. But it was the most disappointing film of the festival for me, one that several people walked out of, and one that some audience members hissed at when it was over rather than applaud.

The film takes place in four loosely-conected segments that are supossed to represent the key emotions of life set out by a Chinese proverb: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. It's kind of a mess but the actors are not to blame with Whitaker and Gellar faring best in my mind and making the most of their roles. But there is so much relentless senseless violence throughout that it is hard to take and Garcia is just so over-the-top evil that I was tired of him after his first scene.

But I gotta say, this festival is amazing and it is no wonder that people come from all over to be a part of it.