The most recent iteration of the Wisconsin Film Festival provided boffo entertainment for people who like documentaries about musically inclined immigrants. For the rest of us, the films screened in competition at the Festival provided little of interest, with the exception of reaffirming the impression that the ease of digital editing has led us into a new era where everybody with a Mac thinks he or she should be a documentarian.

Insulting the Wisconsin Film Festival for not having more high-profile independent cinema is a bit like scolding a bear for not being able to speak French.

It's Wisconsin. The indie rock stars are not coming to Wisconsin unless they're part of the Chicago Entertainment Mafia.

Really though, the festival was an enjoyable experience: It was nice to see film fans from Eau Claire to Stoughton flock to Madison for a weekend in order to sit in the dark for four days.

For me, the greatest moment of the 2007 Wisconsin Film Festival did not come from any of the movies screened in competition, but rather from the brilliant decision to show a beautifully restored print of "Young Frankenstein" at the Union Theater.

I realize I may come off as a bit of a Philistine in saying I preferred a 30-year-old movie I've seen more than 15 times — one that prominently features a monster in a top hat — over a crop of interesting, well-intentioned pictures about ordinary people trying to get through life. But I did, and I do.

This is not the first time the organizers of the festival have screened a beloved movie out of competition. Martin Scorsese's documentary "The Last Waltz" and the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" were both screened in 2001. In 2002, we got "High Fidelity," and in 2003, audiences were treated to "A Hard Day's Night," Billy Wilder's underrated comedy "Kiss Me Stupid" and John Frankenheimer's "The Manchurian Candidate."

There are some purists who feel like showing revivals cheapens the authenticity of what is supposed to be an independent film festival; I couldn't disagree more. If anything, I feel like getting the opportunity to watch restored prints of classic movies on the big screen is the best part about this — or any — film festival. We've lost the revival house for good, and film festivals are now pretty much the only outlets for people who want to watch great movies on something other than a 30-inch Toshiba.

Let's face it: Most of the movies that get to film festivals aren't that good. I'm not saying this to be a jerk, but rather stating a law of average. The ratio of hits to misses in independent cinema is about the same as it is for mainstream Hollywood pictures. Last summer in this paper, I estimated only about 20 percent of the movies released are really worth your time. If you keep with this line of thought, only about 25 of the 120 or so films at this year's festival are worth your time. This might seem manageable, but nobody has seen most of these movies, so much of it is going to be a crapshoot. This doesn't mean you should pass on going to a film festival in favor of the predictably decent "Disturbia," but it does make things sort of intimidating.

And this brings me back to "Young Frankenstein."

"Young Frankenstein" is the funniest movie of all time, and I'll fight anybody who says otherwise. It's a beautifully made, finely tuned comedy machine — complete with sparkling wordplay, great chemistry between the actors and Marty Feldman singing "I Ain't Got Nobody." My top five all-time movies go like this: 1) "The Apartment," 2) "Cool Hand Luke," 3) "Young Frankenstein," 4) "The Deer Hunter" and 5) "Manhattan." Such is my regard for this movie.

And yet, before this weekend, I felt like I was watching "Young Frankenstein" for the first time. Watching any great movie with an audience is an awesome experience, but emotions only get stronger when the movie in question is a comedy. The theater was packed, and the audience cut across all lines: There were old people, little kids and college students packed into the Union Theater, and they were all laughing at the same things. It was great.

Half of us probably could have recited the movie by heart, but it didn't matter. We were caught up in a moment as electric as anything I've experienced as a moviegoer. I never thought I would be part of an audience that was as excited and as alive as the one I sat with on Friday night. The closest I ever got was the opening-night crowd for "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" in 2005. I never thought I'd hear an audience laugh as hard as they did that night, but Friday blew that group away.

You've all seen "Young Frankenstein," so there's no point in me going over all the great jokes. Chances are, you can't decide whether it's the funniest thing you've ever seen or just one of the funniest things you've ever seen. (For the record: My two favorite "Young Frankenstein" moments both come courtesy of Marty Feldman. The first is when he imitates his father screaming at him to get out of the bathroom, and the second is his misinterpretation of Gene Wilder's plea for a sedative while being choked by Peter Boyle. I am literally unable to function whenever I watch one of those two scenes. In fact, I am laughing as I type this sentence. Needless to say, "Give him a sedagive!" was my senior quote).

For people who not only love movies, but also love the experience of going to movies, the Wisconsin Film Festival provided lots of misses and only a few hits. That's to be expected, and nobody should begrudge the festival for having a few too many lousy documentaries. As long as the folks in charge of our film festival still have the presence of mind to keep bringing us eclectic classics from the not-too-distant past, we're all going to be all right. On a weekend that was supposed to celebrate the power of movies, the screening of "Young Frankenstein" played like a validation of the entire, glorious premise. It truly was wonderful enough to make a yummy sound over.

Ray Gustini is a sophomore majoring in English and journalism. What was your favorite part of the film festival? Do you share Ray's cinematic crush on "Young Frankenstein?" Send your questions, comments and cries of outrage to Ray at [email protected].