This year’s New York Film Festival were two of the strongest moviegoing weeks of my life.

Which means the festival can’t get better? Of course not. Here are three operational suggestions:

1. Stop allowing ticket-holders to find their seat after the start of a movie. Given the lack of a center aisle in Alice Tully’s wide auditorium, latecomers could force as many as 20 people to stand, distracting from a movie’s all-important beginning. Given the lengthy introductions before every movie, barring entrance 15-minutes after showtime is more than enough of a grace period for tardy New Yorkers.
2. The director’s box ovation is a NYFF staple, but must they walk in 10 minutes before the conclusion of the movie? When the box’s door opens, a hallway light shines over the audience, spoiling that the end is nigh. Because the ovation doesn’t arrive until the mid-credits scroll — almost always a few minutes after the first closing-credit — it leaves them more than enough time to go from their seat to the box before the spotlight’s on them.
3. ………..weekday matinees at Alice Tully??