One of the hottest late night haunts at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is Becher's Bar in the basement of the Grandhotel Pupp. Friends suggested that I request the pass that grants admission to this holiest of holy places on the KVIFF party circuit, but alas, I was informed that only Variety staff and sponsors were given said privilege. While, that's not strictly true it is indeed an exclusive joint and it's not a huge space. On Sunday, I ended up being escorted down to the Bar by a fest VIP and must admit, it rocks! I had a great time and some of the best conversations I've had at the fest before or since, including interesting explorations of the potential for blogs to help get the word out about small films and the viability of "day and date" as a distribution model. While the booze isn't free, there's a food spread that definitely hits the spot once 3 a.m. rolls around and a dance floor that had the likes of Baltasar Kormakur and festival president Jii Bartoka shaking their tail feathers until the wee hours and Magdalena Kaminska, promotions manager of Federico Films, posing fetchingly for me on one of the clubs banquettes. [Mark Rabinowitz]