My second week at the 40th Denver Film Festival and first time in a 2018 Toyota Camry XSE

Delighted to drive the gorgeous Ruby Flare Pearl 2018 Toyota Camry XSE V6 Sedan to the 40th Denver Film Festival courtesy Toyota.

When it comes to week two of my film-going, Toyota test-driving gig the first part of November, I'm hard-pressed to say which I was more enthusiastic about: the movies or the mode of transportation.

Both the festival films and the 2018 Toyota Camry XSE provided numerous delightful experiences on their own. If pushed to narrow my faves of each down to a list of five, though, I'd have to go with the following five for each.

My five fave films of the 40th Denver Film Festival

In week two of the film festival, I knocked out quite a few films. I was especially surprised by how much I enjoyed a documentary called ALPHAGO. The film is about Go, the world's longest played board game, and attempts to beat humans at it with artificial intelligence. Yet it's about so much more than game play. I actually even teared up at the distress — and potential disgrace — of the young man competing against the computerized opponent. The trailer for this fascinating film, which won the Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary Feature Film at the festival:

The other four films rounding out my top five:

1. SUBMISSION starring Stanley Tucci and Kyra Sedgwick; 2. KEEPERS OF THE MAGIC documentary celebrating cinematography; 3. HUMOR ME starring Elliot Gould and Jemaine Clement; 4. JASPER JONES based on the beloved coming-of-age novel. — 1. **SUBMISSION** starring Stanley Tucci and Kyra Sedgwick; 2. **KEEPERS OF THE MAGIC** documentary celebrating cinematography; 3. **HUMOR ME** starring Elliot Gould and Jemaine Clement; 4. **JASPER JONES** based on the beloved coming-of-age novel.

My five fave features of the 2018 Toyota Camry XSE

Toyota generously provided me one of the all-new for 2018 Toyota Camry XSE sedans — and I was to be only the second driver behind the wheel, according to the Toyota rep who delivered the beauty to my door.

Behind the wheel I was immediately thrilled to be, off to Denver in the impressive four-door delight boasting 301 horsepower from the 3.5L V-6 engine.

*Doing Denver in the 2018 Toyota Camry XSE*

In addition to the robust (and smooth) ride of the Camry, I found the following especially appealing:

The attractive, assertive design. Oh, the color: Ruby Flare Pearl! The bold lines, the gutsy grille, the assertive exhaust. Just plain gorgeous all around.

Everything. Inside and out. A sweet walkaround of the 2018 Toyota Camry XSE from the Chicago Auto Show:

The impressive in-dash (and windshield) helpers:

The reasonable price. The 2018 Toyota Camry XSE, as driven, had a bottom line cost of $38,220 (base MSRP of $34,950 plus delivery and optional equipment — including the "special color" reminiscent of ruby slippers).

The cool factor. In addition to the power and pretty, the car is just plain cool. Proof: Grandson James said so. And swore he was going to gaze out the sunroof the whole way home when I picked him up from school. Which he did. All the way home.

More proof of the cool factor: The 2018 Toyota Camry XSE even rocked my garage:

Now how many vehicles can do that?

Interested in the 2018 Toyota Camry XSE? Toyota.com has all the tech and spec stuff on the snazzy sedan. Want to know more about the film festival? Visit Denver Film Festival for details on the award-winning annual event.

Disclosure: I received a limited access media pass for film festival events. Toyota provided the test drive vehicle free for review. All opinions are my own.