Nyff 2012

[Chris Knipp]

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/5839/65491534.jpg (http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2012/blog/bursting-50th-nyff-main-slate-lineup-revealed)

September 28-October 14, 2012


INDEX OF LINKS TO REVIEWS

Amour (Michael Heneke 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28587&posted=1#post28587)
Araf/Somewhere in Between (Yeşim Ustaoğlu 2012) (Yeşim Ustaoğlu)
Barbara (Christian Petzold 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28479#post28479)
Beyond the Hills (Cristian Mungiu 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28492#post28492)
Bwakaw (Jun Lana 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28516#post28516)
Camille Rewinds (Noémie Lvovsky 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28464#post28464)
Caesar Must Die (Paolo and Vittorio Taviani 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28532#post28532)
Dead Man and Being Happy, The (Javier Rebollo 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28603#post28603)
Fill the Void (Rana Burshtein 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28572#post28572)
First Cousin Once Removed (Alan Berliner 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28570#post28570)
Flight (Robert Zemeckis 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012/page3#post28630)
Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28484#post28484)
Gatekeepers, The (Dror Moreh 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28595#post28595)
Ginger & Rosa (Sally Potter 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28592#post28592)
Here and There (Antonio Méndez Esparza 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012/page3#post28597)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Mitchell 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28481#post28481)
Kinshasa Kids (Marc-Henri Wajnberg 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28554&posted=1#post28554)
Last Time I Saw Macao, The (João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28605&posted=1#post28605)
Leviathon (Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Peravel 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28541&posted=1#post28541)
Life of Pi (Ang Lee 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28536#post28536)
Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28581#post28581)
Lines of Wellington (Valeria Sarmiento 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28526#post28526)
Memories Look at Me (Song Fang 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28528#post28528)
Night Across the Street (Raul Ruiz 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28534#post28534)
No (Pablo Larraín 2012)"] (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012/page3#post28622)
Not Fade Away (David Chase 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28585#post28585)
Our Children (Joachim Lafosse 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28575&posted=1#post28575)
Paperboy, The (Lee Daniels 20120 (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28577#post28577)
Passion (Brian De Palma 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28468#post28468)
Something in the Air (Olivier Assayas 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28583#post28583)
Tabu (Migues Gomes 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28552#post28552)
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet (Alain Resnais 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28485#post28485)



The New York Film Festival Main Slate :

Without further ado, the Main Slate (http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2012/series/50th-new-york-film-festival)of the 50th New York Film Festival:

Amour (Michael Haneke, Austria/France/Germany)
["Love."] Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winner of Cannes 2012 is a merciless and compassionate masterpiece about an elderly couple dealing with the ravages of old age. A Sony Pictures Classics release. [Cannes.]

Araf—Somewhere In Between (Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Turkey/France/Germany)
Director Yesim Ustaoglu depicts with empathy and uncompromising honesty the fate of a teenaged girl when she becomes sexually obsessed with a long-distance trucker and the promise of freedom that he embodies. [Venice.]

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PETZOLD'S BARBARA

Barbara (Christian Petzold, Germany)
Christian Petzold’s perfectly calibrated Cold War thriller features the incomparable Nina Hoss as a physician planning to defect while exiled to a small town in East Germany. An Adopt Films release.

Beyond the Hills/După dealuri (Cristian Mungiu, Romania)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days director Cristian Mungiu returns with a harrowing, visually stunning drama set in a remote Romanian monastery. Winner, Best Actress and Best Screenplay, 2012 Cannes Film Festival. A Sundance Selects release. [Cannes.]

Bwakaw (Jun Robles Lana, The Philippines)
A moving and funny surprise from the Philippines starring the great Eddie Garcia—and a truly unforgettable dog—in the story of an elderly loner going where he’s never dared venture before.

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LVOVSKY'S CAMILLE REWINDS

Camille Rewinds/Camille Redouble (Noémie Lvovsky, France)
Noemie Lvovsky directs and stars in an ebullient comedy of remarriage that gives Francis Ford Coppola’s Peggy Sue Got Married a sophisticated, personal, and decidedly French twist. [French release September 12, 2012.]

Caesar Must Die/Cesare deve morire (Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani, Italy)
Convicted felons stage a production of Julius Caesar in this surprising new triumph for the Taviani Brothers, winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. An Adopt Films release.

[B]The Dead Man and Being Happy/El muerto y ser feliz (Javier Rebollo, Spain/Argentina)
A dying hitman and a mysterious femme fatale set off on an oddball journey through Argentina’s interior in this playful and unexpectedly moving reverie on love, death and the open road. [San Sebastián Festival.]

Fill the Void/Lemale et ha'chalal (Rama Burshtein, Israel)
With her first dramatic feature, writer-director Rama Burshtein has made a compelling, disconcerting view of Israel's orthodox Hassidic community from the inside.

First Cousin Once Removed (Alan Berliner, USA)
Alan Berliner creates a compelling, heartfelt chronicle of poet and translator Edwin Honig’s loss of memory, language and his past due to the onslaught of Alzheimer’s. An HBO Documentary Films release. World Premiere.

Flight (Robert Zemeckis, USA)
Denzel Washington and Robert Zemeckis team on this tense dramatic thriller about an airline pilot who pulls off a miraculous crash landing...while flying under the influence. A Paramount Pictures release. Closing Night. World Premiere.

Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach, USA)
Lightning-in-a-bottle, Noah Baumbach’s love poem to his star and screenwriter Greta Gerwig recalls Godard’s early celebrations of Anna Karina, but, as a New York movie, it’s beautiful in a brand new way. [Will debut at Toronto.]

The Gatekeepers/Shomerei Ha’saf (Dror Moreh, Israel/France/Germany/Belgium)
Six former heads of Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, discuss their nation’s past, present and future, in what will surely be one of the most hotly discussed films of the year. A Sony Pictures Classics release. [Documentary. Debuted at Jerusalem Festival.]

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GINGER AND ROSA

Ginger and Rosa (Sally Potter, UK)
Sally Potter’s riveting coming-of-age story, set in London in 1962, centers on two teenage best friends (played by the revelatory Elle Fanning and talented newcomer Alice Englert) who are driven apart by a scandalous betrayal. [Will debut at Toronto. UK release October 19, 2012.]

Here and There/Aquí y Allá (Antonio Méndez Esparza, Spain/US/Mexico)
After years in the U.S., Pedro returns home to his family in Mexico, but the lure of the north remains as strong as ever. A most impressive feature debut by Antonio Mendez Esparza. [Cannes.]

Holy Motors (Léos Carax, France)
Leos Carax’s unclassifiable, breathtaking, expansive movie—his first in 13 years—stars the great Denis Lavant as a man named Oscar who inhabits 11 different identities over a single day in Paris. An Indomina Releasing release. [Cannes.]

Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, USA/UK)
Bill Murray caps his career with a wily turn as FDR in this captivating comedy-drama about the President’s relationship with his cousin Margaret “Daisy” Suckley (Laura Linney). A Focus Features release. [Debut at Toronto. US theatrical release from December 7, 2012; UK, FEb. 1, 2012.]

Kinshasa Kids (Marc-Henri Wajnberg, Belgium/France)
Perhaps the most ebullient “musical” you’ll see this year, Marc-Henri Wajnberg’s singular documentary/fiction hybrid follows a group of street children in the Congolese capital. [Venice Days series.]

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THE LAST TIME I SAW MACAO

The Last Time I Saw Macao/A Última Vez Que Vi Macau (João Pedro Rodrigues)
This stunning amalgam of film noir and Chris Marker cine-essay poetically explores the psychic pull of the titular former Portuguese colony. [A cross between documentary and fiction. Locarno Festival.]

Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel, USA)
NYFF alumni Lucien Castaing-Taylor (Sweetgrass) and Véréna Paravel (Foreign Parts) team for another singular anthropological excavation, this time set inside the commercial fishing industry. [Locarno.]

Life of Pi (Ang Lee, USA)
Ang Lee's superb 3D adaptation of the great [Yann Martel 2001] bestseller resembles no other film. A 20th Century Fox release. Opening Night. World Premiere.

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[B]LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE

Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, Japan/Iran/France)
Master Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostmi ventures to Japan for this mysterious beautiful romantic drama about the brief encounter between an elderly professor and a young student. A Sundance Selects release. [Cannes.]

Lines of Wellington/Linhas de Wellington (Valeria Sarmiento, France/Portugal)
Passionate romance, brutal treachery, and selfless nobility are set against the background of Napoleon’s 1810 invasion of Portugal in Valeria Sarmiento’s intimate epic. [Debuts at Toronto.]

Memories Look at Me/Ji Yi Wang Zhe Wo (Song Fang, China)
Song Fang’s remarkable first feature, in which she travels from Beijing to Nanjing for a visit with her family, perfectly captures the rhythms of brief sojourns home. [Locarno.]

Night Across the Street/La Noche de enfrente (Raul Ruiz, Chile/France)
A final masterpiece from one of the cinema’s most magical artists, this chronicle of the final months of one Don Celso allows the late Raul Ruiz the chance to explore the thin line between fact and fiction, the living and the dead. A Cinema Guild release. [Cannes.]

No (Pablo Larrain, Chile/USA)
Gael Garcia Bernal stars as a Chilean adman trying to organize a campaign to unseat Pinochet in Pablo Larrain’s smart, engrossing political thriller. A Sony Pictures Classics release. [Cannes.]

Not Fade Away (David Chase, USA)
The debut feature from The Sopranos creator David Chase is a wise, tender and richly atmospheric portrait of a group of friends trying to start a rock band in 1960s suburban New Jersey. A Paramount Vantage release. Centerpiece. World premiere.

Our Children/À perdre la raison (Joachim Lafosse, Belgium)
Belgian director Joachim LaFosse turns a lurid European news story about a mad housewife into a classical tragedy. Émilie Dequenne more than fulfills the promise of her award-winning performance in [the Dardennes'] Rosetta. [Cannes.]

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RACHEL MCADAMS AND NOOMI RAPACE IN PASSION

Passion (Brian de Palma, France/Germany)
Brian De Palma brings great panache and a diabolical mastery of surprise to a classic tale of female competition and revenge. Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams are super-cool and oh so mean.

Something in the Air/Après Mai (Olivier Assayas, France)
Too young to have been on the May ’68 barricades, a group of young people explore their options for continuing the political struggle in Olivier Assayas’ incisive portrait of a generation. A Sundance Selects release. [Venice. November release in France.]

Tabu (Miguel Gomes, Portugal)
An exquisite, absurdist entry in the canon of surrealist cinema, Tabu is movie-as-dream—an evocation of irrational desires, extravagant coincidences, and cheesy nostalgia grounded in serious feeling and beliefs. An Adopt Films release.

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[B]SABINE AZEMA IN YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET

You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet/Vous n'avez encore rien vu (Alain Resnais, France)
The latest from 90-year-old Alain Resnais is a wry, wistful and always surprising valentine to actors and the art of performance starring a who’s-who of French acting royalty. [French release date September 26, 2012.]

For the filmlinc.com source of this information click on the logo above or HERE. (http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2012/blog/bursting-50th-nyff-main-slate-lineup-revealed) The blurbs are from the FSLC.

There are 32 films, several more than some years. If you followed the Filmleaf Forum 2012 Cannes thread (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3269-Cannes-2012-May-16-27&highlight=cannes) you'll recognize AMOUR, BEYOND THE HILLS, HOLY MOTORS, LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE, NO, and YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET. I'd forgotten, but also at Cannes was Lafosse's OUR CHILDREN, and so was HERE AND THERE and Raul Ruiz's THE NIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. So that makes nine from Cannes, plus two from Venice and three from Locarno. LIFE OF PI and FLIGHT are opening and closing films that will not reward the film festival goer with anything not later to be in a local theater. This will be true of some others, including AMOUR, possibly HOLY MOTORS (both debuting theatrically at Film Forum in NYC, as I have mentioned). LIFE OF PI AND FLIGHT will have wide distribution. Films that have a US release coming outnumber those without release almost two to one.

This one is not in the Main Slate, but part of the Gala Tribute to Nicole Kidman:

The Paperboy (Lee Daniels USA)
Nicole Kidman gives one of her best performances in this steamy southern gothic directed by Lee Daniels (Precious) and co-starring Zac Efron and Matthew McConaughey. A Millennium Entertainment release.

Stills show some of the ladies.

[Johann]

A feast. Don't forget to lick the tip of your quill.

[Chris Knipp]

Nor will I fail to sharpen it. Too many pleasing things at once might cause it to go soft.

[Johann]

That's what it's all about. Looking forward to reading about the offerings. The Ang Lee sounds great, among others.

[oscar jubis]

I'm salivating. Resnais, Ruiz and Kiarostami are 3 of my favorite filmmakers ever. Then a new movie from Ruiz's widow and closest collaborator Valeria Sarmiento! Latest films from the great Sally Potter (Yes will one day be recognized as a masterpiece) and Noah Baumbach. I'm also excited about films from two totally original Portuguese filmmakers (Gomes and Rodrigues). It's almost too much for a couple of weeks. I'd rather watch these one at a time over the next 2 years or so.

[Chris Knipp]

2012 TELLURIDE festival has announced its lineup

39th Telluride Film Festival is proud to present the following new feature films to play in its main program, the ‘Show’: THE ACT OF KILLING (d. Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark, 2012); AMOUR (d. Michael Haneke, Austria, 2012); AT ANY PRICE (d. Ramin Bahrani, U.S., 2012); THE ATTACK (d. Ziad Doueiri, Lebanon-France, 2012); BARBARA (d. Christian Petzold, Germany, 2012); THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE (d. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon, U.S., 2012); EVERYDAY (d. Michael Winterbottom, U.K., 2012); FRANCES HA (d. Noah Baumbach, U.S., 2012); THE GATEKEEPERS (d. Dror Moreh, Israel, 2012); GINGER AND ROSA (d. Sally Potter, England, 2012); THE HUNT (d. Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark, 2012); HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (d. Roger Michell, U.S., 2012); THE ICEMAN (d. Ariel Vromen, U.S., 2012); LOVE, MARILYN (d. Liz Garbus, U.S., 2012); MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN (d. Deepa Mehta, Canada-Sri Lanka, 2012); NO (Pablo Larraín, Chile, 2012); PARADISE: LOVE (d. Ulrich Seidl, Austria, 2012); PIAZZA FONTANA (d. Marco Tullio Giordana, Italy, 2012); A ROYAL AFFAIR (d. Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark, 2012); RUST & BONE (d. Jacques Audiard, France, 2012); THE SAPPHIRES (d. Wayne Blair, Australia, 2012); STORIES WE TELL (d. Sarah Polley, Canada, 2012); SUPERSTAR (d. Xavier Giannoli, France, 2012); WADJDA (d. Haifaa Al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia, 2012); WHAT IS THIS FILM CALLED LOVE? (d. Mark Cousins, Ireland-Mexico, 2012).

Some items of interest not in the Nyff lineup: RUST AND BONE, Vinterberg's THE HUNT, PIAZZA FONTANA, Giannoli's SUPERSTAR.

For other Telluride featured people and films go to their website here. (http://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/)

Guest director is the writer Geoff Dyer.

[Chris Knipp]

TELLURIDE'S COMPLETE LINEUP

Filmlinc (the FSLC website) has a complete list of everything to be shown at the Telluride festival on their website here (http://www.filmlinc.com/daily/entry/baumbach-bahrani-polley-potter-atop-tellurides-secret-roster). Below, main ones.

Telluride Film Festival – New Films:

A Royal Affair (Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark, 2012)
The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark, 2012)
Amour (Michael Haneke, Austria, 2012)

At Any Price (Ramin Bahrani, US, 2012)

The Attack (Ziad Doueiri, Lebanon/France, 2012)

Barbara (Christian Petzold, Germany, 2012)

The Central Park Five (Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon, US, 2012)

Everyday (Michael Winterbottom, UK, 2012)

Frances Ha (Baumbach, US, 2012)

The Gatekeepers (Dror Moreh, Israel, 2012)

Ginger and Rosa (d. Sally Potter, England., 2012)

The Hunt (Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark, 2012)

Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, US, 2012)

The Iceman (Ariel Vroman, US, 2012)
Love, Marilyn (Liz Garbus, US, 2012)
Midnight's Children (Deepa Mehta, Canada/Sri-Lanka, 2012)
No (Pablo Larrain, Chile, 2012)
Paradise: Love (Ulrich Seidl, Austria, 2012)
Piazza Fontana (Marco Tullio Giordana, Italy, 2012)
Rust and Bone (Jacques Audiard, France, 2012)

The Sapphires (Wayne Blair, Australia, 2012)

Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, Canada, 2012)

Superstar (Xavier Giannoli, France, 2012)

Wadjda (Haifaa Al Mansour, Saudi Arabia, 2012)
What is this Film Called Love? (Mark Cousins, Ireland/Mexico, 2012)


Telluride Film Festival - Classics and retrospectives:

Geoff Dyer's Guest Director Program:
Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, Russia, 1979)

Beau Travail (Claire Denis, France, 1999)

Together (Lukas Moodysson, Sweden, 2000)

A Tribute to Roger Corman:
The Masque of the Red Death (US/UK, 1964)

The Intruder (US, 1961)

Baraka (Ron Fricke, US, 1992)
Unrelated (Joanna Hogg, UK, 2007)

Additional Film Revivals:
The Marvelous Life of Joan of Arc (Marco de Gastyne, France, 1929)

Hands Up! (Clarence Badger, US, 1926)

I Knew Her Well (Antonio Pietrangeli, Italy, 1965)

Retour de Flamme 2012, presented by Serge Bromberg


[Chris Knipp]

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/337/telluride12350.jpg

MORE ABOUT TELLURIDE

Ben Affleck presented his newest film ARGO (U.S., 2012) as an unofficial part of the Telluride Film Festival program known to attendees as a “Sneak Preview.”


39th Telluride Film Festival guests and program participants include: Oskar Alegria, Nikolaj Arcel, Ramin Bahrani, Noah Baumbach, Gael García Bernal, Satya Bhabha, Wayne Blair, Katriné Boorman, Serge Bromberg, Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, Roger Corman, Marion Cotillard, Mark Cousins, C. Chapin Cutler Jr., Christine Cynn, Ziad Doueiri, Geoff Dyer, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Dave Eggers, Michael Fitzgerald, Scott Foundas, Liz Garbus, Jack Garfein, Greta Gerwig, Shirley Henderson, John Horn, Viktor Denes Huszar, Katrina Kirk, Robert Kirk, Shaun Kirk, Stephanie Kirk, Ed Lachman, Pablo Larraín, Valentina Leduc, Laura Linney, Ray Liotta, Leonard Maltin, Haifaa Al Mansour, Todd McCarthy, David McMahon, Deepa Mehta, Kad Merad, Mads Mikkelsen, The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Dror Moreh, Kim Morgan, Errol Morris, David Moynihan, Bill Murray, Marielle Nitoslawska, Alessandro Nivola, Joshua Oppenheimer, Alexander Payne, Christian Petzold, Sarah Polley, Sally Potter, Juan Carlos Rulfo, Salman Rushdie, Carolee Schneeman, Matthias Schoenaerts, Donald Sosin, Mickey Sumner, Margarete Tiesel, Paolo Cherchi Usai, Ariel Vroman and Michael Winterbottom.

Articles about film festivals indicate Telluride is listed as the world's most expensive to attend but also selective and cool. Hollywoor Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/telluride-oscar-argo-rust-bone-hyde-park-hudson-367115):
Only the most passionate film buffs and serious film journalists attend Telluride. That is because they are the only people willing to spend the hefty sum required to get here (it's in the middle of nowhere, or at least a long way from any major city) and to see the films (everyone -- even journalists, who usually are granted complimentary press credentials by other fests -- must buy an expensive pass to ever see the inside of a theater). The titles aren't even revealed until the day before the festival begins. And Telluride is famous for its "TBA" screenings, which often wind up being high-profile films. Last year's Friday afternoon offered the world premiere of Payne's eventual best picture Oscar nominee The Descendants; this year's it's the unofficial world premiere of Affleck's Argo.

Consequently, it is an ideal testing ground for a film: If a film plays well here, it's a good indication that it will play well elsewhere on the awards circuit, and it often leads to a higher-profile rollout. Three of the past four best picture Oscar winners -- Slumdog Millionaire, The King's Speech and The Artist -- played Telluride. If a film does not play well here (as happened last year with Butter), a studio can quietly begin to reposition it as a project that is not intended to compete for awards since there really aren't enough people here to crucify it beyond repair.

The festival, realizing its value to studios, has become increasingly selective over the years about which films it accepts. These days, it won't even consider a film that previously has screened in North America. (For instance, I have heard that the highly anticipated The Master was disqualified after its writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson organized a few test screenings of it around the country this summer.) Films that already have premiered overseas, however, are still welcomed. (This is why many hot titles from Berlin, Cannes and Venice make their first stateside appearances here.)

Promo quotes:
While most festivals offer sightings of filmmakers as well as films, the population of Telluride — festival and town — is small enough that the ratio of auteurs to filmgoers may be higher than anywhere in the world. – Godfrey Cheshire, the New York Press

… the undisputed gem of American film festivals." – William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

[Chris Knipp]

N.B.: TORONTO, just before New York.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/5717/tifflogo2012.giff (http://www.seetorontonow.com/Events/event_tiff-festival.aspx?cid=pds_Investment81)

Toronto (http://www.seetorontonow.com/Events/event_tiff-festival.aspx?cid=pds_Investment81), Sept. 6-12, 2012, just precedes the Nyff every year, so Toronto buzz accompanies some Lincoln Center screenings. On its current web page the TFF modestly proclaimes itself "THE LEADING PUBLIC FILM FESTIVAL in the WORLD." The TIFF's size, calendar time, and North American dominance make it a promotional platform for big fall-release American films. It's also, like the New York Film Festival, an Atlantic showplace for some of the best films that have debuted in earlier Europeam and Asiam film festivals. The Nyff differes in being more highly selective and focused on quality rather than promotion, seeking to be a careful sampling of the creme-de-la-creme of this year's new cinematic fare from around the world, including some premieres. The Nyff doesn't give awards so selection for the main slate counts a an honor in itself. It is not particularly a promotional event. But released films shown there are of course lookuing for distributors and NYFF screenings gain further prominence to a film, particularly if they garner a rave from a NY Times reviewer. Ang Lee's LIFE OF PI world premiere on the Nyff opening night will be the biggest promotion.

Take a look at an intro piece from the SF Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Toronto-film-fest-goes-into-action-with-Looper-3841111.php) and you'll find Toronto is giving a debut to some of the hotest or more hyped semi-prestige fall-winter US movie releases, such as:

ON THE ROAD (Walter Salles) (not so successful at Cannes)
LOOPER (Rian Johnson) (Highly touted by Mike D'Angelo)
ANNA KARENINA (Jon Wright)
CLOUD ATLAS (Tom Tykwer) (Wonderful novel by David Mitchell; arguably unfilmable)
THE MASTER (Paul Thomas Anderson) (it wasn't finished in time for Cannes)
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (Robert Redford)
TO THE WONDER (Terrence Malick) (word is this is a fizzle)
ARGO (Ben Affleck) (already debuted at Telluride, as mentioned above)

And somewhat less promoted items such as

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (Adam Sandler),
END OF WATCH (Michael Pena)
HYDE PARK ON THE HUDSON (with Bill Murray as FDR)
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (high school coming-of-ager cult novel adaptation which I liked a lot),
SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (Martin McDonagh) (with psycopathic thespians Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, and Chris Walken--this is likely to be hilarious and brilliant: this very bold and witty playwright's movie directing debut was the excellent 2008 IN BRUGES, also with Farrell.)
QUARTET (Dustin Hoffman's directing debut).

These should all open in US theaters before the end of 2012, some such as PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER and LOOPER, this month. None of them are part of the New York presentations.

I have posted Mike D'Angelo's Toronto 2012 Twitter reviews on my website here. (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2183&p=2201#p2201)

[Chris Knipp]

BUT FIRST - VENICE


http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/6177/cinemap.jpg

Venice lineup. The P.T. Anderson seems to be the most anticipated. As mentioned it wasn't ready in time for Cannes, and now here it is.

VENICE FILM FESTIVAL
31 August - 10 September 2012

One of Europe’s most prestigious film festivals, the Venice Film Festival is an opportunity not only to see cinema in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but also to catch exciting new films fresh before they go on to play at the Toronto Film Festival in September. There is a four-day overlap, actually, between Venice and Toronto, and a two-day overlap between Toronto and the Nyff. What's a gal to do?

MUBI has the lineup here. (http://mubi.com/festivals/venice)

VENICE 2012 AWARDS:

Venezia 69
The following prizes were awarded at the 69th edition:

Leone d'Oro (Golden Lion) for the best film: Pietà by Kim Ki-duk
Leone d'Argento (Silver Lion) for the best director: Paul Thomas Anderson, for The Master
Special Jury Prize: Paradise: Faith by Ulrich Seidl
Coppa Volpi for the Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, for The Master
Coppa Volpi for the Best Actress: Hadas Yaron, for Fill the Void
Premio Marcello Mastroianni, for the best emerging actor or actress: Fabrizio Falco, for Dormant Beauty and È stato il figlio
Osella for Best Cinematography: Daniele Cipri for È stato il figlio
Osella for Best Screenplay: Olivier Assayas, for Something in the Air
"Luigi de Laurentis" Award for a Debut Film: Mold by Ali Aydın

It's been reported that THE MASTER would have won Best Film, but for a rule that no film can win more than two prizes, which required a re-vote and led to PIETÀ's award.

DENNIS LIM has a roundup of Venice 2012 (http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/venice-film-festival-pieta-and-the-master-come-up-winners/)on the NYTimes Arts Beat column. He noted that " half the titles in the official competition had religious themes" so PIETÀ's win made sense.

[Chris Knipp]

BACK TO THE NYFF


http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/3952/veshu.jpg (http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2012/)


Sept. 4, 2012: it's been announced that the press & industry screenings of the 2012 Nyff will run Sept. 14 - Oct 14. I'll be there. Stay tuned.

This will be Filmleaf's 8th year of full coverage of the Nyff -- 2005-2011 can already be found in the Festival Coverage pages. We'll provide reviews of all the 2012 main slate films.


The Filmleaf Festival Coverage thread for Nyff 50 (2012) begins here. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28424#post28424)

[oscar jubis]

My favorite event at the NYFF this year: http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2012/films/re-introducing-marnie-william-rothman-on-hitchcocks-last-masterpiece1. Of course I am biased: Bill Rothman is my friend and mentor and a main reason why I decided to return to academia.

[Chris Knipp]

Sounds good. I'll keep it in mind. But actually it is "standby" now; would be hard to get in for it.

Oscar is referring to:

Sun, Oct 1411:30 am (WRT)
Re-Introducing Marnie: William Rothman on Hitchcock’s Last Masterpiece
Alfred Hitchcock 1964
USA | English | Format: 35mm | 130 minutes

His friend and mentor Bill Rothman is a professor at the University of Miami.


Prof. William Rothman, the dean of American Hitchcock scholars, will introduce and then analyze Marnie after our screening, the first presentation of a new chapter in the updated edition of his book Hitchcock: The Murderous Gaze.

[Chris Knipp]

filmlinc blog (http://www.filmlinc.com/blog/)
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/9615/veseba.jpg (http://www.filmlinc.com/blog)


Click on the logo above for the filmlinc blog giving daily Nyff news and events.

[Chris Knipp]

2012 New York Film Festival
Press & Industry Screening Schedule

[main slate events in bold type]


MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17
10AM HERE AND THERE (110 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERNCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR ANTONIO MENDEZ VIA SKYPE
12:45PM CAMILLE REWINDS (110 min) (MAIN SLATE)
3:30PM BERBARIAN SOUND STUDIO (92 min) (MIDNIGHT MOVIES)

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18
10AM PASSION (100 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERNCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR BRIAN DE PALMA
12:30PM THE BAY (84 min) (MIDNIGHT MOVIES)
2:30PM ROMAN POLANSKI: ODD MAN OUT (88 min) (CINEMA REFLECTED Sidebar)
**PRESS CONFERNCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE WITH DIRECTOR MARINA ZENOVICH

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19
10:00AM BARBARA (105 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE WITH DIRECTOR CHRISTIAN PETZOLD
12:45PM HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (95 min) (MAIN SLATE)
2:45PM LIV AND INGMAR (82 min) (CINEMA REFLECTED Sidebar)

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
10AM ARAF (124 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE WITH DIRECTOR YEŞIM USTAOĞLU
1:00PM FRANCES HA (86 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR NOAH BAUMBACH
3:30PM YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET (115 min) (MAIN SLATE)

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21
9:30AM BEYOND THE HILLS (150 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE WITH DIRECTOR CRISTIAN MUNGUI
1:00PM PUNK IN AFRICA (82 min) (ON THE ARTS Sidebar)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE WITH DIRECTOR DEON MAAS
3:15PM JOHN CASSAVETES (50 min) (OPENING NIGHT OF CINEASTES)
l4:10PM LANG/GODARD: THE DINOSAUR (61 min) (CINEASTES)

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
10AM ONCE EVERY DAY (66 min) (SPECIAL SCREENINGS)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR RICHARD FOREMAN
12PM DOWNPOUR (128 min) (MASTERWORKS)
2:30PM BWAKAW (110 min) (MAIN SLATE)

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
10AM SHORTS PROGRAM #1 (91 min)
12PM CELLULOID MAN (164 min) (CINEMA REFLECTED Sidebar)
3:00PM TO BE ANNOUNCED: VIEWS FROM THE AVANT- GARDE
PLEASE NOTE LOCATION:
ELINOR BUNIN MUNROE FILM CENTER, 144 WEST 65 TH STREET
3:15PM FINAL CUT – LADIES AND GENTLEMAN (85 min) (CINEMA REFLECTED Sidebar)

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
9:30AM LINES OF WELLINGTON (151 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE WITH DIRECTOR VALERIA SARMIENTO
1:00PM MEMORIES LOOK AT ME (91 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE WITH DIRECTOR SONG FANG
3:30PM SHORTS PROGRAM # 2 (96 min)

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
10AM CAESAR MUST DIE (76 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTORS PAOLO AND VITTORIO TAVIANI
12:15PM NIGHT ACROSS THE STREET (107 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE
3:00PM ROOM 237 (102 min) (CINEMA REFLECTED Sidebar)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE WITH DIRECTOR RODNEY ASCHER AND PRODUCER TIM KIRK

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28
10:00AM LIFE OF PI (120 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW
1:00PM LEVIATHAN (87 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTORS LUCIEN CASTAING –TAYLOR AND VERENA PARAVEL
3:15PM DECEPTIVE PRACTICE: THE MYSTERIES AND MENTORS OF RICKY JAY (85 min) (ON THE ARTS Sidebar)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTORS MOLLY BERNSTEIN AND ALAN EDELSTEIN

MONDAY OCTOBER 1
10AM TABU (118 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE WITH DIRECTOR MIGUEL GOMES
1:00PM BEYOND THE HILLS (150 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR CRISTIAN MUNGUI
3:00PM KINSHASA KIDS (85 min) (MAIN SLATE)

TUESDAY OCTOBER 2
10AM FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED (78 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR ALAN BERLINER
12:15PM FILL THE VOID (90 min) (MAIN SLATE)
3:30PM TO BE ANNOUNCED: VIEWS FROM THE AVANT-GARDE
PLEASE NOTE LOCATION:
ELINOR BUNIN MUNROE FILM CENTER, 144 WEST 65 TH STREET

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 3
11:00AM OUR CHILDREN (111 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW VIA SKYPE WITH DIRECTOR JOACHIM LAFOSSE
2:00PM THE PAPERBOY (107 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW

THURSDAY OCTOBER 4
10AM LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE (109 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR ABBAS KIAROSTAMI
1:00PM THE LAST TIME I SAW MACAO (85 min) (MAIN SLATE)
3:15PM SOMETHING IN THE AIR (122 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR OLIVIER ASSAYAS

FRIDAY OCTOBER 5
P&I OFFICE OPEN FROM 9AM – 5PM
10AM NOT FADE AWAY (112 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW
1:00PM AMOUR (127 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR MICHAEL HANEKE
4:00PM OUTRAGE BEYOND (112 min) (MIDNIGHT MOVEIS)

MONDAY OCTOBER 8
10AM GINGER AND ROSA (89 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR SALLY POTTER
PLEASE NOTE LOCATION:
ELINOR BUNIN MUNROE FILM CENTER, 144 WEST 65 TH STREET

TUESDAY OCTOBER 9
10AM HOLY MOTORS (115 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW
1:00PM THE GATEKEEPERS (97 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW
3:30PM COUSIN JULES (91 min)
(MASTERWORKS)

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 10
10AM THE DEAD MAN AND BEING HAPPY (94 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW WITH DIRECTOR JAVIER REBOLLO

THURSDAY OCTOBER 11
NO SCREENINGS

FRIDAY OCTOBER 12
10AM No (110 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW

SATURDAY OCTOBER 13
NO SCREENINGS

SUNDAY OCTOBER 14
9AM FLIGHT (138 min) (MAIN SLATE)
**PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW

[Chris Knipp]

Saturday, September 15, 2012.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/5717/tifflogo2012.gif (http://www.seetorontonow.com/Events/event_tiff-festival.aspx?cid=pds_Investment81)

TORONTO 2012 ENDS TOMORROW.

I'll post the awards here when they're announced.

I am posting all Mike D'Angelo's Toronto 2012 Twitter reviews/ratings on my website here. (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2183&p=2201#p2201) Below are his top ratings out of 30-some watched. He has not watched most of the big release items I listed earlier, including ON THE ROAD (Walter Salles) , ANNA KARENINA (Jon Wright), CLOUD ATLAS (Tom Tykwer),) THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (Robert Redford), ARGO (Ben Affleck) (already debuted at Telluride, as mentioned above),HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (Adam Sandler), END OF WATCH (Michael Pena), HYDE PARK ON THE HUDSON (with Bill Murray as FDR), THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, and QUARTET (Dustin Hoffman)

He didn't much like several Nyrr main slate items, GINGER AND ROSE 44) and De Palma's PASSION (38); the Nyff item BARBARA came just below his top ratings. But the Nyff film FRANCES HA was his second most favorite.


D'ANGELO'S TOP TORONTO 2012 RATINGS:

Eat Sleep Die (Pichler): 75+. Still deciding how much I love this, may go 80+. A triumph of anti-miserablism, ROSETTA with a real girl.

Frances Ha (Baumbach): 76. As I'd suspected, he and Gerwig are a great match, with a similarly loopy sense of humor. Naturalistic absurdism.

Leviathan (Castaing-Taylor & Paravel): 73. Still wish human beings were kept strictly on the periphery. Purely abstract imagery astounding.

/Looper/ (Johnson): 72. Starts off "merely" imaginative and engrossing, then pivots on one of the most audacious bait-and-switch moves ever.

Seven Psychopaths (McDonagh): 68. A bit meta-cute for my taste, but very, very funny. His humor makes the subject matter almost irrelevant.

Ernest & Celestine (Renner,Patar,Aubier): 67. Like TOWN CALLED PANIC, endearingly nutty til it runs out of steam (further along this time).

Jayne Mansfield's Car (Thornton): 64. All over the place, but I wish more American films sprawled so unpredictably. Leave Billy Bob alone!

Byzantium (Jordan): 63. To the extent that there's a plot, it's pretty dumb. As an exercise in Gothic (not Goth) atmosphere, oft-stirring.

The Master (Anderson): 61. Apropos that this film features both a Rorschach test and a game called Pick a Point. Did not coalesce for me.

To the Wonder (Malick): 59. Can Malick's late, glancing style sustain its magic for the entirety of a simple love-lost tale? Almost

Barbara (Petzold): 58. Exquisitely made, but I was disappointed when its conventional shape took form beneath layers of subtle misdirection.

--From Mike D'Angelo's tweets: https://twitter.com/gemko

Manohl Dargis reports on TIFF in the NYTimes today (September. 15, '12 in an article called "Movie Frenzy But Still Comfy, Eh?" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/movies/toronto-film-festivals-11-busy-days.html) which is a sketchy report on films (she mentions about 11 titles) and less useful as a clearcut set of ratings compared to D'Angelo, but she talks about different titles mostly from D'Angelo. She starts with statistics: 289 features and 83 shorts from 72 countries. And that makes it easy to get lost outside the obvious titles, which she mostly focuses on. She notes that CLOUD ATLAS (which I'd thought was Tom Tykwer--maybe he dropped the project) by the former Wachowski brothers, now brother and sister since one did a sex change, is bad, a mess, partly embarrassing. Joe Wright's ANNA KARENA is a "travesty in its conception and execution" with a badly miscast Keira Knightley. She mentions the NYff BARBARA (Petzold) and GINGER AND ROSA (Sally Potter) with favor; but has she seen them? Not clear. She contrasts Malick's TO THE WONDER (self-parody?) scathingly as
a wonderment of an unfortunate type that combines many images of young women running through sun-dappled rooms and fields amid musings about Jesus Christ and constrasts it with David O. Russel's SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (soon coming to US art houses)
the latest family comedy from David O. Russell, which takes place on solid terra firma where people eat, drink, work, talk — and, this being a David O. Russell encounter session — yell at one another as they grapple with many of the same Big Questions as Mr. Malick’s twirling, skipping, running, whispering and endlessly posing avatars. Dargis takes much interest in the "freakout" from North Korean COMRADE KIM GOES FLYING, which she thinks is the kind of film that makes Toronto "such an essential festival." Not sure she means this film is "essential" but she also liked small films Jem Cohen‘s MUSEUM HOURS, which she wished the fest hyped more, and she liked experimental films by Francesca Woodman (who committed suicide in 1982) and a B&W visual meditation about a modern city and an ancient ruin of one, VIWE FROM THE ACROPOLIS by Dutch artists Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan. "Essential," or just a relief after CLOUD ATLAS and ANNA KARENINA?

VENICE ENDED LAST WEEK

Go back to my VENICE post in this thread here (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3329-Nyff-2012&p=28428#post28428)for the Venice prizes announced last Sunday.

[Chris Knipp]

Sunday, September 16, 2012.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/5717/tifflogo2012.gif (http://www.seetorontonow.com/Events/event_tiff-festival.aspx?cid=pds_Investment81)

TORONTO 2012 AWARDS

People's Choice Award: SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (David O. Russell)
People's Choice Award, Documentary: ARTIFACT (Jared Leto)
People's Choice Award, Midnight Madness: SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (Martin McDonagh)
Best Canadian Feature Film: LAURENCE ANYWAYS (Xavier Dolan)
Best Canadian Short Film: KEEP A MODEST HEAD (Deco Dawson)
Best Canadian First Feature Film: ANTIVIRAL (Brandon Cronenberg)
shared with: BLACKBIRD (JASON BUTON)
FIPRESCI Discovery: CALL GIRL (Mikael Marcimain)
FIPRESCI Special Presentations: IN THE HOUSE (François Ozon)

Fuller coverage of the awards will be found HERE. (http://collider.com/toronto-international-film-festival-2012-winners/195941/)

In a partial roundup Variety (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118059314.html?cmpid=RSS%7CNews%7CLatestNews) noted that about 40 titles had sold at the festival, but reported that 'Unsold titles as of Sunday included Brian De Palma's "Passion," Terrence Malick's "To the Wonder," Rola Nashef's "Detroit Unleaded," Deepa Mehta's "Midnight's Children," Sally Potter's "Ginger & Rosa" and Ariel Vromen's "The Iceman."' The article listed a number of international deals cut and casting arrangements made at Toronto. Among these, "Demarest Films came on board to co-finance and co-produce spy thriller "A Most Wanted Man" from director Anton Corbijn with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe and Robin Wright starring." Many articles note that the Toronnto audience award is often a predictor of Academy Award potential and consequently Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawruence and Robert De Niro (of SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK) will be likely Oscar nom candidates.

N.B.: Mike D'Angelo's take on the best of this fest, in a recent tweet:
Final #tiff12 Hall of Fame (where fame = endorsement by some sleep-deprived nerd): Eat Sleep Die, Frances Ha, Leviathan, and Looper.

LOOPER comes out Sept. 21. FRANCES HA and LEVIATON are in the NYFF so I'll be reviewing them. SLIVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS will be getting wide release Nov. 21 and Oct. 12, respectively.

[Chris Knipp]

Mon., Sept. 17, 2012: Nyff 2012 (the 50th) begins Main Slate press screenings. From now on links to Filmleaf Festival Coverage reviews will be coming in this thread.

Antonio Méndez Esparza: Here and There (2012 (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28462#post28462))

Mexican filmmaker Esparza's first feature in a documentary style using non-actors about a migrant worker who returns from the US to Guerrero province to be with his wife and two young daughters, and then is forced by economic necessity to go back to the States. Won the top prize of Critics' Week at Cannes this year.

[Chris Knipp]

Noémie Lvovsky: Camille Rewinds (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28464#post28464)

A fluid and personal remake of PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED by the prolific Lvovsky, who directed, stars, and co-wrote this study of the inevitability of the past and the possibility of salvaging marriages. With appearances by Jean-Pierre Léaud, Matthieu Amalric, Denis Podalydès and Yolande Moreau. A prize-winner at Cannes' Directors Fortnight that debuted in Paris last week (Sept. 14) to excellent reviews.

[Chris Knipp]

Brian De Palma: Passion (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28468#post28468)

PASSION is a remake of the late Alain Corneau's last film, he 2010 LOVE CRIME, a tale of corporate psychologial manipulation that leads to murder and becomes an unconvincing police procedural. Why should De Palma copy a movie that barely just came out? To make it campier and more De Palma. PASSION is gorgeous eye candy but it won't appeal much to anyone but the director's most ardent fans.

[Chris Knipp]

Christian Petzold: Barbara (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28479#post28479)

Beautifully understated depiction of life in East Germany in the early Eighties. By avoiding overt miserabilism the director (whose intense 2009 POSTMAN ONLY RINGS TWICE remake JERICHOW was part of Film Comments Selects that I reviewed) of this impeccable example of the cool new German cinema makes the viewer internalize a sense or totalitarian repression so that things aren't so simple. A picture of love and duty.

[Chris Knipp]

Roger Mithell; Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28481#post28481)

A cuddly and blunt-spoken romp in 20th-century American history we visit FDR & Co (including wife and three lovers) in the Thirties, at his mother's house where he liked to spend the summer. He greets the kind and queen of England, who come to ask for money and military support for the coming world war, and get in return cocktails and hot dogs. Bill Murray stars as FDR; Laury Linney plays his cousin Daisy, who keeps him company and gives him hand jobs.

[Chris Knipp]

Yeşim Ustaoǧlu: Araf/Somewhere in Between (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012#post28481)

Film set in Turkey in which a teenager working at a truck-stop restaurant gets into trouble when she falls for a trucker, while a young coworker is in love with her. Beautiful, sometimes expressionistic cinematography at times, excessive length, excessive explicitness, good performances in this uneven film by a female director dealing with bold themes and an impoverished regional setting.

[Chris Knipp]

Noah Baumbach: Frances Ha (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28484#post28484)

Baumbach collaborates on script with Greta Gerwig, who stars, on an exploitation of Gerwig's charms and return to native NYC settings. Black and white film gets more specific and generational, exploring the 20-something dilemma lodged between college and Life that was the topic of the director's debut feature KICKING AND SCREAMING.

[Chris Knipp]

Alain Resnais: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28485#post28485)

Artificial, elegant, 89-year-old Resnais' film takes 13 distinguished French actors to the mansion of a fictitious deceased theater director to observe and comment on a youthful warehouse production of Jean Anouilh's 1941 play EURYDICE, which they have all performed in at different times in the past. They begin alternately reenacting segments of the play. At Cannes where it debuted Mike D'Angelo called it Resnais' ""fond farewell, ruminating on the end, his career and the nature of cinema and theater."

[Chris Knipp]

Recent Mike D'Angelo tweet regarding HYDE PARK ON HUDSON:
I remember a time when NYFF wouldn't have stooped as low as that one or MY WEEK WITH MARILYN.

[Chris Knipp]

Cristian Mungiu: Beyond the Hills (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28492#post28492)

Impeccably executed in long widescreen takes, Mungiu's successor to 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, AND 2 DAYS (the Cannes 2007 Grand Prize winner) tells the story based on fact of a young woman who died as the result of a rite of exorcism performed at a rural nunnery. Griping if overlong and not as emotionally strong as Mungiu's previous film. Debuting at Cannes, won Best Screenplay for Mungiu and Best Actress for the two lead women, both newcomers.

[Chris Knipp]

Jun Lana: Bwakaw (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28516#post28516)

Study of a gruff, lonely old man, a former post office employee, who long repressed his gayness, and becomes enamored of a rough three-wheel cab driver while he's discovered his pet dog is dying of cancer. The Philippines' 2012 entry in the Best Foreign Oscar competition. Shown at Toronto. The dog has her own TV show. The actor who plays the man, Eddie Garcia, has had a long career as an actor, director, and action hero. Based on a person the director knew and admired.

[Johann]

Many thanks for all the great festival items.

With regards to TIFF, I don't know why these critics don't see more films.
You have such a huge slate that's all you can do is see flicks for ten days.
Are they not able to see 20 or 30?
The theatres in Toronto are top notch, especially the Scotiabank and Bell Lightbox.
With that media badge you'd never see me come up for air!

The trick with film festivals is to master the schedule and be astute enough to know what you are seeing.
Moods from previous films you saw can creep in.
I've found that when you see 3 or more in one day the reviews suffer unless you took good notes.

[Chris Knipp]

On my website I have collated Mike D'Angelo's tweet reviews of Cannes and Toronto this year. He sees 32 or 33 or each, so over 64 films May and Sept.

http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2183

He is doing what you want him to do, and he gives good information. The big newspaper critics probably are not given that much time to see films, anyway. I read Karina Longworth's piece in the Voice on Toronto and she only mentioned six films. That's why I prefer D'Angelo. He is basically an online critic like us. He has made it to the point where he got a rose badge at Cannes this time after ten years and finally could go directly into films, and therefore could see more, he said.

With the NYFF, I focus on the Main Slate films only, because I can see all 33 of them and review them, and that to me seems what people want most to know about, but I get flack for not seeing more sidebar items, and this year aI will try to see some. But reviewing three films a day is in itself very hard for me. I could see six in a day -- but not and survive for the whole festival. But the NYFF press screenings are speced out over a month, so if you have the time you can see all 33 main slate films and a lot of other sidebar items too.

Today I heard they showed a pre-revolution Iranian film and Mike Valdez, who writes for Huffington Post, said it "kicked ass." I missed it. My back went out this weekend -- result of too much sitting in commercial theater seats -- and am struggling just to make it to the Main Slate this week.

[Johann]

Take it easy with that back.
We need you at your optimum!

I guess Mike sees way more than I thought.
He has the exact right approach to film reviewing.
He tells you straight why he liked something or not.
That's what I want.
Even if I totally disagree with the review.
Nice that he got into Cannes. That is Awesome.
That's the film festival of film festivals.

Your coverage of SF and NY is very fine.
I can't pick any holes in your choices.
One sees what one sees. Go to whatever films you choose.
If you miss some sidebar or event, you'll hear about it through the grapenuts.

Vancouver is small compared to most festivals, but they still have a large palette of films every year.
And the Pacific Cinematheque is still going strong.
It's pushing 7 years since I've been back.
My media pass is waiting.
:P

[Chris Knipp]

Vancouver seems good indeed. Howard Schumann has reviewed interesting films from Vancouver on Cinescene for years. Mike D'Angelo has covered Cannes for ten years, but he said this year was the first he got the preferred "riose" badge for easy entry and didn't have to wait an hour. Of course I don't agree with all his evaluations, but his choices of what to see seem quite shrewd. At the SFIFF I have to chose from hundreds, but at the NYFF there are only 33 Main Slate films, and I simply go to all of those; they are all made available in spaced-aparet press screenings, so it's a great setup. I'm hoping my back won't be an obstacle. We'll see how it goes. If it doesn't get any worse I guess I'll be okay.

[Johann]

Ten years to get better access at Cannes?
They really are elite!
I've heard it said that NYFF is just a "Best of" Toronto.
Is that accurate?

Vancouver has it's fair share of festival films.
They seem to know what they're doing.
2005 was a great festival- well programmed.
I can only imagine how well-oiled it is now.
Gotta get back to where I once belonged.
I saw 80 films in 4 months when I volunteered at the Pacific Cinematheque.
I still have that inter-theatre courtesy pass.
I laminated it for posterity. Ha ha

[Chris Knipp]

Yes, Cannes is elite. Of course!

The NYFF originates too, but to some degree it is a best of Cannes primarily, and also best of Venice, Locarno, the Berlinale, and one or two others, some more obsucre, like the Philippines fest that yesterday's BWAKAW came from, and Jerusalem. It's a Best Of, but not just of one festival and not without its own original titles. Cannes is just the most important source. Toronto is so big, some selections are bound to have shown just before there, but it is too late and too close to the time of the NYFF to be a source for the NYFF jury, I should think. I am not part of the jurying process so I can't say definitively. Obviously screeners are passed around, but I don't know exactly how it works. Some of the FSLC folks obviously are at Cannes. Don't overlook the fact that some FSLC people may be on the juries of other festivals in the first place.

Richard Peña the director of the FSLC for 25 years, is leaving, and it's taking two people to replace him. More about that later.

This year by my count the NYFF has nine from Cannes and I think three from Venice. They come from a variety of sources as with all festivals. i would love to see the Best Of Cannes, and wish some other from Cannes such as Garrone's REALITY were included. SISTER is one D'Angelo touted at Cannes, justly I think, but it is coming out in theaters here this fall: I saw a trailer at Angelika. Ursula Meier.

Your Vancouver volunteer experience sounds ideal. Since I don't live in San Francisco but in the East Bay, I don't get that kind of quantity easily available at this point out there.

There are some elite small festivals, Telluride as I pointed out being another. However the press viewing experience at the NYFF by all accounts is exceptional -- even if there's no free food in the mornings this year.

Glenn Raucher continues to do a great job as theater manager, with four theaters to manage now instead of just the Walter Reade since the Elinor Bunin Center across the street opened up last year. They are now in the process of building a bridge across the street from the Walter Reade to it.

[Johann]

Great info. Thanks for the clarifications.
FSLC needs two to replace one? Pena must be a heavy lifter.

I miss the Starbucks coffee and treats at VIFF.
Sipping an earl grey while going over press kits is Awesome.
If you volunteer one day a week at the Pacific Cinematheque they give you an inter-theatre courtesy pass, good for free access to 3 different theatres in the lower mainland.
Spots on the schedule are hard to get but when you do, free popcorn and movies.
Plus you work with passionate cinephiles. Always a bonus.
I volunteered thursday nights- oct. 2003 to jan. 2004.
Over 80 films at no charge. Very wise and cultural decision.

[Chris Knipp]

http://imageshack.us/a/img823/7650/20120822pena1.jpg
RICHARD PEÑA

Richard Peña is indeed a heavy dude. He will be replaced by Kent Jones (Director of Programming for the NYFF) and Robert Kohler (Director of Programming of the FSLC year round). The FSLC page on the change will be found here. (http://www.filmlinc.com/press/entry/fslc-appoints-kent-jones-and-robert-koehler-as-new-directors-of-programming)

Jones has been with the FSLC since 1998 after stints with Film Forum in NY and directing the Rotterdam festival (he has a taste for offbeat stuff). He has done programming and been on the NYFF jury. Kohler is a writer and programmer like Jones but is from the West Coast. He has been a reviewer for VARIETY and may have a more mainstream bent. This may improve the NYFF and make it more adventurous and liven it up. Maybe a motivation for two replacements is the plan with the new spaces to expand programming, including more day to day commercial release stuff. And since there are so many different FSLC series year round, it cold help the NYFF to have someone focused on it exclusively. It's also perhaps true that neither of them has the presence of Richard Peña, or his fluency in Spanish and French. Peña has been a suave, impressive and winning figure at festival Q&A's and around in the lobby between P&I festival screenings. 25 years is a long time.

Note there is an overall director of the FSLC, appointed several years ago, and that is Rose Kuo.

http://imageshack.us/a/img846/5306/fslc20pic2.jpg
KENT JONES, RICHARD KOHLER

http://imageshack.us/a/img836/5292/filesi.jpg

I don't know much about Ms. Kuo but she seems a warm and cuddly presence compared to the mean corporate mavin who briefly preceded her, seemingly brought in only to fire a bunch of people, and then leave.

Your Vancouver cinematheque expeience sounds like a great one. At NYFF press screenings by the way though the free breakfast snacks have disappeared there is free Illy coffee, still.

I have only attended these screenings since 2005. If you look at the lineup of the first NYFF 50 years ago http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Film_Festival, you may want to shake your head and say, "They just don't make 'em like they used to."


THE FIRST NYFF, 1963
The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, Mexico)
All the Way Home (Alex Segal, USA)
An Autumn Afternoon (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan)
Barravento (Glauber Rocha, Brazil)
Elektra (Takis Mouzenidis, Greece)
The Fiances (Ermanno Olmi, Italy)
Hallelujah the Hills (Adolfas Mekas, USA)
Harakiri (Masaki Kobayashi, Japan)
Knife in the Water (Roman Polanski, Poland)
Le Joli Mai (Chris Marker, France)
Love in the Suburbs (Tamas Fejer, Hungary)
Magnet of Doom (Jean-Pierre Melville, France/Italy)
Muriel (Alain Resnais, France/Italy)
RoGoPaG (Roberto Rossellini/Ugo Gregoretti/Jean-Luc Godard/Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy/France)
The Sea (Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, Italy)
The Servant (Joseph Losey, UK)
Glory Sky (Takis Kanellopoulos, Greece)
Sweet and Sour (Jacques Baratier, France/Italy)
The Terrace (Leopoldo Torre Nilsson, Argentina)
The Trial of Joan of Arc (Robert Bresson, France)[1]

And the next year they had Kozintsev's HAMLET, BAND OF OUTSIDERS, BEFORE THE REVOLUITON, DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID, and Sajayit Ray's THE BIG CITY/MAHANAGAR. The current issue of FILM COMMENT (http://www.filmcomment.com/current-issue)has comments on earlier NYFF's. That is not available online but other articles are including one about Peña by Kent Jones and one on PTAnderson's THE MASTER ditto and one on Ira Sachs' KEEP THE LIGHTS ON (which I reviewed (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3345-KEEP-THE-LIGHTS-ON-%28Ira-Sachs-2012%29) on Filmleaf) by Nathan Lee.

[Chris Knipp]

Valeria Sarmiento: Lines of Wellington (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28526#post28526)

Raul Ruíz's widow completed this project, billed as a miniseries but shown in feature film competition at Venice, Toronto, and the NYFF. Handsome and studded with star cameos, it may work as a tribute to Ruíz that fans of the Chilean director and his previous long costume film MYSTERIES OF LISBON, but this is not as engaging or absorbing a work.

[Chris Knipp]

Song Fang: Memories Look at Me (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28528#post28528)

Song Fang, who trained in film in Belgium and Beijing and was in the cast of Hou Hsiau-hsien's FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON (2007), won the prize for best first film at Locarno for this docu-drama of herself talking to her mother and father and other family members about aging, birth lie, and death in the family. She has a delicate touch and the use of rudimentary equipment does not keep there from being some handsome simple images. However Song's world comes through as being flat and mundane. This film is so uneventful that someone lighting a cigarette would have been a shocker.

[Chris Knipp]

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani: Caesar Must Die (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28532#post28532)

Details of an inmate production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in Italian dialect(s) staged by inmates of the maximum security section of Rome's Rebibbia prison provide a strong and emotionally impressive enough experience to have won the Golden Bear at Berlin this year. However the film is marred by the way it fudges factual details and restages even off-text scenes among the inmates so that everything is too polished and rehearsed.

[Chris Knipp]

Raul Ruíz: Night Across the Street (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28534#post28534)

A last testament with a light touch. Ruíz' Statement (http://www.pascaleramonda.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DOSSIER-LA-NOCHE-ENGLISH.pdf)for Cannes Directors Fortnight is a good guide to the film.

[Chris Knipp]

Ang Lee: Life of Pi (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28536#post28536)

A book in which a 17-year-old boy is the lone surviver of a shipwreck as the result of a spectacular storm, winds up on a lifeboat where a zebra, baboon, hyena, and Bengal tiger fight to the death and he survives for 227 days alone with the tiger, would seem on the face of it pretty much unfilmable. But Ang Lee has filmed Yann Martel's 2001 Booker Prize-winning bestsellerr, and done a bang-up job of it. Spiritually and conceptually or emotionally maybe not as profound as it may want to be, but exciting, gorgioius and visually dazzling, and with state of the art effects, a warm and engaging lead, and 3D. So, though this hardly seems an essential choice for an "elite" and "highly selective" film festival of only 33 Main Slate films, it does seem a darn good choice to please the Film Society of Lincoln Center patrons when they come out in their glad rags for the Friday, 28, 2012 kickoff opening night film of the New York Film Festival, and the film's world premiere. It opens in theaters nation-wide November 21.

[Chris Knipp]

Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Peravel: Leviathon (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28541&posted=1#post28541)

This messy, in-your-face, ugly-beautiful doc-art film shot on a big fishing trawler off the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts reminded me of the butcher paintings of Oskar Kokoschka and Chaim Soutine. Castaing-Taylor is the British-born ethnographer filmmaker who's a professor at Harvard and started the Sensory Ethnography Lab there. He was also behind the grazing land film in the 2009 NYFF, SWEETGRASS, and Peravel collaborated in a special feature sidebar of the 2010 NYFF focused on the Iron Triangle, FOREIGN PARTS. Coming right after the screening of LIFE OF PI, this really left you feeling waterlogged.

[Chris Knipp]

Miguel Gomes: Tabu (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28552#post28552)

An older man recalls an adulterous affair in an unnamed Portuguese colony in the 1960's. The film, shot in two forms,. 35mm and 16mm, in Academy format black and white, boldly uses improvised scenes that are silent (except for ambient sounds) with a voiceover narration in the second half. The names and structure allude to F.W. Murnau's 1931 film.

[Chris Knipp]

Marc-Henri Wajnberg: Kinshasa Kids (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28554&posted=1#post28554)

Runaway youngsters living on the streets of the half-wrecked Congolese capital are organized by a street rapper to form a band. Nice idea; not so good execution. The Belgian documentary filmmaker, trying to do a genre-mix, has too much footage and buries his fictional story in colorful but unrelated documentary detail. Still it's arguably too colorful and relevant not to show in a festival. But in one whose main slate is not 300 but 33 films? Debued at Venice and also shown at Toronto.

[Chris Knipp]

Alain Berliner: First Coiusn Once Removed (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28570#post28570)

A documentary study of renowned scholar, poet, and translator Edwin Honig, the filmmaker's cousin, as he succumbs to the ravages to Alzheimer's, with some background on his life.

[Chris Knipp]

Rama Burshtein: Fill the Void (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28572#post28572)

A drama from Israel about how a marriage is arranged in the ulta-Ortohdox community, with a Jane Austen-esque protagonist.

[Chris Knipp]

Joachim Lafosse: Our Children (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28575&posted=1#post28575)

The Belgian director is a specialist in claustrophobic, inappropriate relationships and situations. Here in a glossier and more complex film than before he uses the outstanding cast of Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup (of Audiard's A PROPHET) and Émilie Duquesne (of the Dardennes' ROSETTA) in a story about a young couple who live with a wealthy doctor. The dependency and the man's long closeness with the doctor leads the youn woman to become unhinged after delivering four children in raid succession. This film was in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and was well received in Paris after its August 2012 release.

[Chris Knipp]

Lee Daniels: The Paperboy (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28577#post28577)

An enjoyably lurid southern noir set in the mid-Sixties, from a novel by Pete Dexter. Lots of violence, shock value, and humor, without the claim of relevance of the director's previous PRECIOUS. Fun turns by Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, the British actor David Oyelowo, and an especially good one by Macy Gray as Anita, the family maid, who does the voiceover narration. US limited release begins Oct. 5, 2012, but Daniels is a friend of the NYFF; his PRECIOUS was also featured here. The critics love to hate this.

[Chris Knipp]

Abbas Kiarostami: Like Someone in Love (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28581#post28581)

Confusions. Who is this pretty young woman and what is she doing visiting this retired professor? Her boyfriend is going to be upset when he finds out what she's been up to. In Japanese, clever, technically impeccable and well acted, but not as much a brain-twister as the celebrated previous Kiarostami film shot in Tuscany, CERTIFIED COPY, and somehow ultimately rather inconsequential-seeming.

[Chris Knipp]

Oliver Assayas: Something in the Air/Après May (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28583#post28583)

After the brilliant Carlos, a companion piece about Assayas' own life in the same period of the early Seventies as an artistic youth with a filmmaker-writer father navigating his way through leftist radicalism to find himself. Lots of intense and specific discussions of politics and a variety of secondary characters help to offset the grand set pieces that include a party sequence so grand it has a chateau catching fire as the beautiful hippies party and do drugs. This is no match for the previous film, but Assayas' historical chops are still up and the feel of the Seventies is unusually well evoked with clothes, music, art, politics, and all the trappings.

[Chris Knipp]

David Chase: Not Fade Away (2012) (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/nyff-review-rock-n-roll-dreams-are-fleeting-familiar-in-david-chases-uneven-not-fade-away-20121005)

Chase of 'The Sopranos" has a good idea: a coming-of-age movie that channels the Sixties through chronicling a lead singer whose suburban New Jersey garageband noes NOT make it to fame and fortune. The trouble is that there are conflicting pulls toward a family story, a band story, and a period study, and nobody here is deeply memorable, though there is some sharp dialogue and Chase celebrates the music he loves.

[Chris Knipp]

Michael Haneke: Amour (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28587&posted=1#post28587)

The ultimate test of love: a man must care for his wife in increasing decline, both of them in their eighties. For Haneke, though the story becomes a painful watch, it's unusually tender, sweet, and intimate. Winner of the top prize at Cannes this year. To be released in the US in December (Sony Classics).

[Chris Knipp]

Sally Potter: Ginger & Rosa (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28592#post28592)

This impressionistic two-girl coming-of-age tale set in 1962 includes a vividly teary performance by Elle Fanning, a surprising number of American actors playing Brits, and an ambitious attempt to nail the zeitgeist that sinks under the weight of egotism, the girls' and the director's.

[Chris Knipp]

Dror Moreh: The Gatekeepers (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28595#post28595)

A documentary with archival footage and interviews with six former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli security organization, candidly provide explanations of why the country despite the agency's efficient operations, is not secure due to the lack of a two-state solution, the settlements, the continued occupation -- politics over which they had, and have, no control.

[Chris Knipp]

Leos Carax: Holy Motors (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012/page3#post28597)

The great mind-blower of the festival, and of Cannes, where it won the Prix de Jeunesse. Many theories about what it's about and what it means, or you can just go with Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian and say it's "pure pleasure." A rich man, an actor? goes about in a white chauffeured stretch limo (by Édith Scob of Franju's EYES WITHOUT A FACE), taking on a seres of a dozen or so different functions/assignments/identities in the course of 24 hours. A gorgeously surreal, cinematic, allusive, surprising film that will delight many cinephiles and arouse the rage of others. A triumph of the bizarre skills of Carax regular Denis Lavant, and the director's first movie in thirteen years. One of the festival's most memorable films.

[Johann]

Thanks for the heads-up on the Carax.

It sounds like the film I'm looking for.

[Chris Knipp]

I hope so. A triumph for Carax.

[Chris Knipp]

I'm no good at translating but the Cahier du Cinéma critic Jean-Sébastien Chauvin wrote this about HOLY MOTORS as quoted in Allociné:


Peu de cinéastes ont le courage de questionner ainsi leurs spectateurs, à part Godard évidemment, sans s'ériger en petit juge comme le fait Haneke, mais avec l'angoisse profonde de l'artiste qui se demande s'il reste des spectateurs pour voir la beauté dans le monde.

--which is something like (it sounds better in French I guess?)

Few filmmakers have the courage to challenge thus their spectators, except of course Godard, without setting themselves up as a little judge as does Haneke, but with the deep anguish of the artist who wonders if there are still spectators to see beauty in the world.

Now why does HOLY MOTORS grab me so much more than "Joe's" UNCLE BOONMEE, with which it's being compared (UNCLE BOONMEE got the Palme d'Or, this didn't, partly because that year Tim Burton was head of the jury, this year it was Nanni Moretti)? Many reasons.

[Chris Knipp]

Javier Rebollo: The Dead Man and Being Happy (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28603#post28603)

A dying hit man leaves Buenos Aires with a 40-something woman he picks up at a gas station and they drive across Argentina's northern outback region, encountering desultory adventures while a dual competing voiceover bombards us with the director's clever ironies. The actors are good, but the best part of this overly stylized road movie is the odd, desolate local color. However Argentine filmmakers have arguably done that better than this 44-year-old Spanish director. His third film. The veteran actor José Sacristán, who plays Santos, the hit man protagonist, won Best Actor at San Sebastián.

[Johann]

Bang-on observations about Tim Burton and the Cannes jury.
Tarantino was criticized for "influencing" the Cannes jury in 2004 when Fahrenheit 9/11 won the Palme.
But is Michael Moore's film a direct reflection of Tarantino's sensibilites? Fuck no. And he said so at the time.
He (quite correctly) said that the Jury was awarding the best FILM of the Festival.

Can Tim Burton say the same?
I don't think so.
Uncle Boonmee was a quirky, oddball artistic bon-bon that tickled Tim's fancy. HE'S GUILTY.
Fahrenheit 9/11 didn't tickle anyone's fancy.
It was a sobering wake-up. And the Best Film of the Festival that year.

[Chris Knipp]

There are no glaringly unjust films passed over at Cannes 2004. Other outstanding titles were recognized as follows:


[Palme d'Or: Fahrenheit 9/11, by Michael Moore]
Grand Prix: Oldboy, by Park Chan-wook
Best Actress Award: Maggie Cheung in Clean
Best Actor Award: Yûya Yagira in Nobody Knows
Best Director Award: Exils, by Tony Gatlif
Best Screenplay Award: Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri for Look at Me
Prix du Jury: Tropical Malady, by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Prix Un Certain Regard: Moolaadé by Ousmane Sembène

And very appropriately, Prix de la Jeunesse (which went to HOL MOTOERS this year): Kontroll, (Hongrie), Nimród Antal (UCR).

I guess if you study the history of Cannes, you might find some evidence of skewing due to jury presidents for certain years or even glaring passovers due to the whole jury. But it's not like the Academy Awards system, with a big voting body packed with oldsters.

[Johann]

Agreed.
Overall I can't get too upset over Cannes' choices over the years.
Most of their winners deserved it.
The Oscars is a whole other game.

[Chris Knipp]

Johann,

One can quibble with the Cannes prizes, but it's okay with me what they give the top ones to so long as they give some recognition to the best films that year.

But I think you'll still agree that some Cannes top choices are more compelling than others, and you could argue that even this year HOLY MOTORS was better than BEYOND THE HILLS -- it's just as I've said, HOLY MOTORS takes balls to praise, and the timid are not okay with it at all. But is it more exciting cinema than BEYOND THE HILLS. You bet it is. And you yourself commented that UNCLE BOONMEE was fluff compared to FAHRENHEIT 9/11. The year of UNCLE BOONMEE (2010) some people loved CERTIFIED COPY and thought that was the best, but all it got as the Best Actress award for Binoche.

But I think as long as they give SOME prize to the good films that year, it's not too much of a bummer if they may give the top prize to one I'd rank lower. Some disagreed with THE WHILE RIBBON in 2009 getting the Palme d'Or, and might have wanted ANTICHRIST to get that, or something -- the Grand Prize went to Audiard's A PROPHET -- but I think that's probably right, because as much as I admire Audiard, I'm in awe of Haneke at his best. Some (well, Mike d'Angelo) think THE WHITEI RIBBON is one of Haneke's lesser efforts, but that's an odd view; it's just different.

[Chris Knipp]

NYF 2012: sketch for a summary

I saw Pablo Larraín's NO today -- review to come. It's a good one: throught-provoking and funny, though not as visual or as cooly dark as his first two films, TONY MANERO and POST MOREM. As it could not be, because it's about the way Pinochet's dictatorship came to an end, not like the other two about how it distorted and corrupted life.

All that remains to be screened by the press is Robert Zemeckis' FLIGHT, with Denzel Washington -- a big commercial release and the closing day film (October 14). It is likely to be exciting and good mainstream entertainment, not necessary 'film festival' material but good box office bait (and the NYFF reportedly has done very well this year in ticket sales).

It seems clear to me that the standouts of the 50th NYFF are Michael Haneke's AMOUR (Palmoe d'Or at Cannes) and Leos Carax's HOLY MOTORS (Prix de la Jeunesse at Cannes). The opening night film, Ang Lee's LIFE OF PI, curiously, is a vivid memory, though it doesn't stimulate the heart and mind as the first two did, and is another ticket-seller rather than an essential festival film, though its technical innovativeness makes it memorable. Visually, it lingers in the mind.

Christian Petzold's BARBARA, his study of East German chill, is a beautifully made movie.

Cristian Mungiu's BEYOND THE HILLS (Best Screenplay award at Cannes) is a kind of Bressionian torture that leaves a strong impression with intense religious and psychological overtones.

I was disappointed not to see Matteo Garrone's REALITY (the Cannes Grand Prix winner), about an Italian man who is obsessed with being on a reality TV show; this was omitted from the NYFF. It has opened in France and the mediocre critical response (Allociné press: 2.8) suggests it may not be up to par (Mike D'Angelo's tweet was 66 though, pretty good). The Cannes Jury Prie winner Ken Loach's THE ANGEL'S SHARE must also have been judged below par by Peña & Co. We can hope US viewers will get to see these.

Docs have not always been strong but this time they were: THE GATEKEEPERS (Israel's Shin Bet) is strong, the challenging, arty LEVIATHON is an Experience, The Taviani's CAESAR MUST DIE stagey and artificial but a great watch, Berliner's FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED nails its Alzheimer's topic and its intimate subject; I only would toss out Rodriguez's clumsily noir-overlaid THE LAST TIME I SAW MACAO. More docs (as there are more out there) and strong choices. Different from earlier years (of my 8 as a NYFF reporter).

I'm thinking about Resnais' YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET and Kiarostami's LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE. They belonged here, but I don't know if I could tell you what's going on in them. The second half of Miguel Gomez's TABU is really cool. A lot of people seem to have liked the story about the aging gay man in the Philippines, Jun Robles Lana's BRAKAW, and I did too, but I didn't like the way it looked. Of course nobody liked the way Larraín's NO looked either, but that was intentional. Brian De Palma's PASSION looks gorgeous, but that doesn't keep it from being pointless.

Raul Ruíz's NIGHT ACROSS THE STREET is fascinating to think and talk about and you could watch it multiple times. (Definitely also true of HOLY MOTORS, among others.)

During this time that I was in NYC for the NYFF I also saw Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER. I saw a dozen or more movies in commercial theaters here, and some of them could have been worthy inclusions in the festival, but didn't need to be. There are five movies that opened today that are interesting and got great reviews and I will try to see them in the time remaining (I leave Tues. Oct. 16 for California), actually six, but one is showing only in New Jersey. I'll list these on my Best Movies of 2012 thread.

[Chris Knipp]

Pablo Larraín: No (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012/page3#post28622)

NO is Chilean director Pablo Larraín's darkly comic account of the 1988 ad campaign that was instrumental in bringing down the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Chile's entry in the Best Foreign Oscar race, possibly the Latin American film of the year. US release coming Feb. 15, 2013. One of a handful of the most important films of the NYFF. With three distinctive features under his belt at only 36 -- the previous two are TONY MANERO and POST MORTEM -- Larraín is now a director of international importance.

[Chris Knipp]

Robert Zemeckis: Flight (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012/page3#post28630)

The formidable Denzel Washington in a surprisingly complex (if a bit over-long) mainstream movie. The screenwriter John Gatins has put his heart and soul and experience of addiction and recovery (not to mention his fear of flying) into a story about an alcoholic commercial airline pilot who performs an astonishing save of a plane that goes into a nose-dive, and then enters a legal and personal danger zone when it's discovered that he was drunk when he performed this feat. This starts out as an actioner and turns into a psychological/moral/recovery story. Excellent supporting performances by Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, Melissa Leo, and others.

This was the world premiere of FLIGHT, which debuts in US theaters November 1. It was also the gala closing night film of the 50th New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center (October 14, 2012).

http://imageshack.us/a/img402/8047/img3117jv.jpg
NYFF FLIGHT PRESS Q&A: J.GOODMAN, D. CHEADLE, M. LEO, J. GATINS, B. GREENWOOD, DENZEL WASHINGTON

[Chris Knipp]

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/5839/65491534.jpg (http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2012/blog/bursting-50th-nyff-main-slate-lineup-revealed)

September 28-October 14, 2012

INDEX OF LINKS TO FILMLEAF NYFF 2012 REVIEWS

Amour (Michael Heneke 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28587&posted=1#post28587)
Araf/Somewhere in Between (Yeşim Ustaoğlu 2012) (Yeşim Ustaoğlu)
Barbara (Christian Petzold 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28479#post28479)
Beyond the Hills (Cristian Mungiu 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28492#post28492)
Bwakaw (Jun Lana 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28516#post28516)
Camille Rewinds (Noémie Lvovsky 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28464#post28464)
Caesar Must Die (Paolo and Vittorio Taviani 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28532#post28532)
Dead Man and Being Happy, The (Javier Rebollo 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28603#post28603)
Fill the Void (Rana Burshtein 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28572#post28572)
First Cousin Once Removed (Alan Berliner 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28570#post28570)
Flight (Robert Zemeckis 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012/page3#post28630)
Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28484#post28484)
Gatekeepers, The (Dror Moreh 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28595#post28595)
Ginger & Rosa (Sally Potter 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28592#post28592)
Here and There (Antonio Méndez Esparza 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012/page3#post28597)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Mitchell 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28481#post28481)
Kinshasa Kids (Marc-Henri Wajnberg 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28554&posted=1#post28554)
Last Time I Saw Macao, The (João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28605&posted=1#post28605)
Leviathon (Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Peravel 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28541&posted=1#post28541)
Life of Pi (Ang Lee 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28536#post28536)
Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28581#post28581)
Lines of Wellington (Valeria Sarmiento 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28526#post28526)
Memories Look at Me (Song Fang 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28528#post28528)
Night Across the Street (Raul Ruiz 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28534#post28534)
No (Pablo Larraín 2012)"] (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012/page3#post28622)
Not Fade Away (David Chase 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28585#post28585)
Our Children (Joachim Lafosse 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28575&posted=1#post28575)
Paperboy, The (Lee Daniels 20120 (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28577#post28577)
Passion (Brian De Palma 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28468#post28468)
Something in the Air (Olivier Assayas 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28583#post28583)
Tabu (Migues Gomes 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28552#post28552)
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet (Alain Resnais 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28485#post28485)

[Johann]

Excellence Chris.

And on behalf of everyone here: THANK YOU for this outstanding coverage.

[Chris Knipp]

My pleasure.

[Chris Knipp]

A quick overview of the 50th NYFF Main Slate's 33 films, with brief comments. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28661#post28661)

Just so if you're in a hurry you can get my opinions of each film in a soundbite, with my favorites highlighted in red.

[Chris Knipp]

Wed., Oct. 24, 2012. Haneke's AMOUR opens in Paris today. So far the Allociné (http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-188067/critiques/presse/#pressreview20433832) average is 4.1, with a tepid review from the influential Caheirs du Cinéma, others positive, but only 8 in yet, some main ones not reported.

http://imageshack.us/a/img801/7/arton20073dfbe.png

[Chris Knipp]

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/4840/aubreyoctober6100412cel.jpg
NICOLE KIDMAN AT NYFF FLIGHT PRESS
CONFERENCE [photo by Aubrey Reuben]

FOOTNOTE to NYFF 2012.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center's offerings keep growing with the aid of the new Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (http://www.filmlinc.com/about/the-elinor-bunin-munroe-film-center)across the street from the Walter Reade Theater, which houses two cinemas, an ampitheater and a café. Reviewing each Main Slate film in detail kept me from thoroughly covering the many sidebar items, though I was impressed by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s exhaustive and lovingly assembled documentary, Celluloid Man, which profiles P.K. Nair, the founder and longtime guiding spirit of the National Film Archive of India, who has been compared to the legendary Henri Langlois of the Paris Cinéthèque. For students of Indian film or of film in general this is a must-see. Other sidebar films of the NYFF shown to the press and recommended to me included some strong new documentaries. Philippe Béziat's Becoming Traviata follows the production of the opera in Aix-en-Provence. Francesco Patierno’s The War of the Volcanoes, is about rival film productions on the island of Stronboli by Rossellini with Ingrid Bergman and his ex-lover Anna Magnani. Liv and Ingmar (Dheeraj Akolkar) follows another turbulent film relationship. Curfew, in Program 2 of the Shorts program, is about babysitting. There was also a Masterworks series that included Laurence of Arabia and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Included (which I did see) was Charlie Is My Darling, (http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2012/films/the-rolling-stones-charlie-is-my-darling-ireland-65)a 65-min. documentary painstakingly reedited by Mick Gochanour and Robin Klein (who did The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus ) of footage shot in 1965 of the Rolling Stones touring Ireland. It shows the Stones just beginning to be super-famous and includes what is said to be the first performance before an audience of "Satisfaction." Interesting discussion (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2012/10/charlie-is-my-darling-the-rolling-stones-in-65.html)of this film by Richard Brody in his New Yorker movie blog. And as in earlier years there was the NYFF sidebar series Views from the Avant-Garde.

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/3167/rollingstones1.jpg http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/2346/rollingstones2h.jpg
STILLS FROM CHARLIE IS MY DARLING

[CHRIS KNIPP]

[Chris Knipp]

US release of a NYFF 2012 film:

THE GATEKEEPERS (Dror Moreh 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28595#post28595)

Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. A review in the NY Times (http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/movies/the-gatekeepers-documentary-by-israeli-director-dror-moreh.html?_r=0)by A.O. Scott shows that this strong documentary about Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence/security agency, opened in New York today, released by Sony Pictues Classics at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema, Broadway at 62nd Street. (Maybe it will show downtown later.) As Scott points out, nearly all six of the post-1967 Shin Bit heads express a sense that the closing off of Gaza and the continuing indulgence of illegal settlements have been failed policies that have led to continued unrest and insecurity for Israel, and these views are coming from security hardliners who had no objection to the use of torture unto death of Palestinian prisoners.

As I've mentioned before, this film makes an excellent companion piece to the other recent Israeli documentary, THE LAW IN THESE PARTS (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3257-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2012&p=27732#post27732)(Ra'nan Alexandrowicz 2012), which is about how Isreali judges enforced the different legal system devised for Palestinians under occupation in the territories, another moral and political erosion of the country post-1967. I reviewed THE LAW IN THESE PARTS as part of the 2012 SFIFF. Hopefully before long both will become available on US DVDs.

[Chris Knipp]

Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28581#post28581)

The US release date has now been announced: Feb. 15, 2013, which follows an Abbas Kiarostami retrospective at the Film Society of Lincoln Center February 8-14, 2013. Sundance Selects is the distributor.

[Johann]

HOLY MOTORS


Well, what a film experience Holy Motors was.
It's a definite Masterpiece, despite having one scene that I would completely cut out. There is one scene here with Eva Mendes and chameleon Denis Levant that I would eliminate in short order. The audience knows by the time that that scene happens that the kidnapping was an "assignment" but it is so wierd and just plain indulgent and pretentiously unnecessary that it was nothing more than artistic avant-garde nonsense- the raging hard-on scene where she sings him to sleep. I didn't need to see that, thank you. We knew Mr. Oscar was on assignments, weird ones, but that one is out-to-lunch insane. But I laughed. A lot.
Beautiful movie here. Lots to say about it.

[Chris Knipp]

You could be right on that scene, but I would not get into editing myself. It's the most original, audacious, and cinematic film of the year. Did you see what Armond White said in his recent "Better Than" list post?
Holy Motors > Cosmopolis
Leos Carax’s dreamy limousine kineticism shamed Cronenberg’s oft-entrancing limousine stage drama. Carax parked and bloomed. Cronenberg parked then harangued.
Oh well. Did you see COSMOPOLIS? Notice he does say "entrancing." And I think it was shot in Toronto. It's the opposite of HOLY MOTORS. Carax is folliowing his own lights while Cronenberg follows DiLillo's novel like a classical musical score.
The next trip will be ON THE ROAD. Reports are unenthusiastic but I'm hoping for an edge of nostalgia, if Garrett Hedlund is as good as they say he is and Viggo nails Bill Burroughs.
Maybe I should repost the NYFF HOLY MOTORS review on the General Forums for you and others to comment.

[Johann]

I haven't seen Cosmopolis but I want to see the Freud/Jung Cronenberg more.

Holy Motors is absolutely awesome. It's original, it's thought-provoking, visually amazing and so interesting it hurts.
Pretty small snobby crowd at the TIFF Bell Lightbox where I saw this yesterday.
We got an eyeful and earful of ENFANT TERRIBLE Leos Carax, a man to watch.
I've never seen any of his films. This was the first. And it rocked my world with its originality and just sheer ballsiness.

Entrancing movie. Mr. Oscar's "assignments" (acting jobs or personal fantasy?- all arranged by major domos like Celine, his former dancer chauffeur)- WOWZA!
He says he's does these assignments "for the Beauty of the Act" when asked if he enjoys his work anymore.

All in all, it's very hard to recommend this to the lay man.
You need to like esoteric and avant-garde cinema in order to appreciate this bad boy, because it is an ART SHOW all the fucking way.
I don't even really want to describe it to anyone. Just see the fucking thing. And tell me what YOU make of it. Ha HA HA.

[Johann]

The trailer for ON THE ROAD was played in front of Holy Motors and The Master and I am not impressed.
They made shit up. I could tell. And the WORDS are lost, which is the whole point of the book. The words MAKE On the Road.

I read a preview review (Norman Wilner for NOW!) that said this movie wants the viewer to get a contact high, not involve it in the Majesty of Kerouac's words.
That's criminal. I refuse to see it. On The Road needs to be done GRITTY, not HIPSTER.
Hipsters can choke on their own shit.

[Johann]

The only thing I would add about HOLY MOTORS right now is my favorite sequence: the CHRIST sequence.
Where Mr. Oscar dons a red balaklava with barbed wire on it (crown of thorns?) and shoots a banker point-blank in the face.
That was absolutely INCREDIBLE.
I can't shake that scene out of my head. It was beautiful.

[Chris Knipp]

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/4610/reality2.jpg

Good news:

Matteo Garrone: REALITY (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3469-REALITY-%28Matteo-Garrone-2012%29&highlight=REALITY)

Opens on Friday, March 15, 2013 at the Angelika Film Center. My review after seeing it there is here. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3469-REALITY-%28Matteo-Garrone-2012%29&highlight=REALITY)

This is the Cannes film I most missed at the 2012 NYFF, and now I see why it was not included: it had this US release coming. REALITY won the Grand Prix at Cannes. D'Angelo included it in his top ten at Cannes at 7th place with a for him high rating of 66. I am looking forward to it, might make it to a preview and should be able to provide a review on or about NYC opening day. It opens in LA March 22, with a national release to follow. REALITY is presented by the adventurous new small distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories.


Luciano (Aniello Arena) runs his small fish stand in the town square with effusive charm, doing his best to support his family. A natural-born performer, Luciano never misses an opportunity to entertain his customers and countless relatives. One day, at the urging of his children, he tries out for “Big Brother,” where they believe he’ll be a hit. After a successful first audition, he eagerly awaits the call that he and his excited clan are convinced will come and rocket him to fame and fortune. As time passes with no word from the producers, Luciano becomes increasingly paranoid and consumed by this ever-elusive dream.

[Chris Knipp]

Olivier Assayas' Something in the Air/Après mai (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28583#post28583)

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/2884/20464186.jpg

Its US theatrical opening day in NYC and LA Friday is May 3, 2013. Landmark Theaters will show it. When it opened in Paris in November 2012 reviews were very positive: Allociné press rating is 3.8 based on 24 reviews. Les Inrockuptibles said it is "simply a superb film." Others noted that it is composed of vignettes and lacks forward thrust or a single impulsive theme to make it cohere and this is its great flaw. Nonetheless it's sweeping, romantic and cinematic; one remembers the tall, thin, mop-head boy who survives everything in the way of coming-of-age epics and becomes a filmmaker -- and a spectacular fire at a country estate where young people are wildly partying.

[Chris Knipp]

You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Alain Resnais's YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET (2012) is in theatrical release now (June 11, 2013) in New York.

Filmleaf NYFF 2012 review here. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28485#post28485)

[Chris Knipp]

First Cousin Once Removed (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28570#post28570)

Alan Berliner's detailed study of his famous, gifted cousin Edwin HOnig and his gradual disintegration from Alzheimer's disease, which premiered at the 2012 NYFF is scheduled to debut on HBO September 23, 2013. The film has shown at many festivals and received the Grand Prize for Best Feature Documentary at IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) in 2012.


MONDAY, SEPT. 23 (9:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO, two days after World Alzheimer’s Day.

Other HBO playdates: Sept. 23 (4:50 a.m.), 26 (9:30 a.m.) and 28 (12:45 p.m.), and Oct. 1 (12:30 p.m.), 6 (11:30 a.m.) and 10 (5:00 p.m.)

HBO2 playdate: Sept. 25 (8:00 p.m.)

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1471/akwv.jpg

[Chris Knipp]

Javier Rebollo: The Dead Man and Being Happy (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28603#post28603)

This Spanish-Argeintine film about a dying hit man traveling across the Argentine outback had a theatrical opening of sorts at MoMA in NYC Tues., Oct. 1, 2013. The NY Times reviewer (http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/movies/the-dead-man-and-being-happy-by-javier-rebollo.html?hpw&_r=0), Nicolas Rapold, liked it better than I did.
Stories of humanized hit men make for a small but well-trod patch of screenwriting terrain, but “The Dead Man and Being Happy” quickly transcends that territory to become a beguiling road movie But he acknowledges that at the end "Still, something about the movie falls through the cracks. . ."

The fact is it's a bit of a slog.

P.s.: Alan Berliner's First Cousin Once Removed has the highest critical ratings of any current film presently, Metacritic 96. Oct. 1, 2013.