New York Film Festival 08 Archives - The Playlist

Kelly Reichardt And Michelle Williams Talk ‘Wendy And Lucy’

Spencer Martin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:36:00 +0000

Kelly Reichardt’s latest film, “Wendy and Lucy,” comes out this Friday, December 12th in select theaters in New York and L.A. Reichardt and star, Michelle Williams sat down to talk about downcast subject matter, Williams brilliant performance and the frustration that drove Reichardt to make the film.

“It’s a gift to be able to work in the exact way that you have always wanted to. I feel really lucky,” Williams said about the working environment with Reichardt.

Continue reading Kelly Reichardt And Michelle Williams Talk ‘Wendy And Lucy’ at The Playlist.

Trailer And Review: The Raw Sexuality Heartbreaking Squalor Of ‘Serbis’ Is Like An X-Rated ‘Cinema Paradiso’

Rodrigo Perez — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:21:00 +0000

One of the most controversial films in this year’s Cannes Film Festival, we caught the Filipino movie “Serbis” this afternoon at the New York Film Festival.

Directed by Dante ‘Brillante’ Mendoza, “Serbis” centers around the disturbing, tragic and sometimes beautiful (though not often) stories in a family-owned Filipino porn theater. NYFF writes:

Bigamy, unwanted pregnancy, possible incest and bothersome skin irritations are all part of their daily challenges, but the real star of the show is an enormous, dilapidated movie theater that doubles as family business and living space.

Continue reading Trailer And Review: The Raw Sexuality Heartbreaking Squalor Of ‘Serbis’ Is Like An X-Rated ‘Cinema Paradiso’ at The Playlist.

NYFF: Someone Is Always Watching In A ‘Bullet In The Head’

Rodrigo Perez — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:03:00 +0000

Halfway through Catalan director, Jaime Rosales‘ radical, avante-garde and experimental thriller, “Bullet In The Head” (“”Tiro en la Cabezaa”) we started to feel much like we did during last week’s stock market crash – we were fucked, but rather than and cut our losses and run, we figured we’d stick it out for the long haul and see if we could salvage what seemed like a wasted trip to the movies on a beautiful Fall day.

Continue reading NYFF: Someone Is Always Watching In A ‘Bullet In The Head’ at The Playlist.

NYFF: ‘Tulpan’ Director Says Kazakhstan Officials Think Film Is Worse Than ‘Borat’ For Country’s Image

Rodrigo Perez — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:07:00 +0000

Yesterday evening we saw “Tulpan,” at the New York Film Festival, the debut feature-film narrative by Kazakhstani documentarian Sergei Dvortsevoy. The film won the Prix Du Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

“Shy courtship, stark landscapes and a spirited supporting cast of livestock make ‘Tulpan’ a vivid, intensely enjoyable debut feature from former documentarian Sergei Dvortsevoi,” writes Jonathan Romney in Screen Daily. That pretty much says it all.

Continue reading NYFF: ‘Tulpan’ Director Says Kazakhstan Officials Think Film Is Worse Than ‘Borat’ For Country’s Image at The Playlist.

More International NYFF Trailers: “The Class,’ ‘Tony Manero’ & ‘Tokyo Sonata’

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:03:00 +0000

While we were thinking about other New York Film Festival pictures we had seen and images for the films, we had realized we’d never really posted trailers for “The Class,” “Tony Manero” or “Tokyo Sonata” three films, French, Chilean and Japanese that we all (pretty much) really liked. Ok, none of them are subtitled in English, but who cares if you haven’t had a chance to see these films (the majority of the world frankly), it’s a good opportunity to at least see some visuals and catch up on the aesthetics and styles of all three films — the kinetic and documentarian like French school room flick “The Class”; the “Saturday Night Live” disco-dancing dysfuncitonal obsessive of “Tony Manero”; and the Bunelian tragic-comico internalized horror of “Tokyo Sonata.” Just three random, but excellent examples of the International flavor that’s imprinted all over NYFF (rather impressively we think; some of the best films we’ve seen of the year have been at the fest; and the entire experience has been a strong reminder to go out of our way to see foreign export rather than sometimes predictable North American cinema; or at the very least a reminder that variety is truly the spice of life).

Continue reading More International NYFF Trailers: “The Class,’ ‘Tony Manero’ & ‘Tokyo Sonata’ at The Playlist.

NYFF: Two Hemispheres Of The Cerebral – ‘Afterschool’ & ‘The Headless Woman’

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:16:00 +0000

We just got back from two screenings at the New York Film Festival and wanted to bang out some quick thoughts on each film as we probably won’t have time to write full-length reviews until next week at this busy rate.

It was interesting to note how both films seemed to embody cerebral and intellectual traits both from the aesthetics themselves and the filmmakers who crafted them, but while Lucreia Martel’s “The Headless Woman” (“La Mujer sin cabeza“) was a dizzying (and striking) portrait of a woman in distress that made one lose its equilibrium in moments, Antonio Campos teen prepschool brand of voyeurstic heady-ness felt rather cold and clinical at times.

Continue reading NYFF: Two Hemispheres Of The Cerebral – ‘Afterschool’ & ‘The Headless Woman’ at The Playlist.

NYFF: ‘Wendy & Lucy’ Q&A With Director Kelly Reichardt, Starring Michelle Williams

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:24:00 +0000

No Michelle Williams didn’t show up. Obviously, she doesn’t do a lot of press, but her devastatingly quiet and internalized performance in Kelly Reichardt’s minimalist new effort, “Wendy & Lucy,” is one to watch (and has already generated some Oscar talk). If Reichardt’s previous film, “Old Joy” seem low-budgeted and small, then ‘Wendy’ is micro-budgeted, infinitesimal and completely hushed. About a girl in the throes of abject poverty who’s lost her dog Lucy, Williams commanding yet reserved performance carries the film on her shoulders entirely and she’s onscreen in practically every frame.

Continue reading NYFF: ‘Wendy & Lucy’ Q&A With Director Kelly Reichardt, Starring Michelle Williams at The Playlist.

NYFF: ‘The Class’ Q&A With Director Laurent Cantet

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:20:00 +0000

After our screening of Laurent Cantet’s Cannes-winning “The Class” (“Entres Les Murs”) about the mercurial and sometimes explosive life of a modern day classroom, at the New York Film Festival. We stuck around for the Q&A where Cantet spoke about his filmmaking process. Much of the film was done in two takes, one a scripted take and one an improvised one and Cantet remarked how surprised he was that both takes would seamlessly work together in the editing work.

Continue reading NYFF: ‘The Class’ Q&A With Director Laurent Cantet at The Playlist.

James Franco’s Movie Inspired By Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman And Robert Duvall Won’t See The Light Of Day

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:29:00 +0000

James Franco directed a film that he claims will never see the light of day [ed. wait, is it a short? Sure sounds like one]. Apparently it was inspired by an interview with Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman that caused him and a writing partner to pen a writing partner to pen a story about two girl-crazy acting students. “I guess they were all room mates back when they were in acting school, and they were like, ‘Yeah, we just went for the girls.

Continue reading James Franco’s Movie Inspired By Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman And Robert Duvall Won’t See The Light Of Day at The Playlist.

Trailer: ‘Voy A Explotar’ (‘I’m Gonna Explode’)

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:47:00 +0000

God, Twitch trailers are obnoxiously large and if you try and size them down manually they fuck up, grrrr. But we loved the vibrant cinema of Gerardo Naranjo’s “Voy A Explotar” (“I’m Gonna Explode”) so much, we’re willing to make an exception. The film was executive produced by Gael Garcia-Bernal and Diego Luna and was accepted into the Venice, Toronto and New York Film Festivals. We thought it was dazzling. It really inspires us to write our own film one of these days.

Continue reading Trailer: ‘Voy A Explotar’ (‘I’m Gonna Explode’) at The Playlist.

NYFF Review: Kelly Reichardt’s ‘Wendy & Lucy’ Is A Quiet Depiction Of Extreme Poverty And Desperation

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 23:43:00 +0000

We have yet to see one mediocre film at the New York Film Festival, in fact, we’ve seen nothing, but rather excellent ones.

Super minimalist, modest and scaled down to a whisper, Kelly Reichardt’s “Wendy & Lucy,” is even more austere, bare-bones and tiny effort than her lauded 2006 film, “Old Joy.”
Raw and humble, the film chronicles the spare story of Wendy (Michelle Williams) who is traveling to Alaska with her dog Lucy because she’s ostensibly broke.

Continue reading NYFF Review: Kelly Reichardt’s ‘Wendy & Lucy’ Is A Quiet Depiction Of Extreme Poverty And Desperation at The Playlist.

Clint Eastwood’s ‘The Changeling’ And Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Wrestler’ Highlight New York Film Festival; And ‘Che’!

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:16:00 +0000

The 46th annual New York Film Festival has announced its line up and the two films highlighting the festival will be Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” and Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling” (the former is the closing night screeening, the latter is the centerpiece film).

But more importantly, much our own wild happiness, Steven Soderbergh’s 4-hour epic “Che” will screen at the festival!

As previously reported, opening night will be devoted to the Cannes 2008 Palme d’Or winner, “The Class” (“Entre les Murs“) by French director Laurent Cantet.

Continue reading Clint Eastwood’s ‘The Changeling’ And Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Wrestler’ Highlight New York Film Festival; And ‘Che’! at The Playlist.

Jam Master Jay Doc ‘2 Tables And A Microphone’ Playing New York United Film Festival

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:56:00 +0000

At first we thought this doc “2 Turntables And A Microphone” about the life and still unsolved death of Run Dmc DJ Jam Master Jay was playing the prestigious New York Film Festival and we were like, ‘waaah?’, cause frankly, it doesn’t look that good. Then we realized it was playing the New York United Film Festival.

We’ve never heard of the festival now in its 6th year, but for those that are curious, the doc makes its New York premiere September 6.

Continue reading Jam Master Jay Doc ‘2 Tables And A Microphone’ Playing New York United Film Festival at The Playlist.

Four Indie Distribs Circling Soderbergh’s ‘Che’ For December?; One Distributor Wanting 3-Hour Cut Kicked To The Curb

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:29:00 +0000

The Hollywood Reporter is tracing steps back to Cannes and noting that the festival’s most highly anticipated films from some of its brightest auteurs, “Che,” by Soderbergh, “Synecdoche, New York,”by Charlie Kaufman and James Gray’s “Two Lovers” have had a difficult time being picked up.

It’s another, “the indie-film market is in the shitter” piece and it saliently points out that a few years ago, these three films would have been snatched up almost immediately and times have changed, blah, blah, blah (not to totally dismiss the problem, it’s real, but we’ve heard it all too often of late and we’re presumably all aware of it).

Continue reading Four Indie Distribs Circling Soderbergh’s ‘Che’ For December?; One Distributor Wanting 3-Hour Cut Kicked To The Curb at The Playlist.

Gus Van Sant In The Fall? No ‘Milk’ Or ‘Road’ For The Oscar-Bait Autumn Film Fests

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:20:00 +0000

Trust your initial instincts. When we wrote yesterday that Gus Van Sant’s “Milk” was rumored to screen at the New York Film Festival, we unfortunately didn’t have a second to express our skepticism. Jeffrey Wells did yesterday and reminded us and we thought, “uh, yeah, we should mentioned that, it seems dubious.”

Well, again, trust your instincts. Anne Thompson is reporting today that “Milk” – Van Sant’s biopic of the slain first openly gay Mayor of San Franciso, Harvey Milk, starring Sean Penn – won’t be ready for any of the fall festivals including, NYFF, Telluride or the Toronto International Film Festival.

Continue reading Gus Van Sant In The Fall? No ‘Milk’ Or ‘Road’ For The Oscar-Bait Autumn Film Fests at The Playlist.

New York Film Festival Gets A Little ‘Class’ For Opening Night

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:16:00 +0000

The 2008 Cannes Palme d’Or winner, “The Class” (“Entre les Murs”) has been selected to open the the 46 annual 2008 New York Film Festival which runs Sept. 26-Oct. 12 in the Big Apple.

Of note to New Yorkers, NYFF will be held at the Ziegfeld Theater due to ongoing renovations at the event’s traditional home, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, which is personally a lot better for us distance wise.

Also playing during the fest is a showcase that will be held during the festival in tribute to the Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima and the annual “Views From the Avant-Garde” featuring a 30th anniversary presentation of Guy Debord’s “We Spin Around the Night Consumed by the Fire.”

Still no word about those ‘Che’ NYFF rumors, but as we hear it, it’s likely going to happen.

Continue reading New York Film Festival Gets A Little ‘Class’ For Opening Night at The Playlist.

Soderbergh’s ‘Che’ Biopic Playing The New York Film Festival?

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:37:00 +0000

Damn, it’s like the Interweb is reading our mind! Earlier this morning we debated whether we should report that the New York Film Festival is running September 26 – October 12, but it’s been up on the website for sometime now, so we figured, it was old news. A few weeks earlier we were wondering what was up with the status of Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” biopic and debated whether we should post about this Jeffrey Wells update on the film’s troubled life during wartime at Cannes ’08, but it didn’t say much more than, “these problems still persist.”

Well, our friends at Spout (via Vulture) are suggesting that “Che” could be playing the NYFF ’08 despite nothing being officially announced yet, but they’ve got some strong evidence to support their theory (we hear NYFF announcements are imminent).

Continue reading Soderbergh’s ‘Che’ Biopic Playing The New York Film Festival? at The Playlist.