If I hadn’t been made aware before I saw Clint Eastwood’s Changeling that it was based on a true story, I would have thought it was another fantasy from the fertile imagination of screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5). The unlikely story of Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie), and her search for her missing son, is packed with real-life reversals that are truly stranger than fiction. Jolie’s typically fine performance grounds the story as much as anything can. But the film loses its focus as the plot twists pile up. Much of the reason for that lies in the propensity for multiple climaxes in Eastwood’s films.
Straczynski conceived the screenplay after months of research into this little-known L.A. crime story. Collins reported her son Walter missing to the L.A. police hours after his disappearance. The overworked and corrupt L.A.P.D. didn’t act until after the customary first 24 hours. After frustrating weeks of searching, they find the boy, reuniting mother and son, except… the boy is not her son. Pleading to the cops about the mistake, police captain J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) denies any error. The last thing the embattled police force needs is another instance of bad publicity. So he tries to convince Mrs. Collins she simply doesn’t recognize her son after the ordeal he’s gone through. She goes to the press armed with proof of the boy’s mistaken identity, leading Capt. Jones to have her secretly committed to a psychopathic ward, promptly silencing her accusations.
Eastwood directs the entire cast to fine performances. Jolie is sympathetic as the put-upon Mrs. Collins, but appropriately stubborn in pursuing the truth about her missing son. Half-convinced that she might not be recognizing the boy as her son, she displays equal parts horror and anger at the impostor’s deception when she discovers him to be circumcised after the boy slips in the bathtub and calls out to her. Also strong is Michael Kelly (Broken English) as the honest Detective Ybarra, who indefatigably searches for Walter, and other missing boys who are linked to a dust-bowl farm in the California desert. He brings a noirish touch to the character befitting its period L.A. setting. Jason Butler Harner (The Good Shepherd) is a mixture of twitchy politeness and soulless perversion as the accused serial killer, Gordon Northcott, who may be the sociopath responsible for Walter’s disappearance. John Malkovich as Gustav Briegleb, a reverend who allies himself with Mrs. Collins, Colm Feore (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) as the Police Chief James E. Davis, and Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) as Mrs. Collins’s fellow hospital patient, Carol Dexter, round out the cast.
The film starts running into trouble when the subplots and story reversals start to overwhelm the central story of Walter’s disappearance. For instance, Mrs. Collins’s incarceration and the pre-feminist ramifications connected to it take center stage for a long time. She discovers that other women who have inconveniently spoken out against the police have also been confined to her ward under a provision called Code 12. Then, for a time, the film becomes a neo-noir like tale of a black-hearted man forcing a boy to be an accomplice in child murders, in scenes that are evocative of Ulu Grosbard’s True Confessions. Then it’s a courtroom drama, when the police are finally forced to confront their follies.
Like in other films by Eastwood, the climax becomes a bit messy. Mystic River comes to mind, where once vigilante justice had been carried out on what may have been the wrong criminal, the film takes an additional 20 to 30 minutes to wrap up. In Changeling, each subplot is allowed to build so grandly, that when they arrive to their respective dramatic payoffs it has a strange effect. That is, each successive climax eclipses the previous one, so that the end of the film starts feeling interminable. Every time you start getting up from your seat, you realize you’re anticipating the finale before it’s arrived. This has the effect of elevating each subplot melodramatically, undercutting the power of the central storyline of a boy’s disappearance.
Ultimately, I was disappointed with Eastwood’s melodramatic presentation of a story that is sensational unto itself. Changeling is worth a look for its performances, but it is a deeply flawed film.
Changeling is the Centerpiece of the 46th New York Film Festival, and is playing at 9:15 p.m. tonight, and 11:15 a.m. tomorrow, at the Ziegfeld Theatre, 141 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019, (212) 307-1862
Photo Credit: Tony Rivetti Jr., Property of Universal Studios / Film Society of Lincoln Center
Showing posts with label Changeling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Changeling. Show all posts
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Movie Review: Changeling - Good Performances Elevate Eastwood's Latest Film
If I hadn’t been made aware before I saw Clint Eastwood’s Changeling that it was based on a true story, I would have thought it was another fantasy from the fertile imagination of screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5). The unlikely story of Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie), and her search for her missing son, is packed with real-life reversals that are truly stranger than fiction. Jolie’s typically fine performance grounds the story as much as anything can. But the film loses its focus as the plot twists pile up. Much of the reason for that lies in the propensity for multiple climaxes in Eastwood’s films.
Straczynski conceived the screenplay after months of research into this little-known L.A. crime story. Collins reported her son Walter missing to the L.A. police hours after his disappearance. The overworked and corrupt L.A.P.D. didn’t act until after the customary first 24 hours. After frustrating weeks of searching, they find the boy, reuniting mother and son, except… the boy is not her son. Pleading to the cops about the mistake, police captain J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) denies any error. The last thing the embattled police force needs is another instance of bad publicity. So he tries to convince Mrs. Collins she simply doesn’t recognize her son after the ordeal he’s gone through. She goes to the press armed with proof of the boy’s mistaken identity, leading Capt. Jones to have her secretly committed to a psychopathic ward, promptly silencing her accusations.
Eastwood directs the entire cast to fine performances. Jolie is sympathetic as the put-upon Mrs. Collins, but appropriately stubborn in pursuing the truth about her missing son. Half-convinced that she might not be recognizing the boy as her son, she displays equal parts horror and anger at the impostor’s deception when she discovers him to be circumcised after the boy slips in the bathtub and calls out to her. Also strong is Michael Kelly (Broken English) as the honest Detective Ybarra, who indefatigably searches for Walter, and other missing boys who are linked to a dust-bowl farm in the California desert. He brings a noirish touch to the character befitting its period L.A. setting. Jason Butler Harner (The Good Shepherd) is a mixture of twitchy politeness and soulless perversion as the accused serial killer, Gordon Northcott, who may be the sociopath responsible for Walter’s disappearance. John Malkovich as Gustav Briegleb, a reverend who allies himself with Mrs. Collins, Colm Feore (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) as the Police Chief James E. Davis, and Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) as Mrs. Collins’s fellow hospital patient, Carol Dexter, round out the cast.
The film starts running into trouble when the subplots and story reversals start to overwhelm the central story of Walter’s disappearance. For instance, Mrs. Collins’s incarceration and the pre-feminist ramifications connected to it take center stage for a long time. She discovers that other women who have inconveniently spoken out against the police have also been confined to her ward under a provision called Code 12. Then, for a time, the film becomes a neo-noir like tale of a black-hearted man forcing a boy to be an accomplice in child murders, in scenes that are evocative of Ulu Grosbard’s True Confessions. Then it’s a courtroom drama, when the police are finally forced to confront their follies.
Like in other films by Eastwood, the climax becomes a bit messy. Mystic River comes to mind, where once vigilante justice had been carried out on what may have been the wrong criminal, the film takes an additional 20 to 30 minutes to wrap up. In Changeling, each subplot is allowed to build so grandly, that when they arrive to their respective dramatic payoffs it has a strange effect. That is, each successive climax eclipses the previous one, so that the end of the film starts feeling interminable. Every time you start getting up from your seat, you realize you’re anticipating the finale before it’s arrived. This has the effect of elevating each subplot melodramatically, undercutting the power of the central storyline of a boy’s disappearance.
Ultimately, I was disappointed with Eastwood’s melodramatic presentation of a story that is sensational unto itself. Changeling is worth a look for its performances, but it is a deeply flawed film.
Changeling is the Centerpiece of the 46th New York Film Festival, and is playing at 9:15 p.m. tonight, and 11:15 a.m. tomorrow, at the Ziegfeld Theatre, 141 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019, (212) 307-1862
Photo Credit: Tony Rivetti Jr., Property of Universal Studios / Film Society of Lincoln Center
NYFF Day 7 thru 10: Notes on Lola Montès and Ashes of Time Redux
Well, I'm back from New York, but that doesn't mean Cinema Viewfinder is. We've still got lots of coverage to take us through the end of the festival, including reviews of two incredible films, Che and The Wrestler. I also have some Q & A's with director Steven Soderbergh, and Mickey Rourke coming your way. And I'll try to keep up with the Film Festival schedule, highlighting special events when appropriate.
Director Wong Kar Wai is in town to discuss Ashes of Time Redux. I caught the screening and it's a nice version of the film. But honestly, I was a bit under the weather when I saw it, and don't feel like I can give it a proper critique. So I still recommend you catch it. Apparently it's only screening twice today (times are below). Then go listen to the always very cool Wong at the HBO Films Dialogues discussion tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. For my part, I promise to have a review up soon, when it opens nationwide.
This weekend brings the start of the 12th Annual Views from the Avant-Garde series, which actually started last night, and continues through tomorrow.
This morning, at 11:15 a.m. is the Spotlight Retrospective of Max Ophuls's Lola Montès (1955), starring Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov, Anton Walbrook, and Oskar Werner. The new restoration is a sight to behold. For more information, here's a link.
And tonight is the first screening of the festival Centerpiece, Clint Eastwood's Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie. My review is posted above. Despite my problems with it, it's worth your time.
Below is a schedule of this weekend's festival events. More information can be found at the festival's web site.
EVENT TITLES
NYFF – Festival main slate film
VAG – Views from the Avant-Garde
SE – Festival special event
SCREENING LOCATIONS
ZT – Ziegfeld Theatre, 54th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues
WRT – Walter Reade Theater, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, upper level
KP – Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, 10th Floor
Saturday, Oct 4
11:15am Lola Montès (NYFF/ZT)
12:00 The Warmth of the Sun (VAG/WRT)
2:30 Night and Day (NYFF/ZT)
3:30 Andrew Noren (VAG/WRT)
6:15 Ashes of Time Redux, with Dust (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 Nathaniel Dorsky (VAG/WRT)
8:45 Bruce Conner tribute (VAG/WRT)
9:15 CENTERPIECE: Changeling, with Wait For Me, (NYFF/ZT)
midnight Ashes of Time Redux, with Dust (NYFF/WRT)
Sunday, Oct. 5
11:15am CENTERPIECE: Changeling, with Wait For Me (NYFF/ZT)
12:00 Time of the Signs (VAG/WRT)
3:00 Four Nights with Anna, with Pal Secam (NYFF/ZT)
3:00 Craig Baldwin (VAG/WRT)
4:00 HBO FILMS DIALOGUES: Wong Kar-wai (SE/KP)
6:00 The Windmill Movie, with Quarry (NYFF/ZT)
6:00 still wave (VAG/WRT)
9:00 Gomorrah (NYFF/ZT)
9:00 James Benning (VAG/WRT)
Lola Montès Photo Credit: Rialto Pictures / Film Society of Lincoln Center
Ashes of Time Redux Photo Credit: Lau Wai Keung and Chan Yuen Kai © 1994, 2008 Block 2 Pictures Inc., Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics / Film Society of Lincoln Center
Thursday, September 25, 2008
NYFF Update
by Tony Dayoub
I apologize for being absent from these pages these past few days, but I've been coordinating my trip to New York for the film festival, which starts tomorrow. As some of you know, Denise and I have a 2-year-old son, and we're expecting another one in early November. So leaving her alone was not really an option. My mom graciously agreed to fly in and help (who am I kidding.... she'd give anything to spend time with her grandson). So in addition to coordinating all my activities in NYC, I was busy leaving everything ready for the rest of my family.
Unfortunately, this also means I won't be able to catch every movie at the festival, since I had to limit my time up there to 8 days. As you saw in the post last week, what a wonderful line-up they have this year. So I'm endeavoring to concentrate on films that my site would normally focus on, and hope to include some surprises.
Here's a list of some films I'll hopefully get into:
Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler
Clint Eastwood's Changeling
Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky
Steven Soderbergh's Che
Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time Redux
Of course, these are the notable ones from mainstream directors, I also hope to bring you some other lesser known but no less important film coverage in the days ahead. There's a panel entitled Film Criticism in Crisis? that I will be covering, and a sidebar on Japanese director Nagisa Oshima that should also prove interesting.
The coverage should include some atypical weekend posts, as well as multiple daily posts. Otherwise, you might see the odd non-festival review pop up should there be any down-time for me. There should be plenty of coverage to see here in the next two weeks, so keep coming to the site often.
Gotta get to the airport. See you soon.
I apologize for being absent from these pages these past few days, but I've been coordinating my trip to New York for the film festival, which starts tomorrow. As some of you know, Denise and I have a 2-year-old son, and we're expecting another one in early November. So leaving her alone was not really an option. My mom graciously agreed to fly in and help (who am I kidding.... she'd give anything to spend time with her grandson). So in addition to coordinating all my activities in NYC, I was busy leaving everything ready for the rest of my family.
Unfortunately, this also means I won't be able to catch every movie at the festival, since I had to limit my time up there to 8 days. As you saw in the post last week, what a wonderful line-up they have this year. So I'm endeavoring to concentrate on films that my site would normally focus on, and hope to include some surprises.
Here's a list of some films I'll hopefully get into:
Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler
Clint Eastwood's Changeling
Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky
Steven Soderbergh's Che
Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time Redux
Of course, these are the notable ones from mainstream directors, I also hope to bring you some other lesser known but no less important film coverage in the days ahead. There's a panel entitled Film Criticism in Crisis? that I will be covering, and a sidebar on Japanese director Nagisa Oshima that should also prove interesting.
The coverage should include some atypical weekend posts, as well as multiple daily posts. Otherwise, you might see the odd non-festival review pop up should there be any down-time for me. There should be plenty of coverage to see here in the next two weeks, so keep coming to the site often.
Gotta get to the airport. See you soon.
Friday, September 19, 2008
The 46th New York Film Festival: Schedule for September 26th - October 12th
by Tony Dayoub
The 46th New York Film Festival opens Friday, September 26th. It has an interesting slate of films, and I'll be in the Big Apple next week to cover it. For more information, click on the links I provided. Feel free to ask me about anything more specific in the comments section below.
Otherwise, here's a schedule and a press release:
46TH NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL, SEPT. 26 - OCT. 12Complete public schedule announced
NEW YORK, Sept. 5, 2008––The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the complete public schedule for the 46th New York Film Festival today. The Film Society’s annual showcase of the current state of contemporary filmmaking will run Sept. 26 to Oct. 12, while the official sidebar, In the Realm of Oshima, continues to Oct. 13. The majority of festival screenings will be at the Ziegfeld Theatre, 54th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues. Opening and Closing Night screenings will take place at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, while several special events, panels and the popular HBO Films Dialogues will be at the Film Society’s Walter Reade Theater and in the adjacent Samuel B. & David Rose Building at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse.
As previously announced, the festival with open with Laurent Cantet’s The Class and close with Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler. Clint Eastwood’s Changeling is honored as the festival’s Centerpiece. The HBO Films Dialogues will recognize the remarkable careers and skills of festival favorites Aronofsky, Jia Zhangke, Wong Kar-wai and Arnaud Desplechin. Special events include filmmaking Martin Scorsese presenting a Technicolor screening of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman; Alloy Orchestra on stage with the New York premiere of their newest score, accompanying The Last Command; a variety of special panels that will examine current film criticism and discuss issues raised by the films It’s Hard Being Loved by Jerks and Guy Debord’s In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni; and other events.
Presented by the Film Society, the annual New York Film Festival showcases new works by both emerging talents and internationally recognized artists, including numerous New York, U.S., and world premieres.
The 46th New York Film Festival is sponsored by Chopard, The New York Times and Sardinia Region Tourism. Additional support from illy caffè; HBO Films; 42 Below Vodka, Maxell; and Wines from Spain. Participating sponsors include Stella Artois, Technicolor, agnes b., the Film Foundation and American Express Preservation Screening Program, and Kodak. Special thanks to Cineric; Dolby; CTS; Josephina; O'Neals; The Park Lane Hotel. Trailer courtesy of Bunker New York and Nuncle. The 46th New York Film Festival is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Advancing this mandate today, the Film Society hosts two distinguished festivals. The New York Film Festival annually premieres films from around the world and has introduced the likes of François Truffaut, R.W. Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar, Martin Scorsese, and Wong Kar-Wai to the United States. New Directors/New Films, co-presented by the Museum of Modern Art, focuses on emerging film talents. Since 1972, when the Film Society honored Charles Chaplin, the annual Gala Tribute celebrates an actor or filmmaker who has helped distinguish cinema as an art form. Additionally, the Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming at its Walter Reade Theater and offers insightful film writing to a worldwide audience through Film Comment magazine.
46th New York Film Festival, Sept. 26 – Oct. 12Complete public screening schedule
EVENT TITLES
NYFF – Festival main slate film
OSH – NYFF Sidebar: In the Realm of Oshima
VAG – Views from the Avant-Garde
SE – Festival special event
SCREENING LOCATIONS
ZT – Ziegfeld Theatre, 54th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues
AFH – Avery Fisher Hall, Broadway and 65th Street
WRT – Walter Reade Theater, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, upper level
KP – Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, 10th Floor
Friday, Sept. 268:00 OPENING NIGHT: The Class, 128m (NYFF/AFH)
9:00 OPENING NIGHT: The Class (NYFF/ZT)
Saturday, Sept. 2711:00am Cruel Story of Youth, 96m (OSH/WRT)
12:00 Hunger, 96m (NYFF/ZT)
1:00 PANEL: Film Criticism in Crisis? (SE/WRT)
3:00 24 City, 112m (NYFF/ZT)
3:00 A Town of Love and Hope, 62m, with Diary of a Yunbogi Boy, 24m (OSH/WRT)
4:45 Night and Fog in Japan, 107m (OSH/WRT)
6:15 Happy-Go-Lucky, 118m (NYFF/ZT)
7:00 Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, 94m (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Pleasures of the Flesh, 90m (OSH/WRT)
9:30 Wendy and Lucy, 80m, with Cry Me a River, 19m (NYFF/ZT)
midnight In the Realm of the Senses, 110m (OSH/WRT)
Sunday, Sept. 2812:00 Happy-Go-Lucky (NYFF/ZT)
12:30 The Man Who Left His Will on Film, 94m (OSH/WRT)
2:30 The Sun’s Burial, 87m (OSH/WRT)
3:15 Wendy and Lucy, with Cry Me a River (NYFF/ZT)
4:00 HBO FILMS DIALOGUES: Jia Zhangke (SE/KP)
4:30 Empire of Passion, 106m (OSH/WRT)
6:15 Hunger (NYFF/ZT)
6:45 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, 122m (OSH/WRT)
9:00 I’m Gonna Explode, 106m, with This is Her, 12m (NYFF/ZT)
9:15 Taboo, 100m (OSH/WRT)
Monday, Sept. 294:30 A Town of Love and Hope, with Diary of a Yunbogi Boy (OSH/WRT)
6:00 I’m Gonna Explode, with This is Her (NYFF/ZT)
6:15 Cruel Story of Youth (OSH/WRT)
8:15 A Town of Love and Hope, with Diary of a Yunbogi Boy (OSH/WRT)
9:15 Tony Manero, 98m, with Love You More, 15m (NYFF/ZT)
Tuesday, Sept. 304:30 The Sun’s Burial (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Tony Manero, with Love You More (NYFF/ZT)
6:20 The Catch, 105m (OSH/WRT)
8:30 Night and Fog in Japan (OSH/WRT)
9:15 The Northern Land, 122m, with Surprise!, 18m (NYFF/ZT)
Wednesday, Oct. 16:00 A Summer Hours, 103m, with Ralph, 14m (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 FREE PANEL: The Place of Oshima (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Shiro of Amakusa, The Christian Rebel, 100m (OSH/WRT)
9:15 Waltz with Bashir, 90m, with I Don’t Feel Like Dancing, 7m (NYFF/ZT)
Thursday, Oct. 24:30 Shiro of Amakusa, The Christian Rebel (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Waltz with Bashir, with I Don’t Feel Like Dancing (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 Pleasures of the Flesh (OSH/WRT)
8:40 Band of Ninja, 100m (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Summer Hours, with Ralph (NYFF/ZT)
Friday, Oct. 34:30 Japanese Summer: Double Suicide, 98m (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Gomorrah, 137m (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni, 100m (VAG/WRT)
9:30 Four Nights with Anna, 87m, with Pal Secam, 14m (NYFF/ZT)
10:00 In the Realm of the Senses (OSH/WRT)
Saturday, Oct 411:15am Lola Montès, 115m (NYFF/ZT)
12:00 The Warmth of the Sun, 100m (VAG/WRT)
2:30 Night and Day, 144m (NYFF/ZT)
3:30 Andrew Noren, 101m (VAG/WRT)
6:15 Ashes of Time Redux, 93m, with Dust, 7m (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 Nathaniel Dorsky, 70m (VAG/WRT)
8:45 Bruce Conner tribute, 89.5m (VAG/WRT)
9:15 CENTERPIECE: Changeling, 140m, with Wait For Me, 3m (NYFF/ZT)
midnight Ashes of Time Redux, with Dust (NYFF/WRT)
Sunday, Oct. 511:15am CENTERPIECE: Changeling, with Wait For Me (NYFF/ZT)
12:00 Time of the Signs, 84m (VAG/WRT)
3:00 Four Nights with Anna, with Pal Secam (NYFF/ZT)
3:00 Craig Baldwin, 123m (VAG/WRT)
4:00 HBO FILMS DIALOGUES: Wong Kar-wai (SE/KP)
6:00 The Windmill Movie, 80m, with Quarry, 12m (NYFF/ZT)
6:00 still wave, 102.5m (VAG/WRT)
9:00 Gomorrah (NYFF/ZT)
9:00 James Benning, 112m (VAG/WRT)
Monday, Oct. 66:00 Afterschool, 106m (NYFF/ZT)
6:00 The Last Command, 88m (SE/WRT)
8:30 The Last Command (SE/WRT)
9:15 The Headless Woman, 87m, with I Hear Your Scream, 11m (NYFF/ZT)
Tuesday, Oct. 74:30 Sing a Song of Sex, 103m (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Che, 268m (NYFF/ZT)
6:40 Violence at Noon, 99m (OSH/WRT)
8:45 Japanese Summer: Double Suicide (OSH/WRT)
Wednesday, Oct. 84:30 Death by Hanging, 117m (OSH/WRT)
6:00 The Headless Woman, with I Hear Your Scream (NYFF/ZT)
7:00 Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Afterschool (NYFF/ZT)
9:00 Sing a Song of Sex (OSH/WRT)
Thursday, Oct. 94:30 Dear Summer Sister, 96m (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Tokyo Sonata, 119m, with Love is Dead, 17m (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 Boy, 97m (OSH/WRT)
8:30 Three Resurrected Drunkards, 80m (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Tulpan, 100m, with Deweneti, 15m (NYFF/ZT)
Friday, Oct. 102:00 Three Resurrected Drunkards (OSH/WRT)
3:45 Kyoto, My Mothers Place, 50m, with 100 Years of Japanese Cinema, 52m (OSH/WRT)
6:00 A Christmas Tale, 150m (NYFF/ZT)
6:15 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, 122m (SE/WRT)
9:00 Max mon amour, 98m (OSH/WRT)
9:45 Let It Rain, 110m, with Unpredictable Behaviour, 5m (NYFF/ZT)
Saturday, Oct. 1111:15am A Christmas Tale (NYFF/ZT)
1:30 HBO FILMS DIALOGUES: Darren Aronofsky (SE/KP)
3:00 Chouga, 91m, with Gauge, 9m (NYFF/ZT)
4:00 Death by Hanging (OSH/WRT)
4:30 HBO FILMS DIALOGUES: Arnaud Desplechin (SE/KP)
6:00 Tulpan, with Deweneti (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 The Day Shall Dawn, 87m (SE/WRT)
9:00 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (OSH/WRT)
9:15 Tokyo Sonata, with Love is Dead (NYFF/ZT)
Sunday, Oct. 1211:15am Let It Rain, with Unpredictable Behaviour (NYFF/ZT)
1:00 It’s Hard Being Loved by Jerks, 119m (SE/WRT)
2:30 Bullet in the Head, 85m (NYFF/ZT)
4:30 The Man Who Left His Will on Film (OSH/WRT)
5:15 Serbis, 90m, with Maybe Tomorrow, 12m (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 The Ceremony, 122m (OSH/WRT)
8:30 CLOSING NIGHT: The Wrestler, 109m, with Security, 13m (NYFF/AFH)
9:00 Dear Summer Sister (OSH/WRT)
Monday, Oct. 132:00 Taboo (OSH/WRT)
4:00 Kyoto, My Mothers Place, with 100 Years of Japanese Cinema (OSH/WRT)
6:30 Empire of Passion (OSH/WRT)
8:45 Taboo (OSH/WRT)
All times p.m. except where noted
The 46th New York Film Festival opens Friday, September 26th. It has an interesting slate of films, and I'll be in the Big Apple next week to cover it. For more information, click on the links I provided. Feel free to ask me about anything more specific in the comments section below.
Otherwise, here's a schedule and a press release:
46TH NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL, SEPT. 26 - OCT. 12Complete public schedule announced
NEW YORK, Sept. 5, 2008––The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the complete public schedule for the 46th New York Film Festival today. The Film Society’s annual showcase of the current state of contemporary filmmaking will run Sept. 26 to Oct. 12, while the official sidebar, In the Realm of Oshima, continues to Oct. 13. The majority of festival screenings will be at the Ziegfeld Theatre, 54th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues. Opening and Closing Night screenings will take place at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, while several special events, panels and the popular HBO Films Dialogues will be at the Film Society’s Walter Reade Theater and in the adjacent Samuel B. & David Rose Building at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse.
As previously announced, the festival with open with Laurent Cantet’s The Class and close with Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler. Clint Eastwood’s Changeling is honored as the festival’s Centerpiece. The HBO Films Dialogues will recognize the remarkable careers and skills of festival favorites Aronofsky, Jia Zhangke, Wong Kar-wai and Arnaud Desplechin. Special events include filmmaking Martin Scorsese presenting a Technicolor screening of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman; Alloy Orchestra on stage with the New York premiere of their newest score, accompanying The Last Command; a variety of special panels that will examine current film criticism and discuss issues raised by the films It’s Hard Being Loved by Jerks and Guy Debord’s In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni; and other events.
Presented by the Film Society, the annual New York Film Festival showcases new works by both emerging talents and internationally recognized artists, including numerous New York, U.S., and world premieres.
The 46th New York Film Festival is sponsored by Chopard, The New York Times and Sardinia Region Tourism. Additional support from illy caffè; HBO Films; 42 Below Vodka, Maxell; and Wines from Spain. Participating sponsors include Stella Artois, Technicolor, agnes b., the Film Foundation and American Express Preservation Screening Program, and Kodak. Special thanks to Cineric; Dolby; CTS; Josephina; O'Neals; The Park Lane Hotel. Trailer courtesy of Bunker New York and Nuncle. The 46th New York Film Festival is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Advancing this mandate today, the Film Society hosts two distinguished festivals. The New York Film Festival annually premieres films from around the world and has introduced the likes of François Truffaut, R.W. Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar, Martin Scorsese, and Wong Kar-Wai to the United States. New Directors/New Films, co-presented by the Museum of Modern Art, focuses on emerging film talents. Since 1972, when the Film Society honored Charles Chaplin, the annual Gala Tribute celebrates an actor or filmmaker who has helped distinguish cinema as an art form. Additionally, the Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming at its Walter Reade Theater and offers insightful film writing to a worldwide audience through Film Comment magazine.
46th New York Film Festival, Sept. 26 – Oct. 12Complete public screening schedule
EVENT TITLES
NYFF – Festival main slate film
OSH – NYFF Sidebar: In the Realm of Oshima
VAG – Views from the Avant-Garde
SE – Festival special event
SCREENING LOCATIONS
ZT – Ziegfeld Theatre, 54th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues
AFH – Avery Fisher Hall, Broadway and 65th Street
WRT – Walter Reade Theater, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, upper level
KP – Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, 10th Floor
Friday, Sept. 268:00 OPENING NIGHT: The Class, 128m (NYFF/AFH)
9:00 OPENING NIGHT: The Class (NYFF/ZT)
Saturday, Sept. 2711:00am Cruel Story of Youth, 96m (OSH/WRT)
12:00 Hunger, 96m (NYFF/ZT)
1:00 PANEL: Film Criticism in Crisis? (SE/WRT)
3:00 24 City, 112m (NYFF/ZT)
3:00 A Town of Love and Hope, 62m, with Diary of a Yunbogi Boy, 24m (OSH/WRT)
4:45 Night and Fog in Japan, 107m (OSH/WRT)
6:15 Happy-Go-Lucky, 118m (NYFF/ZT)
7:00 Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, 94m (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Pleasures of the Flesh, 90m (OSH/WRT)
9:30 Wendy and Lucy, 80m, with Cry Me a River, 19m (NYFF/ZT)
midnight In the Realm of the Senses, 110m (OSH/WRT)
Sunday, Sept. 2812:00 Happy-Go-Lucky (NYFF/ZT)
12:30 The Man Who Left His Will on Film, 94m (OSH/WRT)
2:30 The Sun’s Burial, 87m (OSH/WRT)
3:15 Wendy and Lucy, with Cry Me a River (NYFF/ZT)
4:00 HBO FILMS DIALOGUES: Jia Zhangke (SE/KP)
4:30 Empire of Passion, 106m (OSH/WRT)
6:15 Hunger (NYFF/ZT)
6:45 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, 122m (OSH/WRT)
9:00 I’m Gonna Explode, 106m, with This is Her, 12m (NYFF/ZT)
9:15 Taboo, 100m (OSH/WRT)
Monday, Sept. 294:30 A Town of Love and Hope, with Diary of a Yunbogi Boy (OSH/WRT)
6:00 I’m Gonna Explode, with This is Her (NYFF/ZT)
6:15 Cruel Story of Youth (OSH/WRT)
8:15 A Town of Love and Hope, with Diary of a Yunbogi Boy (OSH/WRT)
9:15 Tony Manero, 98m, with Love You More, 15m (NYFF/ZT)
Tuesday, Sept. 304:30 The Sun’s Burial (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Tony Manero, with Love You More (NYFF/ZT)
6:20 The Catch, 105m (OSH/WRT)
8:30 Night and Fog in Japan (OSH/WRT)
9:15 The Northern Land, 122m, with Surprise!, 18m (NYFF/ZT)
Wednesday, Oct. 16:00 A Summer Hours, 103m, with Ralph, 14m (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 FREE PANEL: The Place of Oshima (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Shiro of Amakusa, The Christian Rebel, 100m (OSH/WRT)
9:15 Waltz with Bashir, 90m, with I Don’t Feel Like Dancing, 7m (NYFF/ZT)
Thursday, Oct. 24:30 Shiro of Amakusa, The Christian Rebel (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Waltz with Bashir, with I Don’t Feel Like Dancing (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 Pleasures of the Flesh (OSH/WRT)
8:40 Band of Ninja, 100m (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Summer Hours, with Ralph (NYFF/ZT)
Friday, Oct. 34:30 Japanese Summer: Double Suicide, 98m (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Gomorrah, 137m (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni, 100m (VAG/WRT)
9:30 Four Nights with Anna, 87m, with Pal Secam, 14m (NYFF/ZT)
10:00 In the Realm of the Senses (OSH/WRT)
Saturday, Oct 411:15am Lola Montès, 115m (NYFF/ZT)
12:00 The Warmth of the Sun, 100m (VAG/WRT)
2:30 Night and Day, 144m (NYFF/ZT)
3:30 Andrew Noren, 101m (VAG/WRT)
6:15 Ashes of Time Redux, 93m, with Dust, 7m (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 Nathaniel Dorsky, 70m (VAG/WRT)
8:45 Bruce Conner tribute, 89.5m (VAG/WRT)
9:15 CENTERPIECE: Changeling, 140m, with Wait For Me, 3m (NYFF/ZT)
midnight Ashes of Time Redux, with Dust (NYFF/WRT)
Sunday, Oct. 511:15am CENTERPIECE: Changeling, with Wait For Me (NYFF/ZT)
12:00 Time of the Signs, 84m (VAG/WRT)
3:00 Four Nights with Anna, with Pal Secam (NYFF/ZT)
3:00 Craig Baldwin, 123m (VAG/WRT)
4:00 HBO FILMS DIALOGUES: Wong Kar-wai (SE/KP)
6:00 The Windmill Movie, 80m, with Quarry, 12m (NYFF/ZT)
6:00 still wave, 102.5m (VAG/WRT)
9:00 Gomorrah (NYFF/ZT)
9:00 James Benning, 112m (VAG/WRT)
Monday, Oct. 66:00 Afterschool, 106m (NYFF/ZT)
6:00 The Last Command, 88m (SE/WRT)
8:30 The Last Command (SE/WRT)
9:15 The Headless Woman, 87m, with I Hear Your Scream, 11m (NYFF/ZT)
Tuesday, Oct. 74:30 Sing a Song of Sex, 103m (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Che, 268m (NYFF/ZT)
6:40 Violence at Noon, 99m (OSH/WRT)
8:45 Japanese Summer: Double Suicide (OSH/WRT)
Wednesday, Oct. 84:30 Death by Hanging, 117m (OSH/WRT)
6:00 The Headless Woman, with I Hear Your Scream (NYFF/ZT)
7:00 Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Afterschool (NYFF/ZT)
9:00 Sing a Song of Sex (OSH/WRT)
Thursday, Oct. 94:30 Dear Summer Sister, 96m (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Tokyo Sonata, 119m, with Love is Dead, 17m (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 Boy, 97m (OSH/WRT)
8:30 Three Resurrected Drunkards, 80m (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Tulpan, 100m, with Deweneti, 15m (NYFF/ZT)
Friday, Oct. 102:00 Three Resurrected Drunkards (OSH/WRT)
3:45 Kyoto, My Mothers Place, 50m, with 100 Years of Japanese Cinema, 52m (OSH/WRT)
6:00 A Christmas Tale, 150m (NYFF/ZT)
6:15 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, 122m (SE/WRT)
9:00 Max mon amour, 98m (OSH/WRT)
9:45 Let It Rain, 110m, with Unpredictable Behaviour, 5m (NYFF/ZT)
Saturday, Oct. 1111:15am A Christmas Tale (NYFF/ZT)
1:30 HBO FILMS DIALOGUES: Darren Aronofsky (SE/KP)
3:00 Chouga, 91m, with Gauge, 9m (NYFF/ZT)
4:00 Death by Hanging (OSH/WRT)
4:30 HBO FILMS DIALOGUES: Arnaud Desplechin (SE/KP)
6:00 Tulpan, with Deweneti (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 The Day Shall Dawn, 87m (SE/WRT)
9:00 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (OSH/WRT)
9:15 Tokyo Sonata, with Love is Dead (NYFF/ZT)
Sunday, Oct. 1211:15am Let It Rain, with Unpredictable Behaviour (NYFF/ZT)
1:00 It’s Hard Being Loved by Jerks, 119m (SE/WRT)
2:30 Bullet in the Head, 85m (NYFF/ZT)
4:30 The Man Who Left His Will on Film (OSH/WRT)
5:15 Serbis, 90m, with Maybe Tomorrow, 12m (NYFF/ZT)
6:30 The Ceremony, 122m (OSH/WRT)
8:30 CLOSING NIGHT: The Wrestler, 109m, with Security, 13m (NYFF/AFH)
9:00 Dear Summer Sister (OSH/WRT)
Monday, Oct. 132:00 Taboo (OSH/WRT)
4:00 Kyoto, My Mothers Place, with 100 Years of Japanese Cinema (OSH/WRT)
6:30 Empire of Passion (OSH/WRT)
8:45 Taboo (OSH/WRT)
All times p.m. except where noted
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
The 46th New York Film Festival
by Tony Dayoub
The Film Society of Lincoln Center, publisher of Film Comment, has invited me to cover the 46th New York Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.
The films will be screening at the Ziegfeld Theatre, in New York City, Sept. 26th - Oct. 12th. Making its North American premiere at the festival is Clint Eastwood's The Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, featured as Centerpiece of the Festival. The Closing Night selection is The Wrestler, a Darren Aronofsky (Requiem For a Dream) film, starring Mickey Rourke. Updates on the details regarding the films and coverage will be posted in the coming weeks.
Press accreditation is extended by invitation only, so I'm very proud of this landmark opportunity for the site. I thank all of you for supporting Cinema Viewfinder, and hope you'll keep tuned in through my coverage of these films which will likely be among the best movies of this year.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center, publisher of Film Comment, has invited me to cover the 46th New York Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.
The films will be screening at the Ziegfeld Theatre, in New York City, Sept. 26th - Oct. 12th. Making its North American premiere at the festival is Clint Eastwood's The Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, featured as Centerpiece of the Festival. The Closing Night selection is The Wrestler, a Darren Aronofsky (Requiem For a Dream) film, starring Mickey Rourke. Updates on the details regarding the films and coverage will be posted in the coming weeks.
Press accreditation is extended by invitation only, so I'm very proud of this landmark opportunity for the site. I thank all of you for supporting Cinema Viewfinder, and hope you'll keep tuned in through my coverage of these films which will likely be among the best movies of this year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
