NYFF11 Movie Review: Pina

by Tony Dayoub

The weightlessness, violence, inertia and, yes, humor of dance all express themselves in Wim Wenders's exhilarating 3D dance documentary, Pina. You may be tired of hearing it from me, but I can't help it if the New York Festival keeps raising the bar. Pina is yet another candidate for best film of 2011. And the reason is plain: Wenders imbues an already kinetic subject with the kind of immediacy and depth that makes it transcend its stage roots to become gloriously cinematic.

French Cannes-Cannes

by Tony Dayoub

Just checked out Richard Schickel's wonderful new documentary Bienvenue a Cannes on TCM. It is highly recommended. This film is a wonderful primer to the behind-the-scenes work, tensions, and camaraderie that occur every year at the Cannes Film Festival.

But best of all, it is a wonderful launching point for the neophyte interested in foreign film. It has anecdotes about such films as The Cranes Are Flying, Roma, Citta Aperta, and Farewell My Concubine.

And guess what... be proud that you are an American because you have been well represented in Cannes by such films as Pulp Fiction, M*A*S*H, and The Brown Bunny (just kidding about that last one... sorry Chloe).

With a wonderful breadth of interview subjects, from noted film critic Richard Corliss, to director Wim Wenders, to Clint Eastwood, and even down to the concierge of the Hotel Majestic... this documentary proves to be a fascinating look into the machinations at the most famous film festival in the world.