Monday, August 16, 2010

2010 New York Film Festival Main Slate Preview


With the notice given by the Arts Blog at the NY Times, the "Main Slate" of the 48th edition of the festival has finally been announced, and it is awesome. I don’t think I’ll be able to attend every film here, or even all of the films I would like to, but it will be great for the times I can go.


The “3 major slots,” as they call them, Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing Night, are filled by The Social Network by David Fincher (in its world premiere), The Tempest by Julie Taymor (part of the Venice Film Festival Selection), and Hereafter by Clint Eastwood respectively. Of these, I’m probably most excited for The Tempest or The Social Network.

I’m more excited about the rest of the “Main Slate,” as they call it. Here, we have award winners from Cannes, including the Palme d’Or (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, which has been said to be astonishing and which I’m heavily anticipating), the Gran Prix winner (Of Gods and Men by Xavier Beauvois, which I’m less hot on, although it will be interesting to see if the Gran Prix > Palme d’Or, as it has been it recent years), the Best Actress (Juliette Binoche in Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy, said by some to be the best of the Cannes competition), and Best Screenplay (Poetry by Lee Chang-Dong, another much-championed stalwart).


Other films from the Cannes selection include Competition films Another Year by Mike Leigh (Roger Ebert’s favorite) and My Joy by Sergei Loznitsa (championed by Film Comment’s Gavin Smith and The Guardian’ s Xan Brooks), as well as Out of Competition Carlos by Oliver Assayas (one film I’m definitely looking forward to, which will be shown in its Cannes cut of 5.5 hours). Also Un Certain Regard’s Film Socialisme by Jean-Luc Godard (which no one has been really able to muster a coherent response to), Romanian films Aurora by Death of Mr. Lazarescu director Cristi Puiu (which incurred the wrath of Mike D’Angelo, but got some praise via Wesley Morris et al.; I want to see who’s right) and Tuesday, After Christmas by Radu Muntean (which seems fascinating), Tony Manero director Pablo Lerrain’s Post Mortem and The Strange Case of Angelica by Manoel de Oliviera (whose Talking Picture I absolutely hated and who I will give another chance based on the positive hype for this film). Le Quattro Volte by Michelangelo Frammartino (from Director's Fortnight) also shows. Last but not least, Charles Ferguson’s Inside Job, which ranked highest in Indiewire’s Cannes Critics poll, makes an appearance. The three Cannes films that I wish that the Film Society had selected: Tender Son: The Frankenstein Project by Kornel Mundruczo, Biutiful by Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, and A Screaming Man by Mahamet Saleh-Haroun. But you can't get everything you want, and, actually, unless you've seen these films, like LCD Soundsystem says, you don't know what you really want.


We also have some films from the Venice selection besides The Tempest. Abdellatif Kechiche, who directed the recently Criterion-minted The Secret of the Grain, has his Black Venus (with Olivier Gourmet of The Son) at NYFF, along with Meek’s Cutoff by Kelly Reichardt, director of Wendy and Lucy. These seem like big scores to me, and I hope I will get to them. Also from the Venice Competition is Silent Souls by Alexei Fedorchenko. I wish Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky could have made an appearance, but again, a program can't be exactly what you were hoping for.


Other films include Berlin Film Festival's The Robber by Benjamin Heisenberg (excited to get another taste of that fest), as well as Lennon NYC by Michael Epstein, Old Cats by The Maid director Sebastian Silva, Revolucion by several directors such as Diego Luna, Rodrigo Garcia, and Carlos Reygadas, Robinson in Ruins by Patrick Keiller, Oki’s Movie by UCR winner Hong Sang-Soo, miniseries Mysteries of Lisbon by Raul Ruiz, and We Are What We Are by Jorge Michel Grau.

I'll write more on this later. For now, here’s the entire Main Slate, courtesy of the Arts Blog, via the Film Society of Lincoln Center:

Opening Night: The Social Network, David Fincher, 2010, USA, 120 min

Centerpiece: The Tempest, Julie Taymor, 2010, USA, 110 min

Closing Night: Hereafter, Clint Eastwood, 2010, USA, 126 min

Another Year, Mike Leigh, 2010, UK, 129 min


Aurora, Cristi Puiu 2010, Romania, 181 min


Black Venus, (Venus noire), Abdellatif Kechiche, France, 166 min


Carlos, Olivier Assayas, 2010, France, 319 min


Certified Copy (Copie conformé), Abbas Kiarostami, 2010, France/Italy, 106 min


Film Socialisme, Jean-Luc Godard, 2010, Switzerland, 101 min


Inside Job, Charles Ferguson, 2010, USA, 120 min


Le Quattro Volte, Michelangelo Frammartino, 2010, Italy, 88 min


Lennon NYC, Michael Epstein, 2010, USA, 115 min

Meek’s Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt, 2010, USA, 104 min


My Joy (Schastye moe), Sergei Loznitsa, 2010, Ukraine/Germany, 127 min


Mysteries of Libson (Misterios de Lisboa), Raul Ruiz, Portugal/France, 272 min


Of Gods and Men (Des homes et des dieux) Xavier Beauvois, 2010, France, 120 min


Oki’s Movie (Ok hui ui yeonghwa), Hong Sang-soo, 2010, South Korea, 80 min


Old Cats (Gatos viejos), Sebastian Silva, 2010, Chile, 88 min


Poetry (Shi), Lee Chang-dong, 2010, South Korea, 139 min


Post Mortem, Pablo Larrain, 2010, Chile/Mexico/Germany, 98 min


Revolucion, Mariana Chenillo, Fernando Embecke, Amat Escalante, Gael Garcia
Bernal, Rodrigo Garcia, Diego Luna, Gerardo Naranjo, Rodrigo Plá, Carlos Reygadas,
Patricia Riggen, 2010, Mexico, 110 min


The Robber (Der Räuber), Benjamin Heisenberg, Austria/Germany, 90 min


Robinson in Ruins, Patrick Keiller, 2010, UK, 101 min


Silent Souls (Ovsyanki), Alexei Fedorchenko, Russia, 75 min


The Strange Case of Angelica (O estranho caso de Angélica), Manoel de Oliviera, Portugal, 97 min


Tuesday After Christmas (Marti, dupa craciun), Radu Muntean, Romania, 99 min


Uncle Boonmee Who Recall His Past Lives (Lung Boonmee raluek chat), Apichatopng Weerasethakul, 2010, UK/Thailand, 113 min


We Are What We Are (Somos lo que hay), Jorge Michel Grau, Mexico, 90 min

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

There are some movies here I'd love to see, including Another Year. Tickets to this film festival go on sale Sept. 12. Hmmm ... :-)

Nick Duval said...

I'm very excited for "Another Year," too, along with:

Carlos
Uncle Boonmee
Tuesday After Christmas
Black Venus
Meek's Cutoff
Certified Copy
Poetry
My Joy
Aurora
The Robber
Film Socialisme
and
Inside Job

September 12th is going to be a great day. Not only for the tickets I'll be trying to get (and hopefully getting), but also a special feature never-before-seen on The Flick Pick Monster will be posted. Watch then!