Sunday, September 12, 2010

NYFF 2010, Flick Pick Monster Style

Here's what I'll be seeing at NYFF. I start off my festival madness (at least for me; I have never shouldered 3 films in a day before) with a day of Cannes 2010 award winners. First, I'm seeing the Best Screenplay winner, (1) Lee Chang Dong's "Poetry". I've never seen a Chang-Dong film, although I've heard much about him. Some say that this film was screwed over both at Cannes (by not winning the Palme d'Or, i.e. the award for the best picture of the festival) and by the committee to select the Best Foreign Film candidate for Korea, which reportedly chose a much lesser film they thought would have a better chance at winning the Oscar.

This film will be followed with a screening of a very important film, (2) Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives", which won the Palme D'or. I like "Joe"'s (his American nickname) films, especially "Tropical Malady." This film sounds amazing, reportedly his best and the transcendent film at Cannes 2010. Hopefully I'll be able to get a Weerasethakul sighting, as he's supposed to be at the festival. After that, it's (3) Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men", winner of the Grand Prix (second place). To be honest, I'm really just interested in this film because of the award, but I want to see it nonetheless.

Later on in the festival, I will catch (4) Jean-Luc Godard's "Film Socialisme", as it seems like somewhat of an invaluable experience to see a Godard film in the NYFF setting (even though I'm not the biggest Godard fan); also because this is his reportedly his swan song. It played Un Certain Regard at Cannes, leaving critics puzzled, though that can only be expected from a film of this type, a "visual essay." Soon after, I will experience a complete 180* turn with (5) Kelly Reichardt's "Meek's Cutoff", which played Venice and is said to be a must-see. I liked "Wendy and Lucy," and I think this will be much better. She'll also apparently be attending, so I hope to see her there. To finish off that day, and my festival experience, I will catch the World Premiere of (6) Sebastian Silva's "Old Cats", meaning I will at least be at one of this year's NYFF WPs (the others being Michael Epstein's "LennonNYC," as well as David Fincher's "The Social Network," which I probably should be at, but then again, I will be able to see it a week later in theaters for much less money). Re: "Old Cats", I've never seen Silva's "The Maid," but I'm excited nonetheless, since I've heard that film is very good. It's going to be a very interesting NYFF for me.


Anyone gonna be at the festival? If so, what are you seeing?

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