NY Film Fes 2014
As listed in NYT 9.30.14. 1-3 are noirs. 4-12 are Stephen Holden's picks from the NYT article and by preference order. The rest are in alpha order from the NYFF website.
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- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBen AffleckRosamund PikeNeil Patrick HarrisWith his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.Best seller adaptation. High profile pick by NYFF. A woman disappears on her 5th wedding anniversary. Hubby gets the blame. Reviews, so far, have been good. Kinda long-2 hrs 25 min.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsJoaquin PhoenixJosh BrolinOwen WilsonIn 1970, drug-fueled Los Angeles private investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend.Crazy, over-the-top noir...and, quite good.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJulianne MooreMia WasikowskaRobert PattinsonA tour into the heart of a Hollywood family chasing celebrity, one another and the relentless ghosts of their pasts.Brother and sister in a messed-up Hollywood. Directed by David Cronenberg. Listed by Holden as a noir. No mention of that at NYFF website.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsTimothy SpallPaul JessonDorothy AtkinsonAn exploration of the last quarter century of the great, if eccentric, British painter J.M.W. Turner's life.Best of NYFF 2014-NYT. Wild artist and his ways in 19th C. A movie by Mike Leigh.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsMarion CotillardFabrizio RongioneCatherine SaléeLiège, Belgium. Sandra is a factory worker who discovers that her workmates have opted for a EUR1,000 bonus in exchange for her dismissal. She has only a weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses in order to keep her job.Marion Cotillard gets laid off from work. Then she has 48 hrs to convince fellow workers to forego their bonuses (and save her job?).
- DirectorAbderrahmane SissakoStarsIbrahim AhmedAbel JafriToulou KikiA cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives -- which are typically free of the Jihadists determined to control their faith -- abruptly disturbed.Islamists take over and then declare Jihad in ancient city and ruin things.
- DirectorBertrand BonelloStarsGaspard UllielJérémie RenierLouis GarrelYves Saint Laurent's life from 1967 to 1976, during which time the famed fashion designer was at the peak of his career.Yvie movie has its ups and downs
- DirectorDominik GrafStarsHannah HerzsprungFlorian StetterHenriette ConfuriusThe 18th century literary genius Friedrich Schiller falls in love with the sisters Charlotte and Caroline von Lengefeld. After a passionate summer together in a menage a trois, jealousy and rivalry endanger their union.Menage a trois among 18th C. poet Friedrich Schiller and two sisters, Charlotte and Caroline Lengefeld. Sounds like my kind of movie.
- DirectorBenny SafdieJosh SafdieStarsArielle HolmesCaleb Landry JonesBuddy DuressA young woman struggles to reconcile her love for her boyfriend and for heroin, as she finds out that suicide is the only way for her boyfriend to forgive her for her misdeed.Young drug addicts in NYC.
- DirectorAlice RohrwacherStarsAlba RohrwacherMaria Alexandra LunguSam LouwyckA family of beekeepers living in the Tuscan countryside finds their household disrupted by the simultaneous arrival of a silently troubled teenage boy and a reality TV show intent on showcasing the family.Reclusive Germans move to Italy; 14 yr old daughter enters family in reality TV show. Who knows? Grand Prix winner at 2014 Cannes.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsWillem DafoeNinetto DavoliRiccardo ScamarcioA kaleidoscopic look at the last day of Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1975.Last day of Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini and his murder in 1975.
- DirectorMatías PiñeiroStarsJulián Larquier TellariniAgustina MuñozAlessio Rigo de RighiA year after his father's death in Mexico, Victor returns to Buenos Aires with a twofold mission. On the one hand, he brings with him a new project for his former theater company; on the other, he abandons his part as The Princess of France and takes up a new role in front of five actresses who know him all too well, but who don't know that time to work will soon become a time to think again about lost loves.Lightweight film of radio production of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost.
- DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsMichael KeatonZach GalifianakisEdward NortonA washed-up superhero actor attempts to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production.Action hero wants to change image, so he makes his own "arty" pic.
- DirectorLaura PoitrasStarsEdward SnowdenGlenn GreenwaldWilliam BinneyA documentarian and a reporter travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden.Edward Snowden on the run pic.
- DirectorYann DemangeStarsJack O'ConnellSam ReidSean HarrisIn 1971, a young and disoriented British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the deadly streets of Belfast.About "the troubles".
- DirectorMathieu AmalricStarsMathieu AmalricLéa DruckerStéphanie CléauIn their blue hotel room, a clandestine couple of two married lovers plan an impossible future, as death shutters their already frail tranquillity. Now, the noose tightens more and more around innocents and sinners; but, was there a crime?Short, 76 min. A man and a woman go overboard in an erotic tryst. They each have widely differing expectations of the relationship.
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsJuliette BinocheKristen StewartChloë Grace MoretzA film star comes face-to-face with an uncomfortable reflection of herself while starring in a revival of the play that launched her career.Juliette Binoche plays an aging actress who's next part is the older woman in the same play where she became a star originally playing the part of the younger woman.
- DirectorMia Hansen-LøveStarsFélix de GivryPauline EtienneVincent MacaignePaul, a teenager in the underground scene of early-nineties Paris, forms a DJ collective with his friends and together they plunge into the nightlife of sex, drugs, and endless music.French Rave DJ becomes music master.
- DirectorBennett MillerStarsSteve CarellChanning TatumMark RuffaloU.S. Olympic wrestling champions and brothers Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz join "Team Foxcatcher", led by eccentric multi-millionaire John du Pont, as they train for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, but John's self-destructive behavior threatens to consume them all.John E. duPont (yes, one of those duPonts) wants a national wrestling team. John E. is really rich. John E. is off his rocker!
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsHéloïse GodetKamel AbdelliRichard ChevallierA silent, surreal parallel between a couple and a dog.Jean-Luc Godard; 3D; French New (I guess that's now "Old") Wave; a privileged Communist and more. What's not to like?
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsRyô KaseMoon So-riSeo Young-hwaKwon returns to Seoul from the mountains and is given a packet of letters from Mori back from Japan to propose to her. Kwon drops and scatters the undated letters. She reads them and has to make sense of the chronology - and so must we?Korean writes letters. His girlfriend drops the packet of undated letters and their order is all mixed-up. Now try to make sense of the correct chronological order of events described in the letters from their content.
- DirectorPedro CostaStarsVenturaVitalina VarelaTito Furtado"The time is now, a numbing and timeless present of hospital stays, bureaucratic questioning, and wandering through remembered spaces... and suddenly it is also then, the mid '70s and the time of Portugal's Carnation Revolution, when Ventura got into a knife fight with his friend Joaquim." This is the synopsis from the press notes. The film is a sequel of sorts to Costa's "Colossal Youth" with Ventura again playing himself.Portugal. English translation: Horse Money. The description of the movie is cryptic. Older man recalls past events that led to his aimlessness?
- DirectorLisandro AlonsoStarsViggo MortensenViilbjørk Malling AggerGhita NørbyA father and daughter journey from Denmark to an unknown desert that exists in a realm beyond the confines of civilization.It's 1870. Viggo Mortensen looks for his eloped daughter in Patagonia.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsSabine AzémaSandrine KiberlainCaroline SilholIn the midst of rehearsals for a new play, amateur dramatics proponents Colin and Kathryn receive the shattering news that their friend George is fatally ill and only has a few months to live.D: Alain Resnais (his last). Three (older?) couples reflect about life as one of their friends lies terminally ill.
- DirectorAlex Ross PerryStarsJason SchwartzmanElisabeth MossJonathan PryceWhen a self-obsessed novelist (Jason Schwartzman) has problems with his novel and his girlfriend (Elisabeth Moss), he seeks refuge in his mentor's cottage where the peace and quiet allow him to focus on his favorite subject - himself.Writer draws callow inspiration from his literary heroes.
- DirectorAsia ArgentoStarsGiulia SalernoCharlotte GainsbourgGabriel GarkoRome, 1984, Aria is nine-year-old girl. On the verge of divorce, Aria's infantile and selfish parents are too preoccupied with their careers and extra-marital affairs to properly tend to any of Aria's needs. While her two older sisters are pampered, Aria is treated with cold indifference. Yet she yearns to love and to be loved. At school, Aria excels academically but is considered a misfit by everyone. She is misunderstood. Aria finds comfort in her cat - Dac and in her best friend - Angelica. Thrown out of both parents' homes, abandoned by all, even her best friend, Aria finally reaches the limit of what she can bear. She makes an unexpected decision in her life.Pre-teen blurs reality.
- DirectorEugène GreenStarsFabrizio RongioneChristelle ProtLudovico SuccioAt the height of his career, Alexandre decides to set off for Italy with the idea of completing of a book on Borromini. Along with his wife Alienor feels her relationship with Alexandre is gradually slipping away. Along the way they meet siblings Goffredo and Lavinia. Gofffredo is about to embark in architectural studies. A story of rediscover the joys of life and overcoming anxiety.Unhappy couple go to Italy where he will research the life and work of an architect. They meet an Italian brother/sister that changes their outlook.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldBarney BroomfieldMarc HoeferlinStarsNick BroomfieldLonnie David Franklin Jr.DonnaNick Broomfield digs into the case of the notorious serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper, who terrorized South Central Los Angeles over a span of twenty-five years.Interviews with persons close to the killer and the investigation.
- DirectorOren MovermanStarsRichard GereBen VereenJena MaloneGeorge seeks refuge at Bellevue Hospital, a Manhattan intake center for homeless men, where his friendship with a fellow client helps him try to repair his relationship with his estranged daughter.Richard Gere is homeless man who is barely surviving.
- DirectorMartín RejtmanStarsSusana PampínRafael FedermanBenjamín Coehlo17-year-old Mariano finds a gun in his house and, in a thoughtless impulse, shoots himself twice. But he survives.Shown at NYFF as Two Shots Fired. 17 year old inexplicably tries but fails at a suicide attempt. The post suicide life of he and his family is just as bizarre as it was before. Hey, this is supposed to be a comedy!
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsMiles TellerJ.K. SimmonsMelissa BenoistA promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.Young Jazz drummer is cajoled and unmercifully driven by a martinet instructor.