The 57th Annual New York Film Festival begins today and runs through October 13th. In the Main Slate, there will be twenty-nine feature films from seventeen countries with "The Irishman", the latest from Martin Scorsese, as the Opening Selection. This epic crime drama (at 209 minutes!) examines the life of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran (Robert DeNiro), a hitman that worked for the mob family of Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and his involvement in the disappearance of labor union leader, Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) who also happened to be his longtime friend.
The Centerpiece Selection is "Marriage Story", Noah Baumbach’s new film about the beginning and the end of a relationship between a married couple; a theater director (Adam Driver) and an actress (Scarlett Johansson). This dramatic-comedy appears inspired in part by Baumbach's divorce from actress Jennifer Jason Leigh.
"Motherless Brooklyn", actor Edward Norton's new film as a writer/director, has been chosen as the Closing Night Selection. Norton also stars in this New York set period drama (based on the novel by Jonathan Lethem) about a private investigator with Tourette syndrome trying to solve the mystery involving the death of his mentor (Bruce Willis). Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bobby Cannavale, Alec Baldwin and Willem Dafoe co-star.
Some Special Events at this year's fest include the New York Premiere of "Joker" with a discussion with director, Todd Phillips and star, Joaquin Phoenix; a Screenwriting Master Class with writer/director, Olivier Assayas and a screening of his latest feature, "Wasp Network" that stars Penélope Cruz and Édgar Ramirez; and the one I can't wait to see, "The Cotton Club Encore", Francis Ford Coppola's re-cut, restored and re-imagined version of his 1984 drama that featured an impressive cast that included Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Lonette McKee, Bob Hoskins, Laurence Fishburne and Gregory and Maurice Hines.
For the complete list of films, purchase festival passes or individual tickets and any additional information, please click below:
First, let me admit that I am not really a big Adam Sandler fan. While I found his man-child routine mildly amusing at the beginning of his film career yet as time went on with no real evolution, Sandler became increasingly tiresome to me. But there was one brief moment back in 2002 that made me take notice of the comedian. This was his appearance in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch Drunk Love", a dark and quirky romantic-comedy where Sandler impressively delivered an incredible, heartfelt performance. However after this critical success, Sandler quickly retreated back to the familiar lowbrow comedies that first brought him fame.
Now almost twenty years later, Sandler seems to be in the mood to take another big creative risk. And that is in the latest from the Safdie brothers, who had their commercial breakthrough in 2017 with their indie crime drama, "Good Time", with "Uncut Gems". Sandler plays a New York City jeweler who gets a thrill from his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win. He continuously places risky bets and his reckless behavior threatens his marriage, business and potentially, his life. This is a dramatic role for Mr. Sandler and he appears more than ready for the challenge.
"Uncut Gems" is due in U.S. theaters in limited release on December 13, 2019 and goes wide on December 25th.
Todd Phillips and his film, "Joker", the origin story of Batman's long-time nemesis, was the unexpected winner for the top prize of the Golden Lion at the 2019 Venice Film Festival. This comic-book drama was enthusiastically praised during it's world premiere screening and Joaquin Phoenix's mesmerizing turn as the infamous super-villian was also singled out.
Another surprise was the selection of Roman Polanski's latest, "J'accuse (An Officer and a Spy)" for the Grand Jury Prize. It was already extremely controversial that he was even in the competition and for the eighty-six year old filmmaker to win the runner-up prize was certainly making a statement about separating the art from the artist. I'm sure it must also mean that this fact-based film about a 19th century French officer of Jewish descent is falsely accused of passing military secrets to the Germans is quite exceptional and now maybe has a better opportunity to be released in the United States.
Here is a list of the winners from the 76th Annual Venice Film Festival:
Golden Lion: "Joker" Grand Jury Prize: "J'accuse (An Officer And A Spy)" Silver Lion for Best Director: Roy Andersson, "Om det oändliga (About Endlessness)"
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Ariane Ascaride, "Gloria Mundi"
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Luca Marinelli, "Martin Eden"
Best Screenplay: Yonfan, "No. 7 Cherry Lane"
Special Jury Prize: "La Mafia Non E Più Quello Di Una Volta" Marcello Mastroianni Award for for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Toby Wallace, "Babyteeth"
Horizons Best Film: "Atlantis"
Horizons Best Director: Theo Court, "Blanco En Blanco"
Horizons Special Jury Prize: "Verdict"
Horizons Best Actress: Marta Nieto, "Madre" Horizons Best Actor: Sami Bouajila, "A Son" Horizons Best Screenplay: Jessica Palud, "Revenir" Horizons Best Short Film: "Darling" Lion of The Future - Luigi De Laurentiis Venice Award For a Debut Film: "You Will Die At 20"
The summer movie season has officially come to a close. And while the U.S. box-office did ring in with over four billion dollars (which was up 1% from the previous year), much of that money went to only a few select films while many of the usually sure-fire sequels and remakes failed to generate much interest and ultimately doing lackluster business.
Now we are moving in to my favorite time of the year with the fall movie releases. This is really only because the studios (with their eyes fixated on gold prizes) tend to save much of the interesting and offbeat films for the last few months of the film season. Somehow they always seem to forget that people will actually go to the movies every week of the fifty-two in a year. Here is a small selection of upcoming films that I am eagerly awaiting to see: All U.S. release dates are subject to change:
"THE GOLDFINCH"
Release date: September 13, 2019
Based on the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel by Donna Tartt, "The Goldfinch" tells the story of thirteen year old, Theodore Decker (Oakes Fegley) who suffers a terrible tragedy after surviving a terrorist bombing at a New York art museum. This event leaves him struggling from grief and guilt, then down a path of crime involving art forgery. Luke Wilson, Sarah Paulson, Jeffrey Wright, Nicole Kidman and Ansel Elgort as the adult Theodore star.
"HUSTLERS"
Release date: September 13, 2019
Inspired by a 2015 New York magazine article, "Hustlers" looks at how a few exotic dancers who worked at the famed Manhattan strip club, Scores got even with some abusive Wall Street clients by drugging, then relieving them of their credit cards. Jennifer Lopez leads the strip club crew (which includes Constance Wu, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart of TV's, "Riverdale", rising r&b singer, Lizzo and former stripper-turned-rap artist, Cardi B.) to turn the tables on the men who marginalized them simply due to their line of work. Lorene Scafaria directs.
"WHERE'S MY ROY COHN?"
Release date: September 20, 2019
The title of the documentary, "Where's My Roy Cohn?" comes from when President Trump was feeling the pressure of all the mounting investigations against him and was seeking someone who was going to make all his problems disappear like his one-time personal lawyer and fixer had done for him in the past. This film examines the life of the reptilian and unscrupulous Cohn who first made a name for himself as the U.S. prosecutor during the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg before becoming Senator McCarthy's chief counsel during the Senate subcommittee investigations seeking out Communists and other undesirables. The man who was Trump's role-model would later become disbarred due to unethical conduct and shortly after dying of AIDS-related complications in 1986. Matt Tyrnauer, who brought us the docs, "Valentino: The Last Emperor", "Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood" and "Studio 54", directs.
"THE CURRENT WAR" Release date: October 4, 2019
"The Current War" looks at the battle of the electrical systems between Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and partners, George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) and Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult) over which one would succeed in powering the modern world. Each inventor has systems that worked well but had limitations. The competition reaches a conclusion as each offers proposals to supply power to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The film was originally was supposed to be released in 2017 by The Weinstein Company but became collateral damage due to the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
"THE LIGHTHOUSE"
Release date: October 18, 2019
In the follow-up to his acclaimed 2015 feature film debut, "The Witch", writer/director, Robert Eggers has returned with another dark and eerie film, "The Lighthouse". Shot in black and white, this winner of the Fipresci Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two nineteenth century lighthouse keepers, while facing the endless solitude, begin to slowly unravel and lose hold of their sanity.
"BLACK AND BLUE"
Release date: October 25, 2019
Naomie Harris, the British actress who received a well-deserved Oscar-nomination for her supporting role in the 2016 Best Picture winner, "Moonlight", has finally been given an opportunity to shine in a leading film role. In "Black and Blue", Harris plays a New Orleans rookie cop who witnesses her partner (Mike Colter) and his crew gun down a drug-dealer which is captured on her body camera. With the corrupt cops blaming the murder on her, she is being tracked down not only by the police department but also from other gang members seeking revenge. This cop's only hope is a stranger (Tyrese Gibson) in the community to help her stay alive in order to get the film out and clear her name.
"HONEY BOY"
Release date: November 8, 2019
Shia LaBeouf wrote the script for "Honey Boy" which began originally as a part of his therapy during his stint in rehab. Alma Har'el directs this drama loosely based on the actor's life which includes his struggles with mental health and his difficult relationship with his father. Noah Jupe plays Otis Lort, a child actor who grapples with his emerging fame and Lucas Hedges plays the older Otis where he begins to abuse drugs as a way to cope with his successful career. And LaBeouf appears as his former rodeo clown and felon father.
"FORD V. FERRARI"
Release date: November 15, 2019
"Ford v. Ferrari" is a testosterone-driven sports drama about the Ford Motor Company’s desire to beat the undefeated racing team of the Italian automaker, Ferrari during the 1966 Le Mans auto race in France. But Ford will need a car. They assign a team of skilled engineers, lead by Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (Christian Bale), an expert pro driver, behind the wheel to help make sure they will be victorious at the end of this twenty-four hour endurance race. James Mangold directs.
"THE GOOD LIAR" Release date: November 15, 2019
Ian McKellen teams up with director Bill Condon once again (following "Gods and Monsters" and "Mr Holmes") in "The Good Liar". The actor stars as a veteran con artist who meets his latest mark online through a dating app. Helen Mirren plays a wealthy widow who becomes completely enamored with him, easily offering her heart and home. What he thought would be a simple job becomes more complicated when he finds himself actually caring for her.
"KNIVES OUT"
Release date: November 27, 2019
The latest from writer/director Rian Johnson ("Looper", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi") is "Knives Out", a modern spin on the classic whodunit murder mystery with a little black comedy thrown in to spice it up. The family of a wealthy crime novelist (Christopher Plummer) comes together to celebrate his eighty-fifth birthday. But during the party, he is found murdered and a detective (Daniel Craig) is brought in to solve this crime. An impressive cast has been assembled which includes Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Lakeith Stanfiled and Don Johnson.
