The 50^th New York Film Festival is about to unreel. New York cinema’s biggest annual cinema event, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 17-day New York Film Festival, begins September 28 and runs through October 14 with an ultra impressive lineup of 32 films on the Main Slate.. This year’s Festival will be quite special, since it’s a milestone  celebrating the Festival’s 50^th Anniversary. Tickets go on sale to the general public on September 9.

Main slate works will include films by such notable directors as Noah Baumbach, David Chase, Brian De Palma, Ang Lee, Sally Potter, Alain Resnais, and Robert Zemeckis.

Opening Night will debut Life of Pi [Fox 2000] from director Ang Lee [Brokeback Mountain], based on Yann Martel’s best-selling novel, a magical adventure of an Indian zookeeper’s son who finds himself in the company of motley animals, including a 450-pound Bengal tiger, after a shipwreck – legendary French actor Gérard Depardieu co-stars.

There’ll be gala tributes to Nicole Kidman, whose film The Paperboy, directed by Lee Daniels [Precious] and co-starring  Zac Efron, John Cusack, and Matthew McConaughey; and Richard Peña, who’s served the Festival for 25 years as FSLC program director to head the Festival’s Selection Committee.

Choice packages are available. For automated information, call (212) 875-5600. Purchase beginning September 9 at the NYFF box office at the Walter Reade Theatre, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, and online at filmlinc.com [service charges apply]: Major credit cards accepted.      

Cinephile Package: Select 10 Alice Tully Hall screenings from a curated assortment – $180
Early Bird Pass: Enjoy access to NYFF weekday matinee screenings (some exclusions apply) on a first come-first basis Monday – Friday at the Walter Reade Theater (subject to availability) – $100
VIP Lounge Pass: Relax, meet and greet other Festivalgoers in the Hauser Lounge at Alice Tully Hall before or after screenings – $500
Convergence Pass: Explore immersive media unlimited access to NYFF’s first-ever transmedia conference – $125
Discount Passes and Ticket Packages: Various packages are available
Single Tickets: if available. 

In honor of the Festival’s 50th Anniversary, the Film Society asks you to consider adding a tax-deductible contribution to your purchase which will not only invest in the future of the Festival but also new education programs and emerging filmmaker initiatives.

The Festival is known for highlighting the best in world cinema with top films from celebrated and emerging filmmakers. But there’s so much more to keep cinephiles entertained.

Complimenting the Main Slate, there will be special events, star-studded press conferences,  sidebars, panels, and first–time programs, including NYFF’s Masterworks programs and Views from the Avant-Garde.

The Centerpiece gala is the semi-autobiographical Not Fade Away [Paramount Vantage] from director/writer David Chase (The Sopranos, Northern Exposure, The Rockford Files), headlining James Gandolfini and Brad Garrett, about 60s New Jersey friends forming a rock band to make it big.

Denzel Washington, John Goodman, and Don Cheadel star in the Closing Night gala,  the thriller Flight (Paramount), directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), loosely-based on 2001’s incident of a pilot guiding a fuel-less superliner from certain crash and becoming a hero until the subsequent  investigation reveals troubling details.

Award winners having New York premieres include the acclaimed Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Amour (Austria/France/Germany-Sony Classics), Michael Haneke’s portrait, co-starring France’s acclaimed Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert, of a couple dealing with the ravages of old age; and the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear Award for Best Director, Christian Petzold’s Cold War thriller Barbara [Germany] about a doctor, played by Nina Hoss, working in 1980s East Germany who’s banished to a country hospital.

The Film Society and NYFF receive support from American Airlines, Royal Bank of Canada, The New York Times, Stella Artois, National Endowment for the Arts, and New York State Council on the Arts.

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A Film Review by Guest Blogger David Stallings

The question is not is Nine worthy, but can a modern audience sit through 8 ½?

Buzz surrounding Rob Marshall’s film adaptation of a stage musical adaptation of a 1963 film classic,  8 ½ , has been flitting around the industry for many months.  From the drama of losing Javier Bardem and gaining Daniel Day Lewis to casting a bevy of Hollywood Divas in ensemble roles, this picture has certainly had the build-up of a blockbuster hit.  Unfortunately for this film, it has neither the current American cinematic structure nor the traditional character development to meet the primary requirement of a Blockbuster: the movie does not speak to everyone.  That being said, the film Nine will have those who love it and hate it arguing about its validity for years to come.  In short, Nine has thus succeeded as a work of art.

The Lovely Women of NINE

The plot of Nine, follows Guido Contini (Day-Lewis), a Fellini-esque director in 1960’s Italy, attempting to regain his early success.  Unfortunately his next film begins shooting in ten days and he has yet to write the script.  He escapes Rome and flees to a spa—hoping to seek solace in a doctor, mistress, or priest.  He finds them in that order.  Ultimately, Guido is having an existential break down and cannot find himself, let alone a new script.  He is forever a mental nine year-old—even though his body is quickly approaching fifty.  Through the film, Contini searches each woman in his life hoping to find his definition or inspiration through them.  Each woman has her own section of the film (complete with a song) dedicated to her relationship with Guido and why it has failed.  Ultimately, Contini has never seen any of the women in his life for who they truly are, but has idolized them and created them into film characters, rather than appreciating them for who they are.  Each woman is an archetype rather than herself.  And the genius of the film is that each woman knows how they are seen and must choose to accept this status or walk away.

The performances are all stellar.  Daniel Day-Lewis is virile, witty, and desperate as Guido.  In the role of his wife Luisa, Marion Cotillard is simply genius.  In a short amount of time, she brings the humanity of her character.  Penelope Cruz adds vulnerability to the role of Carla the mistress (something missed in both the previous film and stage musical). And watch out—she sings!  Judi Dench as the confidant Lilli is sage and sharp as always.  Nicole Kidman in surprisingly honest underneath all of her hair and make-up.  She plays Guido’s muse and star, Claudia.  Her approach of the song Unusual Way is bold—not sweetly singing the ballad as is traditional, but attacking it with anger and hurt.  Fergie is the only woman allowed a rawness of nature in her role as the whore Saraghina—and she delivers.  And finally Kate Hudson sings and dances marvelously as the frivolous and obsequious style reporter Stephanie.

This classic tale is given amazing cinematic reverence—reinventing moments from 8 ½ and La Dolce Vita with exquisite precision.  And Maury Yeston’s score finally comes to life in a text worthy of its depth.  The book for the stage musical lost the artfulness of the original film.  The zingers in this script will pierce and shock.  Unfortunately, only half of the audience is responding.  For many, the film is too slow, not relevant, or simply not “musical” enough in structure to please.  In this time of strife, people are in an “Odets’ frame of mind”.  They crave believable, relatable characters.  The kings and queens (or stars and directors) do not hold enough weight for dramatic tension and a more pedestrian plot is being craved by modern moviegoers.

Many are also complaining about the pacing and style.  One must ask these people what they would prefer?  Would these critics rather have had Marshall throw out the original altogether simply to satisfy the modern cookie-cutter structure of American Cinema?  Certainly few of these angst-ridden reviewers have ever seen 8 ½, let alone La Dolce Vita (both clock in around three hours in length).  They obviously were hoping for Chicago and did not know how to respond to this piece of art.  If we all would simply let go of our predispositions and enjoy the movie for what it is, then I guarantee you will be surprised by the many hidden flavors within.

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