The rumors are true: other things will be screening this weekend besides The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
Broken Embraces showcases a few of director Pedro Almodóvar’s favorite things: bold colors; cinephilia; twisty, melodramatic plots; and, of course, Penélope Cruz. Broken Embraces defies a simple one-line description—something about a big-shot director turned blind screenwriter, a prostitute turned actress, and the power of film to tie it all together—but, as with any Almodóvar picture, the pleasure will probably come less from narrative synopsis and more from the heady, ridiculous gorgeousness of his ideas and images as they swirl around you.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is directed by Werner Herzog and stars Nicolas Cage. If these two facts do not immediately excite you in their nutso, gasoline-meet-match potential, then this is probably not your movie. If it does, then prepare yourself for a drug-riddled trip down the rabbit hole, complete with full-on Cage madness and a bevy of sinister iguanas.
The Sun continues director Alexander Sokurov’s planned tetralogy on the downfall of powerful and often-tyrannical leaders. This time, he sets his sights on Japan’s Emperor Hirohito, as he slowly loses his grip on national control in the wake of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
The Blind Side chronicles the true story of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), the Baltimore Ravens football star who, as a homeless black teenager, was taken in by a wealthy white Memphis family. Sandra Bullock stars as the take-charge family matriarch who supports Oher through his academic and personal struggles. It all sounds a little much to me, but be sure and check out Armond’s review, which defends the film as the perfect antidote to “Preciousmania.”
Michael Jackson’s Video Art takes us on a journey through the late singer’s innovative music videos. And what better person to guide you than our very own Armond White, who will be on hand to discuss Jackson’s videos and sign copies of his new book, Keep Moving: The Michael Jackson Chronicles. It all happens at The Walter Reade Theater this Sunday at 6:15 p.m.
The Tim Burton Retrospective at MoMA will technically be around until April of next year, but much of his beloved film work will only be screened over the next couple of weeks. Highlights of this weekend include both of Burton’s Batman films; Ed Wood, his brilliant biopic of the eponymous B-movie director; and screenings of his lesser-known shorts, Vincent (1982) and Frankenweenie (1984).
The Hoodlum is the centerpiece of Film Society of Lincoln Center’s celebration of silent star Mary Pickford’s film debut one century ago. Ben Model, the great silent film accompanist, will play his new score for The Hoodlum during the screening, which also includes two Pickford short directed by D.W. Griffith.
Los Angeles Plays Itself is Thom Anderson’s epic video-essay on the titular city: its real-life character, its filmic representations, and everything in between. 92YTribeca’s screening—this Saturday at 7:00 p.m.—provides the perfect opportunity to see this unique work, which remains unavailable on DVD due to the inability to get rights clearances for the hundreds of film clips it contains.
M. Hulot’s Holiday begins its two-week run at Film Forum, with a brand-new 35mm print of Jacques Tati’s masterpiece. A comic chronicle of travel’s many pitfalls, this film introduced the world to Monsieur Hulot: Tati’s pipe-smoking alter-ego who would go on to appear in several of the director’s films.
New Czech Films celebrates its tenth year, making it as BAMcinématek’s longest-running annual series. This year’s selections includes the New York premieres of René—Helena T%u0159eštíková’s documentary about a troubled man whose life has been constantly filmed since age seventeen—and Jan H%u0159ebejk’s I’m All Good, a comedy about a group of friends who take matters into their own hands after one of them becomes the victim of a con-artist.
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, 2009 enters its fourth year at MoMA, showcasing five noteworthy films from the past year that are currently without distributors. Be ahead of the curve and check out these critically-acclaimed films before anyone else has heard of them; past years have included such buzzed-about films as Ronald Bronstein’s Frownland and So Yong Kim’s In Between Days.
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The Film Talk guys, Jett Loe and Gareth Higgins, discuss A Christmas Carol and other recent reviews with Armond White. They call him the "most controversial of modern film critics." But the blog chatter is still raging with Preciousmania, and over at The Cooler blog, they've latched on to White's explanation (with a post titled "The Demonizing (of) Armond White") of his reputation as a contrarian:
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There’s no getting around the opportunism of IFC’s decision to release How to Be, starring a pre-Twilight Robert Pattinson, on DVD three days before New Moon’s Friday opening. (As if to underscore this sense of quick-buck desperation, the DVD’s back cover includes a misspelling of its star’s last name.) Still, this minor and frequently tiresome British comedy provides a chance to consider Pattinson beyond the broody trappings of the Twilight series. As it turns out, the guy’s actually kind of funny.
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Fantastic Mr. Fox continues one of 2009’s best cinematic trends: ridiculously-talented hipster auteurs channeling their energies into adapting beloved children’s books. Anderson’s prickly eccentricity and exacting eye for compositional bric-a-brac seem like a great match for Roald Dahl’s classic novel. Anybody besides me holding out for a Sofia Coppola-helmed Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret?
2012 finds the apocalyptically-minded Roland Emmerich returning to his monument-demolishing roots, after that weird little foray into prehistoric adventure, 10,000 BC. (Who cares about the birth of civilization when you can watch its fiery demise?) We’re all doomed this time due to some ancient Mayan prediction, but the real treat will be witnessing all the new and exciting ways Emmerich has cooked up to pummel our cherished national landmarks.
The Messenger completes what may be the world’s weirdest Woody Harrelson double-feature. Also appearing in 2012 as a screw-loose radio host with an eye toward the end times, Harrelson and Ben Foster play a pair of Iraq War veterans assigned with delivering death notices to military families in Oren Moverman’s buzzed-about drama. I’d say combine these two films with Harrelson’s earlier work in Zombieland for a triple-dip extraordinaire, but I don’t want to be held responsible for the blown minds that would result.
The Hand of Fatima chronicles documentarian Augusta Palmer’s journey to Jojouka, a Moroccan village known for its entrancing indigenous music. In doing so, she hopes to further understand her father, famed rock critic Robert Palmer, who traveled to Jojouka throughout his life for artistic and spiritual fulfillment. Augusta Palmer will be on hand at tonight’s 7:30 screening at Anthology Film Archives to shed further light on this highly-personal journey into her familial and musical history.
Four Seasons Lodge is New York Times reporter turned documentarian Andrew Jacobs’ account of the eponymous Catskills bungalow, and what happens when the close-knit residents who vacation there—many of them aging Holocaust survivors—discover that the resort will close within a year. Jacobs received assistance from a team of cinematographers—including the great Albert Maysles—and many of them will be present at the 8:00 screenings at IFC Center throughout the weekend.
Faces of Tsai Ming-Liang, a week-long retrospective by the Asia Society, begins tonight with the highly-acclaimed director’s feature debut, Rebels of the Neon God. Then on Sunday, hear what the director himself has to say, when he joins actor Lee Kang-Sheng for a discussion following a 2:00 screening of his latest work, Face.
An Egyptian Guy Named Joe: Remembering Youssef Chahine, 1926-2008 is the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s brief tribute to the giant of Egyptian cinema, who passed away in July 2008. Three films will be screened over two nights: depending upon the viewer, either the perfect introduction to Chahine’s extensive oeuvre or a quick reminder of his politically and artistically-engaged work.
New French Films, BAMcinématek’s sampling of recent and notable works from the country, concludes this Sunday. You can kick off a weekend of Gallic fun tonight with Ricky, a magical realist tale from François Ozon about a newborn with a very special and surprising gift.
PFFR Night at the 92nd Street Y will feature members of the Brooklyn-based art collective/electro-rock band presenting a sampling of their music videos and clips from cult favorites Wonder Showzen and Xavier: Renegade Angel, beginning at 8:00. You can also head over to the Y the following evening for…
Ten Years of New Argentine Cinema, the four-film celebration that wraps up on Saturday. Pablo Trapero’s Neorealist-influenced Crane World will begin the night at 6:30, followed by an 8:30 screening of La Ciénaga, Lucretia Martel’s feature debut that unsparingly depicts the decadence of the Argentine middle-class.
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If you thought Twilight had a monopoly on the “melodramatic vampire movies that appeal to tweens” genre, think again. Amy Heckerling, the writer-director of Clueless, has signed on to a vampire rom-com involving a blood-sucking love triangle. Claire’s and Hot Topic combined can’t possibly carry enough black-eyeliner for the blowback of this project.
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Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire hits theaters riding an ever-growing wave of hype and praise, including major awards at Sundance and Toronto and a cover story in The New York Times Magazine. The question remains whether audiences will embrace the film’s heavily-lauded performances and story of against-all-odds uplift, or be turned off by such plot buzzwords as “multiple incestuous pregnancies” and “harrowing parental abuse.”
A Christmas Carol continues Robert Zemeckis’ foray into motion-capture animation with a re-telling of the classic holiday fable. Jim Carrey voices both Ebenezer Scrooge and the trio of spirits that haunt the old miser one fateful Christmas Eve.
The Box revolves about a couple who receives the eponymous object and must make a choice: if they push the large red button on top, a random person will die and they will receive one million dollars. But those expecting a standard-issue Cameron Diaz thriller be warned: this is the third feature from weirdo auteur Richard Kelly—the mastermind behind Donnie Darko and Southland Tales—so expect some major metaphysical madness.
The Men Who Stare at Goats tells the true-life story of the U.S. Army’s New Earth Army a military experiment that purportedly taught soldiers to use mind control and other paranormal techniques to achieve non-violent success on the battlefield. George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, and the too-little-seen Kevin Spacey all star as former members, with Ewan McGregor as the reporter investigating the defunct battalion.
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet continues documentarian Frederick Wiseman’s career-long fascination with the inner workings of social institutions, large and small. His 38th feature, playing for two weeks at Film Forum, chronicles the rituals, routines, and performances of the eponymous ballet company.
That Evening Sun features a buzzed-about performance by the incomparable Hal Holbrook as an octogenarian Tennessee farmer locked in a battle of wills over his former farmland, which has been sold by his son to a local ne’er-do-well and his family.
The Red Shoes, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 masterpiece about the friction between personal happiness and artistic obsession, returns in all its blindingly beautiful Technicolor glory for a two-week run at Film Forum. Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker—a frequent Scorsese collaborator and Powell’s widow—will be on hand to introduce the new 35mm restoration at tonight’s 7 p.m. screening.
Sauve qui peut (la vie) (Every Man for Himself) will be at BAMcinématek on Sunday for one day only. Lead actress Isabelle Huppert will personally introduce the 6:30 screening of Jean-Luc Godard’s mid-career meditation on art, sex, and capitalism.
Best Boy, Ira Wohl’s acclaimed documentary portrait of caring for his mentally-challenged cousin, will get a 30th anniversary screening this Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Walter Reade Theater, with Wohl on hand to discuss his Oscar-winning film.
Iberoamérica: Our Way(s) celebrates the eponymous intergovernmental organization, instrumental in financially supporting contemporary Latin American, Spanish, and Portuguese cinema. with this week-long series of films. Highlights of the series—which includes several New York premieres—include Lisandro Alonso’s poetic drama Liverpool, which will be screened Saturday at 6 p.m. (with introduction by producer Luis Miñarro) and Monday at 8 p.m. (with introduction by Alonso).
Apparently, you need higher than a 14 percent rating on rottentomatoes.com for your movie to play nationwide. Who’d have guessed films have to be coherent before they reach us? Fox Searchlight yanked Gentlemen Broncos from theaters beyond the two in L.A. and New York where it debuted after reviewers creamed the film. Here’s a sample of the carnage: “If you didn't know otherwise, you'd swear that Gentlemen Broncos was made by a disaffected high school student — and not a particularly talented one,” writes Claudia Puig in USA Today.
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By now, two months after the rest of the new shows have premiered, you've surely been beaten into submission regarding the plot of V by ABC's marketing department, storing its plot in your brain even if you're unaware of it. Another of ABC's twisting and turning, creepy-crawly shows that repay the audience's dedication, V is a reboot of the '80s miniseries in which aliens arrive on Earth. Surprisingly devoid of tentacles or evil plans, these aliens (led by Morena Baccarin's Anna) are attractive and kindly. They heal the ailing, they promise peace, and they even prop up ailing economies by drawing in an influx of tourists, all eager to take a tour of a real life alien space craft. Oh, and they're actually evil terrorists who have been plotting to decimate the world for decades, while perfecting a human mask that covers their scaly skin.
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