Nyff 2013

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agnès b.: My Name Is Hmmm. . . (2013)

The fashion brand name for Agnès Troublé, owner of the cosmetic and clothing business (it dressed RESERVOIR DOGS and KILL BILL), is responsible for this film about an 11-year-old French girl sexually abused by her father who runs away from home and goes on a ride with a Scottish truck driver through the south of France. The seriousness of the material and some name actors initially give weight to a film that seems otherwise too drawn out and self-consciously arty.

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Hany Abu-Assad: Omar (2013)

Palestinian territories' new Best Foreign Oscar entry, about suspicions and betrayals created by the situation of Arabs in Israel, centered on three young men who kill an Israeli soldier. Abu-Assad's first film set in Palestine since his PARADISE NOW (NYFF 2005)

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Poster outside Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center

Outstanding coverage, Chris. I'd love to see "Captain Phillips" and "Partridge" sounds like fun. I was a little confused about the country of origin for "Omar." Israel? "Jimmy P; Psychotherapy..." also looks intriguing. Your prose is elegant as usual.

Thanks Cinemabon for the compliments and most of all for following the NYFF coverage. You probably will see CAPTAIN PHILLIPS in a theater real soon. I've seen a trailer in NYC. JIMMY P. and ALAN PARTRIDGE, more iffy, but eventually on DVD for sure.

Quote:

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Hany Abu-Assad's Omar has been selected by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. The political thriller debuted in the Cannes Un Certain Regard section where it received a Jury Prize. Abu-Assad's Paradise Now was nominated in the category in 2005.

---

This is from the current FSLC website right now filmlinc. Maybe you didn't know The Palestinian Territories was a Best Foreign country designation. They've had six submissions since 2003. But the 2009 film AJAMI, which was jointly directed by an Israeli (Jew) and an Arab (Palestinian) was officially Israeli-produced and was Israel's Best Foreign submission that year. For the Palestine Best Foreign Oscar submissions go here List of Palestinian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

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Adam Bakri in OMAR

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Kiyoshi Kurosawa: Real (2013)

The other Kurosawa (whose well received TOKYO SONATA was in the 2008 NYFF) returns to feature film after the 2012 mini-series PENANCE (SFIFF 2013), this time for a doom-ridden romance laced with sci-fi and fantasy. Overlong, repetitious, confusing, and ultimately treacly, this is a real disappointment and was a late addition to this year's NYFF Main Slate that might have as well been left off. The technique is there, but not the bite.

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James Gray: The Immigrant (2013)

An unusually decent scoundrel (Joaquin Phoenix) falls for the Polish Catholic immigrant woman (Marion Cotillard) whom he exploits in this beautiful but somewhat limp costume drama set early in the Prohibition era.

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Claire Denis: Bastards (2013)

An intriguingly mysterious non-linear nightmare of . . . revenge? After a family has been ruined, with corporate evil and sexual deviation involved. Vincent Lindon, Michel Subor, Chiara Mastroianni, Alex Ducas, Grégoire Colin, Lola Créton are among cast members.

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Ben Stiller: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The famous 1939 James Thurber story was made into a film by Danny Kaye in 1947, and now Fox Studios has done it again, starring Ben Stiller. The basic idea gets lost but the latter part of the film has its points. NYFF Centerpiece Film, also its world premiere. It opens in US theaters on Christmas Day 2013.

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Last week of press screenings
Final week of P&I screenings coming up, and it's going to be a good one with some of the year's best films. And now that the festival is running full-dress cast-and-crew appearances, so to speak, are happening for Q&As. Reviews of these will round out Filmleaf's complete Festival Coverage of the 2013 NYFF.

MONDAY OCTOBER 7
10AM Steve McQueen's 12 YEARS A SLAVE (134m)
*Press conference to follow with director Steve McQueen.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 8
10AM J.C. Chador's ALL IS LOST (107m)
*Press Conference to follow with director J.C. Chandor and Robert Redford.
1PM Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA (115m)
*Press conference to follow with director Alexander Payne, Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb and Stacy Keach.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 9
10AM Ralph Fiennes' THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (111m)
*Press conference to follow with director and star, Ralph Fiennes, and Joanna Scanlan.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 10
10AM Jim Jarmusch's ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (123m)
*Press conference to follow with director Jim Jarmusch, Tilda Swinton, Jeffrey Wright and Anton Yelchin.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11
1PM – 4PM Abdeletif Kechiche's BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (LA VIE D’ADÈLE) (179m)
*Press conference to follow with director Abdellatif Kechiche and Adèle Exarchopoulos.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12
10AM Spike Jonzes's HER
Press conference to follow to follow with director Spike Jonze, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Rooney Mara.

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Steve McQueen: 12 Years a Slave (2013)

The London-born artist's third big feature, based on a true account of a Saratoga, New York free black man, a violinist with a family, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. It's probably unsafe not to like this one, with its popular Toronto award and Oscar tweets, powerful emotions and strong acting, but I dare to offer a few criticisms. It's protagonist (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) who's a model of self restraint and martyrdom is consistent with the earlier two played by Michael Fassbender. I still like HUNGER best.

Limited US release begins Oct. 18.

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J.C. Chandor: All Is Lost (3013)

A man adrift in a yacht 1,700 nautical miles from land in the Indian Ocean struggles to survive. Virtually without words, only one actor, Robert Redford. A visceral, kinetic, utterly lean and pared-down tour de force. Great stuff. One of my clear favorites of the festival. And you will be able to see it starting 18 Oct. 2013. I would.

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Alexander Payne: Nebraska (2013)

After California (SIDEWAYS) and Hawaii (THE DESCENDANTS), Payne returns to his home state for a story in which a son takes his old dad on a wild goose chase from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska, to collect a million dollars that is just a publishers ad letter gimmick, so they can spend some time together. Along the way they stop in the small town where dad grew up and visit old friends and old memories. Hilarious and touching. Bruce Dern won the Best Actor award at Cannes for his performance. It is one worth watching. In black and white, with fiddles, and banjos, shot by Payne's usual cinematographer. US release 22 Nov. 2013.

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Ralph Fiennes: The Invisible Woman (2013)

It's pronounced "Rayfe." A tame sub-Masterpiece Theater costume drama starring and directed by Ralph Fiennes about Charles Dickens' 12-year affair with a young actress Nelly Ternan (played by Feliciy Jones). Tied in with an evening (9 Oct. 2013) at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall celebrating Fienne' career. Maybe we need to celebrate more great directors, not famous actors who turn directors.

With this kind of coverage (with no pay) we are truly lucky to have you here Chris.

Integrity, Class, Intelligence.
You've always been a triple threat. ;)

Thanks a lot Johann. Just read the reviews and give me feedback, that's the best pay.

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Jim Jarmusch: Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

Jarmusch's vampire movie gives us jaded hipsters with British accents. They've been lovers for centuries; now they are living on separate continents, he in Detroit, she in Tangier, Morocco. I admire Tom Hiddleston's impeccable diction and cool disdain, more touching here than in THOR. Anton Yelchin plays a young American human, appealing and funny. Tilda Swinton has already looked like a vampire so long it's too late. This film is soaked in dark beauty and yellow shadows, but it also seems to go on for centuries. It may be enjoyable to re-watch as films that are pure style often are, but it seems a disappointment. D'Angelo was ultimately disappointed too, but it gave him so much hope starting out that he ranked it second of all the films he saw at Cannes this year, after Asghar Farhadi's THE PAST. That one should have been in the NYFF this year but it's not. I can't understand that. We got most of the other top rated Cannes films -- BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, STRANGER BY THE LAKE, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, ALL IS LOST, NEBRASKA. Well, not all: not VENUS IN FUR either.

CANNES FESTIVAL CRITICS PANEL.

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Abdellatif Kechiche: Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)]

A powerful, controversial film. This three-hours-long lesbian love story from first passion through breakup and just beyond contains nothing original in the basic narrative, but the specificity and fluidity of shooting in the long-running graphic sex scenes and all the other sequences and the committed intensity of the two young actresses, Adèle Exarchopoulos, 19 and Léa Seydoux, 27, cannot fail to involve, move, and impress. He takes you through the experiences. He could have more perspective or humor. How come a straight male director can get away with this, and a gay equivalent wouldn't be likely to go over well at all with the straight audience? Anyway, the film and the two actresses won the top film competition award at Cannes, the Palme d'Or, plus the FIPRESCI prize. Many festivals, US release starting 25 Oct.

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Today Saturday, 12 Oct. will be the final P&I screening for the 2013 NYFF: Spike Jonze: Her, starring Joaqun Phoenix. Eventually there will be a roundup.

Stay tuned!

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Spike Jonze: Her (2013)

This Jonze film about a mustachioed sad sack (played by Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with his new sophisticated computer OS, which has the voice of Scarlett Johansson, was written by him alone. Without Charlie Kaufman or even Dave Eggers channeling Maurice Sendek, he produces soft sweet mush. But that may be what the NYFF wanted for its closing night, and Jonze has his mad adoring fans, as was clear at the press screening Q&A.

This is the last screening and concludes my reviews of the NYFF 2013 Main Slate. It's also the final day of the festival. Goodbyes and thanks. It's no rest for Glenn, Jeff, John, and David et al. They've begun the huge FSLC Jean-Luc Godard series. But I'm going to Paris for two weeks, and will report on some movies I see thee.

Last day of new films. However there is a special feature now (borrowed from Tribeca). Tomorrow, 13 Oct., is the final day. The most popular NYFF films this year based on having to have additional screenings, will be shown again. They are as follows:

13 SUNDAY
The Square 12:30pm
Burning Bush 1:30pm
Gloria 2:00pm
Bastards 3:00pm
12 Years a Slave 5:00pm
Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil le Clercq 6:00pm
The Dog 6:30pm
Blue Is the Warmest Color 8:30pm

Sorry, I don't have reviews of Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil le Clercq or The Dog -- those were not Main Slate films, though they were popular.

Loved your review of "Her" - sort of taking the computer voice (talking cars, navigators, Siri, etc) one step further as companion, which in my mind has always smacked of "be careful what you wish for..." Plot sounds more satire than sci-fi (although set in future). I can see how 30-somethings would want this aspect of their electronic devices as they become more and more isolated into their cell phones as refuges from loneliness (my subterfuge). Having an electronic "someone" to talk to instead of engaging others may the dream of the extremely introverted but nothing substitutes reality, no matter what shape it comes. Hope the comedy worked at least.

You must be exhausted after that marathon. Excellent work as always, Chris. Your devotion to film and cinema as art is one of the most admired and appreciated from this quarter. I would suggest a good meal, followed by a good stiff drink and a long walk on the beach with your favorite non-electronic person.

"Afternoon of the faun" anything to do with Debussy?

Yes, I agree, that is the implication, that the young may confuse the electronic device with the human, and cyber life with real life. But the film sucks. I felt is blew the sci-fi opportunities. And it was not funny. There were some funny films though in the festival.

I'll put up my list of favorites and recommendations.

Tonight I went to the new Broadway production of Terence Rattigan's 1946 play THE WINSLOW BOY with a friend I know from the screenings who gets comp tickets to every play, and used to go to every opening night, when he worked for Playbill; that was my walk on the beach. I also saw James Gray today, who may have grown up at Brighton Beach. That's in Queens. I'm not really tired, because the last week was much easier. The play tonight kept me from feeling let down now it's over. But it is a letdown because it's intense and fun, meeting people, seeing interesting new films under nearly ideal conditions, and all for free.

Tanqquil LeClercq is a famous ballet dancer and Afternoon of a Faun is the ballet with Debussy's music, yes. I think Nijinsky first danced it. But as I said I didn't see that film. My loss; maybe I'll get a chance to see it later.

New York Film Festival 2013
September 27 - October 13, 2013


Links to reviews:

12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen 2013)
About Time (Richard Curtis 2013)
Abuse of Weakness (Catherine Breillat 2013)
Alan Partridge [Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa] (Declan Lowney 2013)
All Is Lost (J.C. Chandor 2013)
American Promise (Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson 2013)
At Berkeley (Frederick Wiseman 2013)
Bastards (Claire Denis 2013)
Blue Is the Warmest Color (La vie d'Adèle; Abdelatif Kéchiche 2013)
Burning Bush (Agnieszka Holland 2013)
Captain Phillips (Paul Greengrass 2013)
Child of God (James Franco 2013)
Club Sandwich (Fernando Eimcke 2013)
Gloria (Sebastián Lelioa 2013)
Her (Spike Jonze 2013)
Immigrant, The (James Gray 2013)
Inside Llewyn Davis (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen 2013)
Invisible Woman, The (Ralph Fiennes 2013)
Jealousy (Philippe Garrel 2013)
Jimmy, Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (Arndau Desplechin 2013)
Last of the Unjust, The (Claude Lanzmann 2013)
Like Father, Like Son (Hirakazu Koreeda 2013)
Missing Picture, The (Rithy Panh 2013)
My Name Is Hmmm... (agnès b. 2013)
Nebraska (Alexander Payne 2013)
Nobody's Daughter (Hong Sang-soo 2013)
North, the End of History (Lav Diaz 2013)
Omar (Hany Abu-Assad 2013)
Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch 2013)
Real (Kiyoshi Kurosawa 2013)
Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The (Ben Stiller 2013)
Square, The (Jehane Noujaim 2013)
Stranger by the Lake (Alain Guiraudie 2013)
Stray Dogs (Tsiai Ming-liang 2013)
Touch of Sin, A (Jia Zhang-ke 2013)
Week-End, Le (Roger Mitchell 2013)
When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism (Corneliu Porumboiu 2013)
Wind Rises, The (Hayao Miyazaki 2013)

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13 October 2013. The final day of the NYFF (though last night was the closing night film - Spike Jonze's HER). On this day they are showing as a promotion the most popular films of the fest judging by ticket demand. They are shown above from the SFFS website. Ciick on the image to go there.

Noujaim's excellent and moving documentary of the Egyptian revolution of 2011, THE SQUARE (NYC release later this month)

English directo Steve McQueen's powerful 12 YEARS A SLAVE (which is coming out)

Abdellatif Kechiche's lesbian love story BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, the Cannes top prize winner (which is coming out)

Agnieszka Holland's Czech TV miniseries THE BURNING BUSH

GLORIA, the Mexican film about a 50ish divorcee who looks for love (the Berlin Best Actress winner)

Two docs, THE DOG and TANAQUIL LECLERCQ

Both 12 YEARS A SLAVE and ALL IS LOST opened in NYC today with big reviews in the NY Times. Both have very high Metacritic ratings but 12 YEARS A SLAVE has the edge, 92 vs. 89. I would put my ratings the other way around, but SLAVE brings out the political correctness and to some, the solitary struggle to survive of a well-off white man gets no points.

Actually the interesting new movie today is the controversial (if you are a WikiLeaks/whistleblower supporter) film about Julian Assange, which he has strongly opposed from the get-go for clear reasons. I cannot comment further because I have not seen it. THE FIFTH ESTATE is the name of it and it is by a director of no particular prior merit, Bill Condon. Benedict Cumberbach evidently does a decent job at what he took on to do and did with what he considered clean motives. You can see Assange's long-winded letter to Cumberbach refusing to meet with him and opposing the film and Cumberback's well-meaning, not very educated-sounding reply. There is nothing wrong with Cumberbach's education: he attended Harrow, the most prestigious public school after Eton, and went to Manchester University, one of the old brick universities, and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

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Cumberbach's performance in The Fifth Estate has been praised, but the film itself is considered weak- I've read three separate reviews that say the story wasn't very cinematically handled and that it's weak in a lot of ways.
I haven't seen it either Chris.
Not sure if I want to. Julian Assange is a man I have no feelings for, pro or con.
I'm all for exposing governments for evil behaviors, but Assange is a pretty mild character to "step up" and do it in a way that gains worldwide attention.




Look for 12 Years A Slave to be showered with Oscar nominations.

Yes, Cumberbach is talented, and has played all sorts of characters, wherever his lean, tall, slightly odd look would work. I've read the NY Times review of THE FIFTH ESTTE by A.O. Scott, who has had a good week. His admiring review of ALL IS LOST is fine. I think he says Assange is a polarizing figure, but one can also be ambivalent about him. Well, one can be "polaried" within oneself about Assange: one can respect what he has accomplished in shaking up governments and goosing the press into action, and one can dislike or feel uneasy about his pomposity, self-importance and paranoia (the latter not unwarranted given the personal danger he lives but perhaps a trait before the danger grew to a high pitch). I have watched and listened to Julian Assange a lot.

It's hard to separate Wikileaks accomplishments from Assange's personal issues. He IS Wikileaks. The same problem comes in Alex Gibney's WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS, which I reviewed earlier this year. I might point out that that phrase "we steal secrets" which sounds obviously like a reference to Wikileaks, is actually a phrase spoken by a US government official referring to what a branch of government like the NSA does. Gibney does a good job, but he also indulges in sensationalism about Bradley Manning and Assange, presumably to sell tickets to his film. It is NOT just the "story of Wikileaks," in the end, at all.

Assange is a control freak, not the less for being in a situation that is out of his control. Hence he would want to block any film that did not depict him in the most favorable terms, and given what has happened, the number of toes he has treaded upon, that could never happen. But isn't it a tad soon to make a feature film about these events?

Yes it is.
I actually wondered if the wikileaks story deserves a whole movie.
Assange seems to be a guy who wants to be a revolutionary but has skeletons in his closet that prevent him from being on a Shepard Fairey poster.
He is polarizing, much like Edward Snowden, who I think does and did a much better job of exposing big government.

Assange looks eerily like Pierre Poilievre with white hair.

And did you know that Ian Curtis of Joy Division is almost a dead-ringer for Stephen Harper?
I wonder if Harper does those wild jerky movements with his arms when he dances, like Ian did.....

These titles from the NYFF are showing in New York presently (Halloween 2013):

At Angelika Film Center:

All Is Lost (J.C. Chandor)
‎1hr 40min‎‎ - Rated PG-13‎‎ - Action/Adventure‎ - Trailer - IMDb
‎10:00‎ ‎11:30am‎ ‎12:30‎ ‎2:00‎ ‎3:00‎ ‎4:30‎ ‎5:30‎ ‎7:00‎ ‎8:00‎ ‎9:30‎ ‎10:30pm‎

All at IFC Center:

Blue Is The Warmest Color (La Vie d'Adèle, Abdellatif Kechiche)
‎2hr 59min‎‎ - Rated NC-17‎‎ - Drama‎ - Trailer - IMDb
‎10:30‎ ‎11:30am‎ ‎12:30‎ ‎1:45‎ ‎2:45‎ ‎4:00‎ ‎5:15‎ ‎6:15‎ ‎7:30‎ ‎8:45‎ ‎9:45‎ ‎11:00pm‎

American Promise (Brewster & Stephenson)
‎2hr 20min‎‎ - Documentary‎ - IMDb
‎10:40am‎ ‎1:00‎ ‎3:00‎ ‎7:35pm‎

A Touch Of Sin (Jia Zhang-ke)
‎2hr 13min‎‎ - Drama‎ - IMDb
‎9:50pm‎

Bastards (Claire Denis)
‎2hr 0min‎‎ - Drama‎ - Trailer - IMDb
‎10:35am‎ ‎3:30‎ ‎5:35‎ ‎7:40‎ ‎10:15pm‎ ‎12:25am‎

Regal Union Square:

12 Years a Slave
‎2hr 13min‎‎ - Rated R‎‎ - Drama‎ - Trailer - IMDb
‎11:50am‎ ‎12:50‎ ‎2:10‎ ‎3:00‎ ‎4:00‎ ‎6:10‎

Captain Phillips
‎2hr 14min‎‎ - Rated PG-13‎‎ - Drama‎ - Trailer - IMDb
‎11:40am‎ ‎12:40‎ ‎2:50‎ ‎3:50‎ ‎6:00‎ ‎7:00‎ ‎9:15‎ ‎10:15pm‎

I'm posting for the first time in 8 or 9 weeks, having successfully defended my dissertation. I finally have time to catch up on what I've missed since summer. Will watch 12 Years a Slave and Gravity soon, but I started last night with Palme d'or winner Blue is the Warmest Color, a film guaranteed to finish in the top 5 in any best-of poll this year. "Blue" enters the canon of coming-of-age films immediately. What makes the film stand out and distinguish itself is the camera's devotion to capture the extraordinary performances by the principals and the recognition that the performances deserve and demand the contemplative, long-take treatment. The realist aesthetics of Bazin and Mizoguchi have a skillful and faithful adherent in Abdellatif Kechiche.

Welcome back and congratulations. You are always missed. I wouldn't qquestion that it's a very notable coming of age film, but don't think LA VIE D'ADELE: CHAPITRES 1 ET 2 aka BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR is only notable for capturing the performances of the two women. I was particularly impressed by Kechiche's staging of group or crowd scenes and how fluid the camerawork is on them. It's the fluidity of all the staging and of the camera work covering it that impressed me most. I think it's too long, but who cares? It's still a great film.

I would not advise 12 YEARS A SLAVE and GRAVITY as the important films to lionize by worshipful viewing before all others. I really prefer NEBRASKA and ALL IS LOST by a mile to either of those. I'm behind on making my Best Lists though.

I'm kind of disappointed by the NYFF this year, especially given that its main slate was 8 films bigger than any previous year's. Hope you get to see some of the outstanding French films in it, BASTARDS, ABUSE OF WEAKNESS, and STRANGER BY THE LAKE. You'll probably want to see Jia Zhangke's A TOUCH OF SIN -- more fluid staging and beautiful cinematography. I didn't warm to INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS but I can see it is very well put together.

Thank you very much. I am still quite busy but I have some time to watch new movies. I still have some work on the dissertation: a final read-through, formatting, citations, placement of screen captures, etc. and I have to deliver a 1500-word piece on Guitry's La poison to Film International journal by December 1st. I am also applying for academic positions that begin next Fall. It's very time-consuming.
We showed Bastards at the Cosford and I simply did not have time to watch it. I will make sure I do. as well as other films you recommend. I second your comments about Kechiche's staging and camera coverage, which you made initially in your review of the film but merit reiteration. I plan to attend a press screening of Inside Llewyn Davis.

You do indeed sound very busy. I see LA POISON came out on Blu-Ray early this year; I've never seen it though. Look forward to your reactions to any of the new films. INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS is one of the NYFF films I plan to rewatch, and BASTARDS is another, since while it may be "fairly straightforward" (Mike D'Angelo), it's pretty disorienting the first time through. Don't forget NEBRASKA and ALL IS LOST.

Another one I recommend but neglected to mention -- now in US release -- is Sorrentino's LA GRANDE BELLEZZA. Not to be missed.

Hope to be in NYC again before year's end to catch the best of the final new releases as they come out. Let's hope there will be some good new US ones by the end of the year, maybe Scorsese's and David O. Russell's. . . I need to see THE ARMSTRONG LIE. That's Gibney; he's good, most of the time. Hopefully IS THE MAN WHO IS TALL HAPPY will still be showing, Gondry + Chomsky = a must-see, for me. Film Forum is showing Sokurov's FAUST -- you've seen it? Did you see WADJDA?

No. I have seen very few 2013 movies. I've re-watched everything directed by Antonioni, Resnais, Haneke (even Funny Games, urgh) and Martel in the past 6 months. Two of my favorites I haven't mentioned in earlier posts are the Mexican docu-fiction Here and There and Museum Hours. Guitry's La Poison is my least favorite film I have ever reviewed for publication. The fact that this black comedy is extraordinarily mean to women is unpleasant to me, and quite dated.

Anyway I don't think I can get LA POISON on Netflix. However though they don't have Leos Carax's MAUVAIS SANG I decided to buy a DVD, which I found for cheap. i have not seen it before and I so liked HOLY MOTOERS.

I also like MUSEUM HOURS: as you may recall I reviewed it as part of the SFIFF. HERE AND THERE , part of the 2012 NYFF, I didn't warm to, though it won the Critics' Week prize at Cannes. I thought you had mentioned it favorably here, but I guess not. I have seen the new US-made Funny Games but not the original German one. Ugh is right.

I recall you liked FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED very much, also 2012 NYFF, and it is good. Banker White and Anna Fitch's THE GENIUS OF MARION (Cinema by the Bay series, just shown in San Francisco), which I reviewed last week, relates to it.

No, I haven't seen First Cousin Once Removed either. I'm going to watch the Sorrentino movie tomorrow, and my friend wants to watch 12 Years a Slave, so why not? La poison, which as you probably know is slang for a mean, conniving woman, is a UK release so Netflix doesn't carry it. They must have the 4 films in the Guitry box I reviewed in same journal. It includes his pre-War films, which I prefer. Thing is that Michel Simon plays the protagonist in La Poison and he is one of my favorite actors: a hugely redeeming facet.

Well, let us know when you've seen all this stuff.

I tried to watch the online version, but without subtitles and my French being extremely poor, I watched for esthetic reasons. Here is a recent link. Thanks for your posts. As usual, you are the enlightened duo.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013...-guitry-review

Thanks cinemabon. I think French is right when he writes that The Story of a Cheat is Guitry's "supreme" film. It is a U.S. release (Eclipse series) along with The Pearls of the Crown, which is very enjoyable too. Interesting that French ascribes the misogyny in the film to the character played by Simon and not to the film, ignoring that the characterization of the female protagonist is ugly caricature and that other characters ridicule women throughout.