NYFF51 Day14: 'All Is Lost' With 'Only Lovers Left Alive'

HEAD’S UP: The 51st New York Film Festival is off to the races, and so are we. This year, we borrow a page from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York coverage, which borrowed a page from Twitter (http://www.ow.ly/pmqvr). To that end, all film reviews / comments will be 100 words or less. Yes, 100. Or less. Ready? Lights. Camera. ACTION! ...

PERHAPS with too much time on his hands (and too little imagination), Jim Jarmusch decided to share his thoughts on the wildly popular vampire genre.

His contribution is “Only Lovers Left Alive. Starring the winning duo of Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, it makes it U.S. debut this evening at The 51st New York Film Festival.

TS and TH are likable as an attractive, centuries-old couple, especially when they recall associates such as Darwin and Faust – wink, smirk. Alas, the vampire genre has been done to death. Nothing here is particularly interesting.

Not so for “All is Lost,” J.C. Chandor’s sophomore effort starring Robert Redford. It has the second screening of its North American premiere tonight. (See trailer at top).

It has been many a moon since RR undertook a role worthy of his acting prowess. Here is one that he sinks his teeth – and seemingly every other body part – into. He is a lone man stranded on the Indian Ocean in a battered boat. Anguish and a determination to live are palpable in his every twitch. The Sundance film festival founder has virtually no lines, yet this is one of his best roles ever.

“All is Lost” is proof-positive that acting is far more than speaking lines.

Visit http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2013 to learn more about The 51st New York Film Festival, including tickets and showtimes.

'Red Tails' and 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'

INCREDIBLY, “Red Tails” is the first widely released feature film based on the story of The Tuskegee Airmen. HBO’s “The Tuskegee Airmen” (1995) enjoyed a very limited release in theaters, but only after its debut on cable.

For those scratching their heads, the flyboys in question is the U.S. Army Air Corps' 332nd Fighter Group, the all-black combat unit trained at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama around the time of the WWII. They served and fought heroically in a segregated military.

The George Lucas-produced “Red Tails,” which opens today, picks up the action in Italy where the airmen are grounded 100 miles behind enemy lines except for meaningless flight exercises. It is an important film because it puts the spotlight on a piece of American history and military history that continues to linger in the wings. Even today – in the 21st century – one still hears through the grapevine the occasional story of a university history professor, for instance, asserting that no black pilots served during WWII.

If for no other reason in a culture where books are increasingly falling out of favor with the masses, “Red Tails” should be required viewing. The service of these young men to their country should be as well-known to the general public as the number of days Kim Kardashian was married.

While “Red Tails” is important viewing, it is aside from some spectacular fight sequences not an engaging film. In fact, it has many cringe-worthy moments … More shortly.



Also opening today is “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” another film based on true events.

Specifically, it is adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer’s best seller about precocious and extremely curious 11-year-old Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn in his acting debut) who finds a key left behind by his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) who died in one of the Twin Towers on 9/11. Oskar sets out across the boroughs in an Alice in Wonderland-like pursuit of the item that the key opens.

As with the book, many reviewers are ambivalent. Whether they like the film or not, they cite the nature of the material, wondering whether it is exploitative; some disdainfully dismiss it as cloying. The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001 is still fresh in the psyche of many Americans, particularly New Yorkers and those in the Tri-state area. It is sacred territory on which one must tread extremely carefully, lest s/he upset tender sensibilities. Generally, reviewers based in the Northeast are a bit more circumspect than those from other regions.

There is almost universal agreement, though, that the film is well-acted. For his turn as Oskar, TH is getting a lot of positive notice in a cast that also includes Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, John Goodman, Max von Sydow and Jeffrey Wright.

“Red Tails” is rated PG-13 for some sequences of war violence. “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is rated PG-13 for emotional thematic material, some disturbing images and language.

Dirty Sexy Rotten Politics in 'The Ides of March'

THE timing of the release of “The Ides of March” could not possibly be a coincidence.

Adapted from the Beau Willimon play, Farragut North, the film opens in the United States today after making its North American debut at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. It had its world premiere at the 68th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Brian Prize.

“The Ides of March” more or less chronicles the political baptism of idealistic, young campaign manager Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling). Stephen works for presidential hopeful Mike Morris (George Clooney), is fired and then rehired with a promotion after he learns and applies the tricks of this dirty trade to his advantage.

Underway amid the staffing snafus during a very competitive Ohio presidential primary is the usual political horseplay: backroom deals, backstabbing, blackmail, blackmail in reverse, betrayal, leaks, lies, damn lies and a death – political or otherwise.

No doubt distributor, Sony Pictures Entertainment, is betting that audiences won’t be too disgusted with the current little horse-and-pony show on the road – the one known as the runup to the Republican presidential nomination – to pony up $10-plus for its little attraction. (How many more skeletons are rattling in Rick Perry’s closet).

Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling) finds himself in a political whirlwind in "The Ides of March." Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

GC also gets a producer, director and screenplay credit for "The Ides of March.” Aside from RG he has surrounded himself with strong support, including Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood and Jeffrey Wright. GC friend and colleague Leonardi DiCaprio is also one of the producers.

“The Ides of March” is rated R for pervasive language.

‘A Free Man of Color,’ ‘Banished Children of Eve’

Jeffrey Wright, above, as the larger-than-life Jacques Cornet in “A Free Man of Color.” Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

BY TAMARA BECK

THE theme is America’s racial history at different points in the national timeline. One play is a raucous spectacle with a cast of 32 and a strong sense of theatrical traditions. The other is rather grim and slightly amateurish despite a seasoned and sometimes exceptional cast.

John Guare covers a lot of territory in "A Free Man of Color" at Lincoln Center Theater’s Vivian Beaumont Theater through 9 Jan. Under the play’s title in the playbill, "Professor" Guare credits a long list of influences, from the Greeks to the Restoration.

Much of this could alienate and antagonize his audience:
· There's the callow titular character, ably portrayed as foppish, egocentric, conceited and annoying by Jeffrey Wright;
· The frenetic history lesson that travels continents;
· One can't ignore the fact that the central character is a black man with huge sexual appetites and exceptional prowess.

The latter in particular has the power to offend even if there is no intention to do so.

Further, there are numerous characters who are merely representatives – many paper cutouts rather than fleshed-out personalities. For instance, the veteran John McMartin's Thomas Jefferson is a stock figure of a man content with the borders as they are. His secretary, Meriwether Lewis, eager to explore unknown territories beyond the existing 16 states, is animated by the fine Paul Dano. Take a bow: you recognized his destiny as part of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. It will occur before the end of our saga, which begins in New Orleans of 1801.

Jeffrey Wright seated, center, with cast, including Mos third from left second row, in “A Free Man of Color.” Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Before the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, New Orleans was a free-wheeling city whose denizens were often defined, but not hampered, by race. JG has each of the city’s citizens in “A Free Man of Color” introduce himself by his entire racial makeup.

JW's "free man," Jacques Cornet, has a slave, Cupidon Murmur, he inherited along with his wealth from his white father. Mos aka Mos Def portrays with equal finesse Murmur's yearning to purchase his own freedom, his admiration and disdain for Jacques Cornet, as well as the liberator of Haiti, Toussaint Louverture.

Jacques Cornet's half-brother, Zeus-Marie Pinceposse, a smarmy Reg Rogers, pride-fully proclaims himself to be 100 percent white. He is in a mock marriage to a black girl, his "Margaret" aka Margery Jolicouer, played by Nicole Beharie as a giggly, wily country girl. He is tormented by jealousy of her and of his brother's riches.

Triney Sandoval's Napoleon Bonaparte stands out in a cast of 26 who portray 37 historical figures. Also excellent is Justina Machado as Doña Smeralda, one of the wives our hero seduces.

The story has an erudition and a cynical modern sensibility. The staging is entertaining and stirs the intricate plot at a fast pace thanks to the deft direction of George C. Wolfe. Hope Clarke choreographs swordplay that even on the Beaumont's expansive stage threatens to spill out over the audience. The exquisite costumes by Ann Hould-Ward are colorful and imaginative.

Set years later in New York City is “Banished Children of Eve.” Kelly Younger's world premiere at The Irish Repertory Theatre until 5 Dec. is based on a novel by Peter Quinn.

Christopher Borger as Squirt, Amber Gray as Eliza, David Lansbury as Jack Mulcahey, and Malcolm Gets as Stephen Collins Foster in "Banished Children of Eve." Photo by Carol Rosegg.

The background and history that inform this story – the Draft Riots that lasted from 13 to 17 July 1863 and the ethnic tensions they brought to the fore – are more interesting by far than this little melodrama. The working classes, particularly the Irish, were under the impression that while they were being conscripted to fight the Confederacy, newly freed blacks would get their jobs. The resulting riots were both bloody and brutal.

Nonetheless “Banished Children of Eve” does have something to recommend it.

The cleverly designed circular set by Charlie Corcoran is busy with the industry of an 1863 New York City street. Here a cobbler polishing a shoe; there fishmonger Euphemia Blanchard (the shrill Patrice Johnson) offering “creatures of the deep,” and a theatre owner Mr. Miller (Kern McFadden) hawking his latest minstrel show.

It’s a small stage so the scale of activity and the details of the set are impressive.

Like All Good, ‘In the Heights’ Is Coming to an End
From the “sad to see it go” department: The 2008 Tony-winning musical “In the Heights” closes on 9 Jan. Lin Manuel Miranda’s rap about the gentrification of a neighborhood is lyrical, romantic, funny, nostalgic and wise. This reviewer saw it three times and will miss having it around for another peek into the lives Miranda brilliantly created.

Visit http://www.lct.org/showMain.htm?id=198 to learn more about “A Free Man of Color,” and http://www.irishrep.org/banishedchildrenofeve.html to learn more about “Banished Children of Eve.”

Tamara Beck is President, Clean Lists Associates, Inc, an association management firm. And an avid theater-goer.