NYFF51 Day 16: Generations After Crackberry Comes 'Her'

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! ...

IN the not-so-distance future, people will have full-blown relationships with their electronic devices, including doubledates and surrogate sex.

This scenario is presented in Spike Jonze’s “Her,” the closing film of The 51st New York Film Festival in its world premiere tonight. (See video at top).

An intriguing premise, but the devil is in the details of execution. Pressed to give one word to describe the film, it would be boring.

However, Joaquin Phoenix is excellent as nerdy-sensitive professional letter writer Theodore Twombly who falls for his OS (operating system), an extremely engaging voice provided by Scarlett Johansson.

NYFF51 winds down Sunday with encore screenings of select films, including "Gloria," "12 Years a Slave" and "Blue is the Warmest Color."

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

NYFF51 Day 15: Keeping Government Open, or 'Sam in the Snow'

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. in "Sam in the Snow" - a man caught between a rock and a hard place. Photo furnished by New York Film Festival.

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! ...

“HOW Democracy Works Now” could not be more timely, considering the debacle going on in the nation’s capital. What shall it be termed, Shutdowngate?

Ten in the series of 12 documentaries from Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini about the debate over immigration, dating to 2001, are having their world premiere at The 51t New York Film Festival. (See video below).

Three screened yesterday and two screen on Saturday. Today, five are on the docket, including “Sam in the Snow.” It spotlights the then-Sen. Sam Brownback and current governor of Kansas. Considered a conservative, the Republican had some liberal views on immigration.

He worked on the issue with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. As their respective aides try to craft logical immigration reform, the George W. Bush White House is pushing to create the juggernaut that is now known as the Department of Homeland Security. In “Sam in the Snow," SB is presented as a man trying to do the right thing in the face of party and constituent opposition, as well as shifting priorities.

Screening later today and on Saturday are “The Kids Across the Hill," "Marking up the Dream,” “Ain’t the AFL For Nothin’,” “Brothers and Rivals,” “Protecting Arizona" and “The Senate Speaks."

Each series in "How Democracy Works Now" provides a glimpse of government that few see but should.

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

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.

NYFF Day 11: Agnes B. Has Designs on 'My Name Is Hmmm...'

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! ...

“I am a good cook but I have no rules for cooking,” designer Agnès B. said by way of explaining her directorial process in a press conference following the screening of her first feature film, “My Name Is Hmmm …” (“Je m’appelle Hmmm…”).

Over the course of several days she also penned this story that involves incest. “My Name Is Hmmm …” has its North American premiere tonight at The 51st New York Film Festival. (See video at top).

In this refreshingly unsentimental character study, kindred spirits try to find their way, both having lost their innocence. At times, this buddy film takes on an “Alice in Wonderland” quality. Nothing, however, portends a tragic outcome.

Though pacing is ocassionally slow, a good freshman effort.

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

NYFF Day 10: After 'Abuse of Weakness' and 'Bastards,' Gloria!!!'

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! ...

WHAT a day for film! Today, Day 10 of The 51st New York Film Festival, may go down as one of the strongest of this session.

Four films, either making a North American or U.S. premiere, deserve notice. First is James Gray’s very personal “The Immigrant.” The film starring, Joaquin Phoenix and Marion Cotillard, harkens to 1920s New York.

Intrigue and mendacity are omnipresent backdrops in this telling of the newcomer’s struggle to plant roots in the United States of America. (See video of interview with JG and JP a top).

Carrying more intrigue and mendacity than the law allows are two French films – with female directors. A slow, steamy burn to the end, is “Bastards” (“Les Saluds”). Director Claire Denis noted in a post-screening press conference that she and her team built the film brick by brick. What an engaging process to witness in this noirish film based on some recent French sex scandals.

CD employs numerous in her stable of actors, including protagonist Vincent Lindon, to birth this sad, salacious saga. The title is apt, for in this affair there are only two innocents – the young lady who has had unspeakable horrors visited upon her person and the boy of a woman (Chiara Mastroianni) who has made a Faustian deal.

“Bastards” is at once not predictable and not surprising. The ending, shot as a grainy video, is haunting and beautiful – a tasteful coup de grace.

Isabelle Huppert and Kool Shen rely on each other a little too much in “Abuse of Weakeness” (“Abus de Faiblesse”). Photo from "Abuse of Weakness" Facebook page.

“It was me, but it was not me,” Isabelle Huppert’s character emphatically states during an “intervention” in the closing minutes of “Abuse of Weakeness” (“Abus de Faiblesse”). She is referring to the destructive, co-dependent, symbiotic post-stroke relationship that she’s recently ended with a swindler of the stars portrayed by French-Polish rapper Kool Shen. The prolific check-writer was separated from more than 500,000 euros.

The leads give riveting performances in this part-thriller, part multi-layered black comedy based on an experience of director Catherine Breillat.

On a welcome, lighter note is the glorious “Gloria” from Chilean director Sebastian Lelio. This lovable coming-of-middle-age tale was written specifically for 50-something actor, director and playwright Paulina Garcia. “She was Gloria before we had a script,” SL disclosed in a post-screening press conference.

PG’s title character is heartwarmingly bumbling her way – with colossal eyeglasses perched on nose – in a world where her nest is empty of two kids and a husband. One cheers her on through every club dance, drag on a cigarette, phone call and pull of that trigger!

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

NYFF51 Day 9: 'American Promise' or 14 Years in Their Life

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! ...

IN New York City, it is more than a notion to get a kid competently educated without money and, if said kid is a black male.

This is the thesis of “American Promise,” a documentary by Brooklyn filmmaking couple Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson.

They follow their son and a classmate from enrollment at the Dalton School through graduation. It has its U.S. premiere today at The 51st New York Film Festival. (See video at top).

Bound for the education circuit and PBS, “American Promise” is illuminating and disturbing, even as it fails when it insists on making practically every obstacle facing Idris and Seun about race when it is not.

Elsewhere at NYFF51, in its world premiere this evening, is centerpiece "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."

Director Ben Stiller also stars as the title character in this tale with tenuous ties to a James Thurber work. Along for the journey in what is a touching fantasy-filled love story is Kristen Wiig as the elusive love interest of the title character.

In supporting roles, too, are Sean Penn and Shirley MacLaine.. (See video above).>

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

NYFF 51 Day 7: Camera Doesn't Very Much in 'Stray Dogs'

Lu Yi-ching, Chen Shiang-chyi and Li Yi-cheng in "Stray Dogs." Photo courtesy of New York Film Festival.

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! ...

“HE didn’t film it,” a cinematographer remarked after screening Tsai Ming-liang’s “Stray Dogs.” The film has its U.S. premiere tonight at The 51st New York Film Festival.

“He shot it digitally. You can’t hold a scene in one frame for 15 minutes.”

The latest from the Chinese director is haunting. It is also boring, owing mainly to his tendency to capture scenes for an interminable period. It thwarts the impact of his tale of a homeless Taipei family. Mercifully, “Stray Dogs” does not seem as long as its 138 minutes. (See video below).

Let’s hope this won’t be ML's last film, as he indicated in Venice.

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

NYFF 51 Day 5: 'About Time' for 'Jimmy P.'

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! ...

FOR the witty take on time travel at the heart of “About Time,” Richard Curtis gathers what audiences have come to expect in the form of offbeat, oddball characters, including Lindsay Duncan and Bill Nighy.

A newcomer to the RC stable is all-grownup “Harry Potter” alum, Domhnall Gleeson. The young man, who is looking very much like a younger Boris Becker, comports himself admirably in the lead role. (See video at top).

“About Time” has a similar tone of earlier RC works, “Love, Actually” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” but cannot be accused of being derivative. In its North American premiere this evening at The 51st New York Film Festival, “About Time” is universally well-acted and delightful.

Also in its North American premiere today is “Jimmy P: Pychotherapy of a Plains Indian.” Based on a book by Georges Devereux, the film stars Benecio Del Toro as the patient of the title, and Mathieu Amalric as his therapist. It is set in 1940’s at Texas’ Menninger Clinic.

More offbeat characters. One from the Blackfoot Nation; the other a Hungarian Jew passing for French. The outsiders – beatdown by life in very different, yet not-so different ways – break, bond and heal through the prism of taking therapy. Masterful, but understated performances from the leads in this psychological drama. “Jimmy P: Pychotherapy of a Plains Indian” is moody, romantic and tense.

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

NYFF 51 Day 3: 'Le Week-End' Almost Sinks a Marriage

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! ...

IN Roger Michell’s “Le Week-End,” a British couple journeys to Paris to celebrate 30 years of marriage.

Enter Meg (the illustrious Lindsay Duncan who also appears in “About Time,” which has its North American premiere at The 51st New York Film Festival) and Nick (Jim Broadbent.)

They spend the weekend bickering about nothing to the point of a breech, forcing circumstances to intervene in a most delightful way. Minutiae-heavy “Le Week-End,” in its U.S. premiere today, teeters toward boring but is saved by energy-bearing Jeff Goldblum as a colleague of university professor, Nick.

Here’s a one for folks over 50.

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