Day 17 – October 13
My last screening for this year's New York Film Festival was Jia Zhangke's "Useless", a documentary about 3 different parts of China and their connection to clothes production and the fashion industry. A slow and observatory movie, "Useless" isn't a conventional documentary - it was a nice, quiet and reflective way to end my time with the NYFF.

Listening to Jia Zhangke talk afterwards about how and why he made his movie seemed to put the entire festival and the idea of why we make and watch movies into perspective. It was a great year, with an amazing crop of experimental and well told American stories - along with phenomenal movies from around the country.

I'm already sad that I have to wait another year for my New York Film Festival fix of two weeks of intense movie watching. Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next year at the New York Film Festival!

Day 16 – October 12
After a Thursday night with a highly enjoyable and intelligent movie (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi's "Actresses") but had a lackluster turnout (it rained right before the screening) - I was ready for my Friday night line up of John Ford's "Drums Along the Mohawk" (1939) and John Stahl's "Leave Her to Heaven" (1945), both presented in restored Technicolor.

I headed up to the Walter Reade Theater (where The Film Society of Lincoln Center usually holds screenings) prepared for an amazing feast for the eyes and what I hoped would be a great introduction from Martin Scorsese himself. The theater was packed (Peter Bogdonavich was there to see the movies too!) and I was happy to see so many people out to revisit these great works.

Scorsese of course gave a great introduction to both movies, each time confirming that he really cares about film preservation and that he himself loves to watch movies. It was exciting to think that we were all watching one with him! As expected the movies were spectacular and the visuals as beautiful as anything I had ever seen on the big screen.

Only one more night for me and The 45th New York Film Festival (2 more for the actual fest) - I'm already missing it.

Day 13 – October 9
I was very excited for my Tuesday night movie, the latest from the always evolving Gus Van Sant, “Paranoid Park.” Continuing his current stretch of lyrical pieces that play with conventional narrative, “Paranoid Park” stars almost all non-professional actors and is about a teenage boy in the midst of adolescent alienation and a skateboard community.

The movie exceeded all of my expectations (which were pretty high to begin with) and also provided the youngest crowd at the festival thus far. More than that, the Q&A with Van Sant was without a doubt the most accessible of any Q&A I have seen over the past two weeks. Soft spoken but never unsure, he didn’t make the idea of making a movie seem like a foreign universe and instead related his process in a way that gave me hope and inspiration.

While I am still figuring out my favorite movie of the fest, I have a feeling that this will end up being my favorite screening.

There are only 4 days left of the NYFF, I can hardly believe it has gone so quickly. Next I head to Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi’s “Actresses”, followed by something I have been eagerly anticipating since they announced the festival line-up, a Technicolor presentation of John Ford’s “Drums Along the Mohawk” and John Stahl’s” Leave Her to Heaven” – introduced by Martin Scorsese!

Day 12 – October 8
MA simple night tonight with “The Flight of the Red Balloon” by festival favorite Hou Hsiao-Hsien. The theater was pretty packed for this quiet tale of a red balloon that circles Paris, a nanny, her charge and his mother as they all deal with the ebb and flow of everyday life.

I think everyone left Rose Hall a little calmer than they arrived.

Day 11 – October 7
After a full Saturday, I took it easy on Sunday and laid low until the evening screening of Catherine Breillat’s “The Last Mistress.” Breillat is best known for being provocative in her portrayal of women and sex (whether she is actually provocative or just honest is another issue I suppose).

Her latest movie is no exception, although it finds Breillat in the foreign terrain of making a period piece, instead of her usual small budget modern drama. I quite enjoyed her foray into the past, especially the performances of Asia Argento, HYPERLINK "http://imdb.com/name/nm0581953/" Roxane Mesquida and newcomer HYPERLINK "http://imdb.com/name/nm2227118/" Fu'ad Ait Aattou.

Breillat and Mesquida were both on hand for a Q&A after the movie ended. In response to questions about why she wanted to make a bigger budget movie, Breillat simply stated that there were many people making movies with lots of money in France that weren’t nearly as talented as she is (I agree) so she decided to make a movie that cost a lot as well. I’m certainly glad she did.

Day 10 – October 6
My Saturday at the NYFF proved to be all I thought it would be. I started off by attending an early afternoon screening of Alexander Sokuruv’s “Alexandra.” The movie was a quiet piece about a grandmother visiting her grandson at his military base. More than just this basic plot, the movie seems to be about Russia as a whole and in many ways the grandmother character represents the idea of Mother Russia and the young men in the base represent the citizens. It was a nice start to my day.

Next I ran over to the Kaplan Penthouse to see the Director’s Dialogue with Todd Haynes. After seeing “I’m Not There” and loving his prior work, I was really excited to hear him speak about making the Dylan pic and his process in general - I wasn’t disappointed. My favorite part of the discussion came when he addressed the fact that it’s easy for a lot of “I’m Not There” to go over the people’s heads, especially if they aren’t extremely well versed in Dylan. His answer was that hopefully it ends up not mattering and you don’t need to understand all of the references to enjoy the movie (which I agree with) – he wants “I’m Not There” to be an experience that keeps on giving each time you watch it.

After the inspiring dialogue, I prepared myself to see the new Coen Brother’s film “No Country for Old Men.” The last two efforts by the brothers have been let downs for most fans of their work and just based on the trailers, No Country seemed like a step in the right direction.

Before the movie started Ethan, Joel and their cast (Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Kelly MacDonald) made their way to the stage, each seeming to be in good spirits cracking jokes with each other.

Then the lights dimmed and up came a beautiful tale full of extremely dark humor and death. The picture didn’t let me down and was followed by the funniest Q&A I have seen in some time. Perhaps the best moment came when an audience member asked the actors what the difference between working with the Coen Brothers and other directors was. Sitting with a table of rough and tough men, Kelly MacDonald quietly moved her head towards the microphone and exclaimed – “well there are two of them”…

Day 8 – October 4
Wow!! I think it is safe to say that “I’m Not There” will be my favorite movie from the festival this year. Todd Haynes did not disappoint me in the least and there seemed to be an air of excitement throughout the entirety of Rose Hall when the lights came up and Haynes’ take on Bob Dylan ended. More than that, much of his cast and crew were there, with half of the “Bob Dylans”, (Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett, and Marcus Carl Franklin) making an appearance at the screening.

Each of the actor’s took to their role a bit differently, with Blanchett mostly listening to music and the youngest Dylan, Franklin, actually doing research into his life, he compared it to homework. Haynes himself seemed to be quietly happy about “I’m Not There” and his answers to a wide range of questions struck me as impressive, informed and most importantly genuine.

What is perhaps most amazing about his Dylan opus is that what Haynes has given us is essentially a 136 minute experimental movie that stars some of Hollywood’s biggest names and is backed by a Hollywood studio. It will be interesting to see what happens when the movie is released in New York, and how a more general audience receives the picture.

Day 7 – October 3
On Wednesday night I was extremely excited to be seeing the North American premiere of the latest from Hungarian master Bela Tarr, “The Man From London.” The theater was full and when the lights went down the picture that came up was classic Tarr, slow, memorizing and bleak. What surprised me was that a lot of people walked out of the movie before it was over. I will be the first to admit that Tarr’s movies aren’t easy but his style and his penchant for minimal dialogue and a controlled but exploratory camera isn’t something new and if you know anything about Bela Tarr, you know to expect this.

My friend and I both thoroughly enjoyed the picture, a reinvention of a classic noir tale. The general reaction seemed to be one of apathy or one of pure pleasure.

With “The Man From London” out of they way, I can now focus all of my excitement on the film that is next on my schedule, Todd Haynes’ “I’m Not There.” Perhaps my favorite working director, and without a doubt my favorite working American director, I have been anticipating his unique take on the traditional biopic for some time! Only 24 hours left to wait.

Day 6 – October 2
While there are many American movies being shown this year at the festival, a lot of them don’t screen until this weekend, so tonight I sat down to a screening of Mexican auteur Carlos Reygadas’ “Silent Light.” The theater was again full, but as with many of the others, the movie drew a much older crowd. After it ended, I saw some people silently sitting back in awe, seemingly unable to speak while others were grumbling about, commenting on the slowness and length of the movie. I’m still a bit unsure on my thoughts, but can respect Reygadas giving us very real access to Mennonite life, from shooting in a real town and using real Mennonites speaking their native language. Reygadas himself seemed to have no answers about the whys and hows of his movie, except to note that he was interested in people’s faces (specifically Mennonite faces) and the idea of a love triangle.

I saw the movie with 2 friends, one loving the movie, the other one not so much – in fact much of “Silent Light” made him angry. I have to say, nothing makes me happier than being at the New York Film Festival, seeing a movie that tries to break convention and watching my friends react to it!

I am looking forward to catching the new Todd Haynes flick, “I’m Not There “and The Coen Brother’s “No Country for Old Men” and Catherine Breillat’s latest “The Last Mistress.”

But for now, on to the next! (which happens to be Bela Tarr’s latest, “The Man From London”.)

Day 5 – October 1
The NYFF is in full swing and with each screening I see, the theater seems to take in more people! Tonight I went to see Lee Chang-Dong’s “Secret Sunshine.” The movie took home a best actress award at Cannes this year and I can understand why. After the movie ended Lee Chang-Dong took questions from the audience – for such a dramatic movie, he came across as a quiet man who was thoughtfully confident in the movie he created, a meditation on how events change our lives and help us to shed layers of superficiality.

Day 4 – September 30
I spent all day at the fest, starting with seeing Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. An experiment in form and point of view, it was easily one of the best movies I’ve seen all year, running the emotional gamut with some scenes sparking both tears and laughter. After this, I was very excited to walk down the street to the director’s dialogue with Schnabel.

Schnabel, a painter who occasionally makes movies, seemed to have a sort of freedom about him that most filmmakers don’t (probably due to his primary occupation as a painter and not needing to be worried about getting his next movie made). I was unsure of how to read him, but when he was asked about people’s interpretation of his work and his intentions for his audience and he answered by proclaiming “I don’t like to tell people how to chew their food”, I smiled to myself. It’s always nice when director’s give the folks watching the movie the ability to think for themselves.

I went from the entertaining and inspiring sessions with Schnabel back down to Rose Hall to catch Ira Sach’s Married Life. A 1949 period piece steaming with extra-marital affairs, red lipstick and some stellar performances from Pierce Brosnan, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Cooper and Rachel McAdams, the movie transcends its period through some pretty dark comedy.

When the lights came up, Sachs, Cooper and Clarkson took to the stage to answer a few questions. After some typical back and forth, an audience member asked how the actors’ got involved with the project. Cooper seemed to take to the movie pretty quickly, as he usually reads a script 3-4 times when deciding and only needed to read Married Life twice.

Clarkson, however provided the real moment when she talked about what made her say yes to Married Life. I don’t want to spoil the movie so I won’t go into detail, but suffice to say she had a slightly wicked smile and her blue eyes were lighting up the entire theater.

And to think, there are still two weeks to go!

Day 3 – September 29
What a great weekend! I started out by going to see Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, an amazing minimalist story of 2 girls in 1987 Romania seeking out and getting an illegal abortion. The theater was pretty packed for a 12:30pm screening and it was nice to see a fair amount of young people filling the seats.

One thing that I’ve always been interested in is the audience of the New York Film Festival. For better or worse the crowd is mainly older, made up of a group of people who have probably been attending the festival for years. I’m always on the lookout for younger fans, the people that will make up the festival in the years to come. Manohla Dargis wondered the same thing in her Friday New York Times article when she made the point that for foreign film to survive in the US, a new audience needs to be “cultivated” and if the New York Film Festival can’t attract this new audience, the future looks pretty bleak. As a 25 year old that has trouble getting her friends, who all really enjoy movies, to fork over 20 dollars to see a movie from Russia, South Korea or even France, I can’t help but agree.

But 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days was exceptional! Young people were there (although we need more!) and this year’s home of the festival, Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall, turned out to be a great venue with a huge screen, great sound and a good seating set-up (even in the balcony).

Day 1 – September 27
It's finally fall in New York City, my favorite time of the year because it promises the best weather New York will get and more importantly it marks the return of the New York Film Festival. Ever since the Cannes line-up was announced last spring, I have been in anticipation of what movies we would get to see at the NYFF.

With the festival fast approaching, I am getting a bit antsy and mentally preparing myself for 2 weeks of intense movie watching. What I love the most about the NYFF is that you get to such a great selection of World Cinema. Also, this is a festival that filmmakers actually come to! I can't help but smile when I think about being in the same room as Todd Haynes (I'm Not There), Martin Scorsese (introducing the amazing Technicolor retrospective) and the Coen Brothers (No Country For Old Men).

And it's always nice to see movies treated more like an art form than normal, with screenings throughout Lincoln Center's great facilities, reserved seats and no concessions for sale. Although this year the fest has to move from it's usual home at Alice Tully Hall to a new space due to reconstruction (hopefully the new spot will be just as amazing). The price tag might be kind of high for tickets, but to see a movie in a room with people who respect where they are and what they're seeing makes me happy.

My time with the NYFF starts on Saturday with an early afternoon screening of Cannes winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. Romanian cinema is all the rage these days when it comes to movie nerds and the movie has a lot of hype, so it should be a good way, albeit a depressing way, to start what should be an amazing two weeks!

Lots more to come...