NYFF 2014

Here I shall share my coverage from the 52nd New York Film Festival. 

Birdman: "is many things. It's an ambitious and beautifully executed experiment. It's a technical wonder that will be examined for decades to come. It's a showbiz comedy with bite. It's an earnest and moving entry in the all too underserved genre of father-daughter drama. It's a reminder how goddamn gripping Keaton is as an actor. But above else, please know this: It's a hell of a good time."

Inherent Vice: "I'm sorry to be the buzz kill to the P.T. Anderson party. But this is a long, complicated noir is so choked in stoner logic that its plot reeks of incoherence." 

Maps To The Stars: "mythic, macabre and merciless. And I loved every twisted minute of it."

Goodbye To Language 3D: "Godard believes we've made human communication into a snarl of beauty and ugliness, emotion and indifference, presence and distraction. To warn you of it, he offers Goodbye to Language 3D, a film that even at 70 minutes is grueling. All in all, it is intriguing exercise in social criticism. But it's an unpopular message delivered in an unbearable execution. Do you dare take it on?"

Two Days, One Night: "I won't dare say Marion Cotillard will win an Oscar for this role. The Academy tends to favor far flashier fare for their big night. But for giving such a stripped down and impactful performance, she damn well deserves one." 

Time Out Of Mind: "Moverman has come to the New York Film Festival with his third feature, the Richard Gere-fronted Time Out of Mind. In many ways, it's his riskiest endeavor to date…for better or worse." 

Mr. Turner: "Leigh's made a lovely film about an uncompromising painter, who at times was at best an unpleasant man and at worse an asshole. Mr. Turner is the kind of movie that would be a pleasant watch on a rainy Saturday…but one where you've got a Wikipedia page conveniently open near by to serve as footnotes."


Listen Up Philip: "between the slapdash and choking cinematography, the oppressive narration, and the hideous characters, I didn't find anything fun or funny in this so-called 'comedy.'"


Plus Listen Up Philip interviews with Jason Schwartzman and Elisabeth Moss.