NY Film Fest a sign of great things to come

If you offered me a pass to any film festival in the world, I think I'd have to pick New York. Cannes clearly has the most pull, and Toronto has been rising for years now and probably now gets the most star power, but I'm just a sucker for New York.

And, this week, though I can't seem to find it anywhere, they've unveiled their full lineup, and it of course just makes me insanely jealous.

As previously announced, Wes Anderson's (huzzah!) "Darjeeling Limited" will be the opening night film. It's been a long time off for Mr. Anderson, so I'm hoping this is a strong return to top form after the disastruous "Steve Zissou" (I've watched that flick three times now, and just about the only thing I can find to enjoy about it are those beautiful Portugeuse David Bowie songs.)

Added this week are plenty more flicks I'm looking forward to. On the top of that list would have to be Noah Baumbach's "Margot at the Wedding." I thought his "The Squid and the Whale" was very close to being the best movie of 2005, so I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. Starring wifey Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nicole Kidman, Jack Black, John Turturro and Ciaran Hinds (huzzah!), it's about the titular Margot (Kidman) visiting her sister (Leigh) after she announces she's marrying a rather dim dude (Black, of course.)

Close on the heels of that as far as flicks I need to see as soon as possible would have to be the Coen brothers' take on Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men," which will be the centerpiece flick, and Todd Haynes' simply insane Dylan biopic "I'm Not There."

The closing night flick, "Perselopis," should also be intriguing. It's apparently an animated retelling of the Iranian revolution. Like I said, I can't seem to find the full slate on the film fest site, but other notable flicks include Brian De Palma's Iraq war drama "Redacted," Gus Van Sant's skater flick "Paranoid Park," Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Abel Ferrara's "Go Go Tales," Claude Chabrol's "A Girl Cut in Two," "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" and "Secret Sunshine."

If you're somehow going to this, as my father managed to do once, I'm insanely jealous. As for me, I'll just have to wait until these potentially great flicks make it to somewhere near my little corner of the world.

Bonus Wes Anderson?

The Guardian newspaper had a little tidbit about Anderson's "Darjeeling Limited."

The flick, starring Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman, is about three estranged brothers who rebuild their bonds with a voyage across India after the death of their father. According to the Guardian, it will be preceeded by a 12-minute short called "Hotel Chavalier," which acts as a prequel to the main flick and is about one of the brothers and a relationship that goes awry.

Sayles goes back to school

If John Sayles' latest flick, "Honeydripper," ever somehow plays in Macon, I guess I'll have a savvy group of college students to thank for it.

"Stomp the Yard" producer Will Packer and Emerging Pictures founder Ira Deutchman are teaming with Clark Atlanta University to launch a film marketing and distribution course for African-American college students across the country, and their first assignment will be to produce a marketing plan for the flick.

Reading the plot summary on IMDB, it sounds like a blues-tinged version of "Big Night," which could be a good thing, I suppose. Danny Glover plays the owner of a failing delta juke joint who lures "Guitar Sam" for one night only in hopes of drawing customers away from a more popular competitor. Sam, however, doesn't show, so he instead cleans up a ne'er do well named Sonny who claims he can play and tries to pass him off as "Guitar Sam." I can only guess that the kid can indeed play the blues, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. Along with Glover, the movie stars Charles S. "Roc" Dutton (huzzah!), Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, Mary Steenburgen and Sean Patrick Thomas.

Before Emerging Pictures releases the flick in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 28, select students from Clark Atlanta and other participating historically black colleges will help develop and implement a grassroots marketing campaign with their professors and the film's distribution team. It will continue throughout the platform release in Atlanta and Chicago on Jan. 18 and a wide release the following month.

My guess is they've got a tall task ahead of them to get this a real wide release, but they've certainly got me cheering them on.

Something I swore I would no longer care about

I promised myself that, after Joss Whedon got booted from the project, I would never again write another word about the "Wonder Woman" flick, but this is just too odd to let pass.

According to the celebrity gossip site I'm Not Obsessed, Mrs. Tom Cruise is in talks to play our heroine. Here's what their "source" had to say:

“The movie’s only at the discussion state, but Katie feels this role as a kick-ass superhero will put her back in the public eye. She wants to show her stuff, and she wants to prove that she can stand on her own two feet without Tom’s help. Tom, at times, feels compelled to oversee Katie’s career, but Katie is bent on doing this alone. She actually scheduled the meeting when she knew Tom wasn’t going to be able to be there.”

Any chance that I would have seen this disaster-in-the-making would have been if they went ahead with the plan to cast the very funny Cobie Smulders of "How I Met Your Mother." With Katie instead? No chance.

Three days off

I'm off for a long weekend to visit my brother in Minneapolis where, I'm sure, I'll see a movie or two. "Superbad" may be on the menu if I can talk him into it, and "Rocket Science" has also been discussed.

If you're here in Macon, we've got three great offerings this week, a real rarity for August. Along with "Superbad," which in case you haven't noticed I've been more than a little obsessed with for, well, forever, we're getting "Becoming Jane" and, only at the Regal Rivergate 14, the Don Cheadle flick "Talk to Me." The latter flick, about DC disc jockey Petey Greene, has one-week-only written all over it, so don't pass up this chance to see it. Peace out.

Best picture nominees already? Let's guess

I'm leaving for South Africa tomorrow for a two-week stay (and thus most likely putting this blog on hiatus, except for perhaps a guest reviewer's take on "Silver Surfer"), so you'll have to forgive me if I've got the future on my mind.

Even though it's the height of the summer silly season (in all the best and worst ways) I couldn't help but start thinking this morning about what's gonna come during awards season (which, with "Goya's Ghosts" coming to some folks in July, I reckon starts soon.) Besides, even if I haven't seen any of these movies yet, I love guessing, which just builds up the anticipation

So, without further delay, here are eight movies, with trailers where I could find them, that look like they have all the stuff Oscar voters love (and, to boot, a lot of them look like really good flicks too.)


1. No Country for Old Men
The Coen brothers' decision to take on Cormac McCarthy got a shot in the arm from an unlikely source when Oprah decided to christen the buckets-of-blood author for inclusion in her book club. The cast for this one is just stellar, with Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Stephen Root and many more, and it's already been delayed so it can pick up more late-year buzz.


2. American Gangster
Finally, Denzel Washington will get an Oscar he deserves (I'm not hating on the man, just the movie "Training Day," which was rubbish.) If I have to pick a frontrunner at this early stage, this would have to be it. Ridley Scott tells the true story of Frank Lucas (Washington) who became the heroin kingpin of Harlem before turning himself into the police, mainly Russell Crowe. With a script by Stephen Zaillain, this is a lock.


3. Goya's Ghosts
If you can buy the idea that Natalie Portman could be the muse for a master painter (and why not?), than this should work well. Stellan Skarsgard is Goya, and Javier Bardem is the monk who torments him when he brands Goya's lady love (Portman) as a heretic. With Milos Forman directing, look for a lot of fun.

4. Brothers Bloom
Rian Johnson's Brick was easily one of my favorite movies of 2005, and this heist flick should be even better. Mark Ruffalo and Adrian Brody are the titular con artists, and Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi also along for the ride.


5. Becoming Jane
If I'm not mistaken, there will be 400 movies about Jane Austen coming out before the end of the year, but this one should be the best. Besides, what's more fun than speculating about the love life of famous folks? This flick fleshes out the details of an affair Austen (Anne Hathaway) is rumored to have had with young Irishman Tom LeFroy (James McAvoy.)


6. Atonement
McAvoy again in an adaptation of one of the best books of the past few years, by Ian McEwan. Director Joe Wright made the best "Pride & Prejudice" yet (sorry to all Colin Firth devotees), so he should fare well with this juicy story about love, betrayal and, of course, atonement. The plot is much more complicated than this, but in a nutshell, a 13-year-old girl accuses the lover (McAvoy) of her older sister (Keira Knightley) of a crime he didn't commit, changing all their lives forever.

7. Eastern Promises
Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts and David Cronenberg all together again? I'm in. As best as I can tell, Watts plays a midwife who finds out about a child-prostitution operation. Mortensen is a very bad man who is connected to one of London's leading crime families, until he encounters Watts' character and vows to protect her. If you need to know any more to get excited about this, the script comes from Stephen Knight, who penned the superb thriller "Dirty Pretty Things" for Stephen Frears.

8. Charlie Wilson's War
Boomers do still run the world, so this should be the closest thing to a lock after "American Gangster." Director Mike Nichols works with an Aaron Sorkin script about a Texas congressman's shady dealings to assist the Afghan rebels in their war with the Soviets. Somehow methinks it might have to do with a lot more than that. And, oh yeah, I forgot to mention: The congressman is played by Tom Hanks, so just bank on it.

And there you have it. I'm off for a while. Have a perfectly pleasant two weeks, and definitely go see "Ratatouille." Peace out.