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The Ultimate Guide To Film, Video and Entertainment In New York City

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The Manic Mind of Tim Burton At MoMA

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    In what has to be a first, the prestigious Museum of Modern Art in New York is  devoting considerable museum space to a working Hollywood filmmaker. Just opening this weekend is Tim Burton, a major retrospective exploring the full scale of Tim Burton’s career, both as a director and concept artist for live-action and animated films, and as an artist, illustrator, photographer, and writer. On view through April 26, 2010, the exhibition brings together over 700 examples ...

The New Home For International Cinema

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  With foreign-language films (with "dreaded" sub-titles) becoming more and more difficult to find theatrical distribution, the action has moved to the home screen for even films that have been major presences on the international film festival circuit. IFC Films, which still does do day-and-date simultaneous openings in theaters and on its on-demand television network, is increasingly showcasing films strictly on its IFC ON DEMAND service, available via cable and satellite tel...

CRACKS Finds Home At IFC

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  CRACKS,  starring Eva Green (Casino Royale, The Dreamers), which premiered to critical acclaim at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival, has been picked up for North American distribution by IFC FILMS. The UK/US co-production is the directorial debut of Jordan Scott, who was born in England and has directed campaigns throughout the world for RSA Films. She directed a short-film advertising campaign for Prada as well as public service announcements advocating gun control. She also co-direct...

India Comes To New York

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  New York City prides itself as being the "capital of the world", as it has attracted immigrants from all over the globe and set up individual communities within the city's urban grid. For the past few decades, the communities of South Asia, particularly India and Pakistan, have become vibrant parts of the city's mosaic, producing in their midst the finest curry dishes, sari shops and music concerts this side of Delhi and Peshawar. This past weekend, New York opened up ...

Video Interview: Lee Daniels (PRECIOUS)

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  Link to video interview with director Lee Daniels of the American indie hit PRECIOUS, on stage at the Jacob Burns Film Center, New York on Monday, November 9: http://www.burnsfilmcenter.org/films/precious-moreinfo ...

Oscar, Meet Precious

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  Oscar, meet Precious........the Academy Awards have just gotten their first blast of ghetto love with the rising tide surrounding the urban drama PRECIOUS: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire by producer-turned-director Lee Daniels. The film, a major hit out of Sundance and screened to great acclaim in Cannes, Toronto and New York, opened theatrically in the United States this past weekend…..and broke box office records for its per-screen performance. Logging in an astonishing $100,00...

Italian Neorealism At New York's Lincoln Center

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  It doesn’t get much better than this…..the Film Society of Lincoln Center, which presents the New York Film Festival each Fall, is in the midst of a revelatory review of one of the major film movements of the 20th century, presenting a list of acknowledged classics along with previously unknown (at least to me) gems. ITALIAN NEOREALISM AND THE BIRTH OF MODERN CINEMA is an exhaustive look at the cinema that flourished in Italy in the post-war period and that still remains a high poi...

Discovering The World of Guru Dutt

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   Guru Dutt in PYAASA (1957) With the continued  appeal of Bollywood and last year’s Oscar win by SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, the history of Indian cinema is en vogue. This year as part of its Masterworks section, the New York Film Festival is offering the first compete New York retrospective of the works of Indian film artist Guru Dutt.   Born in 1925, Dutt was an Indian film director, producer and actor, who is often credited with ushering in the golden era of...

Checking The Pulse of European Cinema

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  Penelope Cruz in BROKEN EMBRACES (Spain)  The New York Film Festival, which enters its final weekend today, has presented a program with a large emphasis on European cinema. With a strong showing of films from Portugal (http://www.fest21.com/en/blog/filmnewyork/a_peek_at_portugese_cinema_at_nyff) and France (http://www.fest21.com/en/blog/filmnewyork/the_french_invasion_of_new_york), the Festival finds that contemporary European cinema from other nations not only has...

The Return of Todd Solondz

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  It's been nearly five years since Todd Solondz, one of American independent cinema's most respected (and controversial) auteurs, has been seen at a film festival. His last film PALINDROMES (2004) premiered at the Venice Film Festival but was roundly hissed by most film critics and its subsequent release was very anemic. After his earlier successes, including his debut WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE (1995), the heartfelt and uncomfortably intimate HAPPINESS (1998) and the less well receive...

Film In Focus: PRECIOUS

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  Oscar, meet Precious........the Academy Awards have just gotten their first blast of ghetto love with the rising tides surrounding the urban drama PRECIOUS: Based On A Novel By Sapphire by producer-turned-director Lee Daniels. The film, a major hit out of Sundance and screening as the Centerpiece Film this past weekend at the New York Film Festival, is getting some of the hottest reviews of the year and positioning its director, screenwriter, actors and techicians into the Oscar gold ...

Woodstock FF Award Winners

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  DON'T LET ME DROWN (Cruz Angeles, USA) Filmmakers, industry mavens, film critics and local film buffs gathered last evening at the historic Backstage Productions Arts and Entertainment Complex in Kingston, NY for the awards ceremonies of the 10th edition of the Woodstock Film Festival. The film event closes today, celebrating 10 years of exceptional independent film, panels, concerts, events and parties, with the best of the best in the indie film world. Emceed by actor/dire...

Stars Stretch Their Stuff at Woodstock FF

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  Uma Thurman in MOTHERHOOD At the Woodstock Film Festival, which today concludes its five-day marathon of film premieres, industry seminars, music concerts and groovy parties, film directors generally get all the attention. However, after my own personal marathon screenings, it is the performances of several standout actors that has made the biggest impression. Of course, for an independent filmmaker, casting is a critical part of the process.  Luckily, it has been par...

Astonishing Debuts At Woodstock FF

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  CHILDREN OF INVENTION    With a festival which prides itself as being “fiercely independent”, the Woodstock Film Festival, which concludes today, is committed to the discovery of new talents, both behind and in front of the screen. With budgets that are tight in the extreme, more often that not, the actors used are new to the screen and unknown to the public (I included myself in this). However, when a performance of great depth or realism is given by someone you do not know, my tende...

Views From The Avant-Garde at NYFF

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  TREES OF SYNTAX  The New York Film Festival, which features the latest works from established masters, also is a vehicle for introducing curious audiences to more challenging work by new film artists. This weekend, the Festival is hosting its annual avant-garde showcase that holds some of this event's most memorable programming. The 13th edition of VIEWS FROM THE AVANT GARDE will showcase features eleven programs. A total of 61 works will be presented, 21 by artists being s...

Film In Focus: LEBANON

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  The horrors of war and the toll that it takes on both civilians and the soldiers themselves are film topics that, unfortunately, never go out of style. While it can be argued that audiences tend to stay away from such strong fare, a film that brings the audience to the center of the action and that involves it emotionally has a better chance to transcend the grimness of the material and make an impact with what is often a reluctant public. LEBANON, the new Israeli film by Samuel M...

Music Films At Woodstock Film Festival

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  Woodstock is synonymous with music, so it makes perfect sense that one of the highlights of the Woodstock Film Festival is a series of highly anticipated music films. The films range from folk to rock to punk and everything in between, and are often accompanied with live music performances (another Woodstock staple). Festivities kick off Friday evening with a live music event featuring the “father of Ukulele hip hop”, rapper/songwriter Jon Braman, Jim & Liz Beloff, and...

Producer Ted Hope Honored At Woodstock FF

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Award-winning producer Ted Hope, one of the most respected independent producers in the film industry, will be honored with the honorary Trailblazer Award at the 10th Anniversary edition of the Woodstock Film Festival, which opened today. Hope is a true indie pioneer who has shepherded dozens of American indie films over the past three decades. He will be honored at the WFF Gala Awards Ceremony on Saturday night, October 3rd. Hope enjoys a reputation as an unparalleled spotter o...

Woodstock FF Celebrates 10th Anniversary

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  The Woodstock Film Festival, which opens this evening with a pre-Festival screening of Oscar winning documentarian Barbara Kopple's WOODSTOCK: NOW AND THEN, is celebrating its 10th anniversary as one of the independent film festival's most intriguing and enjoyable events. The Festival, which runs through Sunday, is set in the idyllic town of Woodstock, New York, about 3 hours north of Manhattan. While many might associate the town with the legendary 1969 rock concert (and cultur...

HBO Films Directors Dialogues At NYFF

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The New York Film Festival provides extraordinary access to some of world cinema's most interesting film talents via the HBO Films Directors Dialogue Series. Among those who are participating (all of whom have films in the festival proper): MARCO BELLOCCHIO With a career that spans the heyday of 60s Italian art cinema (Fists in the Pocket, China is Near) to religion (My Mother’s Smile, NYFF 2002) to political drama (Good Morning, Night, NYFF 2003 and this year’s Vincere), Marco B...
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