Keyframe throws its hat into the multi-ring carnival that is the 49th New York Festival. This year’s lineup is a veritable explosion of cinema, a massive build-out of screenings and events from past editions. It’s an embarrassment of riches, between the introduction of special filmmaking forums, a new special sidebar on documentaries; even the enduring cutting-edge showcase Views of the Avant-Garde seems to have tripled in size from last year.
It’s enough just for us to keep our focus on the big ticket gala presentations and the main slate, as well as the special massive sidebar of films from Japan’s storied production company Nikkatsu (of which some titles are available on Fandor). Look for reviews and coverage published frequently on Keyframe throughout the festival.
And to make things interesting, we’ll be polling our NYFF contributors on all the films they’ll have seen, organizing their ratings along this handy grid below. Check back for updates as we keep seeing and rating films.
First, a list of NYFF reviews to date:
Finding New Life in 3-D: Wim Wenders’ “Pina” by Vadim Rizov
Lowdown, Dirty Fassbender: “Shame” by Jaime N. Christley
On Screen Dance-Off: “Pina” vs. “Crazy Horse” – by Anna Bak-Kvapil
The Golden Age of Softcore: ‘Roman Porno’ and ‘Pink Films’ Strike Back – by Simon Abrams
Fighters of the Nation: The Stylish Substance of “Policeman” by Anna Bak-Kvapil
Unfunny Games: Racism and Spacism at “Play” by Michal Oleszczyk
Some Like It Obvious: “My Week With Marilyn” by Anna Bak-Kvapil
Master (and Star) of the Modern Crime Movie: “This Is Not a Film” by Vadim Rizov
Tarr’s Final Testament: “The Turin Horse” by Phil Coldiron
The Personal Velocity of the Dardennes Brothers: “The Kid with a Bike” by Jaime N. Christley
Change the World or Get Laid Trying: “The Student” by Vadim Rizov
Long, Strange Trips: “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia” by Ali Arikan
David Cronenberg, as Mind-Blowing as Ever in “A Dangerous Method” by Jaime N. Christley
Family Feuds in Brooklyn and Tehran: “A Separation” and “Carnage” by Jaime N. Christley
Whacking vs. Spanking: How “A Dangerous Method” Out-Plays “Carnage” by Dan Callahan
Banh Mi Before the Big Bang: “4:44: Last Day on Earth” by Anna Bak-Kvapil
A Big, Devouring Thing: “Melancholia” Take 2 by Jaime N. Christley
Kirsten Dunst’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: “Melancholia” Take 1 by Michal Oleszczyk
The Catechism Cataclysm of “Corpo Celeste” by Anna Bak-Kvapil
Backpacking Their Way into a Bad Romance: “The Loneliest Planet” by Phil Coldiron
NYFF ’11 Review: Four Miserable Jerks Moved by a Restless Intelligence: “Carnage” by Phil Coldiron
Key: Contributors rate films they’ve seen along a five rating scale: YES, yes, meh, no, and NO. We trust the ratings are self-explanatory.
Contributors: Kevin B. Lee (KBL), Anna Bak-Kvapil (ABK), Phil Coldiron (PC), Jaime N. Christley (JNC) Michal Oleszczyk (MO), Vadim Rizov (VR), Simon Abrams (SA), Ali Arikan (AA).
Bonus: Surveying the original NYFF coverage found on other sites, we’ve been especially impressed with the writing coming from our peers at Slant Magazine and The Film Experience. So we’ve invited them to take part in our Rate-o-Rama. You can find the house ratings for Slant and The Film Experience in the columns to the right of the Keyframe averages.
