It is that time of year again, Christmas in October for Milton and me. Here in the Big Apple the New York Film Festival is underway for the 49th time.
Yay, it's here!
Milton is a longtime member of the Film Society of Lincoln Center so we were able to purchase our tickets in advance in August. This year’s festival is packed with films that already have theatrical release.
For example, opening the festival today is Carnage directed by Roman Polanski (a guaranteed no show). This film is an adaptation of God of Carnage, Yasmina Reza’s smash hit play that won the Tony award in 2009. It stars Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly. We figure that most, if not all of them, will attend.
Milton and I were in complete agreement to pass on this one, not because we have issues with Polanski, the story, or the star-studded cast, but it will open theatrically in December. If we do not luck into a free screening, we’ll see it in a movie theater for $13, significantly less than the $250 opening night admission price (but it will screen three more times at the festival to the tune of $40 or $20). Milton and I are fine with waiting to see this one later in the year.
What we strive to see are films that have not scored distribution but we also indulge each other’s guilty pleasure. This year my GP is a screening of a two-part HBO documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World. It’s directed by Martin Scorsese and will be broadcast on HBO next Wednesday and Thursday, October 5th and 6th, the day after our screening. I told Milton that since I can no longer afford to subscribe to HBO I’d like to see all 208 minutes of it in one sitting on Alice Tully Hall’s giant screen. Milton swallowed hard and said:
Milton (groaning deeply): Okay.
Milton’s guilty pleasure is The Turin Horse, possibly the last film by the Hungarian filmmaker, Béla Tarr. It’s shot in black and white, it runs 146 minutes with minimal action, and the little dialogue that is spoken is in Hungarian. My boss, Elsbeth, who is of Hungarian descent, wanted to get a ticket, too, but when she revealed this to me I discovered that it was already sold out. As fate would have it, the FSLC has posted the trailer online and voila! Tickets are suddenly available again. I cocked my head like Nipper the RCA dog and thought:
Me: Huh! How’d that happen?
Painting of Nipper allegedly listening to the sound of his master's voice, but it could have also been a recording of the cat next door.
Then, I watched the 45 second trailer. I urge all Lame Adventures readers to do so now:
Hm, I wonder if there might have been an onslaught of returns and Milton and I will have the theater all to ourselves? I’m debating whether or not to tell my superior that tickets are available again. I could sorely use a raise but I’m unsure if passing on this news will grant me one or get me fired.
Lame Adventures 
That’s a different kinda trailer- have NO idea what the movie’s about. I guess you can tell I’m scarred by the LOUD, dramatic! trailers of most popular movies.
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We’ll know what it’s about in the not too distant future, but I suspect it would behoove us to be well-rested and heavily caffeinated for this one. Thanks for visiting Rumpydog!
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OK here’s the deal – this weekend I am filming my Mr. Peabody and Sherman bobble heads on my kitchen counter backlit by my garish Ikea orange bar light – this film will be silent and the trailer I tape will run about as long as the trailer above – I will change my name to a Hungarian sounding name and enter my epic film into the NY Film Fest next year -you have any Hungarian friends that will enter my film and mail it to NY with a Eastern European return address????? Maybe me pen film name will be:
Mr. Boris Badenov, Director
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Does this imply that there’s no chance that you’ll join us, Max? I know that “garish Ikea orange bar light “! Plant some glasses on it, and it kinda looks like you.
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The tile of my film – in HUngarian of course will be:
A Dog and His Boy
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Wow, you’ve invested so much thought into this. You must be writing from work!
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Surely you’re not implying that ticket-holders saw the trailer online and returned them! Good God!
Kathy
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Milton thinks that the NYFF’s web site (which has been taking a lot of flak since buying tix online is proving problematic and causing people to detonate on their web site — if you care to check out some pretty entertainign anger issues) is inaccurate, and that this film is indeed sold out. I asked him if he has seen the trailer yet? He has not. I told him, “Let’s continue this discussion after you have.” I did tell my boss that tickets might still be available, but I’ve urged her to check out the trailer and said it does not seem to be a Hungarian Seabiscuit.
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damn, i think i’ve been in the south too long, sugar! i thought the damn trailer said the turin HOUSE which made sense in a b/w foreign film sort of way! but of course, on second reading, the trailer made no sense at all! 😉 xoxox
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There’s not much plot to that trailer, Savannah, whether the film is called The Turin Horse or The Turin House. I suspect this is going to be one of those films where a percentage of the audience will be steadily walking out for at least the first hour. Good times await Milton and me!
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Omigosh, this reminds me of the most excruciating movie going experience I ever had. It was Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film “Death in Venice,” starring Dirk Bogarde. My ex-husband and I dubbed it “Death of the Audience.”
Also, Roman Polanski’s 1965 film “Repulsion,” starring Catherine Deneuve was pretty damn creepy.
And then there was the black and white film of Japanese “erotica” we saw at the Cinematheque 16 in Los Angeles in the 60’s that consisted of a man putting bottle caps on the bare back of a woman who was lying on a mat in front of him. Never did figure out the significance of that one.
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So I guess this means that when The Turin Horse becomes available on DVD, you’ll be among the first to order it for your home film library.
I’ve seen both Death in Venice and Repulsion (actually enjoyed both but one viewing was enough for me for a lifetime), but I need to ask Milton if he’s familiar with the Japanese film that tortured you.
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