Fests, 9/15.

An entry from Toronto you've just got to read can be found over at... Premiere. Yes, there's a special Toronto thing going on at Premiere. You may remember, back in May, that Aaron Aradillas at RockCritics.com revealed the refreshing wit and wisdom of Glenn Kenny, who's just taken a look around him at some of these Toronto screenings:

A lot of the associate editor types coming in exemplify a taste that I'll - for immediate lack of a better term - classify as hipster-bourgeois.... For the hipster-bourgeois, it's not just about not seeing the new Aleksandr Sokurov movie; it's about creating a film culture in which Aleksandr Sokurov is not permitted to exist. (But, thank God, he still does.) In any case, for the first time in my life, I really understand how William Holden's character in Fedora felt.

I'm afraid digesting the gist has him coming off more sour and less funny than the short read actually is, so go, read and check his "Toronto top five so far."

Scott Foundas has been blogging for the LA Weekly, and he's seeing throngs line up for buzzless films, "there for no reason other than their love of movies," ticket-holders who couldn't care less whether any particular film is seeing its world, national or regional premiere that particular day in that particular place: "At the end of the day, the best film festivals are simply the ones that show the best available films, regardless of other considerations - a point more festivals would do well to absorb, and embrace." In the weekly itself, Foundas reviews two films screening at the fest, Dear Wendy and A History of Violence.

Given all the multimedia coverage last year, it's surprising how long the New York Times waited to chime in this year, but, a full week into the festival, Manohla Dargis hits the highlights.

And for the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Goldstein. Also: Kevin Thomas on the "Modernist Master: Michelangelo Antonioni" series (LACMA, through September 30) and the Los Angeles Korean International Film Festival (tomorrow through September 18).

Sara Vilkomerson goes people-watching for the New York Observer. Rex Reed's there, too.

Meantime, for Toronto completists, pointers to the real wall-to-wall coverage have been gathered here, though I'll add one blog to the list: TIFF Talk.

The Austin Chronicle rolls out its big and bulky preview of the enticing Cinematexas 10 program. The fest continues through Sunday.

Meanwhile, QT6 has Louis Black reminiscing about double and triple features past in grind houses long gone and Marc Savlov recommends the Alex de la Iglesia series at the Alamo Drafthouse running from September 21 through 28.

David Ng in the City Pages: "Delving far beyond where most art-house programmers dare to doggy-paddle, the fourth annual "Global Lens" film series (beginning Thursday at Walker Art Center) offers moviegoers the closest approximation to 'traveling' in the Bowlesian sense of the term - an around-the-world cine-voyage that's bound to leave you thrilled and maybe a little malarial following stops in a Malian village, a Bosnian shit pit, and a Vietnamese bog, among other inhospitable locales. This is world cinema without a return ticket." Also: Twin Cities Fall Film Events.

The New York Film Festival opens September 23 and runs through October 9, and it's nice to see J Hoberman back in the Village Voice, prepping readers:

The lineup includes several eccentric literary adaptations and more than a few movies pondering the tortured ethical relationship between art and life. Trend spotters may also note that, out of five East Asian films, three are from South Korea, and of the 16 titles that have distribution, no fewer than five belong to Sony, including the director's cut of Antonioni's The Passenger. Undistributed must-sees include Hou's Three Times, Sokurov's The Sun and Patrice Chéreau's Gabrielle. There may even be tickets.

Bracing for the NYFF's program, "The Beauty of the Everyday: Japan's Shochiku Company at 100" (which runs longer, through October 20) Elliott Stein offers a backgrounder on the studio.

The Boston Phoenix's Gerald Peary fronts his preview of the traveling Manhattan Short Film Festival with a personal list: "Ten Great Live-Action Short Films since the coming of sound."

David Fellerath outlines the season's goings on in and around Durham NC for the Independent Weekly.

As Brian notes, the lineup for the Mill Valley Film Festival (October 6 through 16) is taking shape.

Via the IFC Blog, the lineup for the London Film Festival (October 19 through November 3).

In Die Zeit (and in German), Katja Nicodemus looks back to Venice. Yes, this was a disappointing festival all around this year, she admits, but those who say it's the beginning of the end are reading way too much into a single edition.

Posted by dwhudson at September 15, 2005 2:34 PM