Fests and events, 8/14.

Hey, all. Back from a marvelous week far and away from it all and ready to roll again. The first order of business to catch up with is the lineup for the New York Film Festival. In London, I noticed that Clint Eastwood is on the cover of the September issue of Sight & Sound (in conjunction with the Eastwood season at BFI Southbank, running today through September 30), so we'll soon be hearing more about the festival's Centerpiece, Changeling - starting with Alex Cox in the New Statesman: "To me, all his directorial chops seem borrowed either from [Sergio] Leone or from his other mentor, [Don] Siegel."

NYFF opens on September 26 with Laurent Cantet's The Class and closes on October 12 with Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, which premieres in a couple of weeks in Venice (photos; scroll down a bit; via Anne Thompson). At indieWIRE, Brian Brooks has the festival's notes on each of its offerings, many of which have been harvested from this year's edition of Cannes.

Darren Hughes is up for Toronto. "Because [yesterday] new films by two of my favorite living directors were officially announced (along with 19 other Special Presentations and 1 Closing Night Gala): Claire Denis's 35 Rhums and Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles."

"Critters secretly hate us and are only waiting for the right moment to enact their revenge." Sam Sweet: "That's the underlying premise of the five films screening Saturdays in August as part of Cinefamily's series, Holyfuckingshit: When Animals Attack." Through the end of the month. Also in the LA Weekly, Scott Foundas: "[Richard] Quine was no less adept at film noir and romantic melodrama - something audiences can see for themselves during LACMA's two-week Quine retrospective." Through Saturday. See, too, the remembrance from Philippe Garnier: "If Quine remains best known for his very successful comedies, there is a dark streak running through his work that stemmed from personal tragedies enough to make getting dumped by Kim Novak seem like a piece of cake."

In the Independent Weekly, Neil Morris and Kathy Justice preview the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, running today through Sunday.

"Tintin et Moi, a 2003 documentary based on 14 hours of interviews with Tintin creator Hergé, discusses the artist's evolution from right-wing Catholic propagandist to secular humanist and defends Tintin as a definitive graphic record of the 20th century," notes Brendan Kiley in the Stranger (more). Tonight at Northwest Film Forum.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian's Cheryl Eddy previews Crossing the Border; tomorrow through August 21 at the Roxie.

"As goes Imhotep, so goes Popoca, the titular walking deadster in Mexican horror pioneer Rafael Portillo's 1957 Attack of the Aztec Mummy (La Momia Azteca), which screens Friday evening as part of Mexic-Arte Museum's Aztec and Maya Revival exhibition," notes Marc Savlov in the Austin Chronicle.

"Bruce Goldstein has programmed a fantastic five weeks of French film noir and thrillers, spanning 1937 to 2000, and playing from now through Sept 11 at Film Forum," Andrew Sarris reminds us in the New York Observer.

John Woo's Red Cliff, China's most expensive film and biggest domestic box office success, will open the Tokyo International Film Festival, running October 18 through 26.

Posted by dwhudson at August 14, 2008 6:55 AM