September. It's a Wrap

We've done it. Somehow we're halfway through the NYFF and we've hit the final quarter of 2021 or as we like to call it "precursor season". From now until the tail end of the year everything that's happening in Hollywood is about trying to get Oscar traction for this or that. We won't know what has truly accomplished that until Tuesday February 8th, 2022 when the Oscar nominations are announced. But that's getting ahead of ourselves. For now a quick look back at September highlights in case you missed any of them.

12 highlights
• How do you arrange your DVD collection? Christopher asks. You answered
• Best of Venice Elisa and Nathaniel on the Lido for 10 days of CINEMA
• Weekend Cláudio revisits this new gay classic for its 10th birthday
• I'm Your Man Matt looks at Germany's Oscar submission
• Over and Overs: WALL•E Ben formed a bond with his son over this Pixar classic
• The White Lotus Eric has a few thoughts on this instant classic miniseries
• How Had I Never Seen... Lust Caution Nick finally sees Ang Lee's most risque film
• Shang-Chi Nathaniel writes the only review of the Marvel blockbuster which manages to name-check The Piano
• Emmys AND Tonys Weird to have these two awards shows back-to-back this year
• The Eyes of Tammy Faye Jesus takes Jessica higher!
• Billy Wilder Christopher samples the Criterion Channel's collection
• Best of NYFF Benedetta, Tragedy of Macbeth, Titane and more...

COMING IN OCTOBER
Let's not over promise (we know we tend to do that. sorry) as it's going to be B-U-S-Y but at the very least we have the Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1937 (in just a couple of days), the release of Dune, a few more NYFF reviews, and the Middleburg Film Festival where Nathaniel (c'est moi) will be doing an Oscar panel again with friends and colleagues Clayton Davis and Jazz Tangcay. Stay tuned!

NYFF: The visual wonder of "The Tragedy of Macbeth"

By Nathaniel R

“When” is the first word of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, uttered by one of three witches. Though the word precedes a question it sounds more like a definitive statement in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth; the writer/director even grants the word its own solo title card. Later the word “Tomorrow” will also grace the screen alone. Time, we immediately understand, is at the heart of the latest big screen Shakespeare. And it’s running out. Coen’s adaptation casts two older-than-usual actors as the titular Lord (Denzel Washington) and Lady (Frances McDormand). As a result their infamous power grab plays like a violently desperate game of “last chance”…

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The Mad "Titane" Snaps

by Jason Adams

An inky black oil smudge smeared across a scarred face, big bosoms sway and heave, belly splitting up the seam, the space where sex begins to sound like a car engine revving up to eleven -- Julia Ducournau's Titane doesn't mince a breath of its runtime with anything but pedal-to-the-metal everything. Titane, the director's follow-up to her also-deranged (but somehow less so!) cannibal-drama Raw, won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes, a perfect signifier for the grease-fingered teetering psychosis of our age. After playing NYFF last weekend, it opens in US theaters tomorrow, October 1st.

And this movie, it is a lot!

As Raw already proved Ducournau loves a car accident (I can't imagine that David Cronenberg's Crash wasn't formative) and Titane offers up a doozy early on...

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NYFF: "Drive My Car"

by Jason Adams

I've never owned a car or enjoyed driving one, and the supposed romantic allure of that particular activity has always eluded me. I know some people find it a meditative state, a vacuum-sealed trance of sorts where you're both static and in motion at once, simply floating down the road, but it's an experience that's always sent me personally hurtling into a panic. Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), the leading man of writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s new film Drive My Car screening at NYFF this weekend, would find my aversion nutty, and it's his love of long drives that ultimately forms the heart and deepest bond of this turns-out-to-be lovely and moving (in a multitude of ways) movie. It almost convinced me there's something to that whole driving thing! Almost.

Adapted from a short story from famed author Haruki Murakami Drive My Car is by no means a small road trip -- one minute shy of three hours Hamaguchi takes his time getting where he's taking us. And thankfully  the destination's worth the time...

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Gay Best Friend: Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson) in "Sex and the City" (1998 - 2010)

A series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope

Stanford (Willie Garson) and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) were an inseparable pair. Willie Garson will be dearly missed.Representation is always important, whether or not it is good or bad, strong or weak. I wanted to start this series because my first encounters with queer characters were in the “gay best friend” characters, both good and bad. Especially for those who grew up in the 90s and 00s, this was the experience of many people in the LGBTQ+ community. 

One of the most frequent and high profile gay best friends during this time was Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson), Carrie’s gay best friend and fellow serial dater. Garson passed away last Tuesday at the age of 57 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. His work served as the template for a whole generation of gay characters in film and TV and his work will live on in television history. Stanford made his first appearance in the legendary pilot, which aired on June 6, 1998. From there, he appeared in all seasons, 27 episodes and both movies. Everyone always talks about the four women at the center, but Stanford is one of the most important supporting characters. Garson was an astounding talent that will be greatly missed. In celebration of his life and defining career work, let’s take a look back at the best moments of Stanford Blatch...

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