Podcast: Wonder Wheel, Wonderstruck, BPM, and Last Flag Flying

Nathaniel welcomes NYFF buddies and regular TFE voices Jose Solis and Murtada Elfadl to talk highlights from the fest, some of which are in theaters now! 

Index (43 minutes)
00:01 Intro, NYFF, and The Mountain Between Us tangent
02:50 Steve Carell and Bryan Cranston in Last Flag Flying
07:00 Mixed feelings on Wonderstruck
14:30 Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel starring Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake
22:10 The Rider, Western, Lady Bird - a year of great female directors
30:00 France's BPM (Beats Per Minute)
34:21 Thelma, Faces Places
41:00 Wrapping up

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

NYFF Highlights

Beauty Break: Steve Carell

The internet has been blowing up over the last week about something that plenty of us had already noticed: That Steve Carell is now very handsome.

This author does not need to point out that beauty standards are as exacting and skewered as they've always been, but I'm sure we can all come to some bipartisan agreement that nerds becoming gorgeous before our very eyes is a good thing.

More visual evidence after the jump.

During the release of "Foxcatcher" in 2014.

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New Linklater Film to Open NYFF

Chris here. You may think it's a little early to start prepping for fall film festival season, but New York Film Festival wants to prove you wrong. The festival just announced its opening film and it's one we've heard surprisingly little about: Richard Linklater's Last Flag Flying.

The film will be a spiritual sequel of sorts to Hal Ashby's The Last Detail, with Bryan Cranston taking over Jack Nicholson's reins. Cranston stars with Laurence Fishburne and Steve Carell, and the men head off on a coastal road trip after Carell's son dies while serving overseas in Iraq. If this sounds on the treacly side, we can count on Linklater to give it some verve. Plus if NYFF has the confidence in the film to announce its major placement several months away, the Texan filmmaker could have something special coming our way.

The film will open in the Thanksgiving corridor on November 17, so distributor Amazon is likely gunning for Oscar consideration. Previous NYFF openers range from last year's nominated 13th to all-around dud The Walk, so we'll be curious to see how the film lands. Could this be Linklater's post-Boyhood return to Oscar graces?

Yes No Maybe So: "Battle of the Sexes" (plus some Holly Hunter trivia)

By Nathaniel R

Keep talking, Bobby. The more nonsense you spout, the worse it's going to be when you lose.

One of this fall's potential crossover films, in that it has both crowd pleasing and awards appeal (should it be any good that is) is the retelling of the super-famous Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs tennis match from 1973. Though I was alive at the time, I was way too young to know anything about that. I grew up in the age of Martina Navratilova vs Chris Evert and John McEnroe vs Everyone, though, and that match was a common cultural reference point. And tennis was the only sport I really fell in love with. Why? Couldn't say for sure but I suspect it was because it has more easily understood interpersonal dynamics (just two people... or four) at war... only non-violently. My best childhood friend and I even played tennis regularly together. I never got very good but later in high school he made the team! Which is all a terribly long way of saying, tennis movies hold instant interest in theory. They don't make them very often and they're largely unsuccessful when they do. Don't believe me, try to name more than one or two! (I'll wait).  

So let's breakdown the first trailer to Fox Searchlight's Battle of the Sexes after the jump. Are we optimistic, worried, or somewhere inbetween?

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Ranking the Golden Globe presenters

We're revisiting the highs and the lows of the Globes. Here's Jorge... 

Because next to the winners, random celebrity pairings are the best part of the ceremony, let's rank them.

33. Casey Affleck: I will say it now. I do not support Casey Affleck nor his campaign. His performance is one thing, but he is presenting his (problematic) self at the award circuit. I did not like watching him introduce Manchester by the Sea (let alone winning). Knowing he has had many trips on stage this season, they could have had Michelle or Lucas Hedges go up to make it more interesting.

32. Sofia Vergara: How much longer can the highest paid actress in television keep basing her brand on the notion that she can’t speak English? The joke is getting old and, frankly, denigrating for her.

31. Vince Vaughn: He looked like he did not want to be there, at this moment or any other point during the ceremony...

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