Yep, I was M.I.A. for awhile to an expected trip to Amsterdam and then a hop over to NYC to hang out shop in Brooklyn, catch a show on Broadway (Romeo and Juliet with Orlando Bloom!) and attend a few press screenings.

—> See some of my photos from NYC and Amsterdam on instagram

This year I received press credentials for access into the NYFF press conferences. Here are briefly my thoughts on the three films I screened the weekend I visited NYC:

The Immigrant (Joaquin Phoenix, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner)
“A letdown where a story of love and obsession is concerned (see: The Prestige as an example of how you do a love triangle right) yet a triumph where Marion Cotillard is concerned." B-

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Sean Penn)
"…often the movie reaches for depth but largely falters.  The only real care is given to the bold, colorful, and often times breath-taking cinematography and constructing quiet moments of thoughtful lament of sorts to the life of print media, culminating in the film’s sweet final scenes.” C

12 Years a Slave (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfred Woodard, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano) 
“An unflinching journey of a man driven to the brink of being broken & despaired even after he vowed to remain hopeful. In that darkness he connects with people around him whose plight were never unknown to him but went unfelt by him. The film triumphs in its uncanny grasp of all the psychological underpinnings of slavery and how the past touched all our life." A

Here are my recommendations for films to see this month. As always, check back here to catch of on my thoughts and commentary related to these movies as I watch them.

*Note: some of this theatrical release dates are for limited release before it opens in wide release; all are US dates

[October 18]

“12 Years a Slave”

British director Steve McQueen and actor Michael Fassbender are at it again with another collaboration following Hunger (2009) and Shame (2011), this time bringing to the screen the very true story and unbelievable story of Solomon Northrup, who, back in the 1860s, was kidnapped in the North and sold into slavery in the South though he was born a free man. Separated from his family, he spent 12 years as a slave until he regained his freedom and wrote about this time in a book.   

“Kill Your Darlings”

It’s kinda the story of the start of what we know to be the Beat Generation and the writers of this 1950s period who inspired this moment. In the film we meet some of these famed writers - Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston), and William S. Burroughs (Ben Foster) - and the true circumstances that drew them together.

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