NY Film Festival 57 Schedule

My schedule is set for the 57th New York Film Festival and there are some exciting new titles that I’ll see. This year, I’ll be attending more movies than in past years (I’ll practically be living at Lincoln Center for two weeks), so I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to post a review for all of them, but I do promise that I’ll give it my best effort.  In order, here is what I’m scheduled to see:

1. Opening Night:  The world premiere of Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman”. 
2. The New York premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s latest, “Pain And Glory”, starring Antonio Banderas.
3. The U.S. premiere of a gender-blind erotic drama from Spain, “Liberté”.
4. The world premiere of “Bully.  Coward.  Victim”, a documentary about the late Roy Cohn.
5. “Synonyms”, (U.S. premiere) a film about a former Israeli soldier who tries to adapt to a new culture after moving to Paris.
6. The New York premiere of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” – feminism in 19th century France
7. The North American premiere of “Oh Mercy!”, a murder mystery directed by Arnaud Desplechin. 
8. The New York premiere of “Joker”, which stars Joaquin Phoenix in the title role as Batman’s infamous nemesis. 
9. Centerpiece Selection:  (N.Y. premiere) director Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story”, starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver.
10. “Sibyl”, a comedy-drama from France about a psychotherapist who gets caught up in the life of one of her patients (U.S. premiere).
11. The U.S. premiere of “Wasp Network”, directed by Olivier Assayas and starring Penélope Cruz, about Cuban refugees in Miami during the 1990’s. 
12. Winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, the South Korean “Parasite” by Bong Joon-ho will have its New York premiere. 
13. The New York premiere of the new Romanian crime drama, “The Whistlers”
14. Closing Night:  the New York premiere of Edward Norton’s “Motherless Brooklyn”, starring Norton, Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis and Willem Dafoe. 

For us cinephiles, this is most certainly a thrilling time of year; it’s kind of like the NFL Championship and baseball’s World Series rolled into one.  While few look forward to the end of summer, many do look forward to the beginning of autumn, since it means the start of The New York Film Festival.  Please keep an eye on this blog during late September to mid-October for updates.  Until then, this trailer should give you an idea of what attendees have to look forward to: