Comments on: The 2009 New York Film Festival

By: R. Emmet Sweeney

R. Emmet Sweeney — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:43:15 +0000

I’m jumping in late here, but let me come to the defense of the NYFF. The new rush ticket program worked very well, and those are $10. They went on sale an hour before each show, and I had no problem getting into any of the screenings.

The $40 tickets were only for the opening night screening of Wild Grass. But they also added a second screening the same night for $20, which is more reasonable. Plus it is getting released by Sony Pictures Classics, so I don’t think there’s much to complain about.

By: idawson

idawson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:56:10 +0000

Michael J. Anderson – I agree with you 100-200%. I was going to purchase some NYFF tickets but when I saw the prices, I realized it is NOT that important that I see a film a little ahead of time.

Especially since I live in the NY area, it makes it a little easier to catch some of these films (although it can still be quite a challenge). And what I don’t catch in the cinemas, I can pick up on DVD.

By: Michael J. Anderson

Michael J. Anderson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:02:59 +0000

A fine post, Rob. I would tend to agree with your assessments at both the level of the individual films and also as a festival in general: I quite liked and admired Police, Adjective, Around a Small Mountain, Mother and White Material, though it's also true that no film emerged as the clear film of the year, as I would claim The Headless Woman did a year ago (with Tokyo Sonata not far behind). Perhaps that film was Wild Grass, but who would know with its supposedly fan-friendly $40 tickets? On the matter of the many bizarrely critical write-ups, one wonders what your A.O. Scott's of the world imagine an event like the NYFF should be, if not a venue to provide access to more challenging works from every corner of the globe (that often lack distribution). Who needs to pay $20 - or $40 - to see the Coen brothers film, or frankly a "Broken Embraces" that has distribution in advance, a week or two early? I guess A.O. thinks we do.

By: Medusa

Medusa — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:11:33 +0000

The setting of the Jacques Rivette film sounds like it’s right up my alley — a decaying traveling circus. Thanks for bringing news of this and other out-of-the-ordinary treasures to us!