2009 Telluride FIlm Festival

It’s great to be here and it’s great to be writing. I’ve been MIA awhile, but other parts of my life have been taking over the “free time” that this site used to occupy. I’m hoping that changes in the coming weeks.

I’ll be writing a bunch over at Cinematical this year, but I’ll blurb everything I don’t cover on this page.

Friday, September 4

An Education (Lone Scherfig) – B-
Interesting so long as it maintains its ambiguity: vague ambitions of doing something “worthwhile” with one’s life are common among bright college-bound kids and beyond, but what does that actually mean, y’know? For a while it looks like the movie might answer that question in a genuinely unexpected way, and that that Scherfig and screenwriter Nick Hornby are trotting out Dead Poets Society clichés for a subversive purpose. Not so, it turns out, as the ending — lyricIal and lovely though it is — pretty much puts the kibosh on anything remotely challenging. Still, this is well done, featuring one of the best performances of Peter Sarsgaard’s career. (This though it is weird to hear his nasally drone produce a British accent, “jolly good” and all.) Pretty standard-issue Indiewood, ultimately — the kind of movie Miramax would jump on back when it gunned for awards left and right — but utterly painless, with moments of grace.

The Last Station (Michael Hoffman) – C+ [Cinematical review]


The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke) – A [Cinematical review]

Saturday, September 5

Red Riding: 1974 (Julian Jarrold) – A
What this is is the first part of a trilogy made for British television and adapted from three novels by David Peace. I am going to attempt to contain my excitement — and much commentary — until I see the other two films today and tomorrow, but this was basically the movie I had been waiting for all my life: true, classical film noir, full of doomed romanticism and Lynchian overtones, with a dogged, incorruptible lone wolf hero up against the whole cold, bleak, corrupt, merciless world. It was like someone decided to give me a present. I’m high as a kite right now.

Coco Before Chanel (Anne Fontaine) – D+ [Cinematical review]

Red Riding: 1980 (James Marsh) – A-
Less OMGawesome than 1974 standing on its own, but still obviously fantastic. I’ve got some more extended comments on the whole trilogy coming up at Cinematical soon.

A Prophet (Jacques Audiard) – B [comments to come]

Sunday, September 6

Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey, 1937) A [comments to come]

Red Riding: 1983 (Anand Tucker) A [comments on the trilogy to come on Cinematical]

The Road (John Hillcoat) A [Cinematical review to come]

Bright Star (Jane Campion) B [comments to come]

Monday, September 7

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog) C+

Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli)

Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)

Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold)

-- Eugene Novikov

Released:	2009
Rated:	UR

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