October ended up being an exciting movie-watching month, at least more than usual. Not only did I watch the equivalent of a new-to-me movie a day, plus a dozen re-watches, I also took a quick trip to New York City for the last weekend of the New York Film Festival! It was a lot of fun, and there I managed to see four new movies, one of which is now playing in select theaters, and the other three expected to come out in limited release later on in November. NYFF also had a centenary retrospective on Robert Mitchum, and for their last film screening, which was Farewell, My Lovely, his daughter Petrine and director Dick Richards were in attendance! His daughter gave a wonderful introduction, and she and Richards met with festivalgoers afterward, including yours truly. Anyway, while I watched a lot of great movies this month, my select favorites are going to focus on three movies I really enjoyed at NYFF.
New-to-Me: 31
Re-Watched: 12
New-to-Me Films by Decade:
- 1920s – 0
- 1930s – 2
- 1940s – 3
- 1950s – 4
- 1960s – 5
- 1970s – 2
- 1980s – 0
- 1990s – 3
- 2000s – 2
- 2010s – 10
List of New-to-Me Films:
- Gosford Park (2001)
- From the Earth to the Moon (1958)
- Trial (1955)
- Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
- The Wolf Man (1941)
- Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
- Death Becomes Her (1992)
- Targets (1968)
- What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
- Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
- Bedlam (1946)
- The Tin Star (1957)
- The Big Knife (1955)
- Mudbound (2017)
- Wonderstruck (2017)
- Lady Bird (2017)
- Call Me by Your Name (2017)
- Five Miles to Midnight (1962)
- Secrets & Lies (1996)
- Battle of the Sexes (2017)
- Spirits of the Dead (1968)
- Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)
- Seven Sweethearts (1942)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- With Byrd at the South Pole (1930)
- Walkabout (1971)
- The Love Witch (2016)
- Cronos (1993)
- Eraserhead (1977)
- Black Sunday (1960)
- Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows (2007)
A Few Favorite Discoveries:
Wonderstruck (2017), directed by Todd Haynes
Simultaneously following a young boy in the 1970s and a young girl in the 1920s, Todd Haynes’ latest film is a bit of a slow burn as it goes back and forth between the two characters’ journeys to New York City. But I found Wonderstruck to be a really moving experience as it progressed, especially when it reaches its awe-inspiring climax. It’s definitely a movie that’s better seen on the big screen, as it’s filled with some magnificent visuals and uses sound in an engaging way.
Lady Bird (2017), directed by Greta Gerwig
While I’ve only seen a small handful of movies featuring Greta Gerwig, she’s an actress who I became instantly endeared to, so I was very interested to see what her first solo directorial feature film effort would be like. Lady Bird is a wonderful coming-of-age story filled with a lot of good humor and heart, along with excellent performances across the board, especially from Saoirse Ronan as the titular character and Laurie Metcalf as her mother.
Call Me by Your Name (2017), directed by Luca Guadagnino
Call Me by Your Name was one of my most anticipated movies of the year, and what I was most excited to see at NYFF, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a beautifully told story of falling in love for the first time and the highs and lows that go with it. I think it’s safe for me to say that Timothée Chalamet’s performance in this film is my favorite leading male performance of the year, and I can’t imagine anyone else’s topping it. I look forward to seeing where his career goes, and I can’t wait to see this movie again.
