Surely it’s a good sign that the Lincoln Center Film Society seems to be shaking things up a bit with this year’s festival. In part because of the new venues at the Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center (just opened this summer), the 49th edition of the New York Film Festival feels a little riskier than ... read more »

DOC NYC, a new documentary festival that runs from November 3-9, features more than 40 films, U.S. premieres, tributes, and appearances, among them both Errol Morris and Werner Herzog. Films will screen in New York City at the IFC Center and NYU’s Kimmel Center/Skirball, with a special screening at the Ziegfeld Theater of Darkness at ... read more »

In this nimble version of Anton Chekhov’s eponymous short story, aristocrat Ivan Laevsky (Andrew Scott), and his married mistress Nadya (Fiona Glascott) have decamped from Moscow to the Black Sea. They mean to live off the land, free of the trappings of society. But Laevsky squanders his time on party games, cards and drink, profoundly ... read more »

Recently retired law clerk Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darín) can’t shake the memory of the 1974 Morales rape and murder case. Never mind that 25 years have passed: for Benjamin, the circumstances and the players remain vivid, especially his immediate superior at the time, Irene Menendez Hastings (Soledad Villamil). They’ve remained friends and despite her children ... read more »

The unpredictable, occasionally thrilling New Directors / New Films fest opens in New York City today. Locals are, of course, the immediate beneficiaries of this annual collaboration between the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, which runs through April 4, though several of the films will find their way to ... read more »

If you want an idea of real Roman life, look no further than Mid-August Lunch (2008). Gianni (Gianni Di Gregorio, who directed, scripted and stars) and his 93-year-old mother Valeria share a large, dark, rambling flat in the Trastevere neighborhood. Valeria (Valeria De Franciscis) has a touch of Gloria Swanson about her and a whim ... read more »