“White Noise“
Making the festival rounds this fall and being received well is “White Noise,” directed by Noah Baumbach. The film stars Adam Driver as Jack Gladney, a “Hitler Studies” professor and father-of-four whose life is flipped upside down after an accident that creates an airborne toxic event. Jack’s secretive wife, Babette, is immaculately portrayed by Baumbach’s real-life partner Greta Gerwig. The film is adapted from Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel of the same name. Alongside Driver and Gerwig are Don Cheadle, André 3000, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Raffey Cassidy.
“Showing Up“
Director Kelly Reichardt reunites with Michelle Williams to bring audiences a marvelous portrait of a sculptor’s daily life and frustrations as an artist in Portland. While this is the film’s North American premiere, it was well received after it was shown at Cannes earlier this year. Alongside Williams, the film stars Hong Chau and André 3000.
“Sr.”
After the premiere of “Sr.” at this year’s Telluride Film Festival, we stated that “Although Robert Downey Jr. is currently one of the most famous actors on the planet, he reminds the audience early that for many years, he was simply just known as ‘Bob Downey’s kid.’” This film, which sees Robert Downey Jr. team up with documentarian Chris Smith, serves both as an elegy for the late icon, who passed away at age 85 in July 2021, and as a testament to his tireless creative spirit.
“Women Talking“
Expecting to hit theaters in December, this Sarah Polley-directed film is an adaptation of the Miriam Toews novel of the same name. Set in 2010, it tells the story of women of an isolated religious community who are grappling with their reality and their faith. The film has a star-studded cast of Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, Ben Whishaw, and Judith Ivey.
“No Fear No Die“
If we’re talking early Claire Denis, the conversation almost always goes straight to her debut “Chocolat” (1988) or even “Beau Travail” (1999), but there’s a sophomore feature in there that NYFF itself even notes is rarely screened. And like some of the nooks and crannies of the festival that brings back retrospective classics, NYFF has the world premiere of the 4K restoration release of “No Fear No Die,” which you can bet most cinephiles haven’t seen. And it’s quite the cast, too, with the two-handers starring Isaach De Bankole and Alex Descas as two immigrants (from Benin and French Antilles, respectively) living on the outskirts of Paris who earn money from cockfights. Denis has always examined the effects of post-colonialism, racism, and immigrant lives in France, and this film sounds like an early gem we all finally get a chance to rediscover.