SLEUTH
Actor/Director Kenneth Branagh takes a shot at reinventing a 70's classic suspense thriller with his remake of Sleuth. Michael Caine stars as Andrew Wyck (played by Sir Lawrence Olivier in the original), a mystery writer obsessed with games. Jude Law, once again stepping into the shoes of a role originated by Caine, plays Milo Tindle, a young actor who has made the mistake of stopping by Wyke's ultra modern and reclusive mansion to get Wyke to grant his wife a divorce so that Tindle can marry her. What follows is a twisted and dark game that gets to the heart of how much humiliation one person can take, and how far someone will go to one up another. With a masterful screenplay written by Harold Pinter (that somehow manages not to use a single line of dialog from the original) and beautiful and cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos, Sleuth weaves a web that is sure to ensnare its audience.

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
A shy, socially-imbalanced man purchases a sexy (but 100% plastic) doll named Bianca on the internet and, believing her to be real, introduces her all over town as his girlfriend. It sounds like a premise which in the wrong hands could have easily resulted in another raunchy, made-for-teen-masses comedy. But instead, director Craig Gillespie and screenwriter Nancy Oliver (Six Feet Under) present Lars and the Real Girl as an unconventional, unique blend of dry comedy off-set by sobering drama. The film makes you laugh while providing insights into an array of very humanistic characters, especially Ryan Gosling (aka recent Oscar Nominee) who gives a profound performance as the title character who makes you pity his delusional mind but dwell in the confusion and pain that spur him on. Lars and the Real Girl is one of the most un-categorical films of the year.

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VISIONS OF BOB DYLAN
Even if you haven't yet seen Todd Haynes' un-bio pic of Bob Dylan I'm Not There, you can still hear Haynes discussing the creative evolution of the film and its characters at the New York Times online in a special slide show "Becoming Bob." From his dossiers on the individual characters to collections of cut-out images of 60s film and fashion, Haynes documents the fascinating way that historical and biographical material feed his narrative imagination. The slide show accompanies the cover article on the film in this week's New York Times Magazine.

NYFF.45 #2

For those who just look at the blog, head over to our newest section on the main page, Filmmaker Videos. There you will see Jamie Stuart's second installment from the New York Film Festival along with some of the other shorts he's made for Filmmaker. Enjoy.

DEPALMA SHOUT OUT
Jamie Stuart attended the NYFF press conference for Redacted this morning and emailed his take on the squabble at the press conference afterwards: In the middle of Brian De Palma's NYFF pc for Redacted earlier today, as he began discussing the film's use of actual war photographs and their graphic nature, Eammon Bowles from Magnolia began shouting from the rear of the Walter Reade theater to...

Read the complete stories at Filmmakermagazine's Blog...

GOTHAM AWARDS HEATING UP
IFP is getting ready to announce a series of new public programs in conjunction with the 17th Annual Gotham Awards. Retrospectives of the work of actor JAVIER BARDEM, filmmaker MIRA NAIR and the five soon-to-be-announced nominees for the Gothams' "BEST FILM NOT PLAYING AT A THEATER NEAR YOU" Award (chosen by the editors of Filmmaker) will be unveiled soon, including film programs, special guests, giveaways and details for viewing online.

As previously announced, this year's Gotham Awards will take place on Tuesday, November 27th at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn. Nominees will be announced on October 22nd.

TONY GILROY, MICHAEL CLAYTON
As a Hollywood screenwriter, Tony Gilroy has brought an insistent energy and intelligence to the projects he has worked on, so it was a totally logical step that he should progress to becoming a director. New York native Gilroy grew up with writing and the movies in his veins, as he is the son of [continue]