- NYFF61 Festival Report
The 61st New York Film Festival recently closed up shop, which means that it was once again time for Film Comment’s Festival Report, with our annual live overview of the NYFF that was. Devika and Clint convened an all-star team of critics: Molly Haskell, Adam Nayman, and Kelli Weston, for a spirited wrap-up analysis of the highlights and lowlights from the NYFF61 lineup. In front of a lively audience, the panel discussed and debated Todd Haynes’s May December, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist, Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, and many other noteworthy selections.
Emma Stone,& Mark Ruffalo in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things,
- Are the Palestinians Wrong about Everything? (An Average Israeli Perspective)
- Online calculator can gauge stress level of air travel
FlightsFinder has introduced an online Airport Stress Calculator to help travelers avoid hassles while flying or prepare for potentially difficult situations. Users can enter their departure time, airline and airport and the tool will analyze how busy the airport is likely to be, the chances of having a flight delay and airlines’ specific baggage restrictions. - Best Directorial Film Trilogies
- Upcoming Book-to-Screen Adaptations
- The Other Black Girl
by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Zakiya Dalila Harris’ 2021 mystery-thriller follows twentysomething publishing assistant Nella Rogers, who is tired of being the only Black employee in the office. So she’s delighted when Harlem native Hazel joins the team as another woman of color. But things get quickly and severely weird when a series of unsettling events turns Nella’s world upside down. The new Hulu series adaptation premiered in September, and the creative team cites some varied inspirations, from Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing to Jordan Peele’s instant-classic 2017 horror film Get Out. - The Changeling
by Victor LaValle
Victor LaValle is one of the most innovative writers working in speculative fiction these days. (For immediate proof, check out his 2016 quick-read novella The Ballad of Black Tom.) LaValle’s 2017 novel The Changeling follows an antiquarian book dealer who travels through eldritch realms to save his family. LaValle’s book is a slow-motion collision of dark fantasy, gritty realism, and parental anxiety. The Apple TV+ adaptation, starring LaKeith Stanfield, premiered its first three episodes on September 8, with eight total planned for release through the fall season. - Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Check the reader reviews and you’ll find that people have a deep and genuine affection for this 2021 coming-of-age YA novel. The story introduces two Mexican American teens living in 1980s Texas and explores themes of family, queerness, and ethnic identity. The big-screen adaptation, in theaters now, features up-and-coming actors Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales as Aristotle and Dante, respectively. Also on board: Eva Langoria, as Dante’s artistic mom, and Lin-Manuel Miranda behind the scenes as producer. - Black Cake
by Charmaine Wilkerson
A Goodreads Choice Award nominee for both Best Historical Fiction and Best Debut, author Charmaine Wilkerson’s 2022 novel concerns two siblings, a strange bequeathment, and a famous Caribbean recipe with a loooooong history. Black Cake shuttles back and forth in time, as the siblings learn about their family’s astonishing past and how stories are passed down through generations. (Sometimes via cake recipe!) The TV series adaptation, from Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films, is set to debut on Hulu November 1. - Killers of the Flower Moon
by David Grann
Investigative journalist David Grann made all the best-of lists in 2017 with this book about a terrible and largely forgotten chapter in American history. In the 1920s, dozens and perhaps hundreds of Osage Native Americans were murdered in a vicious dispute over oil rights in Oklahoma. Probably the most high-profile adaptation of the year, director Martin Scorsese’s long-awaited film will debut in U.S. theaters on October 20, with an Apple TV+ release later in the year. The cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Blackfeet Nation actress Lily Gladstone. - Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus
Another incoming AppleTV+ adaptation-premiering October 13-Lessons in Chemistry is based on author Bonnie Garmus’ warmly received debut novel from last year. The setup: Brilliant chemist Elizabeth Zott finds herself hosting America’s most popular cooking show, where she challenges 1960s notions of what a woman can do in her professional life. A genuine hit with both readers and critics, the book earned the attention of Hollywood A-lister Brie Larson (Captain Marvel!), who is fittingly both lead performer and executive producer. You really can have it all! - All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr
Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Anthony Doerr’s World War II novel follows the parallel stories of a blind French girl and a reluctant German soldier whose lives come together in occupied France circa 1940. Netflix’s four-part limited series is set to drop on November 2, with all episodes available upon debut. This is prestige-picture territory for Netflix, and the production has attracted some top-shelf talent including Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia Loberti, a legally blind actress who won the role after a global casting process. - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
by Suzanne Collins
Both spin-off and prequel, this 2020 dystopian sci-fi novel from Suzanne Collins marks her return to the colossal pop culture phenomenon that is the Hunger Games series. Set 64 years before the events of the first book, the novel provides an origin story for ultimate boss villain Coriolanus Snow. Is he the good guy in the new book? Is he the bad guy? The answer is yes. The movie adaptation, starring Tom Blyth as young man Snow, hits theaters November 17. Rachel Zegler plays Snow’s protégée, Lucy Gray Baird. - Leave the World Behind
by Rumaan Alam
Author Rumaan Alam’s popular 2020 novel fits squarely with a long and noble tradition in the psychological thriller genre: the Vacation Gone Wrong. Two families end up at the same luxurious Long Island rental property when word comes that a mysterious blackout has struck New York City. Then things get really weird. The star-studded film adaptation-featuring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la Herrold, and Kevin Bacon-is slated to premiere December 8 on Netflix, with a limited theatrical release likely as well.
- Eileen
by OttessaMoshfegh
The first full novel from author Ottessa Moshfegh, Eileen was a surprise sensation in 2015, winning the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for debut fiction. Genre designations are terminally blurred with this one, and that’s part of the book’s strange, dark appeal. The story-one fateful week in the life of two women in 1960s Boston-is a kind of literary thriller, inspired by Shirley Jackson, Vladimir Nabokov, and the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Anne Hathaway and New Zealand actress Thomasin McKenzie headline the movie adaptation, coming to theaters December 1. - Foe
by Iain Reid
Canadian author Iain Reid specializes in the shadowy areas between cerebral horror, haunting sci-fi, and psychological thriller. In his sophomore novel, Foe, a near-future marriage is tested when the husband is replaced by his biomechanical double. While technically science fiction, the story is much more interested in the people involved than in the technology. The film adaptation, starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal, will debut in theaters on October 6, with a later streaming debut on Amazon Prime.
- The Other Black Girl
- The T-Boy Society of Film & Music’s Top Five North-American-English Language Travel Novels
- Florida lawmaker who penned “Don’t Say Gay” law sentenced to prison
Joseph Harding, a former Florida lawmaker who penned the state’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law has been sentenced to prison for wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements in connection with obtaining $150,000 in COVID-19 relief loans.- Halloween or Hallowe’en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on October 31, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints’ Day. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.
One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are believed to have pagan roots. Some go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallow’s Day, along with its eve, by the early Church.Other academics believe Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All Hallow’s Day. Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants took many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century, and then through American influence various Halloween customs spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.
- Halloween or Hallowe’en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on October 31, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints’ Day. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.
- T-Boy Society of Film and Music’s Favorite Food Destination Cities
- ‘Every single day I am ready to be killed’: The KGB defector who writes about Putin
