Hi, film fans! It's a stormy Friday in New York, but we're feeling upbeat on the film desk now that the writers' strike has been settled (pending a ratification vote on the contract, of course), the actors are scheduled to restart talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the New York Film Festival is getting underway. With the festival, our chief critic, Manohla Dargis, writes that "one of the great satisfactions is its sweeping, dizzying diversity." She singled out as must-sees Paul B. Preciado's category-defying "Orlando, My Political Biography"; "Menus-Plaisirs — les Troisgros," the latest from Frederick Wiseman; and "Here," Bas Devos's tale of two strangers. The main slate also includes higher-profile titles like Todd Haynes's "May December," Bradley Cooper's "Maestro" and Michael Mann's "Ferrari," and it's well worth reading what Dargis has to say about those films as well. Note that I use the word "films" and not "content." That awful term came up when news of the writers' settlement hit the trade paper Variety, which said the strike had taken "a heavy toll across the content industry." A few days earlier, Emma Thompson described it as "a rude word for creative people," and the critic Jason Bailey argues that "Thompson's not only right about the implications of the phrasing. She's right about the real-world impact of what is, make no mistake, a devaluing of the creative process." He explains why here. And speaking of the creative process, Wes Anderson has just released a series of shorts based on Roald Dahl stories on Netflix. He told my colleague Kyle Buchanan that one of them, "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar," took nearly half his career to figure out how to film. "I just didn't see a way for me to do it that isn't in his personal voice," the director said. "The way he tells the story is part of what I like about it." Read the interview to learn how he solved the problem. And check out Leah Greenblatt's look at more short films from high-profile directors releasing this fall. It's a busy week in general for new releases, with our critics especially liking "Flora and Son," the latest from John Carney, as well as the documentary "Fire Through Dry Grass" and the Nigerian fable "Mami Wata." Whatever you decide to watch, enjoy the movies! Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story | | STREAMING RECOMMENDATIONS | | | | |
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