The 45th New York Film Festival doesn't officially begin until Friday, but press screenings have been underway all week long at the Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater. Here's a rundown of what we've seen so far, with festival screening times and opening dates. Tickets for this year's festival are on sale now.


  (Fox Searchlight)

The Darjeeling Limited
After the whimsical but soulless Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, we were not the only ones worried for wunderkind Wes Anderson. Now, we're relieved to report that his fifth feature film The Darjeeling Limited is a wonderful film -- both funny and affecting. The story of three brothers (Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwarztman) who journey across India, The Darjeeling Limited is the NYFF's opening night selection on Friday. Fox Searchlight releases the film theatrically on Saturday the 29th, but without the terrific prequel short Hotel Chevalier, starring a very naked Natalie Portman. Read Marcy's review of The Darjeeling Limited.


  (ThinkFilm)

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Veteran director Sidney Lumet sends Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke to Westchester for a botched robbery in this grim family crime drama scripted by playwright Kelly Masterson. "It's a hell of story," Lumet boasted at the press conference, "it's masterfully plotted." He's not wrong, but is it enough? Read Jürgen's review. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, also starring Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney, is screening for the public on October 12 and 13. ThinkFilm will release the movie on October 26.


  (Wild Bunch)

A Girl Cut in Two
Chabrol’s latest is a delicious love triangle between a pompous writer (François Berléand), a wealthy fop (Benoît Magimel), and the "divine" TV weather girl (Ludivine Sagnier) who loves them both. Funnier than most of Chabrol’s films, A Girl Cut in Two fascinates with deft characterizations and, of course, the trademark plumbing of depravity gaping beneath the bourgeois veneer. Sagnier shines as Gabrielle Deneige, luminous while wearing a motorcycle helmet, a red evening gown, or nothing but a plume of peacock feathers. 4 stars. A Girl Cut in Two will play at the NYFF on October 12 and 13; the film does not have a U.S. distributor yet.


 (Sony Pictures Classics)

Married Life
"A funny story, in its way, about a man who wanted to poison his wife and found he'd be lost without her." With these words, Richard (Pierce Brosnan) sums up the events of Ira Sachs's second film. Note the careful qualification "in its way," which already suggests that perhaps Married Life isn't all that funny, and maybe not much of a story, either. In fact, it's the first film at this year's New York Film Festival that I wish I had walked out of. Read the rest of Jürgen's review of Married Life, which screens on September 29 and 30.

Fados
From Carlos Saura (Tango, Salome, Iberia) comes a seductive performance movie about the Portuguese music known as fado. Among simple sets made up from mirrors, screens, and a few props, Saura lets some of fado’s greatest musicians show what made the soulful style popular for close to two hundred years. Mariza, Caetano Veloso, Lila Downs and scores of other fadistas sing about jealousy, longing, and fatal love, accompanied by masterful playing and dancing. Like the blues, fado is a profound expression of the sorrows of life, and at the same time, a safe refuge from them. By letting the music speak for itself, Fados illustrates the style’s long history, surprising diversity, and intoxicating passion. 3 1/2 stars. Fados screens on October 13.


 (Warner Bros.)

Blade Runner: The Final Cut
I’m not fanboy enough to give you an exhaustive rundown of all the scenes Ridley Scott recut, reshot, rescored, and reshuffled to create this “ultimate” version of his 1982 scifi milestone. Rest assured, that list will be online within hours of the December 18 release of the much-anticipated 5-DVD set. But I can tell you that Blade Runner, the movie that defined the cyberpunk look long before William Gibson wrote the opening lines to Neuromancer, has never looked or worked better. Blade Runner: The Final Cut will screen at the NYFF on September 29 and comes to the Ziegfield for one week starting October 5. 5 stars. More on Blade Runner: The Final Cut.

Next week, we're especially excited about Brian De Palma's Redacted, Hou Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon, and The Orphanage, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and produced by Guillermo Del Toro. Watch this space for updates from the festival.