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The 39th New York Film Festival
by Jurgen Fauth and Marcy Dermansky

I knew the New York Film Festival had edge when the first two films I saw both opened with protracted sex scenes followed by screaming orgasms not seen since the opening of Betty Blue. Even without the sex, film fans are bound to let out little moans of pleasure when they see the line-up. The 2001 festival, running from September 28 until October 14 at the Lincoln Center, showcases new films by Todd Solondz, Eric Rohmer, David Lynch, Jean-Luc Godard, Richard Linklater, and Wes Anderson, as well as promising films by up-and-coming unknowns.

Keep your eye on this page for updates as your hardy guides throw themselves into the festival frenzy and bring you the low-down on the most exciting movies.

Updates/Reviews:
The Royal Tenenbaums, Storytelling, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Mulholland Drive, Fat Girl

This Year's Festival Highlights:

Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums is without a doubt the hottest ticket this year. Rushmore became a cult classic in the few years since its release, and Max Fisher fans will be clamoring to get a look at Anderson's new, star-studded film long before its Christmas release.

>> Fear and Loathing at the Walter Reade Theater
Todd Solondz, controversial director of Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse is back with a two-part film about the way stories impact our miserable lives. Storytelling is prime Solondz: raw, crude, cruel, touching.

>> Review
Italian for Beginners, Lone Scherfig's comedy that follows a group of Danish Italian students to Venice, wants to prove that the "Dogme" movement is far from dead.
Claiming the festival's centerpiece spot, David Lynch is back with Mulholland Drive, an dark exploration into the myths of Los Angeles. Naomi Watts and Laura Harring trade more than just hair color in this twisted tale.

>> Review
I'm a sucker for animation, so I can't wait to see what Richard "Slacker" Linklater did with Waking Life, a film shot in live video and transformed into animation by software wizardry.
The opening night film Va Savoir (Who Knows?), a story of bittersweet love by French New Wave director Jacques Rivette, is being hailed as a masterpiece.

A raunchy Mexican road movie about two stoners and a woman with a secret, Y Tu Mama Tambien is breaking box-office records.

>> Review

 

 

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