The end of September, Beginning of October is my favorite time in New York City but, it's usually a real endurance test for me.
Over the next 27 days, I'm going to 35 events !
The BIG ONE is the The 53rd New York Film Festival which starts this Sunday, September 27th.
But, there is also The New Yorker Festival, PaleyFest and ComicCon happening at the same time.
The 53rd New York Film Festival, I'm going to 17 films.
In order, here are the films that I'm seeing
1. "The Martian" – Directed by Ridley Scott. (Ridley Scott, Matt Damon + cast members in Attendance)
2. "Mountains May Depart" – Directed by Jia Zhangke. (Jia Zhangke and Zhao Tao in attendance)
3. "The Forbidden Room" – Directed by Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson. (Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson in attendance)
4. "Journey to the Shore" – Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
5. "O Brother, Where at Thou ? "– Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. (Joel & Ethan Coen, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson and George Clooney in attendance)
6. "De Palma" – Directed by Noah Baumbach & Jake Paltrow. (Noah Baumbach, Brian De Palma and Jake Paltrow in attendance)
7. "Cemetery of Splendour" – Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
8. "Where to Invade Next" – Directed by Michael Moore. (Michael Moore in attendance)
9. "Microbe & Gasoline" – Directed by Michel Gondry. (Michel Gondry in attendance)
10. "Maggie's Plan" – Directed by Rebecca Miller. (Rebecca Miller, Greta Gerwig, Julianne Moore, Ethan Hawke, Maya Rudolph and Travis Fimmel in attendance)
11. "Bridge of Spies" – Directed By Steven Spielberg (Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks in attendance)
12. "Experimenter" – Directed by Michael Almereyda. (Michael Almereyda, Peter Sarsgaard, Winona Ryder and Jim Gaffigan in attendance)
13. "Heart of a Dog" – Directed by Laurie Anderson. (Laurie Anderson in attendance)
14 "Junun" – Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. (Paul Thomas Anderson in attendance)
15. "Carol" – Directed by Todd Haynes. (Todd Haynes, Christine Mara, Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett in attendance)
16. "The Assassin" – Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. (Hou Hsiao-hsien in attenance)
17. "Miles Ahead" – Directed by Don Cheadle. (Don Cheadle in attendance)
The three films that I'm looking the most forward to are Todd Haynes "Carol", Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson's "The Forbidden Room" and Jia Zhangke's "Mountains May Depart".
I'm a huge fan of both Todd Haynes and Jia Zhangke.
Then, if I survive the seventeen films – I'm going to two events at the New Yorker Festival.
They are:
1. musical group Sleater-Kinney at the Director's Guild of America.
2. actor Adam Driver at the Gramercy Theater.
Plus PaleyFest at the Paley Center for Media which showcases television series.
I'm going to four of those events.
1. "Pretty Little Liars" (Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario, Sasha Pieterse, I. Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick, Joe Dougherty in attendance)
2. "Ash vs. The Evil Dead" (Bruce Campbell, Lucy Lawless, Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, Craig DiGregorio and Sam Raimi in attendance)
3. "The Mindy Project" (Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz, Ed Weeks, Beth Grant, Xosha Roquemore, Matt Warburton in attendance)
4. "Transparent" (Jeffrey Tambor, Judith Light, Jay Duplass and Gaby Hoffman in attendance)
Toss in a couple of appearances at the Film Forum by actor Tab Hunter and actress Diane Baker – plus actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead at Joe's Pub.
Finally, there's some music that I'm going to see !
Musicial performances by Joe Jackson, ex-Steely Dan guitarist Wayne Krantz, Japanese all-girl band Hard Nips, Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band, singer/actress Jill Hennessy, actor Vincent D'Onofrio & Dana Lyn and Elvis Costello speaking at the New York Public Library.
And I can't forget ComicCon – which I'm going to for the fourth year.
I hope to write a blog entry and post a photo from each of the events.
Then, I'll sleep for a couple days and start over again.
There is always something going on here in New York City.
