http://observer.com Sat, 18 May 2013 20:05:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/dac0f3722a48a53be75eb06c0c4f5119?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png http://observer.com http://observer.com/2011/07/nyff-math-carnage-as-opening-night-film-how-does-it-stack-up/#comments Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:27:03 -0400 http://observer.com/2011/07/nyff-math-carnage-as-opening-night-film-how-does-it-stack-up/ Daniel D'Addario http://www.observer.com/?p=172200

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]]> http://observer.com/2011/07/nyff-math-carnage-as-opening-night-film-how-does-it-stack-up/feed/ 1 jhanasobserver The New York Film Festival has announced its opening night film this year, Roman Polanski's Carnage. The film's highly anticipated--but how does it stack up to past opening nights at the festival, using NYFF's most important metrics? 2001: Va Savoir. * Auteur factor: 8/10. Jacques Rivette is a beloved French director, if not quite as well-known to festival-trolling NYU sophomores as Godard. * Festival factor: 7/10. Played previously at Cannes, and Mr. Rivette had won two prizes for a different film at Berlin. * Hype: 4/10. Hard to gauge a decade-old film's hype in retrospect, but this year's festival also hosted Y Tu Mama También and Mulholland Drive. Overshadowed! * Total: 19/30 NYFF points. 2002: About Schmidt. * Auteur factor: 6/10. Alexander Payne, pre-Sideways, was well-liked but not yet in the American firmament. * Festival factor: 6/10. Played at Cannes. * Hype: 7/10. While Mr. Payne wasn't yet the force he is today (or was in 2005--it's been a long time since Sideways!), his Election followup was highly anticipated and was tipped to win a few Oscars (which it did not do). * Total: 19/30 NYFF points. 2003: Mystic River. * Auteur factor: 9/10. This was the film that re-established Mr. Eastwood--it's only the fact that his previous film was Blood Work that keeps him from a 10. * Festival factor: 6/10. Played at Cannes. * Hype: 6/10. This film was a slow-burner of sorts: NYFF helped boost its cred, but it reached its critical mass only once it had opened in theaters. (Remember 2003? Sean Penn winning Best Actor was kind of an upset!) * Total: 21/30 NYFF points. 2005: Good Night, and Good Luck. # Auteur factor: 4/10. George Clooney had only made one film previous to this. A bonus point, though, for his super-fame. (A reaction against last year?) # Festival factor: 7/10. Played in Venice (marginally less important than Cannes), won a ton of prizes there. # Hype: 7/10. This was a big deal! (It was very politically resonant during the mid-Bush years, as it is very hard or very easy to recall depending on one's interest in Fox News.) # Total: 18/30 NYFF points. 2006: The Queen. * Auteur factor: 7/10. You guys, Stephen Frears made Dangerous Liaisons! * Festival factor: 8/10. Best Actress and Screenplay at Venice! * Hype: 7/10. Pretty steady drumbeat through the fall * Total: 22/30 NYFF points (if Stephen Frears were French, it'd be next to perfect!).