The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Artist and fledging director Julian (Basquiat) Schnabel (of the Schnabels) adapts the heartbreaking memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby, a Parisian editor who suffered a stroke at 43 that rendered him paralyzed in all but his left eyelid; he blinked the book one letter at a time.
I Just Didn’t Do It
Masayuki Suo, director of 1996’s Shall We Dance (and in no way responsible for the Richard Gere-Jennifer Lopez remake) comes back with slightly different fare: A man is falsely accused of molesting a girl on a crowded train.
I’m Not There
There’s been a lot of talk about Todd Haynes’ “Dylan” movie, which is described as being a “cinematic phantasmagoria built around the poetic reinvention of the self.” Let’s hope that was a joke. Actors like Heath Ledger, Richard Gere and Cate Blanchett all take turns portraying the singer-songwriter-chicken farmer. “I may be jumping the gun,” Harvey Weinstein, whose company produced the film, told The New York Times, “but if Cate Blanchett doesn’t get nominated, I’ll shoot myself.” Oh no please don’t!
Margot at the Wedding
Nicole Kidman stars in the latest from Noah Baumbach (a festival favorite after 2005’s The Squid and the Whale), about a high-strung novelist visiting her family home. Cue neuroses!
Married Life
Director Ira Sachs injects a lot of 40’s chic into this almost old-fashioned comic melodrama about the pitfalls of marriage, particularly when you decide that instead of divorcing your wife, it’s easier to murder her. Chris Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams (with platinum-colored hair!) star.
Mr. Warmth, the Don Rickles Project
In what seems to be a match made in heaven, the great John Landis returns to direct this documentary about Don Rickles, the man that all comedians bow down before.
Paranoid Park
You just never know what you’re going to get with director Gus Van Sant. Elephant, about the seemingly normal day of a high-school shooting, was a popular pick at 2003’s New York Film Festival. Paranoid Park is described as “a dreamlike portrait of teen alienation” and a “boldly experimental” film about a skateboarder trying to make sense of his involvement in an accidental death.
Redacted
Here comes the controversy! Brian De Palma takes on the war in Iraq, with a fictionalized account of American troops committing “an atrocity” against a teenage girl and her family in Mahmoudiya. Yikes.
The Romance of AstrÉe and CÉladon
Eighty-seven-year-old Eric Rohmer returns with what is purportedly his last film, involving river nymphs, a Druid priest and shepherds. It is also, apparently, “one of the most beautiful celebrations of carnal love the cinema has ever seen.” You’ve been warned!
Secret Sunshine
South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong’s thriller about a widow and her son adjusting to life in a small town. Jeon Do-yeon took home the award for Best Actress at Cannes.
Blade Runner: The Final Cut
It’s the 25th Anniversary of this Ridley Scott classic. The director has gone back and has “corrected a few details.” How about some close-ups of Harrison Ford’s package, Mr. Scott?
Runnin’ Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Peter Bogdanovich’s epic documentary that boasts a 258-minute running time. Who knew there was so much to say about Tom Petty?
