The 26th Annual Woodstock Film Festival delivered another packed lineup of major fall releases and awards season contenders. I had the chance to screen four movies at this year’s fest, including a double feature to kick it all off at… of all places… a former church!
The 160-seat Tinker Street Cinema is a very nice venue, and that’s where I saw two NEON pictures: “Arco” and “Sentimental Value”. The former is a moving animated sci-fi fantasy about a young girl who meets a special boy looking to get back home. Gorgeous hand-drawn animation and a star-studded voice cast, which includes Natalie Portman (also a producer), Will Ferrell, Mark Ruffalo and Andy Samberg. But what really impressed me is how the story plays with time — the past, present and future for these characters, including a nice finale surprise.
The latter is a drama about a longtime director (played by an excellent Stellan Skarsgard) looking to make a new movie with his daughter (Renate Reinsve). But she doesn’t want to participate, for reasons that will be steadily unraveled over the course of two hours. Doesn’t have quite the depth I was hoping for, though more interesting than Joachim Trier’s previous film, “The Worst Person in the World”.
In the iconic Woodstock Playhouse I attended a screening of “Wake Up Dead Man”, the third “Knives Out” movie from writer/director Rian Johnson, with Daniel Craig returning as detective Benoit Blanc. This might’ve been more effective to screen at the Tinker since much of the action takes place in and around a church, but unfortunately “Wake Up” is a snoozer. There’s nothing compelling about this gang (which includes Glenn Close, Josh O’Connor, Mila Kunis, Kerry Washington and a very unfunny Josh Brolin). And Johnson goes very extravagant for what ends-up being next to no payoff. It feels all of its two and a half hours.
I finished the weekend with Bradley Cooper’s third directorial movie, “Is This Thing On?” — a dramedy about the separation of a marriage, with the husband (Will Arnett) choosing a new creative outlet of stand-up comedy, and the wife (Laura Dern) looking to pursue Olympic volleyball coaching. The stand-up atmosphere is strong, and Arnett puts a lot into his performance, but so much of the screenplay is clumsy and ridiculous. Cooper casting himself to play a goofball wasn’t a smart decision. Neither is pretty much the entire second half. Definitely a disappointment.
They can’t all be winners — but I hope those who got to screen “Blue Moon” and “Nuremberg” really enjoyed them. They’re two Sony Pictures Classics releases I saw ahead of the WFF. Ethan Hawke is outstanding in the intelligent “Blue Moon” (now playing in theaters), and Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon and Richard E. Grant all excellent in powerhouse “Nuremberg” (which opens Nov. 7).
I also caught-up on “Hamnet” just after the end of my run at the WFF. Jessie Buckley (“Wild Rose”) is once again terrific, this time as Agnes Shakespeare in an emotionally fragile drama from Oscar-winning “Nomadland” director Chloe Zhao. It’s a tough watch. Paul Mescal is only okay as Will, and the final act isn’t quite as powerful as Zhao thinks it is, but still worth seeing for Buckley and some moving moments.
And I caught a bit of Amanda Seyfried’s Q&A for her new musical “The Testament of Ann Lee”, which I look forward to seeing soon. Always fun with the stars and filmmakers attend the Woodstock Film Festival, alongside a bunch of true movie lovers.