NYFF51 will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of DAZED AND CONFUSED on Thursday
DAZED AND CONFUSED (Richard Linklater, 1993)
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Alice Tully Hall
1941 Broadway at 65th St.
Thursday, October 10, $25, 9:00
212-875-5050
www.filmlinc.com
“You guys know anything about a party?” It should be one crazy party on October 10, when the fifty-first New York Film Festival celebrates the twentieth anniversary of one of the greatest high school movies of them all, Richard Linklater’s 1993 indie classic, Dazed and Confused. Alice Tully Hall will turn into 1976 Austin, Texas, as Linklater and various cast members will be on hand for the screening and a Q&A. Like Cynthia (Marissa Ribisi) says, “If we are all gonna die anyway, shouldn’t we be enjoying ourselves now? You know, I’d like to quit thinking of the present, like, right now, as some minor insignificant preamble to something else.” Of course, Randall “Pink” Floyd (Jason London) intones, “All I’m saying is that if I ever start referring to these as the best years of my life, remind me to kill myself.” There’ll be no need to do that as you watch Linklater’s splendid look at high school, which deals with hazing, burgeoning sexuality, sports, drug use, friendship, cliques, and a kick-ass party to end one chapter and begin another, for everyone except the older Wooderson (a career-making performance by Matthew McConaughey), who famously proclaims, “That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.” The cast also includes Adam Goldberg, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Joey Lauren Adams, Rory Cochrane, Parker Posey, Ben Affleck, and Austin native Wiley Wiggins as Mitch, with an epic soundtrack featuring all the right songs by Foghat, Alice Cooper, Nazareth, Rick Derringer, Sweet, War, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kiss, and Peter Frampton. So for a “good ol’ worthwhile visceral experience,” head on out to Lincoln Center and relive all those glorious moments of your misspent youth.
After the breakout success of Born to Run in 1975, Bruce Springsteen became embroiled in a lawsuit over control of his music that prevented him from going into the studio to make the highly anticipated follow-up. Springsteen found himself at a crossroads; “You didn’t know if this would be the last record you’d ever make,” he says in the revealing behind-the-scenes documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town. Combining archival footage of the Darkness sessions shot by Barry Rebo with new interviews with all the members of the E Street Band in addition to producers Jimmy Iovine, Jon Landau, and others, editor and director Thom Zimny melds Bruce’s past with the present, delving deep into Springsteen’s complex, infuriating, and fiercely dedicated creative process. “I had to disregard my own mutation,” Springsteen says at one point, regarding his battle to avoid getting caught up in the hype that came with Born to Run, so he decided that his next album would be “a meditation on where are you going to stand.” Rebo captures Springsteen and the E Street Band — from a bare-chested Bruce to a bandanna-less Steve Van Zandt — rehearsing and recording alternate takes of familiar songs as well as tunes that would later wind up on such albums as The River and Tracks, opening up Bruce’s famous notebooks and examining his intense creative process, which included throwing away dozens and dozens of songs that he believed just didn’t fit within his vision of what Darkness should be. Two of the most fascinating parts of the The Promise involve Patti Smith discussing “Because the Night,” explaining that the lyrics she added are about her waiting for her boyfriend at the time (and later husband), Fred “Sonic” Smith, to call her, and Toby Scott talking about mixing the Darkness record to get the sound pictures in Bruce’s head onto vinyl. The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town is screening October 10 at the Landmark Sunshine as part of the CBGB Festival, which also includes such other music-related films as Bad Brains: A Band in DC, Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, Iggy and the Stooges Raw Power Live — In the Hands of the Fans, Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams, and Nick Mead’s Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am.
Israeli-born, L.A.-based director Michael Mayer’s debut feature film, Out in the Dark, is a gripping romantic thriller about two men forced to make dangerous choices if they want their love to survive. One night in a Tel Aviv gay club, Israeli lawyer Roy (Michael Aloni) and Palestinian student Nimr (Nicholas Jacob, in his acting debut) instantly hit it off. Roy works in his father’s business, and his parents (Alon Oleartchik and Cheli Godenberg) accept his sexuality. But Nimr, who lives in Ramallah and has just received a permit to cross the border in order to take an important class in Tel Aviv, has to hide his sexual orientation from his younger sister, Abir (Palestinian singer Maysa Daw), his mother, Hiam (Khawlah Haj), and his older brother, Nabil (Jameel Khouri), who is part of a local gang that has it in for gays and Palestinian collaborators. So when Nimr’s permit is revoked by a hard-line Israeli officer, Gil (Alon Pdut), who insists that Nimr give him information, Roy and Nimr have to fight for their relationship — and, perhaps, their lives. Written by Mayer with Yael Shafrir, Out in the Dark is photographed in intimate, dark close-ups by Ran Aviad that heighten the emotional tension. The story never gets polemic or takes sides, as it shows that there are good and bad people in both Israel and Palestine, providing a microcosm of the long, violent stalemate that has led to so many individuals paying a severe personal price. Winner of Audience Awards at eight film festivals around the world (in addition to other prizes), Out in the Dark is currently screening at Cinema Village.
Zachary Heinzerling’s 
