Writer/Director Richard Linklater on his Timely, Devastating Last Flag Flying

Richard Linklater originally tried to get war veterans’ drama Last Flag Flying off the ground 12 years ago, shortly after reading Daryl Ponsican’s novel of the same. “The timing wasn’t right,” he says. But the timing for the now-completed movie, which opened this past Friday, couldn’t be much more attuned to national concerns. Shot last fall, the film gained unexpected resonance two weeks ago when White House chief of staff John Kelly described the exact same process dramatized in Last Flag Flying,

Recapping The 55th Annual New York Film Festival

Given the precarious state of the New York City subway system, I’ve been dreading the commute from my apartment to Lincoln Center, the home of the New York Film Festival. However, the selections that I’ve seen at the 55th edition of the festival thus far have, by and large, been so good that I find myself patiently enduring delays and smiling benevolently at people who accidentally jostle me. Here are some brief mid-festival accolades.

Best of (My Personal) Fest

The Square,

The 55th Annual New York Film Festival Begins Today

The New York Film Festival, which runs from September 28 to October 15, is a funny bird. Housed in that Temple of Culture, Lincoln Center, the 55th edition of the festival is showing as many movies in its Robert Mitchum Retrospective as it is in the Main Slate, its showcase for the annual crop of prestigious indies (25 each to be exact). The festival doesn’t try to compete with industry heavyweights like Cannes, Sundance and Toronto.