Previewing This Year's NYFF

Summary

Podcast Summary: ALL OF IT — Previewing This Year's NYFF

Podcast: All Of It (WNYC)
Host: Alison Stewart
Guest: Fran Hoepfner (Vulture film critic)
Date: September 29, 2025
Episode Theme:
A deep dive into the standout films, themes, and creative voices shaping this year’s New York Film Festival (NYFF). Alison Stewart and critic Fran Hoepfner preview a diverse slate—from international dramas, new documentaries, and movies about artists, to buzzy biopics and daring, formally inventive works—and discuss what makes this cultural event such a unique, vibrant part of NYC’s creative scene.

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Main Topics & Key Insights

1. The NYFF Experience

• NYFF’s Unique Energy: Fran describes the festival’s atmosphere as “my favorite time of year,” likening its early fall timing to a nostalgic “back to school feel” and highlighting the community that forms among recurring attendees.
  • Quote:

    “Film festivals happen year round, but this happening in early fall has a kind of back to school feel. …You start to see the same characters at the film festival every year. There’s people whose faces I just know from seeing movies with them every single fall. It’s so exciting, and the energy is so wonderful.” (01:09, Fran Hoepfner)

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2. Festival Standouts: Feature, International & Documentary

Sentimental Value

• A family drama about a once-famed film director seeking a comeback by making a movie based on his fractured relationship with his daughters.
• Why It Stands Out:
  • Avoids “self-aware Hollywood” tropes, weaving European theater and Hollywood without being saccharine; centers on character-driven storytelling.
  • Quote:

    “It’s a story that’s about film and about theater and about show business. But it’s not this kind of self-aware Hollywood version of it. …It has a slightly less, well, dare I say, sentimental feel to it. It’s more grounded and theoretical.” (01:57, Fran Hoepfner)

• Cast Notes: Renate Reinsve returns; Elle Fanning “plays a kind of version of herself” reckoning with her own stardom (02:52).

The Secret Agent

• “Period piece in the 70s in Brazil under a military dictatorship,” characterized equally as a spy film and ensemble hangout comedy.
• Why It Stands Out:
  • Despite a sprawling cast (“about 45 characters”), director Kleber Mendonça Filho ensures each character is vivid and memorable, creating an “ensemble piece of everyone just trying to get through this difficult time.”
  • Quote:

    “Every single person you see in this movie is instantaneously memorable…They are so fun to see, and it becomes this wonderful ensemble piece.” (04:14, Fran Hoepfner)

• Cinematography: Shot in Panavision, visually rich (04:44).

NYFF Documentaries on Gaza

• Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk: Built from FaceTime video calls between the director and a young Gaza photographer after October 7, 2023.
• With Hasan in Gaza: Revisits old footage to create parallels between Gaza past and present.
• On Documentary Techniques:
  • Captures daily life and connection despite war and displacement; the choppy, interrupted FaceTime calls heighten realism and empathy.
  • Quote:

    “You’d think…that it might get tired or tedious, especially because the Internet connection is not very good…But the subject and the conversations are so engaging and warm and funny. …It makes it so clear that what is happening has completely disrupted what should otherwise be this really colorful, remarkable city and way of life.” (06:08, Fran Hoepfner)

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3. Big Directors & Formally Inventive Dramas

House of Dynamite (dir. Kathryn Bigelow)

• US military responds to a detected nuclear missile; tense, war-room thriller.
• Bigelow’s Technique:
  • Builds suspense by “being really withholding and not showing us the full picture,” replaying the same 35 minutes from multiple viewpoints: “It’s kind of like a symphony…[paying] attention to the strings and then the brass…and it all comes together in the end.” (09:49, Fran Hoepfner)
• Memorable Quote:

  “She can be really withholding…We’re seeing about the same 35 minutes three different times, but from different points of view.” (09:49, Fran Hoepfner)

After the Hunt

• Explores the aftermath and ripples of MeToo, set in academia.
• Nuanced Perspective:
  • Follows a character (Julia Roberts) not in the MeToo spotlight herself but caught between loyalty and morality; depicts how there’s “no good path forward for literally anyone involved.”
  • Quote:

    “It kind of shows how regardless of a response to this kind of crisis, there’s sort of no good path forward…There are repercussions that continue to happen.” (10:56, Fran Hoepfner)

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

• Biopic focusing on Bruce Springsteen’s struggles with depression, starring Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong.
• Unique Focus:
  • More universal than just Springsteen’s stardom: “For a minute I forgot it was about Bruce Springsteen, which…is actually a compliment.” (12:16, Alison Stewart)
  • Showcases a tender friendship (White/Strong).

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4. Art, Artists, and the Creative Process

Peter Hujar’s Day

• Adapted from a real, transcribed conversation between photographer Peter Hujar and his friend Linda.
• Set in the ‘70s/‘80s, it’s a window into the NYC art scene, Stonewall, Andy Warhol projects.
• Endearing, Immersive, Conversational:
  • “This might be my favorite film of the year. …It really just captures what it’s like to talk and eat and smoke a cigarette and vent to your friend for an hour.” (16:21, Fran Hoepfner)
  • Notable Clip:

    Linda: “I would like my work to stand about that. My work could stand so all by itself without a single star in it.”
    Peter: “But they’re not your everyday stars…these people are very special.” (14:59–16:17)

Blue Moon

• Focuses on the end of the famed Rodgers and Hart partnership and the rise of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Scorsese Film: Not in detail, but noted as another festival highlight centered on artists (13:14).

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5. International Cinema & Political Resonance

It Was Just An Accident (Iranian director, Palme d'Or winner)

• Made in exile, this drama tackles truth, memory, and revenge as a group confronts a possible former torturer.
• Reflects both the director’s real political exile and the experience of reckoning with history and identity (17:37).

If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You

• Rose Byrne as a harried mother—“intense, very stressful…Safdie brothers movie for women.”
• Features ASAP Rocky (“a charmer”) and Conan O’Brien in an “incredibly frustrating” therapist role.
  • Quote:

    “We are just with her on this journey of temporary single parenthood…she’s just taking it all on like waves at the beach, just getting knocked over again and again.” (18:17–19:03, Fran Hoepfner)

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6. Comedy, Music & Experimentation

Is This Thing On? (dir. Bradley Cooper)

• Stars Will Arnett (who prepped by doing open mics), Laura Dern.
• A more personal, emotionally raw film about comedy and relationships; represents a shift for Cooper from musical epics to intimate character drama.
  • Quote:

    “He has such a knack for emotional intensity and for really highlighting sort of the interiority of characters in crisis.” (20:52, Fran Hoepfner)

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7. Epic Historical Filmmaking

Magellan (dir. Lav Diaz)

• “Huge epic” examining Portuguese colonialism in the Philippines, starring Gael Garcia Bernal.
• More accessible than Diaz’s usual “slow cinema;” Bernal’s acting is stellar (21:34).

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “It’s my favorite time of year. I love, you know, film festivals…but this happening in early fall has a kind of back to school feel.” (01:09, Fran Hoepfner)
• “She can be really withholding…We’re seeing about the same 35 minutes three different times, but from different points of view.” (09:49, Fran Hoepfner, on Kathryn Bigelow’s approach)
• “For a minute I forgot it was about Bruce Springsteen, which I think is actually a compliment to the film.” (12:16, Alison Stewart)
• “It really just captures what it’s like to talk and eat and smoke a cigarette and vent to your friend for an hour.” (16:21, Fran Hoepfner, on Peter Hujar’s Day)
• “It’s kind of like a Safdie brothers movie for women…It is remarkable.” (18:17, Fran Hoepfner on If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:09: Introduction & NYFF atmosphere
• 01:34: “Sentimental Value” — modern family drama
• 03:13: “The Secret Agent” — Brazilian political ensemble
• 04:48: Gaza documentaries
• 07:42: “House of Dynamite” (Kathryn Bigelow) — high-stakes thriller
• 10:40: “After the Hunt” — MeToo and complexity
• 12:02: “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”
• 13:14: Films about artists, with Scorsese mention
• 14:35: “Peter Hujar’s Day” — artist’s conversational day-in-the-life
• 17:23: “It Was Just an Accident” (Iran, exile)
• 18:15: “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You” (Rose Byrne, ASAP Rocky)
• 19:27: “Is This Thing On?” (Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett)
• 21:34: “Magellan” (Lav Diaz, colonial Philippines epic)

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In Summary

This episode offers an enthusiastic, insightful tour of NYFF’s 2025 lineup, mixing sharp film criticism with cultural analysis. Fran Hoepfner and Alison Stewart celebrate the wild diversity, formal risks, and poignant personal stories running through this year’s festival—from tense political thrillers and experimental documentaries to introspective artist portraits and exhilarating tales of struggling parents or creative icons. Whether you love history, experimental cinema, or just want to immerse yourself in artistic process and cultural dialogue, NYFF has something this year that is both “conversation starting” and deeply reflective of the world—and city—we live in.

Transcript

[A]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. The New York Film Festival is underway, offering participants a first look at some of the most anticipated new movies, many of which have yet to be released. The festival puts groundbreaking career defining work from a list actors and blockbuster directors alongside newcomers and international unknowns. The slate of films this year includes dramas from Portuguese missionaries in the Philippines to Brazil's mid century military dictatorship to New York City's starving artist scene of the 70s and 80s. There are works of documentary and fictionalized works that depict modern issues from authoritarianism in Iran and the war in Gaza. And there's a film about depression whose main character is Bruce Springsteen. So a lot of movies to discuss. Let's get into it. My guest is Vulture film critic Fran Hoppner, who's had a very busy movie filled weekend. Hi, Fran.

[B]

Hi, how are you?

[A]

I'm doing well. What is it like to experience the New York Film Festival?

[B]

It's my favorite time of year. I love, you know, film festivals happen year round, but this happening in early fall has a kind of back to school feel. And getting to go up to the Upper west side every single week and you start to see the same characters at the film festival every year. There's people whose faces I just know from seeing movies with them every single fall. It's so exciting and the energy is so wonderful.

[A]

Let's start with some films. Sentimental value. It's a family story centering around a once celebrated film director played by Stellan Skarsgrd. And he has these daughters, they've got a strained relationship. He wants to make a movie, sort of a comeback movie based on their life. This is getting a lot of praise, this film. What is making it stand out from other kind of family stories?

[B]

I think that it is a story that's about film and about theater and about show business. But it's not this kind of like self aware Hollywood version of it. It's taking place in this European scene and kind of melds this world of European cinema, European theater with the world of Hollywood. So it has a slightly less, well, dare I say, sentimental feel to it. It's a little bit more grounded and theoretical. And Joaquim Cheer's last movie, the Worst Person in the World was this fantastic humanist relationship drama. And I think he's so focused on his characters versus the glitz and glam of their lifestyles that make watching his movies very pleasurable.

[A]

And the cast is pretty great.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Speaking of Joaquin Treyer. Yeah, it was Renata Rensvig Yeah, she's back and she plays one of the daughters. Who else is in the film?

[B]

Elle Fanning is the American actress whose teenager taking on the role that was supposed to be Renata's in the film. And Elle Fanning is like one of my favorite actresses. I think she's so deliberate and interesting in her choices and it's great to see her play a kind of version of herself in this that's also reckoning with the kind of star that she is.

[A]

Listeners, if you're participating in the New York Film Festival, we would like to hear from you. You can call in and share your thoughts on some of some of the feature films that you've seen or you're excited to see. Our number is 212-433-962-2433 wnyc. You can call in and share your thoughts or you can reach out on social media of itwnyc. You also saw the Secret Agent, which is a period piece in the 70s in Brazil under a military dictatorship. What's special about this film?

[B]

Well, it's sort of a spy movie, but above all else, it's kind of a shaggy dog hangout movie. It feels really retro and throwback in its sensibilities. It's got a pretty languid chill out pace. It's very funny. And you know, it's about this academic who's essentially on the run for crossing the police and the dictatorship. But it's probably got about like 45 characters in it.

[A]

Whoa.

[B]

Which in any other film would be like too much to juggle. You'd be like, who's this person? What do they do again? And the director, Kleber Mendoza Filho is so good at casting. And every single person you see in this movie is instantaneously memorable to you. You know exactly who they are in relationship to the main character, where they work, where they live. They are so fun to see, interact with each other. And it becomes this wonderful ensemble piece of everyone just trying to get through this difficult time and help each other out.

[A]

And it's shot in Panavision, right?

[B]

I believe so. It looks astounding.

[A]

It's a beautiful film.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That one's called the Secret Agent. You also have on your list a pair of documentaries, Put yout Soul on youn Hand and Walk. It's about life in Gaza since October 7, 2023, told through video calls with the director with a young photographer who lived there, and then there's with Hasan in Gaza. It draws parallels between Gaza today and Gaza almost 25 years ago, what struck you about the storytelling tools that filmmakers are using to document this story?

[B]

In many ways, they're both found footage. Found footage movies, you know, put your soul on your hand and walk is mostly footage of FaceTime calls. It is a camera recording FaceTime calls and you're just watching conversations play out in very real time. Whereas with Hasan in Gaza is old footage that's been rediscovered, recontextualized. It's about the filmmaker going on this journey to try to find someone that he used to know in his past. But it becomes quickly very clear that that's not really going to happen as literally as possible. And so both are about daily life in Gaza through the eyes of people who are living it every single day. And brought to the big screen what.

[A]

Makes FaceTime calls engaging in this film.

[B]

It's interesting because you'd think given that that's really the bulk of this feature, that it might get tired or tedious, especially because the Internet connection is not very good. A lot of these calls are quite choppy or interrupted by a bad connection. And it's as frustrating to watch on the big screen as it would be if you were FaceTiming someone in real life. And the call kept dropping. But the subject and the conversations in this movie are so engaging and warm and funny. And they're talking about what's happening in Gaza, but they're also talking about film and food and family. Interesting. And what daily life is like in a way that makes it so clear that what is happening has completely disrupted what should otherwise be this really colorful, remarkable city and way of life.

[A]

We're talking about the cinematic works being featured at this year's New York Film Festival, running now through October 13th at Lincoln Center. My guest is Vulture film critic Frank. If you're participating in the film festival this year, we want to hear from you. Call in and share your thoughts and some of the featured films that you've seen. What you're excited to see. 2124-3396-9221-2433 wnyc okay, our next one we have a clip for It's a House of Dynamite. It's a drama about how the US military responds after detects an incoming nuclear missile. The this was directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Remind people who Kathryn Bigelow is.

[B]

Kathryn Bigelow is the Oscar winning director of the Hurt Locker Woman.

[A]

Oscar directed winner.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There are so few.

[B]

There really are. She did Zero Dark Thirty. She did Point Break. She's a fantastic director, especially of tension of which there is a lot in this movie.

[A]

All right. This looks at one of the actions that takes place in a war room. It takes place largely in the war room with some big maps that are a little bit like you see in things. Like Dr. Strange. Strange love. Let's listen to a little bit of the trailer.

[C]

I always thought just being ready is the point that keeps the villain. Check. Keeps the world straight. They see how prepared we are. No one starts a nuclear war. Approximately three minutes ago, we detected an ICBM over the Pacific. Current flight trajectory is consistent with impact somewhere in the continental United States.

[D]

Have we seen Death Gun 2 perform?

[C]

Noodle, is this real? Stratcom is asking for launch instructions right now. I'm gonna need you to breathe. We are talking about hitting a bullet with a bullet. So it's a coin toss.

[A]

That's what $50 billion buys us.

[B]

Get in the car and just start driving.

[C]

If we do not take steps to neutralize our enemies now, we will lose our window to do so. If we get this wrong, none are gonna be alive tomorrow. There is no plan B.

[B]

We did everything right. Right?

[D]

We did everything right.

[C]

None of this makes sense. Making all these bombs and all these plans. But walls are just ready to blow.

[A]

Love, Tracy Letts, first of all.

[B]

Oh, me too. Me too.

[A]

What does that mean? What? How does Kathryn Bigelow create that kind of tension? What is it about her directing that creates that kind of tension that you need for a film like this?

[B]

She can be really withholding and not be showing us the full picture of everything that's happening. Part of what's so compelling about this film is that it's got a kind of formal game to it, which is that we're seeing about the same 35 minutes three different times, but from different points of view. So there are things that you see or you hear early on in the film that you'd have absolutely no context for. You're not sure who's saying them, what they do, what their role is. We don't really know who the president is till closer to the end of the film. And I think in withholding, who's doing what so that we can really focus on very specific rooms of people doing different things in different parts of the movie. She's able to escalate all these individual moving parts. It's kind of like a symphony. Like she's paying attention to the strings and then the brass and then the percussion, and it all kind of comes together in the end.

[A]

After the Hunt is About relationships and MeToo questions and about Inappropriate power dynamics within academia. It stars Andrew Garfield, Iowa Debris and Julia Roberts. How does this film build on MeToo?

[B]

Well, it's interesting because it's set in 2019, when MeToo, I think, was a much more prominent cultural focal point. But it's all done through this really intense character study of the Julia Roberts character, Alma, who's a professor who's not personally grappling with a kind of cancel culture metoo scandal herself, but rather she's kind of the third party conflict in between one of her co workers and one of her favorite students. And she's been asked to pick a side. And it's about the difficulties both in not doing that and doing that. It kind of shows how regardless of a response to this kind of crisis, there's sort of no good path forward for literally anyone involved. And it's all much more money than, say, publicly condemning someone or elevating someone who has been harmed. That there are repercussions that continue to happen because of this. And in focusing on a person who's not, you know, the victim allows us to see what's happened from a couple different point of views.

[A]

And last night, another Bear alumni had a screening. Jeremy Allen White in Springsteen, Deliver Me From Nowhere. It's about Springsteen circa 1982. Did you get a chance to see this?

[B]

I haven't seen this one yet, but I'm really looking forward.

[A]

I saw it yesterday afternoon and it's so interesting. It really is about depression and about depression within Springsteen's family and how he uses his music to get through his depression. For a minute I forgot it was about Bruce Springsteen, which I think is actually a compliment to the film.

[B]

Yeah, it's not like reminding you with proper nouns over and over again, like who everyone is and all that they.

[A]

Do through the songs in every now and Again. But it's actually. I think it's. It's a pretty good movie, actually.

[B]

Nice. I hear Jeremy Strong is fantastic in it.

[A]

Oh, he's so great at John Landau. And he and Jeremy Allen White really have a love affair going on as friends, as men. That is very touching. I think in the film.

[B]

I can't wait to see it.

[A]

There are several films about artists this year. We talked about Bruce Springsteen, Blue Moon, about when Richard Rodgers dumped Lawrence Hartz as his partner for Oscar Hammerstein. There's a Martin Scorsese.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

As well. You know, sort of big picture. Why do filmmakers seem to enjoy stories about the creative process?

[B]

I think there's a real deliberate effort to keep writing and rewriting the canon of cinema and of show business and of art. And I think for a lot of these filmmakers, they hit a point in their career where it becomes more compelling to look backwards at how we got to where we were versus continuing to look forwards. Although, like, in going back, I think in making these movies, it. We're able to kind of see into the future a little bit. But it's a big hallmark of New York Film Festival every year to have some of these artists, biopics or documentaries or explorations. And many of them wind up being very much in communication with New York City itself, which I think makes them so fun to see in the city that they take place.

[A]

This text says, Allison. I saw a screening of House of Dynamite, and not only was it spellbinding, but it sheds a new light on who's at the top of the political chain making decisions that could save us or get us killed. It's beyond eye opening and somewhat terrifying.

[B]

Completely. Yeah. I think we see how much of a, dare I say, group project everything is. And in the way that group projects are not always completely successful, we see that in this as well, the film.

[A]

Peter, I hope I pronounce this right. Houarsdehoojar. Hoojar's Day. It's adapted from. This is really cool. It's a recorded conversation between the title character. He was a gay portrait photographer from the 70s and 80s. He witnessed the Stonewall riots, some of Andy Warhol projects. Let's listen to a clip when he's talking with his friend about work and the stardom of his subjects, and we can talk about it on the other side.

[D]

I would like my work to stand about that. My work could stand so all by itself without a single star in it.

[B]

Well, it could. I mean, I find the star thing very superfluous.

[D]

But they're not your everyday stars. Like, to me, those were stars in the show. It's a different thing, you know, these people are very special. They're like the same thing. Like Joan Crawford. I mean, wouldn't you go out of your way to see Joan Crawford?

[A]

She's not one that interests me that much.

[D]

If she was around the corner, you would see her.

[B]

No, I'm telling you, I'm very blase about star.

[D]

What about An Evening With Joan Crawford?

[B]

I think it would be gigantically boring.

[D]

You're probably right. I'd still be very curious.

[B]

Yeah, I'd rather meet Bette Davis.

[D]

Well, there are other people that I meet. I just picked Joan Crawford because Vince showed me a book, and on the COVID There was a scene from, I think it was King Kong in New York, some movie where New York floods and you see these big waves coming down the street. And it was Herald Square with Crawford.

[A]

I feel like I was on the back of the bus sitting behind this pair and just listening to them talk.

[B]

100%. This might be my favorite film of the year. Peter Hoosier's Day.

[A]

Tell us why.

[B]

I just think it's a remarkable snapshot of the past. Basically. It's a real transcript is what this film consists of between Peter Hujar and his friend Linda, who is at the time trying to make a book where she interviewed artists about just what they did on a regular day. And that book never came to fruition during that time. But this conversation with her friend Peter, who died of aids, makes up sort of the subject of this film. And it's really just a day long conversation. It's a 75 minute film. It is set in the 70s. It is so rich and textured. It's like an amazing apartment, amazing costumes, and it really just captures what it's like to talk and eat and smoke a cigarette and vent to your friend for an hour. I think it's just absolutely beautiful. And it's such a portrait of what it's like to be a working artist, which is mostly complaining about freelancing.

[A]

Let's talk about the international side of things. This is so interesting. It was just an accident. We talked about this a little bit on the show. It was the Paum d' or winner and it was by an Iranian director who cannot film in Iran.

[B]

Correct? Yeah, yeah. And his last. He spent a significant amount of time in prison a few years ago. And this film was sort of produced in France and is reckoning with the politics of Iran and kind of portrays this ragtag group of people who think they've come across someone who tortured them when they were imprisoned and they try to think of what they should do now that they have him, if it is him, which they're not sure that it is because they weren't able to see him.

[A]

That one is called it was Just an accident. You're excited for if I had Legs, I'd kick you.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Who stars in this?

[B]

This is Rose Byrne. As you have never, ever, ever seen her before. I was lucky enough to catch this at Sundance earlier in the year. It is an extremely stressful, sometimes very funny portrait of motherhood. It's kind. I keep saying it's kind of like a Safdie brothers movie for women in that it is really Intense. Very stressful. It's most of the film is Roseburn in close up just reacting to the world around her. And we are just with her on this journey of temporary single parenthood. Her husband is away on work. Her daughter is sick. The ceiling of their apartment caves in. She's having a crisis at work and she's just taking it all on like waves at the beach. Like just getting knocked over again and again. And it is remarkable.

[A]

Asap. Rocky's in it.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And he's a charmer.

[B]

Oh, yes, he is. And they have fantastic chemistry. It's a great year for him in the movies. He's so good in Highest to Lois as well.

[A]

And also, Conan o' Brien makes an incredibly frustrating therapist.

[B]

Yeah. He's so unlike the Conan we've ever seen before. It's the most withholding he's ever been.

[A]

Let's try to get to this last clip. This is from Is this Thing On? It's Bradley Cooper's third film as a director. It stars Will Arnett and Laura Dern. Let's listen to a little bit of the trailer. Tell a joke.

[C]

I think I'm getting a divorce. What tipped me off was that I'm living in an apartment on my own. Yeah. And my wife and kids don't live there. That was probably the biggest clue. Not exactly sure what happened. Came home from work one day, someone said, is this thing over? Pretty sure it was her. Probably should have paid attention. That's what she meant about not paying attention.

[A]

The real relationship is finding somebody you can also be unhappy with. Somebody who has your back. You stopped having each other's backs.

[C]

So what you like, you tell jokes? I mean, I try. It's more like kind of funny stories from my life.

[A]

Oh, honey, I had no idea your life was this bad.

[C]

What's funny about your life?

[A]

This is why she threw you out. Sounds pretty funny. What do you see as Bradley Cooper's. What is his magic sauce when it becomes being a director?

[B]

He has such a knack for emotional intensity and for really highlighting sort of the interiority of characters in crisis.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm really curious. I haven't seen this film yet. I'm so curious about it because it feels like a little bit of a departure from his last two, which were kind of these like, big musical epics. Right now he's sort of shifting focus to a maybe more intimate story about comedy. Yeah. But I know that Will Arnett was doing open mics down in the West Village to prep for this. It seems very true to the comedy experience for better and worse. I have no idea what this is gonna be, and sometimes that's the biggest thrill.

[A]

It's exciting to think about before we wrap up. Any other films you wanna cover in the last minute?

[B]

I would love to talk about Lav Diaz's Magellan, which is a huge epic that's really reckoning with sort of the colonial impact of Portugal in the Philippines. Lav Diaz is kind of more of an experimental filmmaker who operates in slow cinema, but this is like his most maybe approachable film yet. And Gael Garcia Bernal plays Magellan and he's fantastic and it does a really great job.

[C]

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[B]

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[C]

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[A]

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