Artistic Consumption Log, Oct. 1, 2012 - Oct. 7, 2012

BROOKLYN, N.Y.—My annotations for the log below are minimal as I am in the midst of writing up a few more New York Film Festival reviews for The House Next Door. So, um, enjoy what little I have to offer!

Nathaniel Dorsky's August and After

Films

The 50th New York Film Festival, all films seen in New York:

★ Tabu (2012, Miguel Gomes), seen at Walter Reade Theater [second viewing]
★ First Cousin Once Removed (2012, Alan Berliner), seen at Walter Reade Theater
★ Like Someone in Love (2012, Abbas Kiarostami), seen at Walter Reade Theater
★ Frances Ha (2012, Noah Baumbach), seen at Alice Tully Hall
Not Fade Away (2012, David Chase), seen at Walter Reade Theater
★ Amour (2012, Michael Haneke), seen at Walter Reade Theater
★ 20 Hz (2012, Semiconductor), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
Tension Building (2012, Ericka Beckman), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ Collections (2012, Peggy Ahwesh), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
Interstitial Project 1 (2012, Matt McCormick), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ Birthstone (2012, April Wheeler), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ Kiss the Rain (2012, Lewis Klahr), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ The Street of Everlasting Rain (2012, Lewis Klahr), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
Tokens and Penalties (2012, Talena Sanders), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ Interstitial Project 2 (2012, Matt McCormick), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ Circle in the Sand (2012, Michael Robinson), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ The Extravagant Shadows (2012, David Gatten), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ S P E C T R E (2012, Sarah Grace Nesin), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ Phantoms of a Libertine (2012, Ben Rivers), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
The Room Called Heaven (2012, Laida Lertxundi), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ Mekong Hotel (2012, Apichatpong Weerasethakul), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ In the Stone House (1967-70/2012, Jerome Hiler), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ New Shores (1970-90/2012, Jerome Hiler), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ August and After (2012, Nathaniel Dorsky), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
★ April (2012, Nathaniel Dorsky), seen at Francesca Beale Theater
The Creation As We Saw It (2012, Ben Rivers), seen at Howard Gilman Theater
★ Morning of Saint Anthony's Day (2012, João Pedro Rodrigues), seen at Howard Gilman Theater
Concrete Parlay (2012, Fern Silva), seen at Howard Gilman Theater
★ Walker (2012, Tsai Ming-liang), seen at Howard Gilman Theater [second viewing] 
★ The Blind Owl (1987, Raúl Ruiz), seen at Howard Gilman Theater
Whoa, some of you might be wondering. Why so many films listed this week? Did I suddenly go mad with moviegoing?

Actually, this past weekend, I devoted much of my energies to "Views from the Avant-Garde," the New York Film Festival sidebar devoted to experimental cinema both well-known (relatively speaking) and obscure. Avant-garde cinema has always been something I've been meaning to acquaint myself with in more depth—but of course, opportunities to see films by the likes of Nathaniel Dorsky, Ben Rivers, Michael Robinson and others are often limited to occasional festival and/or museum screenings. So a sidebar like this one (in its 16th year as far as of NYFF, by the way) offers a valuable service to a curious cinephile like myself. Thus, I decided to take as much advantage of it as possible—especially on Saturday, when I ended up checking out five Views programs in one day. Boy, did I feel burned out after that day!

Some of the highlights, in brief:

• David Gatten's three-hour epic The Extravagant Shadows, which basically needs only various shades of paint, superimposed screen titles and a handful of music cues to add up to an evocative tribute to the lasting power of the literature amidst the passage of time
• Apichatpong Weerasethakul's hour-long Mekong Hotel, a ghost story of sorts that finds this great Thai auteur in as gently profound and whimsically meditative a mood as ever
• The beautiful short films of Nathaniel Dorsky (spiritual cathedrals of light and shade) and Jerome Hiler (shards of memory reconfigured into impressionistic flashes)
• The late Raúl Ruiz's rarely screened 1987 film The Blind Owl, which turns a meta-cinematic premise into yet another one of his mad narrative juggling acts, wrapped up in a horror-movie atmosphere

Music

★ Janáček: Věc Makropulos/Lachian Dances (1979/1971, Elisabeth Söderström, Peter Dvorský, Beno Blachut; Vienna Philharmonic; Sir Charles Mackerras/London Philharmonic Orchestra; François Huybrechts)
Well, I've already written about The Makropulos Case itself here, so I'll just quickly note the excellence of this 1979 recording—the work's first complete recording, and there hasn't been much competition since—and leave it at that.