NYFF 2014

Don’t believe the pre-release speculation – when 'Gone Girl' arrives in theaters this Friday, its original ending is (in spirit, if not exact detail) intact. That’s sure to rankle some of the countless readers who originally objected to Gillian Flynn’s 2012 best-seller on the basis of its conclusion.

"The only really stable character in this house is the cat," remarked a reporter at the press conference following the screening of 'Gone Girl' that kicked off the New York Film Festival. But as Tyler Perry said, "You haven't met the cat."

Throughout David Fincher’s adaptation of ‘Gone Girl,’ it was almost as if my subconscious was telling me that this movie shouldn’t be as good as what I was watching. That’s not a slam on Gillian Flynn’s novel (obviously; I haven’t read it), it’s just that the book is presented in such a unique way, which would at least seem almost impossible to pull off – just in a basic book vs. movie sort of way. Look, I understand that this following statement can be said about most movies, but in a less capable director’s hands – and with a less capable cast -- this movie could have easily have been garbage. Actually, this movie should have been garbage.

The 52nd annual New York Film Festival begins this week and there is a plethora of movies to see, spanning from September 26 through October 12. It’s hard to just pick ten movies! But, we did our best to restrain ourselves here as senior editor Mike Ryan (that’s me) and associate editor Nick Romano each pick five movies to be on the look out for over the next two and a half weeks.