For this year's Movies Issue, The New York Times Magazine commissioned lines from an eclectic and talented group of screenwriters — writers responsible for some of the best scripts of 2013. We asked them each to write a single line for us — not a scene, a script or a scenario, but simply an intriguing, amusing or captivating line of dialogue. Then we gave these lines to one of the great movie artists of our time: the cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, a two-time Oscar winner. Kaminski used these lines as inspiration to create 11 original (very) short films. Each short evokes a style or genre of the cinematic past and stars an actor who gave an especially memorable performance in 2013.
For this year's Movies Issue, The New York Times Magazine commissioned lines from an eclectic and talented group of screenwriters — writers responsible for some of the best scripts of 2013. We asked them each to write a single line for us — not a scene, a script or a scenario, but simply an intriguing, amusing or captivating line of dialogue. Then we gave these lines to one of the great movie artists of our time: the cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, a two-time Oscar winner. Kaminski used these lines as inspiration to create 11 original (very) short films. Each short evokes a style or genre of the cinematic past and stars an actor who gave an especially memorable performance in 2013.
2013-11-25
5.4
The year's best big-screen performers in 11 original (very) short films.
Harry is having a very, very bad day. He returns home from an all-night drinking binge with his cousin Cecil, to discover that his little dog Jolly...Harry's one true love and the source of light in his dark, solitary life-has been murdered. Brokenhearted and beyond consolation, he vows to track down the dog's murderer at any cost. Armed with a stockpile of firepower in the trunk of his car, he and Cecil embark on a frenzied, alcohol-fueled wild-goose chase, leaving a bloody path of destruction in their wake.
A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.
A cabdriver and a cop race to Paris to rescue a love interest and the Japanese minister of defense from kidnappers.
The family is pleasantly surprised and puzzled when Beethoven suddenly becomes obedient. Turns out it's a prince and the pauper scenario, with the real Beethoven now living with a pompous rich family.
Louis-Philippe Fourchaume, another typical lead-role for French comedy superstar Louis de Funès, is the dictatorial CEO of a French company which designs and produces sail yachts, and fires in yet another tantrum his designer André Castagnier, not realizing that man is his only chance to land a vital contract with the Italian magnate Marcello Cacciaperotti. So he has to find him at his extremely rural birthplace in 'la France profonde', which proves a torturous odyssey for the spoiled rich man; when he does get there his torment is far from over: the country bumpkin refuses to resume his slavish position now the shoe is on the other foot, so Fourchaume is dragged along in the boorish family life, and at times unable to control his temper, which may cost him more credit then he painstakingly builds up...
In the second film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto battles a group of female ninja in the employ of the Yagyu clan and must assassinate a traitor who plans to sell his clan's secrets to the Shogunate.
In a spoof of 1972's The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang pick up a hitchiking Gary Coleman. Soon after, the Mystery Machine proceeds to break down (multiple times) leaving them stranded at a haunted castle owned by David Cross.
In the second episode of the trilogy Fantômas kidnaps distinguished scientist professor Marchand with the aim to develop a super weapon that will enable him to menace the world. Fantômas is also planning to abduct a second scientist, professor Lefebvre.
The defeated remnants of vile Ukrainian nationalists, headed by the leader of the Ukrainian liberation movement, Symon Petliura, cannot accept their historical fate and are plotting an insurrection against the Soviet regime in Ukraine. There is nothing Petliura and his cohorts would not do to win back control over Ukraine, including selling it to the highest bidder, in this case, the Polish dictator Jozef Pilsudski. A group of plotters are coordinating an insurrection in Kyiv with an attack from Poland headed by Petliura’s general Yurko Tiutiunnyk. Predictably, the invincible Red Army defeats the nationalist plotters and proves that the Soviet borders are impregnable.
In Africa, Slim and Tom don't like it when a German tyrant starts selling all of the African wildlife to Canadian zoos. Slim and Tom must teach this guy a lesson by beating the hell out of him and his gang.
Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.
The execution was scheduled and the last meal consumed. The coolness of the poisons entering the blood system slowed the heart rate and sent him on the way to Judgement. He had paid for his crime with years on Death Row waiting for this moment and now he would pay for them again as the judgment continued..
Defying his parents, disaffected youth Hsiao Kang drops out of the local cram school to head for the bright lights of downtown Taipei. He meets Ah Tze, a young hoodlum, and their relationship is a confused mixture of hero-worship and rivalry that soon leads to trouble.
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
The Saint-Tropez police launch a major offensive against dangerous drivers. Marechal Cruchot (Louis de Funès) relishes the assignment, which he pursues with a manic zeal. Cruchot is after an offending driver, who turns out to be Josépha (Claude Gensac), the widow of a highly regarded police colonel. When they meet, Cruchot falls instantly in love....
The third part of Seventh Company adventures.
An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.
Reality programmers at DangerTainment select a group of thrill-seeking teenagers to spend one night in the childhood home of serial killer Michael Myers. Their planned live broadcast turns deadly when Michael decides to crash the party.
Sergeant Cruchot and his faithful comrades have been sent to the International Congress of Gendarmerie in N.Y.
When the wife of a 17th century Kyoto scroll-maker is falsely accused of having an affair with his best employee, the pair flee the city and find themselves falling for one another.
The story of a Christmas tree is told through the 'voice' of the tree itself. The tree has big ambitions, doing everything it can to grow so tall that it reaches the sky. Featuring extraordinary photography, the film follows the adventures of its life from sapling to maturity. One December day, everything changes when a little boy falls in love with the fir tree.
Two twins go to a party on Halloween to offer a cake to the host, but they unwillingly get carried away into the party.
The confrontation between a convicted man and his torturer alternates with a tribal battle set at the Stone Age.
In the old American South, a black teen with a white adoptive family becomes curious about her roots after hearing birds for the first time.
Special "back-side" (ura) short which features the background story from the party's side instead of Jil's.
From visionary choreographer, Denna Thomsen and award-winning filmmaker Phillip Montgomery, CHILD OF THE SKY is the haunting story of a young woman who wakes in the desert, lost and cold. She is summoned by a powerful force to a strange woman who takes her in - but there is a price.
The film is based myths of the ancient Peruvians, recreated Soviet ethnographers Yuri Beryozkin on drawings Indians Mochica. The action takes place 1,500 years ago. Legend tells of two brothers, demigods, brought the sacred frog. Growing up, the brothers went to the human world, giving them a lot of happiness and a refuge from the evil monsters. But one of the monsters Rikuay survived the battle with his brothers. He deceived his younger brother, went to his centipede, which led him to ally Rica - a witch, who asked his younger brother to give people a weapon that start killing people. Only the intervention of the gods, and his older brother saved people from total destruction
The animation tells the story about a gloomy rainy season, a boy who accidentally met a little fox. There are two worlds, one is a humid but oppressive city, the other is bright and natural but needs water.
A debate arises between Jesus Christ and a beautiful nun about her nightlife and whether the scriptures address any punishment for her sins.
A young mexican smuggler and a little girl travel illegally on top of a cargo train, called La Bestia, to get to the USA. An injury transforms his perception of the journey.
On a barren planet, a shaft of light suddenly splits the sky. The ground moves, the earth trembles, rocks shatter and rumble. Then the air mellows. After the stones hustle, a strange vegetation settles in. The rhythm speeds up and one discovers a fascinating universe.
Ten fragments of an exciting romance without love and feelings in the life of Numa, an anti-romantic hero of our liquid time.
A documentary filmmaker interviews the now-famous Trevor Slattery from behind bars.
An apathetic teenager with sex on his brain decides to ditch school. The decisions he makes culminate into something of a waking nightmare, tearing apart any facade he has put on and revealing his true personality.
A stop-motion puppet animation adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's Thumbelina.
In a playful collision of cultures, a hapless Irishman and his Parisian girlfriend get more than they bargained for when they encounter a particularly mischievous stranger in the spectacular Australian wilderness.
She is a beautiful girl who lives life to the full, He is a man in his forties, they feel an unhealthy attraction for each other. The fact that they can not handle their emotions will lead to a tragic ending, as climatic change increasingly deteriorates the planet.
East of the largest island of the Antilles, Cuba, in the city of Gibara Raúl, an actor who has been invited to the film festival sees a beautiful young woman who comes out of the sea with a yellow dress and seaweed on her head in one morning. This happens while walking in a wind farm on his trip to the city.
In a desolate future, one small town has survived because of a large windmill dam that acts as a fan to keep out pollution. The dam's operator, Pig, works tirelessly to keep the sails spinning and protect the town, despite abuse from classmates and an indifferent public. When a new student joins Pig's class, nothing will be the same again.