“An eavesdropping observational camera style and a generalized sense of compassion prove no substitute for what’s missing from Time Out of Mind — any sense of drama. This longtime pet project of producer-actor Richard Gere and, eventually, for writer-director Oren Moverman, displays a certain kind of dedication for evoking the life of the homeless in New York City, but with Gere’s character so lacking in memory and mental clarity, the film provides very little for an audience to latch on to. Tedium quickly sets in and is only sporadically relieved in this labor of love that simply doesn’t reward even the patient attention of sympathetic viewers.” — from Todd McCarthy‘s Hollywood Reporter review, filed on 9.7.14.

This afternoon’s Time Out of Mind press conference at the Walter Reade theatre, which followed a 11:45 am screening, featured moderator and NYFF selection honcho Amy Taubin, producer-star Richard Gere and director Oren Moverman.

“Who thinks up a film like The Babadook? Actress-turned-debuting-feature-director Jennifer Kent has the narrative chutzpah to show her entire hand in the pop-up story and then make us squirm as foretold events come true. The Babadook is femalecentric in ways that other horror movies, while often dominated by tough ‘final girls,’ rarely are. It’s a tale in which the real terror might have already happened; parents should brace themselves.

“On purely formal grounds (the ones on which the genre lives or dies), Kent is a natural. She favors crisp compositions and unfussy editing, transforming the banal house itself into a subtle, shadowy threat. You’re not going to be sprung out of your seat by an overzealous sound designer, and when the beast shows up (a wild creation of puppetry, stop-motion animation and suggestive noises), it’s possible to be equally as riveted by Davis’s mouse-turned-lioness performance, tearing into the territory of Cate Blanchett.

I’m sorry but John Herzfeld‘s Reach Me looks like a problem. The phrase “a self-help book written by a mysterious author” plus the participation of Sylvester Stallone…a bit scary. Kyra Sedgwick, Thomas Jane, Tom Berenger, Kelsey Grammer, Cary Elwes, Lauren Cohan, Ryan Kwanten, Danny Trejo, Kevin Connolly, Terry Crews, Danny Aiello. Simultaneous theatrical and VOD on 11.21.

Universal will open Michael Mann’s cyber-thriller on 1.16.15. Deadline‘s Michael Fleming briefly reported last July that the film “may” get an awards-qualifying late December platform opening, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. Everything looks good. I’m still slightly bothered by the fact that Chris Hemsworth is too brawny and studly to be a hacker, but I guess I can roll with the fantasy. This is Mannworld, all right.

My Virgin America flight touched down at JFK just before 8 am. Rainy, windy…I’m already on my second umbrella. (The first one, a $5 cheapie, was destroyed by a gust of wind.) Sitting in the lobby of the Walter Reade theatre, tapping it out and waiting for New York Film Festival press screening of Oren Moverman‘s Time Out Of Mind to end at 1:45 pm so I can attend the press conference. (I saw the film in Toronto and that was enough — raw realism, honestly acted, all-but-absent narrative, meandering, “non- judgmental.”)

Thursday, 9.25 — Broadway Junction, Manhattan-bound L train approaching.