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.
Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.
A burger-loving hit man, his philosophical partner, a drug-addled gangster's moll and a washed-up boxer converge in this sprawling, comedic crime caper. Their adventures unfurl in three stories that ingeniously trip back and forth in time.
The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.
A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.
Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feed his urge for violent action.
The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.
When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.
A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.
The story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.
Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.
Young hobbit Frodo Baggins, after inheriting a mysterious ring from his uncle Bilbo, must leave his home in order to keep it from falling into the hands of its evil creator. Along the way, a fellowship is formed to protect the ringbearer and make sure that the ring arrives at its final destination: Mt. Doom, the only place where it can be destroyed.
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
"Fellinette" is a young girl drawn on a page of a notebook in 1971 by Maestro Federico Fellini. "Fellinette" is the protagonist of this fairy tale which is set on the beach of Rimini on January 20, 2020, Centenary of birth of the great Maestro. Experience a melancholic and wonderful adventure through the fervent childhood imagination of Fellinette. Celebrate the greatest director with dreamlike atmospheres full of poetry, live action shots and animated parts.
An adventurous young boy discovers that puddles can be portals to a fantastical world, but struggles to get his sister's attention away from her phone to see the magic in the world around her.
A reframing of the classic tale of Narcissus, the director draws on snippets of conversation with a trusted friend to muse on gender and identity. Just as shimmers are difficult to grasp as knowable entities, so does the concept of a gendered self feel unknowable except through reflection. Is it Narcissus that Echo truly longs for, or simply the Knowing he possesses when gazing upon himself?
The Christmas tree isn't the only thing green in this new holiday classic. Shrek is back and trying to get into the spirit of the season. After promising Fiona and the kids a Christmas they'll remember, he is forced to take a crash course in the holiday. But just when he thinks he has everything for their quiet family Christmas just right, there is a knock at the door.
A young boy makes a snowman one Christmas Eve, which comes to life at midnight and takes him on a magical adventure to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus.
Tania and Cocteau, a cat that comes from the not too distant future, tell the story of the passage of animals through the world and their relationship with humans.
Mike discovers that being the top-ranking laugh collector at Monsters, Inc. has its benefits – in particular, earning enough money to buy a six-wheel-drive car that's loaded with gadgets. That new-car smell doesn't last long enough, however, as Sulley jump-starts an ill-fated road test that teaches Mike the true meaning of buyer's remorse.
A boy who, during the day, enjoys the beach, the sun and a beautiful vacation with friends. But, in the distance, the fleshly body of a stranger rests on a rock... A boy who, at night, switches to the side of fantasies, of the erotic prohibition which repels as much as it fascinates... When Abdellatif Kechiche’s cinema meets those of Yann Gonzalez and Bertrand Mandico, it gives a whole new world. A portal behind which, be careful, the monsters are unleashed.
Two entities exchange their knowledge in unconventional ways.
Dora and Boots embark on an incredible adventure to the land of alebrijes, the most magical and colorful creatures in the rainforest. There, they must band together against Swiper to save the beloved alebrijes and their Copal Tree Celebration.
Samentha is a mediator for the spirits haunting her apartment. One morning, she has to confront repairman Christophe, who apparently caused grievous harm in the past but denies all accusations.
The first time Scam tries to cast a spell, he accidentally shoots his great-grandfathers wand deep into the Valley of the Green Peas, where he meets Cheat who changes Scams whole worldview. The two friends return with a different and even more magic wand than the one great-grandfather has been using his entire life. But when Scam once again tries to cast a spell, something goes wrong and he loses grandfather. Cheats good mood inspires Scam to invent a myth about his great-grandfather. Finally Scam has to fight his inheritance to save Cheat and give the entire Valley of the Green Peas a magic show they'll never forget!
Un Chien Andalou is an European avant-garde surrealist film, a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.
I was very small, but I still clearly remember. Dad and mum didn't see it but I, I knew straight away. What was in the crib wasn't my little brother. No. It was you.
Frankenstein, a young medical student, trying to create the perfect human being, instead creates a misshapen monster. Made ill by what he has done, Frankenstein is comforted by his fiancée; but on his wedding night he is visited by the monster.
Using every known means of transportation, several savants from the Geographic Society undertake a journey through the Alps to the Sun which finishes under the sea.
Away from people, animals, forests and fields stood a very tall tree. It did not need anyone, it was completely indifferent to everyone. Once a cat wanted to learn the style of life of the tree, which has allowed her to stay near it, so that she could take over its attitude to everything around. But eventually the cat affects the tree as well...
Three friends talk about the legend of ´the caves of the air´, an ancestral site near a village where many people have disappeared mysteriously.
The dragon Horynych attacks ordinary Ukrainian village residents. He takes young men and women, leaving only senior villagers. But a young boy named Kotyhoroshko decides to confront the dreadful Dragon. First, he needs to get appropriate weapons and call his friends warriors…