The Pleasures of Simultaneity: Notes from the Montreal and New York Film Festivals

Nothing much changes at the Montreal and New York Film Festivals. Montreal continues to show a hell of a lot of films (over 250), the latest stems from acknowledged nonagenarian masters like Manoel de Oliveira cheek to jowl with the opuses of first-time-out directors from little-heard-from corners of the world. New York's crêeme de la crême clambake, on the other hand, is, by dint of its very over-selectivity, about masterpieces and failed masterpieces.