Film school has always been a sketchy proposition. Attendance can be as costly as the budget for a small film, and the educational value of attending classes to learn things you could ostensibly pick up on your own or through apprenticeships means that the whole experience could amount to a waste of time. For the right person, however, film school offers the ideal entry point to comprehending the craft and the industry. There are numerous educational opportunities for budding filmmakers in New York City—some more noteworthy than others. If you’re looking at your choices, here are a few that merit some consideration. more

Listen UP, ALL you budding filmmakers: Nobody said this was going to be easy. You can invest in all the how-to books you want, but the only way to complete a movie and get it seen in today’s fleeting indie landscape is simply to keep trying and think fast. No one is suggesting that a filmmaker should ever abandon the craft of filmmaking for the sake of marketing. But to make a mark in today’s tricky movie industry, you need a game plan that makes sense. We asked a few industry players for advice and here’s what they told us. more

“Woooodeee, pleeeeze,” shouted the ecstatic, camerawielding French woman, hoping to nab a portrait as Woody Allen continued on his way. The scene took place while I was standing in line for a screening at the Cannes Film Festival a few years ago. In France, the septuagenarian filmmaker merits a rock star’s welcome. Despite the commotion, Allen looked unhurried and completely at ease. Several films into his self-imposed European exile, New York’s seminal chronicler of urban neuroses was finally in his element. more

The idea of a couple voluntarily deciding to seek out their respective one-night stands is not exactly new. Nearly every married character in an Ernst Lubitsch comedy seemed to accept infidelity as a part of the deal, and the premise was most recently explored in the fifth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Now comes The Freebie, which sets aside any broader context associated with the scenario and puts the boundaries of monogamy to the test with mathematical scrutiny. The result is less of a movie than a sketch—but a perceptive one. more

The Extra Man Directed by Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini Runtime: 105 min. The worst bastardization of New York high society since Woody Allen’s recent domestic ventures, The Extr more

Zoe Kazan is contemplating suicide. No, not in real life, where she’s doing just fine, thank you very much. But she’s had it with that dubious realm of interactivity known as Facebook. So it may be time for online suicide. more

THE SUN HAS set in East Williamsburg, but the street is bathed in light. As I exit the Montrose stop on the L train slightly after 10 o’clock on a Tuesday night, I find myself in the midst of sudden activity. The occasional Latin-American celebration blazes through the neighborhood. This is different: It’s never this quiet. Tonight’s crowd has gathered on Meserole Street in absolute silence. People poke their heads out of darkened buildings, hypnotized by the bright lights. I approach with caution. It’s not some FlashForward plot made real, but a movie set—a big one. I notice papers on a nearby piece of equipment identifying the production: Boy Wonder. It appears to have a sizable budget and actors with major TV cred. more

“It’s all just one long game,” rants a demonic reprobate in Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers, which screens at the New York Film Festival on Oct. 1.That’s actually Korine talking, under the guise of a monstrous geezer— one of several populating this hauntingly immersive, knowingly fragmented work— as he unleashes a detailed rant on suburban domesticity. more

Three years after Al Gore lectured his way to the Oscar podium with An Inconvenient Truth, it would appear that 2009 is the true year of environment documentaries. A good movie needs to tell a compelling story, not just a slideshow. Post-Gore, savvy non-fictional meditations on the state of world’s health must involve not only planetary needs but the dramatically involving actions of certain individuals on its behalf. more

If the word “mumblecore” ever meant anything in the first place, it definitely had something to do with Andrew Bujalski. The lo-fi indie director of Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation showed up at the South by Southwest Film Festival with his third feature, Beeswax, in March. We sat down for a beer to discuss the unique qualities of his slice-of-life films, which routinely challenge Hollywood conventions, but still require—to hear Bujalski tell it—an appreciative audience. Beeswax, the story of twin sisters living in Austin amid troublesome relationships at work and at home, opens at Film Forum on Friday. more