Sept. 27 - Oct. 13 - Movie gluttons feasted on international delights for two weeks at The Film Society of Lincoln Center's 40th New York Film Festival. No one could possibly attend all of the screenings, so we pored over the festival schedule to select films meeting our high standards for cultural relevance: those attracting the biggest Celebs. In addition to the opening night extravaganza (see below), star-magnets were Auto Focus, Punch Drunk Love and Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's Talk To Her.

Paul Schrader, who wrote Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, directed Auto Focus, the story of sex-addicted TV star Bob Crane. Greg Kinnear stars with Rita Wilson (Mrs. Tom Hanks), Willem Dafoe, Maria Bello and Ron Leibman. Actors Parker Posey, John Turturro, Harvey Keitel and Kirsten Dunst joined Punch Drunk Love's Adam Sandler, as goofy in person as he is onscreen, Luis Guzman and director Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Boogie Nights). Talk To Her could only be Almodovar's; it's the story of a friendship between two men, both in love with comatose women. Rosario Flores, who plays a female matador in the film, is also a popular singer and Latin Grammy Award winner. Almodovar is held in high esteem in filmdom, judging by the turnout including actresses Jessica Lange and Kathleen Turner, directors Wes Anderson, John Waters, Jim Jarmusch and artist-director Julian Schnabel.