WM3 documentary 'Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory' to open in L.A.

The latest documentary about the fate of the case of the West Memphis 3, "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory," isn't scheduled to be broadcast on HBO until early next year, but fans of the series in Los Angeles might want to make the trek to Laemmle's Fallbrook 7 in West Hills where the film opens Friday for one week only.

The limited run is designed specifically to give the film the opportunity to qualify for an Oscar nomination.

Filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky first brought attention to the plight of Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley Jr. -- teenagers who were convicted of the gruesome 1993 murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Ark. -- with the 1996 documentary "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills." Though the filmmakers initially intended to make a film about disaffected youth -- the prosecution and local media made much of the fact that the convicted teens wore black clothing and listened to heavy metal music -- what they found were three innocent young men who had been convicted of a crime they didn't commit.

"Paradise Lost" spurred international interest in the story of the three jailed men, who became known as the West Memphis 3, and Berlinger and Sinofsky felt compelled to make a follow-up film, 2000's "Paradise Lost 2: Revelations" to advocate for Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley to be released from prison and exonerated. The films garnered support not only from such celebrities as Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines, Peter Jackson and Henry Rollins, but also sparked the formation of grassroots groups like the website wm3.org.

NY Film Festival: Polanski gets his U.S. welcome wagon

At the North American premiere of Roman Polanski's new movie on Friday night, the auteur's specter hung over the New York Film Festival's Lincoln Center with a creepy ethereality that would have fit nicely in, well, a vintage Roman Polanski film.

"Carnage," an adaptation of the stage hit "God of Carnage," played to the festival's opening-night crowd of cineastes, society types and film executives who, judging by the reaction, were almost unanimously sympathetic to the polarizing director.

Barred from entering the United States on longstanding statutory rape charges, Polanski of course didn't turn up. But his screenwriting collaborator, playwright Yasmina Reza; his producer, an up-and-comer named Said Ben Said; and actors John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster each took the stage before the screening, their presence offering a kind of implicit tribute to the director. (Reilly and Foster's co-star, Christoph Waltz, had been scheduled to make the trip but had to scrap it at the last moment because of an undisclosed accident; fellow performer Kate Winslet was also not there.)

Polanski's 'Carnage' to open New York Film Festival

  
Roman Polanski's latest film, "Carnage," based on Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning play "God of Carnage," is set to open the 49th annual New York Film Festival, which starts Sept. 30 and continues through Oct. 16. The announcement was made Friday by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

"Carnage," which chronicles an evening meeting between two Brooklyn couples after their children are in a playground fight, is one of the prestige picks of the fall. The film, which stars Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly, was also selected for the Venice Film Festival. The New York screening will mark the film's North American premiere.

Polanski's first feature, "Knife in the Water," screened at the first New York Film Festival in 1963.

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-- Susan King

Photo: Roman Polanski. Credit:  Eduard Genserek/AP

New York Film Festival complete lineup

Clint Eastwood's latest directorial effort, "Hereafter," a picture starring Matt Damon about three people whose lives are uniquely affected by death, has been chosen as the closing night movie at the upcoming New York Film Festival.

The festival, which kicks off Sept. 24 with David Fincher's "The Social Network," will feature 28 films and runs through Oct. 10.

As my colleague Steven Zeitchik noted when it was announced that the movie about Facebook would open the fall festival, the event has a reputation for screening "highbrow, twee movies," such as "The Queen" and "The Class" in years past. 

The 48th annual festival seems to follow in that vein. Julie Taymor's adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" serves as the festival's centerpiece, while "Film Socialisme" will mark Jean-Luc Godard's 27th appearance at the New York festival. There are also a number of international selections, including Thailand's "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives," which won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and France's "Carlos," a film about 1970s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, which is an astounding five hours long.

The festival's complete lineup follows after the jump.