Posted by Nicholas Kemp on 10.12.2013

The sun is setting on the 51st New York Film Festival. For the first time, Closing Night came a day early, which left us with a day to schedule encore screenings of some of our most popular films. Here's what the critics, and in some cases our programmers, are saying about them.

12 Years a Slave
"Starting out with a wronged-innocent-man plot that would have given Hitchcock some sleepless nights, and then plunging that beleaguered hero into one of American history’s most horrifying abominations, Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” gives us a look at slavery more shocking and unflinching than we’ve ever seen on the big screen." —Alonso Duraled, The Wrap
5:00pm (WRT)

Afternoon of a Faun
“The film includes moments both poignant -- Le Clercq ironically danced the role of a polio victim in a benefit show not long before she herself succumbed to the illness -- and humorous, such as an interview with Balanchine’s longtime assistant who, when asked about his four spouses, archly responds, “You wanna do the wives?” —Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
6:00pm (EBM)

Blue Is the Warmest Color
"It leaves room for the ache of a tumultuous relationship in full, centered around the somewhat obvious metaphor of artist and muse, but shaded by the messier realities of career anxiety, cohabitation and colleague flirtations. An emotional powerhouse, the film leaves you raw." —Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York

Burning Bush
"I have to say, in front of everyone, that of all the films in the selection, this is the film that surprised me the most." —Kent Jones, NYFF Director of Programming
1:30pm (EBM)

Bastards
"It’s an intensely jagged movie... It’s also very, very angry, I would say, just at the idea of violation of young girls by powerful men. And the way that that anger is expressed is through the power of the imagery and the movement of the film. It’s not a cheerful experience but it’s an extremely powerful one." —Kent Jones
3:00pm (EBM)

The Dog
“I have said when I saw it I was amazed by the fact that, as crazy as Dog Day Afternoon is, it is nothing compared to the real story of this guy’s life, right down to the very end when he was taking people on tours past the bank and signing autographs. It’s just a jaw-dropper.” —Kent Jones
6:30pm (EBM)

Gloria
"It is a breathtakingly honest — sometimes painful, often funny — examination of the life of its title character, a divorced woman in her 50s played with abundant dignity and minimal vanity by Paulina García." —A.O. Scott, The New York Times
2:00pm (WRT)

The Square
"[The Square] has a visceral intensity that captures the lethal brutality that its subjects, and millions of others, potentially faced during these demonstrations.” —Nick Schager, Slant Magazine
12:30pm (EBM)