'I Play Rocky' and more highlights of the Hamptons film fest

Two CIA agents, an aging thief, a hard-partying father and an unknown actor named Sylvester Stallone are among the subjects of several high-profile titles playing at this year’s Hamptons International Film Festival.

Screenings take place Friday through Oct. 12 at venues around the East End.

The Hamptons festival has long touted itself as a crucial voice in the awards conversation that begins to heat up each year around this time. It enjoyed a 12-year streak of screening the eventual best picture Academy Award winner through 2021, according to its website. Since then, the festival has presented such future winners as "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and "Anora."

Here are seven highlights from the upcoming festival. To purchase tickets and passes, and for more information, go to hamptonsfilmfest.org. (Note that all titles will hold additional screenings.)

I Play Rocky

6:30 p.m. Friday, East Hampton Middle School, 76 Newton Lane

The opening night film stars West Islip's Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone, a bit player in the mid-1970s who struggled to get his boxing screenplay produced with himself as the lead. Peter Farrelly, of the Oscar-winning "Green Book," directs.

Wild Horse Nine

4:45 p.m. Sunday, East Hampton Middle School

Writer-director Martin McDonagh, of "In Bruges," returns with a black comedy about two CIA agents — John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell — sent to far-flung Easter Island. Co-starring Parker Posey and Tom Waits.

Paper Tiger

8 p.m. Sunday, East Hampton Middle School

Two brothers get mixed up with the Russian mob in this crime drama set in 1980s Queens. With Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johansson. Written and directed by James Gray ("Armageddon Time").

Misty Green

7:45 p.m. Oct. 7, Guild Hall, 158 Main St., East Hampton

Chris Rock’s latest is a comedy-drama about a fading actor (Rosalind Eleazar) trying to stage a comeback. Daniel Kaluuya, little seen since 2022’s "Nope," joins a cast that also includes Adam Driver and Anna Kendrick.

Club Kid

8:15 p.m. Oct. 8, Guild Hall

A freewheeling party promoter in New York City learns that a long-ago sexual escapade has resulted in a son. The writer, director and star of this buzzy title is Northport’s Jordan Firstman, son of former Newsday reporters Rick Firstman and Jamie Talan.

The Debut

8 p.m., Oct. 9, Guild Hall

After auditioning for a play, a shy New Jersey housewife (Julianne Moore) becomes a pet project — and perhaps a problem — for her director (Paul Giamatti). Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg ("A Real Pain").

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

7 p.m., Oct. 10, Guild Hall

John Turturro plays a light-fingered Manhattanite who one day lifts the wrong item from the wrong guy. Co-starring Tatiana Maslany and Valley Stream-raised Steve Buscemi.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com