“Fantastic Mr Fox”
The biggest unknown quantity, and the highest-profile world premiere, comes with the opening night movie, Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr Fox.” Opinions have been pretty fiercely divided on this one since the trailer premiered, particularly over the handmade visual aesthetic, but we’re still pretty keen. Having read the script, it’s not going to win over any Anderson-haters (and we have literally no idea if any children will go and see the thing). But on the page at least, it’s as effortlessly inventive and funny as the best of Anderson’s work, and could mark a real return to form for the director. Plus, a score by Alexandre Desplat (Benjamin Button) and songs by Jarvis Cocker? It’ll at least be manna for the ears.
If You Like This… Closing night film “Nowhere Boy” also has potential, but we’re yet to be convinced by Aaron Johnson as the young John Lennon. Also on the animated front, we’ve got the European premiere of the 3-D version of “Toy Story 2,” and the intriguing “Metropia,” a Scandinavian dystopian sci-fi animation with the voices of Vincent Gallo, Stellan Skarsgaard and Juliette Lewis
“44-Inch Chest”
“Sexy Beast” is one of the best gangster movies of the last decade, and writers Louis Mellis and David Scinto have returned to the genre, with acclaimed photographer and commercials director Malcolm Venville taking the helm. When Colin (Ray Winstone) discovers his wife is leaving him for a younger man (top French actor Melvil Poupaud), he puts together the old gang, a who’s who of top British character actors – John Hurt, Ian McShane, Tom Wilkinson and Stephen Dillane – to kidnap his rival. Expect stylish visuals, plenty of blood and the c-word used instead of punctuation. There’s a few lukewarm reviews coming out of the film’s premiere at the Sydney Film Festival, but they’re also terribly written, so we’re gonna keep the faith…
If You Like This… Another British thriller with an all-star cast is “Glorious 39,” by TV mastermind Stephen Poliakoff, set on the eve of the second world war, and featuring the likes of Bill Nighy, David Tennant, Julie Christie and Romola Garai. Also British and with big names: “Cracks,” with Eva Green, directed by Ridley Scott’s daughter Jordan, and horror thriller “The Disappearance of Alice Creed,” with Eddie Marsan and Gemma Arterton
“Bunny and the Bull”
Bonkers comedy series “The Mighty Boosh” has developed something of a cult showing in America after debuting on Adult Swim earlier in the year, and Boosh director Paul King reunites with many of the cast members from that show on “Bunny and the Bull.” A road movie through Europe that all takes place inside the same flat, the comedy seems to take a lot of visual cues from the likes of Michel Gondry, and stars tremendous new talent Edward Hogg (from Sundance hit “White Lightnin'”). If it works, it could be a huge cult hit, if not, it’ll be unbearable, but the brief preview clips we’ve seen mean we won’t miss it.
If You Like This… Other fresh British filmmaking talents have films premiering – from “The Scouting Book For Boys,” debut feature from Tom Harper, director of the excellent short film “Cubs”, the widely praised Edinburgh film festival hit “Kicks” and the directorial debut of actor David Morrissey, “Don’t Worry About Me,” which has a kind of “Before Sunrise” feel to it, from the look of it.
“American: The Bill Hicks Story”
With the looming threat of Russell Crowe taking on the part of legendary comedian Bill Hicks, it was only a matter of time before someone stepped in with a feature documentary. Hicks is a genuine great, his story has real drama to it, and the technique seems interesting – the film mixes interviews with animation. It seems long for a documentary (nearly two hours…), but if the filmmakers are able to add something new to the subject, rather than canonizing the man, it’ll be more than worth it.
If You Like This… Legendary documentarian Julien Temple returns to the music world hot on the heels of his Joe Strummer film with “Oil City Confidential,” focusing on the music of British pub rock band Dr Feelgood, and on the non-fiction front, there’s also going to be screenings of Ondi Timoner’s “We Live In Public,” Frederick Wiseman’s “La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet” and post-punk filmmaking documentary “Blank City.”
“Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno”
In the great list of unfinished projects, alongside Orson Welles’ “The Other Side of the Wind” and Terry Gilliam’s “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” is “L’Infer” the lost film by Henri-Georges Clouzot, the genius behind “Les Diaboliques” and “The Wages of Fear.” Clouzot was given an unlimited budget to make “L’Infer,” and produced extraordinary test footage, but the shoot collapsed, and the film was never finished. “Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno” combines this test footage with rushes from the shoot and recreations with contemporary actors, and attempts to finally complete the movie. Word from Telluride is pretty great, and anyone one with an interest in Clouzot should see it, we imagine.
If You Like This… Experimental picture “Double Take,” which ‘does for Alfred Hitchcock what Orson Welles did for himself in his myth-making “F for Fake,”‘ according to the festival’s programme [ed. note: I’ve seen this, it’s fantastic and need to write a review].
“White Material”
Her last film “35 Shots Of Rum” hit limited release a few weeks back (we’ve seen it, and it’s typically great — we wrote about the trailer a little while back), but Claire Denis has already knocked out a new movie. The director was raised in colonial Africa, and returns to the subject for the first time since her debut feature “Chocolat” (not the Johnny Depp one…). With a cast including Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Lambert and Isaac De Bankole, the plot seems to be looking at very contemporary African concerns, teaming with cutting-edge novelist Marie N’Diaye, and it looks to be darker than some of her recent work. It’s picking up great reviews from Venice, and Denis’ never made an uninteresting film, particularly when teamed with a score from regular collaborators Tindersticks, so we’re all over this.
If You Like This… Documentary “Mugabe and the White African” is looking at a similar subject, while other legendary French directors showing films at the festival include Patrice Chereau’s “Persecution,” with Romain Duris.
“Bluebeard”
We’re not 100% enamored of everything that Catherine Breillat’s done, but her films are always provocative and interesting, and at their best (“Romance,” “Fat Girl”), they can be modern cinema’s most bracing and intelligent looks at female sexuality. Her most recent movie, “The Last Mistress,” was her most mature and satisfying work yet, and “Bluebeard” looks to continue this trend. An adaptation of Charles Perrault’s classic fairy tale, the film contrasts a pair of girls in the present day reading the story of a young woman who marries the murderous lord Bluebeard. Drawing strong reviews, and comparisons to the work of Luis Bunuel and Angela Carter, this could be one of the real highlights of the festival, despite its brief runtime (only 80 minutes!)
If You Like This… Equally provocative films making appearances at the festival include Atom Egoyan’s “Chloe,” the divisive Cannes entry “Air Doll” and Gaspar Noe’s “Enter the Void.”
“Lourdes”
Also picking up ecstatic reviews from Venice is Austrian director Jessica Hausner’s “Lourdes,” about an MS-sufferer who travels to the famous pilgrimage destination hoping for a cure. While the subject matter doesn’t sound super appealing, it seems to all be in the execution. We’ve got to admit to being unfamiliar with Hausner’s previous work, like the David Lynch-esque “Hotel,” but with comparisons to Michael Haneke being banded about (although maybe just because they’re both Austrian…), she definitely sounds like a director to watch.
If You Like This… Other films from emerging European talent includes “Father Of My Children,” the French Gala at the festival, about an arthouse film producer, and “Women Without Piano” from Spanish director Javier Rebollo, and starring Carmen Machi from “Broken Embraces.”
“Ajami”
Following the recent uproar over the Toronto Film Festival’s Tel Aviv strand, it’s good to see that London isn’t shying away from films examining the situation in the Middle East. One of the most intriguing is “Ajami,” set in a tense area of Jaffa. With a sprawling cast (all played by non-professionals) stretched over a fractured narrative, close to the likes of “Gomorrah” and “Amores Perros,” the film took seven years to make, and is, interestingly enough, co-directed by Scandar Copti, a Palestinian, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli. The word from the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes was very strong indeed, so we’ll be there.
If You Like This… Venice winner “Lebanon,” a claustrophobic war film shot entirely within a tank and Michael Moore-like anti-semitism documentary “Defamation” are both intriguing, as are Egyptian flicks “One-Zero” and “The Traveler,” starring Omar Sharif.
“A Serious Man”
We somehow omitted the latest Coen Brothers flick from our Toronto most anticipated list, but we’re not going to make the same mistake twice, particularly after the reviews it’s been picking up. Many critics pretty much flipped for it, and it’s got the best trailer of the year by a country mile. Centered on a Minnesotan physics professor (theater veteran Michael Stuhlbarg) whose life is falling apart, it teams the brothers with Roger Deakins again (for the tenth time, no less), and we couldn’t be happier about that — we love Emmanuel Lubezki, but “Burn After Reading” was missing the Deakins touch. It’s out now on limited release, and we also raved about it here.
If You Like This… Another keenly anticipated film we left out of our Toronto piece is Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Micmas,” which looks great, and seems to be a touch darker than his last two movies. Then again one of our own reviews was rather lukewarm on it. Other hotly tipped movies also turning up in London include “Up In the Air,” “The Informant!” and “Valhalla Rising.”
“Passenger Side”
We’re pretty big fans of Adam Scott here, and his leading role in “The Vicious Kind” is one of the best performances of the year so far. He’s taking on a leading role again in Canadian director Matthew Bissonnette’s “Passenger Side,” where he plays a man on a road trip with his drug addict brother. The film looks gorgeous, in an HD video style, anyway, and it grabbed some great reviews at the LA Film Festival, so all these, plus Scott’s presence and a soundtrack featuring Leonard Cohen, Smog and Dinosaur Jr, makes this the obvious break out in a strong selection of North American indies.
If You Like This… That strong selection include Andrew Bujalski’s “Beeswax,” Joe Swanberg’s “Alexander the Last,” Zoe Kazan in “The Exploding Girl” and The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi as a chef in “Today’s Special.”
As a side note, the festival is presenting a best film award, The Star of London (pictured left), for the first time, in an attempt to raise the festival’s standing to that of festivals like Cannes and Berlin. A jury including Jarvis Cocker, Anjelica Houston and Matthieu Kassovitz will pick from a shortlist made up of Australia war flick “Balibo,” “Bright Star”, “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Micmacs,” “Nowhere Boy,” “A Prophet,” “The Road,” “A Serious Man,” and “The White Ribbon.” The award joins the pre-existing Sutherland Trophy, for most original first feature, where a jury including Edgar Wright and Paul Greengrass will pick from the likes of “Ajami,” “Bunny and the Bull,” “Lebanon,” “Metropia,” “Cold Souls” and “Wah Do Dem.” Our coverage will kick off this time next week, with our report from the opening gala, “Fantastic Mr Fox,” and will continue throughout October.