Cannes Film Festival Day 4 and 5: My Mother, Amy and Louder Than Bombs

I saw six film over the weekend at Cannes but have only reviewed three so far. Click the titles tp check out the reviews.

My Mother
Amy
Disorder

My King
The High Sun
Louder Than Bombs

The highlight of the weekend was definitely Asif Kapadia's documentary Amy, which I called 'a heart wrenching reminder of the deceased star’s enormous talent, and an early contender for Best Documentary at the Academy awards next year'.

Cannes Film Festival Day 2 and 3: Mad Max Fury Road, Son of Saul, The Lobster

I have seen a further six films over the past couple of days after catching my first two films at the 68th Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, I saw:

Mad Max: Fury Road
One Floor Below
Son of Saul
The Lobster
Irrational Man
The Fourth Direction

Click the titles for reviews that I have gotten around to writing.

I also met Jamie Graham from Total Film and he actually knew who I was from Twitter which was pretty incredible to me. Unfortunately he didn't offer me a job right then and there on the spot, funnily enough.

Come back for more updates from the festival soon or check out my Cannes page here.

Countdown to Cannes: My Ideal Film List

I’m back at the Cannes Film Festival for my second year running. I’ve been invited back to review films for Tastic Film so expect all my coverage to be up there over the next couple of weeks. The press screening schedule has been released and as usual it’s packed with potential!

Ideally, I’m going to try and see every film I possibly can. There are a few fancy parties we might be going to and there may be the odd screening I can’t get into with my blue badge but in an ideal world, this is going to be the list of films I see over the next seven days!

I’ll be settling in to the press room between screenings to try and write up as much as I can and keep these reviews flowing as quickly as possible but I’m sure the odd film may slip by the wayside eventually. 

I’m a little ashamed to admit that despite all these worthy films on display, the film I’m most looking forward to on this list is Mad Max: Fury Road. Sorry world cinema, I’m a sucker for some action!

Unfortunately, I have to leave on Wednesday so I’ll be missing the last few days of the festival but hopefully before I leave, I'll have seen these 31 films:

La Tete Haute (Standing Tall)

Il Racconto Dei Racconti (Tale of Tales)

Mad Max: Fury Road

Un Etaj Mai Jos (One Floor Below)

Saul Fia (Son of Saul)

The Lobster

Irrational Man

Chauthi Koot (The Fourth Direction)

The Sea of Trees

Mia Madre (My Mother)

Amy

Maryland

Carol

Mon Roi (My King)

Zvizdan (The High Sun)

Louder Than Bombs

La Loi Du Marche

InsideOut

Marguerite and Julien

Las Elegidas (The Chosen Ones)

Sicario

Taklub

Office

BFI London Film Festival 2014 Official Competition

The BFI have released the list of films that will be competing for the Best Film Award at the London Film Festival 2014. It is of course a diverse bunch. Interestingly, though I saw a few of the Gala screening films at Cannes 2014, I only saw one of these films at the festival. That film was Timbuktu  and was a huge surprise to me. Here is the full list and you can find much further detail at the BFI London Film Festival website. 

Out of this bunch, the ones I'm most intrigued by are Dearest, Girlhood, The Keeping Room and Son of a Gun. However, if any of these are as surprising as Timbuktu, then this will be a very exciting competition.

Dearest 

This deeply moving drama charts the turmoil of a Chinese couple whose child is abducted. This one, based on true details of real life kidnappings, will be heavy.

The Duke of Burgundy

 
Peter Strickland’s new film is a bold and sensual exploration of the power dynamic between two women who live cut off from the outside world. This is from the guy who gave us Berberian Sound Studio so will undoubtedly be a bit odd.

The Falling

In 1969, a mysterious fainting sickness overtakes an English all-girl school. This is from Carol Morley, the director of Dreams of a Life and stars Game of Thrones’ own Arya Stark: aka Maisie Williams.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

A mysterious female vampire stalks the streets of a deadbeat town in this arresting debut. An Iranian vampire Western in black and white? Colour me intrigued.

Girlhood

Céline Sciamma’s triumphant third film is a beautifully observed examination of a young girl’s search for identity in the underprivileged suburbs of Paris. It’s from the director of the excellent Tomboy, but sadly is in now way a sequel to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood.

The Keeping Room

On the American frontier a young woman is forced to go to any means to defend her kin from the ravages of the barbaric outside world. From the director of Harry Brown, and starring Brit Marling and Hailee Steinfeld. Yes please.

Leviathan

Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Cannes award winner is a striking attack on corrupt politics set on Russia’s northwest coastline. This won the best screenplay award at Cannes but unfortunately I didn’t get to see it.

The New Girlfriend

François Ozon’s delicious new drama is a smart and sly satire – with some jaw-dropping twists – about gender, class and consumerism.

Phoenix

A concentration camp survivor undergoes reconstructive surgery and embarks on a search for her husband in postwar Germany.

The President

A provocative and disquieting parable about a deposed president sheltering a child as they travel across country. From Iranian director Moshen Makhmalbaf.

Son of a Gun

A smart heist thriller about a tough young hoodlum who teams up with a ruthless con and finds himself attracted to a smart, street-savvie young woman. After David Michod's Animal Kingdom and The Rover, I'm very excited to see another scorching Australian thriller making a splash internationally. Stars Ewan McGregor.

Timbuktu 

In Abderrahmane Sissako’s stunning new film, residents of a Mali town struggle to cope with the imposition of Sharia Law by radical Islamist invaders. This was the first film I got to see at Cannes 2014 and I was pretty blown away by its sense of humour when dealing with such an infuriating, challenging subject. Click the title for my review.

What tickles your fancy out of this lot?

More on the BFI London Film Festival 2014