FRC Feature – London Film Festival Preview

In a couple of weeks the 56th London Film Festival will open to the public, FRC’s Teri will be there, here are her picks for what to see!

First off, the top five essentials…

ANTIVIRAL

This is the directoral debut of Canadian filmmaker Brandon Cronenberg, son of David, and he is following the footsteps of his father – delving into some seriously bonkers body horror, that is. Caleb Landry Jones, who you may recognize from X-Men: First Class, plays a scientist whose job is to inject diseases harvested from celebrities into their adoring fans. Apparently Cronenberg got the idea from an interview he saw, where a TV audience applauded Sarah Michelle Gellar’s sneezes and admittance that she might infect everyone in the audience with her cold. Delicious. Malcom McDowell also stars.

Oct 13-15

KEEP THE LIGHTS ON

People are already dubbing this as 2012’s Weekend – let’s hope that American director Ira Sachs’ effort is just as successful. Keep The Lights On centres around the story of Erik and Paul and what first begins as a casual relationship – one is in the closet, the other isn’t – but soons turns into an intense affair riddled by drug addiction. Zachary Booth is one to watch, in my opinion – hopefully this will be the start of seeing more of him in the future.

Oct 16-17

END OF WATCH

Director/Screenwriter David Ayers has plenty of experience rolling out gritty urban thrillers with big stars (Harsh Times, Street Kings) – End of Watch is his latest offering. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena star as LA patrol officers who come toe to toe with one of the city’s most infamous drug gangs, with doubtless thrilling shenanigans to follow. It’s great to see Anna Kendrick billed in this too, and with it already scoring a healthy 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, it looks to be a popular highlight of the festival.

Oct 11-21

RUST AND BONE

Anyone who knows me knows I would watch Marion Cotillard read the phone book for two hours, so it’s not surprising to see this appear on my list…  but bear with me! This is no BT retelling, I assure you! Rust and Bone is Jacques Audiard’s return to the big screen after the hugely popular A Prophet; Marion plays Stephanie, a killer whale trainer whose life collides with a man who couldn’t be more different to herself, just before a near fatal accident changes both of them forever.

Oct 13-14

SIGHTSEERS

I’ve previewed this in my trailer posts but its appearance at the festival deserves a mention – and I think it will do incredibly well, too. Ben Wheatley’s at it again with his weird and wonderful take on horror and hum-drum Britain in the story of new couple Tina and Chris and their decision to take a trip to the country. Chris isn’t all he seems though…

Oct 20-21

Also worth catching at LFF 2012…

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Oct 12-14

JOHN DIES AT THE END

Oct 13-16

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS

Oct 19-21

GINGER AND ROSA

Oct 13-15

ARGO

Oct 17-20

IN THE HOUSE

Oct 14-21

SHELL

Oct 17-19

THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES

Oct 18-19

CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER

Oct 20-21