The 20th edition of one of the biggest film festivals in Los Angeles is set to begin in a week's time. From June 11 through June 19, cinephiles, movie buffs, or whatever you call us will have a feast of some of the most interesting, imaginative, original, ground-breaking films at the fest. The venue is still at the Regal LA Live in downtown Los Angeles and parking will not be bad.
All that said, here are five films that i think we all should not miss. From "The Butler's" David Oyelowo's buzzy perf in "Nightingale" to the highly anticipated new Patricia Highsmith adaptation "Two Faces of January".
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NIGHTINGALE
World Premiere, Tuesday, June 17th at 9:15pm
Director: Elliot Lester
Writer: Frederick Mensch
Cast: David Oyelowo
Synopsis:
A provocative drama that probes the darkest corners of a disturbed mind, NIGHTINGALE tells the story of Peter Snowden and his obsession with an old army friend named Edward. The film follows Peter as he records his private thoughts and feelings -- his nightingale song -- in the days leading up to his reunion with Edward. Before long the hostile world outside Peter's door begins to threaten the idyllic future that he's so desperately trying to build.
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TWO FACES OF JANUARY
Premiere, Tuesday, June 17th at 7:30PM
Director/Writer: Hossein Amini
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Oscar Isaac
Synopsis:
Screenwriter Hossein Amini (The Wings of the Dove, Drive) makes a stylish directing debut with this sleek thriller set in Greece and Istanbul, 1962, and adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novel. Intrigue begins at the Parthenon when wealthy American tourists Chester MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen) and his young wife Collete (Kirsten Dunst) meet American expat Rydal (Oscar Isaac), a scammer working as a tour guide. Instead of becoming his latest marks, the two befriend him, but a murder at the couple’s hotel puts all three on the run together and creates a precarious bond between them as the trio’s allegiance is put to the test.
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CUT BANK
World Premiere
Monday, June 16th at 6:30PM
(2nd Screening: Wednesday, June 18th at 4:15PM)
Director: Matt Shakman
Writer: Roberto Patino
Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich, Billy Bob Thorton, Bruce Dern, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Oliver Platt
Synopsis:
DWAYNE MCLAREN (Liam Hemsworth, Hunger Games), a high school star athlete recently turned auto mechanic, dreams of getting out of tiny Cut Bank, MT – the coldest town in America – and whisking his pageant-hopeful girlfriend, CASSANDRA (Teresa Palmer), away to the big city. But his plan to do so sets in motion a deadly series of events and thrusts him into a police investigation headed by SHERIFF VOGEL (John Malkovich), the protector of Cut Bank and the closest thing Dwayne has to a father figure. Panic sweeps across the community in mere hours, but things are not what they seem. Cassandra’s father BIG STAN STEELEY (Billy Bob Thornton) is the only one who seems to realize this. However, the damage is already done and the events that unfold change Dwayne’s life – and the life of the town – forever.
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THE LIFE AND MIND OF MARK DEFRIEST
World Premiere
Friday, June 13th at 9:30PM
(2nd Screening: Monday, June 16th at 7:00PM)
Director/Writer: Gabriel London
Cast: Mark DeFriest, Scoot McNairy, and Shea Whigham
Synopsis:
It isn't a prison sentence; it's guerrilla warfare. That's Mark DeFriest's philosophy concerning incarceration. Initially sentenced to four years over a misunderstanding, he's now spent three decades behind bars, amassing a laundry list of disciplinary reports and earning a reputation as the "Houdini of high security prisons."
"There's an art to everything," asserts DeFriest, who has demonstrated considerable creativity with his 18 escape attempts, whether dosing prison medical staff with LSD or coming out with handmade zip guns blazing. (In the Wild West, he would've assuredly gone out like Butch and Sundance, rather than withering away in a cell.) With fantastical animated sequences conveying DeFriest's past exploits and delving into his troubled psyche, Gabriel London's documentary questions how redemption can possibly be achieved when an unforgiving system simply won't allow for such things.
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FRANK
Premiere
Saturday, June 14th, 7:00PM
(2nd Screening: Tuesday, June 17, 1:50PM)
Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Writer: Jon Ronson and Peter Straughan
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy
Synopsis:
Jon, a young wanna-be musician, discovers he's bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank.
See you at the festival!
XXX
Raymond Lo
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