Did I enjoy the London Film Festival this year – you bet! That said, there was very little to laugh at and a great deal to feel generally sad and downbeat about – in a good way.
Maybe this reflects the general mood of anxiety that this great city is currently feeling with all the economic woe and uncertainty – but it’s still the most vibrant place to live and strut your stuff… and I’m not the only one who feels this way..
I’ve picked out 10 films that tweaked my buttons – which ones tweaked yours?
- Hunky Dory – for the sheer joy of the music and the memory of that wonderful hot summer of ’76
- Lawrence of Belgravia – hats off to this charismatic little film about an almost superstar – Lawrence
- Shame – damaged siblings feed off one another in glitzy Manhatten – nuff said!
- Snowtown – serial killings, sinister soundtrack. .and fab casting especially of Daniel Henshall as a sociopath
- Terraferma – Sensitively told Sicilian story of a changing world
- The Monk – mysterious misdoings in a Madrid monastery – sublime lighting: Vincent Cassel shines out
- The Ides of March – tight plot, dynamite performances, sizzling political thriller
- Drifters – (Gli Sfiorati) upbeat tragi-comedy of a really decent guy, from the novel by Sandro Veronesi
- Hara Kiri – Death of a Samurai – sumptuous tale of economic meltdown of a 17th century ronin
- Headhunters – glossy, gritty and hilarious Norwegian thriller
- We Need To Talk About Kevin – just ’cos I love Tilda and pretty much anything she lends her name to…and this is Tilda at her best as a mother in crisis.
And the boobie prize goes to:
Dragonslayer – vacuous script, repetitive footage and aimless unlikeable characters – I’m all for well-placed expletives but this was tedious fare
Losing the will to live…..
Two Years At Sea – felt like 10 years but I now some of you may appreciate the pared- down simplicity of this slow-burning study
