Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Search cinema listings

Browse cinemas A-Z

Search 20,000 reviews

 

London Film Festival preview

The line-up for the Times BFI 51st London Film Festival has been announced. Here, Time Out selects some hot tickets as well as rounding-up the best of the fest

The summer is over, the raft of mega-budget blockbusters is little more than a twinkle on your mind's eye, and it’s the time of year to soak up some of the finest world cinema around in the Times BFI 51st London Film Festival which kicks off on 17th October. The opening gala is the new work from David Cronenburg, the very decent London-set ‘Eastern Promises’, about a small family of Russian gangsters operating in the East End. The festivities take a bow 15 days later with Wes Anderson’s comic road movie, ‘The Darjeeling Limited’.

Some of the more high profile screenings include Ang Lee’s Venice prizewinner, ‘Lust, Caution’, Todd Haynes’ experimental biopic of Bob Dylan, ‘I’m Not There’ and Andrew Dominik’s languorous paean to ‘70s Westerns, ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’. As usual, Time Out will be holding a gala screening (as well as sponsoring the Cinema Europa strand); this year it's Julian Schnabel’s excellent ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’, the uplifting true-life story of French Vogue editor, Jean Dominique Bauby, who suffered a massive stroke at the age of 43 and succumbed to ‘locked-in syndrome’, only able to communicate by blinking his left eyelid.

The deserved Palme d’Or winner at this years Cannes festival, Christian Mungui’s ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days’, is also receiving a screening, as is Carlos Reygadas’ sublime ‘Silent Light’ (which contains one of the most dizzyingly beautiful opening shots this writer has ever seen). With over 200 films playing during the festival, we couldn’t possibly mention them all, but do keep an eye out for our full LFF coverage both in the magazine and online. A couple of films that we here in the Time Out Film section are looking forward to catching include Takeshi Kitano’s ‘Glory to the Filmmaker’, Michael Haneke’s remake of his own ‘Funny Games’, Nick Broomfield’s ‘Battle of Haditha’, Ulrich Seidl’s realist comic gem, ‘Import/Export’, Hou Hsiou-Hsien’s wonderful ‘Flight of the Red Balloon’ and restorations of Charles Burnett’s classic ‘Killer of Sheep’ and Stroheim’s ‘Blind Husbands’.

But there’s more than just the screenings: why not catch one of a number of screen talks and debates with figures such as Laura Linney, Harmony Korine and Steve Buscemi? Also, if none of the features float your boat, why not check out some of the films in the Experementia or Animation strands, or one of the numerous programmes of short films on offer?

The London Film Festival, Oct 17 - Nov 1. Visit www.lff.org.uk for more information.

Author: David Jenkins



What do you think?
Post your comment now

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'

Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'

Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him

Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?

Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?

How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains

Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'

Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'

We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon

A gateway to all things 'New Moon'

A gateway to all things 'New Moon'

In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.

London Children's Film Festival

London Children's Film Festival

Read our exclusive reviews of films playing at the 2009 London Children’s Film Festival

The films that deserve a TV spin-off

The films that deserve a TV spin-off

With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations

The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'

The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'

Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’

Michael Haneke discusses 'The White Ribbon'

Michael Haneke discusses 'The White Ribbon'

Dave Calhoun met with Michael Haneke in Munich to mull over the details of his Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'

Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?

Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?

Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer

Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam

Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam

In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations