Instead of a traditional "Best of the Fest" list, we decided to create a movie mood board.
Consider this a handy tool to help you select which films to see based entirely on your feels.
Feeling arty: Ruben Brandt, Collector is an art-heist filck that we can't wait tosee. Its bizarre story follows a dude who feels forced to jack 13 famous paintings from heavily guarded museums and private collections in order to alleviate the terrible nightmares he suffers from. We like bizarre but we love gorgeous 2D animation and this film is said to be a dazzling, thoroughly unique trippy visual experience.
Feeling cultured: One of the treats of the Fest is seeing the APO at the mighty Civic. This year they're playing along with Hitchcock's acclaimed, but not widely seen, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog. Described as a "moody, morally ambiguous thriller", you'll enjoy a classic movie and a cultured experience.
Feeling c'est bon: For some cinematic je ne sais quoi look no further than Le Bonheurby influential French new wave director Agnes Varda. This suburban drama examines the topic of fidelity in a marriage, juxtaposing the heavy subject matter with cheery happy colours and a spritely Mozart score. The award-winning feature from 1965 is deliberately provocative and infused with Varda's uniquely feminist viewpoint.
Feeling like being freaked out: The Babadook freaked us out a couple of years back, which is why we are on board for The Nightingale, director Jennifer Kent's follow-up. Her sophomore film shifts gears and is a revenge horror set in the nightmare of Australia's colonial past. It's won awards and sounds horrific. Recommended, then.
Feeling like the very best thing ever: Sharing Cannes' top prize was Les Miserables, which is not a musical but a sort of French movie version of The Wire. The movie follows an Anti-Crime Squad on the mean streets of Paris as rival gangs go about their daily business of shooting each other up. Filled with "urgent anger" it exposes the violent criminal arteries pumping through the City of Love.
Feeling like watching famous people slumming it in an indie: The new Batman Robert Pattinson and the wonderful Juliette Binoche leave Hollywood's bright lights behind and blast off to the heavens in space thrillerHigh Life. The movie is the English language debut of French auteur Claire Denis, and is described as a disturbingly dark, incredibly tense film filled with "psychosexual energy". Ooh er.
Feeling ready for action: Action buffs will tell you that cinemas most innovative, bone breaking action flicks have been smashing their way out of South Korea for years now. This fact makes The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil the flick to see if you want some high-octane thrills and a bit of the old ultra-violence.
Feeling WTF? Under the Silver Lake is said to be a nightmarish Big Lebowski as shot by David Lynch. And if that doesn't do it for you nothing will. The neo-noir mystery is director Robert Mitchell's follow-up to his superb horror/thriller It Follows and has earned a reputation for being an ambitious but not entirely successful detour into stoned, paranoid weirdness. Make sure you see it in the right mindset...
Feeling satirical: Brit director and comedian Chris Morris turns his satirical eye to the States with his new film The Day Shall Come. It's a pitch-black comedy that takes aim at the FBI and the US obsession with terrorism as a preacher gets set up to take a big fall by the agency. It's said to be hilariously bleak and absurd but not too far removed from reality. A scary thought...
Feeling devilish: Satan. Was he a genuinely bad dude or just a misunderstood deity? The American documentary Hail Satan? shines some light on those who worship the OG Prince of Darkness, examining who they are, why they worship the devil and what they want. After seeing the way the Christians in America's Republican Party are acting right now maybe the followers of The Satanic Temple are on to something.
