8.
Antiviral
(dir. Brandon Cronenberg)
Starring Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class), Antiviral was written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg, son of David Cronenberg, and tells the twisted story of on an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to obsessed fans. He ultimately becomes a target for collectors and rabid fans after becoming infected himself with one of the viruses.
The fact it comes from Cronenberg’s son is clearly the “main” draw here, but I can’t help but be intrigued by the synopsis as it could open up some clever commentary on our celebrity obsessed culture.
SCREENING: Saturday, May 19 at 2:00 PM CET
7.
Moonrise Kingdom
(dir. Wes Anderson)
As of right now I have a huge Wes Anderson post just waiting in the wings, ready to go live after I’ve seen and digested the filmmaker’s seventh feature film, Moonrise Kingdom, which has the honor of opening this year’s festival.
I’ve managed to avoid watching any trailers and/or clips for the film, but just the pictures I’ve seen tell me we are once again traveling into that oh so unique world only Anderson seems able to create, a world I am quite familiar with after re-watching all of his films over the last month.
As for the plot here, it’s quite simple on paper as it follows a young boy and girl who are moved to run away together causing various factions of their small town to mobilize and search for them. Clearly that’s the short of it, but it’s all I need.
SCREENING: Wednesday, May 16 at 11:00 AM CET
6.
Beasts of the Southern Wild
(dir. Benh Zeitlin)
I have yet to speak to someone that has a bad thing to say about Beasts of the Southern Wild. Even more, most of the people I’ve talked to absolutely love the film, which was snatched up by Fox Searchlight out of Sundance and is a title I simply can’t wait to see, hoping to get just as caught up in its story as others say they were.
The story centers on Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis), an intrepid six-year-old girl, who lives with her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), in “the Bathtub,” a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe; for a time when he’s no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack–temperatures rise, and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink’s health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother.
SCREENING: Friday, May 18 at 11:00 AM CET
5.
The Paperboy
(dir. Lee Daniels)
I was interested in this one until I saw that photo you see above of Nicole Kidman. The ’70s-esque poster that debuted last December was the first sign this might be something interesting, but mix it with imagery such as what is shown above and you have my attention.
The Paperboy centers on a directionless young man (Zac Efron) helps his reporter brother (Matthew McConaughey) investigate the possible wrongful conviction of a man (John Cusack) on death row, and in the process, falls for the woman (Kidman) whom the convict has been romancing through prison correspondence.
For a couple more pictures from the film click here.
SCREENING: Thursday, May 24 at 8:30 AM CET
