On this very cerebral installment of the Way Too Indiecast, Bernard, Ananda and Zach have a meeting of the minds as they review Pixar’s latest animated adventure, Inside Out. The gang also pick their favorite “movie minds,” characters whose psyches, philosophies and/or thought processes they find particularly memorable, fascinating, frightening or even downright pathetic. Plus, an overview of our Best Movies of 2015 So Far list, and our Indie Picks of the Week.

Topics

• Indie Picks of the Week (2:15)
• Best Movies of 2015 So Far (6:19)
• Favorite Movie Minds (15:09)
• Inside Out Review (31:09)

WTI Articles Referenced in the Podcast

Inside Out review
A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence review
The Nightmare review
Two Days, One Night review
20 Best Films of 2015 So Far

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The Criterion Collection comes with another strong month of releases in August, featuring a classic from a genre master, a French auteur’s unsung masterpiece, a recent film from indie favorites, and much more.

Night and the City

Jules Dassin – Available August 4

Jules Dassin is more well known for Rififi and The Naked City, but the 1950 film Night and the City shows off the director at the top of his film noir game. Starring Richard Widmark (Judgement at Nuremburg) and Gene Tierney (Laura) as his beautiful femme, Night and the City takes the small-time grifter looking for the big score trope to the world of underground professional wrestling. If you don’t think that’s cool, I don’t know what to tell ya.

Special Features:

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Alternate presentation of the 101-minute British version of the film
• Audio commentary from 2005 with film scholar Glenn Erickson
• Interview with director Jules Dassin from 2005
• Excerpts from a 1972 televison interview with Dassin
• Comparison of the scores for the British and American versions of the film
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar Paul Arthur

Eclipse Series 43: Agnès Varda in California

Agnès Varda – Available August 11

Agnès Varda, director of four films already among the collection now gets her first Eclipse boxset, with five of her lesser known works. The set’s five films were made during the period when Varda briefly left France for Hollywood. Though the films are far from the Hollywood style, they explore the culture, politics and society of California from an attentive outsider’s eye. The films in the set include short docs Uncle Yanco (1967) and Black Panthers (1968), meta comedy Lions Love (…and Lies) (1969), and two films made during her return to California in the early 80s Mur murs (1980) and Documenteur (1981).

The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Karel Reisz – Available August 11

Veteran of the British New Wave, Karel Reisz (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning) trades in the kitchen sink and angry young man for the “unfilmable” John Fowles novel. Who better to adapt this complex novel than complex screenwriter Harold Pinter, who turns the story into a post-modern telling involving parallel narratives with actors’ lives intersecting roles they are playing. Hot off her breakout in The Deer Hunter and Kramer vs. Kramer, Meryl Streep (from my quick count: only her second film in the Collection, along with The Fantastic Mr. Fox) stars alongside Jeremy Irons in this romantic and spellbinding adaptation.

Special Features:

• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New introduction by film scholar Ian Christie
• New interviews with actors Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep, editor John Bloom, and composer Carl Davis
• Episode of The South Bank Show from 1981 featuring director Karel Reisz, novelist John Fowles, and screenwriter Harold Pinter
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar Lucy Bolton

Dressed to Kill

Brian De Palma – Available August 18

In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Brian De Palma’s films inspired a generation of filmmakers. With his breakneck style and insane filmmaking instincts, De Palma was able to take genre films to a different level, which led to high profile films like Scarface and The Untouchables—though he never lost his imprint. Dressed to Kill may be the last straight-up thriller the auteur made, revolving around a mysterious murder and a group of people who are connected. At times horror, at times erotic thriller, Dressed to Kill is a delight to the senses and masterfully made.

Special Features:

• New, restored 4K digital transfer of director Brian De Palma’s preferred unrated version, approved by the director, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interviews with actor Nancy Allen, producer George Litto, composer Pino Donaggio, shower-scene body double Victoria Lynn Johnson, and poster photographic art director Stephen Sayadian
• New profile of cinematographer Ralf Bode, featuring filmmaker Michael Apted
• The Making of “Dressed to Kill,” a 2001 documentary featuring De Palma
• Interview with actor-director Keith Gordon from 2001
• Video pieces from 2001 about the different versions of the film and the cuts made to avoid an X rating
• Gallery of storyboards by De Palma
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by critic Michael Koresky

Day for Night

François Truffaut – Available August 18

Films about filmmaking is a genre with no lack of great films, Truffaut’s Day for Night is one of the best of them. A blend of styles and tones, it is a madcap, but always loving portrait of the industry. Truffaut takes a starring role in its ensemble, as a successful director in over his head a little on his latest production. Jean-Pierre Léaud, Valentina Cortese and Jacqueline Bisset play actors in the film-within-the-film, bringing in their neuroses and problems that nearly bring everything down. There is perhaps no film about filmmaking that more clearly shows just how impossible it is to make a film with so much that has to come together. That thought only makes it all more fantastic.

Special Features:

• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New visual essay by filmmaker :: kogonada
• New interview with cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn
• New interview with film scholar Dudley Andrew
• Documentary on the film from 2003, featuring film scholar Annette Insdorf
• Archival interviews with director François Truffaut; editor Yann Dedet; and actors Jean-Pierre Aumont, Nathalie Baye, Jacqueline Bisset, Dani, and Bernard Menez
• Television footage of Truffaut on the film’s set in 1972
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by critic David Cairns

Two Days, One Night

Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne – Available August 25

One of the most critically acclaimed films of 2014, the Dardennes’ latest features a heartbreaking performance from Marion Cotillard. In Two Days, One Night Cotillard plays a woman sacrificed from her job so that the rest of the staff can keep their holiday bonuses. The film takes place over the title’s length, as she visits each of her former co-workers, pleading with them to reconsider. With the Dardenne’s naturalistic style, the film’s emotions are as raw as its structure is clever.

Special Features:

• New 2K digital transfer, approved by directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interviews with the Dardennes and actors Marion Cotillard and Fabrizio Rongione
• When Léon M.’s Boat Went Down the Meuse for the First Time (1979), a forty-five minute documentary by the Dardennes, featuring a new introduction by the directors
• New tour of the film’s key locations with the directors
• PLUS: An essay by critic Girish Shambu

The Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc, are worshiped filmmakers in the art-house community. They have been impressing audiences since 1996’s The Promise and are among the distinguished few who have two Palme D’Ors to their name (for 1999’s Rosetta and 2005’s The Child). This year, the question is: can they be the first to get three? If the press screening reaction I was a part of this morning is any indication, the answer is louder than Obama’s “yes we can!”. Two Days, One Night premiered this morning and while every previous screening I’ve seen this early ended with a few appreciative claps from the groggy journalists, this one practically received a standing ovation. After their previous effort, 2011’s The Kid With A Bike, didn’t move audiences as much they’re usually capable of doing this one feels like a return to form for the Dardennes. Marion Cotillard gives a sensational performance, and is now the frontrunner for Best Actress. The simplicity of the story is matched only by the weight of the everyday struggle, something the Dardennes are masters of, and in this particular case a growing will power becomes truly inspirational. Though I’ve never personally counted myself among the Dardenne worshippers, I cannot deny the inner satisfaction and victorious sensation Two Days, One Night fills you with.

Cinema verite style is never so deftly handled as it is in the hands of the Dardenne brothers. Quiet conversations and seemingly mundane moments are given precedence over action, movements are followed and observed by a caring camera in a role of close companion, and the conflict rooted into the story is taken from the ordinary. Every major Dardenne film has the connecting thread of emptiness (be it the loss of a child, absence of a parent, etc.) that is in desperate need of filling. In the case of Two Days, One Night, it’s the absence of a job as Sandra (Cotillard) finds herself fighting for hers under pretty unusual circumstances. After a bout with depression, Sandra returned to work to find out about a vote that got her fired. The employees of her company were asked to choose between receiving bonuses (up to 1,000 extra Euros) or keeping Sandra on, because cut backs had to be made otherwise. Juliette, one of Sandra’s supporters convinces their boss to allow for another secret ballot to be held on Monday morning, to get the employees voting again without the influence of a heartless foreman. Sandra’s mission, urged on by her supporting husband Manu (Fabrizio Rongione), is to reach out to people over the weekend and try to convince them to vote for her so she can keep her job.

It’s the perfect Dardenne premise, because the fear of losing a job is one of the major universal subjects of our current state of affairs, and it’s action-less enough for that verite style to do its magic and pull you into Sandra’s casual, disheveled lifestyle. Cotillard is perfectly sympathetic, wearing her tail between her legs tightly enough to win over any cranky audience, her crying fits doing exactly what they’re constructed to; gain support on and off-screen. This touches upon one of my major issues with the film. Notwithstanding its inspirational and authoritative character, the film plays cleverly with some of Sandra’s idiosyncrasies and some of her colleagues’ reactions to her plight (Timur comes to mind) to a point of obvious fabrication. When some of the scenes become too designed to be real, it effectively pops the organic bubble and makes you realize; “oh wait, this is a movie.”

There is something a little rotten in the idea of this film winning the Palme; it would be a celebration of the everyday struggle by people who are privileged enough to never experience it (or at least, never again.) With two previous Palmes to their name, I’d say give it to someone who’s never won. It’s not like the competition is lacking in possibilities. However, Marion Cotillard seamlessly integrates herself into the Dardenne narrative and makes us forget how much of a superstar she is. For that, she should win her first Cannes Best Actress award.

Originally published on May 20th, 2014 during the Cannes Film Festival

It’s that time of year again when we reflect back on everything we’ve seen in the past 12 months and attempt to make a grand verdict on the best films of 2014. For what it’s worth, 2014 was another strong year for independent film: at least half of our Best 20 Films of 2014 were independently made, and there were dozens more that just missed our list (Stray Dogs, The Guest, Only Lovers Left Alive and Oculus to name a few). It was weak year for blockbusters (though Guardians of the Galaxy was close to making our list) and a relatively quiet year for award season releases (save for a few like Selma and Inherent Vice, which weren’t seen in time by enough of our staff). Our results seem to suggest 2014 was front-loaded, as many of our favorites came out at the beginning of the year, including our top pick, which might not just be the best of this year, but one of the better films we’ve seen in recent years.

For your perusal and discussion, Way Too Indie presents our selections for the top 20 films of 2014.

Way Too Indie’s Best Films of 2014

#20 – Chef

Give me a movie with succulent shots of a crunchy, gooey grilled cheese sandwich and I’m hooked. Under the tutelage of Roy Choi, Chef writer/director Jon Favreau spent a week in intensive culinary boot camp to ensure his cooking scenes were on point. Many actors have been praised for doing their own death-defying stunts or putting their bodies through drastic weight changes for a role. Not to be overlooked, however, is the risk involved with the mad chopping skills of a true chef. And Favreau really brings it. But his appreciation of the culinary arts isn’t the only thing that shines through in this heartwarming film. Delving into the internal struggles of a man who sold out his unique genius for security, we see a man in need of redefinition, not only of who he is in the kitchen, but in the world. In his process of bottoming out professionally and creatively, and taking on a new venture in food-trucking, he also gets a chance to reconnect with his son. From the colors and flavors of Miami to French Quarter beignets and Austin’s smokehouse brisket, Chef is a gastronomical road trip of discovery that succeeds in capturing the supernatural powers of food. [Scarlet]

#19 – The Double

In 2010, cult comedian Richard Ayoade released his first feature, Submarine, which garnered mostly positive reviews and was a pretty decent directorial début. His follow-up, The Double, is a much darker and more stylish film, a quantum leap for the young filmmaker. The Double is bolstered by Jesse Eisenberg’s superb double performance as all-too-forgettable office lackey Simon James and his ultra-confident alter-ego James Simon, who unexpectedly shows up in Simon’s life to wreak havoc. Taking obvious tones from Brazil, the dystopian office environment is awesomely designed and endlessly funny. It is a horrendous, dingy world, which would undoubtedly be a miserable experience, though it seems to come entirely from Simon’s own worldview – in all, it is one of the best depictions of what it feels like to be a nameless, faceless workingman wishing to be noticed while entirely without the aptitude to stand out. Despite its intense outlook on life and its equally intense Dostoevsky source material, it is superbly shot and edited, with terrific wit, making The Double a strangely breezy, playful experience. [Aaron]

#18 – Foxcatcher

I wouldn’t place the affect of Foxcatcher entirely on Steve Carell’s shoulders (although clearly I’ve already written about the brilliance of his performance), but the profundity of this true-tale balances entirely on what he brings to this film. It could be the depressing, and not particularly exhilarating, tale of a man with any number of mental instabilities performing a heinous crime against an innocent man. Instead—with arresting ensemble collaboration with Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum—Foxcatcher becomes a nuanced look into the various ways we pursue fulfillment. As quiet and slow-paced as the film is, its tension builds as well as it does because the characters’ motivations are ones everyone experiences. Tatum’s Mark Schultz and Carell’s John du Pont, two men born into very different family and societal situations, seek the same thing: a sense of affirmation and respect. It’s what everyone wants in some small way, and the mental extremes both go to in pursuit of them remind us of what we might all be capable of. Bennet Miller has proven his capabilities with a film that never gets in its own way or stumbles over its huge performances. He clearly understands the delicacy of the craft.  [Ananda]

#17 – Two Days, One Night

The Dardenne brothers were bound to work with a famous actor at some point in their career, and in Two Days, One Night their first collaboration with an A-lister proves to be terrific, and for fans, assuaging. The Dardenne’s gritty, no-frills style of storytelling is challenging for any actor to interpret, but Marion Cotillard stuns as a dangerously depressed factory worker who over a weekend must convince her co-workers to forego their bonuses to save her job. Her conversations with her colleagues range from heart-warming, to infuriating, to violent, to uplifting, though they’re all awkward and uncomfortable. Two Days, One Night an exquisite, bite-sized tale that’s as engrossing as it is hyper-relevant to today’s economic landscape. One of the brothers’ best. [Bernard]

#16 – Wild

We’ve already declared Reese Witherspoon’s performance in Wild to be one of the best of the year. It takes, however, quite a collaboration to allow an actor’s skills and talents to be able to come to fruition within a two hour time span. It begins with an incredible story, and it helps that it’s true. Cheryl Strayed’s memoir had already been Number 1 on the New York Times’ Best Seller list for seven weeks straight in 2012. Successfully adapting it into a movie would take skilled screenwriter Nick Hornby and director Jean-Marc Vallee, who directed last year’s Academy Awards’ winners for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in Dallas Buyers Club. Throw in the incredible cinematography of Yves Belanger to capture the beautiful span of nature along the Pacific Crest Trail and I would say we’d have one of the best pictures of the year. The only thing missing might be a heart-wrenching performance by the glorious Laura Dern. But then, they have that too. [Scarlet]

#15 – Nymphomaniac

Lars Von Trier gave an extensive interview recently, confessing that he’s been high and drunk while writing a lot of his screenplays, and that Nymphomaniac was the first screenplay he’d written sober (it took him 18 months). If that’s the case, then he’s proven his talents even while sober because the 4 1/2 hour sex-capade—split into two volumes for release—is an embarrassment of cinematic riches in all shapes, sizes, and vocal groans. It follows Joe’s (Charlotte Gainsbourgh) story of sexual awakening (the Young Joe is played by Stacy Martin, a brilliant first-timer that we signaled out as one of the year’s best performers) as she tells it to the asexual hermit Seligman (Stelan Skarsgard) in Vol. 1. Her story continues into adulthood as a mother and a wife in Vol. 2, where laughs are exchanged for dark decisions and reflections. Nymphomaniac is novelistic in structure, operatic in scale, painterly in design, yet wholly, insatiably, and helplessly cinematic in result. It’s funny, dark, at moments gorgeous, at others repulsive, but never ever dull and always intellectually stimulating. The film packs in everything that’s been interesting and fascinating to von Trier recently, so it’s also—at its core—a look inside the mind of one of the world’s most fascinating and audacious artists. [Nik]

#14 – The Babadook

What makes Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook so terrifying is that long before the monster appears, the film is a study of a single mother’s descent into parental madness. The protagonist is a woman who is not only haunted by the loss of her husband six years prior, but slowly terrorized by the reminder that her six-year-old son is tangentially to blame for that loss. This builds a simmering parental resentment that is as unsettling as it is unnatural. Kent further builds on this by making the child an oppressive force of hyperactive energy and piercing volume, whose singular obsession is his terrorization by a monster that doesn’t (yet) exist. Add sleep deprivation, the weight of a demanding and thankless job, a collection of unsympathetic friends with enviable suburban lives, and absolutely no chance of finding love again anytime soon, and you have a woman on the brink of both implosion and explosion. You have a woman so weak, she is ripe for a good haunting. And a good haunting she gets. [Michael]

#13 – Blue Ruin

Blue Ruin is a rare film. A violent, wholly uncompromising thriller where the stakes of violence are raised with every turn. We see lots of films portraying vengeance but not a lot, if any, that involve a protagonist who is so amateurish at it. The film involves an unknown drifter, Dwight, who seeks retribution on a trashy small town Southern family who wronged his own family years before. Dwight is one of the most flawed anti-heroes in a long time. The best thing about the film is how little information we are given; Blue Ruin is bare bones, giving only the information needed to understand the dilemma. What I love about the film is how it shows the consequences of violence, a rare facet in films these days. Writer/director Jeremy Sauliner tells the story without any fat on its bones. His filmmaking is so focused and acute that the audience is able to feel Dwight’s every wound; emotional and physical. [Blake]

#12 – Mr. Turner

Whilst biopic’s are often awards-bait they are also films that are difficult to get right. They can be—when directed badly—pretentious, dull affairs. Yet with Mr. Turner, Mike Leigh has overcome inherent biopic challenges to produce one of the outstanding films of the year. Lit majestically by cinematographer Bob Pope, many of the film’s scenes echo the breathtaking beauty of Turner’s paintings. Mr. Turner features a standout performance from Timothy Spall, who grunts and wheezes his way into the shoes of the larger than life character. Yet Spall is also supported by brilliant performances from the rest of the cast, particularly Dorothy Atkinson, who puts in a subtle yet moving performance as Turner’s underappreciated housekeeper. Mr. Turner also adeptly manages the balance comedy and drama; Leigh pokes fun at Turner without the film being reduced to a ‘parody’, and equally celebrates the man’s artistic genius without pretentiousness, never losing sight of the very human flaws behind the brilliance. Mr. Turner, is a thought-provoking character study, energetic comedy and a brilliant piece of arthouse filmmaking which may well be Leigh’s best film yet. [Eddy]

#11 – Snowpiercer

Bong Joon-ho’s wickedly entertaining Snowpiercer was the subject of heavy word-of-mouth hype this summer after its distributors, The Weinstein Company, gave the movie a limited late June release before dumping it on VOD in July. At a time when Transformers and Tammy were at the top of the box office, Snowpiercer’s groundswell of support felt less like an indictment of Weinstein’s handling of the film, and more like a plea to get audiences to pay attention to a thrilling, sci-fi/action flick that dared to exhibit originality. Brought to life through Ondrej Nekvasil’s immersive production design, the bizarre world of Snowpiercer features a completely unique setting, brutal action, and a bonkers performance from Tilda Swinton. As Chris Evans’ Curtis battles his way from the back of the train to the front with his multi-ethnic cohorts, each new section brings a fresh set of circumstances and surprises. Finding out what actually goes into the protein blocks, discovering how the society aboard the train indoctrinates its youth, and realizing that even the train’s elite are stuck in a blissfully unaware state of drug addiction (kronol, please!) are all exciting revelations in the absurd and absurdly entertaining Snowpiercer. [Zachary]

#10 – Gone Girl

David Fincher is known for making some of Hollywood’s most intense thrillers throughout his 20-year tenancy in the film capital of the world, but none are more scathing and vicious than his newest film based on Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel. While Gone Girl is, at first, about the disappearance of a small town housewife, it’s really about peeling back the layers a seemingly happy couple upholds to expose the not so greener pastures that exist underneath. And when the media gets involved, Gone Girl narrows the lens on society’s own snap judgements and expectations of people we don’t truly know but have no problem judging. Aided by a scorching script written by Flynn herself, Fincher’s film is led by a duo of virtuoso lead performances in Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Affleck has hardly, if ever, been better and Pike gives 2014’s best performance – man or woman. Give her the Oscar already. The film isn’t one of Fincher’s best by any means, but is nonetheless a stellar addition to his already impressive canon. [Blake]

#9 – Ida

The brilliance of Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida starts with the bleak elegance of its aesthetic: a black-and-white palate presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio that is haunting in its simplicity. It’s the perfect presentation for the film, as it belies the weight of the story, yet sets the proper stage for it. And what a weighty story it is: on the brink of taking her final vows, a novice Catholic nun in 1960s Poland learns she is Jewish. She and her only living relative—an estranged, world-weary aunt with a formidable reputation as a post-war prosecutor—embark on a journey to learn the truth of their family’s past. The two women were strangers just days before, but as the story progresses and truths unfold, they find themselves dependent on each other in ways neither had anticipated. First-timer Agata Trzebuchowska is mesmerizing as the holy ingenue with hypnotic eyes, but it’s the devastating performance Agata Kulesza gives as Aunt Wanda, who begrudgingly plays part parent, pit bull, party gal, and private eye. And she’s not without her own soul-searching, either. Ida rightly earns every accolade and award it receives, as well as its spot on this list. [Michael]

#8 – Winter Sleep

Walking away with this year’s coveted Palme D’Or is pretty much tasting the crème de la crème of film awards (sorry, but not really, Oscars). And yet, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s latest masterwork Winter Sleep has really loud detractors who call it “lesser Bergman” and deride it for its extensive dialogue scenes and interior shots. Not sure what those people have watched, but there’s simply no other film that will suck you into its world faster and smoother than this opulent Turkish delight. Set in the mountainous regions of Cappadocia, the film follows hotel owner Aydin (Haluk Bilginer) while he purveys the small town as its landlord and kingly lion in winter. The film truly comes alive in the conversations he has with wife Nihal (Melisa Sözen) and sister Necla (Demet Akbag), and the various townsfolk he meets along the way in the course of the film. Humanity is peeled in syllables, and the sins that shackle the human condition surface through jolts and pangs of emotional, subtle, revelations. Critics hail Boyhood as the film that most wholly reflects life in a grander scope, but in this writer’s opinion, that mantle belongs to Winter Sleep, as it digs much deeper towards what truly makes us who we are. [Nik]

#7 – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson can be an acquired taste and is often mocked and celebrated in equal measure. With The Grand Budapest Hotel however, Anderson has created his most accessible film to date. It has all the hallmarks of Wes Anderson (watch our video essay on his unique style); it’s typically kitschy and kooky, with its intricately detailed sets, elaborate costumes and dry sense of humor. Yet the real strength of the film comes from the relationship between hotel concierge Gustav H (Ralph Fiennes) and the lobby boy, Zero (Tony Revolori). This is due to a charming performance from Ralph Fiennes who clearly relishes escaping from the serious dramatic roles he seems to have been too often restricted to over the years. Tony Revolori also gives a terrific performance as Zero, Gustav’s bellboy, with Anderson seeming to have a knack for finding young talented actors and really letting them shine. The warmth in the relationship between these two helps prevent the film from becoming detached from its characters. This makes The Grand Budapest Hotel easily one of the most heartfelt films he has made, enjoyable and accessible even to those outside Anderson’s cult audience. It’s one of the funniest and most charming movies of the year, a feel good film with real class and a supporting cast including Tilda Swinton, Jude Law, Harvey Keitel, and long time collaborator Bill Murray all in top form. [Eddy]

#6 – Whiplash

Who knew a movie about jazz drumming would become 2014’s most exhilarating film? Whiplash follows first-year music student Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) as he endures an onslaught of abuse from his jazz instructor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). Fletcher firmly believes in the end justifying the means, destroying the hopes and dreams of hundreds of young students if it means pushing one of them to become the next Buddy Rich. What Neiman represents for Fletcher is the opportunity he’s been waiting for: someone willing to swallow his twisted, bullshit philosophy without question.

Writer/director Damien Chazelle does what some would consider the unthinkable: he shows Fletcher’s horrifying methods paying off. But Chazelle also shows the agonizing, dehumanizing costs of getting to that point: shutting out loved ones, removing a social life, and not even caring for your own well-being if it gets in the way of “true greatness.” Yes, the film’s incredible finale depicts Andrew finally getting the approval he desperately seeks, but it’s a Pyrrhic victory. We watch in awe at the skills and primal fury on display, but we also stare in horror at what Andrew has become. [C.J.]

#5 – The LEGO Movie

Are there more pleasantly surprising filmmakers than Phil Lord and Christopher Miller working today? First, they turned a kids book into a cult classic. Then they revamped a 1980s television series at a time when reboots and rehashes were becoming sickening, and made a brilliantly funny and original comedy hit. Should we have ever doubted that these two could make a resonant, beautiful, and hilarious film based entirely on block toys? The LEGO Movie is widely being considered not just the best animated film of the year, but one of the most beloved films of 2014. From an animation standpoint, the film is interesting and beautiful, using the LEGO form beyond its furthest extent. The LEGO Movie features an eclectic group of voice performers, including Will Arnett’s take on the caped crusader, perhaps the best film representation of Batman there has ever been. The filmmaking duo’s sharp satirical wit and unique look at popular culture are on full display, making it one of the year’s best comedies for both kids and adults. But the film also has a lot of heart. Its messages of good teamwork and being yourself don’t feel cheap or dumbed down for a younger audience. Its greatest message, however, is aimed to the older generation who have let rules and stipulations get too involved with their entertainment pursuits. Toys (video games, films, cosplay outfits, etc.) are about creativity and imagination and don’t need to meet anyone else’s plans or expectations. The LEGO Movie wonderfully lives in this spirit. [Aaron]

#4 – Under the Skin

Of all the films on our list, none are as cinematically daring and bizarre as Jonathan Glazer’s sci-fi anomaly, Under the Skin. Scarlett Johansson stars as a predatory being from elsewhere, prowling the streets of Glasgow, using her body to ensnare hapless horny fellows off the street. The performance is divine: her face is stuck in a zombified state throughout the film, but her eyes tell another story, transforming from those of a sharp predator to those of a sick, lost puppy. If Johansson’s career-defining acting wasn’t enough, the film’s score is ethereal and unnerving, and Glazer’s imagery is minimalistic, elegant, and vicious, arguably the highest visual achievement of the year.

Several colleagues I’ve spoken to about Under the Skin didn’t click with the film quite like I did. But one thing they all say, without fail, is that it’s an important film whose artistic value is pretty much unimpeachable. As film lovers we should be staunch evangelists for risk-taking filmmakers like Glazer because, pass or fail, their films help expand the horizons of cinema past what we’re comfortable with or conditioned to accept. And where Johansson’s career goes from here is anybody’s guess, because for a young actress to star in The Avengers and yet still have the hunger to tackle a role like this is what earns the respect of peers, audiences, and critics alike. [Bernard]

#3 – Birdman

How to explain the significance of a film about a washed up actor trying to rebuild his reputation with the seemingly selfish act of creating his own spotlight and walking into it? Hollywood notoriously loves introspective films, but what makes Birdman unique in this regard is that not only does it poke fun of that egotism, and indeed hints at the madness behind it, but director Alejandro G. Iñárritu uses our beloved medium as a weapon, hitting any self-ascribed film enthusiast, actor, stage savant, or critic in the face with the art of it. Birdman contains some of the most impressive camera-work in a film all year, much of it in extended dizzying takes, a feat that also serves to prove the brilliance of the film’s performances as everyone in the film has to be amazing without much editing room help, and all of it is literally underscored by spastic moody jazz drums that provide one of the most inspired scores of the year. It’s a lot. And it’s just enough.

As a former superhero film star and failing father trying to prove his worth, Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson is an insecure, egotistical, surreally magical, and often pathetic creature. And even while laughing at him, or wondering at the level of certifiability to his madness, he’s an engaging and easy to root for loser. And Keaton is just the tip of the acting greatness in the film. There’s Emma Stone as his daughter, reminding Riggan how out of touch he is; Edward Norton’s egomaniacal co-star demeaning his every attempt to be taken seriously; Zach Galifianakis as his tense and pandering best friend, producer and lawyer; Lindsay Duncan as a theatre critic determined to take Riggan down; and a host of others who all bring their A-game. What keeps Birdman from the darker end of the black comedy spectrum is the insinuation that all this madness might just be the key to great art. To which I say, go as mad as you want Iñárritu, it looks pretty damn good. [Ananda]

#2 – Nightcrawler

Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler is a nasty piece of work, and I mean that in the best way possible. Some have described it as a media satire, but that would be missing the forest for the trees. Gilroy sets his sights on the current state of business in America, viciously tearing into and exposing how the country’s late capitalist system thrives on sadism. That message takes the form of Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal in his best performance to date), the kind of person who drinks and regurgitates the corporate Kool-Aid with a grin on his face. Bloom, an unemployed and undereducated man whose go-getter attitude is really a sign of psychosis, discovers the potential for an exciting new business opportunity: capturing the bloody aftermath of crime scenes on camera and selling the footage to morning news outlets. Once he finds a news producer (Rene Russo, also doing amazing work) willing to buy his footage, Bloom begins building an empire on the pain and suffering of others.

Gilroy, making his directorial début, doesn’t hide his anger for one second. In a just world, Louis would get shunned or locked up for his behavior. Instead he’s rewarded, and the more he stomps on ethics and morals, the more successful he becomes. Nightcrawler makes it abundantly clear that this is a state of the nation address rather than a cautionary tale, a world where the moral compass has been replaced by the bottom line. It’s an uncompromising, cynical, darker than dark film, with such strong directing, writing, acting and cinematography (from the great Robert Elswit) it feels like the work of an established master instead of a first-time director. What Nightcrawler makes terrifyingly clear is that, through seeing Bloom’s sociopathic behavior push him up the ladder rather than into the gutter, this isn’t a case of the inmates taking over the asylum; it was always supposed to operate that way. [C.J.]

#1 – Boyhood

Despite all the early award season speculation and dominating year-end lists, there’s seemingly no limit to the amount of praise for the epic 12-year project Boyhood. Few films in the history of cinema have portrayed ordinary life so profoundly as Richard Linklater’s masterpiece. Yet for a film that took over a decade to make and spans nearly three hours, it’s remarkably simple. Boyhood literally observes actor Ellar Coltrane grow up on-screen from his early childhood through his adolescent years. But instead of focusing on pivotal milestones in life—first love, school dances, marriage, etc.—the film is about those moments between those milestones which are equally memorable. Rather than putting up title cards to signal a new year, Boyhood makes effective use of pop culture, technology advances, and haircuts for its transitions in time. These also serve as a nostalgic time capsule for the ’00s. Throughout the years the land-line phone, colorful iMac G3, and Gameboy Advance are naturally phased out by a cell phone, slim laptop, and Xbox 360. While these are all seemingly simple achievements, rarely do filmmakers take such an organic approach the way Linklater does here.

Even though the title implies just a coming-of-age story of a boy, it could have easily been called “Parenthood.” Patricia Arquette experiences the difficulties of raising two kids as a single-parent and it’s heartbreaking to watch her bounce from one abusive relationship to the next. While she’s the glue that holds everything together, frequent Linklater collaborator Ethan Hawke displays the most range as a character. Hawke first shows up as a reckless father who abandoned his children. But by the end he matures into a responsible parent and a caring husband happily remarried. This film demonstrates the process each of us undergoes on a constant basis, the evolution of trying to find ourselves at every age. A decade is a long time to shoot a film, but perhaps it’s the perfect way to capture the way life passes by. Boyhood is a sprawling cinematic achievement that could only come around every 12 years or so, and probably even more rarely than that. [Dustin]

Three of our most anticipated films at the Mill Valley Film Festival played on Day 9 in the 11-day stretch, and they didn’t disappoint. From Bill Murray’s performance as the grumpy titular character in St. Vincent; to Steve Carell’s long-awaited dramatic turn in Foxcatcher; to Marion Cotillard’s incredibly vulnerable performance in the Dardenne brothers’ Two Days, One Night, the festival is still going strong as we approach the final days. Stay with us through the weekend as we continue to bring you more coverage from Mill Valley!

Patron Saint of Despicability

[Ananda]

Opening today in New York and Los Angeles, Theodore Melfi’s St. Vincent is almost as quirky as the story behind its main star signing on. In a Q & A after the Mill Valley Film Festival screening, Melfi described what exactly is involved in getting Bill Murray to agree to do your movie. First you call his 800 number, leave a lot of messages, and hope he calls you back. Then you snail mail him a description of the film to a PO box provided by his attorney.  If you’re lucky, like Melfi, he might just call you out of the blue, tell you to meet him in an hour at LAX and proceed to drive you around for 6 hours into the desert to discuss the project, at the end of which a handshake seals the deal. And while Melfi has plenty of fun stories about Bill Murray — he demands avocados, chocolate, and Mexican coke in his trailer — anyone who has seen the movie will say whatever it took to get Murray, it was worth it.

Acting opposite Jaeden Lieberher as small-for-his-age Oliver, Murray plays Vincent, a curmudgeonly old alcoholic in Brooklyn with a load of debt, a gambling addiction, and a “professional” relationship with a pregnant Russian prostitute, Daka (Naomi Watts). Oliver and his mother Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) move in next door to Vincent, and due to her late working hours (necessary because of the custody battle she’s in) Maggie is forced to ask Vincent for help as Oliver’s babysitter. Only ever concerned with earning a spare buck, Vincent thinks very little of his duties, shlepping Oliver to bars, the race track, and to visit his alzheimer-consumed wife in the home she lives in. The film is funny, due in major part to Murray’s delivery, but much of the true cleverness is given to Lieberher, who holds his own with a skill much larger than his age. Somehow the film manages to avoid the typical conventions of the reverse parenting gimmick, focusing less on transformation and instead on forgiveness.

St. Vincent is warm and well-told, but it’s the excellent chemistry between Murray and Lieberher that makes it worth watching.

Gold Medal In Crazy

[Ananda]

We’ve seen some truly impressive performances this week. In fact our Oscar prediction list is getting so long that narrowing things down later in the year is going to be a serious challenge. But having seen many of our most anticipated films of the fall now, I think I can say with confidence one performance that will undoubtedly surpass any cut to that list is Steve Carell in Foxcatcher. Whether you know anything about the true story of Mark and David Schultz, the Olympic gold winning sibling wrestlers representing the U.S. in the ’80s, or whether you enter into a screening of Foxcatcher completely unaware of the history behind it, I guarantee the film will have you hanging onto every scene transition, wondering when it’s all going to cave in.

The Schultz brothers were two successful wrestlers in the ’80s, and after both winning gold in the ’84 olympics they went on to coach. In the film, Mark (Channing Tatum), the younger brother, was practically raised by his brother David (Mark Ruffalo), and, since David was the more sought after wrestler, Mark often interpreted his success as having some connection to his older brother. So when billionaire John E. du Pont (Steve Carell and a foreboding fake nose) reaches out to Mark wanting to hire him to help build an award winning wrestling team, Mark finally finds the attention he has been craving. Carell as du Pont is disturbing from the get go. While the transformation of his face is distracting at first, the perfect awkwardness of Carell’s delivery quickly becomes the focus. His shuffling gait, his too big smile, his lack of eye contact at times, all paint du Pont as a man whose subtle madness hovers just below his surface at all times. Whether by wealth, loneliness, bad parenting, or an innate mania, du Pont is a slow building volcanic eruption waiting to happen. And with the physicality of wrestling, it seems an obvious choice of obsession for a depraved and disconnected man. Just as compelling is the chemistry between Ruffalo and Tatum. As brothers, their connection is ever-present, driving the film forward, each each other’s motivation in life.

Bennett Miller seems to have followed a direct path from Capote to Moneyball to Foxcatcher. The first dealing in a murderous mind, the second in a competitive sport, and the third throwing the two together. While undoubtedly grim, Foxcatcher is historically-based filmmaking at its best. Providing a speculative insight into the lives and minds of people who have lived events so bizarre and tragic that no similar Hollywood fiction could be remotely plausible. It’s a hard watch, but the kind that reminds viewers that every person is a story unto themselves.

On Her Hands and Knees

[Bernard]

Like Vittorio de Sica’s Italian Neorealist classics Umberto D and Bicycle Theives, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Two Days, One Night (one of my favorite films at Mill Valley) is so relevant, so aware of the socio-economic climate of its time that it’s hard not to surrender yourself to it completely. This is a film for those who struggle; it understands how money—or more specifically, the lack thereof—can trick us into becoming lesser people than we ought to be, forgetting that self-worth is the most invaluable treasure we own.

Marion Cotillard plays Sandra, a factory worker who’s been dismissed from work due to issues with depression. On a Friday, her 16 co-workers have voted to keep their bonuses rather than let Sandra keep her job. There will be a second vote on Monday, however, giving our heroine the weekend to convince her colleagues to forego their much-needed bonuses for the sake of she and her family. 

Cotillard is the biggest star the Dardennes have worked with yet, and she gifts them with one of the best performances of her career. She can be anything—glamorous, dangerous, sultry—but here, she bares her soul for all to see. Tremendously vulnerable and earnest, Cotillard has our vote from the beginning. As with the Dardenne’s other work, the plot and camerawork is elegant and simple, giving the actors all the room they need to tell their story. A bracingly truthful film.

Because Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice had its premiere at the New York Film Festival and David Fincher’s Gone Girl is dominating local theaters, we can finally talk about two of our most anticipated films of 2014. We talk specifics about the baffling Inherent Vice and begin Gone Girl‘s conversation spoiler-free before we go into any details or spoilers (don’t worry, we hold our spoiler talk at the end, at the 32 minute mark, and give you plenty of warnings beforehand). While both of these films are the most talked about of the NYFF lineup, we discuss other notable films of the festival, including one destined to make a splash at this year’s Independent Spirit Awards.

Topics

• Synopsis Scramble (2:20)
• Inherent Vice (5:40)
• Other NYFF Films (15:15)
• Gone Girl (24:25)
• Gone Girl Spoilers (32:40)

If you enjoyed our conversation, please subscribe to the Way Too Indiecast on iTunes and give us a rating!

The 37th annual Mill Valley Film Festival is upon us, a festival with a reputation of showcasing future Academy Awards Best Picture winners (12 years a Slave, Argo, The Artist), but we’ve decided to highlight some of our most anticipated indies at the festival because, well, that’s sort of our schtick. There are dozens of independent films in the lineup worth your attention (check out the full program here), but these are ten that have got us excited to drive across the Golden Gate, plop ourselves down in one of Marin County’s beautiful arthouses, and enjoy the indie goodness.

Like Sunday, Like Rain 

Frank Whaley is more often known as an actor than a director – I will forever picture him as the fast-talking slacker in the ’80s film Career Opportunities – but his fourth feature film follows the themes his previous films seem to like explore, namely the struggle of being a young artist with the weight of responsibility pushing in. Like Sunday, Like Rain features Leighton Meester as a struggling musician suddenly assigned legal guardianship of a 12 year old boy – who happens to be a musical prodigy. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong plays her boyfriend, and Debra Messing plays the boy’s mother. Questionable casting choices, but the premise is indie-intriguing and ripe with dramatic opportunity.

10,000 KM 

Carlos Marques-Marcet’s first feature film has already received plenty of glowing reviews. His take on long-distance relationships, the technology involved, and the difficulty of maintaining closeness so far away is both timely and challenging. The film revolves around Alex (Natalia Tena) and Sergi (David Verdaguer), a couple in Madrid trying to decide how their future together will play out as Alex’s career as a photographer has not yet taken off and they contemplate having a baby. When Alex is offered a career-breaking opportunity in L.A. they decide to try and make it a year apart while she pursues her dream. This new development in their relationship, and the simultaneously helpful, yet prohibitive nature of online communication, sounds like it could make for a very intriguing drama.

St. Vincent 

Bill Murray. Let’s be honest that’s reason number one we want to see this hilarious looking film about a cantankerous man who is enlisted to help look after his neighbor’s precocious kid. Melissa McCarthy is the frazzled mother forced to work long hours and thus depend on the least dependable person available. Jaeden Lieberher is Oliver, the child Vincent forms an unlikely friendship with as he takes him on questionable adventures in babysitting. While the melting-heart premise of a gruff older person befriending a kid has been juiced dry, Bill Murray may be the only actor who is pretty much guaranteed to breathe some life into it. And with the onslaught of drama saturating fall films AND film festivals, we’re sure to be grateful for the break in monotony.

What We Do In The Shadows 

Much of our anticipation for this film stems from an undying love for the short-lived HBO comedy show Flight of the Conchords. Two of the film’s stars, Jemaine Clement and Rhys Darby, star in What We Do In The Shadows. Secondly, it’s a docu-styled vampire comedy. Yes there are too many vampire movies, yes there are too many faux-documentaries, but maybe the cocktail mixing them both will be an avenue to hilarity. The general premise of the film is that a house of vampires living together in New Zealand grant access (and safety) to a team of documentarists hoping to capture an annual masquerade ball in New Zealand attended by every manner of mythical monster, including werewolves, warlocks, and of course vampires. The four vampires are Viago (Taika Waititi), Vladislav (Jemaine Clement), Deacon (Jonathan Brugh) a younger more rock-n-roll vampire, and Petyr (Ben Fransham) an older, scarier sort of vampire. It sounds ridiculous, and if it has even an ounce of the humor and charm we’ve come to expect from Clement and his gang, it should be a lot of fun.

Two Days, One Night

In Two Days, One Night, the Dardenne brothers, with their flawless technique and bare-bones storytelling, have teamed with Marion Cotillard, a mainstream star who can do anything, but shines brightest in roles that allow her to get her hands dirty. It’s a match made in heaven, really. If that isn’t exciting enough, the film’s outfitted with a boldly simple plot: Cotillard plays Sandra, an emotionally troubled factory worker who’s set to be terminated unless she can convince her co-workers to vote her back onboard and consequently forego their bonuses before the weekend is over. For the Dardennes, simple is better, and for Cotillard, simple material means open range to bare her soul and act her ass off.

After the Fall

Formerly titled Things People Do, After the Fall premiered at the Berlin Film Festival to favorable reviews and premiered in the U.S. at SXSW. Playing out like a condensed, less intense version of Breaking Bad, the film focuses on Bill Scanlon (Wes Bentley), an insurance sales man who loses his job and decides to become a robber rather than admit his situation to his wife. Word is that first time director Saar Klein has a quiet focused energy that sustains the film’s tension without too much need for action or violence. Clearly a skill he picked up as an Oscar-nominated film editor. Since we’ve been missing Breaking Bad pretty…well…badly, this nuanced suburban good-guy-gone-rogue tale sounds like it should hit the spot.

Imperial Dreams

Big things are on the horizon for British breakout John Boyega (Attack the Block), but before we get too excited about him leading the charge in next year’s Star Wars sequel, another performance of his deserves our undivided attention. In director Malik Vitthal’s Imperial Dreams, Boyega plays a reformed thug who, after discovering a passion for writing in jail, devotes his life to getting he and his 4-year-old son out of the hood and on to a brighter future where drugs and violence won’t find them. Vitthal and Boyega explore the sensitive side of street life, an approach that made Sundance audiences drum up a good amount of buzz, buzz which is likely to continue on as it passes through Mill Valley.

How I Came to Hate Math

In all of academics, few subjects strike fear in the hearts of men and women like mathematics. Long division, sines, cosines, complex numbers–it’s petrifying stuff (especially for lowly film critics like yours truly). But French filmmaker Olivier Peyon offers us a chance to re-familiarize ourselves with the art of numbers in his free-form, comprehensive doc, How I Came to Hate Math. From addressing the biggest misconceptions and myths about math; to chronicling its history; to explaining how it’s in its advanced forms a creative field; to exploring how a mathematician’s mind works, the film is dead-set on setting the record straight once and for all about everyone’s least favorite school subject. I’m open to have our minds changed about math, and though chances of that are slim (math was the bane of my existence for years), what’s more likely is that I’ll be treated to an entertaining, thought-provoking doc. That’s more than enough for me.

Soul of a Banquet

Culinary icon Cecilia Chiang had a huge impact on San Francisco food culture in the ’60s when she introduced the Bay Area to authentic Northern Chinese cuisine at her legendary Mandarin Restaurant. Over 50 years later, her influence reverberates throughout the city, and with the heartwarming homage Soul of a Banquet, filmmaker Wayne Wang chronicles the celebrity chef’s life and career while filming Cecilia in her element, cooking an epic meal for friend and fellow S.F. icon, Alice Waters. Food porn surely awaits, which is always a good thing, and there are sure to be some stories of culinary adventures woven in there as well. Just make sure you don’t watch on an empty stomach.

Living is Easy With Eyes Closed

Part of the festival’s “Viva El Cine” focus, Living is Easy with Eyes Closed is an uplifting road movie that comes to us from Spanish director David Trueba. Set in Spain in the mid-’60s just after the explosion of Beatlemania, the film follows a school teacher named Antonio (Javier Cámara) who teams picks up a runaway teen and a pregnant young woman on his way to meet his idol, John Lennon, who’s reportedly filming a movie in Almería. For those with a taste for adventure and whimsy, Trueba’s film will charm and delight–On the merry trio’s odyssey down the winding roads of Spain they find laughs, thrills, and romance. And strawberries. And fields. Together.

The Mill Valley Film Festival has built a reputation as a showcase for future Oscar winners and emergent independent and foreign filmmakers. The festival has hosted five of the last six Best Picture Oscar winners, rolling out the red carpet for A-list actors and filmmakers while heavily supporting local filmmakers as well. Nestled in one of the most beautiful places in the world, filmmakers, actors, and attendees alike are drawn to Mill Valley every year by the easy, low-stress atmosphere, the gorgeous surroundings, the varied special events and, of course, the films. In its 37th year, the festival looks to deliver everything loyal festival-goers expect and more.

“Variety has said once–probably more than once–that Mill Valley has the ambience of a destination festival and the clout of an urban festival,” said festival founder and director Mark Fishkin at yesterday’s press conference. “Change” is one of the themes of this year’s festival, with the folks behind the festival embracing the evolving landscape of film and film distribution. Said Fishkin: “For us, change is inevitable, but we are still part of a special division of the film industry, which is theatrical exhibition. We take our role as curators very seriously, whether it’s films that are coming from the Bay Area or films coming from Cannes.”

The Homesman

Tommy Lee Jones‘ latest offering, The Homesman, will open the festival, with star Hilary Swank set to attend. The film is a Western, following a claim jumper (Jones) and a young woman (Swank) as they escort three insane woman through the treacherous frontier between Nebraska and Iowa. Fishkin describes it as a “feminist Western” that is “extremely moving. We’re just so proud to be showing it in this year’s festival.”

Co-headlining opening night is Men, Women, & Children, Jason Reitman‘s new film starring Ansel Elgort, Adam Sandler, Judy Greer, and Jennifer Garner that explores the strange effect the internet age has on parents and their teens. Reitman will be in attendance to present. Lynn Shelton‘s Laggies will also play opening night, completing the killer triple-threat. The film, about a woman stuck in slacker adolescence, stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Keira Knightley, and Sam Rockwell.

The festival looks to finish as strong as it started, with Jean-Marc Valée‘s follow-up to Dallas Buyers Club, spiritual quest movie Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed, who embarked on a 1,100-mile hike to heal deep emotional wounds. Laura Dern also stars, and will be honored with a tribute.

French favorite Juliette Binoche stars across Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria. Binoche plays an actress who’s asked to return to a play that made her famous 20 years ago, but this time in an older role, forcing her to reflect on the young woman she once was and what she’s become since. Another French actress who can do no wrong, Marion Cotillard is outstanding in the Dardenne brothers’ new film, Two Days, One Night. Recalling the best of Italian neorealism, the film follows a woman who’s got a weekend to convince her co-workers to forego their bonuses to save her job.

The Theory of Everything

Two emerging young actors will be spotlighted as Eddie Redmayne and Elle Fanning will be in attendance to discuss their respective new films. Fanning stars in Low Down, which views the troubled life of jazz pianist Joe Albany (John Hawkes) from the perspective of his teenage daughter (Fanning). Set in the ’70s, the film also stars Glenn Close, Peter Dinklage, and Lena Headey. In a breakout performance, Redmayne portrays legendary physicist Stephen Hawking in the stirring biopic The Theory of Everything, which is quickly generating momentum on the festival circuit.

Several other films that have been building steam on the festival circuit will play at the festival as well. English landscape painter J. M. W. Turner is played brilliantly by Timothy Spall in Mike Leigh‘s Mr. Turner, which we loved at Cannes. Also portraying a significant real-life figure is Benedict Cumberbatch, who stars in The Imitation Game, the story of English mathematician Alan Turing and his groundbreaking intelligence work during World War II. Steve Carell‘s highly-anticipated turn in Foxcatcher as John Du Pont, the man who shot olympic great David Schultz, will surely continue to stir up Oscar talk as the film plays late in the festival. Robert Downey Jr. stars as a big city lawyer who returns home to defend his father (Robert Duvall), the town judge, who is suspected of murder.

Metallica is set to play a pleasantly unexpected role in the festival as his year’s artist in residence, with each of the four members of the band presenting a film. Drummer Lars Ulrich has naturally chosen to highlight Whiplash, Damien Chazelle‘s drama about a young aspiring drummer and his relentless instructor. Chazelle will also be in attendance. Lead singer James Hetfield has chosen to present a classic, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, while guitarist Kirk Hammett, one of the world’s foremost horror aficionados, will offer up Dracula vs. Frankenstein. Bassist Robert Trujillo is showing a sneak peek at a documentary he produced himself, Jaco, which tells the story of legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius.

On the local side of things is a special screening of Soul of a Banquet, a documentary by filmmaker Wayne Wang  about celebrity chef Cecilia Chang. Wang and Chang, who both have deep San Francisco Bay Area roots, will be in attendance to celebrate their storied careers and present their film collaboration. Chuck Workman, another Bay Area legend who’s best known for editing the clip reels at the Oscars, will be honored at the festival as well.

Cannes is over. Three words that are going to be sinking in for a while, while I try to regroup and accept that yes; the glorious, maddening, disorganized, exhilarating, and one-of-a-kind Cannes film festival is over. The Prozac to my depression is that it was an absolute blast, and an experience I wouldn’t exchange for anything. While I spend the next few days catching up on all my sleep and vitamins, the medley of scenes, moments of cinematic enormity, fits of laughter, and gasps of horror will be scooped up along with the bits and pieces of my blown mind, and shaped into a cherished memory. But in the meantime, therapy is in order and part of the 12-step program of recovery after coming back from a place like Cannes is making a Top 10 List. So here we are.

If you’ve followed my coverage, this list might not be very surprising but it’s still a good way to summarize why this was such a fantastic festival, and include some thoughts on the recently announced winners.

Honorable Mention – Whiplash

One of two Director’s Fortnights I managed to see was this Sundance hit, about a teenager’s unrelenting passion to become one of the world’s greatest drummers. With magnificent turns by Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons (the latter especially, who should be considered for Best Supporting Actor once we fast-forward seven months from now), and a well maintained adrenaline rush by focused directing and excellent editing, the only reason Whiplash isn’t in the Top 10 is because of it’s noticeably poor depiction of women and predictable emotional beats. Read my review.

#10 – Maps To The Stars

Julianne Moore may have stolen the Best Actress award from Marion Cotillard, but it’s wonderfully ironic that she did it with this role. Obviously, she’s fantastic in it and my review gushed over her. She’s a big reason David Cronenberg’s Maps To The Stars makes it on this list. Hollywood gets scrutinized in brutal fashion by the master of the absurd, and it ranks as one of my most entertaining and alive moments in a Cannes screening. Worthy of noting; this is the only screening I was unable to get into initially and had to schedule in for later, so it’s good to see that the popularity paid off.

#9 – Amour Fou

Jessica Hausner was a discovery for me, but thanks to Way Too Indie’s CJ for making sure she gets a place in the anticipation list because it enticed me enough to check out this wonderfully austere 19^th century tragic-comic look at love in all its silly desperation. After her third appearance in the Un Certain Regarde, Amour Fou really showcases Hausner’s talent and is one of those films which felt misplaced in its sidebar, fitting in main competition. A unique approach to love, and perfectly framed, Amour Fou should be getting distribution if it hasn’t already so hopefully people on this side of the pond will get a chance to laugh with and at all its awkwardness. Read my capsule review here.

#8 – The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them

Even though I was fortunate enough to see the much superior Him and Her versions of this heartrending love-story, Them is more than good enough to deserve a spot on this list. Without doubt the biggest “WTF are they thinking” award decision was giving the Camera D’Or to the directors of Party Girl and not Ned Benson, whose tireless years of work on this project pays off in spades with career-turning performances, assured direction, and a deeply felt story of love and loss. I’d still recommend the richer 3-hour version over this two-hour combined perspective, but if your time is that precious, you won’t go wrong with this version once it gets released. Read my capsule review here.

#7 – Mommy

Trepidation coursed through my veins during the awards ceremony because the buzz was so supportive for Xavier Dolan’s Mommy winning the Palme. Thankfully, and deservedly, Dolan shared the Jury Prize with Jean-Luc Godard and his video essay Goodbye To Language 3D. But it’s important to point out how deserving it is that Dolan walked away with something, because Mommy is a joyous experience full of sorrow, laughs, and vigorous humanity. Even the use of music, or Dolan’s knack to indulge with style, ended up being an asset rather than a flaw here. A truly impressive piece of work by a youngster whose talent is undeniable. Read the review here.

#6 – P’Tit Quinquin

The second Director’s Fortnight film I managed to see and it almost makes it into my Top 5. Bruno Dumont is a master filmmaker, there’s no denying that, and while he is known for putting you down (and kicking you a little while you’re down there) with P’Tit Quinquin he made the funniest film I’ve seen at Cannes. But it’s also one of the smartest, which is the major reason it’s appearing here. Bernard Provost gives an outstanding performance, and helps ease the 3 hour 20 minute running time. Another one CJ needs to be thanked for putting in our anticipation list, even though it’s made-for-TV make sure to seek out P’Tit Quinquin in all its cinemascope glory if you get the chance. Read my capsule review here.

#5 – Two Days, One Night

After the reaction the new Dardennes film got from its first screening, critics were declaring Palme. I wasn’t one of them however, because getting a record third Palme D’Or was always going to be a steep mountain to climb. Regardless, if they had won no one would have bat an eyelash because Two Days, One Night is Dardenne dominance at its most simplistic and vital. It lingers on long after the credits role thanks to the greatest closing lines of any film at the festival, and Marion Cotillard. Will she ever win a Cannes Best Actress? This is the third time her performance is praised to immeasurable heights, and she walks away empty-handed. I don’t like to take anything away from Julianne Moore, whom I adored in Maps, but this really did belong to Cotillard. Perhaps an Oscar will lick her wounds. Read the review here.

#4 – Mr. Turner

Mike Leigh is one of my favorite filmmakers working today. That’s just how it is, and Mr. Turner was one of my must-sees. The second film I saw at the festival and its wondrous cinematography, resonant performances, and an organic direction that plays right into my wheelhouse; Mr. Turner proves that Leigh can tackle the tricky genre of the biopic better than, well, anyone I’ve ever seen. Once you see Timothy Spall (who absolutely must be nominated for an Oscar or it’s all gone to shit) grunt, grumble, growl and gawk his way as J.M.W. Turner you’ll know how deserving that Best Actor win was. An absolute delight this film is, and one I can’t wait to relive again. Here’s my review.

#3 – Winter Sleep

And now we come to the three experiences and near-masterpieces. Winter Sleep is our brilliant, refined, introspective, and much deserved Palme D’Or winner. Nuri Bilge Ceylan is now one of the most celebrated filmmakers at Cannes; with two Grand Prix prizes, one Best Director, and now the Palme to his name. Predicted as possible winner before the festival even started, hated on by a few once it screened (including New York Times’ Manohla Dargis), Winter Sleep still managed to take most critics’ breath away and mine included (it also walked away with the FIPRESCI prize.) Thank God it appears to have done exactly that with Jane Campion, Willem Dafoe, Gael Garcia Bernal and the rest of the jury because Winter Sleep is exemplary cinema at its most dignified and sophisticated. A big hip hip hooray for this win. My review.

#2 – Leviathan

Battling it out with Winter Sleep in an almost tied position of second and third spot is Andrey Zvyagintsev’s artistic magnum opus Leviathan. Religion and politics get a scathing scrutiny in a Man vs. State tale, told through allegorical fashion of the biblical Job story. When it was announced that Leviathan won Best Screenplay, my heart skipped a beat, then slightly sank because I knew it meant chances of a Palme were slim to none. Neverthless, it goes back a winner and it’s been acquired by Sony Pictures Classic so a release date State-side is imminent. Everything just works in this film; from magnanimous Philip Glass, absorbing scenery, ridiculous eye for detail, and balletic camera movement; Leviathan is a work of art with a capital A. My capsule review is here.

#1 – Jauja

What in seven hells is Jauja? Where did it come from? How was it conceived? Where will it end up? These are the kinds of questions still circling in my mind as I try to wrap my self around this transcendental and illuminating experience. Screening in Un Certain Regarde, and playing around with a format that makes you wish you had every shot hanging on your wall, Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja walked away with the FIPRESCI prize so it’s nice to see others critics clicking with it. By far the most challenging film I’ll likely see all year, similar to how mind-boggling Carlos Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux must have felt when it screened in competition a few years ago, part of why I have it over giants like Leviathan and Winter Sleep is because its mystical powers fascinate me beyond words. Viggo Mortensen’s screen presence and his guitar-playing skills are in full effect here, but it’s all Alonso with the irreplaceable shot composition and philosophical depths showing why cinema is unlike any other art-form out there. Read my review here.

Closing Thoughts

My biggest regret was missing Jean-Luc Godard’s Jury Prize winning Goodbye To Language, but thanks to its warm reception chances of seeing it released are much bigger than before the festival started. Another big miss was Alice Rorwacher’s The Wonders, which ended up winning the Grand Prix, but from everything I read and heard, it’s not one I’ll be rushing to see. Unlike White God, It Follows, The Tribe, and Turist; all of which received either some kind of award or incredible word of mouth, and all of which I managed to unfortunately miss.

But that’s how the cookie crumbles with festivals; see some, miss some – it’s just impossible to see everything (but there’s a superpower I’d love to have.) The biggest disappointment was probably Assayas’ Clouds Of Sils Maria (review here) and not Ryan Gosling’s dog’s breakfast Lost River (reviewed here) because the former is an accomplished director and the latter is an actor playing the role of a director, poorly. Though if I could, I would replace Party Girl (capsule here) and The Blue Room (capsule here) with one of my regrets.

But even if I had to endure three Lost Rivers, there’d be absolutely nothing to complain about. The people, the films, the place, the atmosphere, and the joy of covering the world’s greatest festival; all combine for one unforgettable ride. I hope this will be the first of many Cannes film festivals for me, because there’s just simply nothing like it. Thanks to the films on this list, in some ways Cannes will never really be over for me. And now, the next step; sleeping for 48 hours straight.

Before we send this year’s Cannes correspondent Nikola Grozdanovic off to the south of France, the Way Too Indie staff compiled a list of our 10 Most Anticipated Films at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Despite the lowest number of films playing in Competition since 1990 (18 total), there is still a lot to get excited for with new films from David Cronenberg, Xavier Dolan, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Michel Hazanavicius, Mike Leigh, a directorial debut for Ryan Golsing, and more. And besides, some of our favorite films in the past have come out of other categories at the festival such as Un Certain Regard, Midnight Screenings, and sidebar events like Director’s Fortnight. We will be bringing you up-to-the-minute coverage from the festival beginning May 14th. In the meantime, see below for the films we can’t wait to see.

Way Too Indie’s 10 Most Anticipated Films At Cannes 2014

The Captive

This marks Atom Egoyan’s sixth film to play in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The plot for The Captive closely resemblances Denis Villeuneuve’s recent film Prisoners, a father (played by Ryan Reynolds) attempts to find his kidnapped daughter. But after watching the impressive trailer, Egoyan adds a hair-raising twist when the family uncovers surveillance cameras in their own home. Suddenly they realize this is not just an average kidnapping case and fear their every move is being monitored. Co-starring alongside Reynolds are Rosario Dawson, Mireille Enos, Scott Speedman, and Bruce Greenwood. Egoyan has received his fair share of awards from Cannes in the past, but it’s been nearly 20 years since his last win. Maybe The Captive will change that. [Dustin]

Maps to the Stars

It’s hard not to get giddy with anticipation whenever David Cronenberg’s got a new film on the horizon. He’s an auteur with a delectably skewed vision of the world, so Maps to the Stars, written by cult author Bruce Wagner, seems a perfect match: An unrelenting showbiz satire, it follows the famous Weiss family, a clan of corrupted, mentally unstable Hollywood types, and their strange, fucked up lives. Cronenberg’s got a strong stable of talents at his disposal, with Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Mia Wasikowska, Rob Pattinson and the underrated Olivia Williams rounding out the cast. [Bernard]

Mr. Turner

As far as first and second visits to the Cannes Film Festival competition go, I don’t think there’s ever been a bigger success story than Mike Leigh (let us know in the comments if there was). In 1993 Leigh entered the main competition for the first time and walked away with the Best Director, helping David Thewlis earn Best Actor for the same film, the irreproachable Naked. Three years later, he returned for the second time with the emotionally stirring familial, class, race, and life drama Secrets & Lies, and walked away with the Palme D’Or, helping Brenda Blethyn earn Best Actress for her portrayal of mother-in-shambles Cynthia. You don’t need a PhD to recognize the pattern; Leigh is a bonafide master of the craft and he’s got a way with actors. This year, he’s back with Mr. Turner and two of his most prominent collaborators, Timothy Spall in the title role and Leslie Manville who redefined acting in Leigh’s last film Another Year. The closest Leigh got to a 19th century biopic was 1999’s Topsy-Turvy but something tells me this one’s going to be slightly different in tone, as it deals with the last quarter of controversial painter J.M.W. Turner’s life. Honoured to be waving the Way Too Indie banner at this year’s Cannes, Turner is at the very top of my must-see films mostly because Leigh has yet to disappoint me (and I’ve seen all of them). Watch out for an early review as Mr. Turner screens in the first few days. [Nik]

P’tit Quinquin

Bruno Dumont may have won 2 Grand Prix awards at Cannes (L’Humanité and Flandres, respectively), but he’s still not an especially well-known or watched figure for arthouse audiences. His style, filled with ambiguities and provocations, leaves audiences both captivated and enraged. His last film, Camille Claudel 1915, was a bit of a departure due to his casting of Juliette Binoche (Dumont typically prefers to work with non-professionals), but P’Tit Quinquin appears to be the beginning of a completely new direction for the filmmaker.

P’Tit Quinquin is a four part miniseries dealing with a string of bizarre murders in a small French town. The fact that Dumont was able to get a miniseries made in the first place is shocking enough, but the trailer appears to show Dumont making something appealing to mainstream audiences. Of course it’s not a complete 180 for Dumont; the series still looks very strange, and it’ll be exciting to see the results. With the show airing in the fall, and signs of a North American release unlikely, it’ll be quite interesting to see how this new work by Bruno Dumont turns out. [CJ]

Lost River

Ryan Gosling is usually starring in my most anticipated Cannes films, so this new turn of Gosling behind the camera obviously piqued my interest. Furthermore, that his directorial début has thus far been described as a dark fantasy thriller, makes Lost River that much more intriguing. Formerly called How to Catch a Monster, the story follows Billy, played by Gosling’s Drive co-star Christina Hendricks, as a single mother of two who is pulled into the dark and macabre underworld of her dying city, Lost River, while her adult son Bones (Iain De Caestecker) finds a secret road leading to an underwater town. The film also stars Saoirse Ronan, Matt Smith, Eva Mendes, and Ben Mendelsohn.

In his director’s statement on the film Gosling mentions being inspired by the time he’s spent in Detroit, a city in desperation having been hit hardest by the recession and with thousands of homes and neighborhoods abandoned. Gosling described the true main character of the film as the city of Lost River itself, saying the city is “the damsel in distress” and the characters are “broken pieces of a dream, trying to put themselves back together.” Gosling may follow in many other lead actors steps jumping behind the camera, but it’s admirable he hasn’t tried to capitalize on his own acting acclaim by casting himself in the film. Warner Brothers has already picked the film up for distribution, so the rest of us will get to see it soon enough, and in the meantime I’ll be keeping an eye on the Un Certain Regard competition. [Ananda]

The Search

Director Michel Hazanavicius made a huge critical splash with his previous film The Artist, a wildly entertaining throwback to the silent black-and-white era, picking up 5 Oscars and 4 Independent Spirit Awards along the way. Hazanavicius returns to the Croisette this year with his latest film called The Search, a two and a half hour film that is adapted from Fred Zinneman’s 1948 film of the same name. Bringing back his wife Bérénice Bejo for the lead role, The Search is about a woman working for a non-governmental organization who forms a special relationship with a young boy in war-torn Chechnya. The film will also feature Oscar Nominated actress Annette Bening. All eyes will be on Hazanavicius to see if he can repeat the success he had from his previous efforts. [Dustin]

Two Days, One Night

Two Days, One Night‘s premise is so ingeniously simple it’s a wonder no one’s thought of it yet: A woman has a weekend to convince her co-workers to forego their annual bonuses so that she can keep her job. It’s a fruitful setup with so much drama ripe for the picking I can’t help but be intrigued. Oh, and the brilliant Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardene (The Kid With a Bike, L’enfant) are in the directors’ chairs. And the film stars Marion Cotillard. Oui s’il vous plait! [Bernard]

Leviathan

This was something of a surprise when it was announced by Fremaux, because the state of production was kept very much under wraps on this one. Also, the state of Russian cinema hasn’t exactly been taking international film by storm as much as it was when people like Andrei Tarkovsky, Sergei Parajanov and Mikhail Kalatozov were around, so there’s been a lack of attention. Well say hello to Andrey Zvyagintsev, who should be changing all of that. If his short filmography is anything to go by, he’s the one sticking his country’s flag in today’s film world. His latest Elena, about a woman stuck between her lazy son and her stubborn husband, is directed with such finesse and poise, it transports one to a level of sophistication that’s rarely felt these days in cinema. His feature debut, The Return, about two brothers coping with their absent father’s return, is even better; atmospheric and deeply absorbing with brilliant performances and a thematic depth you can dive into headfirst with no fear of ever hitting the bottom. This time he’s coming back to Cannes with Leviathan, a story set around the Barents Sea coast in North Russia about a man’s struggle to keep his small business when the mayor of his town threatens to close it down. Human struggles on the edges of a gorgeous remote location, directed with a Russian artist’s eye for the powerfully subtle and the visually stirring? This is an absolute must, and no amount of festival fatigue will restrain my anticipation when I catch it during the last days of Cannes. [Nik]

Amour Fou

It didn’t matter what exactly Amour Fou was about, because what puts this film on our list is the director. Jessica Hausner has slowly gained traction over the years as a director to look out for, from her debut Lovely Rita to Lourdes, her most recent film. Five years after Lourdes, Hausner returns with a film inspired by the life and death of German poet Heinrich von Kleist. Of course, Hausner isn’t one to make a film as simple as that description, with the official synopsis saying “rather than being a biographical portrait, the film is a parable about the ambivalence of love.” Lovely Rita and Hotel, her extremely underrated horror film, have both played Un Certain Regard, and Amour Fou will play the sidebar as well. Hopefully this year will be the one where Hausner finally gets her due. [CJ]

Foxcatcher

Bennett Miller has pretty much proven he has a knack for bringing true stories to the screen in mesmerizing ways. He seems to prefer to work with the stories that arise from real life and made baseball statistics intriguing in Moneyball, and cold-blooded killers and one off-kilter writer a fascinating look at two sides of humanity in Capote. Now Miller takes on another tragedy, coupled (as life seems to do) with the inspiring story of Olympic wrestling champions Mark and David Schultz played by Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo respectively. The Schultz brothers hold the distinction of having won more NCAA, US Open, World Championship, and Olympic titles than any American brother duo in wrestling history.

Their biggest headline however was in 1996 when Dave was shot and killed by the Schultz’s longtime friend and mentor John E. Du Pont (played by Steve Carrell in what could be an Oscar-worthy performance if he pulls it off), the mentally ill multimillionaire who founded Team Foxcatcher and who owned the facility where the two wrestlers trained. Up for the prestigious Palme d’or, Foxcatcher seems the sort of difficult tale that Bennett Miller is so good at depicting, and its subjects provide for challenging performances that are guaranteed some attention. [Ananda]

Unless you’ve managed to live without the internet since April 16th, the question “How do you feel about the Cannes lineup this year?” must have surfed its way to – or from- you by now. Yes, cinephiles around the world have been slowly digesting Thierry Fremaux’s announcement from April 17th, and Way Too Indie is no exception. As this years man in the field, my excitement is only contained by perpetual bouts of anxiousness as I mentally prepare for the invasion my body and mind will succumb to in three weeks time. 19 films competing for the main prize, 19 films competing in the smaller, edgier, and often times more revelatory Un Certain Regard section, 2 films in the Out Of Competition slot, 3 Midnight Screenings, and 5 Special Screenings (Cannes slang for Documentary.)

That’s 48 movies, and with Fremaux confirming that two or three more will be added in the coming weeks, that’ll make just about 50 or so films in the Official Selection. That’s not even including the Cannes affiliated Director’s Fortnight and Critic’s Week! What I would give to be able to see them all! But that’s not going to be possible, so once every film gets announced, and the schedules are out, I’ll have a better idea of what I’ll be able to catch.

In the meantime, you’d do well to bookmark this page because for the coming weeks this is going to be a PR mecca for everything Cannes related. We will have trailers, images, interview links and anything else we grab our hands on. You’re encouraged to use the comments section and let us know if we’ve missed anything!

IN COMPETITION

Clouds Of Sils Maria

Director Olivier Assayas

Saint Laurent

Director Bertrand Bonello

Winter Sleep

Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Maps To The Stars

Director David Cronenberg

Complex look at Hollywood and what it reveals about Western culture.

Two Days, One Night

Directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne

The film follows Sandra, a young woman assisted by her husband, who has only one weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so that she can keep her job.

Mommy

Director Xavier Dolan

A widowed single mother, raising her violent son alone, finds new hope when a mysterious neighbor inserts herself into their household.

The Captive

Director Atom Egoyan

A father tries to track down his kidnapped daughter.

Goodbye To Language

Director Jean-Luc Godard

The Search

Director Michel Hazanavicius

A woman who works for a non-governmental organization (NGO) forms a special relationship with a young boy in war-torn Chechnya.

The Homesman

Director Tommy Lee Jones

A claim jumper and a pioneer woman team up to escort three insane women from Nebraska to Iowa.

Still The Water

Director Naomi Kawase

Mr. Turner

Director Mike Leigh

A look at the life of British artist J.M.W Turner.

Jimmy’s Hall

Director Ken Loach

Political activist Jimmy Gralton is deported from Ireland during the country’s ‘Red Scare’ of the 1930s.

Foxcatcher

Director Bennett Miller

The story of Olympic Wrestling Champion Mark Schultz and how paranoid schizophrenic John duPont killed his brother, Olympic Champion Dave Schultz.

Le Meraviglie

Director Alice Rohrwacher

Timbuktu

Director Abderrahmane Sissako

Wild Tales

Director Damian Szifronr

Leviathan

Director Andrey Zvyagintsev

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Party Girl

Director Marie Amachoukeli

An aging nightclub hostess decides to settle down and get married.

Jauja

Director Lisandro Alonso

A father and daughter journey from Denmark to an unknown desert that exists in a realm beyond the confines of civilization.

poster via IndieWire

Le Chambre Bleue

Director Mathieu Almaric

Incompresa

Director Asia Argento

Titli

Director Kanu Behl

A young man in Delhi tries to break free from his controlling brothers.

Eleanor Rigby

Director Ned Benson

A New York couple’s relationship.

Bird People

Director Pascale Ferran

An American arrives in Paris, checks into a hotel, turns off his cell phone and starts his life anew.

Lost River

Director Ryan Gosling

A single mother is swept into a dark underworld, while her teenage son discovers a road that leads him to a secret underwater town.

Amour Fou

Director Jessica Hausner

Charlie’s Country

Director Rolf De Heer

Snow in Paradise

Director Andrew Hulme

Hard-hitting character study that’s based on the real story of one man’s journey to control his violence through religion. It takes us from the blood soaked East End of London to the world of the Islamic whirling dervishes.

A Girl At My Door

Director July Jung

Xenia

Director Panos Koutras

Strangers in their own birthplace, 16-year-old Danny and 18-year-old Odysseus cross the entire country in search of their Greek father, after their Albanian mother passes away.

Run

Director Philippe Lacote

Run escapes… He just killed the Prime Minister of his country. In order to do so, he had to act as if he was a crazy man, wandering through the city. His life comes back by flashes; his childhood with Tourou when his dream was to become a rain miracle-worker, his adventures with Gladys the eater, and his past as a young member of militia, in the heart of the politic and military conflict in Ivory Coast. All those lives, Run didn’t choose them. Everytime, he felt in by running from another life. That’s the reason why his name’s Run.

Turist

Director Ruben Ostlund

Hermosa Juventud

Director Jaime Rosales

Fantasia

Director Chao Wang

The Salt Of The Earth

Directors Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado

Away From His Absence

Director Keren Yedaya

The film plans to follow the incestuous relationship between a 60-year-old man and his 22-year-old daughter who live together in a small apartment in Israel. The film will deal with difficult moral and political issues. It faces questions such as how and why an evolving, adult woman is still having sex with her father — a man whom, despite raping her at an early age, she claims to be in love with.

White God

Director Kornel Mundruczo

OUT OF COMPETITION

Grace Of Monaco

Director Olivier Dahan

The story of former Hollywood star Grace Kelly’s crisis of marriage and identity, during a political dispute between Monaco’s Prince Rainier III and France’s Charles De Gaulle, and a looming French invasion of Monaco in the early 1960s.

How To Train Your Dragon 2

Director Dean DeBlois

It’s been five years since Hiccup and Toothless successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snotlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island’s new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace. Now, Hiccup and Toothless must unite to stand up for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons.

Coming Home

Director Zhang Yimou

A Chinese man is forced into marriage and flees to America, but when he returns home, he is sent to a labor camp.

In The Name Of My Daughter

Director André Téchiné

The real life story behind the disappearance of Agnes Les Roux

MIDNIGHTERS

The Rover

Director David Michôd

A loner tracks the gang who stole his car from a desolate town in the Australian outback with the forced assistance of a wounded guy left behind in the wake of the theft.

The Salvation

Director Kristian Levring

In 1870s America, a peaceful American settler kills his family’s murderer which unleashes the fury of a notorious gang leader. His cowardly fellow townspeople then betray him, forcing him to hunt down the outlaws alone.

The Target

Director Chang

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Maidan

Director Sergei Loznitsa

A look at the 2013 and 2014 civil unrest in the Ukrainian capital’s central square.

Red Army

Director Gabe Polsky

Following the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, RED ARMY tells the story of the nation’s famed Red Army hockey team through the eyes of its captain Slava Fetisov. Whether he was pitted against enemies in the political arena or on the ice, Fetisov’s story provides a rare glimpse behind the Iron Curtain of the 1970s and ’80s by mirroring the social and political forces at work in the world around him. While helping pave the way for his nation to cross over into the next century, this one man demonstrated how sports could not only be an avenue for creative expression in a world determined to suppress it, but also be something so inextricably intertwined with a nation’s cultural and political identity.

Bridges of Sarajevo

Director Aida Begic, Leonardo di Costanzo & more

The Bridges of Sarajevo is a cinematic contribution to the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of WWI. The film is a collaboration of well known European directors, who all contribute one short to the feature film.

Cartoonists, Foot Soldiers of Democracy

Director Stéphanie Valloatto

The Ardor

Director Pablo Fendrik

An Argentinian western revenge tale starring juror Gael Garcia Bernal.

Geronimo

Director Tony Gatlif

A story about social conflict between Turks and gypsies as seen through the eyes of a teacher.

The Owners

Director Adlikahn Yerzhanov

Two brothers struggling to hold on to their ancestral home while their sister and mother lose their breath and mind, respectively.

Of Men And War

Director Laurent Becue-Renard