My Top Film Festival movies for 2018 (in list order)
In competition at Cannes, Berlin and Venice. Movies that do not back down or shy away...
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20 titles
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsYalitza AparicioMarina de TaviraDiego Cortina AutreyA year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.1. Another Cuarón visual treat that is simple but yet so effective... (Venice)
- DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsTom SchillingSebastian KochPaula BeerGerman artist Kurt Barnert has escaped East Germany and now lives in West Germany, but is tormented by his childhood under the Nazis and the GDR-regime.4. Intriguing life of a German artist, from his childhood in the 1930s till his success in the Sixties, all captured with perfect melodramatic flare... (Venice)
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsRyan GoslingClaire FoyJason ClarkeA look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.16. Writer and director get perfectly into the mindset of Armstrong with the help of Gosling in one of the finest astronaut movies since the Right Stuff... (Venice)
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsBryan CranstonKoyu RankinEdward NortonSet in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.19. Anderson's unique visual storytelling style and tone works a treat on this animation... (Berlin)
- DirectorMatteo GarroneStarsMarcello FonteEdoardo PesceNunzia SchianoA timid dog groomer living in a poor suburb sells cocaine on the side and stays out of trouble, while trying to deal with his unstable, violent acquaintance who is a menace to the whole neighborhood.24. Fonte is brilliant as Marcello, the dog groomer who mixes with the wrong crowd in the slums of Napoli that alters his life... (Cannes)
- DirectorNuri Bilge CeylanStarsDogu DemirkolMurat CemcirBennu YildirimlarAn unpublished writer returns to his hometown after graduating, where he seeks sponsors to publish his book while dealing with his father's deteriorating indulgence into gambling.25. A poignant tale of a disillusioned young man who returns to his home town in hope of publishing his first book, but is sidetracked by encounters with the locals and his dream shattering father... (Cannes)
- DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsOlivia ColmanEmma StoneRachel WeiszIn early 18th-century England, the status quo at the court is upset when a new servant arrives and endears herself to a frail Queen Anne.29. Yorgos' most accessible film to date, but still has his twisted humour trademark that works a treat thanks to the perfect casting... (Venice)
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsAnders Danielsen LieJonas Strand GravliJon ØigardenA three-part story of Norway's worst terrorist attack in which over seventy people were killed. 22 July looks at the disaster itself, the survivors, Norway's political system and the lawyers who worked on this horrific case.35. Greengrass takes a step back to show the coldness of the killings and the painful aftermath for the victims by not being melodramatic or shoving any political ideology down your throat... (Berlin/Venice)
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsTim Blake NelsonWillie WatsonClancy BrownSix tales of life and violence in the Old West, following a singing gunslinger, a bank robber, a traveling impresario, an elderly prospector, a wagon train, and a perverse pair of bounty hunters.36. Dark and twisted wonderful tales of the wild west as told by the Coen brothers visual wacky brilliance... (Venice)
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsJoaquin PhoenixJonah HillRooney MaraOn the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.41. Perfect cast is what makes this so watchable... (Berlin)
- DirectorPawel PawlikowskiStarsJoanna KuligTomasz KotBorys SzycIn the 1950s, a music director falls in love with a singer and tries to persuade her to flee communist Poland for France.44. Another Pawlikowski black and white visual treat in 4:3 framing and an epic love story on a small scale... (Cannes)
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsLily FrankySakura AndôKirin KikiOn the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders are united by loyalty, a penchant for petty theft and playful grifting. When the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence.45. An odd couple living with grandma create their own family from discarded children and unwanted relatives in this heartfelt look at social outcasts attempting to make ends meet... (Cannes)
- DirectorJennifer KentStarsAisling FranciosiMaya ChristieBaykali GanambarrSet in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.53. A dark and bleak version to Outlaw Josey Wales but the Australian way with a female seeking vengeance as she tracks down the killers in an unforgiven land where the original natives are being genocide... (Venice)
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsJohn David WashingtonAdam DriverLaura HarrierRon Stallworth, an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, Colorado, successfully infiltrates the local Ku Klux Klan branch aided by a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.57. Spike creates the mood of a Seventies cop show that simmers slowly until like all his movies, it boils over for a confronting finale with his trademark of visual treats... (Cannes)
- DirectorAlonso RuizpalaciosStarsGael García BernalLeonardo OrtizgrisAlfredo CastroIn 1985, a group of criminals mock the security of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City to extract 140 pre-Hispanic pieces from their showcases.72. The director sets a creative visual tone and structure with Bernal succeeding in creating some interest for his baffled soul searching character... (Berlin)
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsWillem DafoeRupert FriendOscar IsaacA look at the life of painter Vincent van Gogh during the time he lived in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France.86. An abstract journey into the mindset of a great and troubled artist played perfectly by Dafoe... (Venice)
- DirectorMike LeighStarsRory KinnearMaxine PeakeNeil BellThe story of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre in which British forces attacked a peaceful pro-democracy rally in Manchester.103. Mike Leigh lights a very slow fuse that impacts by the ending, and the politics of over 200 years ago is now very relevant to today's political shamble that we find ourselves in... (Venice)
- DirectorDavid Robert MitchellStarsAndrew GarfieldRiley KeoughTopher GraceSam, a disenchanted young man, finds a mysterious woman swimming in his apartment's pool one night. The next morning, she disappears. Sam sets off across LA to find her, and along the way he uncovers a conspiracy far more bizarre.113. David Robert Mitchell throws it all under the bus to create this mangled piece of pop culture that deals with all things zany in these current times... (Cannes)
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsChloë Grace MoretzTilda SwintonDoris HickA darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.118. Visually arresting with the Dario Argento touch but the convoluted storyline drags it down... (Venice)
- DirectorLaura BispuriStarsValeria GolinoAlba RohrwacherSara CasuA daughter torn between two mothers, one who raised her with love and her biological mother, who instinctively claims her back.145. A neorealist touch to this low key melodrama... (Berlin)