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London Film Festival · 2015

London Film Festival 2015

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Programme

15 films · 7 reviews

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21 Nights With Pattie (Vingt et une nuits avec Pattie, 21 nuits avec pattie)

Review preview for 21 Nights With Pattie

This initially seems like a set-up for a film exploring mental reconciliation after estrangement but the Larrieus have other ideas - perhaps too many of them.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
After her mother has died, Caroline befriends a woman who was looking after her mother, but events take a mysterious turn.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu; Writer: Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu; Stars: Karin Viard, Sergi López, Denis Lavant, Isabelle Carré, André Dussollier, Philippe Rebbot, Laurent Poitrenaux, Mathilde Monnier)

Full review

Brand: A Second Coming

Review preview for Brand: A Second Coming

Tempting though it might be to think, this is not a mockumentary. Brand is serious.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
Documentary about comic Russell Brand.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2015; Director: Ondi Timoner; Writer: Ondi Timoner; Stars: Simon Amstell, Andrew Antonio, Barbara Brand, Ron Brand, Russell Brand, Shepard Fairey, Noel Gallagher, David Lynch, Stephen Merchant, Matt Morgan, John Noel, James Ohene-Djan, Noreen Oliver, Jeremy Paxman, Katy Perry)

Full review

The Brand New Testament (Le tout nouveau testament)

Review preview for The Brand New Testament

The levels of twee are fairly high, and contrasted with the bizarre and often regressive gendered comedy it’s likely to divide audiences right down the middle.

Luke Shaw · 2.5 out of 5
The new adventures of God, who lives in Brussels with his teenage daughter and falls foul of her hacking skills.

(Country: Belgium, France, Luxembourg; Year: 2015; Director: Jaco van Dormael; Writer: Thomas Gunzig, Jaco Van Dormael; Stars: Benoît Poelvoorde, Yolande Moreau, Catherine Deneuve)

Full review

Burn Burn Burn

Two young women are sent on a beyond-the-grave mission by their dead friend to scatter his ashes at five British locations.

(Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Chanya Button; Writer: Charlie Covell; Stars: Joe Dempsie, Laura Carmichael, Chloe Pirrie, Eleanor Matsuura, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Hannah Arterton, Alison Steadman, Sally Phillips, Jane Asher, Alice Lowe, Melanie Walters, Jack Farthing, Nigel Planer, Matthew Kelly, Susan Wokoma)

Cronies

Review preview for Cronies

There is an unvarnished authenticity to these men and their situation.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Old friendship is tested by a day out with a new buddy.

(Year: 2015; Director: Michael Larnell; Writer: Michael Larnell; Stars: George Sample III, Zurich Buckner, Brian Kowalski, Landra Taylor, Samiyah Womack, Elinor Nelson, Homer Simmons, Michael Larnell, Darrick Clark, Brooke Wade, Bradley Allen, Ryan Jordan, Michael Harvey, Chastity Jones, Sieglinda Fox)

Full review

From A to B

A brief moment of life flies past, filmed in flickers in front of Andy Warhol’s Empire State Building.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Julia Dogra-Brazell)

The Garbage Helicopter (Sophelikoptern)

Surreal road trip through Sweden.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2015; Director: Jonas Selberg Augustsén; Writer: Jonas Selberg Augustsén; Stars: Christopher Burjanski, Daniel Szoppe, Jessica Szoppe, Singoalla Millon, Josef Balok, Angelina Dimiter-Taikon, Mikael Andrén, Kerstin Nyman, Harriet Wikström, Rafael Szoppe, Adam Huuva, Anton Raukola, Lotta Lindvall, Bernt Granberg, Berthel Wiklund)

Grandma

Review preview for Grandma

Weitz wisely has no time for fluff - these are clever women charting tricky territory and spending 78 minutes in their company is an easy choice to make.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A woman tries to help her granddaughter raise funds for an abortion.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Paul Weitz; Writer: Paul Weitz; Stars: Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, Laverne Cox, Elizabeth Peña, Nat Wolff, Sarah Burns, John Cho, Sam Elliott, Mo Aboul-Zelof, Colleen Camp, Skya Chanadet, Frank Collison, Meg Crosbie)

Full review

Latin Lover

The five daughters of a famous actor, all from different mothers and different countriese, get together on the 10th anniversary of his death.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2015; Director: Cristina Comencini; Writer: Giulia Calenda, Cristina Comencini; Stars: Toni Bertorelli, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Angela Finocchiaro, Claudio Gioè, Lluís Homar, Virna Lisi, Neri Marcorè, Nadeah Miranda, Jordi Mollà, Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña, Francesco Scianna, Pihla Viitala)

Live From New York

Insider guide to 40years of Saturday Night Live.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Bao Nguyen; Stars: Dan Aykroyd, Alec Baldwin, James Belushi, Candice Bergen, Tom Broecker, Dana Carvey, Chevy Chase, Billy Crystal, Jane Curtin, Pete Davidson, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Al Franken, John Goodman)

Men And Chicken (Mænd & høns)

Review preview for Men And Chicken

Its disgusting surface is supported by a framework that’s more intelligent than in plenty of prettier films.

Luke Shaw · 3.5 out of 5
Black comedy about a pair of brothers who discover a dark family secret.

(Country: Denmark, Germany; Year: 2015; Director: Anders Thomas Jensen; Writer: Anders Thomas Jensen; Stars: David Dencik, Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Søren Malling, Nicolas Bro, Stine Engberg Andersen, Rikke Louise Andersson, Ulla Asbjørn-Damsted, Thor Bisbjerg, Valdemar Bemmann Bredning, Lisbet Dahl, Johnny Didriksen, Matti Ehlers, Daniel Engstrup, Jens Fitzau)

Full review

Our Man In Havana

Review preview for Our Man In Havana

The innate absurdity of the secret agent’s life, with all its paranoia and double standards, has rarely been so elegantly and mercilessly skewered.

Jeff Robson · 4 out of 5
An expatriate vacuum cleaner salesman is recruited as a Secret Service operative in Cuba.

(Country: UK; Year: 1959; Director: Carol Reed; Writer: Graham Greene; Stars: Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, Ernie Kovacs, Noel Coward, Ralph Richardson, Jo Morrow, Grégoire Aslan, Paul Rogers, Raymond Huntley, Ferdy Mayne, Maurice Denham, Joseph P. Mawra, Duncan Macrae, Gerik Schjelderup)

Full review

A Perfect Day (El Pozo)

(Country: Spain; Year: 2015; Director: Fernando León de Aranoa; Writer: Fernando León de Aranoa, based on the book by Paula Farias; Stars: Olga Kurylenko, Benicio Del Toro, Tim Robbins, Mélanie Thierry, Fedja Stukan)

Ruben Guthrie

To win back his fiancée, a cocky, fast-living advertising executive resolves to give up alcohol for one year – but an entire drinking culture has other ideas.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2015; Director: Brendan Cowell; Writer: Brendan Cowell; Stars: Patrick Brammall, Alex Dimitriades, Abbey Lee, Harriet Dyer, Yvonne Cowell, Jeremy Sims, Aaron Bertram, Michael Lahoud, Brenton Thwaites, Robyn Nevin, Jack Thompson, Kasia Stelmach, Catherine Kennar, Blazey Best, Elly Oh)

Ryuzo and His Seven Henchmen (Ryûzô to 7 nin no kobun tachi)

A gaggle of elderly retired Yakuza attempt to relive their gory glory days by taking down the young gang who swindled one of their group.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2015; Director: Takeshi Kitano; Writer: Takeshi Kitano; Stars: Tatsuya Fuji, Ben Hiura, Kôjun Itô, Masanobu Katsumura, Takeshi Kitano, Masaomi Kondô, Hisako Manda, Akira Nakao, Akira Onodera, Fumika Shimizu, Atomu Shimojô, Tôru Shinagawa, Ken Yasuda, Ken Yoshizawa, Ryota Nakanishi)