SOME FILMS AT RAINDANCE WHICH YOU SHOULD PROBABLY SEE

Avoiding today's trend to report which films at London Film Festival look good and should be watched (as excited as I am about 99% of the films showing there...you probably would have known to see them anyway) I have decided what would be far more useful is to tell you about Raindance's top picks. Which is in fact a far more arduous task.

The festival will be launched by opening night "gala" of Jackboots on Whitehall which despite featuring Ewan McGregor, Richard E. Grant, Tom Wilkinson AND Alan Cumming, looks so distinctly bad, one really has to question the four geniuses decision to join the cast. The Airborne Toxic Event are then playing at Heaven for the opening night party. Why? Because a film about them (All I Ever Wanted...) is also being shown at the festival. Makes sense. Except I for one am not familiar with any fans of the band and find it difficult to imagine a fuss being made over their performing at the party, let alone paying money. But hey - I've been out of the music journalism world for long enough not to know anything about such things. So far, so bad, then.

All is not lost, however. With some genuinely interesting films featuring later on in the festival. Within the Documentary strand, This Way Of Life, an Oscar-tipped tale of a Maori family's struggle to protect their way of life gets its UK Premiere and looks wholly decent.

For the more pretentious viewer, there is also Rouge Ciel to whet your artistic appetite.


In the oddly titled "Raindance Symphony Orchestra" strand, you'll find some of the weirder/more controversial entries of the programme. The most obvious topic for discussion is the inclusion of A Serbian Film which was banned from being shown at this year's Fright Fest. Except it's not really being shown, as the only way you'll be seeing this bad boy is if you happen to receive an invite to the private screening. Which you won't. And shouldn't want anyway. And I'm not saying that from some sort of moralistic pedestal - I frankly couldn't care less that the film features necrophilia, pedophilia and rape (combined in one scene with the rape of a newborn baby...tasty) as it's ONLY A FILM. What I'm more concerned with is the quality of the film. Which is piss poor. Controversial films made for the sake of controversy are one of my pet peeves. At least take a leaf out of Lars Von Trier's book and make the film semi-possessing of a decent narrative, development of characters and something which resembles a script. So stop waiting by your letter box (or more likely inbox) in the hopes of receiving one of these invites, and instead go and see Too Much Pussy: Feminist Sluts in the Queer X Show. Yup, you heard me. (Heard me? Read me?) Find out why here.

From the "North American Indies" strand (which does exactly what it says on the tin) I have chosen We Are The Mods purely because of the promotional image. It could swing either way: entirely good or entirely average. Either way it'll be entirely indie. Go here for more information.



The strand which has really excited me, however, is the Japanese strand. With the only world premiere of the festival (Lunar Child) this strand looks far more promising than any of those previously mentioned. I'm most looking forward to seeing Boys on the Run (supposedly a Japanese take on 40 Year Old Virgin), Lost and Found, Autumn Adagio (nun hits menopause and discovers her sexuality...lol?) and Yuriko's Aroma. Sod you, Serbia, Japan's where it's at. For a more comprehensive list of Japan's lovely features this year - go here.

RAINDANCE RUNS FROM SEPTEMBER 29TH TO OCTOBER 10TH AT APOLLO PICADILLY CIRCUS (one of the snazziest cinemas in town...)