Top 8 Films to Check Out @ the Philadelphia Film Festival

The Philadelphia Film Festival is back from October 20th to November 3rd presenting a number of films that you honestly couldn’t see anywhere else. I am going to give you my top 8 films not to be missed at this year’s festival. After running through their schedule of over 140 films, it wasn’t easy to choose.

But these are definitely the ones not to be missed if you’re any kind of film geek.

1. Battle Royale: This film definitely sits in my top five films of all time, and I can’t wait to finally see it on the big screen. With Hunger Games mania slowly building it’s a very timely screening of the film that predated the young adult phenomenon and is eerily similar.

The film is about a not so distant future where as part of the Battle Royale Act a class of students is picked at random lottery, put on an island, armed with a random weapon and only one can survive. Its the last film by Kinji Fukasaku that jump started the careers of youngsters Chiaki Kuriyama (Go-Go Yubari in Kill Bill) and Tatsuya Fujiwara (Light in the Death Note films).

The film was NEVER legitimately available in the US due to its controversial subject matter, also because it was released around the same time as the tragedy at Columbine.

2. Melancholia: I have to honestly believe the people who were offended by Lars Von Trier’s remarks at Cannes had never seen his previous film Anti-christ. The Dutch director is well known for being more than a little eccentric, but he makes great films and this is no different. Kirsten Dunst stars in this apocalyptic film, about two sisters who find their strained relationship pushed even further as a planet is on trajectory to collide with the earth.

I will be reviewing the film further in depth later here on Geek, but I highly suggest you check it out.

3. The FP: It’s basically Mad Max where they do battle with DDR in a post apocalyptic future; and it’s distributed by the Alamo Drafthouse Films.

Do I really need to say anything else?

4. Being Elmo: For some reason I am drawn to this after seeing the trailer which can only be described as “Heartwarming”.  Its a documentary about the life of the puppeteer behind Elmo and looks AMAZING. He will actually be attending one of the screenings.

The film was a huge hit at Sundance and if you have any doubts you should check out the trailer here.

5. Jiro Dreams of Sushi: Being a foodie and seeing the synopsis for this one I couldn’t pass it up:

In the basement of a Tokyo office building, 85 year old sushi master Jiro Ono works tirelessly in his world renowned restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro. As his son Yoshikazu faces the pressures of stepping into his father’s shoes and taking over the legendary restaurant, Jiro relentlessly pursues his lifelong quest to create the perfect piece of sushi.

6. Anonymous: You’ve probably been seeing the trailers for this one because they have recently been put in heavy rotation. This looks to be a very interesting look at the Shakespeare mythos and whether the man we know as Shakespeare actually wrote all those plays.  I am always a sucker for those type of films.

7. Haunters: This Korean film just played at Fantastic Fest to rave reviews. It’s supposed to be an Unbreakable-like super hero film about a man who has the ability to control people with his eyes; who battles a “supernatural” drifter. The film is written and directed by the writer behind the eccentric Korean western The Good, the Bad and the Weird so it should definitely be interesting.

8. Sleeping Beauty: It’s the girl from Sucker Punch in another film about women in a brothel. This time the girls are paid exorbitant amounts of money to be drugged, while men are allowed to spend time with them following a strict set of rules. This got some press in Cannes due to its controversial subject matter and I have been wanting to check it out ever since.

Have something I missed or I should see? Feel free to drop a comment and I will more than happy to check it out or possibly add it to the list!