At last! The NZ International Film Festival begins this Thursday. Here is their website. I’ve managed to shoe-horn in nine films to see. They are:

North By Northwest – Hitchcock’s classic. I’ve never seen it and it’s playing at the Civic … a safe bet!

Mud – I loved Nicol’s Take Shelter (still yet to see Shotgun Stories). I think McConaughey is great, an actor who’s talent has been tarnished by his fame. Been looking forward to this one for ages. Seema and I are both going assuming we find a baby sitter that night.

Mistaken for Strangers – I think I can quite safely say that The National is my favourite band at the mo. This is a doco about the band, made by Matt’s (lead singer) metal-head brother, who incidentally hates indie rock. Makes for an interesting start. This doco could go pear shaped, but will be interesting regardless.

Computer Chess – I am going to this entirely based on the very appealing trailer, and a few recommendations. A faux doco set in the seventies about, yep, you’ve guessed it, Computer Chess.

The Perverts Guide to Ideology – “We are responsible for our own dreams”. Sounds like an interesting premise for this doco. Watching academic Slavoj Zizek is both comical and fascinating, and if his last psychoanalytical exposé on Cinema is any indication, then this will be a very interesting, if somewhat hard to keep up with, experience.

Francis Ha – I don’t know too much about this one apart from its trailer and a few recommendations. A black and white comedy with Greta Gerwig directed by Noah Baumbach … gotta be good.

The Bling Ring – It’s Sofia Copola, so why not. I’ll have to put aside my dislike for all things, like, Valley, like, you know.

Only Lovers Left Alive – Vampire films are everywhere now, but there is a huge difference between the utter shite that is the Twilight series and Alfredson’s superb Let the Right One In. I’m trusting that Jarmusch is firmly in the right camp. Tilda Swinton is a mesmerising actress to boot.

To the Wonder – Seema and I finish off with a bit of Malick. His Tree of Life masterpiece is on my all time favs list. If this is half as good then I’ll be happy.

I’ll be back with my thoughts on them as they happen … ooh, so excited!