Five Best Bets for the 2014 Cinetopia International Film Festival
Dane Jackson
Each year since its inception, the Cinetopia International Film Festival has grown by leaps and bounds. This year finds the festival expanding even more into the Metro Detroit area, which means some of the best films from around the film festival circuit will be available. Unfortunately, that also means you may be forced to make some hard choices. I’d be willing to wager it’s nearly impossible to see all of the films that will be screened across the ten Cinetopia venues for this year’s festival, which means you might need a bit of guidance when planning your festival experience. The Cinetopia staff has been offering their Top 5 Picks throughout the past month, so I thought it was time to jump in the ring myself. Below are the five movies you should not skip at this year’s festival.
1. The Skeleton Twins
Starring Saturday Night Live (SNL) alums Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as twins, The Skeleton Twins tells the story of two estranged twins who try to mend their relationship after a suicide attempt. While this may not sound like the typical fare Hader and Wiig would be involved with, there’s no denying the onscreen chemistry the two have, making this a must-watch.
2. Obvious Child
Speaking of SNL, Obvious Child boasts a breakout performance by Jenny Slate (you might remember her as the cast member who dropped the F Bomb in her first skit on the show). As Brooklyn stand-up Donna Stern, Slate’s character is doing just fine until she gets dumped and gets pregnant from her rebound guy. From there, Donna is left with a lot of decisions to make in this romantic comedy that turns the genre’s conventions on its head.
3. A Touch of Sin
At last year’s festival, my favorite movie ended up being a foreign film that filled an empty time slot between screenings. Armed with the knowledge of that experience, this year I went looking for the perfect foreign film to check out. This year’s film line-up has amazing foreign selections, but no matter what, I kept coming back to A Touch of Sin. Based on true events, the film portrays four different individuals in China; highlighting the friction caused by the country’s economics, politics, and sociocultural issues.
4. Rich Hill
Another thing I learned at last year’s festival was to not sweat the documentaries, and this year is no different. While it’s amazing that the festival will be bringing Oscar-Winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black to Ann Arbor to discuss the documentary The Case Against Eight, I found myself gravitating more towards Sundance Grand Jury Prize-Winning Rich Hill, a realistic and heartbreaking portrayal of the life of three teenage boys growing up and trying to make ends meet in rural Missouri.
5. 1982
The cast alone on this movie should be enough to make you want to check it out: Hill Harper, Sharon Leal, Wayne Brady, and Ruby Dee. If that’s not enough, Harper, who plays a father trying to keep his family together despite their growing issues, along with the film’s screenwriter and director Tommy Oliver, will be on-hand to discuss this powerful film about family, love, and addiction.
5a. Wild Card Film – OJ: The Musical
Looking over this list of must-see movies, you may notice that there aren’t many rays of sunlight shining through. Sure Skeleton Twins and Obvious Child have some humor to help ease the painful subject matter, but for the most part, this is some heavy stuff. That’s why I decided to add one more film to my list.
OJ: The Musical is a comedic mockumentary about a small town hero trying to reunite with childhood friends to stage a musical performance of Shakespeare’s Othello, using the OJ Simpson murder trial as the backdrop and his inspiration. As crazy as it sounds, this film may provide the cathartic laughter needed after watching the other festival picks on this list.
Dane Jackson has been writing about movies since high school when he had a monthly column in the school paper about cult movies. His cinematic tastes have matured (slightly) since then.
