JDIFF 2014: A fest for the senses

CALVARY

Fresh from an avalanche of positive reviews at the

Sundance Film Festival

, John Michael McDonagh’s follow-up to

The Guard

looks like a canny choice for opening film.

Brendan Gleeson

plays a decent priest confronted with a vexing moral dilemma.

OUT OF HERE

It’s always a pleasure to welcome a fresh Irish voice that owes few creative debts to any predecessor. Donal Foreman looks to be the latest candidate for that accolade. His first feature follows a returning immigrant adrift in a spacey version of Dublin.

UNDER THE SKIN

Jonathan Glazer’s long-delayed successor to the criminally underrated

Birth

stars

Scarlett Johansson

as an alien annihilating unsuspecting citizens of Glasgow. Already the recipient of many breathless accolades (and a few outraged hatchet jobs).

THE DOUBLE

What would

Richard Ayoade

do after his enjoyable debut Submarine? As it transpires, he’s made a contemporary version of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s

The Double

starring

Jesse Eisenberg

and

Mia Wasikowska

.

DAWN OF THE DEAD

It’s not just a disinterment of George A Romero’s classic mash-up of zombie horror and consumerist satire. The evening features Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin performing a live version of their groundbreaking score.

20 FEET FROM STARDOM

The Savoy 1 plays host to Morgan Neville’s rousing, Oscar-nominated documentary concerning the art of the backing singer.

Mick Jagger

and

Stevie Wonder

are among the talking heads.

AT BERKELEY

Frederick Wiseman, now 84, remains one of the most vital documentarians on the planet. His latest – clocking in at abottom-busting 244 minutes – wanders among the students at University of California, Berkeley. Go to the loo first.

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Arriving just days after its world premiere at Berlin, Wes Anderson’s latest elegant romp sends the likes of

Ralph Fiennes

,

Adrien Brody

,

Jude Law

, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel,

Tilda Swinton

, F Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric and

Saoirse Ronan

to middle-Europe in the 1920s.

THE STAG

The festival closes with a raucous Irish comedy concerning a stag party that goes badly wrong in impressively amusing ways. Hugh O’Conor, Andrew Bennett and Andrew “Moriarty” Scott do terrible things.

THE DUBLIN FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS

We would not be human if we didn’t remind you to set aside an hour for the deliberations from your favourite film reviewers.

Tara Brady

, DFCC president, and your current writer will be among those in attendance.

For more, see

[ jdiff.com ]