There are 7 days left for Philly Film Fest. Here is what you should see.

By Joshua Albert

The 23rd annual Philadelphia Film Festival kicked off last week and runs until next Sunday. As we enter the second week, here are some suggestions on what to see (For more information about other films playing check out this handy official Philadelphia Film Fest guide). Movie descriptions via the Philadelphia Film Society.

(BONUS: On Saturday night there will be a secret screening at 9 pm at the RITZ EAST B.  I can only hope they will reshow the new Bill Murray film St. Vincent that I missed)

Monday

8:00, RITZ EAST A, TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT

Run time: 95 min. | Belgium, France | Language: French

In this small-town drama with the feeling of an epic, Marion Cotillard is a mother who has one weekend to persuade her co-workers to keep her on the payroll rather than take the bonus they would receive if they let her go.

7:50, PRINCE MUSIC THEATRE, LAGGIES

Run time: 100 min. | USA | Language: English

Freaking out at the sudden encroachment of adulthood on her slacker lifestyle, a twenty-something woman, played by Keira Knightley, hides from her problems by crashing at the home of a teenage friend until she’s strong enough to face life.

10:00, RITZ EAST A, GABRIEL 

Run time: 88 min. | USA | Language: English

In this powerful and engrossing drama, Rory Culkin shines as a mentally ill young man who will stop at nothing to be reunited with his first love as he struggles to transition from being institutionalized to rejoining life with his family.

10:00, PRINCE MUSIC THEATRE, BLUE VELVET

Run time: 120 min. | USA | Language: English

David Lynch’s infamously provocative 1986 erotic thriller follows a young man’s descent into the seedy, sexually charged criminal underbelly of the sleepy town where he was raised.

10:10, RITZ BOURSE, REVENGE OF THE GREEN DRAGONS

Run time: 94 min. | USA | Language: English

Martin Scorsese executive-produced this action-packed crime film about the Asian-American gangs who fought for supremacy on the mean streets of New York in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Tuesday 

12:25, RITZ BOURSE, LOS ANGELES 

Run time: 97 min. | Germany,Mexico | Language: Zapotec, Spanish

The American Dream beckons a young man in southern Mexico who must navigate both traditional customs and the specter of gang life in this gripping true-life drama.

2:15, RITZ EAST A, RUN

Run time: 100 min. | France, Ivory Coast | Language: French

The current cultural and political climate in the Ivory Coast is fascinatingly explored through this pulse-pounding, coming-of-age fable about an enigmatic adolescent, Run, who assassinates the country’s prime minister and must flee the city.

5:20, RITZ EAST A, THE GREAT INVISIBLE 

Run time: 92 min. | USA | Language: English

When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010, it became the largest offshore spill in American history, killing 11 people, unleashing hundreds of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and devastating surrounding fishing communities.

7:50, RITZ EAST A, ESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST

Run time: 120 min. | Belgium,France,Spain | Language: English, Spanish

The Hunger Games‘ Josh Hutcherson stars as a surfer drawn into the dangerous world of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, played with charismatic intensity by Benicio del Toro.

Wednesday  

Noon, RITZ BOURSE, 10,000 KM

Run time: 99 min. | Spain, USA | Language: Spanish

Told almost entirely through the new ‘digital language of love’ (text messaging, video chatting, phone calls) 10,000 KM follows the long-distance relationship of lovers Sergi and Alex, one in Barcelona, the other in Los Angeles.

2:35, RITZ BOURSE, THIS TIME NEXT YEAR

Run time: 90 min. | USA | Language: English

This Time Next Year tenderly documents the residents of Long Beach Island, New Jersey, in the year following Superstorm Sandy, and the slow road to recovery after catastrophic devastation.

4:30, RITZ BOURSE, IMPERIAL DREAMS

Run time: 90 min. | USA | Language: English

After a stint in prison, an aspiring writer returns to the crime-ridden housing projects of Watts, Los Angeles, to try to make a better life for himself and his child in Malik Vitthal’s nuanced directorial debut.

6:45, RITZ BOURSE, THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA 

Run time: 137 min. | Japan | Language: Japanese

Based on an ancient folktale, a princess is plucked from a magical bamboo stalk and, despite the expectations of everyone around her, determines her own destiny in this epic tale from legendary Japanese animation powerhouse Studio Ghibli.

Thursday

NOON, RITZ BOURSE,  CHARLIE’S COUNTRY 

Run time: 108 min. | Australia | Language: Yolngu, English

David Gulpilil won the Best Actor prize at this year’s Cannes for his role as Charlie, an aging Aboriginal who abandons his remote community in order to live a traditional lifestyle and must find his way back home.

2:30, RITZ BOURSE, WHEN ANIMALS DREAM

Run time: 84 min. | Denmark | Language: Danish

In a remote seaside town in Northern Denmark, a young woman with an independent spirit begins to display troubling signs of her heritage of werewolfism in this restrained supernatural thriller.

5:00, RITZ BOURSE,  FAULTS

Run time: 89 min. | USA | Language: English

Shifting between dark comedy and psychological thriller, Faults provides a captivating look at the power, seductiveness, and mind-bending nature of religious cults.

6:10, ROXY B, 52 TUESDAYS 

Run time: 114 min. | Australia | Language: English

In this moving Australian drama, 16-year-old Billie struggles to understand her own sexual identity as she supports her mother through a gender transition and is forced to move in with her estranged father.

8:40, ROXY B, GUEROS

Run time: 108 min. | Mexico | Language: Spanish

Three young men ramble around Mexico City in search of a fabled folk singer in this freewheeling comedy that won Best First Feature at the Berlin Film Festival.

Friday

6:40, RITZ EAST B, THE WAY HE LOOKS

Run time: 96 min. | Brazil | Language: Portugese

The feature version of Daniel Ribeiro’s award-winning short, The Way He Looks is the simple, sweet story of a blind teenager trying to gain independence from his family while nursing his secret crush on a boy in his class.

9:30, ROXY A, THE MIRAGE

Run time: 42 min. | USA | Language: English

A behind-the-scenes look into the world of car design, construction, and the politics behind it, The Mirage is a compelling documentary on the near-success of a modern rarity: the independently manufactured sports car that almost was.
Saturday

4:00, RITZ EAST,  ’71

Run time: 100 min. | UK | Language: English

One of the most captivating and tense films of the year, ’71 is an action-thriller centered on a rookie British soldier separated from his squad and lost in enemy territory in Northern Ireland.

6:30, PRINCE MUCIC THEATER, TOMORROW WE DISAPPEAR 

Run time: 84 min. | USA | Language: Hindi

Delhi India’s famed Kathputli Colony has been home to magicians, puppeteers, snake charmers, and acrobats for decades, but when the government sells the land to developers, the street performers must fight to save their culture from becoming the next disappearing act.

9:00, RITZ EAST B, SECRET SCREENING!!!!

We’ve got a surprise for you.

But we can’t spoil it. Or we’re not allowed to spoil it. Or we just don’t want to spoil it. Either way, you’re gonna have to trust us on this one. We’ll be delivering to you one of the hottest genre titles of the year that is going to make everyone else jealous that you saw it first. No one will know what they’re seeing until the title credits roll, but we’re sure you will not be disappointed in taking the risk.

9:45, ROXY A, THE MULE,

Run time: 103 min. | Australia | Language: English

An impressive fusion of a dark, clever comedy and a brutal thriller, The Mule tells the story of a suspected drug mule who engages in a battle of wills and bodily fortitude with the police detectives waiting for the evidence that will incriminate him.

Sunday

12:15, RITZ EAST B, LISTEN UP PHILIP

Run time: 108 min. | USA | Language: English

Independent provocateur Alex Ross Perry casts a jaundiced eye on New York artists and intellectuals in this comedy about a narcissistic, self-righteous author and the people he alienates.

12:30, RITZ EAST A, GIRLHOOD 

Run time: 112 min. | France | Language: French

Girlhood is the story of shy French teen Marieme, who learns to assert herself with the help of three girls who lure her into a gang.

2:45, ROXY A, THE OVERNIGHTERS 

Run time: 100 min. | USA | Language: English

In this intimate, troubling documentary, a small-town pastor strives to bridge the gap between his wary North Dakota community and the influx of unemployed hopefuls chasing a broken American Dream.

5:25, RITZ EAST A, POINT AND SHOOT

Run time: 83 min. | USA | Language: English

Point and Shoot is the incredible true story of Baltimore native Matthew VanDyke, who left behind his girlfriend, his family, and the comforts of his American life to join the Libyan rebel army.

7:20, RITZ EAST A, THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY 

Run time: 101 min. | UK | Language: English

In this audacious, visually sumptuous recasting of Eurocinema erotica, the relationship between a lesbian lepidopterist and her younger handmaiden is fraught with questions of love, desire, and control.

9:25, RITZ EAST B, IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE 

Run time: 115 min. | Norway | Language: Norwegian, Swedish

Nils Dickman (Stellan Skarsgård), is a respected community leader and snow plow driver who is awarded “Citizen of the Year” for his efforts, but when his son is found dead, Nils suspects foul play and resolves to take matters into his own hands.