The South by Southwest Film Festival is starting up this Friday, and I could not be more excited. This is my fourth year of attending the fest, and each year brings about a couple of films I love. What is also great about SXSW is, unlike Toronto or Cannes, there is plenty of room for discovery. Many films are making their world premieres here from lesser known filmmakers. SXSW also brings together an eclectic assortment of genres for the program, from indie dramas to horror films to science-fiction to you name it. I think going to those aforementioned festivals and just seeing “prestige pictures” continuously could get a bit boring. Sure, SXSW has a higher risk for a terrible movie, but the risk is exciting.
Consequently, making a most anticipated list for a festival offering a lot of discoveries seems like a contradiction. But, of course, if you look through the program, some films sound more appealing than others and take precedent to being on your schedule. So, this article will countdown the ten (well, actually, eleven) films I am most looking forward to over my nine days of sitting in a movie theater.
Some of the bigger titles hitting the festival missed out on the list like Trainwreck, Spy, and Get Hard because a) I’m not particularly looking forward to them (I will see them though) and b) I want to give light to some stuff you perhaps did not know about. I don’t even know that much about them, but again, I like the discovery aspect of it. So, let’s get started, and please, don’t tease me too much about my excitement for discovery considering my #10 slot features two films that have more than already been discovered…
#10
The Breakfast Club/The Road Warrior
Dir. John Hughes/George Miller
I know this is a bit of a cheat, as I have seen these films before (and love them), but I’ve never had the opportunity to see them on the big screen. It is especially great both are playing at the Paramount Theatre, so I’ll be with 1,100 other people who love these two films. This will be the world premiere of the 30th Anniversary restoration of The Breakfast Club, which I am very excited to see how it looks. And with Mad Max: Fury Road coming later this year, brushing up on The Road Warrior, one of the greatest car movies ever made, will be a joy.
#9
Secret Screening
Dir. Mysterious Man or Woman #1
Again, I am cheating here, but how can you not anticipate a secret screening? It’s a secret after all. Just by the very nature of not knowing what the movie will be makes you interested. Does the showing of The Road Warrior indicate this could be Mad Max: Fury Road? Could it be another big studio film like Tomorrowland? Or could it be Austin favorite Richard Linklater’s That’s What I’m Talking About? I have no idea. We will see what happens.
