Ten Must-See Films at the NZ International Film Festival 2014

It's the perfect escape from the winter blues and it's nearly upon us. This year's New Zealand International Film Festival programme is packed with a varied bunch of top local and international films. Buy a ticket and you can learn how Hollywood celebs really live, visit a little-known Gisborne chessmaster, take a road trip to Southern Spain with a couple of misfits and a Beatles-mad teacher, get to know Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and 90s hip hop star Nas or sit in the passenger seat of a BMW as the driver does his best to stop the world crashing down around him.

These are just a few of the stories which have made the Concrete Playground top ten picks for 2014. Read on and discover why.

1. The Dark Horse

It's the festival opener and it looks like it'll be a stunner. A bulked up Cliff Curtis plays Genesis Potini, the Gisborne-based speed chess champion who taught kids in poor communities to dream big.

Potini suffered from bipolar disorder and was an advocate for mental health awareness, a cause which Napier Robertson's film subtly promotes. As well as mentoring the local kids for an upcoming competition, he also develops a close friendship with his teenage nephew Mana (James Rolleston). Potini wants more for him than just to be initiated into his father’s gang but family traditions die hard. A film with equal parts tenderness and strength.

* This film is showing at Auckland's Civic Theatre on July 17 at 7:30pm. It plays Wellington's Embassy Theatre July 25 at 8:45pm.

2. Map to the Stars

Julianne Moore picked up the Best Actress award at Cannes for her role in Maps to the Stars but given the subject matter it's unlikely that an Oscar will follow. Director David Cronenberg and writer Bruce Wagner team up here to produce a wickedly satirical view of the vanities and excesses of Hollywood life.

Moore plays Havana Segrand, an ageing movie actress who's desperate to be cast in a remake of a classic film starring her late mother. Agatha (played by Mia Wasikowska) is a newcomer to Hollywood who befriends limo driver Jerome Fontana (Robert Pattinson) and eventually manages to wrangle a job as Havana's PA.

Meanwhile Havana’s self-help guru (John Cusack) helps her recover memories of abuse at the hands of her mother. His own 13-year-old son Benjie (Evan Bird) is the lead actor in a massively successful teen-movie series called Bad Babysitter. Fresh out of rehab, Benjie out-does Justin Bieber in his hilariously bratty teen star behaviour.

* This film is showing at Auckland's Civic Theatre on July 25 at 9:15pm and July 29 at 3:30pm. It plays at Wellington's Embassy Theatre on August 1 at 8:30pm, August 6 at 4pm and Penthouse Cinema on August 8 at 8:30pm.

3. Wild Tales

Veteran Argentinian actor Ricardo Darin stars in this closing night spectacular. It's no surprise that Pedro Almodovar is co-producer of the collection of dark and explosive stories which are united by the theme of vengeance. Writer-director Damian Szifron satirises for our entertainment what he sees as the widespread corruption, cynicism and complacency in his home country.

A fashion model on a plane discovers she has something in common with a middle-aged music critic and the flight ends in disaster. A waitress recognises an unlikeable customer, but confiding in the elderly cook leads to trouble. An obnoxious driver’s behaviour triggers a serious case of road-rage. A municipal parking scam enfuriates a demolition expert who decides justice must be served. A wealthy businessman tries to cover up his son’s crime and a bride relishes in taking revenge against her cheating groom on their wedding day.

* This film is showing at Auckland's Civic Theatre on August 1 at 3:45pm and August 2 at 9pm. It plays at Wellington's Embassy Theatre on August 8 at 3:15pm and August 10 at 8pm.

4. Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets

Local documentary maker Florian Habicht (Kaikohe Demolition and Love Story) returns with a film which examines the enduring popularity of the Sheffield band, with a little help from band members, family and fans on the street. Interviewees include school kids, a newspaper vendor, a knife-maker and middle-aged women who used to lust after frontman Jarvis Cocker back in the '90s.

The film builds up to the 2012 Sheffield concert promoted as Pulp’s last ever. But the people of the town come close to stealing the show with their responses to Habicht's questions on love, life and the meaning of Jarvis. The live performances are spectacular and Cocker entertains in his distinctive wry and self-deprecating way. On fame he says "it didn't agree with me – like a nut allergy".

* This film is showing at Auckland's Civic Theatre on July 24 at 8:45pm and July 25 at 4:15pm. It plays at Wellington's Embassy Theatre on July 29 at 9:15pm and August 5 at 4pm.

5. Two Days, One Night

Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard gives yet another powerful performance in this gripping drama of a woman's fight to keep her job. Cotillard plays Sandra, a married woman with children, who returns to her job at a solar panel factory after a breakdown to find that the management are trying to turn her colleagues against her. Her bosses have realised they don't need Sandra so they're proposing to fire her and make everyone work that bit harder, with a 1,000-euro bonus to sweeten the deal.

Sandra convinces her staff rep to set up a vote on whether staff want to help her or take the bonus. It's scheduled for Monday morning so Sandra has the weekend to go door-to-door trying to persuade her co-workers to stick by her. A compelling and socially aware film.

* This film is showing at Auckland's Civic Theatre on July 29 at 11am and August 1 at 6:30pm. It plays at Wellington's Penthouse Cinema on July 25 at 8:15pm, Roxy Cinema on July 30 at 6:15pm and Embassy Theatre on August 5 at 10:30am and August 8 at 6:30pm.

6. Boyhood

People make claims about films being unique all the time, but in this case it might just be true. Shot over 12 years at regular intervals, Richard Linklater's film Boyhood captures the protagonist Mason's development  from childhood to early adulthood. Mason is impressively played by Ellar Coltrane and Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette take up the roles of his estranged parents.

We watch as his parents form new relationships, step-siblings come on the scene, friendships are formed and lost and the boy grows up before our eyes. What's more the world changes around them. Over the course of the film we see political allegiances shift from red to blue, iPhones become ubiquitous and smoking banned in restaurants. A memorable work of subtle brilliance.

This film is showing at Auckland's Civic Theatre on July 25 at 1pm and July 27 at 3pm. It plays at Wellington's Light House Petone on July 26 at 6pm and The Embassy Theatre on August 3 at 3:15pm and August 5 at 12:45pm.

7. Locke

The entire movie takes place inside a BMW and yet it's got the critics raving. Writer-director Steven Knight's powerfully evocative film starts with Locke, a Welsh construction supervisor played by Tom Hardy, leaving a Birmingham building site and driving through the night to London. His family are expecting him home and Locke is due to supervise a hugely important concrete pour the next day but he has more pressing matters to attend to.

As he drives he makes and takes a series of phone calls and the reason for his seemingly erratic behaviour slowly becomes clear. Locke is determined to put right a mistake which could cost him his job, his family and possibly even his sanity. Supported by a brilliant unseen supporting cast, Hardy does a masterful job of portraying a man teetering on the edge.

*This film is showing at Auckland's Academy Theatre on July 19 at 9:30pm, SkyCity Theatre on July 28 at 4.15pm and August 2 at 8:30pm. It also plays Wellington's Paramount on July 28 at 6:15pm, July 31 at 4:15pm, Penthouse Cinema on August 5 at 8:30pm and Roxy Cinema on August 9 at 6:30pm.

8. Time is Illmatic

New York rapper Nas was just 20 when he made his 1994  album Illmatic, generally regarded as the best hip-hop album ever made.  Two decades later, In One9's documentary Time is Illmatic Nas appears humbled by his huge success and is quick to acknowledge those who paved the way (like the pioneering female rapper Roxanne Shante), as well as those who didn't survive the mean streets of Queensbridge, the largest public housing development in North America.

The film makers focus here more on the album's conception than on Nas' more recent output or  the broader musical context of the times. His father Olu Dara makes a welcome appearance as does his brother Jabari "Jungle" Jones who provides plenty of laughs.  An evocative trip down memory lane for hip hop fans.

*This film is showing at Auckland's Event Cinemas Queen St on July 19 at 9pm, July 23 at 6:30pm, July 27 at 8:30pm and August 1 at 4:30pm. It plays Wellington's Embassy Deluxe on August 1 at 6:45pm, August 3 at 6:15pm, August 5 at 6:30pm and August 6 at 6:15pm.

9. Love is Strange

John Lithgow and Alfred Molina star in this understated gem from director Ira Sachs. After 39 years together, New Yorkers Ben (Lithgow) and George (Molina) are finally able to marry but the celebrations are short-lived. George is fired from his job as a music teacher at a Catholic school which isn't prepared to turn a blind eye to his sexuality any longer. Without the income to keep their cushy apartment, they decide to separate until something else comes up.

George stays with the much younger gay couple downstairs. Ben moves in with his nephew, who’s rarely home, leaving his novelist wife (Marisa Tomei) and their moody teenage son to keep him company. As well as missing each other, each must deal with the sometimes awkward, sometimes amusing consequences of their temporary domestic situation.

*This film is showing at Auckland's Civic Theatre on July 18 at 1pm and July 20 at 5:30pm. It plays Wellington's Embassy Theatre on July 27 at 6pm, Penthouse Cinema on July 29 at 8:15pm and Embassy Theatre on July 30 at 10:30am.

10. Living is Easy with Eyes Closed

Inspired by actual events Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed depicts a warm and funny road trip fuelled by Beatlemania. Antonio (Javier Cámara), is a schoolteacher in a small Spanish town. It’s 1966 and Franco is in power. By the oppressive standards of the day the unmarried Antonio is a wild guy, not least because he uses the lyrics of Help! to teach his students English.

When he learns that John Lennon is in Spain filming Richard Lester’s How I Won the War, he sets out to meet his hero. Along the way he picks up two runaways: Juanjo, a 16-year-old boy fleeing his father, and Belen a 20-year-old pregnant girl, running away from a home for unmarried mothers. For Antonio and his young passengers pop music and Lennon represents hope in a future beyond fascism. A whimsical and evocative film.

*This film is showing at Auckland's Academy Theatre on July 18 at 6:30pm, Civic Theatre on July 24 at 6:30pm July 29 at 1:15pm. It plays Wellington's Embassy Theatre on July 25 at 1:30pm, on July 31 at 6:15pm, at Light House Petone on August 2 at 6pm, at Roxy Theatre on August 3 and 4:30pm, Penthouse Cinema August 7 at 6:15pm and Penthouse Cinema on August 8 at 11:15am.