Melbourne International Film Festival Announces Full 2014 Program

Get ready for 18 days of around-the-block queues and arguing with people who refuse to put away their phone. That's right, Melbourne movie lovers: the Melbourne International Film Festival is a mere three-and-a-bit weeks away, and the freshly spoiled lineup is as diverse and enticing as ever.

Of the more than 300 films and 52 countries represented on this year's MIFF program, the Australian contingent looks particularly impressive. The festival kicks off on July 31 with the world premiere of Predestination, a time travel thriller starring Ethan Hawke and Noah Taylor. Tony Ayres' period crime film Cut Snake has been tapped for the centrepiece gala, while closing night will feature Joel Edgerton and Melissa George in the Melbourne-set police drama Felony.

Other local highlights include SXSW's Aussie darling The Infinite Man; Amiel Courtin-Wilson's grim but beautiful new drama Ruin; a destined-to-offend reboot of the classic Ozploitation film Turkey Shoot; and the latest cine-centric documentary from Not Quite Hollywood director Mark Hartley, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films.

American indie cinema will also have a strong showing this year, with major titles including Richard Linklater's 12-year passion project Boyhood, Kelly Reichardt's lauded environmental thriller Night Moves and James Gray's fourth consecutive Palme d'Or competitor The Immigrant. Nicholas Cage, meanwhile, proves he still knows how to act as the titular character in David Gordon Green's new character piece Joe, while Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig give rare dramatic performances in The Skeleton Twins, which also won a screenwriting award at Sundance.

Speaking of major festival winners, MIFF patrons can look forward to not one but two new films from Quebecois enfant terrible Xavier Dolan, in the form of the breathtaking mother-son drama Mommy and the tense psychological thriller Tom at the Farm. The former film shared the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival with Goodbye to Language, a 3D experimental work from the 83-year-old Jean Luc-Godard. The tense, strikingly shot Czech drama Honeymoon won Jan Hrebejk directing accolades at his native Karlovy Vary last July, while a little closer home, the Dardenne Brothers' Two Days, One Night deservedly took the top prize at this year's Sydney Film Festival.

Melbourne's programmers have also continued their impressive run of Asian cinema, with standouts including Wong Kar-wai's long awaited martial arts epic The Grandmaster and the immaculately photographed Chinese neo-noir Black Coal, Thin Ice. More daring MIFFers might also want to check out the latest blood-soaked opus from Japanese provocateur Sion Sono, Why Don't You Play in Hell, described by Film.com critic David Ehrlich as "quite possibly mankind's greatest achievement".

From the documentary section, no film buff should skip Jodorowsky's Dune, a fascinating and often hilarious look at what many people consider the single greatest movie never made. Also on tap: master documentarian Errol Morris probes the mind of former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld in The Unknown Known, while Michel Gondry animates a series of interviews with Noam Chomsky, posing the question Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy?. Alternatively, if all that sounds too challenging, maybe try I Am Big Bird, a no-holds-barred expose about Sesame Street's resident yellow pigeon.

MIFF 2014 runs from July 31 until August 17. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 11am on Friday, July 11. For more information, visit the MIFF website