Guide To The Best Films At The LA Film Festival
Beginning June 11 - 19, 2014, the Los Angeles Film Festival (LA Film Fest) is showcasing a "grand mix" of comedies, dramas, documentaries and thrillers with over 200 features, shorts and music videos from 40 countries. Of these submissions, 35 are premieres and 23 are world premieres. Produced by Film Independent, the festival is celebrating it's 20th anniversary with special screenings, master classes, conversations and galas. Films screened throughout the festival are eligible to receive a coveted Jury Award and Audience Awards in different categories. For more information and how to get tickets, visit our Guide to the LA Film Festival.
With so many films, shorts and sessions to choose from during the Festival, here are a few for your consideration:
Meet The Patels
Ravi Patel is a Los Angeles native who turns to his traditional Indian mom and dad for help with dating. Already a loss at love, this "uproarious documentary" explores Ravi's quest to find a soul mate while trying not to disappoint or break his parents' hearts.
Frank Morgan Tribute
As a part of Film in Music from The GRAMMY, see how legendary, alto sax jazz icon, Frank Morgan made an inspirational comeback from prodigy to heroin abuser, con-man to convict, throughout this "soulful jam session".
Dear White People
In this breakthrough satire, four black students at Ivy League, Winchester University, are provoked to take divergent actions when a riot breaks out because of a popular African-American themed party thrown by an all-white fraternity.
Love Is Strange
This "ode to love" threads family ties and big city living after longtime companions, Ben and George (John Lithgow and Alfred Molina), finally get married, only to find themselves separated after a job loss and forced to remain friends while selling their New York City apartment and seek other housing.
The Two Faces of January
Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst star in this Patricia Highsmith thriller set in Greece and Istabul in 1962. Three Americans abroad are tangled in a web of murder and deceit when a con artist, his wife and a stranger head to Athens after one of them is involved in the death of a private detective.
22 Jump Street
Look who's back! Officers Schmidt and Jenko (played by Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum) reunite after making their way through high school (twice), only to go even deeper undercover at a local college.
Jersey Boys
The Festival will conclude with the hottest ticket in town, Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys, from Warner Bros Pictures'. Telling the story of the iconic 1960s rock group Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, this is the first time the film-adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical will hit the big screen. Staring Christopher Walken, the story embraces the four young men from the "wrong side of the tracks" in Jersey.
Feeling nostalgic? The Festival is also honoring films from the past by going "retro" with films like Amy Heckerling's Clueless, a Dance-A-Long screening of Luis Valdez's La Bamba and visits from the "Central Porch" with Friday's very own Craig and Smokey.
Nicole Standley a.k.a. JetSet Mom, is a social influencer + lifestylist covering luxury travel, fine-dining, fashion & pop culture for The JetSet Family. Follow her latest travels and escapades on Instagram, Google+ and Twitter.
