Evil
Premieres April 3 at Ritz Five, 5 p.m.
The Greeks may have given us philosophy and democracy, but come on, that was so BC. Greece gets with the times with Evil, its first-ever zombie movie. In the uber-gory horror tradition of early Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi, Evil depicts an invasion of the walking undead in Athens, with decapitations and dismemberments a-plenty. Let the blood and tzatziki flow.
Akeelah and the Bee
Premieres March 30 at Prince Music Theater, 6 p.m.
As the opening film for this year's festival, Akeelah and the Bee already packs quite a buzz. The film, which stars Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett, is touted as the feel-good story of an 11-year-old spelling bee whiz from South Central L.A. who must overcome family and social circumstances. Can you spell heart-warming? Fishburne will be on hand to introduce the film, so make sure to hit that.
Lucky Number Slevin
Premieres March 31 at Ritz East Theater 1, 9:45 p.m.
Lucky Number Slevin is the Smirnoff Ice of the Philadelphia Film Festival -- newcomers, drink up! While the connoisseurs of Estonian silent comedy and Afghani noir may get their kicks elsewhere, Lucky Number Slevin will go down sweet and easy for those of us primarily versed in the Hollywood blockbuster. The film features a slew of familiar actors -- Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley -- and is billed as a Tarantino-esque thriller set in the criminal New York underworld.
Beijing Bubbles: Punk and Rock in China's Capital
Premieres April 3 at the Cinema at Penn, 9:30 p.m.
In her convocation speech to the class of 2009, Amy Gutman name-dropped Green Day. Oh where oh where have our punk-rock roots gone? To China, apparently, where young anarchists and rebels can be found performing melodious mayhem in small clubs and basements shows. Beijing Bubbles is a documentary that follows five punk bands throughout the Beijing circuit as they give the finger to an increasingly apathetic and consumerist society, the likes of which spawned the West's own punk movements in the '70s.
Cold Showers
Premieres April 7 at Ritz East Theater 2, 9:30 p.m.
What international film festival would be complete without a borderline-pornographic French coming-of-age film? Cold Showers fills the slot this year with the story of Mickael, a teen athlete whose family life is in financial and emotional turmoil. He splits his time between sparring with his judo buddy and doing his hot French girlfriend, but before long he's doing them both in a locker room threesome. Awkward? Yes, and it'll take more than a tactful Facebook message to repair this hook-up.
Low Profile
Premieres April 2 at The Bridge, 7:15 p.m.
Certain to strike cadence with the souls of the Wharton crowd, Low Profile is the German story of a disenfranchised college grad who spends his time strolling suicidally along on the autobahn and writing pornographic graffiti on bathroom walls as he suffers through the brimstone world of job-applications and parental pressure. To add a little spice to life, he begins to confess to a series of crimes he does not commit. Billed as dark, perverse and unsettling, Low Profile is sure to be a delightful mind-fuck to the future investment banker in all of us.
