Wanted, Hellboy 2 Headline L.A. Film Festival

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 7, 2008

From June 19 to June 29, Film Independent, the group behind the Independent Spirit Awards, will play host to the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival. Our own Kevin Kelly will be there, providing wicked coverage from Tinsletown’s homegrown film festival. Today, the festival announced who else would be there (besides us, of course), showing us a line-up that includes some big names to go with the normal indie fair.

The festival will open and close with two big summer blockbusters from Universal, with Timur Bekmambetov’s intense actioner Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy opening the festival. And Guillermo Del Toro’s highly anticipated Hellboy II: The Golden Army playing on the final night.

As well, I am extremely jealous of crowds in L.A., as they will also get a chance to see Sacha Gervasi’s music doc Anvil! The Story of Anvil, a film that I was sad to have missed at Sundance this year.

As Variety reports, there will also be plenty of great indie flicks to go around:

The competition lineup is heavy on preems. Narrative features include Sean Baker’s New York immigrant story “Prince of Broadway” and “The Poker House,” directed by Lori Petty from a script by comedian David Alan Grier. Docu premieres include Darius Marder’s “Loot,” following a modern-day treasure hunter and his son.

Pics in the doc and narrative sections will each compete for unrestricted $50,000 grants.

In the fest’s Summer Preview section, dedicated to upcoming indie releases, are Sundance winners “Ballast,” “Frozen River” and “Man on Wire.” The Dark Wave section of edgier fare includes Alexie Balabanov’s thriller “Cargo 200″ and Tomas Alfredson’s vampire love story “Let the Right One In,” which recently grabbed the top prize at Tribeca.

Needless to say, I am now jealous of Kevin Kelly, who will be seeing all of these great films while I sit on my couch in Ohio and watch paint dry — or something like that. To see the full line-up for this year’s L.A. Film Festival, be sure to to check out the festival’s official site. As well, keep it locked right here, as we will provide our usual brand of awesome coverage once the festival gets rolling.

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