Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel To Open Glasgow Film Festival

If your going to celebrate your birthday you do it in style and Glasgow Film Festival certainly will be on 20 February when the 10th edition of the festival will open with the UK Premiere of Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.

The 2014 Festival programme launched tonight in the boutique surroundings of Citizen M hotel , Glasgow City Centre fitting place to announce the amazing coup for UK’s third largest Film Festival. 2 weeks after it’s world premiere in Berlin Wes Anderson’s film will head to Scotland’s largest city the venue where The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou closed the first festival, a film thats getting a special screening again this time on the city’s tall ship.

To close the festival Jonathan Grazer’s Under The Skin, the sci-fi thriller based on Michael Faber’s novel starring Scarlett Johansson as seductive predatory Alien preying on male population of Earth. The film impressed critics not just at London but also Toronto where it made its premiere (read our review), the film was also partly filmed in the city too.

As ever The Glasgow Film Festival deliver a wide range great films or new and old, world, European, UK and Scottish premieres. Highlights that stand out are Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin recently played at the current Sundance Festival delivering some fine reviews whilst showcasing a powerful tense revenge thriller. After a long run on the festival circuit Ari Folman‘s mind bending The Congress show how shallow Hollywood is. Richard Ayoade after delighting the festival audience with Submarine he will present The Double starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska . From slavery to the Nigerian Independence Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in Half Of A Yellow Sun. Pierce Bronson , Rosamund Pike, Imogen Poots, Toni Collette and Aaron Paul star in the UK Premier of A Long Way Down based on Nick Hornby novel. Tom Hardy proves with Locke you don’t need a big budget to make a great film. Irish comedy The Stag a heart warming bachelor weekend that goes bad, If you enjoyed Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven you may want to check out the Japanese remake starring Ken Watanabe with the gun of the cowboy replaced by the sword of the samurai. Terry Gilliam‘s The Zero Theorem make it’s second UK screening with a Orwellan class struggle meets Kafka style dystopian sci-fi fantasy in a way pays homage to the Monty Python filmmaker’s previous films 12 Monkey’s and Brazil.

It’s not all about the Great new movies as the Glasgow Film Festival celebrates it’s 10th Anniversary, The festival’s main venue GFT was opened 75 years ago as Cosmo cinema.To celebrate a series of great Hollywood classics including, Goodbye Mr Chips, Stagecoach, Mr Smith Goes To Washington and the legendary Wizard Of Oz. Director George Sluizer will present Dark Blood the 1993 no one believed would be finished due to the death of it’s lead actor River Phoenix. Thanks to existing footage the film has been finished to some degree and the director will be there to present the film. The classic Rebel Without A Cause recently restored will make rare appearance on the big . In 1974 40 years ago Cosmo became Glasgow Fim Theatre The grandest Gothic gallery in Glasgow plays host to a monstrously good night, with a fancy dress gala and live organ recitals ahead of a screening of 1974 classic Young Frankenstein, at the Monster Mash at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

As well as the many great events, workshops The Glasgow Film Festival has its usual array of festivals within festivals making sure everyone is catered for.First up will be Glasgow Youth Film Festival which opens with Lukas Moodysson‘s teen punk comedy We’re The Best , other highlights been the possible last ever anime movie from animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki with Wind Rises. Glasgow Short Film Festival once again does not disappoint with four days of great screeings, workshops. Highlights include Miami collective Mayer/Leyva And The Borscht Corporation regarded as the next great hope in American fimmaking. The Music And Film Festival will deliver an array of audio (& visual) treats with documentaries The Punk Singer about Kathleen Hanna Bikini Kill singer and ‘Riot Grrl’ movement. 20 Feet Of Stardom a salute to the unsung heroes of music the backing singer with The Blossoms and back up singer to The Stones ‘Gimme Shelter’ Merry Clayton coming to the festival.

From Wednesday 22 Januarythe festival brochure will be released, with tickets on sale from 10am on Friday 24 January. Most tickets are priced at £8.50 (£6.50); certain special events have separate prices. The Festival for a Fiver initiative makes selected films even more accessible to audiences. To Book those tickets or more info go to – www.glasgowfilm.org/festival

The main GFF programme includes 187 events this year, with 37 events at GYFF and 37 events at GSFF. Sixty of the films of this year’s programme are UK Premieres; seven are World Premieres and fifty-seven are Scottish premieres. As ever with this festival been our local festival we will be there will you?

Check out the Glasgow Film Festival 2014 show reel along with the official trailers…