June 01, 2017
Mind on Movies is thrilled to bring you our top five picks for Cinetopia Film Festival.

Spanning ten days, Cinetopia brings more than 60 films to the Detroit, Dearborn and Ann Arbor area – representing the best feature-length dramas, comedies, and documentaries from the world’s best festivals, including Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin, SXSW and Tribeca.

The festival will begin in Ann Arbor on June 1, with the Ann Arbor portion taking place in the historic Michigan Theater and Lorch Hall on the University of Michigan campus. The festival continues in Dearborn, where partners again include the Arab American National Museum and their Arab Film Festival, as well as The Henry Ford and their Giant Screen Experience. The festival finishes in Detroit, with screenings at the Detroit Film Theatre, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, College for Creative Studies, Cinema Detroit, and The Maple Theater.

Comment below what Movie you think looks good.

THE LITTLE HOURS
In a peaceful medieval convent, three nuns (AUBREY PLAZA, ALISON BRIE, and KATE MICUCCI) live a simple, if boring, life under the watchful eye of Father Tommasso (JOHN C. REILLY). When Massetto (DAVE FRANCO), a sexy young servant, is hired to help out on the convent grounds, their quiet existence is disrupted. To avoid tempting the deprived nuns, Massetto is introduced to them as a deaf-mute – but it’s not long before debauchery runs rampant, with the nuns-gone-wild basking in the sinful joys of witchcraft, sex, and experimental drugs. Instead of mocking religion itself, director JEFF BAENA (Life After Beth, Joshy) has succeeded in making an irreverent, witty comedy that lampoons our basic instincts. Also starring MOLLY SHANNON, NICK OFFFERMAN, FRED ARMISEN, JEMIMA KIRKE, PAUL REISER, and ADAM PALLY.

THE HERO
Western star of yesteryear Lee Hayden (SAM ELLIOTT) likes to reminisce with his drug dealer buddy Jeremy (NICK OFFERMAN) about the good times gone by. But when Lee runs into a roadblock, he gets a fresh chance to reclaim the spotlight with the help of his new lover Charlotte (LAURA PREPON) and an industry award for his work. Director BRETT HALEY (I’ll See You in My Dreams) gives a strong, funny, and touching take on a man in his later years making the best of being in the moment.

PATTI CAKE$
Down in her mother’s basement, Patricia Dombrowski (DANIELLE MACDONALD), a.k.a. “Killa P” and “Patti Cake$,” dreams of escaping dirty New Jersey on the coattails of her rhymes. Stuck working in a hole-in-the-wall bar, under the weight of her beloved Nana’s medical bills and her alcoholic mother’s struggles, Patti finds solace and purpose in her music. Unable to find a producer with “fire beats,” Patti and her best friend Jheri (SIDDARTH DHANANJAY) join forces with goth-metal musician Basterd (MAMOUDOU ATHIE) in the hopes of achieving hip-hop superstardom. Nominated for the SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL GRAND JURY PRIZE, Patti Cake$ is a must see for hip-hop and film fans alike.

DESTINED
Filmed in Detroit by writer/director – and native son – QASIM BASIR (Mooz-Lum), Destined tells the story of Rasheed (played, in a breakout performance, by CORY HARDRICT), a young Detroit man whose life splits off into two possible outcomes. In one, he’s an up-and-coming architect being used by cynical real estate developers to gentrify his old neighborhood; in the other, he’s a powerful drug lord who rules his surroundings but may regret what he’s built. As his everyday choices begin to create life-changing consequences, Rasheed discovers that his two disparate worlds face similar dilemmas. Also featuring JESSE METCALFE, LA LA ANTHONY, JASON DOHRING, and HILL HARPER.

BAND AID
Tired of having the same fights over and over again, a struggling married couple (writer-director ZOE LISTER-JONES and ADAM PALLY) decide to turn their anger and dissatisfaction with each other into something more fun and productive: a rock band. Soon they’re clearing out their Los Angeles garage for rehearsal space and enlisting the help of their neighbor, Weird Dave? (FRED ARMISEN), on drums. With their upbeat, garage punk songs, they find a new, healthy way to communicate their range of issues – both the comical ones (not doing the dishes) and the more serious one at the heart of their rift (their struggle to conceive a child). It’s not long before they realize that their problems may be too great for any indie-pop song to mend. This honest comedy from an entirely female-led production crew uses music to show how we hurt, how we heal, and how we can move on together.



Cinetopia Film Festival is June 1-11, 2017.
Billy Billy (Editor) - Billy has seen many movies over the years. He enjoys comedies and anything action, including the summer blockbuster movies. You can follow Billy on Twitter here.