This afternoon I was told the very exciting news that my press accreditation for the 54th London Film Festival went through, so expect much coverage both on Hope Lies at 24 Frames Per Second and over at TheCultureVulture over the coming weeks. I’ve been to the festival for the past two years, and always had a great time, so am very excited about covering it from a different angle this year.

My two biggest excitements for the festival are Jerzy Skolimowski’s Essential Killing (2010), and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010). Both films star men named Vincent.

Essential Killing is the tale of an Afghan man who is captured by American forces, before escaping whilst in transit through a nameless Eastern European country. We then witness the mans attempts at survival. Essential Killing looks to be very much a one-man-character-piece, with the one-man-character-of-the-piece portrayed by Vincent Gallo, who just so happens to be one of my very favourite screen presences. Gallo won the best actor prize at the Venice Film Festival last week, with the film also taking the Special Jury Prize (a first no less).

Black Swan is Darren Aronofsky’s follow-up to The Wrestler (2008), and looks to be a serious oscar contender for next year. Natalie Portman stars alongside Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel and Winona Ryder (!) in this tale of the world of the ballet that looks to be inspired by Suspiria (1977) and the work of Roman Polanski, with Aronofsky said to have spun this yarn from the same ball as The Wrestler, having described Black Swan as a companion piece to his previous work. Aronofsky is one of my most keenly followed filmmakers (I very nearly was marked with a π inspired tattoo as a young man, trivia fans), so I look forward to this with bated breath. Its certainly the most interesting of the mainstream fare at this years festival.

Anyway, more announcements as to the extent of our coverage will be revealed over the next few days. It’s all very exciting.