Its been a busy first weekend at the 2010 London Film Festival, so apologies if I’ve missed anything off! The majority of Saturday was devoured by Carlos, Olivier Assayas’ five hour drama charting the life of the notorious anti-hero Carlos “The Jackal” Sanchez. Hard going, but ultimately worth it, most might be more comfortable watching this in the comfort of their own home, but for the brave this will be showing at the Sheffield Showroom over the Halloween weekend.

Our Life is a nice little Italian film, charting the plight of a blue-collar construction worker whose life echoes his struggles on site. From director Daniele Luchetti, the talent behind 2007’s My Brother is an Only Child and featuring a very strong central performance from Elio Germano who most will be familiar with from Romanze Criminale, Our Life really impressed me.

Little White Lies is most notable due to it being the follow-up feature from Tell No One director Guillaume Canet, and for its headlined starring turn from Marion Cotillard. The familiar setting of a vacation occupied by the Parisian bourgeoisie, the  relationships at the heart of the film prove more involving than the plot.

I missed Tabloid, Errol Morris’ fascinating sounding documentary on Joyce McKinney, a former “Miss Wyoming and her obsession with a local Mormon, but the general critical reaction to the film has been amazingly positive. Its high on my radar as a result.

Geoff Marslett’s Mars was heavily anticipated by myself, but ultimately I found it a little dull. Visually its really quite something, with the quirky rotoscoping giving the film an identity, but ultimately it disappointed in other areas.

The big commercial film of the weekend, and one that will be showing at this years Leeds International Film Festival was the George Clooney-starring The American. Anton Corbijn’s film is a beautifully shot alterna-thriller, and well worth checking out if one gets the opportunity to do so.

Sunday’s big film was the Palme D’or winning (and long title bearing) Thai film Uncle Boonmee Who Could Recall His Past Lives. Undoubtedly my favourite work of the festival thus far, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s stunningly rendered film moved and impressed in equal measure. While its not for every audience (a couple of my contemporaries actually slept through a large portion of the film), if you are lucky enough to be the sort of person that likes this kind of slow cinema then you’re in for a treat. Like The American, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives will also be at this years Leeds Film Festival, and comes with my highest recommendation.

Elsewhere on Sunday, audiences were treated to an eclectic little bill, with the latest Will Ferrell film, Everything Must Go, sitting alongside Le Quattro Volte, a “playful yet philosophical documentary about daily life in a remote Calabrian village”. Its this diversity in the programme where London really impresses. Granted, Everything Must Go is Ferrell’s most tame performance for quite some time, but its still a Will Ferrell film! I wonder if the makers of Le Quattro Volte imagined their film sitting alongside such fare when they originally envisioned the project?

Of Gods And Men, one of the biggies at this years Cannes Film Festival, winning that festivals Grand Prix, impressed as much as expected, although it was a little stuffy.

Much has already been said of Africa United, a film that I couldn’t help but be reminded of Slumdog Millionaire by. The same sort of “underdog done well” sort of theme persists, but there is definitely a charm within the performers.  It provides an interesting take on Africa-on-screen too, much in the same way that Danny Boyle’s film did with India in Slumdog Millionaire, and while I don’t think it will be the major success that Boyle’s film was, I do think Africa United will do really well.

Check back tomorrow for a round-up of all of Monday’s action!