THE 25th Helsinki Film Festival will be staged once again in the capital city from 20-30 September. Better known as Love and Anarchy, the festival is an eagerly anticipated event for the city’s cinephiles, with some 180 feature films and 80 short films being screened this year.

Opening proceedings is Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and the Golden Camera Prize at Cannes. Also the recipient of the FIPRESCI prize, granted by an international jury of film critics, the film has been lauded as a visual masterpiece.

Total Recall

For those who like their films associated with the words “remake”, “reboot” and even “rehash”, along comes a new version of Paul Verhoeven’s seminal 1990 sci-fi classic. Now, along with the Dutch director’s scathing societal appraisal, the Austrian Oak himself Arnold Schwarzenegger leavened the pulpy material with a typically wooden performance littered with trademark one-liners. In their place for this new version is Die Hard 4.0’s Len Wiseman at the helm (also known for the Underworld series) and Irishman Colin Farrell – and, unfortunately, no getting their ass to Mars.

Premiere 31 August

Kicking things off this summer season is the strangely fascinating idea of Tom Cruise acting the cock rock god in the musical Rock of Ages (29.6). The Amazing Spider-Man (6.7) follows the next week with what seems like a hasty reboot of the franchise, however it arrives on the back of some very strong early reviews. Impatiently waiting for this epic conclusion to the Batman trilogy? Well, pencil in 20.7 into your calendar as entering the box office ring populated by troubled men in tights, The Dark Knight Rises at your local multiplex.

ORIGINALLY from Kuopio, the Rubik crew settled in the capital during the early 2000s and now has its training ground at the legendary Helsinki venue, Kulttuuritalo. Made up of four core members, with a group of around 30 other people who have a part in what makes the sound of Rubik to varying extents, the band rose to the attention of this nation of ours during the year 2007 in the wake of their debut album Bad Conscience Patrol.

From the very beginning Rubik was hyped to the extent that could easily put on damaging pressure to starting musicians, but Artturi Taira, the lead man of the group, assures that the band was never affected by the high hopes of the early days.

How would you feel, knowing that while you’re deep asleep, someone could enter your mind and steal secrets from your subconscious? This is the peculiar idea that Christopher Nolan addresses in his new film Inception. Dom Cobb is a master in this field of theft and sought-after by many players in the sneaky world of corporate espionage. But being the best has its price. Cobb has lost everything important to him and is constantly on the run. However, a last ray of hope for redemption arises if he successfully completes his last job: instead of stealing an idea he has to insert one. But, as usual, the last task is the most dangerous one. NR

PREMIERE 16 JULY