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Our picks for the best of the St. Louis International Film Festival
 George Clooney in "Up in the Air" (Paramount Pictures) POST-DISPATCH FILM CRITIC
One hundred thirty feature films. Forty countries. Ten days. The 18th annual St. Louis International Film Festival runs through Nov. 22 at the Tivoli, Hi-Pointe and Plaza Frontenac theaters, the St. Louis Art Museum, Webster University and Washington University, and it's all about choices. To guide you, the organizers from Cinema St. Louis have grouped the lineup into more than 30 geographic and genre "sidebars." Are you hot for Hollywood? The studios are previewing at least eight of their big year-end releases, including three probable best-picture finalists: "Precious," "An Education" and the St. Louis-lensed "Up in the Air." Are you dedicated to documentaries? There are more than 40 of them. Mad about music? There's an app for that. Wild about Westerns, sentimental for silents, fond of the French? Bienvenue. There's even a sidebar devoted to Bosnian cinema. To mark the festival's 18th birthday — voting age — we hereby vote for the best of the fest in 18 categories. BEST USE OF A ST. LOUIS HEARTTHROB "Stolen Lives" "Mad Men" Golden Globe winner, Clayton native and Mizzou alum Jon Hamm makes his big-screen starring debut as a cop and grieving father investigating a 50-year-old case of a kidnapped child. Think Miller High Life, not dry martinis. (7:15 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday at Plaza Frontenac.) BEST USE OF A ST. LOUIS THEME MOTEL "Up in the Air" This corporate comedy features cameos by local landmarks from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to Affton High, but it's the Ye Olde English-style Cheshire Inn that stands out, as the kitsch locale of a wedding rehearsal dinner. A reminder that the Clayton and Skinker area is the high point of St. Louis swankiness. (7 p.m. Saturday at the Tivoli; sold out.) BEST USE OF A ST. LOUIS DINER "How I Got Lost" A New Yorker who arrives in the Midwest for a funeral meets a sympathetic waitress at Spencer's Grill in Kirkwood. We recommend the scrapple. (2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tivoli; 6 p.m. Sunday at Webster University.) BEST USE OF FREQUENT-FLIER MILES "Just Shy of Being" Unable to find a St. Louis neighborhood to double for the Holy Land, local director Derek Elz traveled to Spain and Morocco for this mix of documentary and drama about forbidden love between Israelis and Palestinians. (9:15 p.m. Sunday at Plaza Frontenac.) BEST ARGUMENT FOR TALKING BACK TO THE SCREEN (tie) Mystery Science Theater 3000/Cinematic Titanic panel "For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism" It's bad etiquette to converse with a movie — unless you're a critic, or a professional "riffer" like Joel Hodgson. Hodgson, the creator of the movie-spoofing show "Mystery Science Theater 3000," has a new crew of a wisecrackers called Cinematic Titanic. They will be showcasing their sarcasm — and politely signing autographs — at the Tivoli on Nov. 20, as a prelude to their Nov. 21 show at the Family Arena in St. Charles. Meanwhile, movie commentators who take themselves much more seriously are profiled in a new documentary about film critics that is sure to provoke debate. (The Mystery Science Theater 3000/Cinematic Titanic panel is at 9:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Tivoli; "For the Love of Movies" screens at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Tivoli, free, followed by a panel discussion.) BEST ARGUMENT FOR TECHNOLOGY "Burma VJ" In this guerrilla documentary, cell phones, instant messaging and video cameras galvanize street protests against the military regime in Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma. (6 p.m. Nov. 22 at Plaza Frontenac.) BEST ARGUMENT AGAINST TECHNOLOGY "We Live in Public" When a sadistic dot-com mogul organizes an art project in which 100 people are locked in a loft under 24/7 surveillance, we watch hipsters turn into Hitlers. (7 p.m. Thursday at the Tivoli.) BEST MUCKRAKING DOCUMENTARY "Crude" Joe Berlinger ("My Brother's Keeper," "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster") chronicles the lawsuit that pitted 30,000 Ecuadoran natives against oil giant Texaco over the destruction of their rainforest habitat. Berlinger will be on hand to receive a lifetime achievement award. (6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Tivoli.) BEST WESTERN "Once Upon a Time in the West" After "The Gigantic World of Epics," a TCM documentary about big-screen spectaculars that screens at 1 p.m., stick around for the real deal: Sergio Leone's three-hour spaghetti Western, starring Henry Fonda as a cold-blooded killer and Charles Bronson as his harmonica-playing nemesis. (2 p.m. Saturday at Webster University.) BEST ANTI-WESTERN "The Only Good Indian" Kevin Willmott, a University of Kansas professor who directed the mockumentary "Confederate States of America," continues his examination of race in America with this dramatic inversion of "The Searchers." After an Indian boy escapes from Christian training school, he's pursued by a Cherokee bounty hunter. (7 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Tivoli.) BEST DRAMA BY A '60s ICON "Saving Grace B. Jones" Connie Stevens, the beloved blond starlet from the TV show "Hawaiian Eye" and countless episodes of "Love American Style," makes her directorial debut in this family-reconciliation story set in rural Missouri. It stars another comeback kid, Tatum O'Neal. (7 p.m. Nov. 20 at the St. Louis Art Museum; Stevens will attend the screening.) BEST DOCUMENTARY ABOUT A '60s ICON (tie) "Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie" "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe" Hugh Romney was a Greenwich Village poet who moved to San Francisco and morphed into Wavy Gravy, the still-kicking court jester of the Woodstock Nation. Kunstler was the leftist lawyer who came to the Nation's rescue whenever the Man didn't get the joke. ("Saint Misbehavin'" screens at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tivoli; "William Kunstler" screens at 7:15 p.m. Monday at the Tivoli.) BEST DOCUMENTARY ABOUT A '70s FOOTNOTE (tie) "Old Dog, New Tricks" "The Pride of St. Louis" In a pair of films by Mike Steinberg and Thomas Crone, members of the KSHE-classic bands Pavlov's Dog (art rock) and Mama's Pride (southern rock) reminisce about their salad days, when the St. Louis sound hit the national airwaves. (Screening together at 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Tivoli, followed by a live performance at Blueberry Hill.) BEST EMERGENCY EDITING "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" Already saddled with a tongue-twisting title and a history of troubled projects ("Lost in La Mancha"), Terry Gilliam could have folded his circus tent when star Heath Ledger died in the midst of filming this fantasy about a theatrical troupe. Instead he enlisted Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law to play different faces of Ledger's shape-shifting character. (5:30 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Tivoli.) BEST SOUNDTRACK "Branson" With movies about reggae ("Rise Up"), rap ("Say My Name"), Afropop ("Youssou N'Dour") jazz ("Icons Among Us"), and even Zen percussionists ("The Drummer"), the fest has the soulful genres covered; but we're tickled pink by the sounds of "Branson," a documentary profile of aspiring entertainers in Missouri's music mecca. Jackson Cash, a hard-living Johnny Cash impersonator, is a poignant case of life imitating art. (1 p.m. Saturday at the Tivoli.) BEST ENSEMBLE (CLOTHING) "Pop Star on Ice" This stylish documentary profiles Johnny Weir, an unapologetically flamboyant American skater with a fondness for furs, glow sticks and Soviet training togs. (7 p.m. Wednesday at the Tivoli.) BEST ENSEMBLE (CASTING) "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire" It's the most harrowing film of the year, yet this drama about an obese, abused and illiterate teen mother was the audience favorite at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals. The cast includes newcomer Gabby Sidibe, singers Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz, and bawdy stand-up comedian Mo'Nique, who is guaranteed an Oscar nomination as the mama from hell. (7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Hi-Pointe.) BEST EMBODIMENT OF WHAT THE ST. LOUIS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL STANDS FOR "Bollywood Beats" Given the "St. Louis" and "International" components of the event's name, we can't think of a better representative than Pooja Kumar. A graduate of Parkway West High School, Kumar was crowned Miss India USA at age 18, returned to her ancestral homeland, became celebrated as a video DJ and actress (recently co-starring with Chris Kattan in the cable miniseries "Bollywood Hero") and now has a movie in her hometown fest. In "Bollywood Beats," cultural diversity is reflected in the cast of characters at a Middle American dance studio. Substitute "film festival" for "dance studio" and, well, you get the idea. (3:30 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Tivoli.)
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OUR CRITICS' PICKS
 recommended by our reviewers"Helen" (U.K.; 1:19) Helen (Annie Townsend), a lonely teenage foster child, really gets into the act when she volunteers to stand in for a missing classmate as police reconstruct her disappearance. Soon, Helen seems to be trying to turn herself into the missing girl, the aptly named Joy. That's intriguing enough, but although "Helen" is sometimes moving, it's also agonizingly slow-paced. Screens at 3:15 p.m. Saturday and 5:15 p.m. Sunday at Plaza Frontenac GP "Marcello Marcello" (Swiss/Italian; 1:30) A fantasy set in a paint-by-number Italian fishing village, "Marcello" stars young Francesco Mistichelli as a sincere youth who falls for the mayor's pretty daughter, only to find himself forced into a silly birthday tradition of offering the perfect gift to her father. He knows just the thing, but first he must endure many coming-of-age trials in a romantic comedy as sweet as gelato and just as insubstantial. Screens at 7:15 p.m. Thursday and Nov. 20 at Plaza Frontenac GP "One Day You'll Understand" (France; 1:30) Set in 1987 but with its soul in the Holocaust, "One Day" finds French businessman Victor (Hippolyte Girardot) increasingly obsessed with the fate of his grandparents, whom he comes to believe died in a concentration camp. The great Jeanne Moreau plays Victor's mother, who doesn't want to revisit the past and prefers her soap opera to the televised trial of Nazi Klaus Barbie. "One Day You'll Understand" is grim and gray, but watching Moreau is mesmerizing. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and 2:15 p.m. Thursday at Plaza Frontenac GP  "Pressure Cooker" (U.S.; 1:39) A year in the life of a Philadelphia high school culinary arts class comes to an inspirational head at a scholarship ceremony where the students are presented thousands of dollars to attend prestigious cooking schools. We find ourselves rooting for the three seniors highlighted — Erica Gaither, Tyree Dudley, Fatoumata Dembele — and their teacher, the fiery Wilma Stephenson. She teaches with a short fuse but has a soft spot that makes it easy to be moved when the reveal comes of whether Erica, Tyree and Fatoumata are sharp enough and make fluffy enough crepes to earn free rides into some of the best schools in the country. Screens at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Tivoli ESB "24 City" (China; 1:52) Jia Zhangke ("Still Life") directed this pseudo-documentary about a Chinese aircraft plant that's being converted into an upscale office, residential and entertainment complex — at the cost of 20,000 jobs. It's a fascinating look at a culture that turns out to have quite a bit in common with the American way of life, particularly in these times of economic instability and unapologetic greed. But Zhangke is more of a poet than a politician. The best-known actor is Joan Chen ("Twin Peaks"), who plays a woman who's been told that she looks a lot like Joan Chen. Screens at 7 p.m. Monday and 9:30 p.m. Thursday at Plaza Frontenac CW "Tapped" (U.S.; 1:19) This is a very clean and well-edited film that provides a mostly one-sided look at the battle between the corporate water giants and the small towns from which they take big gulps from the municipal water supply. The same sources (including a U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich cameo) preach about the potential dangers of drinking from plastic water bottles, the lack of available recycling programs and the harm that all that plastic does to marine life. The message is clear, but seeing the same few shots — a Poland Spring truck, a newspaper headline, a lake — and talking heads over and over makes it difficult to be refreshing. Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday and 2:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at Plaza Frontenac ESB  "Under Still Waters" (U.S.; 1:25) There's a saying on the back roads of Middle America: Don't give a ride to a drifter who looks like one of the killers from "In Cold Blood." Especially if you're the daughter and son-in-law of a St. Louis beer baron, on your way to a country retreat with no telephone. But "Still Waters," which was filmed in Missouri and starts out as a predictable potboiler, has more twists and turns than an Ozark byway. Directed with style and assurance by first-timer Carolyn Miller, this neo-thriller stars Lake Bell as the wealthy hellcat, Jason Clarke as her henpecked husband and, as the intimidating stranger, the great Clifton Collins Jr. — who was indeed one of the killers in "Capote." Screens at 9:30 p.m. tonight at the Tivoli JW"The Beaches of Agnes" (France; 1:50) At age 80, French director Agnes Varda ("Vagabond," "Cleo from 5 to 7") reconstructs her life in a surrealist documentary. Varda revisits locations from her seaside childhood, her films and her marriage to fellow director Jacques Demy ("The Umbrellas of Cherbourg"). She shuffles the fragmented images with stagey re-enactments, then literally and figuratively frames them. It's a playful and poignant approach to memory, as well as a useful introduction to a soft-spoken lioness of the French new wave. Screens at 4:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Sunday at Plaza Frontenac. JW "Convention" (U.S.; 1:35) University of Missouri alumnus A.J. Schnack leads a team of documentarians to the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver. Instead of focusing on speeches and issues, this apolitical film burrows deep into the procedural morass. The kaleidoscopic effect is overwhelming rather than inspirational, making meaningful change seem like a summit that's a mile high. Screens at 7:15 p.m. Saturday at the Tivoli. JW "The Missing Person" (U.S.; 1:35) Michael Shannon, an Oscar nominee for his supporting role in "Revolutionary Road," graduates to starring status in this wry, stylish mystery. Shannon plays a modern private eye in the Bogart mold, with a drinking problem and wisecracks as dry as day-old toast. When he's hired to retrieve a wealthy New Yorker who went missing after 9/11, a trek to Los Angeles reopens his own wounds. The neo-noir cinematography is by Webster University graduate Ryan Samul. Screens at 9:30 tonight at Plaza Frontenac. JW "Old Dog, New Tricks" (U.S.; 0:49) Mike Steinberg, who somehow runs the film series at Webster University from a perch in Montana, and local raconteur Thomas Crone profile Steve Scorfina, the veteran St. Louis guitarist who was ever-so-close to fame as a member of the '70s art-rock band Pavlov's Dog. But without input from vocalist David Surkamp, the most revelatory material is the before and after, from Scorfina's youth as a garage rocker to his present life as a flea-market denizen. Screens at 7 tonight at the Tivoli. JW "35 Shots of Rum" (France/Algeria; 1:40) Not much seems to happen in "35 Shots of Rum," but director Claire Denis opens an extraordinary window into the world of a father and daughter (Alex Descas and Mati Diop) in a Paris that few visitors see. Widower Lionel and daughter Josephine have built a warm and comfortable life together, one that transcends an otherwise drab existence. But Lionel realizes Jo will soon have to fly from the nest, even if he has to push her out. Screens at 7 tonight and 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Plaza Frontenac. GP By Evan S. Benn, Gail Pennington, Joe Williams and Calvin Wilson yesterday's most emailed
 
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