Last week marked the start of the 52nd Times BFI London Film Festival. First the art fairs, now the red carpets, countless of movie stars have been attending numerous premieres and partying in swanky clubs across town…London is definitely the place to be in October. So to save you some time, Chic Today has compiled a selection of movies you most definitely should not watch, so that you can dedicate yourself to those that are worth seeing (and what better way to beat those credit crunch blues than by saving money on unnecessary tickets?)

Wendy & Lucy, directed by Kelly Reichardt, starring Michelle Williams
A definite ‘must-not see’, because it’s what I call a “loose-loose” film: you won’t have fun, you won’t cry, you won’t get any message, you won’t be touched by beautiful images and you won’t understand what you’re doing here. Wendy is heading to Alaska with her dog Lucy in search of a new start, with $600 in her pocket and an old car as her only possessions. When her car breaks down, she has to make a choice–and this is the only moment of suspense in the entire film…

Genova, directed by Michael Winterbottom, starring Colin Firth and Catherine Keener
Avoid it, because it’s the kind of film that is sad just for the sake of being sad: a dad moves to Genova with his two daughters after his wife’s death. Your sadness will only be distracted by one question, which keeps springing to mind over and over again as you watch the movie: “What are they doing in Genova again?” I admit that Colin Firth cooking pesto is hot, but not enough to make you see such a bad movie.

W., directed by Oliver Stone, starring Josh Brolin
Another movie that is best avoided, because it’s an extremely caricatured portrait of George W. Bush and his family. Personally, I think it would have been far more interesting to try and explain how a clown that everybody takes for an idiot was twice elected President of the United States. Instead, Oliver Stone portrays Bush as a stupid young man and then directly as an equally stupid President who ascended to such a position of power by accident (or perhaps by magic…). If you really want to see George W. make a fool of himself, watch CNN–there is no need to watch W.

Let’s Talk About the Rain, directed by Agnès Jaoui, starring Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri and Jamel Debbouze
Definitely not one to watch, simply because it looks like a bad French TV film. Karim and Michel are directing a documentary about successful women and take the harsh feminist Agathe Villanova as a subject. What happens next is predictable: masks fall and people are not who you think they are… Even Jamel Debbouze –who’s an amazing performer on stage– is disappointing in this work.

The Possibility of an Island, directed by Michel Houellebecq, starring Benoit Magimel
Simply put, we’re tired of Michel Houellebecq’s intellectual narcissism. The landscapes shots are gorgeous but the movie is neither smart nor beautiful enough to be allowed to be so boring. The references to Kubrick, Resnais and Alphaville are numerous but the film is not anywhere near as genius.

So manage your time well and make sure you hit the cinema theatres before the end of the Festival on 30th October.

Top image: Thandie Newton attends the W premiere. Jon Furniss/WireImage