Critical Week: Anger issues

It's a busy Valentine's Day weekend for new movies, as British audiences have the hers-and-his double whammy of Bridget Jones and Captain America to choose from. I caught up with Captain America: Brave New World this week, and enjoyed it more than expected. It's a bit more focussed than previous Avengers movies, grittier and less bombastic, so of course most critics are complaining that it's not big enough. It's all very blunt, but I enjoyed the more nuanced performances from Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford (who red-hulks out!).

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
To a Land Unknown • Bonus Track
Memoir of a Snail • Desire Lines
ALL REVIEWS >

I liked the slightly pushy comedy-drama My Dead Friend Zoe, which stars Sonequa Martin-Green as a veteran grappling with trauma. Solid acting all around, plus knowingly complex characters bring it to life. I also really enjoyed Bonus Track, a gentle British coming-of-age drama about two outcast teen boys who find each other. It has some terrific stars in side roles, including Josh O'Connor, who came up with the story. 

The Sloth Lane (aka A Sloth Story) is a lively Aussie animated adventure about a family of Latin American sloths. It's silly but sweet. From France, Holy Cow is a wonderfully loose, full-of-life comedy drama that follows a tearaway teen as he tries to become a cheesemaker. And from Greece, To a Land Unknown is an engaging and powerful drama about two Palestinian migrants trying to catch a break. I also caught the hilarious stage show Miss Brexit at Clapham's Omnibus.

The Bafta Film Awards take place this Sunday, the biggest precursor to the Oscars two weeks later. I have rather a lot going on around that event, but also a few films to watch, including the British vampire movie Drained, the Dutch action thriller Invasion, the Chinese animated epic Chang'An and the documentaries Ernest Cole: Lost & Found and I Am Martin Parr.

Requisite Blog Photo: They made me choose sides

Wolverine attacks!

To tie in with Guardians of the Galaxy, Morph Costumes gave me a chance to test out one of their suits and then offer two Shadows readers the chance to win one for themselves. When the Wolverine costume arrived, I dutifully put it on to see if it lives up to the promises in the advertising copy. 

Amazingly, these photos of me in the suit look pretty cool, not too far from the promotional artwork (below). This is surprising because I generally don't look great in spandex of any kind. But the suit has all kinds of manly contours drawn onto it.

It also covers every single inch of the body, which makes operating things like a smart phone rather tricky (although you can). The main issue is that it's very difficult to see anything. The bit covering the face is rather a lot like having ladies' stockings stretched over your head, bankrobber style. It smashes your features and clings so tightly that even blinking is a bit tricky. Sight is also rather limited, like seeing everything through a dark fog.

But it would be a great costume to wear to a party (eating is impossible, drinking would be messy). There's also a pouch for a smart phone, which will light up the belt buckle and create the illusion of Wolverine claws on a camera screen (other suits have their own tricks).

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
C O M P E T I T I O N

Shadows partnered with Morph Costumes to give readers the chance to win one of the most advanced pieces of costume engineering known to man. Congratulations to Angel in Shoreham-by-Sea and Paul in Whiteley - we're sure they'll look great in their Spider-man and Deadpool costumes, plus their custom added superpowers of chainsaw arms and telepathy, respectively.

For more information, follow Morph Costumes on TWITTER or FACEBOOK. Marvel Morph Costumes include: Wolverine, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and Deadpool.

Critical Week: Rogues gallery

One of the more anticipated press screenings this past week was for The Raid 2, Gareth Evans' sequel to his surprise hit. Although this time he ditches the gritty, linear narrative for a Hong Kong-style corruption epic. There are spectacular moments, although at two and a half hours it's somewhat exhausting. Even bigger (but barely half as long), Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the next episode in Marvel's big-screen serial, with grittier action but less suspense.

Fan-funded mystery Veronica Mars will either give closure to the truncated TV series' cult following or spark a new franchise - it's a lot of fun. An all-star cast makes the Nick Hornby-based comedy-drama A Long Way Down watchable even though it's tonally all over the place. Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return is a weakly animated adventure with an A-list voice cast (Liam Neeson, Lea Michele, Patrick Stewart) and a surprisingly strong plot.

There were also two films from Ireland: John Michael McDonagh's Calvary has the same laconic wit as The Guard, but with even deeper themes, while The Stag is a surprisingly involving bachelor-party comedy with serious edges. The independent American black comedy How to Be a Man has its moments but tries to hard to be rude and wacky, while the German drama Lose Your Head has engaging characters, but never makes much of its intriguing plot.

This coming week, screenings include the franchise wannabe Divergent, the sequels Muppets Most Wanted and Rio 2, Ben Whishaw in the British drama Lilting, the Scandinavian thriller Pioneer and the notorious Canadian black comedy The Dirties. Thursday also sees the opening night of the 28th BFI Flare, one of London's biggest and most important festivals, which runs 20-30 March. Updates on the way...