Critical Week: Take aim

Londoners aren't used to such a long spell of warm, dry weather, so it's especially unusual to see the parks turning golden rather than green. (Although this is something I grew up with in Southern California.) It's been warm enough to welcome trips into air conditioned cinemas to cool off. The bigger films this week were the Predator prequel Prey, an involving and well-made 18th century adventure with some proper suspense, even if some cliches are distracting. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are terrific as siblings in Jordan Peele's Nope, a witty and inventive take on the alien invasion thriller that's involving, surprising and perhaps just a little overcooked. 

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And then there was Brad Pitt, who saunters engagingly through the silly chaos of Bullet Train, a messy action comedy that feels oddly thin despite terrific performances from an ensemble cast that includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King and the great Hiroyuki Sanada. The brightly hued animated adventure Luck has a lively story, with terrific voice work from a starry cast that includes Jane Fonda and Whoopi Goldberg. Charlotte Rampling is of course terrific in the dark, witty and thoughtful Kiwi drama Juniper. And the refugee doc Fadia's Tree tells a vividly personal story of a life diverted by conflict.

This coming week I'll be watching the thriller No Way Out, coming-of-age comedy Funny Pages, India's Forrest Gump remake Laal Singh Chaddha, comedy-drama anime Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko, quirky claymation adventure The Old Man: The Movie and the documentary Bloom Up.

Requisite Blog Photo: Embrace the future

I attended the premiere last night at Bafta of Extant, a new summer series that debuts in America on CBS tonight and in the UK on Amazon Prime tomorrow. Along with canapes and cocktails, they brought along a robot for us to interact with, which was a bit eerie, especially when it started flirting with me.

The show is set in the near future, as Halle Berry tries to readjust to her husband (Goran Visnjic) and robotic son  (Pierce Gagnon) after a year on a space mission, during which something very odd has happened to her: she's become pregnant despite being unable to have children before she left. Not quite sure if I'm in for the duration, but I'll give it a few more episodes before I render my verdict. From one episode, it feels a bit manipulative, one of those shows that dribbles facts very slowly to keep audiences hooked. But it'll need to start dropping some major bombshells soon to hold on to viewers.