London Film Fest: Whatever happens, keep smiling

I may have only seen two movies today at the 63rd BFI London Film Festival, but I was in the cinema for five hours and 21 minutes (they were very long films). I also had a couple of filmmaker interviews, which is always good fun - End of the Century's Lucio Castro and Don't Look Down's Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau. And both of these involved a 15-min walk to the venue, so I got my steps in today. We've passed the halfway point now, so I can sense light in the end of the tunnel. Although the queues in the rain for 8am screenings are trying my patience. Here are Tuesday highlights...

Little Monsters
dir-scr Abe Forsythe; with Lupita Nyong'o, Alexander England 19/Aus ***.
Aussie filmmaker Abe Forsythe manages to find a new take on the zombie genre. With a contained Australian setting, he adds a buoyant sense of humour that takes over the entire movie. It's so disarmingly funny, that the audience is genuinely taken aback by how horrifically violent it gets. And even more impressive is how he also generates some properly sweet moments as well.

Bad Education
dir Cory Finley; with Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney 19/US ****
A terrific balance of smart writing, witty direction and skilfully layered performances elevate this true story into a fiendishly entertaining tale of financial malfeasance. Director Corey Finley cuts through the story without getting bogged down in the finely laid out details. He and writer Mike Makowsky also remember to keep the characters compelling even as their outrageous misdeeds are brought into the light.

Vivarium
dir Lorcan Finnegan; with Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots 19/Ire ***
So overtly allegorical that there isn't much to discover, this enjoyably offbeat Irish thriller is compulsively watchable. Filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan creates such a distinctive look that the audience joins in, even if the story never manages a proper surprise. Still, it couldn't be much freakier, using everyday imagery to unhinged effect. And while it may not have much to say about the topic, at least it leaves us feeling queasy.

Matthias & Maxime
dir-scr Xavier Dolan; with Gabriel D'Almeida Freitas, Xavier Dolan 19/Can ***.
There's a bold, bracingly fresh idea at the centre of this film, and actor-filmmaker Xavier Dolan spends much of the running time avoiding it, just as his  characters do. The film is sharply written to catch the rhythms of a 30-something still working out where to go with their lives. And the central story of two lifelong friends has a strong kick, even if it comes a bit late.

The Painted Bird
dir-scr Vaclav Marhoul; with Petr Kotlar, Harvey Keitel 19/Cz ****
Based on the Jerzy Kosinski novel, this sprawling Czech epic takes the audience in an unforgettable odyssey through World War II. Shot in shimmering black and white, scenes look exquisite, giving the film an instantly classic tone. Each episode of this allegory carries an unexpected kick as it reflects real life in bracingly full-on ways. Writer-director Vaclav Marhoul keeps the explicit stuff off-camera, but he still leaves us shaken.

End of the Century [Fin de Siglo]
dir-scr Lucio Castro; with Juan Barberini, Ramon Pujol 19/Arg ****
Observationally shot and beautifully edited, this delicate drama by Argentine filmmaker Lucio Castro pulls the audience in slowly with its striking imagery and relaxed characters. The film's structure is ambitious, with time periods that overlap and echo in unexpected ways, and the enigmatic style of filmmaking makes it surprisingly involving as it plays with the idea of memory, the passage of time and alternate realities... FULL REVIEW >

Links:
Shadows LONDON FILM FEST homepage (full reviews will be linked here) 
Official LONDON FILM FEST site 

Critical Week: Boys gone wild

There weren't any kids' movies screened to critics this week, thankfully (it's been a bit much this summer!). But we had some films about kids aimed at grown-ups. The biggest is Good Boys, which is basically a standard rude teen movie featuring tweens in the central roles instead. Jacob Tremblay (above) leads the cast of kids and scene-stealing adults. Lupita Nyong'o plays a smart teacher in Little Monsters, taking her kindergarten class on a tour of local farm when a zombie apocalypse breaks out. Being an Aussie film, it's primarily a comedy, but there's also real gore and emotion too. And Steve Coogan leads Hot Air as a radio host who suddenly has to take care of his teen niece (Taylor Russell). It's snappy is rather predictable.

Two smallish movies benefit from big Hollywood actresses: Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams star in After the Wedding, as two women connected by a long-time secret involving Billy Crudup. Naomi Watts stars in the smart, provocative drama Luce, as a woman coping with possible issues relating to her adoptive teen son's past. Further afield we had the superb Iranian drama Permission, about a fierce, intelligent woman taking on an unjust system; the light, silly romantic comedy One Last Night is set around a struggling cinema; and Tu Me Manques is an artful, devastatingly emotional drama based on a play that links New York with Bolivia.

I've also been watching horror films that will be at the upcoming FrightFest (in London, 22-26 Aug). The quality of these films has been very high; for me horror is the perfect movie genre, because if done well it can truly make you forget the world outside. These include the opening film Come to Daddy starring Elijah Wood, the closing film A Good Woman Is Hard to Find starring Sarah Bolger, Eddie Marsan in Feedback, the teen-killers thriller Extracurricular and the dark psychological nightmare I Trapped the Devil. More to come on the festival next week.

This coming week we have screenings of Sam Taylor-Johnson's A Million Little Pieces, Guillermo Del Toro's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Alexandre Aja's Crawl and Francois Ozon's By the Grace of God. Plus several more FrightFest titles.