31st London Critics' Circle Film Awards

The Critics' Circle held its annual film awards last night at BFI Southbank, and it was as glamorous as ever. The new venue made it much more of a cinema event as, rather than holding the ceremony in a hotel ballroom, we were in the BFI's National Film Theatre. As secretary of the Critics' Circle Film Section, I was stationed at the door to welcome all of the nominees and celebrity guests (there are two pics at the end). I also got to present an award in the ceremony to Olivia Williams (above right) as British Supporting Actress for The Ghost. Our top award, the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film, went to Kristin Scott Thomas (left) and Actor of the Year went to Colin Firth (centre) for The King's Speech.

More winners: Aaron Sorkin (left) represented The Social Network, which picked up four awards: Sorkin won for Screenwriter, then read out a witty acceptance speech from Andrew Garfield for British Supporting Actor and also collected David Fincher's award for Director and the big prize for Film of the Year. Lesley Manville (centre) won British Actress for Another Year, while Conor McCarron took the Young Performer award for his work in NEDs.

Danny Boyle popped in to raise a glass of champagne from our sponsor Moet, whose Toast for a Cause supported our designated charity, the BFI National Archive's project to rescue nine silent Hitchcock films. He's pictured (left) with Jason Solomons, the Critics' Circle Film Section chair and our host for the ceremony. Producer Gareth Unwin (centre) of The King's Speech accepted both Tom Hooper's British Director award and the prize for British Film of the Year. And Sam Taylor-Wood brought Aaron Johnson with her; she presented the Dilys Powell Award.

Special guests included (left to right): Mike Leigh (whose film Another Year had 7 nominations); Manjinder Virk and nominee Christine Bottomley from The Arbor; and Edgar Ramirez, nominated for Carlos.

More nominees on the red carpet (left to right): Rosamund Pike, nominated for her roles in both Barney's Version and Made in Dagenham; Will Poulter (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader); Ruth Sheen (Another Year); and Thomas Turgoose (The Scouting Book for Boys).

And finally, here are a couple of photos of me with two of the night's brightest stars. Other nominees attending last night included David Bradley, Peter Wight, David Seidler, Clio Barnard, Jessica Barden, J Blakeson, Jamie D'Cruz, Georgina Lowe and Tracy O'Riordan. And special guests included Lucy Walker and Dexter Fletcher.

Unable to attend, Gareth Edwards (who won British Breakthrough Film-maker for Monsters) sent a hilarious videotaped speech saying that he would remain true to his British roots, with the Hollywood sign in the background. Etienne Comar (winning Foreign Language Film for Of Gods and Men) sent a terrific video thank you as well, while Annette Bening (Actress of the Year for The Kids Are All Right) sent a written message. The only other no-show was Christian Bale (British Actor for The Fighter), who's filming in China this week.

Critical Week: Up in the air

The latest Kate Hudson rom-com A Little Bit of Heaven was only screened to the press a couple of days before it opened. And it still has no US release date. These two hints tell us that something might be wrong here - indeed, the film was an uneven mix of comedy and terminal illness. But at least Gael Garcia Bernal comes out of it with his dignity intact. The week's other big film was Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, which returns Martin Lawrence to his cross-dressing fat-suit role, this time along with his character's son, played by Brandon T Jackson. The studio has embargoed any comments about the film until next week.

Otherwise, the offerings were much smaller, and therefore much less predictable. Emilio Estevez's new film The Way stars his dad Martin Sheen as a man on a religious pilgrimage across northern Spain - it's sentimental, but also thoughtful and moving. Southern District, from Bolivia, has a swirling plot that's impossible to get a grip on, yet still manages to be mesmerising. From France, Antoine de Caunes' comedy-drama He's My Girl is a sequel to 1998's Man Is a Woman - a beautifully played and somewhat provocative blending of sexuality and ethnicity. And Black, also from France, is a heist thriller made in a funky Blaxploitation style that continually surprises (and entertains) us, right to the supernatural final act.

This coming week we have another very late screening: Adam Sandler's Just Go With It, costarring Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman opens on Friday. We have two British small films: the romance Forget Me Not and the Indian subculture drama Life Goes On. And then there's the doc Vidal Sassoon: The Movie. But the week's biggest event is the 31st London Critics' Circle Film Awards on Thursday, 10th February, at BFI Southbank - my one night of glamour each year. Look for a special report on Friday.

Critical Week: Road rage

Nicolas Cage somehow managed to find yet another crazy hair-do for his latest mindless action romp, Drive Crazy, which was shown to UK critics last week. This was one of five 3D movies we saw last week - this trend is getting a little oppressive. Especially since the effect only worked on one of the movies: Werner Herzog's extraordinary doc Cave of Forgotten Dreams, which feels like time-travelling 30,000 years into human history to explore unseen cave drawings in France. The others were the underwater cave-diving thriller Sanctum, which drowns in its melodramatic plotting; the live-action/animated film version of Yogi Bear, which is more fun than it looks; and the 3D instructional film The Lovers' Guide: Igniting Desire, which has no actual instruction at all and doesn't even work as soft porn.

We were able to ditch those murky 3D specs for the rollicking and fairly simple action romp I Am Number Four, the outrageously grisly 13th century British battle movie Ironclad, the clever and harrowing terrorism thriller Essential Killing, the raucous vampire-zombie thrills of Stake Land, and Alex Gibney's startlingly insightful doc Client-9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. Yes, it was a busy week.

Coming up we have the Kate Hudson rom-com A Little Bit of Heaven, Emilio Estevez directing his dad Martin Sheen in The Way and the Bolivian drama Southern District. There are bound to be more screenings coming up this week, but I think I'd enjoy having a few evenings off for a change. Just to recover from the eyestrain.

Requisite Blog Photo: No picanic

If you're wondering why I look like a vampire in this photo, it's because it was taken at 10am on a Sunday morning, surrounded by swarms of screaming children hopped up on sugar. Delightful.

Critical week: Close encounter

There was definitely some nervous energy in the air as critics gathered in Leicester Square last night for the first press screening of Pegg & Frost's alien road movie Paul. Universal had laid on vast amounts of pizza and alcohol, which can either mean that they think the film is great late-night fun or in need of a bit of help. But the crowd laughed heartily throughout the screening, and even if comments afterwards were mixed, it was clear that the vast majority (including me) enjoyed it rather a lot.

The other big movie this past week was the Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher rom-com No Strings Attached, a relatively engaging film that never quite says anything new.  Much more satisfying were two serious films: from France, Little White Lies is a remarkably involving relationship drama that holds out interest over two and a half hours; from Australia, Oranges and Sunshine is a dark true story about lost childhood with terrific performances from Emily Watson and Hugo Weaving; and from New Zealand, The Insatiable Moon is an emotive drama with odd surreal touches about how society treats people with mental illness.

Back to comedy, we had Killing Bono, from Ireland, starring Ben Barnes and Robert Sheehan as brothers who start a band to rival their high school friends, who go on to become U2. It starts extremely well, but stretches the true story a bit thin. More fun were the unintentional laughs to be found in Age of the Dragons, starring Danny Glover in a dragon-filled adaptation of Moby Dick (yes, really), and the po-faced and extremely low-budget Titanic 2 (surely lightning won't strike twice!), which might be the funniest movie I will see all year. And then I caught up with one of my all-time favourites, which I hadn't seen in at least 20 years, Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal in What's Up, Doc?, written by Buck Henry and introducing Madeleine Kahn. Say no more.

This week in London, critics are being treated to Nicolas Cage in Drive Angry, the underwater thriller Sanctum, the sci-fi thriller I Am Number Four, the medieval British thriller Ironclad, Werner Herzog's 3D doc The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Alex Gibney's Elliot Spitzer doc Client 9, the Polish drama Essential Killing and, ahem, the Yogi Bear movie. Worringly, half of these films are in 3D.

Critical Week: Mindless thrills

In his ongoing effort to provide muscled guilty pleasure action movies, Jason Statham isn't wasting any time. For The Mechanic, which UK critics got to see last week, he enters Michael Winner/Charles Bronson territory and delivers mindless thrills like no one else in the business. The other big movie we saw last week was Ron Howard's The Dilemma, which seems unsure whether it's a laddish comedy or a wrenching relationship drama. It's not really either, actually, but it features some nice acting by Winona Ryder and Jennifer Connelly.

Smaller films included the remake of the notorious horror film I Spit on Your Grave, which is so grisly that it's extremely hard to watch; the rather uneven British gangsta comedy Anuvahood, about a young guy who gets into some pretty nasty trouble while trying to be seen as a tough guy; the somewhat grim British drama Travellers, about a group of city boys who have a fateful (and fatal) clash with some Irish gypsies; and the documentary How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster?, which explores Norman Foster's particular style of architecture without much analysis.

Coming up this week: Ashton Kutcher in No Strings Attached, Marion Cotillard in Little White Lies, the aforementioned British-Aussie drama Oranges & Sunshine, the Irish comedy Killing Bono, and the marvellous combination of Danny Glover and Vinnie Jones in the medieval romp Age of Dragons, based on Moby Dick. Yes, really.

Requisite Blog Photo: Green with envy