Critical Week: Time after time

I've been busy with plans surrounding the 41st London Critics' Circle Film Awards (we've all voted and are now getting ready to announce our winners). As chair of this group, there's a lot to do at the moment, so I'm keeping very busy in lockdown at the moment. Otherwise, the biggest film I watched this week was Synchronic, a surreal adventure thriller that sends two paramedics (Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie) on a mind-bending odyssey that involves cool things like time travel but is rather corny too. Ed Gathegi stars in Caged, a psychological prison thriller that's emotionally involving even if it feels archly theatrical.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Supernova • The Capote Tapes
The Dig • The Night
ALL REVIEWS >

From Mexico, the dark drama Identifying Features sends a mother in search of her missing son, a powerful story that's slightly weakened by its artsy filmmaking. Another artful maternal drama, this time from Japan, True Mothers follows an adoption from both sides of the story, beautiful to look at and vaguely mysterious too. The most audaciously inventive film, perhaps of the whole year, The Wolf House is a pitch-black and deeply haunting animated fairy tale from Chile. The documentary The Capote Tapes tells the story of the iconic writer through the eyes of his no-nonsense friends. And the short film collection The Male Gaze: Hide and Seek is another set of strongly well-made little dramas about masculinity.

This coming week will be largely taken up putting together the London Critics' Circle virtual ceremony on Sunday 7th February, but I also need to watch Owen Wilson in Bliss, Sam Neill in Rams, the British streaking comedy Running Naked, the Argentine thriller 4x4, the camp thriller X and the Paris Hilton doc This Is Paris.

Critical Week: Survival of the fittest

Awards season continues with nightly Q&As designed to focus voter attention on various films. I've been able to host a couple of these, which has been a lot of fun, chatting with actors and filmmakers around the world. Another group I vote in, the Online Film Critics, released its nominations this week. Beyond awards contenders, films I watched this week included Outside the Wire, a standard action-packed military thriller elevated by lead actors Anthony Mackie (as a robot!) and Damson Idris. From India, The White Tiger is a must-see blackly comical drama about a guy who leaves his low caste behind through sheer determination.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Are We Lost Forever
The White Tiger • Breaking Fast
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Exception • Imperial Blue
ALL REVIEWS >

It was an eclectic week of movies for me. From the US, Brothers by Blood is a growly, grim Philadelphia crime drama starring the always excellent Matthias Schoenaerts and Joel Kinnaman. From Sweden, David Fardmar's Are We Lost Forever is a gorgeously observed drama about a painful breakup. From Belarus, Persian Lessons is a fascinating true story of one man's survival during WWII, starring the terrific Nahuel Perez Biscayart. And from Denmark, The Exception is an intriguing thriller with big themes, although the filmmakers take a rather contrived approach to it.

I still need to catch up with a couple of this week's releases, including the acclaimed Mexican drama Identifying Features and the shorts collection The Male Gaze: Hide and Seek, plus the biographical documentary The Capote Tapes. And there are also some awards contenders: Radha Blank's prize-winning The Forty-Year-Old Version, the animated drama The Wolf House and the five shorts nominated in the London Film Critics' awards. 

Screen: January TV Roundup

I'm not watching quite as much TV as usual, because it's awards screening season with films. But I've still managed to see quite a few series in between the movies over the past few months...

The Mandalorian: series 2 
One of the finest series in production at the moment, creator Jon Favreau continues to tap into that childhood Star Wars vibe to create a mini-epic in each half-hour-ish episode. Cleverly, each plot is a misdirection, as Pedro Pascal's title character and his increasingly cheeky tiny sidekick are continually distracted by side adventures as they proceed on their epic quest. This means revisiting old characters, meeting new ones and dropping a steady stream of franchise references and witty discoveries into each scene. Every moment is simply gorgeous. (Disney)

His Dark Materials: series 2 
Things get darker as this series continues, now heading into Phillip Pulman's second novel The Subtle Knife. The superb Dafne Keen is flexing her acting chops in the central role: Lyra is becoming a force to reckon with even as she digs deep inside herself. And joining her now, Amir Wilson makes a terrific partner/foil on this journey. The effects are still a bit overly digital, but they bring the fantastical elements to life in vivid ways. And the depth of character across the board makes it riveting, including a seriously complex villain in Ruth Wilson. (BBC)

Star Trek - Discovery: series 3
It's rare for a series to improve so enormously from season to season, but this show seems to revel in reinvention. This season's episodes were bracingly engaging, packed with epic action and full of big ideas. With inventive plotting and a flat-out terrific ensemble, it constantly surprises with its clever approaches to the themes that have made this franchise stand out since 1966. This season sent the crew ahead into a distant fragile future, where they're forced to confront their identities in some superbly well-imagined and played situations that have enormous ramifications. Where to next? (Netflix)

Fargo: series 4 
It's not easy to get into this fourth season, which is set amid duelling gangs in 1950 Kansas City. The racial issues are complex, and of course the production design and eclectic casting is a lot of fun, led by the excellent Chris Rock and Jessie Buckley, both miscast. But it feels oddly indulgent, especially with its churningly violent overtones. While the fatalistic touches are still everywhere, the offhanded small-town charm of the first three seasons (and the Coens' film) is sorely missed. Creator Noah Hawley's approach is ambitious and intriguing, but this season is never engaging. (FX)

SOMETHING NEW

Bridgerton 
Sharply well written and played, and produced with a modern Jane Austen vibe, this juicy Regency soap is ludicrously entertaining. It centres on two families on the London social scene, each with different fortunes during the matchmaking season. At the centre is the tangled romcom-like journey of Daphne and Simon (Phoebe Dynevor and Rege-Jean Page), who overcome toxicity with forgiveness and an open heart (at least until season 2). And the other vivid characters have entertaining journeys of their own, amid fabulous sets and costumes that never overwhelm them. The dialog bristles with wit, and it's a rare show that's genuinely sexy too. (Netflix)

The Serpent
A riveting true story, beautifully produced with a great cast, this series traces the nasty story of Charles Sobhraj (Tahar Rahim), who robbed, drugged and killed travellers across Southeast Asia in the mid-70s, and Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg (Billy Howle), who went far beyond his job to catch him. The period and atmosphere are so beautifully evoked that we can forgive the obvious directorial touches and jarringly choppy editing (two weeks later, three years earlier, seven months later, huh?). And the actors are so strong that we're pulled right into each incredible twist and turn in the tale. (BBC)

The Undoing 
There's a fairly straightforward mystery at the centre of this stylish series, but it's elevated by the astonishing casting of Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant and Donald Sutherland, each of whom plays someone who's slippery and suspicious, but probably not the killer. Add the always excellent Noah Jupe as the teen in the middle, a great role that should have been even bigger. It's all so twisty and vicious, with so many bombshells that it's hard to wait for the next episode. And it's so juicy that we really don't mind where it might end up. The journey is the thing. (HBO)

The Flight Attendant
There's a trashy energy to this series that makes it watchable, even though the storytelling isn't particularly strong. The main problem is that the central character (played full-on by Kaley Cuoco) is relentlessly unlikeable: not only is she a raging alcoholic, but she has serious impulse-control issues. This makes everything that happens feel both implausible and annoying. The actors are solid, creating intriguing characters, most notably Michel Huisman, who makes what could have been a thankless role into someone genuinely fascinating. But all the whizzy, slick production values in the world can't make up for the essentially flimsy plot. (HBO)

Next 
John Slattery is terrific as a scrappy tech billionaire in this slick, convoluted thriller about an AI programme that runs amok and starts murdering and manipulating. This allows for a series of set-pieces that play out with witty and very nasty details. And it's just believable enough to be darkly chilling as things get increasingly freaky, carefully layering in the possible future with the realistic present. The relentless violence is perhaps more human than machine, but it plays nicely into the audience's fear of too-smart technology. And the ramifications the story raises will keep our minds spinning. (Fox)

Black Narcissus
There's a wonderfully leery tone to this melodramatic series, based on the 1939 novel (previously adapted into a 1947 Powell & Pressburger film). Gemma Arterton is superb as Sister Clodagh, the young nun sent to the high Himalayas to start a convent with four colleagues. Her innuendo-fuelled clashes with the roguish Mr Dean (Alessandro Nivola) add some subdued spice, as do her clashes with mentally unstable Sister Ruth (Aisling Franciosi). It's all rather overwrought and ridiculous, which is of course what makes it compelling and entertaining, especially when things get vaguely sexy and hauntingly freaky. (BBC) 

Death to 2020
This mock-doc looking back at the last 12 months really should have been a lot more original than this with Charlie Brooker's name attached. But it's a rather simplistic rehash of the year's various nightmares, peppered with lazy jokes and flippant commentary, as if everything will go back to normal at the stroke of midnight on December 31st. Appearances from Hugh Grant, Lisa Kudrow, Kumail Nanjiani, Leslie Jones and especially Samuel L Jackson add interest. But while they make it watchable, they're only able to inject a few meaningful observations. (Netflix)

ONGOING 

This Is Us: series 5 
Open-handed emotions continue to guide this family series, which is still bouncing around in an ever-expanding timeline to catch the characters at various ages, sometimes straining to draw parallels between their reactions and experiences. The cast has settled into their second skins now, making these people feel like part of our own family, so every emotional wrench is strongly felt. I'm not crying, you are. (NBC)

Superstore: series 6 
Covid invaded this sitcom in a major way, and the writers have had a lot of fun with it, allowing viewers to laugh at the absurdities without dwelling too much on the annoying/boring aspects of lockdown. The cast continues to have fun playing these idiots as they work in their enormous warehouse shop, although sending America Ferrara off to California in the season's early episodes feels like a misstep. (NBC)

Mom: series 8 
The title is now pointless, as this show deleted one mom/daughter from the first season and has now lost another one. Instead, it has become a rehab sitcom starring Allison Janney. And I'm not complaining. It's still sharp and funny, tinged with real-life issues and packed with wacky characters who manage to keep their feet on the ground. Janney and William Fichtner's relationship continues to find sparky wrinkles, and it's still refreshing to see recovering addicts for whom putting their lives back together isn't accomplished in one episode. (CBS)

Shameless: series 11 
For their final season, the Gallagher family are clearly intending to go out in a blaze of glory. This series starts with them in very different places as parents, spouses and entrepreneurs, which continues their journeys with additional textures and complications. There's the usual worry that the writers will continue to pull the rug out from under these people we've grown to love. But it will be fun to see where they all end up. (Showtime)

NOW WATCHING: WandaVision, The Stand, Staged (2), Dickinson (2), The Conners (4), Kim's Convenience (5).

LOOKING FORWARD: It's a Sin, Snowpiercer (2), Call My Agent (4)...

Critical Week: Reject oppression

It's been a busy week for me, as I chair the London Film Critics, and we announced our nominations on Tuesday.  Meanwhile, I keep watching movies in lockdown, all send virtually through a variety of streaming systems, usually with my name and/or email address watermarked across the screen (which can sometimes be distracting). There were a few heavy-hitters this week, including the great Daniel Kaluuya in the ripping true drama Judas and the Black Messiah, about the political machinations within the Chicago chapter of the Black Panthers in 1968. Oscar powerhouses Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto lend their considerable skills to the rather straightforward serial killer thriller The Little Things. And John David Washington and Zendaya have an extended tense conversation in the stylish and fascinating stage-like drama Malcolm & Marie.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
MLK/FBI • Blithe Spirit
Boys Feels: High Tide 
ALL REVIEWS >

Smaller films included the warm comedy-drama Love Sarah, starring Celia Imrie and a lot of delicious baked goods. The superb Shahab Hosseini stars in The Night, about an immigrant family that checks into a freak-out hotel. The surreal Greek drama Apples is about a world inflicted by a pandemic that causes amnesia, and the story is packed with clever insight. There were two award-worthy docs: The Truffle Hunters is the utterly delightful story of the old Italians who guard their old world profession, while MLK/FBI is a blood-boiling look at how J Edgar Hoover ruthlessly harassed Martin Luther King and smeared his name in the 1960s. Finally, there was a collection of four short films in Boys Feels: High Tide - each of them is an astute look at youthful yearning.

This coming week I'll be watching Anthony Mackie in Outside the Wire, the Indian biopic The White Tiger, Nahuel Perez Biscayart in Persian Lessons, the Danish thriller The Exception and still more awards contenders.

Contenders: Playing catch-up

As I do each year, I've been catching up with 2020 films I missed when they were originally released, to consider them during the awards voting season. London's latest/ongoing lockdown has definitely helped give me more time at home for filling in these gaps in my viewing this year. They're listed here in the order I watched them, and I suspect I'll have more of these in the coming weeks. My usual Critical Week note is at the bottom...

Saint Maud

dir-scr Rose Glass; with Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Lily Knight, Lily Frazer 19/UK StudioCanal 1h24 ***

Filmmaker Rose Glass creates a harrowing atmosphere for this freaky British horror, which centres on a timid young woman whose confidence grows in seriously nasty directions. Morfydd Clark is terrific as Maud, a nurse hired to work for the imperious former dancer Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), who is wasting away with cancer. But Maud's newfound religious fervour means that she's more interested in saving Amanda's soul than helping her in her time of need. Clark plays Maud's dangerous piety with a staggering sense of focus, augmented by some surreal, unnervingly effective effects work. And Ehle is also fiercely committed to her intense role. The film is way over-the-top, as Glass cleverly mashes up references to The Exorcist with stories of fanatical terrorists. It ends up feeling like a lot of style with little substance. But what style!

4.Dec.20

The Life Ahead

dir Edoardo Ponti; scr Ugo Chiti, Edoardo Ponti; with Sophia Loren, Ibrahima Gueye, Abril Zamora, Renato Carpentieri, Iosif Diego Pirvu 20/It Netflix 1h34 ****

Sophia Loren returns to the screen with a terrific performance in this engaging drama about an odd-couple friendship between an Italian Auschwitz survivor in her 80s and a cheeky orphan from Senegal. It's a lively story with plenty of sharp edges to it as these two characters clash and bond in unusual ways. At the centre is the journey of the quick-thinking young Momo (Gueye), who makes cash dealing drugs while trying to be a good boy for Loren's watchful Madame Rosa. There are terrific relationships dotted throughout the film, including another orphan Rosa is caring for (the expressive Pirvu) and a trans hooker (Zamora), a single mum who's estranged from her family. Yes, it's lively and sentimental, but never gets too sweet. And there are some strong emotional kicks.

20.Dec.20

Welcome to Chechnya

dir David France; scr David France, Tyler H Walk; with David Isteev, Olga Baranova, Maxim Lapunov 20/UK BBC 1h47 ****

This acclaimed and often harrowing documentary explores reports of a violent gay purge underway in the autonomous nation within the Russian Federation, where police arrest and torture anyone rumoured to be homosexual, recommending that their families kill them. Across Russia at large, hateful homophobic violence isn't prosecuted, so people live in terror. The film centres on two aide workers (Isteev and Baranova) who bravely rescue young people from certain death, then seek sponsorship abroad to spirit them out of the country. We watch several of these cases unfold like heart-pounding thrillers. And the central story features superhero Lapunov, the first person to officially report his assault by officials. He's supported by his boyfriend and family, all of whom also need to get out as soon as they can. All while Russia denies the problem and promotes the violence. 

20.Dec.20

Dick Johnson Is Dead

dir Kirsten Johnson; scr Nels Bangerter, Kirsten Johnson; with Dick Johnson, Kirsten Johnson 20/US Netflix 1h29 ****

After her mother's death from Alzheimer's, documentarian Kirsten Johnson decides to make a film about her father, focussing on the idea that one day he too will die. Much of this doc is blackly hilarious, as Dick goes along with her nutty ideas, acting out being bumped off in a variety of ways (cleverly deploying actors and stuntmen) and even attending a funeral staged as his send-off (he thinks the coffin is comfy). But along the way, the film also outlines Dick's interesting life and the warmly humorous relationship he has with Kirsten. This makes it hugely entertaining and engaging, even while dealing with issues most of us never talk about. It's a rather low-key, home-made kind of movie, but there are some genuinely big moments, and it's assembled expertly to hold our attention, gently coaxing us into exploring our own mortality too.

1.Jan.21

Crip Camp

dir-scr Nicole Newnham, James Lebrecht; with Judith Heumann, James Lebrecht, Denise Sherer Jacobson, Neil Jacobson 20/US Netflix 1h46 ****

This important doc traces the origins of the accessibility rights movement back to a summer camp in 1971, where teens with disabilities were able to experience a normal youthful getaway, far from their over-protective parents and segregated schools. No one was "ill" here: each person's distinct physicality was embraced. And as they grew up, many of them began to take a stand for America's marginalised population of people who were unable to access transport, schools and services. Through articulate speeches, protests and sit-ins, they changed the law in America, something that has spread throughout the developed world to allow all people to participate in public life. It's a hugely empowering story, and the filmmakers wonderfully keep reminding us that these are intelligent, valuable members of society, with the same needs and desires as everyone else.

3.Jan.21

Bloody Nose Empty Pockets

dir Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross; with Shay Walker, Peter Elwell, Michael Martin 20/US Netflix 1h38 ****

A fly-on-the-wall documentary filmed over the course of one night, this traces the closing down of The Roaring 20's, a dive bar off the Vegas Strip. The colourful regulars trickle in expressing their sadness about losing their home away from home, then as they chat and become increasingly inebriated, the crowd gets much more interesting in just about every way possible. There are some mild antics, the threat of a brawl and a lot of bromance going on here. It's freeform and very loose, but is shot gorgeously by the directors to look like a carefully staged narrative feature. So the people really spring to life as vivid movie characters with fascinating back-stories and nuanced interaction. And along the way, there are gentle observations on the nature of dreams, the way we don't always do what we know is right, and the deep need to have a safe bolt-hole.

4.Jan.21

The Kid Detective

dir-scr Evan Morgan; with Adam Brody, Sophie Nelisse, Tzi Ma, Sarah Sutherland, Wendy Crewson, Peter MacNeill 20/Can Sony 1h40 ***.

This comical mystery centres on a 32-year-old whose glory days as a brilliant teen private eye are long behind him, but he's not willing to give up on his career. Writer-director Evan Morgan packs the film with witty Hardy Boys-style references, while deepening the story significantly. Adam Brody is wonderful in the lead role, a guy who never quite grew up and now takes his first properly adult case involving a brutal murder. The tone is a bit goofy, and the pacing rather meandering, so the details of the case never quite grab hold. But Brody holds the interest, providing an engaging character study that feels strikingly relevant without being pushy about the bigger themes. The film has an askance tone that makes it unpredictable and offbeat enough to be memorable.

6.Jan.21

His House

dir-scr Remi Weekes; with Sope Dirisu, Wunmi Mosaku, Matt Smith, Malaika Wakoli-Abigaba, Javier Botet 20/UK Netflix 1h33 ***.

There's a fierce topicality to this unnerving British horror movie, which centres on a couple (Dirisu and Mosaku) who arrive as refugees following a harrowing escape from their brutally wartorn African homeland. But as they settle into their grubby government-provided home, they realise that it's also occupied by a vicious witch (Botet) and the daughter (Wakoli-Abigaba) they lost en route. Dirisu and Mosaku are outstanding in complex roles that explode with emotionality, and writer-director Weekes evokes thoughts, ideas, trauma and terror using fiendishly clever filmmaking. Yes, most of the scary bits are rather obvious movie tricks, but because its so underpinned by current events and raw emotions, it gets deep under the skin.

6.Jan.21

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~

C R I T I C A L   W E E K

The only regular releases I watched this past week were I Care a Lot, J Blakeson's seriously unnerving comical thriller with Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage, and A Stone in the Water, a somewhat clumsy low-budget Misery-style horror film with Bonnie Bedelia. Everything else is listed above. Meanwhile, with nominations ballots due this weekend in two awards, I still have qualifying films to watch over the next week, including Denzel Washington in The Little Things, Daniel Kaluuya in Judas and the Black Messiah and Shahab Hosseini in The Night.

Critical Week: Is it raining?

Happy New Year from now-outside-the-EU London! Days have been blurring together over as I watch movies, go for walks and eat, and not a lot else. I'm still catching up on awards-season titles as voting deadlines approach. It's a tricky business, deciding which ones are worth the time and which can perhaps be skipped. As a critic, I hate not to give everyone a fair shake, but I do have to set priorities. Among the ones I watched were the quirky Irish romantic-comedy Wild Mountain Thyme, with Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan and Christopher Walken. Odd casting aside, it's warm and funny. Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman are on top form in the sharply well-made drama The Father, based on a stage play. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
We Can Be Heroes • DNA
Pieces of a Woman 
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Blackout 
ALL REVIEWS >

There was also Michelle Pfeiffer, terrific alongside the always-watchable Lucas Hedges in the black comedy French Exit. An all-star cast including Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher and Judi Dench star in an entertaining if not particularly needed remake of Noel Coward's nutty comedy Blythe Spirit. Jack O'Connell and Olivia Cooke star in the swirling, sensual, sad romance Little Fish. And Kelly Reichardt's First Cow is one of the best bromances in recent memory, following two men in 19th century Oregon.

Much less demanding, Robert Rodriguez's colourful kids' superhero movie We Can Be Heroes is an energetic guilty pleasure. And then there was this eclectic trio: Savage is a gritty, violent story of gang life in New Zealand; DNA is a heartfelt French film looking into a woman's Algerian roots; and from Russia, The Blackout: Invasion Earth is an ambitious alien-attack epic that's messy but still spectacular. Finally, I caught up with two awards-worthy docs: an inventive exploration of grief and mortality in Dick Johnson Is Dead and a powerful look at disability rights history in Crip Camp.

I'm still catching up on contenders over the next week, as both the London and Online critics groups are casting nominations ballots next week. And I also need to watch a few films that are coming out over the next few weeks. It's a mixed bag that I haven't quite defined yet.