Critical Week: Too cool for school

Things have been a bit quieter for me this week, as I haven't had too many films to watch. Although while the weather has been warmer, we're still in complete lockdown, meaning it's impossible to met up with friends or go into town. So I've been catching up on things and watching what I can to get a little ahead of the curve.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Night of the Kings • The Mauritanian
The United States vs Billie Holiday
The Father • Song Without a Name
PERHAPS AVOID:
Crisis • Tyger Tyger
ALL REVIEWS >

The most mainstream film I saw this week was Moxie, the comedy directed by Amy Poehler for Netflix. It stars Hadley Robinson in a hugely engaging tale about girl power, and rather a lot more. I also enjoyed the black comedy Pixie, an engagingly messy road movie set in Ireland as young people navigate a brewing war between gangster priests (led by Alec Baldwin) and the local mob (Colm Meaney). 

Smaller films included the remarkable British drama Justine, a sensitive look at a troubled young woman, and Tyger Tyger, an enigmatic and artful film set on the outer fringe of Southern California society during a killer pandemic. And from Ivory Coast, Night of the Kings is a staggeringly involving prison drama that's well worth a look. There were also two strong short film collections exploring aspects of youthful masculinity: Boys on Film 21: Beautiful Secret and The Latin Boys: Volume 2.

We also had the virtual programme launch event for the British Film Institute's annual Flare LGBTIQ+ film festival, which next month will be held online for the second year running. The kind folk at the BFI sent me a small version of the annual logo cake to enjoy for the launch, a tradition I've enjoyed each year while covering this event over the past 23 years. (See my Insta post below.)

This coming week's collection of movies includes Disney's animated Raya and the Last Dragon, the award-winning Filipino drama The Verdict, the Japanese true drama Fukushima 50 and bonkers filmmaker Quentin Dupieux's Keep an Eye Out.

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