Critical Week: The eyes have it

Screenings are beginning to crank up as awards season begins. I'm a member of three groups of critics that give out year-end awards, and there are quite a few films I still need to catch up with before ballots are due, starting in mid-December. I managed to see one this week, the biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye, adapted from a favourite documentary of mine (from 2000), now starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield as tele-evangelists Tammy and Jim Bakker. Even if it feels a bit satirical, it's a strikingly well-made, even-handed film with a strong emotional kick. Samantha Morton stars in the Welsh comedy-drama Save the Cinema, based on a true story about a community trying to save their local theatre, with a little help from Steven Spielberg. It's perhaps too warm, but thoroughly engaging.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Power of the Dog • The Feast
Petite Maman • C'mon C'mon
Bad Luck Banging or Looney Porn
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time
PERHAPS AVOID:
Hide and Seek
ALL REVIEWS >

Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars in Hide and Seek, a thriller remade from a Korean movie. It's slick, but seems to have lost much of its oomph in the translation. Celine Sciamma continues to surprise with the wonderful Petite Maman, an inventive look through a young girl's curious eyes. The Spanish drama Isaac bristles with nostalgia in a knowing story of old friends reconnecting. And the documentary Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time unpicks the life of one of my favourite authors with lots of wit and some seriously amazing archival footage, plus the personal story of a long friendship.

Coming up this week, I'll be watching Nicole Kidman in Being the Ricardos, Lady Gaga in House of Gucci, Keira Knightley in Silent Night, Lea Seydoux in France, Disney's animated musical Encanto, the animated sequel Sing 2, the double collection of shorts The French Boys and the Nazi legacy doc Final Account. I also have a few stage shows to watch.