Oscar nominations this week threw the awards season into some chaos, and put some races into focus. There will be lots of conjecture before the ceremony at the end of March. Then after several weeks with a drip-feed of big releases, three come along all at once. All three had late press screenings this week in London just before they opened. The most fun was
Uncharted, a lively adventure that just about gets away with its simplistic script because Tom Holland is so ludicrously charming. And Mark Wahlberg almost keeps up with him, which is pretty impressive. Kenneth Branagh is back with another lavish but underwhelming Agatha Christie adaptation,
Death on the Nile, which has lovely (mainly digital) Egyptian settings and an all-star cast that includes Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Letitia Wright, Russell Brand and an underused French and Saunders. And Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson find surprising chemistry in
Marry Me, a romcom that never veers form the formula, but has some fun with it.
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More offbeat films included Johnny Depp in the biopic
Minimata, about a noted photojournalist raising awareness of toxic waste in 1970s Japan. It's well-made but a bit dull.
Give or Take is a charming little drama about two men who share a grief and little else. Watching them find friendship is nicely underplayed.
Small Body is a bold fable from Italy about a woman on an epic quest from the sea to the mountains. It's packed with provocative themes, and is deeply haunting. And I also watched the six short films featured on
The French Boys 3, another collection of terrific small dramas that grapple with masculinity.
This coming week I'll be watching Naomi Watts in
The Desperate Hour, Zoe Kravitz in
Kimi, Jason Isaacs in
Streamline, Max von Sydow in
Echoes of the Past, the French coming-of-age drama
A Night in the Fields and the surreal drama
Strawberry Mansion. I'll also be at the press night for the London stage musical production of
Saturday Night Fever.
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