Critical Week: Let them eat cake

It was a party at the gala UK premiere of the romantic comedy Red, White & Royal Blue, an Amazon Prime movie at BFI Imax, the biggest screen in Europe. Representing the film was director Matthew Lopez, who made a statement in solidarity of striking actors and his fellow writers. So lead actors Nicholas Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar Perez (above) couldn't attend, although Perez offered a video introduction (preceded with a note that it was recorded pre-strike). The audience was a rather lively mix of critics and influencers bathed in red light while we waited for the movie to start. And it's a lot of fun: charming and goofy and just a bit pointed too.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Talk to Me • Baato
Bobi Wine: The People's President
Boys on Film 23: Dangerous to Know
ALL REVIEWS >

Last Friday, I bought a ticket to see Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer in 70mm (Universal had refused to allow me into the 70mm Imax press screenings). It's a glorious epic, as expertly assembled as expected, staggeringly visual and beautifully performed by a powerhouse ensemble. Even if it's a bit overlong, it's essential viewing. 

Other films this week included the moving and inventive French drama Smalltown Boys, the exhilarating if slightly awkward Malaysian action thriller Walid, the beautifully animated adventure Mavka: The Forest Song from Ukraine, the gorgeously shot Nepal migration doc Baato, and Boys on Film 23: Dangerous to Know, another excellent collection of provocative short films from the fine folk at Peccadillo.

This coming week I'll be watching Jason Statham in Meg 2: The Trench, Orlando Bloom in Gran Turismo, the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mania, the thriller Till Death Do Us Part, the black comedy The Trouble With Jessica, the action comedy Polite Society and the doc Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed.