Critical Week: Hold that thought

I'm even busier this week as the date approaches for the 44th London Critics' Circle Film Awards, which I am organising on Sunday. So much to organise, including the slippery business of wrangling celebrities. But the ceremony and party are going to be great. Meanwhile, the big movie this week was Matthew Vaughn's Argylle, in which Henry Cavill plays a suave super-agent living in the mind of novellist Bryce Dallas Howard. The idea is clever, but the film is far too busy, loud, violent, twisty and long to work properly. Still, some colourful moments and a great cast (Sam Rockwell, Samuel L Jackson, Ariana DeBose) make it almost watchable. The animated adventure Migration is a lot more fun, gorgeously animated and packed with great characters thanks to screenwriter Mike White (of The White Lotus fame).

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Zone of Interest • Skin Deep
American Fiction • Disco Boy
How to Have Sex • Blue Giant
ALL REVIEWS >

Further afield, the drama Shayda centres closely on the experiences of an abused Iranian wife seeking shelter in Australia. It's beautifully acted, involving and hugely emotional. The Japanese animated jazz-infused drama Blue Giant is packed with a spectacular imagery and music, and a strongly engaging story. And the dark drama Pornomelancholia is the thoughtful, naturalistic story of a young man who wants to become a pornstar in Mexico. I also got the chance to revisit my best film of 2023, Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers, as it finally opened in UK cinemas last weekend. It hit me in a very different way the second time - astonishing filmmaking that I will revisit again.

This coming week I'll be watching the biopic One Love: Bob Marley, the thriller Out of Darkness and the drama Hoard, among other things and getting some sleep.