Critical Week: The boy is back

There weren't many movies for me this week, as the television show I'm working on had very long days. But I managed to catch three of this week's releases. For the fourth live-action film, Hellboy: The Crooked Man returns to its snarky roots. Skilfully made, this is a snappy, edgy and genuinely horrific film, with a strongly witty central performance from Jack Kesy.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
My Old Ass • Sleep
The Outrun • Megalopolis
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In the cinema, I saw Francis Ford Coppola's ambitious passion project Megalopolis, which is a real stunner. It's a bit messy and over-reaching, but the scale and artistry are simply glorious, as are the meaty performances from an eclectic cast that includes Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Giancarlo Esposito and Shia LaBeouf, plus key roles for Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne and Talia Shire. And the drama Rez Ball, set in the Navajo nation, is a rousing basketball movie that plays closely by the genre rules. The setting provides strong topicality.

This coming week will be another very busy one working on-set, but I'm also planning to see Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie a Deux, Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal in La Maquina, Quentin Dupieux's comedy biopic Daaaaaali, the romcom All Kinds of Love, the drama Beauty Grace Malice and the surfing doc Maya and the Wave, plus a couple of live performances if possible.