There have been a flurry of screenings this week, as studios try to make sure critics see their films before the Cannes Film Festival gets underway next week. Two films opening this week were screened a bit late to the press. Billie Eilish's July 2025 Manchester concert has been filmed in 3D in
Hit Me Hard and Soft, directed by Eilish herself, working with 3D aficionado James Cameron. The concert footage is stunning, remarkably immersive and intimate; the backstage doc material is rather thin. And then there's the videogame action sequel
Mortal Kombat II, this time starring Karl Urban as fan-favourite Johnny Cage. He's hilarious, and helps non-fans get through two hours of dense mythology and astonishing grisliness.
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Wider audiences will enjoy the straight-to-streaming animated adventure
Swapped, a colourful and very nutty body-swap romp with a terrific voice cast led by Michael B Jordan and Juno Temple. Leo Woodall puts his likeable charisma to fine use in
Tuner, a mashup of drama, romantic comedy and crime thriller. Costars Dustin Hoffman and Havana Rose Liu help make it thoroughly entertaining. Sam Nivola ably leads the cast of the enjoyable teen road-trip comedy
Driver's Ed, with ace support from Kumail Nanjiani and Molly Shannon. And Pedro Almodovar's new drama
Bitter Christmas is another gorgeously layered tale about creativity. I also saw three live performances: the fabulous
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo at Sadler's Wells, the immersive dinner theatre
Chat Noir at the Lost Estate, and Bullyache's challenging
A Good Man Is Hard to Find at Sadler's Wells East.
Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Allison Janney in
Miss You Love You, Sally Field in
Remarkably Bright Creatures, Emilia Jones in
Fairyland, Curry Barker's horror thriller
Obsession and a live performance of
Remachine at Sadler's Wells East.
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