Exhibition: You are the dancing queen!

Like a trip back to the 1970s, the Abba: Super Troupers exhibition is running at the O2 until the end of August 2020. It's a lively, colourful romp through the history of the iconic Swedish band, exploring how its style and sound developed. Intriguingly, it also calls for a more serious exploration of the group's impact on world music, putting its achievements into context with what was happening around the globe. And with the right kind of crowd, this is the kind of museum that encourages you to get dancing - indeed there's both a full-on disco space in the middle, plus a large concert dance floor at the end. (Alas, I saw it with lots of rather subdued press very early on a Thursday morning.)

The first room sets the scene: Britain in 1974, which is when Abba broke out of Sweden with a glittery flourish at the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton (Waterloo won). Intriguingly, this was also a time when Britain was dealing with years of austerity and big questions about Europe. From here we travel back to the four bandmates' childhoods and solo careers, their first album Ring Ring (when they were called "Björn Benny Agnetha Frida") and how they developed both the name Abba and that trademark backwards B.

Each room centres on one of their albums with enormous cover art, plus clothes, props, studios, stage sets and even a helicopter from the Arrival cover art. Of course, Waterloo is accompanied with a special Eurovision stage re-creation (including the costumes and star guitar from Brighton, pictured here). The working disco is in the Voulez-Vous room. There's also a look at Abba: The Movie (which was released alongside Abba: The Album). And the final studio album, 1981's The Visitor, offers a jolt of melancholy as their marriages had failed.

Onwards, there are gold and platinum records galore, plus a full-on recreation of superfan Andrew Boardman's Manchester home jam-packed with memorabilia. And before you get to the gift shop, an enormous concert room projects memorable moments from their performances with plenty of space to throw some shapes and sing Thank You For the Music at the top of your lungs.

This is a beautifully curated exhibition, presented in association with Abba: The Museum in Stockholm. It's packed with historical and cultural treasures, interview material, imagery and evocative items, all described on a ludicrously jam-packed audio guide (included with the price of admission). More than a trip down memory lane, it's a reminder of why Abba's music still has such a powerful hold on us. You'll wish you'd worn something just a little shinier.

A few more pics on Insta...

View this post on Instagram

Enjoyed tripping back to the ‘70s for the #Abba #SuperTroupers exhibition at the O2 - running now until August #dancingqueen #knowingmeknowingyou #aha

A post shared by Rich Jack Cline (@ukcline) on Dec 9, 2019 at 2:51am PST

For more information: www.abbasupertroupers.com 

Sundance London 4: Peace and quiet

The 3rd Sundance London Film & Music Festival wrapped up on Sunday night with a flurry of film screenings and musical performances. The whole event felt much more subdued this year, and not just because it was a day shorter. The main change was the lack of a place to properly hang out - the press and filmmakers' lounge was gone, as was the more intimate club space, replaced by a sprawling and rather amorphous bar/bowling alley/dance venue. There was nowhere to sit, chat or work. And the O2 isn't known for its friendly spaces. Still, the films were superb, and all were accompanied by Q&As with the filmmakers and actors. My last screening (The Voices, pictured above and reviewed below) on Sunday night featured Marjane Satrapi, Ryan Reynolds and Gemma Arterton in a lively and unhurried Q&A - that doesn't happen at most festivals. Here are comments on three final films...

The Voices
dir Marjane Satrapi; with Ryan Reynolds, Anna Kendrick 14/US ****
It's tricky to categorise this offbeat horror comedy, which maintains a playful tone even as things get genuinely dark and disturbing. But director Satrapi maintains a wonderfully witty visual vibe even as Michael R Perry's viciously clever script explores the pitch-black corners of mental illness. It's the story of Jerry (Reynolds), a tormented young man trying to get on with life after being instituted. He has a job in a bathtub factory and a helpful therapist (Jacki Weaver), and he has his eye on a girl in accounting (Arterton), although her colleague (Anna Kendrick) is the one who really likes him. But Jerry has also gone off his meds, and is hearing the voices of his loveable dog Bosco and bitter cat Mr Whiskers. And what they tell him to do is pretty horrific. The film touches on so many sub-genres that we never have a clue where it's going next. Is this a black comedy about a serial killer? A sharp tragedy about a guy who's criminally insane? A creepy fable about a murderer's inner turmoil? This complex layering makes the film far more involving than it should be, and also far scarier than expected for a comedy. So even if performances are a bit broad and uneven, the film exerts a strong grip on the audience, provoking laughter and nervous horror in all the wrong places.

Hits
dir-scr David Cross; with Meredith Hagner, Matt Walsh 14/US ***.
Actor-comedian Cross makes his feature directing debut with this offbeat ensemble comedy about instant fame. It's a sharply written script with a terrific cast that includes both newcomers and established stars. And even if Cross' direction wobbles, the film keeps us laughing as it makes some rather astute commentary on growing up in the reality TV era. Set in Upstate New York, the key figures are Katelyn (Hagner), a teen who believes that fame is an inherent right, and her father Dave (Walsh), who is pushed into prominence when he complains to the town council about their shoddy service. Swirling around them are another teen (Jake Cherry) who also believes he has the talent to make it big and has a crush on Katelyn, and three ridiculous hipster bloggers from New York (James Adomian, Wyatt Cenac and Derek Walters) who descend on Dave in the hopes that his cause boosts their profile. Yes, everyone in this film wants to get noticed, and no one wants to do the work. It's all a bit caustic and obvious, and scenes play out without much sense of momentum, but the brave actors make the most of the witty, telling dialog. And this often hilarious film carries an important kick.

Little Accidents
dir-scr Sara Colangelo; with Boyd Holbrook, Elizabeth Banks 14/US ****
Expanding her 2010 short into a feature, filmmaker Colangelo beautifully captures a small-town community in the grip of a series of tragedies that may or may not be accidental. Watching these characters grapple with the ambiguity of the situation is riveting, especially as each must muster the courage to tell the truth. It's a powerful drama that envelops us in its world and doesn't go easy on us. The main characters are Amos (Holbrook), injured in a recent mining accident and trying to get his life back on track; Bill and Diane (Josh Lucas and Banks), the manager of the mine and his wife, who live in relative splendour in the working-class West Virginia town; and Owen (Mud's Jacob Lofland), whose father died in the accident and who has a secret that is not easy to keep. These people circle around each other in ways that sometimes feel a bit contrived and scripted, but push the characters into fascinating corners, drawing out breathtaking a range of emotions. Performances are subtle and understated, and the setting adds beautifully to the film's overall tone of tense uncertainty. It's also a striking drama with themes so deep that the film is very hard to shake afterwards. Keep an eye on Colangelo.

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
C R I T I C A L   W E E K :
I only saw two non-Sundance films last week, but both were terrific. Roman Polanski's Venus in Fur stars Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric as an actress and director during a stage audition. As the power shifts between them in subtle, complex ways, both actors deliver powerhouse performances, captured with wit and invention by Polanski. But it's the script (by Polanski and David Ives, based on Ives' play) that is the main show: astoundingly clever. Less sophisticated, Advanced Style is a documentary about over-50 women in New York who are almost ridiculously glamorous. They're also fantastic movie characters, and we feel like we could follow them around all day long. A lot of fun, with some emotional moments as well.

Sundance London 3: Tales of deconstruction

The Sundance London Festival is winding down tonight, and it's been a rather crazy weekend at the O2 with films and filmmakers crawling all over the place. The public screenings are always a lot more fun than the press shows, as we get filmmaker intros and Q&As, plus of course lively audiences to watch the movies with. I'll have one last entry tomorrow; in the meantime, here are more highlights...

They Came Together
dir David Wain; with Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler 14/US ***.
A goofy spoof of romantic-comedies, this film sets itself a pretty tricky target, since rom-coms are pretty corny themselves. But cowriters David Wain and Michael Showalter and their up-for-it cast charge on regardless, wringing a lot of laughs from the material. Frustratingly, the hilarious rom-com they create isn't actually very involving. The story plays out in flashback as Joel and Molly (Russ and Poehler, above) recount their movie-like tale to friends (Bill Hader and Ellie Kemper) over dinner. And there isn't a single movie cliche left out, from various montage sequences to a series of best pals to various improbable breakups and reunions. With lesser actors, this could have turned out like a painful cross between Mel Brooks and Zucker-Abrams-Zucker, but Rudd and Poehler add the necessary zing to hold our interest and keep us laughing at the dense onslaught of visual and verbal gags. Not to mention a non-stop flow of hilarious starry cameos. But if the film itself was actually a charmer, that would have been something special.

Frank
dir Lenny Abrahamson; with Domhnall Gleeson, Michael Fassbender 14/Ire ****
Loosely based on the life of Chris Sievey (aka Frank Sidebottom), this offbeat comedy continually challenges us both with big ideas and narrative U-turns. It's a remarkably assured comedy with a warm centre underneath a prickly, sometimes maddeningly absurd surface... FULL REVIEW >

Kumiko the Treasure Hunter 
dir David Zellner; with Rinko Kikuchi, Nobuyuki Katsube 14/US ***.
An offbeat riff on the Coen brothers' Fargo, this "true story" is packed with witty touches and knowing references, as well as a remarkably complex, surreal performance from Kikuchi. It's also a little bit frustrating in its refusal to let the audience in on the joke, if it is a joke. It opens in Japan with the surly but intriguingly cheeky Kumiko (Kikuchi) following a treasure map to a videotape buried in a seaside cave and a clue pointing to a specific moment in the film, indicating the spot a case of cash is buried in snowy Minnesota. Even though Fargo is clearly a fictional movie, Kumiko becomes obsessed with travelling to the wintry American Midwest to find that cash. The bare bones of the plot are so bonkers that the film has the ring of truth to it, although there's something squirm-inducing about being asked to sympathise with someone who is so delusional - and probably mentally ill. And director-cowriter-costar Zellner somehow manages to create a lightly comical tone while undermining every scene with horror movie touches. Clever, unsettling, unforgettable.

Sundance Shorts

I watched nine shorts at this year's festival, and the best was easily Yearbook, Bernardo Britto's animated tale about a man trying to distill human influence into the historical records before the planet is destroyed. It's a real stunner. Other highlights included Burger, the Iris-produced late-night comedy shot in Cardiff that's a blast of pure energy; The Last Days of Peter Bergmann, an Irish documentary about a man who managed to erase himself from the world; and Life's a Bitch, a staggeringly ambitious and utterly wonderful French short about the romantic entanglements one hapless guy gets into and out of over a year.

Sundance London 2: Seeing double

It's only Day 2 of a three-day film festival and I already have that feeling like I need more sleep, more time to do my work and more time away from screens of any kind. Any journalist who has covered a film festival knows these symptoms, but we persevere. The Sundance London Festival is actually refreshingly small - there are only 21 features, and I don't have to see them all. But then the festival started for the press on Tuesday morning, so we're actually almost a week in. Some more highlights...

The One I Love
dir Charlie McDowell; with Elisabeth Moss, Mark Duplass 14/US ****
With a bone-dry sense of humour and a fiendishly clever central gimmick, this relationship movie gets surprisingly deep while also creating unexpected currents of tension. There's definitely a sense that the script is too smart for its own good, but as played by the cast it feels remarkably off-handed, revealing real emotions in every scene. Moss and Duplass (pictured above) play a couple struggling to hold their relationship together when they head off on a remote retreat, where they are confronted in an outrageous way with the ways they idealise each other. It's a fiendishly clever idea, very simple and utterly mind-bending. Both actors play it perfectly, playfully adding telling details and subtle emotions to scenes that unfold as if they're improvised. And Moss adds something even more impressive in yet another astonishing performance.

Fruitvale Station
dir-scr Ryan Coogler; with Michael B Jordan, Melonie Diaz 13/US *****
Expertly written, fluidly directed and performed with earthy authenticity, this drama recreates a terrible real-life event without resorting to melodramatics or manipulation. And what's most remarkable is that filmmaker Coogler presents the story without trying to wedge in a contrived message. In other words, these kinds of things happen to complex people who are neither heroes or bad guys ... FULL REVIEW >

The Case Against 8
dir Ben Cotner, Ryan White; with Ted Olson, David Boies 14/US ****.
While there's nothing particularly notable about the way this documentary is put together, it tells a hugely important story with real skill, building to key emotional points while making sure the political implications are clear. And the people on-screen become such vivid, engaging characters that the moving final sequence is almost overwhelming. After a bit of scene-setting, the narrative begins on election day in 2008, when Obama was elected president and California ratified Proposition 8. Lawyers immediately saw the holes in this legislation, and over the next five years the case escalated through the courts, culminating in the Supreme Court decision last June, which effectively repealed Prop 8. The film follows all of this through the eyes of the plaintiffs, two same-sex couples who bravely volunteered to be the public face of equality, working with the unlikely legal team of Olson and Boies (who argued opposite sides before the Supreme Court over the Bush v Gore election in 2000). And along with a hugely engaging narrative, this is one of the clearest depictions yet about why this isn't actually a religious or political issue.

Memphis
dir-scr Tim Sutton; with Willis Earl Beal, Lopaka Thomas 13/US ***
While this swirling odyssey of a movie is beautifully shot and scored (by its star), it's also relentlessly indulgent, wallowing in the artistic process without properly bringing viewers in. Which leaves it as a fascinating exploration of creativity without anything meaningful to grab hold of. The film follows Beal as he roams around Memphis, mixing with locals, old friends and a lot of people who are never defined (family? friends? kind strangers?). He has just made it big, and lives in a mansion he hasn't yet made a home, driving around town in a huge white Cadillac. Most of these relationships feel unsatisfying, but Beal's biggest problem is coming up with material for that dreaded second album. There are clever elements of Beal's self-examination in this film - from working out his most optimal conditions to be creative to wondering whether he had any talent to begin with. But the film is resolutely experimental, refusing to add any coherence to help the audience follow along. We can absorb moods and ideas and emotions, but without any idea who these people are, it's impossible to engage with Beal or his quest.

Sundance London 1: Fine dining

The 3rd Sundance London Film and Music Festival kicked off tonight at the O2 in North Greenwich. Of course, the press has been here all week watching movies and attending special events (like a breakfast yesterday with the filmmakers), but there was a marked gear-shift today with the extremely noticeable arrival of an army of Americans brandishing lanyards. It'll be fun getting to know them over the next three days, and I've already recognised some from last year's festival. Although this year's event is a day shorter and I won't spend quite as much time over there. Here are some highlights...

The Trip to Italy
dir Michael Winterbottom; with Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan 14/UK ****
As with 2010's The Trip, this spoof doc sends Brydon and Coogan (pictured above) on a journey to visit and review a series of high-end rural restaurants, this time tracing the steps of Byron and Shelly in outrageously picturesque Italy. As before, it's being shown on British television in five 30-minute episodes, so I'm choosing to watch it that way instead of as a 108-minute movie at the festival. So I'm not quite at the end yet. But so far it's great to see these guys recapture that chemistry on-screen as heightened versions of themselves trying to out-do each other with their impersonations of iconic stars. Including each other. At the start, Coogan vows not to do any impressions and not to drink any wine. The first vow sticks for about 15 minutes, until a situation that simply demands Michael Caine. The second vow lasts into the second episode. Genius.

Blue Ruin 
dir-scr Jeremy Saulnier; with Macon Blair, Devin Ratray 13/US **** 
There's a moral complexity to this brutal, low-key revenge thriller that gets under our skin, even if the characters feel somewhat simplistic. But then, these are people whose reactions are based on emotions rather than deep consideration. And filmmaker Saulnier takes us into their world in some extremely harrowing ways... FULL REVIEW >

Drunktown's Finest
dir-scr Sydney Freeland; with Jeremiah Bitsui, Carmen Moore 14/US ****
Filmmaker Freeland clearly knows the importance of the subject matter of this three-pronged drama, which skilfully explores a range of issues in a Native American community through stories that are easy to identify with. And the deep human connections bring this scruffy movie come to life, thanks to some understated performances and real-life interaction. Set on the edge of a Navajo reservation in New Mexico, the characters give insight into hapless crime, issues of identity and birthright, community connections, and even gender issues. But all of this emerges organically through characters that get under our skin simply because they seem just like people we know. So it's a bit surprising as the storylines continue and intersect to discover that the film has some bracingly strong things to say about America.

Finding Fela
dir Alex Gibney; with Fela Kuti, Bill T Jones 14/US ***
This documentary tells such an important story that it's impossible to dismiss it just because the structure is so out of balance. As with The Armstrong Lie, filmmaker Gibney seems to lose the grip on his subject matter, trying to tell too many stories at the same time while failing to punch the most important notes. Above all, this is the story of Fela Kuti, one of the most important men in Africa over the last century: a musician and revolutionary who boldly stood up to Nigeria's oppressive government. As a result, the film is also a sharp outline of the past 50 years of the nation's history since independence. But it's told through the prism of a Broadway theatre group mounting a musical stage production on Fela's life. All of this is fascinating, and the stage sequences are terrific for adding musical moments and vivid depictions of some staggering events, which are also shown in extensive archival footage and stills. Then after taking nearly two hours to trace Fela's rise to fame, the film rushes through his final decade in a montage and never quite explains his legacy on the continent or around the globe. It seems oddly fudged for a skilled filmmaker like Gibney, and makes us wonder if there's a complete three-hour version out there somewhere.

Sundance London: Day 4

And so it winds to an end, the second Sundance Film & Music Festival dragged me out to the O2 every day for the past week to see some very good films indeed (and a few only ok ones). My 5 best of the festival are In a World, Blood Brother, God Loves Uganda, The Kings of Summer and History of the Eagles Part One. Here are a few final notes...

Upstream Color
dir Shane Carruth; with Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth 13/US ***
Carruth is back with an even more challenging film than Primer, eschewing traditional narrative to create a sensual thriller based on visual and audio textures. But there's not much in the way of coherent plot or characterisation. It's a bit infuriating, as it indulgently refuses to coalesce into something focussed, but as a cinematic experience, it's pretty fascinating. It centres on a woman (Seimetz) who is robbed with the use of a trance-inducing worm. When she wakes up afterwards, she has a strange connection to a cyclical system involving pigs, a sound recordist and the other people who have been robbed this way, including a man (Carruth) she falls in love with. We never really have a clue what's happening, but the film is gorgeously shot and edited, with a stunning sound mix. And in the end, it's more like an eerily emotional David Lynch thriller than Terrence Malick's Tree of Life, which it strongly resembles.

A.C.O.D. 
dir Stu Zicherman; with Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins 13/US ***
There's a strong autobiographical feeling to this comedy, in the sense that the filmmaker is using it to work out his own issues as an Adult Child of Divorce. Yes, it feels like an act of therapy rather than an actual organic comedy. Fortunately, it has a strong cast of comedy experts who make it both funny and engaging. Scott stars as a guy terrified by the thought of his brother (Clark Duke) getting married, because it means their feuding parents (Jenkins and Catherine O'Hara) will be in a room together. So he turns to his childhood therapist (the magnificent Jane Lynch) for help, and discovers that he was the subject of a book as a child. And now she wants to write about him again as an ACOD. The dialog is snappy and often hilarious, performed to perfection by an up-for-it cast who know how to deliver a punchline. So it's a bit annoying that the plot itself feels so contrived, cycling through the expected situations on the way to the expected conclusion. The cast includes Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ken Howard and Jessica Alba. Yes, really.

The Inevitible Defeat of Mister & Pete
dir George Tillman Jr; with Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon 13/US *** 
A strong story helps make up for this film's somewhat pushy tone, as it features young actors who are simply too sophisticated for their characters. But it's still thoroughly engaging, winning us over with its open-hearted approach and the tenacity of people living in such a difficult situation. Mister (Brooks) is a 14-year-old whose junkie-hooker mother (Jennifer Hudson) goes missing at the beginning of the summer. Saddled with Pete (Dizon), the 9-year-old she was babysitting, Mister decides they can survive alone for the summer and make it to his August audition for a role in a TV series, which will of course solve all his problems. As they panhandle for survival, they seek help from a wealthy friend (Jordin Sparks), a pimp (Anthony Mackie) and a homeless veteran (Jeffrey Wright), all while trying to avoid a ruthless cop (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). Yes, the cast is impressive, but the script is extremely constructed, and the young actors are a bit too good to be true. But the story is important, and the film wins us over with its genuine emotional depth.

The Summit
dir Nick Ryan; with Pemba Gyalje, Cecilie Skog 12/Ire ***
This strikingly well-made documentary about a harrowing real-life incident lets itself down by taking a too-ambitious approach to the narrative. Filmmaker Ryan chops the story up in an attempt to build suspense, but ends up making it very difficult to engage with the chain of events. In August 2008, 11 climbers died on K2 in one of the deadliest days in mountain-climbing history. But what happened was a mystery, and the facts weren't revealed until three family members travelled to Pakistan to talk to Sherpa Gyalje to fill in the gaps. Frankly, the story is thrilling enough without being told in such a circular fashion, and intercutting it with Walter Bonatti's account of the first K2 ascent in 1954 leaves both stories feeling incomplete. Which is frustrating since the film looks absolutely amazing, seamlessly mixing archive footage and photos with dramatic recreations shot in the Swiss Alps. The cinematography (by Robbie Ryan and Stephen O'Reilly) is spectacular, and the interviews with survivors are deeply moving.

Sundance Shorts
There were nine short films in this programme, including the prize winner - and easily the best in the collection: William Oldroyd's Best is a brief little film that packs a whole world into its single scene. A clever idea impeccably executed by a strong cast and crew.  Other stand-out clips included the hilarious cat-breeding comedy The Date from Finland, the blackly amusing horror comedy The Apocalypse, and the intriguing stop-motion doc Irish Folk Furniture. There were also two films that attempted to show stereotypical men as human beings: The Whistle quietly follows a beleaguered Polish football referee, while the slightly preachier Black Metal centres on a death-rock singer blamed for a tragedy.

Sundance London: Day 3

Friday was my longest day at the Sundance London Film and Music Festival: I left home at 8am and got back after midnight. And there's not much to do at the O2 beyond seeing movies or eating in bland chain restaurants! I saw four features and eight shorts...

Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes
dir Francesca Gregorini; with Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel 13/US ***
Made with considerable skill and style, this offbeat drama struggles to find authenticity due to an combination of over-developed script and superficial characters. It has its moments, and is intriguing enough to hold our interest, but ultimately leaves us empty. It centres on Emanuel (Scodelario, pictured), who as she nears her 18th birthday begins her annual descent into grief and guilt about her mother, who died in childbirth. Her father (Molina) tries to be understanding, but his new wife (O'Connor) is like salt in the wound. Then Linda (Biel) moves next door with her infant daughter, and Emanuel discovers that parenthood is never what it seems. Yes, there's a lot of lesson-learning in this movie, although writer-director Gregorini isn't too heavy handed about that. On the other hand, the film is very indulgent in its more fantastic elements, which refer to the title and never quite make sense.

Sleepwalk With Me
dir Mike Birbiglia; with Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose 12/US ***
Based on his one-man show, Birbiglia's film is an almost startlingly honest exploration of events from his own life. Because he makes himself deeply unlikable. It's not easy to sympathise with someone who is this relentless in his self-obsession, to the point where he alienates everyone he loves. But Birbiglia seems to be suggesting that this was a good thing for his career. He plays a thinly fictionalised version of himself: a wannabe stand-up comic who has a potentially dangerous sleepwalking condition, brought on by self-inflicted stress about his career, a fear of commitment to his long-term girlfriend (Ambrose) and a refusal to properly deal with pressures from his parents (Carol Kane and James Rebhorn). Yes, the supporting cast is amazing, peppered with ace comics who bring out the humour and drama perfectly. And the portrayal of a young comic getting his start in a harsh business is fascinating. But Birbiglia is far too hard on himself, wallowing in his failings and giving us very few reasons to root for him.

In a World...
dir Lake Bell; with Lake Bell, Fred Melamed 13/US *****
This almost painfully hilarious script playfully explores an aspect of the movie business while touching on some serious issues about competition between genders and generations. It also places the actress Bell on a list of writer-directors to watch. She plays Carol, a vocal coach who discovers she has a gift as a voiceover artist like her dad Sam (Melamed). But when she goes up for a job voicing a trailer for an epic quadrilogy, she opens a can of worms not only with her fiercely jealous dad, but also with his womanising prodigy (Ken Marino). And can a woman voice an iconic "in a world" trailer? That's a man's job! The script is a riot of side stories, from marital problems to unspoken crushes, plus family resentments and professional rivalries. It's so cleverly constructed that it grips us from the moment it starts, then keeps us laughing helplessly with a steady stream of verbal and visual gags - so much so that we'll want to watch it again to catch anything we might have missed. These are great characters with feisty inter-relationships we can identify with. And it's also a wonderful exploration of a side of the movie industry we rarely see on screen. As Bell said in the post-screening Q&A, making a trailer for this movie is the real challenge.

Metro Manila
dir Sean Ellis; with Jake Macapagal, Althea Vega 13/Ph ***.
With a striking usual sensibility, British director Sean Ellis takes us into the bustling streets of Manila for a family drama that shifts into a seriously intense thriller. The story is perhaps a bit too tidy, broadly signposting both themes and plot twists, but a natural cast and the urgent camerawork make it a riveting ride. It centres on Oscar (Macapagal), a struggling farmer who uproots his wife Mai (Vega) and two daughters to move to the capital to try to make a living. But things are of course even more difficult there. Oscar manages to get a job as an armoured van driver, the most dangerous job in town, while Mai finds work in a lap-dancing club. But both are pushed into horrible moral corners. And when Oscar's partner (Arcilla) makes a shady proposal, he sees a possible way out. Thankfully, the story doesn't go as expected; Ellis has a few surprises up his sleeve. And this is the kind of tale that could be set in hundreds of cities where desperate people try to solve impossible economic difficulties. So the film has a strong resonance as things get very nasty indeed. In the end, it's slightly over-constructed to lay its messages out clearly for us, but it's also a thrilling drama that beautifully captures the Filipino settings with a documentary sense of urgency.

New American Noise
This shorts programme featured six films highlighting underground music scenes in six American cities: Detroit, Atlanta, Portland, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and New Orleans. Lords of Detroit and Electric Noise (Portland) are overview films, exploring musical heritage mixing with present-day musicians. They look like slick adverts produced by the city to attract funky artists to the city. Atlanta Dream$ is colourfully set in the strip clubs, which launch much of the local rap music. Spit Gold Under an Empire (Brooklyn) takes a much more personal approach, following a few gifted rappers around the streets exploring their inspiration. SFV Acid (Los Angeles) is even more focussed, as it artfully centres on the eponymous San Fernando Valley musician (aka Zane Reynolds) and how he creates his moody tracks. And saving the best for last, That B.E.A.T. (New Orleans) is a thrilling explosion of raw energy, skilfully exploring the infectious rhythms of bounce. In addition, we were also shown the two finalists in the Talenthouse competition, seeking similar films internationally. There's Nothing Like a Soundsystem explores the lively underground party scene in Glasgow, where it's all about amplifying that pounding baseline. And Red Earth Hip Hop is a stunning film about Australian DJ Morganics travelling to an isolated Outback community where local music is combining with rap to produce something rather astonishing.

Sundance London: Day 1

The 2nd Sundance London Film and Music Festival kicked off at the O2 today with another ambitious collection of films from the January event in Park City, plus a number of live performances, workshops, panel discussions and musical events. Press screenings have been underway all week, and now the fun really starts, since all of the filmmakers are in town for the festival.

Yesterday we had a big launch press conference with Robert Redford, who noted that Sundance's first venture outside its home base in Utah was a big success last year, and he was happy to be invited back again. "It's a cultural exchange," he said, "We bring foreign films to Utah and now we're exporting American films to London audiences. And the filmmakers are excited to see their films travel outside America's borders." Here are a few early highlights...

The Kings of Summer
dir Jordan Vogt-Roberts; with Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso 13/US ****
Witty direction and an exceptionally sharp script give this coming-of-age film a blast of originality that completely wins us over. There may be a few too many wacky touches, but overall the film is grounded in solid characters and hilariously squirm-inducing observations. It centres on three teens (Robinson,  Moises Arias and Basso, pictured) who run away from home and build a cabin in the woods to escape their humiliating parents. And we can see why, with brilliant supporting turns by the likes of Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally. So even if the film sometimes drifts toward Napoleon Dynamite, it remains grounded by the excellent performances and sharply observant filmmaking.

The Look of Love
dir Michael Winterbottom; with Steve Coogan, Imogen Poots 13/UK ***.
This fascinating story is told with vivid style, a terrific use of actual settings and a strong cast. But the characters never quite get under our skin, so our interest in the history of one of London's more colourful districts is never deepened by personal resonance or larger meaning... REVIEW >

Mud
dir Jeff Nichols; with Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland 12/US ***.
Nichols is a gifted writer-director who knows how to get into the heads of his characters. And this film has superior actors who create people who are intriguing and hugely involving. But the overlong running time makes the story drag badly, straining our patience to the point where we don't really mind how things end... REVIEW >

God Loves Uganda
dir Roger Ross Williams; with Christopher Senyonjo, Lou Engle 13/US *****
This deeply disturbing documentary shines the light on a side of American culture that seems wholly positive to everyone involved. But from the outside it looks sinister and hateful. Credit must go to the filmmakers for presenting this in a fair and balanced way, covering the whole story with remarkable restraint. The topic is the missionary work run by the Kansas City-based International House of Prayer in Uganda, where in the name of Christian outreach they export ultra-conservative views that would never take root in America. This has led to several violent murders as "Christians" rise up to kill anyone perceived to be a homosexual, and indeed a law is before Uganda's parliament to make being gay a capital offense. Watching these clean-cut, under-educated American young people is shocking: their hearts may be in the right place, but they simply don't realise that they are actually killing people instead of helping them. A remarkably honest but truly shocking film that deserves to spark a lot of discussion. Especially in Uganda.