Venezia83: Out of the shadows

We're heading into the homestretch of the 83rd Venice Film Festival, but there are still big titles coming along every day, filling the red carpet with the biggest stars on earth. I only have notes on three movies here today, but the third one is almost four hours long (slightly longer with its 10-minute intermission). The first two are hotly anticipated awards season films, both of which slightly disappointed me. But we'll see how they catch on out there...

Bunker
dir-scr Florian Zeller; with Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz 26/UK ***.
Here's another complex melodrama from writer-director Florian Zeller, this time anchored in resonant performances from real-life couple Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz as a husband and wife who begin to doubt their connection due to events in their personal and professional lives. All of this feels somewhat contrived, and some of the big moments are predictable. But it carries several strong kicks along the way.

Company
dir Casey Affleck; with Adelaide Clemens, Emily Alyn Lind 26/US ***
There's an insistent emotionality to this genre-shifting dramatic thriller, which keeps us intrigued right through a story within a story within a story. So it is somewhat odd that this vividly made film is neither involving nor moving. Still, director-cowriter Casey Affleck creates lovely narrative rhythms that feel like they mean something profound. So there are several superb sequences, and plenty to think about.

Musk
dir Alex Gibney; with Elon Musk, Justine Musk 26/US ****
First-rate documentarian Alex Gibney has made another epic-length profile, and this time his subject didn't want to be involved. But that's not a weakness, because the film can be far more honest about the richest man in the world. Elon Musk is larger-than-life, so perhaps it's correct to depict him as an AI space god who speaks his words verbatim. And the film cleverly moves from casual observation to wide-eyed horror.

Full reviews will be linked to Shadows' VENICE FILM FEST PAGE >

Critical Week: This little piggy

It's been a very busy week for me movie-wise, watching 12 films. But then, this is one of those weeks when distributors dump lots of surprise releases in between blockbusters (namely The Odyssey and Spider-Man). There are also two animated movies, due to the start of UK school holidays. Director Andy Serkis and writer Nicholas Stoller adapt George Orwell's classic allegory Animal Farm into a wacky barnyard adventure, but they also maintain the novel's deeper themes. And from Belgium, the animated romp Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog is as nutty as the title suggests (it's actual Chickenhare's second movie, but sadly I never saw him face the Hamster of Darkness). 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Hadestown: The Musical
On the Sea • Ask E Jean
Tomorrow's Too Late
PERHAPS AVOID:
Sour Party
Brunello: The Gracious Visionary
ALL REVIEWS >

Fresh from Cannes, Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder deliver fabulous performances in Jane Schoenbrun's astonishing Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, a yearning Lynchian drama with meta layers of horror movie lore. I caught an early screening of the sequel Fall 2, starring the up-for-it Harriet Slater and Arsema Thomas. Can't say any more about that at the moment. From Korea, Colony is the latest re-invention of the zombie genre by Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan), and fans will love the expertly orchestrated nonstop action suspense. Corey Feldman makes a cameo in the uneven comedy Sour Party, which has a goofy charm but never comes into focus. I caught up with two superb films that premiered at SXSW London: Test is a riveting drama about a bodybuilder (played by writer Brock Yurich) who can't face who he is, while Alex Kahuam's inventive The Remedy is a surprisingly involving and very grisly dramatic horror film.

And there were four documentaries that are well worth seeing: Ask E Jean is a lively, engaging look at the woman who beat Trump in court twice. Alex Gibney's expertly assembled Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie is disturbing and also very deeply personal. Likeable pop star Dylan Holloway chronicles his transition in the honest, important Tomorrow's Too Late. And the hugely entertaining Wham! 10 Days in China unearths superb never-seen footage to follow the band on a groundbreaking tour in 1985. 

At the moment, this next week looks a bit less intense. I'll be watching Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Canadian comedy Middle Life, French comedy Just an Illusion. animated adventure Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie and the autobiographical doc Bouchra.

LFF: Watch and learn

The 67th London Film Festival powers into its first weekend with a flurry of red carpet premieres attended by, well, directors and crew members. It isn't very starry unless you're a fan of people behind the cameras. But thats who audiences seem to be as they're sticking around for post-screening Q&As. And we're having a late autumn heatwave this weekend. Meanwhile, I enjoyed Disney's lunch the other day, celebrating both LFF and their 100th anniversary. And tomorrow is the annual Netflix brunch, no work allowed. Here are some more film highlights...

May December
dir Todd Haynes; with Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore 23/US ****
Layered and provocative, this melodrama is infused with a mystery-thriller sensibility, building tension and intrigue in the interaction between nuanced characters. Director Todd Haynes plays cleverly with perspective to explore the ways we try to understand others, sympathise with them and merge their experiences with our own. It's a fiendishly clever film that gleefully deploys a range of metaphors in ways that both lead and wrongfoot the audience.

The Bikeriders
dir-scr Jeff Nichols; with Austin Butler, Jodie Comer 23/US ***.
Based on a book of photographs and interviews from 1965 to 1973, this artfully crafted film explores motorcycle subculture as a makeshift family. Writer-director Jeff Nichols shapes this material into a strongly involving exploration of masculinity and identity, allowing the sharply drawn characters to exist in remarkable complexity, free from pushy narrative demands. The performances are loose and often lyrical, even as they hold us at an arm's length.

Shortcomings
dir Randall Park; with Justin H Min, Sherry Cola 23/US ****
This Bay Area romantic comedy infuses a naturalistic approach with witty dialog. Much of the humour is sharply pointed in an unusually soft-spoken way, and in his directing debut Randall Park maintains earthy rhythms that hold the interest. So even if it's never terribly flashy, there's a sense of honest depth to the film that makes it resonate far beyond the ethnic issues that simmer meaningfully throughout the script... FULL REVIEW >

Tiger Stripes
dir-scr Amanda Nell Eu; with Zafreen Zairizal, Deena Ezral 23/Mys ****
There's an engaging animalistic tilt to this adolescent body horror from Malaysia, as a young girl taps into her feral nature when puberty makes her feel like she's turning into a monster. Writer-director Amanda Nell Eu maintains a blackly comical undercurrent even as things get very freaky indeed, exploring big themes through lenses of culture, gender and religion. And Zafreen Zairizal shines in a complex and physically demanding role... FULL REVIEW >

In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon
dir Alex Gibney; with Paul Simon, Edie Brickell 23/US ****.
A musician of this stature deserves an epic documentary, and Alex Gibney takes an ambitiously artistic approach to Paul Simon's life and career. At three and a half hours, watching it is like binging a series, but on a big screen it's fully engulfing, thanks to the intimate approach and elaborate sound mix. This is a transcendent film packed with great archive footage, fantastic music and Simon’s raw humanity.

All full festival reviews will be linked to Shadows' LFF PAGE >

Critical Week: Baby you're a firework

I've only had one actual press screening in the last week - Ang Lee's new drama Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. It's a fascinating idea, made with a striking technical approach and a solid cast. But even they can't quite sell the rather simplistic dialog. On disc, I also caught up with the Swedish comedy-drama A Man Called Ove, a delightfully engaging story about a grumpy old man who begins to understand why he's like he is. Zero Days is another expertly assembled and deeply chilling documentary from Alex Gibney, this time about how a computer worm invaded the world and changed the nature of warfare. Another film doesn't have a UK release date, so here are my comments...

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Hello, My Name Is Doris

dir Michael Showalter;
with Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Tyne Daly, Stephen Root, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kumail Nanjiani, Peter Gallagher, Natasha Lyonne 16/US ***
The clever premise of this comedy is somewhat undermined by its slapstick slant. Field is terrific as the retirement-age Doris, who has been caring for her mother all her life, and is only now getting her first taste of freedom, so she develops a crush on a hot new employee (Greenfield) in her office. Where this goes is warm and funny, and sometimes movingly astute. But the film is infused with corny touches, from Doris' frankly absurd clothing to her quirky bumbling. Refreshingly, she's also realistically web-savvy and open to pop musicality, which allows Field to transcend the limits of the writing and direction. And the plot has some nice surprises up its sleeve, most of all the chemistry between Field and Greenfield. And it thankfully avoids sentimentality. And it's great to see not only Field in such a meaty role, but also the fabulous Daly as her lifelong pal. Both should really be on our screens all the time.

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I don't have any screenings until January 10th, but I still have several unwatched screener discs at home to catch up on, plus an endless supply of screener links, if I can cope with watching movies hiccupping and buffering along the way. There are also unwatched TV series to catch up on, as well as hopefully some non-screen time if the weather isn't too terrible.

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.

LFF 7: True stories

It was duelling red carpets on Leicester Square tonight at the 57th London Film Festival, as one side hosted Judi Dench and Steve Coogan (pictured) for Philomena while across the square fans and paparazzi were lined up for Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his film Don Jon. Yes, another day of too many films and lots of rain. I'm glad there are only four days to go. More highlights...

Philomena
dir Stephen Frears; with Judi Dench, Steve Coogan 13/UK ****
A shameless crowd-pleaser, this warmly engaging drama is based on a remarkable true story. And it also offers Dench and Coogan the chance to create complex, involving characters we can identify with. The film sometimes feels harshly edited, zipping through serious scenes with an emphasis on sentimentality. But it still wins us over. FULL REVIEW >

The Past 
dir Asghar Farhadi; with Berenice Bejo, Tahar Rahim 13/Fr **** 
Farhadi brings his surgically precise filmmaking to Paris with an interpersonal drama that, like A Separation, fills the screen with almost frighteningly complex characters who are struggling to get on with their lives together. Or apart, for that matter. Farhadi isn't one to let old wounds heal slowly; he'd rather rip off the plaster and pick away the scab FULL REVIEW >

The Armstrong Lie 
dir Alex Gibney; with Lance Armstrong, Oprah Winfrey 13/US ***. 
Gibney takes his usual detailed approach to this documentary about Lance Armstrong's stellar cycling career and notorious fall from grace. But it's an oddly assembled hybrid, as much of the material was shot for a very different doc about his comeback in 2009. And wile it's great footage, it throws the film somewhat off-balance. FULL REVIEW >

We Are the Best! 
dir-scr Lukas Moodysson with Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin 13/Swe **** 
After dipping into more experimental filmmaking, Moodysson returns to the lively improvisational style of Show Me Love and Together. He coaxes energetic, utterly charming performances from his three pre-teen leads, while exploring youthful rebellion from a cleverly askance angle FULL REVIEW >

Floating Skyscrapers 
dir Tomasz Wasilewski; with Mateusz Banasiuk, Marta Nieradkiewicz 13/Pol ****
Exploring a very dark side of Polish society, which echoes in many parts of the world, this drama is compelling and involving. As well as rather overwhelmingly bleak. But it's so beautifully shot and edited, with sharply naturalistic performances, that we can't help but be drawn in.
FULL REVIEW >

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C R I T I C A L   W E E K
Yes, I also caught some non-LFF movies this past week, including: the Arnie/Sly action thriller Escape Plan, Danny Dyer in the crime drama Vendetta, Sheridan Smith in the girly comedy Powder Room, the British mystery-spoof World of Hurt, and the arty American drama Five Dances. None of them were great (to put it mildly), but they were a nice contrast to the intensity of the festival films.

Coming this next week outside the LFF: the comedy Last Vegas, the biopic Mandela, the Dickens drama The Invisible Woman and the sequel Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. Among other things...

Critical Week: Fire and ice

This week's child-friendly Sunday morning press screening was for the sequel Despicable Me 2, which is just as frantic and hilarious as the first film, maybe more so. We also had a late-scheduled screening last week for the hugely entertaining Superman movie Man of Steel, which is relaunching the franchise faster than a speeding bullet. A sequel is already planned for release next year, but it seems a little unlikely as there isn't even a script yet (that we know of). We also caught up with Kristin Wiig and Annette Bening in the uneven comedy Girl Most Likely, which has some very strong moments and characters. There were also Nicolas Cage and John Cusack playing cat and mouse in Alaska in the improbable-but-truecrime murder thriller The Frozen Ground and Tuppence Middleton in the stylish but underwritten dramatic thriller Trap for Cinderella.

As the summer film festival season settles in, there were also three documentaries: Alex Gibney's bracingly lucid exploration of free speech in the WikiLeaks doc We Steal Secrets, a riveting biographical documentary about the uneven life and career of comedian Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic, and a heist-style doc Smash & Grab about Europe's notorious Pink Panther jewel-stealing gang. Finally, I also caught up with Bruno & Earlene Go to Vegas, a lively and gorgeously shot scrambled sexuality romp that has its world premiere in London next month.

This coming week we have Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in The Internship, Mike Figgis' mystery thriller Suspension of Disbelief, artist Jem Cohen's drama Museum Hours and the Mexican thriller Halley. Plus as many festival films as I can squeeze in - the Edinburgh International Film Festival kicks off Wednesday night, while London's East End Film Festival starts on Tuesday 25th June.

Critical Week: London's gleaming

UK critics last week got to see the upcoming London crime thriller Welcome to the Punch, starring James McAvoy and Mark Strong. Our comments are embargoed ahead of the March release date, but the still above gives a pretty good idea of filmmaker Eran Creevy's sleek, glassy approach. We also watched Pierce Brosnan's gentle and rather enjoyably sweet romance Love Is All You Need, which is actually a Danish film (directed by Susanne Bier and costarring Trine Dyrholm and Paprika Steen) set mostly in Italy.

Speaking of Italy, we also caught up with last year's surprise Berlinale winner Caesar Must Die, a clever twist on Shakespeare by the Taviani Brothers. And we were glued to the harrowing genius of Alex Gibney's latest documentary Mea Maxima Culpa, which compellingly, lucidly sets the abusive-priest scandal in the context of a staggering global conspiracy.

This coming week I have a few more films to catch up with - since I took a bit of time out last week to work on the London critics' awards ceremony. I'll be seeing Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne in the rom-com I Give It a Year, Mia Wasikowska and Nicole Kidman in the acclaimed Sundance film Stoker, Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral, the British drama Papadopoulos & Sons, the festival hit A Hijacking, the anime horror The King of Pigs, and the indie horror Crawl.