Critical Week: Take the call

Once again, I am avoiding the chaos of the Cannes Film Festival and enjoying the much lighter screening schedule in London these days. I know I'll catch up with the best from Cannes over the coming months. And I'm abandoning London myself next week until early June. Back to the movies, we had a lively themed screening of rising-star filmmaker Curry Barker's horror thriller Obsession. It's an unusually engaging scary movie, funny and moving. And hugely unnerving too.

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There were also several starrier movies to watch. The comedy-drama Miss You Love You is essentially an extended conversation between Allison Janney and Andrew Rannells. But they are so good that it's riveting, beautifully written and directed by Jim Rash. Sally Field and Lewis Pullman make a terrific duo in Remarkably Bright Creatures, a heartwarming tale about being open to the world around you, centring around an octopus. Scoot McNairy and Emilia Jones are excellent as a father and daughter in the sensitive memoir Fairyland, which skilfully captures the subculture of 1970s-80s San Francisco. And from Hong Kong, We're Nothing at All is an extraordinary blend of personal drama and riveting procedural thriller, circling around a bomb explosion on a bus. I also watched a live performance of Remachine at Sadler's Wells East.

Coming up this next week, I only have one press screening due to the Cannes slump, but it's the first Star Wars movie in seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu. I may see it twice. And of course it's the 70th Eurovision Song Contest live from Vienna on Saturday night. Another reason for so few screening is that I'm flying to California next week to visit family. I'll be sure to report back on my in-flight viewing and whatever else I get up to over there. 

LFF 7: The beat goes on

At the 58th London Film Festival today, the gala presentation was the premiere of Sundance winner Whiplash, attended by stars Miles Teller and JK Simmons (above). The film kicked off the critics' day with a breathless 9am screening that certainly got our adrenaline pumping for the rest of the day. Here are some more highlights...

Whiplash
dir Damien Chazelle; with Miles Teller, JK Simmons 14/US ****.
With a literally breathtaking pace and outrageously high energy, this film grabs you by the lapels and shakes you until you're a blubbering wreck. This is about as black as comedies can get, hurtling through the story of a talented young man coming up against a seriously fearsome teacher. And it's so powerful that it takes awhile to recover after the credits roll.

Love Is Strange 
dir Ira Sachs; with John Lithgow, Alfred Molina 14/US ***.
Gentle and almost overwhelmingly bittersweet, this drama is packed with such engaging characters that the weaknesses of the plot don't seem too distracting. It has something powerful to say about extended relationships as it explores a long-term romance in a quietly moving way.


Jamie Marks Is Dead
dir Carter Smith; with Cameron Monaghan, Noah Silver 14/US ***.
This soft-spoken film is both a sensitive teen drama and one of the most inventive ghost stories in recent memory. It's haunting and visually stunning, with moments that are deeply moving and genuinely horrific. And at its core it's a thoughtful exploration of adolescent yearning to make sense of unexpected feelings.

Electricity
dir Bryn Higgins; with Agyness Deyn, Lenora Crichlow 14/UK **.
While this film has enough visual panache to please arthouse audiences, its script is simply too thin to back up the imagery with any resonant meaning. The solid cast never gets the chance to delve deeply into the characters and, in the end, the filmmaker's emphasis on eye-catching flourishes leave everything else feeling rather simplistic and empty.

Next to Her
dir Asaf Korman; with Liron Ben Shlush, Dana Ivgy 14/Isr ****
This offbeat Israeli drama features vivid characters and a series of stunning twists and turns that continually challenge the viewer's attitudes. With a strong sense of realism, director Korman creates a strikingly involving film that touches on big issues while remaining deeply grounded in the characters.