Critical Week: You're a superstar

It's still been relatively quiet in London, a short week following the Cannes Film Festival. But things kick off next week with Sundance Film Festival: London; I'm looking forward to this four-day burst of cinematic life at Picturehouse Central. It's a fluke of the releasing schedule that I've seen 17 films that are being released this week in the US and/or UK. These are films I've seen over the course of bout a year and a half (many screened at festivals), but they are for some reason converging now in cinemas or streaming! All of the reviews are on the website. 

BEST OUT THIS BUSY WEEK:
Robot Dreams • The Beast
The Dead Don't Hurt
Big Boys • What You Wish For
A House In Jerusalem
Pandemonium • Hidden Master
The Pilgrimage of Gilbert & George
ALL REVIEWS >

Double Oscar-winners featured in two films I saw this past week. Jessica Lange is radiant in The Great Lillian Hall, a lovely drama about a fading theatre icon costarring Kathy Bates and Jesse Williams (above). And Anthony Hopkins shines in Freud's Last Session, a fictionalised meeting between the iconic psychoanalyst and author CS Lewis (Matthew Goode) that's beautifully written and packed with provocative ideas.

Offbeat films this week include Isabelle Huppert once again delightfully stealing the show in Francois Ozon's skilfully arch mystery comedy The Crime Is Mine; the warm and witty assembled family drama The Mattachine Family, starring the hugely likeable Nico Tortorella and Emily Hampshire; Richard Armitage in the often harrowing true-life WWII survival adventure The Boy in the Woods; the dark, moving British-Palestinian drama A House in Jerusalem; and the eye-opening London artists doc The Pilgrimage of Gilbert & George.

This coming week I'll be watching Will Smith in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Jennifer Connelly in Bad Behaviour, David Duchovny in Reverse the Curse, Ciaran Hinds in Cottontail, British sci-fi drama Sky Peals, Wyoming-set fantasy Riddle of Fire, Belgian drama Here and road trip drama Summer Solstice, plus lots of movies at the Sundance Film Festival: London. 

Critical Week: Is it raining?

Happy New Year from now-outside-the-EU London! Days have been blurring together over as I watch movies, go for walks and eat, and not a lot else. I'm still catching up on awards-season titles as voting deadlines approach. It's a tricky business, deciding which ones are worth the time and which can perhaps be skipped. As a critic, I hate not to give everyone a fair shake, but I do have to set priorities. Among the ones I watched were the quirky Irish romantic-comedy Wild Mountain Thyme, with Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan and Christopher Walken. Odd casting aside, it's warm and funny. Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman are on top form in the sharply well-made drama The Father, based on a stage play. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
We Can Be Heroes • DNA
Pieces of a Woman 
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Blackout 
ALL REVIEWS >

There was also Michelle Pfeiffer, terrific alongside the always-watchable Lucas Hedges in the black comedy French Exit. An all-star cast including Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher and Judi Dench star in an entertaining if not particularly needed remake of Noel Coward's nutty comedy Blythe Spirit. Jack O'Connell and Olivia Cooke star in the swirling, sensual, sad romance Little Fish. And Kelly Reichardt's First Cow is one of the best bromances in recent memory, following two men in 19th century Oregon.

Much less demanding, Robert Rodriguez's colourful kids' superhero movie We Can Be Heroes is an energetic guilty pleasure. And then there was this eclectic trio: Savage is a gritty, violent story of gang life in New Zealand; DNA is a heartfelt French film looking into a woman's Algerian roots; and from Russia, The Blackout: Invasion Earth is an ambitious alien-attack epic that's messy but still spectacular. Finally, I caught up with two awards-worthy docs: an inventive exploration of grief and mortality in Dick Johnson Is Dead and a powerful look at disability rights history in Crip Camp.

I'm still catching up on contenders over the next week, as both the London and Online critics groups are casting nominations ballots next week. And I also need to watch a few films that are coming out over the next few weeks. It's a mixed bag that I haven't quite defined yet. 

Critical Week: No longer silent

Having survived the film festival, I'm looking out for awards-season screenings before voting deadlines. This week there were three of these: Bombshell stars Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie (with Kate McKinnon, above) in a true drama about the scandal surrounding Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) at Fox News. Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins are brilliantly cast in The Two Popes, based on the true story of the transition from Benedict to Francis. And I caught up with Chiwetel Ejiofor's writing-directing debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, an inspirational true story from Malawi.

Back to films out soon (or now), I had to buy a ticket to see Terminator: Dark Fate, because there were no press screenings. It's not bad, and has a nice trio of strong women at its centre. Ewan McGregor stars in Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining faithfully adapted from Stephen King's novel with lots of added Stanley Kubrick. The new animated comedy romp based on the iconic The Addams Family is silly and a bit frantic. Cousins is a lovely, loose-limbed romance from Brazil. And These Peculiar Days is a witty, sexy ensemble piece from Mexico.

There aren't many screenings in the diary for this coming week for some reason, but I've got these films lined up: the Dutch action-thriller Bloody Marie, the steamy Brazilian drama Copa 181, Ecuador's Oscar hopeful La Mala Noche, plus finally catching up with Octavia Spencer in Ma and Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

Flare 3: Sleep like a baby

The British Film Institute's 29th Flare: London LGBT Film Festival continues at the Southbank with a terrific range of screenings and events every day - and lots of filmmakers in attendance to both offer Q&As at screenings and mix with the audiences at parties and events around the venue. Here are some more highlights...

Tiger Orange
dir Wade Gasque; with Mark Strano, Frankie Valenti (pictured above) 14/US ****
An unusually strong script confronts some darkly resonant issues in a simple story about two brothers working out who they are both together and as individuals. The low budget may make it look simplistic, but the characters have an unusual complexity, and the themes are provocative and important... FULL REVIEW >

The New Girlfriend
dir Francois Ozon; with Romain Duris, Anais Demoustier 14/Fr ****.
Based on the Ruth Rendell novel, this slick, sexy film plays cleverly with genders to tell a remarkably entertaining story. A terrific cast makes the characters not only surprising but also thoroughly resonant. And writer-director Ozon juggles the plot and themes so effortlessly that it can't help but worm its way under the skin.

Dear White People
dir Justin Simien; with Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson 14/US ****
Almost too clever for its own good, this knowing comedy-drama plays with cliches using by placing parody within pastiche. Set in an American university, this sharply played film is populated by people trying to both fit into and rebel against racial, economic and sexuality stereotypes. It may be somewhat overpacked, but it's fiendishly clever and very funny.

Dressed as a Girl
dir-scr Colin Rothbart; with Jonny Woo, Scottee, Holestar 15/UK ***.
Focussing on a few shining stars from the London drag scene, this documentary is packed with telling observations as performers reveal the real person under the wigs and sequins. It's entertaining and enlightening, but the film is also rather fragmented, never quite building up a sense of momentum to bring new fans into the scene. (World premiere)

Do I Sound Gay?
dir David Thorpe; with David Thorpe, Susan Sankin 14/US ****
In the style of Morgan Spurlock, filmmaker Thorpe puts himself at the centre of a documentary about an intriguing issue everyone's aware of but nobody talks about: why gay men have distinct vocal patterns. Or do they? It's a fascinating topic, especially as Thorpe delves deeper into bigger issues about identity and equality. So in the end the film is both witty and surprisingly empowering. (Centrepiece film)

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
CRITICAL WEEK

I had a few days out of circulation this week, but still managed to catch a few press screenings, including the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, which is funnier than it looks; the Anthony Hopkins thriller Kidnapping Freddy Heineken, which is oddly low-key and hard to engage with; the French drama Samba with Omar Sy and Charlotte Gainsbourg, which is long but sharply pointed and beautifully played; the scruffy French black The King of Escape, which is odd enough to be engaging; the Swedish coming-of-age drama Something Must Break, which is honest and original; and the documentary Altman, a wonderful film-by-film love letter to the iconic director.

Next week's films, in addition to those I'll catch at Flare, include Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in Fast & Furious 7, Keanu Reeves in John Wick, the Kiwi drama The Dark Horse, the German horror The Treatment and the Cannon studios doc Electric Boogaloo.

Critical Week: Tiger taming

London critics have finally been able to catch up with some big awards contenders this past week, including Ang Lee's remarkable Life of Pi, a staggeringly beautiful film with rich, moving themes. Frankly it's difficult to believe that such a complex, delicate film made it through the Hollywood system. Even bigger is Tom Hooper's film of the long-running musical Les Miserables, with a powerhouse cast including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried. It's a bit too much to fit in a movie, frankly, and rather exhausting. But also unmissable.

More award hopefuls appear in Hitchcock, an enjoyable, lightweight look at Alfred Hitchcock's battles to make Psycho. Anthony Hopkins plays the title role exactly like Hitch's screen persona, but Helen Mirren steals the show as his wife. There's probably no chance of awards attention for The Man With the Iron Fists, a messy 1970s-style kung fu romp cowritten, directed and scored by and starring RZA. Genre geeks might enjoy it, but not many others will. And finally there was the doc Ballroom Dancer, following a world champion's attempt at a comeback while he alienates everyone around him. Compellingly dark but not easy to watch.


This coming week I've got screenings of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher and Carlos Reygada's Post Tenebrus Lux, among other things. It'll also be voting time at the end of next week for a couple of critics awards - my own meagre contribution to the awards-season hubbub.