Critical Week: Grandma's got a gun!

Summertime always brings a slow-down in press screenings, which is a relief after the flurry of London film festivals in June. But there are some great movies out there, plus blockbusters that aren't always quite as great but are good fun to watch on a big screen that's been packed out with cynical critics and gung-ho influencers. The mix of groaning and cheering is a lot of fun. The best I saw this week was the action comedy Thelma, starring June Squibb as a sparky 93-year-old (take that, Joe Biden!) who takes matters in her own hands when she's scammed out of some cash. Fred Hechinger is terrific as her worried grandson. And then there's Twisters, the thinly written almost 30-years-later sequel that's tangentially connected to the rather forgettable 1996 hit. Glen Powell is even more magnetic than the impressive tornadoes, with solid sidekicks Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Crossing • Thelma
Scala!!! • Shayda
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More arthouse offerings included The Outrun, a kaleidoscopically immersive memoir about addiction starring the always excellent Saoirse Ronan and set in gorgeous Orkney Isles landscapes. Hayley Bennett stars as Widow Cliquot in a lavishly produced but rather stilted biopic about the early 19th century Champagne innovator. And Louise Brealey brings an engaging edge to the offbeat Welsh drama Chuck Chuck Baby, which is wonderfully infused with pop tunes. I also saw two shows live on-stage: National Youth Dance Company's Wall at Sadler's Wells and Jack Tucker's Comedy Standup Hour at Soho Theatre.

Things are still quieter than usual coming week, but I'll be watching Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine, Zachary Levi in Harold and the Purple Crayon, New Zealand drama Mysterious Ways, Swedish drama Paradise Is Burning, Mexican doc The Echo and Palestine doc No Other Land.

Critical Week: Wine o'clock

Heading into the summer, the movies are an eclectic bunch, a surreal swirl of effects-based blockbusters, crowd-pleasing comedies, offbeat independent films and rather a lot of documentaries. At least this keeps us critics on our toes, and the main challenge is to watch all these films and still find time to enjoy the sunny weather. But it does help that so many of these films are things we're looking forward to (and bracing ourselves for disappointment). So the occasional unexpected gem is extremely welcome. This week I caught up with Catherine Hardwicke's Mafia Mamma, starring Toni Collette and Monica Bellucci in a silly comedy with a more serious drama lurking inside it. Out on digital this week in the US, it still doesn't have a UK release date. And the Bumblebee sequel Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was a very pleasant surprise: a big action movie that's actually a lot of fun, with strong characters and deeper ideas that grab the interest.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Medusa Deluxe • Blue Jean
Squaring the Circle
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
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Further afield, the web series Bridesman has been edited into a feature, and is much stronger. It's still silly and queeny, but has more bite now. From Canada, You Can Live Forever is a very nicely made low-key romantic drama about two girls who fall in love in their religious community. From Australia, Talk to Me is a particularly nasty and very effective horror movie about a demonic hand. And the engaging documentary All Man: The International Male Story traces the rise and fall of a fashion catalog that changed the way men dress themselves. I also attended the experimental film double bill Motion Picture at Sadler's Wells, which was fascinating and very beautiful. And once again, I thoroughly enjoyed attending the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards along with a terrific range of nominees, winners and, yes, critics.

This next week I'll be watching Pixar's new animated feature Elemental, Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, Jennifer Lawrence in No Hard Feelings and the Take That musical Greatest Days. I'm also preparing to serve on the jury at this year's Bifan in Bucheon, South Korea, at the end of the month.

Critical Week: Rock the block

With summer weather finally arriving in Britain (we basically skipped spring this year), it's tricky for us to go back to the newly reopened cinemas or spend time outside in the sunshine. But it's been too long since we were able to watch movies! My screenings this week included In the Heights, the film of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical celebrating New York's Caribbean subculture. It's exuberant and fun, and has a terrific cast. But the songs felt a bit thin to me. And both Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are back for a third go-round with the supernatural in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, a genuinely creepy thriller about demonic possession based on a true story. That narrative is somewhat watered down by rather a lot of effective movie nonsense.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Sublet • The Father
The Dose • Ellie and Abbie
To the Ends of the Earth
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The British comedy-thriller School's Out Forever is a fresh but over-violent take on the genre, as teens go into military mode following a deadly pandemic. From Australia, Ellie & Abbie (and Abbie's Dead Aunt) is a charming romantic comedy about teen girls in love, with an added witty ghost. Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman's It Must Be Heaven is a serious charmer, a surreal trip from Nazareth to Paris to New York packed with witty and very pointed observations. From Japan, To the Ends of the Earth is an offbeat and very likeable odyssey for a confused young TV host on location in Uzbekistan. And the riveting Swedish documentary The Most Beautiful Boy in the World follows the life of actor Bjorn Andresen following his explosion onto the world scene in Visconti's Death in Venice.

This next week I have a screening of the sequel Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, plus review links to watch include Disney's animated adventure Luca, Willem Dafoe in Lansky, the spy thriller The Serpent and the comedy Untitled Horror Movie.

Critical Week: Chasing monsters

It's been another eclectic week in the screening rooms around London. First up, there was Slaughterhouse Rulez, a blackly comical horror romp that mixes pastiche with nastiness. The idea is great, but the film is a little choppy. Juliet, Naked is a gently engaging British comedy-drama with romantic inclinations featuring nicely understated turns from Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke and Chris O'Dowd. And Monsters and Men is a provocative American drama about three young men in Brooklyn who are pushed into a corner regarding white-on-black police violence. Its light touch makes it notable.

We had a festive Halloween screening of Hell Fest, a throwback teen horror romp so bog-standard that it's neither scary or funny. Lars Von Trier's The House That Jack Built is an epic-length exploration of a serial killer (a superb Matt Dillon), expertly made and fiercely provocative. And from France, Boys [Jonas] is a finely acted low-key drama about a young man confronting an event in his past through a series of encounters that won't let him go.

Over the next 10 days, I'll travel to Greece to be on the international critics' (Fipresci) jury at the 59th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. While there, I'm also planning to catch some festival films I've missed so far, including Alfonso Cuaron's Roma, Berlin winner Touch Me Not, London winner Joy, Lazlo Nemes' Sunset and Ben Wheatley's Happy Birthday, Colin Burstead.