Critical Week: A walk in the park

London's cinema community is gearing up for this Sunday's British Academy Film Awards, which will be hosted by Richard E Grant at the Royal Festival Hall with all the stars in attendance. And this year the Baftas will air some of the awards live (but only a handful). I'll watch it at home, but I'm attending a few parties over the weekend, which should be fun ... and rather glamorous. More about all that on Monday, after the dust settles.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Inspection • Framing Agnes
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
PERHAPS AVOID:
Devil's Peak
ALL REVIEWS >

Meanwhile, we're starting to see movies released early in the year, far from awards consideration. Sharper is a thriller about con artists, so it's no surprise that it's packed with twists, turns and revelations. All of that is fun, even if it's a bit predictable, but it helps that the film stars Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan and (above) Briana Middleton and Justice Smith. Also sticking to the formula is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the latest slice of Marvel mayhem. The action largely swamps Paul Rudd's superb sense of humour, but the film does have its moments, and Jonathan Majors is seriously good as the villainous Kang. And then there's Devil's Peak, a backwoods thriller that sinks completely under the weight of its cliches, even as strong actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Robin Wright do what they can.

A little further afield, 88 is a political thriller with a nicely complex plot, although the dialog is overstuffed with lectures. From Italy, Nostalgia is an involving drama about a man trying to return home even as his past warns him to leave. From Spain, 8 Years artfully mixes colourful energy with thoughtful emotion as a man ponders the good and bad in a broken relationship. Chase Joynt's astonishingly inventive doc Framing Agnes works on many levels to explore trans experiences and social justice. And Gaspar Noe has rearranged his shocking 2002 classic as Irreversible: Straight Cut, which becomes something very different chronologically.

In addition to British Academy Film Awards events this weekend, this coming week I'll see the nutty thriller Cocaine Bear, Michael Shannon in A Little White Lie, Kore-eda's drama Broker, the Argentine drama Wandering Heart and the climate activism thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline.

Critical Week: Show some style

There were a couple of big animated movies screened for London critics this past week. First up was Sing, Garth Jennings' lively musical-animals romp, which comes complete with a witty satirical swipe at TV talent competitions. There was also Disney's Moana, a gorgeously animated South Pacific adventure with a rather fluffy plot but engaging characters.

Other mainstream movies included Robert Zemeckis' World War II romantic drama Allied, which is overproduced but has a great story and solid leads in Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. Mark Wahlberg reteams with director Peter Berg for another true story in Patriots Day, sharply recounting the Boston Marathon bombing with raw emotion and nerve-jangling suspense. And Billy Bob Thornton returns for Bad Santa 2, which has its moments but is undermined by a cheap, rather mean script.

A little further afield, Briana Evigan stars in the high-concept drama Love Is All You Need, with inverts social ideas about sexuality to make a pungent statement, although the film is melodramatic and rather corny. And the engaging, sweet and ultimately shattering Italian teen drama One Kiss has a powerful message about diversity and subtle bigotry.

Screenings coming up this week include Nicole Kidman in Lion, Annette Bening in 20th Century Women, the noir thriller Kiss Me Kill Me and the documentary Cameraperson. And I also have a few for-your-consideration titles to watch before voting starts in various awards groups over the next few weeks.

On the Road: Nice work if you can get it

Our Brand Is Crisis

dir David Gordon Green; with Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton 15/US ***.

Despite an uneven tone, this breezy political drama touches on several important themes as it freewheels through a scruffy story of American campaign strategists working for rival candidates in an election for Bolivia's president. Based loosely on real people, the film has an authenticity to it that holds the attention, even as it veers wildly between politics, comedy and even slapstick. Of course, Bullock can bridge these gaps effortlessly, and she's terrific as the burn-out reluctantly making a comeback against her fiercest rival, played by an underused Thornton. But then all of the supporting roles are thinly written. This is Bullock's show, and her performance makes the film worth a look. As does what it says about the American political system.  

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CRITICAL WEEK
There are several other films out now in America that I'm hoping to catch up with, including The 33 and By the Sea, and also - purely for work reasons of course, as they open later in the UK - The Peanuts Movie and Love the Coopers.