Critical Week: Duelling divas

Two of the biggest movies this week were released online, so I watched them in my heatwave-warmed home rather than a nicely air conditioned cinema. Charlize Theron takes on a villainous Uma Thurman in The Old Guard 2, a sleek sequel that carries on the saga of a team of immortal mercenaries. But it bogs down in the mythology before a cliffhanger ending. Much stupider, and therefore a lot more fun, is Heads of State, starring John Cena and Idris Elba as bickering leaders of the US and UK forced to work together to save Nato. The starry supporting cast includes a scene-stealing Jack Quaid and hilariously sparky Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Heads of State
Jurassic World: Rebirth
ALL REVIEWS >

David Cronenberg's dark mystery The Shrouds is packed with intriguing ideas and striking imagery, plus churning performances by Vincent Cassel and Diane Kruger. It's also gets more enigmatic as it goes along. And Sam Riley is terrific as a scruffy surfer-like tennis pro in Islands, a provocative drama that inventively subverts its thriller-like plot and characters who never speak the whole truth. All in gorgeous Canary Islands locations. I also caught a couple of live shows: my favourite-ever Edinburgh Fringe act triumphantly hit London for one night only with Otto & Astrid: The Stages Tour at Jackson's Lane, and another iconic duo returned to London after 17 long years with Kiki & Herb Are Trying at Soho Theatre Walthamstow.

This coming week we have James Gunn's new take on Superman, Nick Offerman in Sovereign, Maxine Peake in I Swear, the Dardenne brothers' Young Mothers, Spanish comedy-drama The Other Way Around and a live performance of R.O.S.E. at Sadler's Wells.

Critical Week: I've got a bad feeling

It's been another unusually busy week for this time of year in the screening rooms, with a steady stream, of movies to watch. I'd been hoping to get a break after awards season, but we are powering forward at full speed. So any down time will have to wait. Big releases are screening late these days, with three that are coming out this week: Ayo Edebiri leads the cast of Opus, a blackly comical horror film that isn't very scary. But Edebiri makes it very watchable, as does a scene-chewing John Malkovich. Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender sizzle in the snaky, intelligent thriller Black Bag, which refreshingly isn't about what you think it's about. And Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt lead an offbeat ensemble in The Electric State, a retro sci-fi adventure that's watchable but also forgettable.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Last Breath
Black Bag • Throuple
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Day the Earth Blew Up
ALL REVIEWS >

Other films included the perhaps too-emotional drama The Life of Chuck, with a superb ensemble led by Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan. The Parenting is an amusing meet-the-parents horror pastiche with Brian Cox, Edie Falco and Lisa Kudrow. It's funny and grisly, but never frightening. Infused with music, Throuple is an offbeat indie romance that knowingly bends the rules. And there were two Chinese films: the epic animated sequel Ne Zha 2 is visually dazzling, while the blackly comical thriller Brief History of a Family is riveting and surprising.

There were also two festival films. From South by Southwest, there was the sharply made teen comedy She's the He, and from WatchAUT, I enjoyed the offbeat drama of Peacock, starring the superb Albrecht Schuch. And I also caught two stage shows: Dear Martin at the Arcola Theatre and Drum Tao: The Dream at the Peacock Theatre.

This coming week I'll be watching two films with Pedro Pascal, the adventure Freaky Tales and the comedy-drama The Uninvited, plus Disney's live-action Snow White, Michel Hazanavicius' animated The Most Precious of Cargoes, Alain Guiraudie's Misericordia and the artificial intelligence doc The Thinking Game. In addition, the remake of The Wedding Banquet, starring Bowen Yang, opens BFI Flare film fest on Wednesday.

Critical Week: Campfire stories

It's the week after the London Critics' Circle Film Awards, so much of my time has been spent wrapping up details and sifting through the photos (I published my annual album on Instagram - in four parts). There were only a few film screenings, and with the cold, wet weather I was happy to stay indoors. The big movie was Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the goofy but enjoyable fourth chapter in the saga of the London singleton so endearingly played by Renee Zellweger, this time alongside romantic foils Chiwetel Ejiofor (above) and Leo Woodall. Plus fabulous scene-stealers like Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
September 5
ALL REVIEWS >

Ke Huy Quan is a terrific lead in action comedy Love Hurts, adeptly underplaying the drama while adding wit to the action sequences. The movie is silly, but watchable. Ryan Destiny is fiercely engaging in the boxing biopic The Fire Inside, which is sharper than expected thanks to director Rachel Morrison and writer Barry Jenkins, plus the terrific Brian Tyree Henry in a nuanced variation on the coach role. And Francois Ozon is back with the very French drama When Autumn Comes, which twists and turns through its gently offbeat story, layering personal drama with insinuating intrigue. I also attended the press night for the inventive political play Antigone [on strike] at the Park Theatre.

This coming week, the Avengers are back for Captain America: Brave New World, and I'll also be watching coming-of-age romcom Bonus Track, New York romance Barrio Boy, French drama Holy Cow, Palestinian refugee drama To a Land Unknown and the stage play Miss Brexit at the Omnibus in Clapham.

Critical Week: Making movies

It's been a busy week at the movies, as the London Film Festival came to an end and screening schedules kick into high gear for awards season. Basically, we have about eight weeks to see all the contenders before we fill in our ballots, so everyone wants to make sure we see their movies. Winning the top LFF prize, the animated Memoir of a Snail is a gorgeous stop-motion movie recounting a kid's journey for an adult audience. It's quite dark, but also wonderfully uplifting. Another animated film about kids, The Colours Within follows the Japanese anime tradition while adding terrific visual and narrative detail. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Conclave • Emilia Perez
Memoir of a Snail
ALL REVIEWS >

The starriest screening was for Pablo Larrain's biopic Maria, as Angelina Jolie turned up to chat about playing the iconic diva. It's a fascinating, cleverly made film that's worth a look. Tom Hardy is back for more action in Venom: The Last Dance, which like the previous two films is messy but watchable. Elizabeth Banks plays a paranoid health specialist in Skincare, a nutty thriller that takes some silly twists and turns. Even sillier, Jordana Brewster and Scott Speedman star in Cellar Door, in which everyone is keeping secrets, including the house. Christmas Eve in Miller's Point is an overcrowded ensemble piece without a central plot, but the mini-adventures are involving.

As for festival fare, there was the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, in which he's depicted as a chimp. Along with lots of panache, the film is surprisingly earthy and serious, and powerfully moving. Walter Salles' superbly well-made I'm Still Here is a riveting true-life family drama, while the beautifully observed Indian drama All We Imagine as Light gently follows three women at a crossroads. There were two docs: Mati Diop's inventive and haunting Dahomey, about returning plundered antiquities to Benin, and the delicately balanced The Divided Island, which skilfully outlines the complex situation in Cyprus. I also saw two live performances: Filibuster at Jackson's Lane and Stories at the Peacock. And I attended the glamorous premiere of the TV series The Day of the Jackal, starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch. Now I want to see more episodes.

This coming week shouldn't be quite so jam-packed. But I'll be watching Nicholas Hoult in Juror #2, Cate Blanchett in Rumours, Liam Neeson in Absolution, Pharrell's Lego movie Piece by Piece, the Aussie comedy Secrets of a Wallaby Boy, the Christopher Reeve documentary Super/Man and the disinformation doc How to Build a Truth Engine.

Sundance: Find yourself

It's nice that the Sundance Film Festival: London is so manageable - just 12 features over fur days, plus short films and filmmaker events in a single venue. The programmers bring a terrific range of films and filmmakers over from the main festival in Utah. Most years there are only one or two films that I miss (it was only Skywalkers this year), and I also try to catch some of the shorts (see below). My favourite films this year were Kneecap, My Old Ass and the surprise film, which we had no idea about until the 35mm print began to roll. Here are some more short comments, starting with the closing film...

Dìdi
dir-scr Sean Wang; with Izaac Wang, Joan Chen 24/US ***.
Clearly autobiographical in nature, this teen drama isn't quite a coming-of-age movie, but writer-director Sean Wang refreshingly creates complex moments while making sharply pointed observations. So while this may be the usual collection of comically awkward and painfully embarrassing adolescent events, it also has several lovely things to say about generational issues in immigrant families. It may feel somewhat familiar, but there's a freshness to the approach... FULL REVIEW >

SURPRISE FILM
Kinds of Kindness
dir Yorgos Lanthimos; with Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons 24/UK ****
Returning to their surreally challenging storytelling style, Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimos Filippou have concocted three separate stories starring the same core cast. Each is a rather warped quest for some sort of redemption, with elements that ring true only within the reality of the narrative. And the actors deliver committed, eerily realistic performances that are often disarmingly emotional. With continual surprises, this is fiercely original and unforgettable... FULL REVIEW >

My Old Ass
dir-scr Megan Park; with Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza 24/Can ****
Rippling with authenticity, the dialog in this comedy-drama continually resonates, encouraging the audience to think deeply about things we take for granted. Writer-director Megan Park skilfully crafts a witty story that's packed with fully rounded characters who are hugely likeable even if they're imperfect. And with a wacky touch of hallucinogenic magic, the script finds a fresh new path into the coming-of-age genre that never feels simplistic or sentimental... FULL REVIEW >

Rob Peace
dir-scr Chiwetel Ejiofor; with Jay Will, Mary J Blige 24/US ***
There's a very strong true story at the heart of this film, full of complexities and issues that provoke thought. Although actor-filmmaker Chiwetel Ejiofor doesn't allow for much nuance in the way it's written, edited and played. Much of the dialog, as well as the overstated voiceover, are so on-the-nose that it's impossible to miss the properly important themes here. Still, it's finely played by a terrific cast, and the final sequence at least makes an attempt at feeling hopeful.

Girls Will Be Girls
dir-scr Shuchi Talati; with Preeti Panigrahi; Kani Kusruti 24/In ****
From India, this is a distinctive coming-of-age drama, beautifully shot and assembled to depict events through the eyes of a bright teen girl who is having her first encounter with love. This is a complex and remarkably insightful film, as writer-director Shuchi Talati draws on her own experiences, adding details that bring scenes to life with unusual subtlety. And unlike most teen movies, the story unfolds with an unflinching honesty in the way various events are depicted.

I also saw seven short films in the UK Shorts programme. My favourites were the surreal comedy Good Boy, starring Ben Whishaw as a guy grappling with the reality of his life; the beautifully shot and acted drama Essex Girls, about a teen girl who makes a discovery about who she is; and the amusing collage of Salone Love, which centres around a vox pop about love in Sierra Leone.

My Sundance London reviews will be linked on the website's FESTIVAL PAGE >

Critical Week: Silent running

It's been another eclectic week at the movies, with a couple of terrific in-cinema screenings alongside other films I watched on screener links at home. And I've also had several stage shows to watch as well, which I'm also reviewing here. Easily the best film I saw this week was the Irish drama The Quiet Girl, anchored by a remarkable performance from newcomer Catherine Clinch (above). It's a beautifully understated story told through perceptions and emotions rather than plot. A real stunner. Virtually the opposite was the mega-blockbuster Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is consistently entertaining thanks to a terrific cast and lots of whizzy visuals. But even though director Sam Raimi stirs in some comedy and horror, it feels oddly aimless.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Swimmer • Eleven Days in May
PERHAPS AVOID:
Escape the Field
ALL REVIEWS > 

A bit further afield, I watched the rather simple-minded thriller Escape the Field, about a group of people who find themselves in a cornfield and must solve puzzles to get out alive. It's violent and nasty and never surprising at all. The Danish-made but Norway-set Wild Men is a fascinating black comedy about masculinity, with all kinds of emotional, social and action textures woven in. From Iran, Atabai is a complex portrait of a man who returns to his small hometown for a revelatory journey of self-discovery. And the documentary Eleven Days in May, narrated by Kate Winslet, is the harrowing but urgently important account of more than 60 children killed by Israeli bombs in Palestine over a brief period a year ago.

Coming up this next week, I have a mix of press screenings in cinemas and online, including Eugenio Derbez in The Valet, Caleb Landry Jones in Nitram, the comedy thriller Emergency, the British comedy All My Friends Hate Me, the military drama Foxhole and the Chinese animation blockbuster Boonie Bears: Back to Earth.

Critical Week: Meet the neighbours

After nearly a year of on-off lockdown, it's beginning to feel like I'll never get to make a new friend again. Everyone is feeling the ongoing boredom of staying home all day during this third London lockdown, only getting out for a bit of exercise each day. This may be great for catching up on movies and binge-watching series, but it's also wearing us down. At least I'm keeping busy, which is perhaps much of the battle. But with a drastic reduction in work for self-employed people like me, the strain is getting much more serious.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Days of the Bagnold Summer
Nomadland • The Mauritanian
ALL REVIEWS >

So it helps to watch mindless rubbish like The Croods: A New Age, the enjoyably bonkers sequel to the much more coherent 2013 animated romp about a caveman family, this time with added eco-farmers voiced by Peter Dinklage and Leslie Mann. Also disappointing was Nicholas Jarecki's ambitious opioid thriller Crisis, interweaving three important plots headlined by Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer and Evangeline Lilly. Doug Liman's Locked Down was also uneven, a cleverly made but over-egged British pandemic heist comedy with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anne Hathaway. 

I connected much more strongly with some films from off the beaten path. Sh*thouse (UK title: Freshman Year) is a scrappy university comedy, written and directed with offhanded charm by its young star Cooper Raiff. From Ivory Coast, Night of the Kings is a bracingly original prison drama with some stunning mystical touches. From Hong Kong, Twilight's Kiss recounts a sensitive, secertive romance between two fathers in their late 60s. And the shorts collection Boys Feels: Desire in the Dark features five intense European mini-dramas exploring angles on masculinity.

I have a list of films to watch over the coming weeks, including Dylan Sprouse in Tyger Tyger, Olivia Cooke in Pixie, Quentin Dupieux's comedy Keep an Eye Out, the British drama Justine, and two more collections of male-oriented short films: The Latin Boys Volume 2 and Boys on Film 21: Beautiful Secret. There's also the programme launch event for this year's BFI Flare film festival, which runs 17-28 March.

Critical Week: The room where it happens

The weather has taken a dark, cool turn in London, which is perhaps for the best as lockdown eases further, with pubs and restaurants now open. I had my first professional foray into central London this week, as a guest on a BBC Radio programme, but the West End still feels very odd.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Prince • Mucho Mucho Amor
Spaceship Earth • Guest of Honour
We Are Little Zombies • Seahorse
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Beach House
Inheritance • Parallax
FULL REVIEWS >

There's no word on when press screenings will start up again, so we're still watching links. The big movie this week was Hamilton, a filmed version of the Broadway musical with the original cast. It's utterly electric - timely, engaging, important. I'll resume attempts to get a ticket for the stage version once theatres reopen. This week's action movie is The Old Guard, starring Charlize Theron as head of a group of immortal mercenaries. There's a surprising depth to it. And Burden is the true story of a klansman (Garrett Hedlund) caught between his racist mentor (Tom Wilkinson) and a patient woman (Andrea Riseborough). It's a bit obvious, but powerful.

As for offbeat films, there were the gentle comedy Saint Frances, a coming-of-age tale about a woman in her mid-30s; The Spy, the fascinating true story of a Norwegian woman caught between Nazis and Swedes during WW2; The Beach House, a deliberately vague horror thriller that's not easy to connect to; Parallax, an over-ambitious Inception-like brainbender; We Are Little Zombies, a bonkers Japanese musical romp with deep undercurrents about grief and pop culture; and the documentary Mucho Mucho Amor, which movingly explores the life of iconic fortune teller Walter Mercado. I also watched the Netflix pandemic collection Homemade, 17 shorts shot during lockdown by some very high-profile international filmmakers. It's of course hit and miss, with highlights from Paolo Sorrentino, Pablo Larrain, Rungano Nyoni, Johnny Ma and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Films to watch this next week include Tom Hanks in Greyhound, Andy Samberg in Palm Springs, the cycling drama The Climb, the romantic thriller Fatal Affair, the Italian drama The Players, the musical Divos and the doc In Bright Axiom.

Contenders: Four dramas

I've been catching up with movies released earlier in the year that are eligible in the upcoming awards season. Whether they're worthy of consideration is another thing...

The Laundromat
dir Steven Soderbergh
scr Scott Z Burns
with Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Jeffrey Wright, Melissa Rauch, Nonso Anozie, Matthias Schoenaerts, Rosalind Chao, David Schwimmer, Robert Patrick, James Cromwell, Sharon Stone
release US/UK 18.Oct.19 • 19/US Netflix 1h35 **

Weaving together a series of true stories, this financial comedy-drama seeks to explore the secret life of money. It's ambitious, silly and deliberately absurd, narrated by two dandy lawyers (Banderas and Oldman) in Panama. But the script follows so many threads and delivers so much information that it never comes to meaningful life. The themes are vitally important, the film makes some very strong points, and the performances are excellent, but the wildly flailing barrage of detail is numbing.

After a personal tragedy, Ellen (Streep) begins looking into the fraudulent insurance company in Nevis that has shortchanged her. She discovers it's linked to a Panama law firm helping the world's wealthiest people hide their money in shell companies. Their globe-spanning clients include murderous drug kingpins, an African billionaire (Anozie) who knows he can buy anything, and a British businessman (Schoenaerts) who arrogantly challenges his contact (Chao) in China. And the story is about to break, implicating everyone from movie stars to governments.

The film is essentially about the astonishingly thin line between illegal tax evasion and legal tax avoidance. But it's very difficult to care, or even to pay attention, amid endless conversations about finance, insurance, lawsuits, and so on, especially when the tone is so glib. The cast tries to spice things up with personality, screenwriter Burns keeps the words sparky, and director Soderbergh keeps things visually whizzy. But it still feels dull and unfocussed. There's too much effort to create witty cause-and-effect metaphors and colourful explanations, when a coherent, involving central story would have done this much more efficiently.

29.Oct.19

---

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
dir Terry Gilliam
with Adam Driver, Jonathan Pryce 18/Sp ***. 
Terry Gilliam spent more than 25 years working on this project (a previous attempt to film it was documented in Lost in La Mancha), and getting the film released wasn't easy either. The plot is wacky and meandering, but Gilliam infuses it with a gleefully freewheeling tone, taking flights of fancy at every turn. So even if its defiantly original style can be challenging, it's both raucous good fun and sharply pointed... FULL REVIEW >

---

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
dir-scr Chiwetel Ejiofor
with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maxwell Simba, Aissa Maiga, Lily Banda, Lemogang Tsipa, Philbert Falakeza, Noma Dumezweni, Rophium Banda, Raymond Ofula, Joseph Marcell
release UK/US 1.Mar.19 • 18/UK BBC 1h53 ***.

For his writing-directing debut, Chiwetel Ejiofor ambitiously takes on a true story from rural Malawi. Beautifully shot in the actual locations, the narrative unfolds in a relatively straightforward way, which doesn't allow for a lot of subtext. But it's a thoroughly involving tale, populated by lively characters. And it's also seriously inspirational as it follows a young teen whose curiosity changed his world.

In a small farming village plagued by cycles of drought and flooding, it's getting more and more difficult to manage the grain harvest. Farming a small plot of land, Trywell (Ejiofor) finds his crops either over-soaked or parched. His wife Agnes (Maiga) is an educated woman who wants the best for their teen children Annie (Banda) and William (Simba). Annie hopes to go to university and is secretly seeing a schoolteacher (Tsipa), while William is a voracious student worried because his parents can no longer afford his school fees. So keeping access to the school library becomes a problem as he begins to figure out a way to solve their irrigation problems using wind-power.

The dramatic conflicts in this story feel a little contrived, as they pit the observant, inventive William against his pointlessly stubborn father. Surely Trywell would understand by now that his son might have ideas beyond his age. But he digs his feet in, flails against nature and prays for rain, while ignoring the solution right in front of him. On the other hand, this provides some meaty conversations, and terrific scenes between Ejiofor, Simba and Maiga, who flesh out their characters beautifully. So in the end, it's a skilful retelling of an important story, and aspects of the film are impressive, such as how Ejiofor learned the local language. It also looks gorgeous, and its emotional kick is very strong, as is the way it encourages us to seek outside-the-box solutions to things like political corruption and natural disasters.

23.Oct.19

---

Ma
dir Tate Taylor
scr Scotty Landes
with Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, McKaley Miller,  Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, Dante Brown, Luke Evans, Allison Janney, Missi Pyle
release US/UK 31.May.19 • 19/US Universal 1h39 **.

Starting as a rather typical slickly made smalltown comedy-drama, director Tate Taylor begins from the start to undermine the usual forced Hollywood-style levity with elements from horror movies. But while Octavia Spencer keeps it watchable, the script and production are far too smoothed out to actually generate any suspense, including the way the screenplay uses important topics to offer simple explanations for the nastiness that erupts later on.

Erica (Lewis) and her teen daughter Maggie (Silvers) are settling into life in a new town. Trying to fit in at high school, Maggie hangs out with a group of cool kids including popular girl Haley (Miller), nice guy Andy (Fogelmanis) and jocks Chaz and Darrell (Brown and Waivers). After friendly Sue Ann (Spencer) buys booze for them, she stalks them online and befriends them ("Call me Ma!"), turning her basement into party central. But is she only pretending to be a cool adult?

There are interesting layers to the story, such as Ma's insecurities, which date back to her school days, when her classmates included Maggie, Andy's dad Ben (Evans) and his mean-girl girlfriend Mercedes (Pyle). Taylor overstates these themes loudly, making each wrinkle in the story so painfully obvious that the actual surprises seem anticlimactic. And many sequences feel badly compromised (surely Ma did something else to Ben in the first draft, and her own teen humiliation is botched in a pitch-black gloom). Thankfully, Spencer is skilled at believably navigating Ma's whiplash tonal changes from sweet to party girl to psychopath. But even she can't sell the hyper-grisly climax.

31.Oct.19

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.

Critical Week: Vikings and knights

It seems obvious that the Lego's main rival would want its own movie, and there was a press screening this week of Playmobil: The Movie. It's not as sharp or smart as The Lego Movie, but it has a frantic energy that might keep kids entertained. Aside from wacky voice work from the likes of Daniel Radcliffe and Adam Lambert there's not much here for adults. A much bigger family film opens this week, of course. Disney's remake of its classic The Lion King, was screened to the press a bit late in the day. The state-of-the-art animation is staggering, and the story is well-told. Although the emotional impact feels oddly muted compared to the more expressive original.

Off the beaten path, Willem Dafoe stars in the artful Opus Zero, a complex drama that challenges the audience with its exploration of the creative process. Chain of Death is a slow-burning psychological thriller about a guy (John Patrick Amedori) caught up in a tangled web of murder/suicide for no logical reason. My Friend the Polish Girl is an offbeat British drama shot as a doc gone wrong. It's clever and darkly provocative. And the French drama Hidden Kisses is a strikingly well-told story that explores the nature and effects of homophobia in a society that refuses to educate its children. Powerfully timely and deeply moving.

This coming week's movies include the all-star British comedy spoof Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans, Sienna Miller in American Woman and the French WWII thriller Transit. I also have films to watch that are part of OutFest in Los Angeles, including Cubby, Seahorse, Label Me and Sell By.

Requisite Blog Photo: On the case

Critical Week: Talk to the hand

Spike Lee's 2015 Chi-Raq, a rap-musical take on an ancient Greek play, finally makes it to the UK this year. After screening at the London Film Festival, it's being shown to press before its release in December. Packed with social relevance, it's a hugely engaging look at race, gender and violence in America. But of course this week's biggest press screening was for Marvel's next blockbuster Doctor Strange, a massive crowd-pleaser that gives Benedict Cumberbatch one of his best roles yet. It's a heady concoction of trippy action and witty characters.

A little off the beaten path, there was Idris Elba and Gemma Arterton in the British indie drama 100 Streets, which is strongly shot and acted but has a rather clunky plot; the delayed UK release of the choppy drama Burning Blue, exploring the issue of Don't Ask/Don't Tell; and Werner Herzog's brilliant documentary Lo and Behold, looking at the internet from angles we never thought were possible.

I also caught a couple of gay-themed plays showing on the London fringe over the weekend. The HIV Monologues (at Ace Hotel in Shoreditch until 28 Oct) is another collection of dramatic speeches by Patrick Cash (The Chemsex Monologues) that coalesce into a moving story. It's beautifully played by a sharp four-person cast, and carries quite a kick. And 5 Guys Chillin' (at King's Head in Islington until 5 Nov) is a revival of Peter Darney's v erbatim play taken from interviews about drug-fuelled post-club hangouts. It's presented in an almost unnervingly offhanded way - it feels improvised, never performed. It's a bit moralistic, but strikingly well-staged to force the audience to get involved. Both plays tackle seriously important issues in complex, challenging ways.

This coming week we have Ben Affleck in The Accountant, Hailee Steinfeld in The Edge of Seventeen, the British comedy-drama The Darkest Universe, the British sci-fi horror The Darkest Dawn and, just in time for the US election, something called Ron and Laura Take Back America.

Critical Week: Not to be messed with

The most unforgettable performance in a press screening this week easily belongs to Kate Winslet's fierce Russian mobster in Triple 9, John Hillcoat's urban Western, which opens next month boasting a fierce cast that also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson and Gal Gadot, to name a few. (Side note: it was fun to chat with Winslet about this film at the London critics' awards on Sunday - she hadn't seen it yet.)

We also reunited with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart for the rote action-comedy sequel Ride Along 2, a sequel even worse than the lacklustre original (part 3 is pretty much guaranteed after audiences in America flocked to see it last weekend). Much more challenging were William Monahan's desert thriller Mojave, a choppy dramatic thriller starring Oscar Isaac and Garrett Hedlund; the dark and deeply moving British drama Departure, starring the amazing Juliet Stevenson and Alex Lawther; and the unnerving, elusive drama Chronic, starring a terrific Tim Roth.

This coming week I have very, very late press screenings of J Blakeson's The 5th Wave with Chloe Grace Moretz and Dark Places with Charlize Theron (both open this Friday), plus Michael Bay's Benghazi thriller 13 Hours, acclaimed arthouse drama Green Room, animated adventure Capture the Flag, cycling doc Battle Mountain and shorts compilation Boys on Film 14: Worlds Collide.

On the Road: Somebody's watching you

Secret in Their Eyes

dir Billy Ray; with Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Chiwetel Ejiofor 15/US ****

This loose remake of the slick 2009 Oscar-winning Argentine thriller takes a somewhat brainier approach to its story of an FBI agent (Ejiofor) who tenaciously works on a 13-years-cold.botched murder case that has a strong personal connection, then reteams with his old colleagues (Roberts and Kidman) to finally get justice. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems, and the twisty plot holds the interest, even if the film feels a bit dry and dark. It also helps that all three lead actors give profound performances packed with telling nuances, raising the intrigue both in the case and in their complex inter-relationships. Roberts is especially remarkable, stripped of all glamour as she reveals layers of wrenching inner turmoil. And writer-director Ray fills scenes with subtly clever touches that offer telling insight into the characters, who are far more important than the case itself. Sometimes the leaping back and forth between periods can be difficult to follow (hint: watch the hair), but the story has a robustness that offers constant surprises and emotional resonance. This is a rare thriller that appeals to the mind as much as the gut, taking time to build atmosphere rather than rush from set piece to set piece. It's also distinct enough that fans of the original will find something new.

The Night Before

dir Jonathan Levine; with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie 15/US ***

There's no real reason why a stoner bromance can't also be a Christmas movie, although this holiday comedy shows that heartwarming sentiment easily drowns out gross-out antics. This is an unexpectedly warm romp about three best buddies (Gordon-Levitt, Rogen and Mackie) who have been each others' family at Christmas but find the demands of life pulling them apart. It's a fairly simple premise, packed with effortless charm, fearless physicality and lots of jokes about drugs and genitalia. But it manages to also weave in some festive magic, including a bit of commentary about the nature of growing up and how friends are our family,even when we forget that. The cast is strong, and there are some hilarious gags peppered all the way through the film, carefully placed amid vulgar jokes that fall flat, some expertly undermined sentimentality and two amusing big-name cameos that deliberately wear out their welcome. Oddly, despite all of the rude humour, the film feels rather gentle and sweet, only rarely revving up to full-speed entertainment. But it's the kind of movie that certain audiences will adopt as their very own Christmas classic.

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
CRITICAL WEEK
I headed back to chilly, damp London from sunny Southern California, but slept through the on-board entertainment (mainly because I'd seen all of the films that were available, well at least those I wanted to see!). I arrived just in time for a press screening of Creed, a terrific boxing movie that carries on the Rocky saga with style. Solid filmmaking and acting lift it far above expectations. This coming week I'll catch up with the all-star financial crash drama The Big Short, the holiday horror Krampus, the British comedy Lost in Karastan and the Cannes winning Rams. And I have several others I need to catch up with as year-end awards voting deadlines loom in various groups I am a member of...

Critical Week: What's up, Tiger Lily?

Several big movies have been screened to London critics this week, including Joe Wright's Peter Pan prequel Pan, a flashy, big-scale adventure starring Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard, Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily (above), Garrett Hedlund as Hook and newcomer Levi Miller as Peter. It's a lot of fun, but aimed squarely at young children.

Of three just as generically titled blockbusters, the best is Ridley Scott's The Martian, a thrilling space adventure with a terrific central role for Matt Damon, plus a weighty supporting cast who breathe some life into the film's edges. A lack of this is the only problem with Robert Zemeckis' The Walk, a whizzy, visually impressive dramatisation of the amazing story of Philippe Petit, which was documented memorably in the Oscar-winning Man on Wire. Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings cheeky mischief to the title role, but everyone else fades into the spectacular digital backdrops. And Anne Hathaway and Robert DeNiro are likeable in Nancy Meyers' warm, sentimentally manipulative comedy The Intern.

As for films from the upcoming London Film Festival, I caught up with the outrageously entertaining Bone Tomahawk, a Western starring Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson and a fantastic Richard Jenkins that shifts from comedy to horror. Terence Davies' Sunset Song is a gorgeous period epic with a lovely sense of the time and place (WWI Scotland) and the connection between people and the land. Pablo Larrain's The Club is a riveting, strikingly inventive drama taking on the Catholic Church's inability to tackle its paedophile problem. And Guy Maddin's The Forbidden Room is another typically manic, stylistically sumptuous pastiche, this time telling stories within stories within stories.

Most screenings this coming week are films that will also be showing at the London Film Festival, including Carey Mulligan in the opening movie Suffragette, Lily Tomlin in Grandma, Mads Mikkelsen in Men & Chicken, and the Indo-Canadian crime thriller Beeba Boys. There's also the American comedy This Is Happening, the British comedy Convenience, and the multistrand holiday offering A Christmas Horror Story.

Critical Week: Clean your room

The big press screening this past week in London was for The Amazing Spider-man 2, which opens here three weeks before it hits America. The lavish world premiere was also in Leicester Square this week. As for the film, it's that same mixture of sharply observed comedy-drama and whizzy spidey-swinging action, but the blockbuster plot elements feel invasive and pointless.

There was also the fascinating but diffuse Nigerian drama Half of a Yellow Sun, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton; the devilish but random thriller 13 Sins, starring Mark Webber and Rutina Wesley; the hilarious in-joke Christian music satire Jesus People; and the sensitive but undercooked gay Chicago drama In Bloom. And we also had two music-based docs: SuperMensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon is the lively, entertaining story of an important and remarkably nice-guy music promoter, while Mistaken for Strangers is the rather slight but enjoyable story of a rock singer on tour with his cheeky little brother, a documentary filmmaker.

This coming week's screenings include Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann in The Other Woman, Zac Efron and Seth Rogen in Bad Neighbours (aka Neighbors), Gael Garcia Bernal's Who Is Dayani Crystal, the award-winning Singaporean drama Ilo Ilo, the Native American musical doc American Interior, and two films starring young British actors: the crime caper Plastic and the romance Benny & Jolene. 

And I'm already bracing myself for the following week, as the Sundance London Festival (25-27 April) begins early for journalists with four days of press screenings - I have 14 films in my diary over six days.

34th London Critics' Circle Film Awards

It's always my most glamorous night of the year, but Sunday night's 34th London Critics' Circle Film Awards was also the biggest event I've ever organised and hosted myself, with a lot of help of course. This was my second year as chair of the organising committee, but we had some extra challenges that added a lot more work than ever before - and we pulled a fabulous evening out of thin air thanks to the hard working committee, our generous sponsors (The May Fair Hotel, Beluga Vodka, Audi, Cameo, Novikov, Innerplace and Publicity Media) and press management from DDA.

Somehow my committee convinced me to host the ceremony - I've never done anything like that either! It was pretty daunting, especially since it was about 15 minutes before the ceremony started when the news was confirmed about the death in New York of Philip Seymour Hoffman, our best supporting actor last year. So Critics' Circle Film Section Chair Jason Solomons adjusted his opening monolog accordingly - the audience broke in to a spontaneous standing ovation. And after that it was good to celebrate the best in cinema in 2013 together. We opened with a terrific video compilation of the films of the year, then my job was to thank everyone, then keep things moving.

And the first award in our running order was Supporting Actor, won by Barkhad Abdi, who was attending with his director Paul Greengrass (two of the nominees you can see in the photo above). Supporting Actress went to Lupita Nyong'o, who was unable to attend, so her director Steve McQueen (left) read a statement from her to accept. Then the Technical Achievement Award went to Tim Webber (right) for the visual effects in Gravity. 

Here we shifted into our British awards, starting with Breakthrough British Filmmaker, which went to Filth director Jon S Baird, who collected his trophy from Mark Kermode and me (above).

After a montage of British films and performances, we presented Young British Performer to Conner Chapman, who brought his costar (and fellow nominee) Shaun Thomas on-stage with him. British Actor went to James McAvoy, who was in another part of London filming Frankenstein and sent a video thank you (top right) - his award was accepted by his Filth director Jon Baird. British Actress was won by Judi Dench, who sent a video thank you from India, where she's filming The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 - her award was accepted by her Philomena costar and writer Steve Coogan. And finally, British Film of the Year went to The Selfish Giant. Director Clio Barnard, producer Tracy O'Riordan and cast members Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas and Lorraine Ashbourne all took to the stage - presenter Tim Robey and I are there too (below).

Next up was Actress of the Year, which was won unsurprisingly by Cate Blanchett. She sent a hilarious thank you message, which was read out by her Middle Earth costar Andy Serkis (right with presenter Roger Clarke and me). Actor of the Year was also no surprise, going to Chiwetel Ejiofor. He sent a written thank you from New Zealand, where he's currently filming. Then Documentary of the Year went to The Act of Killing, which was accepted by producer Andre Gregory (photo below), who read a statement from director Joshua Oppenheimer about the ongoing issues in Indonesia.

And now it was time for our biggest honour, the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film, which this year went to Gary Oldman. John Hurt (right) was on give a lovely introduction speech and introduce a clip-reel of Gary's best work, followed by a emotive and eloquent thank you from Gary. And lots of hugging.

Next up was Foreign-Language Film of the Year, which was won by Blue Is the Warmest Colour and accepted by an executive from the UK distributor Artificial Eye. Screenwriter of the Year was won by Joel & Ethan Coen, who weren't in attendance. So presenter David Gritten and I, with the help of committee members Pauline McLeod and Hilary Oliver, concocted a rather silly sketch in which the film's feline star Ulysses appeared on-stage to claim the award. Director of the Year went to Alfonso Cuaron, who sent us a video from Italy (pictured above with James and Judi). And finally it was time for Film of the Year, which went to 12 Years a Slave and was collected by Steve McQueen with a lovely speech.

And then it was on to the afterparty with Beluga Vodka cocktails at Novikov, where nominees and winners, as well as the critics and guests mixed in unexpected circles late into the night. I had a particularly nice chat with Howard Cummings, nominated for his Behind the Candelabra production design. And from the below evidence, will we see Barkhad Abdi in Steve McQueen's next movie ... or Andy Serkis in Paul Greengrass'?

Of course, things wrapped up with our now-legendary goody bags (that's mine to the right), thanks to our diligent committee members and some more generous sponsors. Here are a few more photos - of our two most glamorous red carpet stars, nominees Naomie Harris and Lindsay Duncan, and of nominee George MacKay, winner Andre Singer and Reece Shearsmith, star of nominated film A Field in England.

And finally, because it has to be done, Knowing Me Rich Cline, Knowing You Steve Coogan. Aha....

Photos by Dave Bennett