Critical Week: Aye aye

Now that the key film festivals have taken place, the movie landscape shifts into awards-season mode. I've actually been working on the London Critics' Circle Film Awards since June, but everything kicked up a gear this week, as I've sent our voting roster to studios and for-your-consideration screenings are starting to appear in the calendar. Meanwhile, London Film Festival is revving its gears, and several of these films are already screening two weeks before the festival even starts. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
It Lives Inside
Accused • R.M.N.
PERHAPS AVOID:
Expend4bles
ALL REVIEWS >

As for films I've seen this week, there's the reunion of the fabulous Glenda Jackson and Michael Caine in The Great Escaper, based on a true British story. It's sentimental but also beautifully played by its expert cast. And then there was Expend4bles, nearly a decade after the third movie. But the less starry cast can't explain why the script is so undercooked or the direction so sloppy.

More fun was the breezy crime comedy The Kill Room, starring Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson and Joe Manganiello as the art world meets the mob. Accused is a ripping British thriller starring Chaniel Kular as a guy the internet decides is a terrorist, which is something from all of our nightmares. Rhys Darby stars in the goofy time-travel comedy Relax I'm From the Future, which is charming and enjoyably messy. From Northern Ireland, Ballywalter is a comedy with a dry, emotional heart as two unmoored people find a connection. And I also saw the harrowing World War II Poland-set stage play The White Factory at Marylebone Theatre (review up soon).

Films this coming week include the sci-fi epic The Creator, the animated adventure Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, the comedies The Plus One and The Re-Education of Molly Singer, British runway-kids drama I Am Urban and the Hong Kong police drama Where the Wind Blows, plus live events with the Kyiv City Ballet's Tribute to Peace and a street performance called Code of Justice.

Critical Week: No wallflower

As awards season heats up, the films screened to critics begin to feel more eclectic than usual. One higher-brow offering was Lady Macbeth, which I missed in the festival rounds last autumn. Florence Pugh stars as a woman who finds a rather grisly way to take control of her life in 19th century England. It's gruesome and clever. The Space Between Us is a romance between two teens in which a sci-fi plot point becomes little more than set dressing. It's a well-made film, but the script remains resolutely superficial.

On the extreme other end of the spectrum, The Lego Batman Movie is a frantic comedy that's very funny but also somewhat exhausting. From Romania, Graduation is a powerfully challenging drama that grapples with huge themes in a way that's sharp and resonant. And All This Panic is a loose, beautifully shot and edited documentary that feels like a narrative feature about a group of teen girls navigating crises that feel like the end of the world. To them at least.

I'm flying off to California for the next couple of weeks to visit family and friends. And I'll also catch up with some movies along the way, which I'll cover here. First on my list is John Wick Chapter 2, as I'm missing the big London press screening. I'll also be over there for Bafta on Sunday night, and perhaps more relevantly for Oscar two weeks later.

LFF 3: Take a swim

Another sunny day (with spots of rain) at the 56th BFI London Film Festival as huge crowds gather around the city to watch movies from off the beaten path. Here are a few Sunday highlights, including Rust and Bone (above), my favourite film of the year so far...

Rust and Bone
dir Jacques Audiard; with Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts 12/Fr *****
With an almost unblinkingly honest approach to relationships, this French drama crushes every cliched romance in its wake. The story and characters are messy, tetchy and fiercely passionate, forcing us to experience the pain and joy in equal measure... REVIEW >

End of Watch
dir David Ayer; with Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena 12/US ****
Off-handed performances and an earthy, gritty style elevate this police thriller above the fray. And it's made all the more watchable since Ayer has abandoned his usual corrupt-cop theme, instead focussing on two realistically complex good guys... REVIEW >

West of Memphis
dir Amy Berg; with Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin 12/US ****
This lucid, harrowing documentary recounts a 20-year miscarriage of justice so thoroughly that it leaves us slack-jawed at the corruption, self-interest and intractability of the Arkansas legal system. It's also sharply well shot and edited to leave us with no doubts about the truth... REVIEW >

Beyond the Hills
dir Cristian Mungiu; with Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur 12/Rom ****
Dark and unsettling, this drama juggles its provocative subject matter and unusual setting in ways that constantly surprise us. Not because we can identify with the situations, but because filmmaker Mungiu is so skilled at finding larger truths in his characters. It's about two young women who grew up in an orphanage but took very different journeys: Alina (Flutur) moved to Germany to find work, Voichita (Stratan) joined a rural monastery. And now Alina has come back to collect her friend, but instead she ends up upsetting the delicate balance of religion and superstition that infuses life in this oddly timeless place where there's no electricity or running water. There are all kinds of social issues at play here, from underfunded hospitals to child abuse. Not to mention the bigger theme of a group of deeply religious people struggling to deal with someone they see as a dangerous interloper. Rather long and repetitive, it's also scary and emotional film that leaves us with a lot to chew on.

Zaytoun
dir Eran Riklis; with Abdallah El Akal, Stephen Dorff 12/Isr **.
Lively characters and a series of offbeat events make this movie watchable, except that we never believe anything that happens. The script feels contrived to tell a heartwarming story using a series of corny touches. So there isn't much tension. And no insight into the thorny political situation... REVIEW >