LFF: Find your feet

And that's a wrap on the 67th London Film Festival. I enjoyed taking a slightly less involved approach this year, seeing lots of great movies without trying to see everything I wanted to see. There are still several big titles I need to catch over the coming months before awards voting deadlines, so I have lots to look forward to. The closing night party was great fun too. Here are some final highlights, including the closing film The Kitchen. My favourites are below, along with the award winners...

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
dir Sam Fell; voices Thandiwe Newton, Zachary Levi 23/UK ****
After their great escape in the 2000 classic, the gang returns for an impossible mission. Every moment in the film is packed with throwaway gags, sharp comedy and thrills that riff on heist and action movies. Of course, Aardman's attention to detail shines in the painstaking stop-motion animation, as characters and sets overflow with personality. And the film reminds us to find the bravery to do the right thing.

Poor Things
dir Yorgos Lanthimos; with Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe 23/UK *****
Taking on another fantastical story, Yorgos Lanthimos grounds and deepens this wildly stylised fable with darkly provocative themes. It may be visually extravagant, often going wildly over the top with full-on performances from a daring cast of excellent actors, and yet everything remains grounded in sympathetic emotions. So what the story is saying about polite society becomes almost revolutionary, encouraging us to go against the grain and speak the truth.

The Kitchen
dir Kibwe Tavares, Daniel Kaluuya; with Kane Robinson, Jedaiah Bannerman 23/UK ***.
Set in the near-future, this British film combines elements of comedy, drama and thriller to tell the warm story of a father-son relationship between a man and a teen boy. It's a bit repetitive and takes its time getting to the point, but the characters are beautifully written and played, and the film is directed with understated skill by first-timers Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya. Brimming with energy, it's engaging and entertaining, with a sharp point.

Chasing Chasing Amy
dir-scr Sav Rodgers; with Sav Rodgers, Kevin Smith 23/US ***.
Kevin Smith's 1997 comedy Chasing Amy stars Ben Affleck as a comic writer who falls in love with a lesbian played by Joey Lauren Adams. It's been considered problematic for its gender politics, but filmmaker Sav Rodgers found it inspiring because of its honest depiction of openly queer people. So he made this documentary both to say thank you and to understand why the movie generated so much controversy.

All full festival reviews will be linked to Shadows' LFF PAGE >

RICH'S BEST OF THE FEST

1. 
   All of Us Strangers
2. Poor Things
3. The Zone of Interest
4. The Eternal Memory
5. Robot Dreams
6. In Restless Dreams
7. May December
8. In Camera
9. Saltburn
10. Tiger Stripes

Honourable mention: Nyad, Samsara, Totem, The Lost Boys, Fingernails, Shortcomings, Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, Anselm, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

OFFICIAL LFF AWARDS

• Best Film: Evil Does Not Exist
• Sutherland Award for First Feature: Mika Gustafson for Paradise Is Burning 
• Grierson Award for Documentary: Bye Bye Tiberias
• Audience Award: tbc

Critical Week: Take aim

Londoners aren't used to such a long spell of warm, dry weather, so it's especially unusual to see the parks turning golden rather than green. (Although this is something I grew up with in Southern California.) It's been warm enough to welcome trips into air conditioned cinemas to cool off. The bigger films this week were the Predator prequel Prey, an involving and well-made 18th century adventure with some proper suspense, even if some cliches are distracting. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are terrific as siblings in Jordan Peele's Nope, a witty and inventive take on the alien invasion thriller that's involving, surprising and perhaps just a little overcooked. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Bodies Bodies Bodies
Fadia's Tree • Luck
ALL REVIEWS >

And then there was Brad Pitt, who saunters engagingly through the silly chaos of Bullet Train, a messy action comedy that feels oddly thin despite terrific performances from an ensemble cast that includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King and the great Hiroyuki Sanada. The brightly hued animated adventure Luck has a lively story, with terrific voice work from a starry cast that includes Jane Fonda and Whoopi Goldberg. Charlotte Rampling is of course terrific in the dark, witty and thoughtful Kiwi drama Juniper. And the refugee doc Fadia's Tree tells a vividly personal story of a life diverted by conflict.

This coming week I'll be watching the thriller No Way Out, coming-of-age comedy Funny Pages, India's Forrest Gump remake Laal Singh Chaddha, comedy-drama anime Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko, quirky claymation adventure The Old Man: The Movie and the documentary Bloom Up.

The Best of 2021: 41st Shadows Awards

It's been another strange year, with more lockdowns, uncertain film releasing schedules and on-off film festivals. As always, these are my favourites from the movies I actually watched in 2021, regardless of when they were released (some weren't). As in the past two years, I was reluctant to choose this particular film as my best, simply because everyone else seems to be naming it too. But it's the one I haven't been able to get out of my head since I saw it on a big screen in October.

What follows here are my top 10s in the main categories. There is rather a whole lot more ON THE WEBSITE. 

BEST FILM: 

1. 
   The Power of the Dog
2. Benediction
3. Quo Vadis, Aida?
4. Judas and the Black Messiah 
5. Flee
6. Petite Maman 
7. Night of the Kings 
8. Tick, Tick... Boom! 
9. Drive My Car 
10. Dune

DIRECTOR: 

1. 
   Jane Campion - The Power of the Dog
2. Jasmila Zbanic - Quo Vadis, Aida?
3. Celine Sciamma - Petite Maman
4. Terence Davies - Benediction
5. Laura Wandel - Playground
6. Denis Villeneuve - Dune
7. Philippe Lacote - Night of the Kings
8. Shaka King - Judas and the Black Messiah
9. Ryusuke Hamaguchi - Drive My Car
10. Kaouther Ben Hania - The Man Who Sold His Skin

SCREENWRITER:

1. 
   Terence Davies - Benediction
2. Celine Sciamma - Petite Maman
3. Jane Campion - The Power of the Dog
4. Jasmila Zbanic - Quo Vadis, Aida?
5. Asghar Farhadi - A Hero
6. Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe - Drive My Car
7. Pedro Almodovar - Parallel Mothers
8. Marley Morrison - Sweetheart
9. Ramin Bahrani - The White Tiger
10. Sian Heder - Coda

ACTRESS: 

1. 
   Penelope Cruz - Parallel Mothers
2. Jasna Djuricic - Quo Vadis, Aida?
3. Olivia Colman - The Lost Daughter, Mothering Sunday
4. Cate Blanchett - Nightmare Alley, Don't Look Up
5. Nell Barlow - Sweetheart
6. Maya Vanderbeque - Playground
7. Jennifer Hudson - Respect, Monster
8. Tilda Swinton - Memoria, The French Dispatch, The Souvenir: Part II
9. Julia Vysotskaya - Dear Comrades
10. Renate Reinsve - The Worst Person in the World

ACTOR:

1. 
   Andrew Garfield - Tick Tick... Boom, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Mainstream, Spider-Man: No Way Home
2. Benedict Cumberbatch - The Power of the Dog, The Courier, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Spider-Man: No Way Home
3. LaKeith Stanfield - Judas and the Black Messiah, The Harder They Fall
4. Jack Lowden - Benediction
5. Kone Bakary - Night of the Kings
6. Javier Bardem - The Good Boss, Being the Ricardos, Dune
7. Dev Patel - The Green Knight
8. Franz Rogowski - Great Freedom, Undine
9. Woody Norman - C'mon C'mon
10. Adarsh Gourav - The White Tiger

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: 

1. 
   Jessie Buckley - The Lost Daughter, The Courier
2. Rita Moreno - West Side Story
3. Dianne Wiest - I Care a Lot
4. Ariana DeBose - West Side Story
5. Dominique Fishback - Judas and the Black Messiah
6. Milena Smit - Parallel Mothers
7. Millicent Simmonds - A Quiet Place Part II
8. Jo Hartley - Sweetheart
9. Ruth Negga - Passing
10. Emma Thompson - Cruella

SUPPORTING ACTOR: 

1. 
   Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah
2. Kodi Smit-McPhee - The Power of the Dog
3. Ray Liotta - The Many Saints of Newark
4. Andre Holland - Passing
5. Anders Danielsen Lie - The Worst Person in the World
6. Theodore Pellerin - Underground
7. Noah Jupe - A Quiet Place Part II, No Sudden Move
8. Rajkummar Rao - The White Tiger
9. Sope Dirisu - Mothering Sunday, Silent Night
10. Richard E Grant - Everybody's Talking About Jamie

WORST FILM: 

1. 
   Space Jam: A New Legacy 
2. The Reckoning 
3. Joe Bell 
4. Tom and Jerry 
5. Red Notice
6. The Birthday Cake 
7. Hide and Seek 
8. Those Who Wish Me Dead
9. Voyagers 
10. Cry Macho 

N O N - F I L M   D I V I S I O N

TV SERIES: 

1. 
   It's a Sin (BBC)
2. The Underground Railroad (Prime)
3. Ted Lasso (Apple)
4. Mare of Easttown (HBO)
5. Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix)
6. Call My Agent (Netflix)
7. The White Lotus (HBO)
8. Shameless (Showtime)
9. Succession (HBO)
10. Young Rock (NBC)

SINGLES: 

1. 
   Montero (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X
2. Caroline - Arlo Parks
3. Energy - Pa Salieu & Mahalia
4. Love Is Back - Celeste
5. Todo de Ti - Rauw Alejandro
6. 3, 2, 1 - 24kGoldn
7. Don't Be Late - Michael Kiwanuka
8. Waiting on a War - Foo Fighters
9. Apricots - Bicep
10. Overpass Graffiti - Ed Sheeran

Critical Week: Reject oppression

It's been a busy week for me, as I chair the London Film Critics, and we announced our nominations on Tuesday.  Meanwhile, I keep watching movies in lockdown, all send virtually through a variety of streaming systems, usually with my name and/or email address watermarked across the screen (which can sometimes be distracting). There were a few heavy-hitters this week, including the great Daniel Kaluuya in the ripping true drama Judas and the Black Messiah, about the political machinations within the Chicago chapter of the Black Panthers in 1968. Oscar powerhouses Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto lend their considerable skills to the rather straightforward serial killer thriller The Little Things. And John David Washington and Zendaya have an extended tense conversation in the stylish and fascinating stage-like drama Malcolm & Marie.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
MLK/FBI • Blithe Spirit
Boys Feels: High Tide 
ALL REVIEWS >

Smaller films included the warm comedy-drama Love Sarah, starring Celia Imrie and a lot of delicious baked goods. The superb Shahab Hosseini stars in The Night, about an immigrant family that checks into a freak-out hotel. The surreal Greek drama Apples is about a world inflicted by a pandemic that causes amnesia, and the story is packed with clever insight. There were two award-worthy docs: The Truffle Hunters is the utterly delightful story of the old Italians who guard their old world profession, while MLK/FBI is a blood-boiling look at how J Edgar Hoover ruthlessly harassed Martin Luther King and smeared his name in the 1960s. Finally, there was a collection of four short films in Boys Feels: High Tide - each of them is an astute look at youthful yearning.

This coming week I'll be watching Anthony Mackie in Outside the Wire, the Indian biopic The White Tiger, Nahuel Perez Biscayart in Persian Lessons, the Danish thriller The Exception and still more awards contenders.

Critical Week: Nothing but a smile

As a critic, movies come at me at random, so it's very odd when a pattern emerges. This past week, for example, I saw two Belgian movies that were populated by people who were completely naked. And neither was about sex. Set in a naturist campground, Patrick is a quirky black comedy with a compelling mystery at its centre. And it features a global star in Jemaine Clement (above with non-nudist Hannah Hoekstra). Bare documents the production of a dance piece for 11 naked men from auditions to the premiere. It's a striking look at masculinity, including strength, weakness, diversity and unity. But you have to be relaxed about watching naked bodies on screen.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
WolfWalkers • Ammonite
No Hard Feelings • The Climb
 I Am Greta • Bare 
FULL REVIEWS >

Otherwise, the movies this week were the usual eclectic bunch - once Raindance ended on Sunday. There were two family-friendly films: David and Jacqui Morris' eye-catching new take on A Christmas Carol that uses Dickens' text faithfully, accompanied by an ambitious mix of dance and theatricality with an all-star voice cast; and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run is the latest adventure for that undersea gang of idiots, silly and also very funny (with added Keanu). There was some rude comedy in the gently engaging Malin Akerman comedy Chick Fight. And from Germany, the moving romance No Hard Feelings has a lot to say about the refugee experience.

Coming up this next week, films to watch include Aubrey Plaza in the drama Black Bear, Gary Oldman in the biopic Mank, Travis Fimmel in the heist comedy Finding Steve McQueen, the Jackie Chan action thriller Vanguard, the Romanian journalism drama Collective and the Shane MacGowan doc Crock of Gold.

Critical Week: On the run

Awards screenings continued this week with several strikingly good movies. Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner Smith star in the superb, pointed, involving road movie Queen & Slim. George MacKay and Dean Charles Chapman star in Sam Mendes' bravura WWI adventure 1917, which also features cameos from Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, Mark Strong and Colin Firth. Mark Ruffalo takes on an evil corporation in Todd Haynes' riveting true drama Dark Waters. And Paul Walter Hauser is stunning as the title character in Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell, the true story of a man whose life was ruined by media sensationalism in 1996.

Not looking for awards are Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan, back with all their friends for the lively, silly Jumanji: The Next Level, which has a bit mote texture than the first one. And John Cena and John Leguizamo lead the charge as firefighters in Playing With Fire, a dim but rather enjoyably ridiculous mix of comedy and action.

Further afield, Jennifer Reeder's unhinged Knives and Skin is an enjoyably deranged mystery-thriller with blackly comical edges set in small-town America. And Helen Hunt leads the horror thriller I See You as a doped-up housewife whose already strained life is upended by what seems like a ghost in the family home. There was also this important reissued drama from 1985...

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Buddies
dir-scr-prd Arthur J Bressan Jr
with Geoff Edholm, David Schachter, Damon Hairston, Joyce Korn, Billy Lux, David Rose, Libby Saines, Susan Schneider, Tracy Vivat
release US 12.Sep.85 • reissue US 21.Jun.18, UK 6.Dec.19 • 85/US 1h21 ****

Digitally restored to a pristine state, this is one of the earliest dramas about Aids, made as the epidemic was only just starting in 1985. It's one of the most humane treatments of the topic, centred around a friendship between two young men who are facing their mortality in very different ways. Filmmaker Arthur Bressan has some tricks up his sleeve, but his storytelling is disarmingly simple, which makes the characters and situations deeply engaging.

As a volunteer for a gay community centre, 25-year-old David (Schachter) introduces himself to 32-year-old Aids patient Robert (Edholm), who is in hospital with no real chance of recovery. David is nervous, and Robert is confrontational, but as they get to know each other, barriers come down and they share their very different personal journeys. David sneaks some porn into the room, while Robert challenges David to get involved in pushing the government to end its silence and stop a disease that is killing a generation.

While the film's tone feels simplistic and old-fashioned, there's a sophistication to the characters and issues that is far ahead of its time. Even three decades later, this is a bracingly complex exploration of the Aids epidemic, the political cruelty that sparked it and the social opinions that exacerbated it. So the way the film presents David and Robert as normal guys just trying to live their lives has an everyday quality to it, as well as something revolutionary. It's beautifully acted by both Schachter and Edholm, who bring sharp humour and warm emotion to every scene. The other cast members remain mainly just out of sight, because this isn't their story. So not only is this a vital document of a place and time, but it's also a remarkably involving, provocative drama that needs to be seen today.

 4.Nov.19 • Berlin

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This coming week I'm hoping to get into a screening of the animated adventure Spies in Disguise, and there are also Justin Long in After Class and Gary Oldman in The Courier, plus catching up with the animated film Missing Link, the footballer doc Diego Maradona and the Tarantino doc QT8: The First Eight.

38th Critics' Circle Film Awards: words and pics...

As chair of the London Critics' Circle Film Awards, I get to be right on the frontline putting this event together. It's a lot of work, over about six months with especially intense days when voting starts in early December until the big night. Our 38th awards were handed out on Sunday 28th January at The May Fair Hotel, presented by Dover Street Entertainment. And since I have to get up at the start to thank our sponsors, I usually hand out the first award. This year's first honour went to Hugh Grant (above), named Supporting Actor of the Year for Paddington 2. He joked, "Well that's ludicrous. Trump, Brexit, and now me winning this. It's the end of days!"

The ceremony ended on a highlight, as Kate Winslet was presented the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film by her friend Jude Law. She gave an electric speech referencing the Time's Up movement from her own personal perspective. Kate started with, "It almost feels uncomfortable to receive an award at such a time." And she went on to reference the #MeToo issue: "I realised that I wouldn't be able to stand here this evening and keep to myself some bitter regrets that I have about poor decisions to work with individuals with whom I wish I had not."

These three men from Call Me By Your Name were in the house - Armie Hammer came along with his friends, nominees Luca Guadagnino (up for film and director) and Timothee Chalamet, who won Actor of the Year. Timothee thanked Luca ("Who basically gave me my career at this point") and his "tongue-wrestling partner" Armie.

Here's the team running the show: host Steve Oram, Critics' Circle President Anna Smith, host Alice Lowe and Critics' Circle Awards Chair Rich Cline. This was Steve and Alice's third year hosting the show - they're an awesome double act.

Winners for Breakthrough Filmmaker and Young Performer: Francis Lee for God's Own Country and Harris Dickinson for Beach Rats.

Lesley Manville was named Supporting Actress of the Year for Phantom Thread, while producer Daniel Battsek collected awards on behalf of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: for best film, screenwriter Martin McDonagh and actress Frances McDormand.

Writer-director Paul King and writer Simon Farnaby, both nominees for their work on Paddington 2, were in the house. Writer-director Dionne Edwards and producer Georgia Goggin won British/Irish Short Film of the Year for We Love Moses.

Supervising Art Director Paul Inglis accepted production designer Dennis Gassner's Technical Achievement Award for Blade Runner 2049. Noah Jupe (Suburbicon) and Dafne Keen (Logan) were nominees for Young Performer.

More nominees in the house: Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk), Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth), Josh O'Connor (God's Own Country) and Emily Beecham (Daphne).

Emma Willis was a nominee for her amazing hair and makeup in The Love Witch. Other guests included Alec Secareanu (God's Own Country), Jessica Barden and Jack Johns.

Four of our winners sent thank you videos. Clockwise from top-left: Martin McDonagh won Film and Screenwriter of the Year for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Daniel Kaluuya was named British/Irish Actor of the Year for Get Out; Paul Verhoeven won Foreign-Language Film of the Year for Elle; Sean Baker took Director of the Year for The Florida Project.

And finally, our former chair Jason Solomons presented a lovely In Memoriam segment for Barry Norman, one of Britain's best-loved film critics.

The awards were presented this year by Dover Street Entertainment. Our main sponsor was The May Fair Hotel. Award sponsors were Heaven Skincare, Cameo Productions and Millbank and CooperSearle Management. In-kind sponsors were Sacred Gin, Remy Martin, Voss Water and Audi.

Critical Week: Oscar pulls a switcheroo

The 89th Academy Awards ended with a major upset on Sunday night, as Moonlight won the Best Picture Oscar over seemingly set-in-stone favourite La La Land, which had scooped up almost everything in its path during awards season. And it was made even more memorable when this important triumph was so badly botched by officials from PwC, who gave the wrong envelope to presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty (a 50th anniversary Bonnie & Clyde reunion), who announced La La Land. And it took two long minutes to correct the error. Watching this unfold live was simply astonishing, one of the most jaw-dropping moments in Oscar history. It definitely overshadowed just how amazing Moonlight's win is.

There were hints early on that the expected La La Land sweep wasn't going to happen, as awards were handed out to Hacksaw Ridge, Arrival, Fantastic Beasts and even Suicide Squad before La La Land won its first statuette. In the end, La La Land won 6 awards to Moonlight's 3. Other than Best Picture, there were no real upsets. Speeches were terrific, with pointed political jabs and lots of wonderfully emotional moments.

Jimmy Kimmel did a solid job as host, maintaining his jokes all the way through the ceremony (something few hosts manage). He also gave his continual mocking of Trump a jokey tone. Some of his bits didn't really work (the tour bus) and others were recycled (mean tweets), but his dry approach was very funny, and the ongoing banter with Matt Damon genuinely hilarious.

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Before leaving Los Angeles, I managed to catch up with Get Out, Jordan Peele's superbly original horror drama - witty, scary and very clever. And back in London I headed to a screening of the strikingly original superhero thriller Logan, Hugh Jackman's last outing as Wolverine. On the plane in between, I revisited one of my all-time favourites, Mel Brooks' classic Blazing Saddles, which still makes me laugh uncontrollably.

Coming up this week, we have screenings of the new mega-blockbuster Kong: Skull Island, Kristen Stewart in Personal Shopper, Stephen Fry's Hippopotamus, the Argentine drama Bromance, and the dark romance Fair Haven, to start with.