Raindance: Hang on tight

As usual with film festivals, I came to the end of the 33rd Raindance with a backlog of movies to watch and write about. But here's my post from the festival, which wrapped up last night with a screening of The Academy followed by a party - neither of which I was invited to, but that was fine. I needed the rest. I managed to catch 12 films at this year's Raindance, and the quality was uniformly strong. Here are the final four...

The Lonely Musketeer
dir-scr Nicolai Schumann; with Edward Hogg, Richard Glover 24/UK ***.
Featuring a single person in a small room, this experimental drama is shot in black and white and edited with restless energy that keeps the pace moving. Writer-director Nicolai Schumann relies heavily on the exceptional skills of audacious actor Edward Hogg to bring the surreal set-up to vivid life, creating a riveting one-man show. As the narrative unpicks the mystery, the film becomes increasingly murky and darkly disturbing.

Breakwater
dir-scr Max Morgan; with Daniel McNamee, Shaun Paul McGrath 25/UK ***
From the start, this British drama evokes a tone that hints at intrigue with tiny glances and brief cutaways. Writer-director Max Morgan uses eye-catching widescreen cinematography to create a strong sense of the settings and characters. Although these people speak in hesitant fragments, as if they're always hiding something. So while everything seems to move at a maddeningly underpowered pace the subtle performances bring out deeper feelings.

Beam Me Up Sulu
dir Timour Gregory, Sasha Schneider; with Stan Woo, George Takei 25/US ***.
Briskly traces the production of a Star Trek fan movie, this scrappy documentary uses terrific behind-the-scenes footage and extensive clips and interviews, plus some witty animation. Warm-hearted and engaging, it's a lovely depiction of one man's passion alongside remarkable explorations of US cultural history. Yes, the film goes down several sideroads, not all of them relevant. But everything feeds into a strongly entertaining portrait of a dedicated fanbase.

The Dark Fantastic
dir-scr Lg White; with Simon Boswell, Alejandro Jodorowsky 25/UK ****
Tracing the career of British film composer Simon Boswell, this punchy documentary deploys a flurry of split-screen and overlapping imagery to mix clips and interviews alongside a thunderous rock-n-roll sound mix. Filmmaker Lg White's whizzy editing style may play colourfully with images and text, but the focus remains tightly on the music. It's a sharply well-made movie that beautifully depicts the career of an inventive and prolific artist.

Full reviews of festival films will be linked here in due course: SHADOWS @ RAINDANCE >

Critical Week: A horse and his boy

We seem to be in the dog days of summer, as distributors unload festival titles that they couldn't figure out what else to do with. It's a glut of variable quality, some very good, some only OK (I've seen half of the 16 titles opening in the UK this week). At least there are intriguing things at arthouse cinemas beyond the dregs of the blockbusters. This week's press screenings featured the drama The Mustang starring Matthias Schoenaerts (above), terrific as an inmate at a Nevada prison who begins to find himself through working with a horse. It's beautifully shot, and very moving, but nothing terribly new. A great supporting role for Bruce Dern makes it worth a look.

The eclectic mix includes Scarborough, a strikingly well-made, darkly involving adaptation of a four-person play nicely adapted for the big screen with Jessica Barden, Jodhi May, Edward Hogg and Jordan Bolger. The Belgian thriller Spider in the Web rides on an effortless performance by Ben Kingsley as a veteran Mossad agent who simply gets on with the job despite all kinds of murky goings-on. Monica Bellucci costars in an underwritten role. A fiercely unflinching autobiographical drama from actor-filmmaker Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Farming tackles a thorny historical topic in a personal way. It's provocative and intense, but almost misses the best part of the story. From Norway, Phoenix is a relentlessly grim story about a 14-year-old grappling with family issues. It's not easy to watch, but is very well made. And then there was the documentary sequel All Male, All Nude: Johnsons, which again takes a homemade approach as it looks at world of male strippers at Johnsons in Ft Lauderdale. It's not very deep, and includes far too much footage from the first film (about an Atlanta club).

This coming week, while many of my colleagues are in Venice, I'll be watching the anticipated sequel It: Chapter Two, the South African drama Cargo, the sci-fi thriller Empathy Inc, and the queer comedy-drama Bathroom Stalls & Parking Lots. And I'm chasing screenings of Downton Abbey, Judy, The Farewell and Hustlers, among others.

FrightFest: The woman in black

The 20th FrightFest continues through this long weekend in London, with one of the world's best programmes of movies that are designed to rattle the audience to the core. No wonder horror is my favourite genre. Here are a few more highlights, starting with the film that will close the festival on Monday, which stars Sarah Bolger (above). It's my favourite FrightFest movie so far...

A Good Woman Is Hard to Find
dir Abner Pastoll; with Sarah Bolger, Edward Hogg 
19/UK ****
There's a gritty, earthy undertone to this melodramatic thriller that lifts it far above the usual low-budget British potboiler. Writer Ronan Blaney and director Abner Pastoll have made a working-class drama that's packed with both nasty suspense and pointed commentary on the system, with a superb cast in complex roles. So even though the production values are basic, the film has a remarkable urgency... FULL REVIEW >

Feedback
dir Pedro C Alonso; with Eddie Marsan, Paul Anderson 19/Sp ***
Completely set within a London radio studio, this Spanish thriller is gripping thanks to its whizzy pace, extraordinary cast and the colourful panache of director Pedro Alonso. The way events play out is skilfully jarring, feeling completely out of control as things get nastier and messier. Perhaps with less screaming the subtext might have been more audible, but it's a taut and chilling ride... FULL REVIEW >

A Serial Killer's Guide to Life
dir-scr Staten Cousins Roe; with Katie Brayben, Poppy Roe 19/UK ***
A witty visual style helps this blackly comical British thriller connect with the audience, as filmmaker Staten Cousins Roe pokes fun at the very nature of defining ambition and "releasing the inner me". The film is sharply well made, packed with amusing observations on human behaviour. But in the end, there doesn't seem to be too much to it, really. Aside from a lacerating look at self-help culture.

Extracurricular
dir Ray Xue; with Keenan Tracey, Brittany Raymond 18/Can ***
There's a quietly building intensity to this dramatic horror movie, basing its nastiness in realistic teens and small-town life. Director Ray Xue establishes a dark and very serious tone while keeping things authentic with offhanded interaction and complex character detail. Where the story goes feels a bit pointless, but it's thoroughly unnerving. It's also grisly enough to offer fans an intriguing twist on the genre... FULL REVIEW >

The Dark Red
dir Dan Bush; with April Billingsley, Kelsey Scott 18/US ***.
Dreamy and intriguing, this moody drama is beautifully put together, with an earthy approach that finds key points of identification for the audience. Director-cowriter Dan Bush is an assured filmmaker who carefully builds the story using darkly dramatic flashbacks before flipping everything on its head. Where this goes is entertainingly disorienting, continually twisting the tale until it becomes a quietly outrageous rampage.

The Furies
dir-scr Tony D'Aquino; with Airlie Dodds, Linda Ngo 19/Aus ***.
Complete with a properly grisly cold open, this nasty little Australian horror has heavy echoes of Wolf Creek, and not just because its premise features men who inflict random violence on women (and also other men to be fair). Even if the plot is a bit thin, genre fans will love the often mind-bogglingly hideous gore. And there's a riveting pace to the narrative as secrets are uncovered, and as one grotesque set-piece follows another.

Here Comes Hell
dir Jack McHenry; with Jess Webber, Margaret Clunie 19/UK ***.
Opening with a witty disclaimer, this British comedy plays like a jaunty vintage romp, shot in academy ratio black and white. It's a clever pastiche, packed with amusing touches that undercut what feels like a freak-out campfire ghost story. Director Jack McHenry handles the comedy and horror with skill, creating an engagingly memorable spoof that's both funny and properly terrifying.

Links:
• Official FRIGHTFEST site
• Shadows' FRIGHTFEST homepage 

LLGFF 4: Passenger seat

The BFI's 27th London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival winds into its final weekend with a flurry of parties every night, including events for industry delegates, filmmakers and journalists. And of course lots of movies. Here are some more highlights...

Four
dir Joshua Sanchez; with Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen 12/US ***.
Adapted from a play by Christopher Shinn, this low-key American drama is still extremely theatrical, mainly in its use of dialog that's rather too on-the-nose. But the cast is excellent, nicely maintaining the ambiguity of characters who are never who we expect them to be. The title refers both to the number of main characters and to the fact that the events take place on the 4th of July. June (Cohen) escapes from his family barbecue to go meet Joe (Pierce), an older man he has been chatting to online. They see a movie, then go back to Joe's hotel room. Meanwhile, we also meet Joe's daughter Abigayle (Aja Naomi King), who thinks her dad is away on business. While her ill mum is sleeping, she sneaks out to meet Dexter (EJ Bonilla), who has been pursuing her relentlessly. All four of these people want something from the other, and the way they go about getting it is circuitous, awkward and a bit sad. The film's overwhelmingly downbeat tone kind of obscures some fascinating things that are going on here, mainly in the fact that the people in power aren't who we think they'll be. So in the end, it's smart and thoughtful, but also a bit gloomy and empty.

Les Invisibles 
dir Sebastien Lifshitz; with Bernard, Catherine, Christian, Therese 12/Fr ****. 
This beautiful, thoroughly involving documentary catches the everyday details of a group of retirement-age men and women along with the extraordinary stories of how they have lived with their homosexuality. These are engaging, articulate, bracingly honest people who have a lot to say about where European society is now. This relaxed and intimate film is beautifully shot with attention to detail, simply letting a handful of people talk about their lives while going about their daily routines. Some emerge with massive personalities, while others break our hearts with their remarkable life stories. The point is that their experiences are vastly different than young gay and lesbian people today, and we need to remember these things. In the end, their stories are not only fascinating, but urgent and relevant. And hugely resonant too.

Joy! Portrait of a Nun
dir Joe Balass; with Sister Missionary P Delight, Sister Hysterectoria 12/Can ***
A portrait of a fringe gay movement, this gentle, meandering documentary focusses on a man who lives his life under the name Sister Missionary P Delight, nicknamed Mish. Yes, this lifestyle is a bit ridiculous, but it has deep meaning for its participants, who also have something important to say. Mish was thrown out of the priesthood for being gay and turned to activism instead. With other gay nuns in San Francisco, he helped found the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, making political and religious statements by finding comedy in unexpected places. Called to a life of service, he now lives with a group of radical faeries in the Tennessee woods. The film is packed with photos and old film footage that are priceless. And the low-key, rambling doc style nicely matches Mish's cluttered, hippie lifestyle. Although the lack of cinema structure leaves it feeling a bit elusive.

The Comedian
dir Tom Shkolnik; with Edward Hogg, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett 12/UK ***
This low-key improvised drama has a rather misleading title. Writer-director Shkolnik astutely explores the bleak aimlessness of his central character, drawing knowing performances from the cast. But it's so gloomy that it's difficult to connect emotionally... REVIEW >


Future My Love
dir Maja Borg; with Jacque Fresco, Nadya Cazan 12/Swe ****
Swedish filmmaker Borg gets a little carried away with her own artistry in this mash-up of documentary, film essay and visual poem, which explores the question of why humanity hasn't sorted out our problems even with enough information and technology at our disposal. Borg combines music, historical footage and an elusive black and white parallel story to explore this theme. At the centre is an extended interview with genius futurist Fresco, who explains the technocracy movement of the 1930s, a realistic plan to wipe out hunger, poverty and unemployment. And why this hasn't happened is simple: greed. The rich aren't willing to abandon a system that is no longer working if I means they can't accumulate as much private wealth as they want. Which basically makes this one of those beautifully made films that clearly explain what's going on but leaves us with no hope for a solution. Well not in our lifetimes, at least.
[NB: I saw this film at last year's Edinburgh Film Festival]