Critical Week: A pie in the face

I caught up with a bunch of films opening this week in the US and UK, including some high-profile ones. Written by Shia LaBeouf, Honey Boy is an autobiographical drama about the actor's relationship with his father (whom he plays on-screen). It's seriously gorgeous filmmaking. Last Christmas is a holiday comedy-romance from Paul Feig and Emma Thompson, starring (cool casting alert!) Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding. It's charming, funny and ultimately thoughtful. The Good Liar is a guilty pleasure about two old folks (Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren) caught up in a con. The wobbly plot is fun, riding on the actors' charisma. Roland Emmerich directs Midway, an entertaining special-effects action adventure about the pivotal WWII battle, with a strong cast manfully grappling with wooden dialog. And the animated feature Klaus looks a little too digital, but its derivative Christmas origin story is told with spiky humour and some enjoyable twists.

In the arthouse department, Terrence Malick's latest wonder is A Hidden Life, based on a true story, so it has a more forceful narrative than his films usually do, even with minimal dialog. It's the powerful story of a man who quietly stood by his principles in Austria under Nazi rule. From Senegal, Atlantics is a haunting drama about a young woman in love with the wrong guy. And it has a supernatural wrinkle that deepens its themes. From Ecuador, The Longest Night (La Mala Noche) could have been a cliched tale of a hooker with a heart of gold, but it becomes much more than that with its gritty plot and complex characters. And there's a restored rerelease for the 1985 drama Buddies, a beautifully made story of friendship that was one of the first films to address the Aids epidemic.

This coming week is another collection of contenders and other releases, including Greta Gerwig's new take on Little Women, Cynthia Erivo in Harriet, the Hamlet riff Ophelia, the British black comedy Kill Ben Lyk, the dance-musical Romeo & Juliet: Beyond Words, and the acclaimed doc For Sama. I also have a few stage shows to watch, just for some fresh air!

Critical Week: A hot topic

It's been a busy week screening-wise, as I have packed in films in preparation for taking next week off. There was a new adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, one of my very favourite novels, although the film changes the plot and kind of loses the focus, despite strong performances from Michael B Jordan and Michael Shannon. And I managed to catch two screenings of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the Han Solo origin movie, which ticks a lot of entertaining boxes to take the audience on a fun ride.

A little off the beaten path, Travis Mathew's evocative Discreet is a swirling experimental drama about past wounds, regrets and the pointlessness of revenge. Hooked is a slightly over-obvious drama about a young rentboy on a dangerous trajectory. Freelancers Anonymous is a refreshing if silly comedy about a woman trying to start over in a tough economy. And Astro is an amateurish sci-fi thriller with a couple of decent performances and laughably overserious dialog.

There were also three docs: The Fabulous Allan Carr is a lively and moving trip through the life of the iconic, life-loving but lonely producer of Grease; All the Wild Horses is a spectacularly shot trip across Mongolia on the world's longest horse race; and Arcadia uses a lot of amazing archival footage to try and say something odd about Britain's relationship with the land. And finally, I had a chance to catch the restored Yellow Submarine on the big screen as it gets a 50-year reissue. It's simply delightful - great animation and a thoroughly whimsical story.

I'm on holiday over the next week, so am avoiding films altogether! I return home just as the Sundance Film Festival: London kicks off, and will catch up with the anticipated horror Hereditary, Leave No Trace, Generation Wealth and Skate Kitchen, plus a programme of short films. Then the following week, it's time for Jurassic Park: Fallen World.

Shadows on the Screen: Autumn TV Roundup

Television is my escape: something I can watch without getting into film critic mode. Yet while I prefer mindless nonsense on the small screen, I am also tempted by big, quality shows that are currently all over the channels and streaming services. So here's what I was watching this summer. And now that film festival season is upon me, I need trashy TV even more!

EVENT TELEVISION

Game of Thrones: Series 7

Without pausing for breath, this show propelled a large number of people into a variety of conflicts that left our jaws hanging open in shock. After six years, the central characters are all so complex and involving that they almost feel like family: some we love and others we hate. So what happens to them feels like a punch to the gut. Meanwhile, the show's creators just keep topping themselves with exhilarating epic moments that take the breath away. There's never been anything on TV that even comes close to this scale of excitement and adventure. And this season finally brought many the characters together, ready to head into the final series of shows next year.

Top of the Lake - China Girl: Series 2

Jane Campion's haunting mystery series returned for a new set of episodes, anchored by another astonishingly internalised performance from Elisabeth Moss as detective Robin, still recovering from the trauma of the earlier mystery, and events even further back in her history. This season is set in Sydney following the discovery of a body in a suitcase on Bondi Beach, and it features terrific supporting roles for the likes of Gwendoline Christie and Nicole Kidman (who wonderfully goes full Aussie). The main theme here is motherhood, and the labyrinthine threads of the plot come at this issue from so many angles that it's sometimes a little overwhelming. But it's also emotionally punchy and utterly riveting. 

Twin Peaks

After that astonishing mid-season nuclear bomb, this revived series continued to deepen the mystery rather than solve it. Although a much stronger sense of narrative thrust emerged once Kyle MacLachlan's old Dale Cooper finally returned from the dazed wreckage of Dougie. This is a show packed with wonder - funny and scary and impossible to predict. David Lynch loves challenging the viewer to think and feel things in unexpected directions, and this is like nothing else on television. It's also refreshingly nothing like the original series from 25 years ago: the world has changed and so has the show.

SOMETHING NEW

Ozark

A superbly edgy 10-episode thriller created by star Jason Bateman, this constantly spinning story sends an imploding Chicago family into deepest Missouri, where they try to hold things together to survive the mobster who's dangling death over their heads. Bateman and Laura Linney are excellent as the estranged couple who clearly never bothered to properly raise their two teen kids. The tone of the show is dark, twisty and blackly funny. And while the echoes of Breaking Bad are sometimes a little too on-the-nose, this cast and setting keep things fresh. Hopefully the second season will keep the story spiralling organically, rather than starting to insert corny TV series elements designed merely to keep it running.

Friends From College

The pilot episode of this sitcom is so promising that you could forget how lame the title is, setting up some clever dynamics as a group of university buddies once again become neighbours in New York. But from the second episode onward, the writing turned stupid, creating insufferably unlikeable characters who do stupid things that push them into increasingly contrived situations. Every scene has the germ of a great idea, nicely played by an expert cast (including Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Savage and Cobie Smulders), but the script pushes them over the edge into cornball farce, so the actors look like they're straining desperately for laughs. Which is annoying when there's plenty of material here for something both funny and pointed.

Man in an Orange Shirt

A clever story told in two halves set more than 70 years apart, this BBC drama follows Michael and Thomas (Oliver Jackson-Cohen and James McArdle) as they serve in WWII then split up because Michael chooses to to conform with society and marries Flora (Joanna Vanderham). In the present day, Michael's grandson Adam (Julian Morris) is resolutely single, living with his grandmother Flora (now Vanessa Redgrave) and engaging in casual sex until an image from the past shakes him up. Both halves of this story are compelling, depicting denial and repression in the same country but very different cultures. It's beautifully shot, edited and acted, perhaps a bit oblique but powerful.

Ill Behaviour

The premise of this comedy-drama is not easy to stomach: a just-divorced loser (Chris Geere) talks a friend (Jessica Regan) into kidnapping their old buddy (Tom Riley), forcing him to abandon his holistic healing and take chemo to cure his cancer. All with the convenient help of a hot mess doctor (Lizzy Caplan). Everything about the set-up stretches belief to the breaking point, but it's still compulsively watchable. Where it goes over three parts is fairly absurd, but there are some terrific performances in the cast that make these brazenly unlikeable characters entertaining. The fact is that no one here is very nice. But they're perhaps doing the best they can.

Will

This sassy take on the early career of William Shakespeare (fresh-faced Laurie Davidson) in London has a wealth of possibilities, but the scripts play everything safe, finding the most obvious gags while peppering the dialog with references to anything and everything. It's also unnecessarily violent, complete with a snarling, sadistic villain (Ewen Bremner), which kind of undermines the otherwise jaunty comical tone. The Luhrmann-esque excesses are actually a lot of fun (the characters sing along with pop tunes), and the cast is seriously engaging. But it really should have been much more lusty than this, and far less grisly. When it's playing with the relationship chaos, the show is a lot of fun, even if it's shamelessly misusing Shakespeare's work.

BACK FOR MORE

Victoria: Series 2

Basically Downton Abbey in Buckingham Palace, this soapy history drama is effortlessly watchable, thanks to scripts that weave downmarket trashiness with true events. And lead actors Jemma Coleman and Tom Hughes are excellent at making Victoria and Albert realistic people in a surreal situation. If only the plotting was less melodramatically ridiculous, especially as Victoria finds herself pregnant again so soon after giving birth. The low point was the episode in which the Queen and Prince Albert develop a contrived mutual jealousy and lash out at each other with frightfully bad behaviour. This only makes the series feel like it's stretching to fill out its episode count rather than tell a proper story.

Master of None: Series 2

Kicking off with a witty black and white homage to De Sica's classic Bicycle Thieves, each episode of Aziz Ansari's anthology series is a mini-masterpiece. Some episodes are funnier than others, but all are involving and engaging, packed with hilariously detailed and very messy characters. Through-lines include the offbeat trajectory of Dev's career from Italy to hosting a riotously awful cupcake competition show to working with a celebrity chef (Bobby Cannavale). And there's also a quirky running romance with his engaged Italian friend (Alessandra Mastronardi) that keeps us guessing right to the end. Worth waiting for two years between series.

Insecure: Series 2

Issa Rae is terrific at the centre of this comedy, which is only marred by its relentless undermining of her character. Like some sort of self-fulfilling prophesy, the title hints at all manner of bad luck and crippling self-sabotage. But there's terrific material scattered throughout each episode, and the characters are deepening in intriguing directions, beautifully played by Rae, Jay Ellis, Yvonne Orji, et al. It's also refreshing to see a show that's so honest about sex without ever sniggering about it. So why are the plots so flimsy? And why do the characters do things that feel oddly implausible? It's as if Rae is trying to make her points rather than tell believable stories, which is a problem.

The Carmichael Show: Series 3

It's astonishing how clever this show is, as it uses all of the most obvious elements of a standard sitcom, from the family dynamic to the sets themselves, then subverts everything with sharply topical comedy. Enormous issues rear their heads in each episode, and yet the writers somehow manage to write hysterically funny punchlines even in the middle of a wrenchingly serious scene. The show's heart and soul is Loretta Devine as the outspoken matriarch who has big feelings about everything. And it's refreshing that actor-creator Jerrod Carmichael doesn't try to make his character remotely saintly.

Younger: Series 4

After giving up and skipping the third season, I returned simply because there were so few comedies on over the summer. It's still weak, but the cast is strong enough to hold the interest, especially Debi Mazar and Nico Tortorella. This season opens in a more enjoyable state of conflict, with best pals Liza and Kelsey (Sutton Foster and Hilary Duff) having fallen out. So while the sexuality is painfully simplistic and the publishing world setting utterly fantastical, at least there was scope for some enjoyably barbed dialog. If only the relationships were more adult-oriented; this feels like a high-school soap opera performed by 30-year-olds.

JUST GETTING STARTED

Gypsy

I'm a huge fan of Naomi Watts, but I could only make it through three episodes of this mopey series about a therapist who gets too involved in her patients' lives, while her husband (Billy Crudup) suspects nothing. It just felt indulgent and pointless from the start. Maybe it got better as it went along, but I ran out of patience. I'm not surprised it wasn't renewed for another season.

The Orville

I'm not a Seth McFarlane fan, but a review caught my eye. This sci-fi adventure comedy is so like Star Trek that I suspect at the end McFarlane will have to admit that it's an official franchise show. Never satirical, it's played dead straight, with only the odd snap of comedic dialog between the characters. Everything from the look of the ship and the music to the costumes and plotlines feels straight from the Star Trek universe. Including the moral certainty. I'm not sure how long I'll stick with it.

Star Trek: Discovery

Speaking of which, this new authorised Trek series has a strong cast, anchored by the superbly nuanced Sonequa Martin-Green. Her character's story is the clear through-line here, which is fascinating. But the first three episodes are very talky, establishing a rather too-serious tone that centres on the threat of war and violence rather than the interplay between the crew members or any sense of, yes, discovery. It feels a little like all work and no play, even with the odd humorous touch. The third episode at least has a blast of personality as it establishes the series' premise, so I'll stick with it for now.

Coming up, there's the return of most American network shows, a new season of Transparent, the last season of Episodes, the Pegg-Mitchell comedy Back, and lots of things I haven't heard of yet...

Shadows on the Screen: Summer TV roundup

I watch a range of TV series as an escape valve from all the movies, and I like most genres that don't centre on cops, lawyers or hospitals. And I'm about to add superheroes to that list. Anyway, it's been an enjoyable few months, with some solid quality and several guilty pleasures...

SOMETHING NEW

The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story

With staggeringly sharp writing, direction and acting, this dramatisation of the notorious events of 1994 and 1995 is utterly riveting from start to finish. All of the actors are award-worthy; stand-outs include Sarah Paulson's beleaguered lawyer, Sterling Brown as her tenacious partner and David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian. And these were only the most complex characters in a show packed with memorable performances. Clearly, the most important thing about this heavily researched show is the balanced approach it takes to finally put the record straight.

The Five

Harlan Coban's mystery took a terrifically snaky path through 10 gripping episodes. Since so many red herrings and character dramas were stirred in, the solution was impossible to see coming, but the ending still managed to be solidly satisfying. Tom Cullen was terrific in the central role, ably supported by a varied, skilled cast including OT Fagbenle, Lee Ingleby and Sarah Solemani as his childhood pals (they are four of the eponymous five, possibly). It's a rare thriller that can deepen the characters even as it makes the central storyline increasingly knotted, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.

The Real O'Neals

A brightly silly play on the standard American sitcom, this genuinely hilarious series has five terrific actors playing the O'Neal family, each of whom goes through a sort of coming-out from their superficial good-Catholic appearance, sparked by teen Kenny (Noah Galvin) realising that he's gay. Where this goes is witty and smart, but played for very broad laughs, which cleverly undercuts a wide array of serious themes that gurgle through every scene. The dialog snaps with life, hysterically delivered by a cast we'd like to spend a lot more time with. As these characters mature, it'll be interesting to see how bold the writers are allowed to get within the US network formula. Because if they don't learn and grow, this show is doomed.

Flowers

This blackly comical 6-part drama is so relentlessly quirky that it quickly weeds out less patient audience members with the very first scenes. An eccentric story about eccentric people in an eccentric English village, it's so mannered that it struggles to generate any real emotional kick. Even so, the cast is excellent, anchored by the brilliant Olivia Colman, who makes Deborah Flowers an engagingly flawed matriarch who veers from chirpy optimism to wrenching despair. As her husband and children, Julian Barratt, Sophia Di Martino and Daniel Rigby are intriguing and often surprising. As is writer-director Will Sharpe in what turns out to be a key role. It's a shame the story doesn't quite hang together.

Flaked 

Will Arnett is reason enough to watch this show, although it's pretty insufferable. Centred on a group of losers who are in their mid to late 30s, this show doesn't really have a single likeable character. Much of the interaction is jaggedly resonant, and the cool Venice Beach setting is put to use for maximum hipster value. So it's frustrating that the show feels so stuck in a perspective that's relentlessly narrow: men struggling with identity issues due to a lack of direction caused by past problems. Ho hum.

GOING STRONG

Game of Thrones:
series 6

It became almost a cliche that each episode in this season would end with a major bombshell involving a nasty death or edgy triumph. Daenarys (Emilia Clarke) continues to dominate the show, and teaming her with Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) has created the most formidable TV duo in recent memory. The battles have been bigger and more violent, so much so that there hasn't been time for many sexual shenanigans this season. And since they keep killing off the vilest of the villains, there aren't many left to hiss at. As the plot threads begin to entwine, the show is growing more coherent and urgent. And unmissable.

Veep: series 5

Running in parallel with the American election cycle, this season had a lot of fun with the whole primary system, followed by a chaotic voting day. The dialog has been some of the best in the entire five-year run, delivered beautifully by the genius Julia Louis-Dreyfus and company. Although the plotting has a nagging predictability, including the documentary being made by first daughter Catherine (Sarah Sutherland), the shambolic campaign of the too-idiotic Jonah (Timothy Simons), and the backroom sneakiness of vice presidential candidate Tom (Hugh Laurie). The jaggedly hysterical dialog has been awesome this year, although the bittersweet ending felt like a farewell.

Girls: series 5

This series has been notable for presenting an ensemble of people who are so disarmingly realistic that they seem quirky and almost surreal in the generally accepted fantasy landscape of television. In this season, Lena Dunham and friends all acted on impulse, making sudden decisions based on no rationality whatsoever, which is fairly infuriating for audiences that are hooked on the trite plotting of most TV series. But this show is relentlessly fresh and funny, pushy and annoying, but always surprising, forcing both thought and uneasy laughter. And the final episode in this season is breathtaking.

Silicon Valley: series 3

Frankly, I wasn't sure I'd return to this series, but there wasn't much else on so I gave in. The problem is that the writers seem to only have one trick up their sleeves: make things as miserable as possible for these nerds and their supposedly amazing invention. Every time they get a break and things look like they might actually come together, there is a series of setbacks caused by ludicrous circumstances out of their control. This may comically reflect the reality of the IT sector, but it's annoying to watch a show in which everyone just runs in circles. Especially when the primary cause of most of the pain is TJ Miller's insufferable moron Erlich. Miller's a gifted comic, but without Erlich the show might actually be enjoyable.

BACK FOR SECONDS

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: series 2

This buoyant series continued with its breakneck pacing, zooming through 13 episodes in what felt like the blink of an eye. It was nice to see a bit of deepening for the side characters played by Jane Krakowski and Tituss Burgess - both play utterly ridiculous people, but this season revealed some surprisingly emotional sides. Ellie Kemper continues to be perhaps the most relentlessly likeable person on TV - adorable, hilarious, silly. Her story is superbly involving. Although it's probably too jarringly nonstop for some viewers, as Tina Fey recreates her 30 Rock formula of packing what feels like 10 comedy gags into each second of air time. 

Grace and Frankie: series 2

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin took their characters quite a bit further in this second season, pushing both their camaraderie and deep differences to various breaking points. The scripts sometimes felt a bit goofy, but both actresses are so good that it's hard to mind much. And there's fine support from Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston, on their own journey as the coupled-up ex-spouses, plus Brooklyn Decker, Ethan Embry, Baron Vaughn and June Diane Raphael as their complex kids. This is also a rare show that gives other acting veterans a chance to shine - Ernie Hudson and Sam Elliot both had great roles this season. Geriatric love has never looked so sexy on-screen: there's hope for everyone!

Empire: series 2

After a very rough first half, this season got back on track by concentrating once again on the soapy excesses rather than the grim criminal elements. And the stories mercifully reverted back to the tetchy members of the Lyon dynasty rather than those swirling around them. The big cliffhanger finale was perfectly played, Dallas/Dynasty style. And it suggests that things will continue to return to more camp craziness for the third season. Intriguingly, now that we're used to Taraji P Henson's outrageous attitude and costumes and Terrence Howard's squinty steeliness, it's the three sons who are emerging as much more complex, engaging characters. The question is whether Henson and Howard will let them share the spotlight.

The Royals: series 2

This oddly undercooked series continues with its cheap and cheerful style, mixing very badly written scripts with cheesy direction. The cast is adept, although each moment of resonance is undermined by something eye-rollingly stupid. Still, William Moseley and Alexandra Park manage to find depth in their twin prince and princess roles, while Liz Hurley and Joan Collins have a ball strutting around in high-fashion regalia with their diva attitudes and hidden agendas. And Tom Austen offers some terrific brooding-hunk moments. Trashy and pretty awful, really. But fun.

Schitt's Creek: series 2

After the gimmicky set-up in the first season, this one felt like it was kind of pushing it. A family of four millionaires stranded in a backwoods town, each of the characters pushed forward in his or her life, but without more interpersonal development, none of this quite makes sense anymore. That said, the four lead actors (Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy) are so engaging that the show is still hugely entertaining. (While Chris Elliott is still hopelessly annoying.) So if they try to stretch this premise even thinner, I'll still be watching. 

There isn't much on over the summer months - well, not that I've discovered yet - but I am watching the second season of Wayward Pines, enjoying Chelsea Handler's cleverly titled Chelsea, looking forward to the Looking movie and Sharknado 4, and catching up with less promising series I'd previously skipped, like Supergirl.

Critical Week: In a haze

It's a film festival week in London, which means a glut of screenings even if the festival in question is only four days long. It's the 4th Sundance Film Festival: London this weekend at Picturehouse Central, and I am seeing nine of the 11 features in the programme. So far, I've caught Ben Schnetzer and Nick Jonas in the hazing drama Goat (above), Jesse Plemons and Molly Shannon in Other People, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Burstyn in Wiener-Dog, plus the documentaries Author: The JT LeRoy Story and Weiner. More to come, with comments about these films later in the week.

As for normal press screenings, we had a special screening of the weepy romance Me Before You, presented by Emilia Clarke herself, with tissues on every seat. Brady Corbet's Venice-winner The Childhood of a Leader is a complex, difficult and fiercely original exploration of the personality of power. The Ghoul is a beautifully made indie British dark thriller. And the Oscar-nominated Colombian odyssey Embrace of the Serpent is staggeringly beautiful and deeply moving.

Sundance films still to come include Ellen Page in Tallulah, Logan Lerman in Indignation, Clea DuVall's The Intervention and the horror-comedy The Greasy Strangler. And I'll also catch up with Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey in Elvis & Nixon and some home screenings I've been putting off.

Requisite Blog Photo: Love and tears

In a photobooth before the Me Before You screening, they asked me to make four faces (there was a box of props), so I tried to predict how I would look while watching the movie. That was almost right. I didn't cry, but there was sobbing across the cinema.

Critical Week: Back to black

Asaf Kapadia's documentary Amy provided an emotional experience for London critics this week, a beautifully made film recounting the wrenchingly sad story of local girl Amy Winehouse. It stood in stark contrast to the two other big releases of the week: the surprisingly loose and thoughtful sequel Magic Mike XXL, which combines silly striptease antics with an exploration of male friendship; and the formulaic Terminator Genisys, which attempts to reboot the sequel without any inventive writing or directing and only one solid performance (from Emilia Clarke). Although Arnie's deadpan humour livens things up.

I also caught up with last week's release Minions, the Despicable Me prequel that's surprisingly low-key and charming rather than the usual sharp-edged digitally slick action mayhem. And I watched the 10 shorts that Peccadillo has collected for Boys on Film 13: Trick & Treat - another terrific collection of mini-epics dealing with various aspects of sexuality.

Coming up this week: Saoirse Ronan and Domhnall Gleeson in Brooklyn, the doc-style horror film The Nightmare, the doc Misery Loves Comedy and a few more. Thankfully, with a heatwave in London, it's refreshing to take a break in an air-conditioned screening room!

Critical Week: And I feel fine

By far the most enjoyable press screening of the past week was the apocalyptic comedy This Is the End (with James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and Danny McBride, above). Reviews are embargoed for a couple of weeks so I can't say any more. We also had screenings of Baz Luhrmann's lavishly entertaining version of The Great Gatsby, which sharply captures the hollowness under the hedonistic excess. Then there was the underwritten British spy thriller The Numbers Station starring John Cusack, and Marlon Wayans' ghost-movie spoof A Haunted House, which is better than it looks but still a missed opportunity.

Further off the beaten path we had the fragmented British romance/drama/romp Spike Island, a choppy story about teen Stone Roses fans in 1990; the topical and deeply involving low-budget German drama The Visitor; and a 50th anniversary restoration of John Schlesinger's timeless British comedy Billy Liar, starring the fabulous Tom Courtenay and Julie Christie. It's simply wonderful - get your hands on a copy.

Just before it opens, the press will finally get to see the end of the trilogy with The Hangover Part III. I also have screenings of Steven Soderbergh's Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra, the thriller Black Rock, Studio Gibli's From Up on Poppy Hill, the Canadian comedy The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mum and the French drama Atomic Age. And it's another long weekend here, so maybe I can carry on catching up with my stack of DVD screeners.