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: Cool kids

It's that odd period in the year when cinemas are full of amazing movies that are taking home Baftas and various guild prizes while awaiting Oscar night (coming on 12th March), but the box office champions at the moment are decidedly mediocre fare released by distributors now to cash in on the audience desire for mindless entertainment. Everyone asks me where the good movies are, and I reply that you need to look past the blockbusters that are dominating multiplexes and headlines: good movies are everywhere at the moment. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Close • Wandering Heart
ALL REVIEWS >

Speaking of blockbusters, I saw two this week: Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guere is Guy Ritchie's latest snarky action romp, with a terrific cast and gorgeous locations, lively twists and a barely serviceable script. It's thin but fun (largely thanks to a scene-stealing Hugh Grant, opposite Aubrey Plaza, Jason Statham and Bugzy Malone, above). Also suffering from script problems, Creed III is sharply well acted by a superb cast, and Michael B Jordan shows real talent as a director. It's rousing and worth a look, but simplistic the way it deploys toxic masculinity.

I also caught up with the British romantic comedy What's Love Got to Do With It, which adds some South Asian spice into the comfy mix with a snappy story that circles around arranged marriage in Pakistani immigrant families. Colourful cultural touches and strong turns from Lily James, Emma Thompson and Shazad Latif make it engaging. Michael Shannon is a bit too subdued in A Little White Lie, as a handyman posing as a reclusive author. Despite lacking energy, the film does generate some charm, and has a solid supporting cast. And from France, Love According to Dalva centres around a remarkable performance from Zelda Samson as a 12-year-old who believes she's a grown woman. It's a provocative, important take on the realities of child abuse.

Films this coming week include the sequel Scream VI, Woody Harrelson in Champions, horror comedy Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, rural comedy-drama The Middle Man, Australian drama Lonesome, offbeat sci-fi drama Lola, Italian horror Sound of Silence and filmmaking doc Brainwashed.

On the Road: Where's the party

Another week of sunshine in Southern California, spending rather too much time in the car driving up and down the 5 from Orange County (where I'm staying with family) and Hollywood (where awards-consideration screenings take place). My main purpose for this trip is to see friends and family, so it's a bonus to be able to take them to screenings with me. The biggest movie this week, screened right on the Paramount lot, was Damien Chazelle's 1920s Hollywood epic Babylon. There's so much going on that it's understandably uneven, but it's also dazzling, with a series of breathtaking set-pieces that need to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

Steven Spielberg is also exploring the nature of filmmaking in The Fabelmans, his autobiographical film about growing up in a messy family while developing a love of storytelling. There's a lot to love about this film. Florence Pugh gives yet another powerfully involving performance in The Wonder, a provocative period drama set in Ireland and directed with style by Sebastian Lelio. The often outrageously over-the-top adaptation Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical is a lot of fun, with some darkly pointed themes and a scene-stealing Emma Thompson. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is a little more difficult to love, even if its stop-motion animation is wonderfully designed. As artful and passionate as it is, the dark story and dull songs are tricky to engage with. And Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi's Holy Spider is far more than a scary thriller based on the true story of a serial killer in Iran's holiest city; it's also a knowing, almost terrifyingly timely look at power dynamics in a nation where women are sidelined.

Films coming up this week include Noah Baumbach's White Noise, the spinoff-sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Disney's Strange World and the doc All That Breathes. I'm also travelling back to London next week - annoyingly missing the Avatar 2 screenings both in London (on Sunday) and Los Angeles (on Tuesday). I'll catch up with it later...

Sundance London: Keep dancing

Sundance Film Festival: London is back in its usual slot this year, after two disrupted editions. This is a slightly odd festival for the press, as they pack all of the industry screenings into two days before the actual events kick off. Which leaves us feeling like we're finished before anything begins. So I've already seen 10 of the 13 films in the programme, and I'll be catching a couple more at public screenings with cast and crew members in attendance at Picturehouse Central. The actors and filmmakers turned up last night for the opening film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Here are comments about that one, and a few others, plus my usual Critical Week below... 

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
dir Sophie Hyde; with Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack 22/UK ****
If you can get into this film's theatrical vibe, there are several very strong themes woven through the narrative that make it deeply involving. Essentially three scenes featuring two people in a room, the stagey set-up is echoed in the heightened dialog, which pointedly takes on several big issues. The observations are insightful and sharply important, as are the bravely transparent performances from the two lead actors.

Watcher 
dir-scr Chloe Okuno; with Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman 22/Rom ***.
Writer-director Chloe Okuno creates a superbly unsettling atmosphere in this quietly suspenseful thriller about an American in Romania. The film knowingly plays on the feeling of being a foreigner unable to communicate in an unknown place, while generating scares by twisting a range of cinematic cliches in intriguing directions. It's a shame there's not much more to the film, but it definitely gets our hearts pumping a bit faster.

Free Chol Soo Lee
dir Julie Ha, Eugene Yi; with Chol Soo Lee, KW Lee 22/US  ***.
While this documentary traces a true story in a rather straightforward manner, the important subject matter makes it worth a look. Chol Soo Lee's experience was shocking and sad, but also carries elements of redemption and complex humanity. And it highlights a rarely explored aspect of underlying racism in the American justice system. These ideas emerge strongly, even as the filmmakers remain more focussed on the compelling personal narrative.

We Met in Virtual Reality
dir-scr Joe Hunting; with Jenny, Dust Bunny, IsYourBoi, Toaster 22/UK ***
This extraordinary documentary was somehow shot virtually, as filmmaker Joe Hunting takes the audience into various digital environments to meet people who interact there. It's an extraordinary film, and remarkably personal as it hones in on relationships within VR communities, often spilling out into the real world as well. It's a great introduction to a virtual world, although newcomers may find it tricky to engage with the film's perspective.

Full reviews will be on the site soon. For more information, visit SUNDANCE LONDON >

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C R I T I C A L    W E E K

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Listen • All My Friends Hate Me
Il Buco • Moneyboys • Swan Song
ALL REVIEWS >

I've only seen four non-Sundance films in the past week - and each is opening this week in the US or UK. I was unable to attend the single press screening of Jurassic World: Dominion, so caught up with it at a local cinema. It's funny, thrilling and packed with witty nods in various directions, a superb summer blockbuster. The award-winning Italian drama Il Buco is a masterfully assembled exploration of historical progress; the doc A Sexplanation is a witty look at why Americans are so obsessed with sex, and also afraid of it; and Baloney documents rehearsals and performances of a San Francisco queer burlesque with warmth and insight.

Aside from Sundance, this coming week I'll be watching the Pixar prequel Lightyear, Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz in Official Competition, Ethan Hawke in the horror thriller The Black Phone, the British drama It Snows in Benidorm, the restored Satyajit Ray classic The Big City and the theatrical version of the doc George Michael: Freedom Uncut.

Critical Week: Dog days

With cinemas open again in the UK, things are slowly getting back to normal, and I've had a few press screenings and even a premiere to attend in-person this week. It's great to see movies on the big screen again - I'd begun to forget the joy of being in a darkened room away from distractions. The social distancing guidelines mean the communal experience in audience reaction isn't quite back to normal, but it's getting there. We have another month like this before restrictions will be re-evaluated and perhaps even lifted. Of course, all of this means that freelance critics must now return to negotiating with distributors for precious screening seats, facing seemingly random decisions. For example, despite holding a number of screenings, Disney only offered me an online screening link for the 101 Dalmatians prequel Cruella. I loved the film's subversive approach, its feisty script and characters, and especially the sterling scene-stealing work from Emma Stone and Emma Thompson.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
First Cow • Zebra Girl
A Quiet Place Part II • Cruella
PERHAPS AVOID:
Earwig and the Witch
ALL REVIEWS >

Jason Statham reteams with Guy Ritchie for Wrath of Man, an unusually gritty and bleak movie for both of them. It's very well-made, riveting and darkly involving. Zack Snyder makes his return to the zombie genre with Army of the Dead, an entertaining but overlong rampaging heist epic set in a locked-down Vegas. James Corden is back to voice the title role in Peter Rabbit 2, but the script this time lacks the witty humour. Kids will love the silliness. Director Stephanie Zari and actors Sarah Roy and Tom Cullen attended the premiere of Zebra Girl, a superbly crafted British drama with waves of wit and emotional horror. And I was in heaven finally watching Nomadland on the big screen this week. It was my favourite movie from 2020, but I'd only seen it on my laptop. It's a masterpiece, and looks even more spectacular projected.

In addition to getting my second vaccine, this coming week I have Dylan O'Brien in the sci-fi thriller Flashback, Elia Suleiman's acclaimed It Must Be Heaven, the actor doc The Most Beautiful Boy in the World and the war dancer doc Being Thunder.

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: He's behind you!

It's been a busy week catching up with movies here in London. The biggest films were entries in decades-old franchises. Child's Play is a reboot, rather than sequel, updated to the artificial-intelligence era and starring Aubrey Plaza. Toy Story 4 tells another superbly engaging story, again bringing these indelible characters together with action and emotion. And Men in Black International attempts a fresh turn in the saga, with younger stars Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth, rather too much digital nuttiness and an only OK plot.

Three small-screen movies will be covered in another blog entry: Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler reunite for the dopey Europe-set comedy whodunit Murder Mystery, Randall Park and Ali Wong star in the snappy-silly rom-com Always Be My Maybe, and Matthew McConaughey plays to type as the stoner title character in the somewhat unfocussed comedy The Beach Bum (out this week on VOD).

As for more arthouse fare, there was Joanna Hogg's new film The Souvenir, another exploration of British upper-class repression, starring Tilda Swinton and her daughter Honor Swinton Byrne, plus Tom Burke. All are excellent, and the film is deeply chilling. Swinging Safari is a wild and woolly Aussie 1970s-set comedy starring Guy Pearce, Kylie Minogue and Radha Mitchell. It's a bit over-the-top and chaotic. The American-set British thriller Division 19 is set in a near-future society in which privacy is outlawed. It looks great but makes little sense. From South Africa, the musical Kanarie is a powerful exploration of bigotry and self-acceptance, as a young man goes through his mandatory military service as a member of a choir. From India, Unsaid is a dark drama about deep family secrets, powerfully well played. And the British documentary Are You Proud explores the Pride movement with an intriguingly critical eye.

Coming up this next week, we have Benedict Cumberbatch in The Current War, Alicia Vikander in Euphoria, Angus Macfadyen in Robert the Bruce, the Oscar-nominated drama Never Look Away, the French water polo comedy The Shiny Shrimps, the Indian drama Roobha, and the doc Southern Pride, among others....

Critical Week: Just sit right back...

London critics had a bit of glamour this week at the press screening of Halston, a new documentary about the iconic 1970s designer. It's a beautifully made film, although it essentially skips his personal life. At the other end of the spectrum is Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, the new live-action action-comedy based on the Japanese game. It's energetic and silly, and rather good fun.

Emma Thompson gets yet another fabulous character in Late Night, as a long-time chat show working with a new staff writer (Mindy Kaling, who also wrote the screenplay) to save her show. And Ethan Hawke chomps the scenery superbly as a hapless bank robber in the comical thriller The Captor (aka Stockholm), based on the true story that coined the term "Stockholm syndrome".

There were also a wide range of indie films this week. The sweet, involving and ultimately wrenching Only You stars Josh O'Connor and Laia Costa as a young couple trying to start a family against the odds. Karen Gillan and David Dastmalchian are terrific in the haunting, emotional road movie All Creatures Here Below. Lin Shaye stars in Room for Rent, a low-key horror about a landlady who becomes scarily obsessed with her tenant. Thunder Road is a seriously offbeat Texas drama about a cop with multiple issues, underscored with dryly pitch-black comedy. Beats is a scruffy, energetically engaging Scottish film about young people trying to get to their first rave. The colour-drenched LA social media romance Daddy Issues takes some offbeat, inventive twists and turns. And there was this unusual doc, which is now streaming everywhere...

The Gilligan Manifesto
dir-scr Cevin Soling; with Sherwood Schwartz, Dawn Wells, Russell Johnson, Don Ostrowski , Loren Graham, Dan Albright; narr Rennie Davis 18/US 1h25 ***

The premise of this rather academic documentary is that the classic TV sitcom Gilligan's Island was created with a specific underlying message about communism to counter Cold War fears. Filmmaker Soling takes a sparky approach, mixing in extensive archival footage and witty music along with interviews, all of which bolster his thesis to a degree. The film opens with rather long and lively outline of the Cold War and the fear that grew in the wake of the atom bomb. A year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, production began on the sitcom, which Solving describes as a story of seven disparate people trying to rebuild society in a virtual post-apocalyptic wasteland using Marxist communism as a template. (Soling observes that only the two working class characters are introduced by name in the famed title song.) As series creator Sherwood Schwartz says, there was a deep philosophy beneath the show's premise, bringing different people together and forcing them to help each other. While most movies addressed the Cold War using tragedy or disaster, he decided to use comedy instead. And stars Johnson and Wells (the Professor and Mary Ann) chat about how they understood that there was something serious under the resolutely silly surface. This doc is a terrific collection of period movie clips and anti-commie propaganda reels, plus overlong sideroads into things like the McCarthy hearings. This makes it feel like a jokey college essay about the nature of Marxism, making a series of rather spurious arguments about a 1960s sitcom. Clips from the show remind us that it was a satirical critique of all kinds of human ideologies (not just capitalism and democracy) and an escape from the rat race. The characters also reveal uncomfortable, often ridiculous truths about ourselves. That's what makes it so indelible. But this doc has other things on its mind.

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It's another long weekend in Britain (I could get used to these), but the weather isn't supposed to be quite as nice as the last one. Film screenings in the diary over the next week include Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson's comedy The Hustle, Russell Crowe in The Professor and the Madman, Peter Strickland's In Fabric, the teen drama Just Say Goodbye, the 1970s Welsh drama Last Summer and the Chelsea Manning doc XY Chelsea.

Requisite Blog Photo: Don't shoot

Critical Week: Here comes the judge

It's been a busy week, even if press screenings have been a little thin. The World Cup semifinal featuring England on Wednesday night erased all planned screenings that night. And Thursday was the summer party for the Critics' Circle - that was good fun. I'm the vice chair of the film section, so as one of the event hosts had to skip that evening's screening of Mission: Impossible - Fallout (I'll catch up on that in a week or so).

But I did see a few films. The Children Act stars Emma Thompson (above), who is simply devastating as a high court justice who gets caught up in a thorny case. Based on an Ian McEwan novel, it refreshingly refuses to simplify characters, plots or themes, and leaves us with a lot to think about. Conversely, Skyscraper is best watched with the brain disengaged: it's a preposterously stupid action thriller that's far too serious for its own good. Dwayne Johnson is, as usual, the best thing about it, but was clearly told to rein in his charm and wit.

Hearts Beat Loud is a moving, gorgeous drama starring Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons and Toni Collette. The story is interwoven with engaging, earthy songs, so it's involving even if it's a little over-crafted. And A Swingers Weekend is a loosely awkward comedy-drama about three couples trying to spark up their relationships at a lake house. The darker scenes are far more interesting than the rather tepid sexy silliness.

This coming week will be busy, with the all-star musical sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Jodie Foster in Hotel Artemis, Glenn Close in The Wife, Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 2, Sylvester Stallone in Escape Plan 2, Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Damascus Cover, Oona Chaplin in Anchor and Hope, and the costume designer doc Love, Cecil.

Critical Week: On an adventure

There were some powerful performances in press screenings this past week. The offbeat family drama-cum-thriller The Book of Henry is held together by Naomi Watts, Jaeden Lieberher (pictured) and Jacob Tremblay despite its jarring shifts between genres. The artfully internalised Churchill is anchored by an awards-worthy turn by Brian Cox despite its oddly overfamiliar plot. The WWII drama Alone in Berlin has the terrific Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson and Daniel Bruhl to hold the attention even when the pacing gets rather dull. And there was a wonderfully light-hearted role for Isabelle Huppert in Bavo Defurne's enjoyably quirky Belgian musical comedy-drama Souvenir.

Further afield, the small-budget British drama Daphne struggles to maintain its narrative but creates a nice sense of life in multicultural London. And the powerfully moving Australian doc Remembering the Man is an insightful account of the life of Tim Conigrave, whose Holding the Man is a seminal account of the Aids pandemic.

Screening this coming week are Edgar Wright's Baby Driver, Michael Bay's Transformers: The Last Knight, Phyllida Lloyd's all-female Julius Caesar, the French political thriller Scribe, the Finnish biopic Tom of Finland, Laura Poitras' Assange documentary Risk, and the Syrian Civil War doc City of Ghosts.

Critical Week: Mommy issues

It was a busy week for UK critics, with another head-spinning collection of screenings. Robert Carlyle stars in and makes his directing debut with The Legend of Barney Thompson, an uneven black comedy costarring a scene-stealing Emma Thompson (as his mum, above) and Ray Winstone. It never quite gets the tone right. Also struggling with its tone, True Story recounts a fascinating real-life mystery starring Jonah Hill, James Franco and an almost-not-there Felicity Jones. Fascinating but too mopey to come to life properly. And Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman are terrific in Ruth & Alex (aka 5 Flights Up) as a long-married couple planning a move from their beloved Brooklyn apartment. It's engaging but slight.

I took a break from the cinema to catch A Deadly Adoption on Channel 5. Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig star in this hilariously overwrought thriller that is either a raucous spoof or just another ridiculous Lifetime movie. You be the judge. Either way, it's very funny as it follows a damaged couple hoping to save their marriage by adopting a baby from an apparently sweet young pregnant woman. But of course it all turns nasty. Full credit to Ferrell and Wiig for never winking at the camera.

Further afield, we had the Aussie animation Maya the Bee, a charming and energetic little adventure; the found-footage horror The Gallows, which should really put an end to the genre with its utter lack of originality; and the riotous 1980s slasher movie spoof Dude Bro Party Massacre III, which manages to maintain the joke perfectly right to the very end. And there were also two docs that both rely far too heavily on talking heads: Misery Loves Comedy is an intriguing all-star exploration of the life of a stand-up, while Looking for Love explores romance in London's Afro-Caribbean community with insight and lots of personality.

Coming up this week: the new Disney-Pixar hit Inside Out, Ryan Reynolds in Self/Less, Jessica Alba in Barely Lethal, Michael Douglas in Beyond the Reach, Jena Malone in 10 Cent Pistol, the American indie drama Buttercup Bill, and two docs: exploring the Russian ballet company in Bolshoi Babylon and an acclaimed profile of six teen brothers in The Wolfpack.

Critical Week: Get out, girl!

London-based critics had a chance to catch a press screening of Effie Gray, the true story of a Victorian woman (Dakota Fanning) trying to get out of a sexless marriage so she can run off with a hot painter (Tom Sturridge). Written by and costarring Emma Thompson, it's refreshingly dark and female-focussed. Another bad marriage is at the centre of David Fincher's Gone Girl, although novelist Gillian Flynn's screenplay leaves no doubt who we're supposed to root for. At least both Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike give marvellously layered performances. Susan Sarandon stars in The Calling, a Fargo-style rural-cop mystery that gets surprisingly, and entertainingly, dark. And Steve Carell leads the family antics in the lively comedy Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. 

A little further afield, John Lithgow and Alfred Molina are terrific as a long-time couple whose life takes a turn in the New York drama Love Is Strange; New Zealand comics Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi are hilarious in the reality-TV style vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows; and the American indie comedy-drama Believe Me takes a knowing jab at organised religion.

I also had several screenings as part of the run-up to the London Film Festival (which begins on 8th October): The Keeping Room is an American Civil War horror drama starring Brit Marling and Hailee Stainfeld; Queen & Country is John Boorman's post-war comedy-drama; The Duke of Burgundy is Peter Strickland's astounding exploration of a relationship; the drug-running thriller El Nino is Luis Tosar and Daniel Monzon's followup to Cell 211; A Girl at My Door is a cleverly unnerving Korean drama; and Bjork: Biophilia Live (codirected by Strickland) is a film of the last night in the Icelandic musician's concert tour.

This coming week we'll be watching Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, Bill Murray in St Vincent, John Cusack in Drive Hard, and Joan Allen in A Good Marriage, plus LFF screenings for Bypass, Charlie's Country, Next to Her, Wild Life, Dear White People and more...

Critical Week: There's gonna be a floody-floody

This past week's big screening for London press was for Darren Aronofsky's biblical flood thriller Noah, which pretty evenly divided critics. While I admired Aronofsky's stunning time-lapse version of creation, I was a bit put off by the fact that these militant vegans wear leather accessories. The other big movies were Arnold Schwarzenegger's gritty cop drama Sabotage and the Emma Thompson-Pierce Brosnan rom-com heist romp The Love Punch, both of which I'm embargoed from discussing quite yet. I also had a chance to interview Arnie and Emma for those films - Arnie was surreally accompanied by British anti-comic Keith Lemon; Emma came with costar Celia Imrie. Both were charming.

Smaller films included Juliette Binoche's storming performance as a photojournalist in the complex Irish drama A Thousand Times Good Night, Kristin Scott Thomas' steely turn opposite Daniel Auteuil in the repressed French drama Before the Winter Chill, and a trio of terrific Guatemalan teens as youngsters trying to travel to California in the astonishingly well-made and rather bleak The Golden Dream. There were also two British comedies: Almost Married is a somewhat under-cooked stag night farce, while Downhill is a superbly telling and very funny doc-style road movie about four middle-aged men walking coast-to coast-across England.

This coming week's movies include Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff in The Motel Life, Gina Carano and Cam Gigandet in the action movie In the Blood, the offbeat drama Concussion, a new 3D animated version of Tarzan, the Lisbon gang thriller After the Night, and the superbly titled Swedish hit The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.

LFF 11: That's a wrap

And so the 57th London Film Festival comes to a close with the world premiere of Saving Mr Banks, attended by Colin Farrell, Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks and Ruth Wilson - who earlier in the day gave one of the more hilarious press conferences I've attended. 

The festival was an odd one this year: it's just as un-festive as always, but there was controversy as this year for the first time they charged journalists a whopping £36 for accreditation (especially painful for freelancers, as it comes out of our pay) without giving us anything more. There weren't even goodie bags this year, for the first time in the 18 years I have covered this festival. But then this isn't a proper premiere festival; aside from tonight's closing film, there were no major world premieres. Instead, this is a catch-up event, presenting the best of the past year's festivals, including the winners of Berlin, Cannes, Toronto and Venice. So it's a great programme for film fans who struggle to catch up with these high-profile arthouse titles. It'll certainly always be a highlight of my cinematic year, fee or no fee.

So here are three more highlights - including the closing film, the full list of award winners and my 10 favourite films of the festival (linked to reviews). I have a backlog of about 8 films this year that still need to be written up. That's not too bad actually...

Saving Mr Banks

dir John Lee Hancock; with Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks 13/UK ****

After veering dangerously close to becoming an overproduced slush-fest, this film digs deeper and draws us in. This is mainly thanks to a remarkably detailed script and especially sharp performances from Thompson and Hanks. Yes, the Disney spirit (and marketing machine) nearly swamps it, but the film remains lively, moving and thoroughly entertaining... FULL REVIEW >

Gare du Nord 

dir Claire Simon; with Nicole Garcia, Reda Kateb 13/Fr ***

As an exploration of the variety of life seen in a single railway station, this film has certain value for people-watchers. But its narrative strands are only barely developed, and it overstays its welcome when it tries to stir in some twisty plotting and magical realism... FULL REVIEW >

Luton 

dir Michalis Konstantatos; with Nicholas Vlachakis, Eleftheria Komi 13/GR ***.

Fans of Dogtooth, Attenberg and Alps will be intrigued by this similarly styled Greek drama, which is even more elusive than those relentlessly obtuse films. But patience is paid off as the seemingly unrelated scenes begin to coalesce into something that's genuinely horrific. And when it's over, the film leaves us pondering some pretty big issues... FULL REVIEW >

AWARD WINNERS

• Best Film: IDA
• Doc (Grierson Award): MY FATHERS, MY MOTHER AND ME
• First Feature (Sutherland Award):  ILO ILO
• British Newcomer:  Jonathan Asser (STARRED UP)
• BFI Fellowship: Christopher Lee

MY 10 BEST OF THE FEST

1. 12 YEARS A SLAVE
2. IDA
3. CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
4. BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR
5. STRANGER BY THE LAKE
6. THE EPIC OF EVEREST
7. LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
8. GLORIA
9. INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
10. HELI