Critical Week: A new friend

These have been busy days with a variety of events and lots of errands before I travel over the coming weeks. But I caught up with two terrific all-audience movies that have been showing up at festivals and will likely feature at awards time. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is the loveable Aardman duo's first film in 15 years, and it's a pure joy. It's so much fun, in fact, that I can't imagine how it could be any better if it tried - a barrage of terrific verbal and visual gags, pastiche moments and a superb thriller-style plot. And then there's the Latvian animation Flow, which is a bit rough-looking but also utterly mesmerising as it follows the astonishing adventures of a cat as its world is flooded.

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The Last Dance
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And then there was this season's big awards movie, Brady Corbet's The Brutalist, a four-hour epic (including an intermission) about an immigrant architect (Adrien Brody) in mid-20th century America. It's riveting and powerfully pointed. Daniel Craig is fully immersed in an unusual role for Luca Guadagnino's Queer, based on the William Burroughs novel about sex and drugs in Latin America. It's a stunning film, if a little enigmatic. And Isabelle Huppert is at her understated best in Hong Sang-soo's loosely observational drama A Traveler's Needs. I also attended the UK premiere performance of the exhilarating Exit Above at Sadler's Wells.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be visiting friends and family in Southern California, and I'm sure to see some awards screenings before my ballots are due. There's also the question of what I might watch on the plane! I'll be posting about the movies as I see them...

Critical Week: Reach out

After the pageantry of last Saturday's coronation event and a national holiday on Monday, it was back to normal for most of us. For me, this week's films included Jennifer Lopez taking on some serious action in The Mother, which thankfully undermines its genre cliches with character detail. Set in 1970s London, Dead Shot is a thoughtful thriller starring Aml Ameen and Colin Morgan. It has a nicely gritty period feel, and while it never quite kicks into gear, it's worth a look.

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The Eight Mountains • L'Immensita
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Even more satisfying on the action front, Sisu is a bonkers Finnish thriller about a lone prospector taking on a range of Nazis who are trying to steal his gold as they flee at the end of WWII. In another genre entirely, A Place of Our Own is a lovely drama from India that subtly explores the everyday life yearnings of marginalised trans women. And Anton Corbijn's strikingly visual doc Squaring the Circle traces the work of Hipgnosis, the British design group that created many of the most iconic album covers in the 1970s and 1980s.

This next week I'll be watching Vin Diesel's supposedly penultimate action romp Fast X, the drama Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, Kelsey Grammer in Jesus Revolution and the doc Being Mary Tyler Moore. I'll also attend the press night for Skid/Saaba at Sadler's Wells (review here soon).

London Film Fest: To the stars

It was another rainy day as the 63rd BFI London Film Festival continues to run at venues around the city, including the special pop-up cinema on the Victoria Embankment. I attended my first public screening today - these are always nice because unlike press screenings the filmmakers are in attendance to introduce the film and chat with the audience. And I'm a big fan of Lauren Greenfield! The other comments here are just brief paragraphs, as I haven't had time to write up full reviews yet. They'll be coming along when I get some time. But at the halfway point in the festival I wonder if I'll ever have a spare moment again...

The Aeronauts
dir Tom Harper; with Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones 19/UK ***
Thrilling aerial sequences are the main reason to see this 19th century British story, which is based on real events. It also offers a picturesque on-screen reunion for the always watchable Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. But it's written and directed with so much period movie sparkliness that there isn't much real life to it, and there's certainly no tension in the narrative. Still, as far as unambiguous prestige movies go, this one is amiable and gorgeous.

Marriage Story
dir-scr Noah Baumbach; with Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson 19/US ****.
An almost forensic exploration of the end of a marriage, this drama is of course infused with sadness but thankfully never turns mopey or maudlin. This is perhaps due to writer-director Noah Baumbach's attention to detail, which gives the film the honesty of a singular story. So while it may not be hugely resonant to everyone, these characters and the way they interact is powerfully involving. And it's anchored by a particularly strong role for Adam Driver.

And Then We Danced
dir-scr Levan Akin; with Levan Gelbakhiani, Bachi Valishvili 19/Geo 1h45 ****
There's a lovely mix of personal emotion and societal outrage in this sensitive Georgian coming-of-age drama. Swedish director Levan Akin keeps the camera close to his protagonist, seeing events tightly through his eyes as the world comes into a bit brighter focus for him. What it says about the empty, fearful machismo in Georgia is very harsh, but at its core this is an engaging celebration of artistic freedom. And a bold statement of support for Georgia's LGBTQ community.

Tremors [Temblores]
dir-scr Jayro Bustamante; with Juan Pablo Olyslager, Diane Bathen 19/Gua 1h47 ****
Complex and very tough, this Guatemalan drama dives into an issue that is hugely contentious in this strongly religious culture, as a family refuses to accept homosexuality as anything other than a sin. Writer-director Jayro Bustamante presents this in a strikingly straightforward way that's deeply unnerving, subtly revealing the deeply hurtful hypocrisy and bigotry lurks under the surface of well-meaning people.

The Kingmaker
dir-scr Lauren Greenfield; with Imelda Marcos, Bongbong Marcos, Noynoy Aquino, Leni Robredo, Andy Bautista, Beth Day Romulo, Etta Rosales, May Rodriguez 
release UK Oct.19 lff, US 1.Nov.19 • 19/US 1h41 ****

Documentarian Lauren Greenfield has an uncanny way of finding enormous resonance in specific stories. Here she uses a series of interviews with former First Lady Imelda Marcos to explore both the Philippines' tumultuous history and how the post-truth era has sparked a global rise of strong, right-wing leaders. Made over five wild years, the film presents the material with a wonderful sense of irony.

"Perception is real, and the truth is not," Imelda says flatly about her notorious years in public life, dogged by accusations of corruption as indeed she and her husband stole billions from the Filipino people. But instead of recognising the poverty their actions caused, she sees herself as her nation's mother, and she wants to take care of the world too. As credentials, she cites her close friendships with world leaders like Mao, Fidel, Gaddafi and Saddam. So she's grooming her children and grandchildren to take power as representatives and governors in the Philippines (she's a congresswoman), and her family secretly helped put Duterte in office. 

Contradicting her tales of peace and benevolence, a range of interviewees recount firsthand stories of corruption, inequality, torture and murder during the Marcos regime. These things are being written out of the school curriculum at the moment, leaving children ignorant about what really happened, which of course doesn't bode well for the future. And the way she obscures facts with nice phrases is more than a little chilling. As is the way the Picasso and Michelangelo paintings mysteriously vanish from her walls.

Greenfield's cameras don't miss anything, and her photographer's eye makes sure it all looks spectacular. Without ever laying it on thickly, she is making a strong comment about why people blindly accept strongman leadership, ignoring the facts for lies that sound nicer. The world is heading into dangerous territory if people simply stop caring about the truth and accept any information that's put in front of them on Facebook. Oh, wait a minute: we're already there.

7.Oct.19 lff • Venice/Toronto/London

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Links:
Shadows LONDON FILM FEST homepage (full reviews will be linked here) 
Official LONDON FILM FEST site 

Critical Week: Level the playing field

As the critics groups start handing out their awards, it's clear that we're well into the prestige movie season. And indeed, many of my screenings have been awards-consideration screenings aiming to get my votes as I participate in four awards over the coming months. This week's highest profile films included Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer (above) in the clever, involving Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex, Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen in the rightfully acclaimed true road movie Green Book, and Elsie Fisher in Bo Burnham's astonishingly realistic adolescent drama Eighth Grade.

Others are both aiming at popular audiences and awards voters. Mary Poppins Returns strains to match the 1964 classic, and at times manages that nearly impossible feat, thanks to Emily Blunt. Ralph Breaks the Internet is as messy but feels even funnier than Wreck-it Ralph. Andy Serkis does a nice job keeping Mowgli faithful to Kipling's The Jungle Book, although it also looks a little cartoonish.

Saoirse Ronan is fierce in Mary Queen of Scots, a slightly over-produced historical drama costarring Margot Robbie as the pox-ridden Queen Elizabeth I. Alicia Vikander leads the all-star cast of another true historical drama, Tulip Fever, which is intriguing but awkwardly edited. Nuri Bilge Ceylan's epic Turkish drama The Wild Pear Tree is a riveting exploration of existence and connection. And Chilean drama Cola de Mono is a strikingly bold exploration of brotherhood and sexuality.

This coming week, we have screenings of the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Hugh Jackman in The Front Runner,  Nicole Kidman in Boy Erased, Jacques Audiard's Western The Sisters Brothers, the indie black comedy Newly Single, Milo Gibson in the British thriller All the Devil's Men, Jason Mitchell in the American indie thriller Tyrel, and the Kosovo drama The Marriage.

Critical Week: Pray for mercy

London critics caught up with Martin Scorsese's new film Silence  this past week. It's a strikingly thoughtful movie, a quest for faith for Portuguese priests in 17th century Japan - a bit academic perhaps, but powerful. And then there's the biggest movie of the year: Gareth Edwards' stand-alone Star Wars story Rogue One, which is a startlingly edgy war thriller with complex characters and situations that don't go as expected. It's a properly grown-up movie unafraid to embrace its darker elements.

There were two starry year-end dramas: Taraji P Henson and Octavia Spencer lead the ensemble in Hidden Figures, about the women whose mathematics expertise got Nasa into space in the early 1960s. And Michael Keaton stars in The Founder, about McDonald's ruthless entrepreneur Ray Kroc. Both films are solidly made, finely acted and worthy of acclaim, if not actual Oscars.

Further afield, The White King is a strikingly well-made dystopian thriller with a somewhat murky plot; The Eyes of My Mother is an inventively harrowing monochrome drama with elements of grisly horror; and London Town is an enjoyable riff on the music scene of the late 1970s. I also watched the rather uneven TV spectacular Hairspray Live!, which had a great cast but struggled to maintain this fantastic musical's energy levels. And there were two films I hadn't covered on their UK releases...

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Chicken
dir Joe Stephenson; scr Chris New; with Scott Chambers, Yasmin Paige, Morgan Watkins 15/UK ***.
Based on the Freddie Machin play, this British indie drama tells a very dark story in a remarkably breezy way. It's a skilful feature directing debut for Joe Stephenson, anchored by fierce performances from the three main cast members. The story centres on Richard (Chambers), a mentally disabled 15-year-old whose best pal is a chicken named Fiona. He lives in a caravan in a field with his big brother Polly (Watkins), a hothead who simply can't hold his temper long enough to keep a job. Then new landowners arrive, threatening their already fragile existence. And Richard befriends their annoyed daughter Annabell (Paige). The shifting dynamics between the characters are fascinating, helping add some deeper feelings to a rather gimmicky plot. In the end, the twists and revelations are so big that they leave the film feeling oddly distant. But it's still powerful stuff, beautifully written, directed and acted.

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Don't Think Twice
dir-scr Mike Birbiglia
with Gillian Jacobs, Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Birbiglia, Chris Gethard, Kate Micucci, Tami Sagher 16/US ***
Not only is this a serious drama about comedy, but it's also a scripted story about improv, and both of these things make the film difficult to go along with. The central theme is a strongly involving one, that this six-person improvisational team is like a family that has a strong bond even as circumstances pull them apart. When one member (Key) gets his break on a live TV show and their theatre faces closure, all of them are forced to reconsider their career and life choices. Most of this is a little simplistic, but it's very nicely played by likeable actors who bring out strong details in their roles. And some clever cameos and side roles add a bit of spice here and there. Definitely worth a look for anyone interested in the rather grim realities of life as a comedian, but not great if you're looking for a laugh.

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This coming week I'll be seeing the James Franco/Bryan Cranston comedy Why Him?, the Will Smith drama Collateral Beauty, Michael Fassbender in Assassin's Creed, Ang Lee's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and the adventure romp Monster Trucks, plus various last minute screeners to watch in time for voting deadlines.

LFF 1: Unroll the carpet

The 60th London Film Festival kicked off last night with the UK premiere of Amma Asante's biopic A United Kingdom. Rosamund Pike (above) ruled the red carpet, making the most of a wardrobe malfunction. And her costar David Oyelowo hit the headlines today as host of a symposium on race issues in movies. And so it begins, with an exhausting schedule of nearly 250 movies over the next 12 days. I'm packing as many in as possible, and still will be missing several big titles on my list simply because there isn't time. Here are some highlights for today...

A United Kingdom
dir Amma Asante; with David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike 16/UK ***
This is a great true story with a huge present-day relevance, and it features robust, engaging performances from both David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. So it's a shame that the screenplay lets it down so badly. Not only are characters painted with broadly cartoonish strokes, but the structure drains any sense of momentum from the narrative. So if it's not hugely compelling, at least it's still a worthy biopic packed with important themes.

A Monster Calls
dir JA Bayona; with Lewis MacDougall, Liam Neeson 16/UK ****.
This may look like a fantasy adventure, but it's actually a staggeringly resonant emotional journey that will connect with audience members of all ages. As it explores enormous themes from loneliness to grief, the film builds an earthy authenticity that even carries through its big effects sequences. Not only is it shot with skill and care, but it's anchored by a terrific performance from the young Lewis MacDougall.

Into the Forest
dir Gilles Marchand; with Jeremie Elkaim, Timothe Vom Dorp 16/Fr ***
Clearly a riff on Zvyagintsev's The Return by way of Kubrick's The Shining, this dark thriller evokes considerable dread, mainly in its sound mix. But director Guy Marchand also has some visual tricks up his sleeve to freak out the audience. There doesn't seem to be much to the film beyond insinuated nastiness, but it's enjoyably spooky.

Ma' Rosa
dir Brillante Ma Mendoza; with Jaclyn Jose, Julio Diaz 16/Ph ****
Shot with handheld urgency and extended real-time sequences, this Filipino drama grabs hold of the audience from the start and never lets up. Filmmaker Brillante Mendoza skilfully immerses us in the rain-soaked bustle of Manila, focussing on a low-level drug dealer whose concern for her family makes her enormously sympathetic. And while the drama is more than enough to hold the attention, the film also has some harrowing things to say about justice in the Philippines.

And two films I saw in Venice were also screening in London today: the French drama Heal the Living and the Italian drama Indivisible.