Critical Week: You're a winner, baby

Arriving back in London, there's a lot to catch up on, both with writing and movie watching. But I'm working my way through it all, fending off jet lag and surprisingly not too bothered by the cold, wet, dark days here. Awards season is in full swing now, so there are plenty of for-your-consideration films to watch, plus TV series as I am voting in both film and TV categories in this year's Golden Globes. I've only just begun to catch up.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Anatomy of a Fall
The Eternal Memory
ALL REVIEWS >

Films this week included yet another unexpected performance from Nicolas Cage, this time as a hapless nice guy propelled into a surreal social media flurry in Dream Scenario. It's smart and strange, and wonderfully provocative. Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani are back as The Marvels, an bonkers action comedy that's funny but vacuous. Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott lead the teen comedy Bottoms, which is rude and amusing, and never quite gets to the point. The important and engaging doc Every Body is a bracingly honest look at life for three intersex people, bursting with humour and music. And I caught up with this one on the plane...

The Covenant
dir Guy Ritchie; with Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim 23/US ***.
Set in 2018 Afghanistan, this remarkably understated thriller may be fictional, but it has a strong ring of truth to its story of an American soldier who feels a moral responsibility for helping the interpreter who saved his life. Director-cowriter Guy Ritchie recounts the story with an edgy authenticity that often feels like a documentary, so even when the bigger action beats emerge, they feel grounded in human experience. And performances have a terrific earthiness that avoids the usual militaristic bombast.

Films this coming week include Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon, Zac Efron in The Iron Claw, Alexander Payne's The Holdovers, Julia Garner in The Royal Hotel, James Marsh's Samuel Beckett biopic Dance First, Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron, Japanese monster reboot Godzilla Minus One, the doc American Symphony and the restored classic The Red Shoes.

Critical Week: Take a load off

Bigger movies continue to turn up at the box office each week, signalling a return to the pre-lockdown pattern of one blockbuster per week. And press screenings are also getting a bit more colourful as a result. We had two big screenings this week, starting with the Nicolas Cage pastiche action comedy bromance The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which is even more fun than expected. Going full-method as himself, Cage and up-for-it costar Pedro Pascal dive fully into the ridiculous story, and they keep the audience right with them. There was also Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third chapter in the whizzy but oddly uninvolving Harry Potter prequel franchise. This one is much more momentous, and the actors (notably Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen) make it worth a look. I also caught up with Michael Bay's latest over-the-top action thriller Ambulance, a choppy but very entertaining ride through Los Angeles with the superb Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen and Eiza Gonzalez.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Compartment No 6 • Small Body
Poppy Field • Cow
PERHAPS AVOID:
Agent Game • Sonic the Hedgehog 2
ALL REVIEWS >

Further afield were the by-numbers spy thriller Agent Game, which has a strong cast (Dermot Mulroney, Jason Isaacs, even Mel Gibson) but rarely rises above its cliches. French actor-filmmaker Valerie Lemercier's Aline is a fictionalised biopic about Celine Dion, and it's as bonkers as you hope it will be. From Ireland, You Are Not My Mother is a stylish dramatic horror that properly gets under the skin. And from France, Anais in Love is a sunny, chatty comedy-drama that recounts an awkward coming of age.

For this coming week I have no press screenings in the diary, but I do have some links to watch at home, for films including Eva Longoria in the comedy Unplugging, James Duval in the comedy I Challenger and the Japanese triptych Sexual Drive. I also hope to see Alexander Skarsgard in The Northman, most likely buying a ticket for a regular cinema.

Critical Week: In stealth mode

This week's blockbuster press screening was for Spider-Man: Far From Home, a refreshingly enjoyable blockbuster starring the hugely engaging Tom Holland. It continually undermines the usual overserious nonsense of superhero movies, and is relentlessly good fun. Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon and Nicholas Hoult star in the stylish historical drama The Current War, as Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla, respectively. It's a riveting story, nicely told. Alicia Vikander and Eva Green play sisters in Euphoria, a drama about mortality that's beautifully shot and acted, but eerily elusive. And nearly 25 years after Braveheart, Angus Madfadyen returns to the role of Robert the Bruce, a solidly produced film from a choppy script. And Peter Strickland's In Fabric is an enjoyably bonkers stylised horror movie about a murderous dress.

From abroad, we had The Shiny Shrimps, a French comedy drama based on the true story of a gay water polo team. It's funny and involving, but ultimately uneven. Also from France, Amin is an edgy immigration drama that's very sharply observed. From Mexico, Fireflies also centres on immigrants, this time an Iranian in Veracruz, and his story is strongly moving. From India, Photograph is a beautifully involving love story with some unexpected touches. From Canada, the provocative, engaging Roobha centres on an offbeat relationship between a middle-aged married man and a young trans woman. And there were two from Bangladesh: Saturday Afternoon is a tense and sharply pointed one-take thriller set during a terrorist standoff, while Sincerely Yours, Dhaka is a collection of seven superbly well-made shorts exploring pungent issues that resonate strongly.

I also caught a few documentaries. Memory is especially gripping for film fans, as it traces the origins of Alien, which was released 40 years ago. Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love is a fascinating bio-doc about Leonard Cohen centring on his relationship with his muse Marianne Ihlen, with filmmaker Nick Broomfield adding himself into the story as usual. Political activists, not devil-worshippers, are the focus of Hail Satan, a witty doc about how the Satanic Temple exists mainly to provoke and challenge pompous injustice. And the warm, personal Southern Pride follows two bar owners in Mississippi as they try to celebrate LGBTQ culture.

Coming up over the next week, we have Florence Pugh in the horror thriller Midsommar, Colin Firth in Kursk: The Last Mission, Sylvester Stallone back for Escape Plan: The Extractors, the Sundance-winning comedy Brittany Runs a Marathon, the French coming-of-age drama Love Blooms, and the doc Varda by Agnes.

LFF: Flights of fancy

The 62nd London Film Festival continues on without me, as I wish I was there! But I saw several films before I flew off to the other side of the earth, and here are some highlights from days 4 to 6, including some gorgeous animation, a fumbled multi-strand all-star drama, an auspicious directing debut, a Cannes best actor winner, and a couple of extraordinary docs...

Mirai
dir-scr Mamoru Hosoda; voices Moka Kamishiraishi, Haru Kuroki 18/Jpn ****
Japanese anime features are terrific at combining flights of fantasy with deeper, resonant themes. And this movie is a beautiful portrait of family connections, exploring the nature of relationships between spouses, siblings, parents and children through the generations. The story is relatively simple, and yet its flourishes are packed with provocative meaning for both adults and kids in the audience.

Life Itself
dir-scr Dan Fogelman; with Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde 18/US **
Writer-director Dan Fogelman has gone from his hit TV series This Is Us to a film with an even more anodyne title. His approach here is similar, leaping around various timelines to tell the story of a family over three generations. And this time he ambitiously weaves in a second family and continent. But even the persistent voiceover can't connect the leaps in logic or overwrought sentimentality... FULL REVIEW >

Wildlife
dir Paul Dano; with Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal 18/US ****
Beautifully shot to emphasise the unspoken feelings of the three central characters, this film gets deep under the skin with its dark emotions and intense drama. It's a terrific directing debut for Paul Dano, cutting through the noise to quietly expose the inner lives of the characters from the perspective of a singularly sensitive teen boy... FULL REVIEW >

Dogman
dir Matteo Garrone; with Marcello Fonte, Edoardo Pesce 18/It ****
There's a gritty, gloomy tone to this Italian drama, but filmmaker Matteo Garrone cleverly undermines the overt sadness using a steady stream of wry humour. With themes that echo through classic Italian cinema (strong parallels with Fellini's Nights of Cabiria), the film skilfully and artfully explores the idea of hope even amid darkly violent situations. The characters are vivid, as are the emotions... FULL REVIEW >

Bad Reputation
dir Kevin Kerslake; with Joan Jett, Kenny Laguna 18/US ****
With a driving rock 'n' roll vibe, this documentary traces the career of one of our most iconic rockers: Joan Jett. As a take-no-prisoners woman, her story seriously inspiring, even if she would balk at the thought. This is a hugely entertaining film, recounting her life with humour and texture, revealing her as a dedicated musician who has never forgotten who she is... FULL REVIEW >

Won't You Be My Neighbor?
dir Morgan Neville; with Fred Rogers, Joanne Rogers 18/US ****.
Warm and engaging, this documentary lets the iconic TV personality Fred Rogers narrate his own story using extensive archival interviews and a wide range of clips. Director Morgan Neville skilfully crafts a film that's both fast-paced and deeply personal, exploring exactly what made Rogers such a one-off. It also vividly captures his message that the essentials in life are invisible to the eye... FULL REVIEW >

Critical Week: A family portrait

I'm missing being in Venice this year for the festival, but it's been a busy week for screenings in London. This week we've caught up with the Sundance hit Wildlife, Paul Dano's riveting, moving directing debut starring Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal as a couple coming apart in 1960 Montana. It's powerfully told from the perspective of a teen boy (Ed Oxenbould), as is Eli Roth's offbeat horror movie The House With a Clock in its Walls. Its main stars are Jack Black and Cate Blanchett as magical neighbours who take in a teen boy (Owen Vaccaro) with scary/comical results.

The most fun at the movies this week was the screening of US box office hit Crazy Rich Asians, a fairly standard rom-com plot packed with massively entertaining characters. The all-star true heist story King of Thieves features Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent and Tom Courtenay, and is more fascinating than thrilling. The all-star adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull features Annette Bening, Saoirse Ronan and Elisabeth Moss, and is involving but perhaps over-ambitious. And Jeremy Irons has a great time chomping on scenery alongside Jack Huston in the engaging comedy-drama road movie An Actor Prepares.

And there were two less-starry offerings: Five Fingers for Marseilles is a gorgeously shot modern-day Western from South Africa about childhood friends facing off over the future of their struggling hometown. It's seriously powerful. And the Raindance documentary I Hate New York is the eye-opening profile of four trans icons who have changed the fabric of the city they love (yes, the title is ironic).

This coming week I'll be distracted from the goings-on in Venice and Toronto by Mark Wahlberg in Mile 22, Bella Thorne in Assassination Nation, Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky, Omari Hardwick in A Boy A Girl A Dream, Blaxploitation remake Superfly, the mystery thriller Lost Child, the British drama Sodom, the Palestinian drama Wajib, the Guatemalan drama José and the immigration doc Bisbee '17.

LFF: Heading out on Day 2

Today was the first full day of films at the 61st BFI London Film Festival, and I'm beginning to feel the strain. But then I've been watching movies for three weeks already, and it's merely getting more intense now! Here are some more festival highlights, with additional twitter updates during the day...

Mudbound
dir Dee Rees; with Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund 17/US ***
There's an epic scope to this Deep South drama that demands attention, although the script hews perhaps too closely to the source novel for its own good. Nonstop voiceover from a variety of characters adds soul but is distracting, as is a surplus of plot detail. But even though it's set in the 1940s, the themes are still vivid, carrying a powerful kick that resonates in uncomfortable ways.

Stronger
dir David Gordon Green; with Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany 17/US ****
A strikingly earthy approach to this true story eliminates any hint of sentimentality from what easily could have become a swellingly sudsy story of hope and inspiration. Instead, director David Gordon Green has crafted a gritty, honest look at a young man who is forced by a shocking event to grapple with elements of his personality he has long ignored. And by refusing to push the themes, the film is genuinely hopeful and inspirational... FULL REVIEW >

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
dir-scr Noah Baumbach; with Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller17/US ****
Like a Woody Allen movie, this episodic film chronicles the collisions between members of a lively Jewish family in New York, blending sharp-edged humour with several much darker themes. Much of the film is downright hilarious, as these people rarely listen to what anyone is saying, talking over each other and obsessing over their personal issues. But there's also a lovely sense of what holds them together... FULL REVIEW >

Good Time
dir Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie; with Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie 17/US ***.
With a grimy B-movie vibe, this film propels the audience into a twisted odyssey with a loser who simply can't get a break over the course of one long, nasty night. It's shot and edited with lurid style, accompanied by a pulsing electronic score that makes it feel like it belongs in the 1980s. As events spiral further out of control, it begins to feel rather scripted and contrived. But it's still fascinating... FULL REVIEW >

Loveless
dir-scr Andrey Zvyagintsev; with Maryana Spivak, Aleksey Rozin 17/Rus ****.
As he did in 2014's Leviathan, Andrey Zvyagintsev tells a provocative personal story that reveals layers of painful truth about both Russian society and the whole world. Among other things, it explores how compassion is evaporating from "polite" society, with people more concerned about posting Instagrams of their food than paying attention to where their children are. Beautifully shot and acted, the story and themes get deep under the skin... FULL REVIEW >

Rift
dir-scr Erlingur Thoroddsen; with Bjorn Stefansson, Sigurdur Thor Oskarsson 17/Ice ****
Sleek and dark, this Icelandic thriller gets under the skin quickly with filmmaking that's enticingly mysterious. Writer-director Erlingur Thoroddsen skilfully shoots the film to catch deep colours while positioning characters against stunning landscapes, giving everything a powerfully visual kick while the story develops beneath the surfaces. It's overlong but beautifully made, and packed with fiendishly clever touches... FULL REVIEW >

Critical Week: Into the woods

It's been another very long week for me, with screenings of films both heading for regular cinemas and featuring in the forthcoming London Film Festival. Some movies fit in both categories, of course. One of the bigger ones was Goodbye Christopher Robin, the AA Milne biopic starring Domhnall Gleeson and Margot Robbie. It's gorgeously produced and thankfully much grittier than expected. Another surprise was Stronger, the biopic starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a man injured in the Boston Marathon bombing. Completely lacking in rah-rah patriotism, the film is a gruelling, expertly told story of a flawed man everyone called a hero.

Also heading for cinemas are the documentary Earth: One Amazing Day, which puts stunning footage from the BBC's Planet Earth II up on the big screen, with some added scenes. The Unseen is a British film set up as a Hitchcockian thriller about a couple haunted by the death of their son. Double Date is a British comedy thriller that's gleefully grisly and funny without being scary. And Furious Desires is a collection of lusty short films from Brazil, Mexico and Italy.

London Film Festival offerings included Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman in the surreal thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer, the witty and pointed black comedy Brigsby Bear, Michael Haneke's offbeat comical drama Happy End, Aidan Gillen in the improvised comedy-drama Pickups, the simply gorgeous Chilean drama A Fantastic Woman, the powerfully moving French drama 120 Beats Per Minute, the cleverly scary Icelandic thriller Rift and the thoughtful Finnish romance A Moment in the Reeds. There were also two Israeli films: the sharply inventive Foxtrot and the gently moving romance The Cakemaker. More on those coming soon.

Up this week are Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049, Kate Winslet in The Mountain Between Us, Jessica Chastain in Molly's Game and Josh Hartnett in 6 Below. The 61st BFI London Film Festival officially kicks off on Wednesday, and press screenings include Julianne Moore in Wonderstruck, Emma Stone in Battle of the Sexes, Cate Blanchett in Manifesto, Carey Mulligan in Mudbound, Clio Barnard's Dark River, Sean Baker's The Florida Project and Michel Hazanavicius' Redoubtable. My daily LFF updates will start next Thursday.

Critical Week: Say your prayers

As another heatwave settles in over London, I had two film-free days this week. First was the baseball event in Hyde Park (see the post below), and the other was the Critics' Circle annual summer party on the gorgeous roof terrace at Picturehouse Central. As for films, I really enjoyed Sofia Coppola's remake of The Beguiled, but then I love her loose filmmaking style and the way she lets her actors bring out unexpected depths of character. At the other end of the cinematic spectrum, the franchise continues with Cars 3, the fifth (don't forget the Planes movies) in the series about a world populated by vehicles but not humans. The set-up is just as odd, but the movie has an earthy simplicity to it.

Much more offbeat, Bong Joon Ho's Okja is a witty, involving action adventure with very dark themes about globalisation and sharp performances from Tilda Swinton (times two), Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano. Also worth a look is It Comes at Night, an inventively complex horror movie starring Joel Edgerton. It's set after some kind of undefined apocalypse but heavily reminiscent of the world today. Hickok is a cheesy Western tracing the story of the iconic historical figure, nicely played by a beefy Luke Hemsworth. And Do You Take This Man is another thoughtful drama starring Anthony Rapp, set around a pre-wedding dinner at which the usual personal issues are brought to the surface.

This coming week, screenings include Terrence Malick's Song to Song, Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke in Maudie, the Aussie sequel A Few Less Men, the horror thriller Killing Ground and the fact-based drama Dark Night.

31st Flare: Pamper yourself

The British Film Institute's 31st Flare had a bit of a scare today, as a crazed madman attacked Parliament just over the river. But London carried on in defiance, and the festival had another busy evening. One major event was the Iris Prize party at Ministry of Sound, a lovely event celebrating the world's premiere LGBT short film festival. Here are some more highlights...

The Handmaiden
dir Park Chan-wook; with Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri 16/Kor ****
Korean maestro Park Chan-wook adapts Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith into a stylish, twisty drama set in Korea and Japan during WWII. It's a visually ravishing film about passion and subterfuge, told in three chapters that flip the perspective in unexpected directions. So even if the themes are a little thin, the film looks so amazing and has such a wickedly labyrinthine plot that it's thoroughly riveting... FULL REVIEW >

Out of Iraq
dir Eva Orner, Chris McKim; with Nayyef Hrebid, Hayder "Btoo" Allami16/US ****
This documentary tells the story of two young Iraqis who take a journey together in very different ways. It has two basic narratives, a romance and an immigration odyssey, and both are so compelling that the film becomes utterly gripping. It also packs a strong emotional kick as these young men struggle against cultural realities that are difficult to imagine.

Pride?
dir Ashley Joiner; with Michael Salter, Peter Tatchell 17/UK ****
A fast-paced, pointed documentary about London's Pride movement, this film explores the rise in alternative events that have sprung up to avoid the crowds and commercialisation. And as it faces government budget cuts, the question is whether Pride has merely become a branding opportunity bogged down in bureaucracy. It's a timely, emotional and unusually balanced film that doesn't shy away from past and present issues.

Seat in Shadow
dir Henry Coombes; with David Sillars, Jonathan Leslie 16/UK ***.
Cleverly shot by rising-star cinematographer David C Liddell, and directed with quirky artistry by Scottish filmmaker Henry Coombes, this Glasgow-set drama is elusive and intriguing. It's nutty and outrageous enough to intrigue fans of offbeat cinema, and it's packed with deeper themes about human connections that resonate in unexpected ways.

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C R I T I C A L   W E E K 

In addition to Flare movies, I had my normal weekly releases to watch at press screenings. These included the police action-comedy CHiPs (comments embargoed),  the enjoyable sci-fi thriller Life with Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson, the earnest Armenian genocide drama The Promise starring Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale, the intriguing Amazon exploration adventure The Lost City of Z with Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson, the murky London noir mystery City of Tiny Lights with Riz Ahmed, and the offbeat Finnish refugee drama The Other Side of Hope. Films this coming week, aside from more Flare titles, include Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell, Orlando Bloom in the thriller Unlocked, and more.

Venezia 73: Staring out at day 3

Frankly, it isn't easy to spend all day in a cinema when the weather is this spectacular - and when you can see the beach from the press workroom. But this is life at the 73rd Venice Film Festival: watch movies and write about them, and if time allows gawk at the stars in press conferences or on the red carpet. Here on the Lido there are two other urgent requirements: finding food and wifi, neither of which is remotely easy. Here are more recent films (and that's Amy Adams again, above) ...

Nocturnal Animals
dir-scr Tom Ford; with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal 16/US ***.
For his second film as writer-director, Tom Ford takes on an ambitious, three-sided story that's a romantic drama, violent thriller and darkly internal odyssey. Of course it all looks gorgeous, designed and edited to perfection. And it's packed with terrific moments that hit us right between the eyes with intensity and emotion. But some elements outshine the others, which throws things somewhat off the balance.

Frantz
dir Francois Ozon; with Pierre Niney, Paula Beer 16/Fr ****.
French filmmaker Francois Ozon tackles another genre with this historical drama, which has shades of Haneke in its multi-layered story of forgiveness and redemption. Shot in black and white with moments of blossoming colour, the film harks back to period war dramas due to the visual style and the way the story evolves. But of course, Ozon puts his own subtle spin on everything. And the result is darkly moving.

Summertime [L'Estate Addosso]
dir Gabriele Muccino; with Brando Pacitto, Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz 16/It ***
Bright and energetic, this Italian-American drama is packed with likeable characters and perceptive observations. But it's somewhat cursory in the way it approaches both the characters and story, full of picturesque montages with beautiful people in gorgeous locations. And while the core message is strong, the plotting feels rather random.

The Last Things [Le Ultime Cose]
dir-scr Irene Dionisio; with Fabrizio Falco, Roberto De Francesco 16/It ***
While this gentle Italian drama taps nicely into the zeitgeist, it seems to focus more on situation than the people who are caught up in it. The characters each have a journey to follow, and writer-director Irene Dionisio observes them without ever quite getting under their skin. Still, there are some strong moral dilemmas that pull the audience in. And the way it highlights a culture of desperation is haunting.

Coming up: Jude Law in The Young Pope, Dakota Fanning in Brimstone, James Franco's In Dubious Battle...

Critical Week: Welcome to the club

UK critics had a chance to screen Richard Linklater's new comedy Everybody Wants Some!!, a spiritual follow-up to two of his earlier films: Dazed and Confused and Boyhood. It's clever, funny and very sharp. Jake Gyllenhaal is simply terrific in Jean-Marc Vallee's Demolition, a parable that is a bit obvious in its metaphors but still wrenchingly powerful. By contrast, Melissa McCarthy's The Boss has a lot of potential, but it's squandered with filmmaking that's based on pratfalls instead of the vivid central character.

John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson find more intriguing characters than expected in the horror thriller Cell, a freaky twist on the zombie genre from Stephen King. Rio I Love You is the latest collection of shorts in the Cities of Love series, and a much more coherent, warm and involving film as a whole. Arabian Nights: The Desolate One is the second in Miguel Gomes' inventively surreal trilogy. This one's drier than the first one, but has a terrific dog at the centre of the third set of shorts.

Further into indie movie land, Daddy is a well-made and sharply acted American film that shifts uneasily from a lively rom-com into a very, very dark drama. And there were two low-budget British crime dramas: The Violators is a compelling story of siblings in crisis, while the fact-based Hard Tide follows a guy who discovers something valuable in himself. Both give in to cliches and underpowered filmmaking.

Of course, proper reviews will follow in each film's week of release - some are already up on the site.

Screening this next week: Tom Hanks in A Hologram for the King, Ricky Gervais in Special Correspondents, Susan Sarandon in Mothers and Daughters, the apocalyptic Aussie drama These Final Hours, the final episode in the trilogy Arabian Nights: The Enchanted One, Michael Moore's sociological doc Where to Invade Next and the British public unrest doc The Hard Stop. We also have a three day weekend ahead!

Critical Week: Take a back seat

London critics had a chance to see Anton Corbijn's new film Life this week, recounting the series of meetings between freelance photographer Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson) and actor James Dean (Dane DeHaan), just before the release of his first film. It's beautifully shot (of course) and a cleverly written exploration of pre-stardom, but despite a strong performance DeHaan is simply never James Dean. Also rather uneven, Everest tells the true story of a fateful day in 1996 when an unusually large number of people climbed the world's tallest mountain and were caught in a surprise storm. It's efficiently made and well acted, but oddly uninvolving.

My best film of the week, hands down, was Tangerine, a micro-budget American indie shot on iPhones. As it follows a couple of tranny hookers on the streets of Hollywood, it's hilarious, moving and thrilling filmmaking. Welsh treasures Rhys Ifans and Charlotte Church appear in Under Milk Wood, an experimental and eerily cold adaptation of Dylan Thomas' poetic drama. Michael Pena and Dougray Scott star in the exorcism thriller The Vatican Tapes, which is edgy and earthy but a bit slow. And the superb, unmissable He Named Me Malala is an involving documentary about feisty Pakistani teen-turned-activist Malala Yousafzai, who is inspirational simply because she is so normal.

This coming week we have Hugh Jackman in Pan, Kurt Russell in Bone Tomahawk, Agyness Dean in Sunset Song, the festival favourite The Club and Kate Dickie in Couple in a Hole. Also, press screenings for the London Film Festival start on Monday with two or three films per day. The festival itself runs 7-18 October.

Critical Week: The boys are back

Three distinct kinds of reboots were screened to UK critics this week. First, there's the movie version of the TV show Entourage, a snappy, energetic movie that perfectly captures the series' dopey macho attitude while depicting the inner workings of Hollywood in a hilariously realistic way. Nearly 15 years after the third movie it's clearly time to reboot that dinosaur franchise. So Jurassic World roars onto the big screen with major expectations it should have no trouble living up to, especially with a swashbuckling Chris Pratt in the lead role. It turns out that Insidious: Chapter 3 is a reboot as well, going back to the beginning to relaunch a franchise around the wonderful Lin Shaye's character Elise. It's also an auspicious directing debut for writer-actor Leigh Whannell.

The only original feature was Accidental Love, a deeply chaotic comedy directed by David O Russell in 2008 but reworked later and released under a pseudonym. Alas, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jessica Biel, Catherine Keener and James Marsden can't remove their names because their faces are recognisable on-screen. Being documentary season on the festival circuit, there were screenings of the lively and startlingly relevant Best of Enemies, which traces the epic 1968 TV debates between Gore Vidal and William F Buckley, and the fascinating but underworked Lord Montagu, which recounts the life of a British baron who has had a rollercoaster life.

This coming week, we have screenings of the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, Al Pacino in Manglehorn, the indie movie Those People and the short film compilation Boys on Film 13: Trick or Treat. There are also three more documentaries: The First Film, The Yes Men Are Revolting and the classic Man With a Movie Camera. And I'm really looking forward to attending this summer's Secret Cinema interactive event on Friday night, because it's themed around a screening of one of my very favourite films, The Empire Strikes Back. 

34th Shadows Awards: Happy New Year!

After much agonising, I've finally assembled my annual best of the year lists. As much as I resisted, I was unable to deny that Boyhood was my film of the year. I hate going along with the mob, but this really is one of the most extraordinary movies ever made - it's far more than a 12-year filmmaking experiment. These are just the highlights: there's rather a lot more on the WEBSITE.

FILM:

1. Boyhood (Richard Linklater)
2. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
3. Mommy (Xavier Dolan)
4. Selma (Ava DuVernay)
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson)
6. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer)
7. Rosewater (Jon Stewart)
8. Pride (Matthew Warchus)
9. Citizenfour (Laura Poitras)
10. Guardians of the Galaxy (James Gunn)

DIRECTOR: Ava DuVernay (Selma)

SCREENWRITER: Andrey Zvyagintsev & Oleg Negin (Leviathan)

ACTRESS: Julianne Moore (Still Alice, Maps to the Stars)

ACTOR: David Oyelowo (Selma, A Most Violent Year, Interstellar)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Emma Stone (Birdman, Magic in the Moonlight)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Josh Brolin (Inherent Vice, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For)

WORST FILM:

1. Tammy (Ben Falcone)
2. Bad Johnson (Huck Botko)
3. Pudsey the Dog: The Movie (Nick Moore)
4. Endless Love (Shana Feste)
5. Annie (Will Gluck)
6. Hector and the Search for Happiness (Peter Chelsom)
7. Earth to Echo (Dave Green)
8. Sabotage (David Ayer)
9. Jimi: All Is by My Side (John Ridley)
10. Dumb and Dumber To (Peter & Bobby Farrelly)

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CRITICAL WEEK

I only saw three films this week: James Franco and Seth Rogen in media-storm comedy The Interview, which was about half of a very funny movie; Jake Gyllenhaal in the clever but fiercely artful doppelganger mystery Enemy; and the stunningly well-observed Swedish Oscar-contending family drama Force Majeure.

Critics' screenings don't begin until Monday - with Liam Neeson in Taken 3 - but I have a few more discs I want to catch up with between now and then, as year-end voting continues.

Critical Week: Everybody wants to be a star

Two high-profile press screenings in London this past week were for buzzy festival hits. Nightcrawler is the blackly comical thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as an ambitions crime-scene photographer. It's a stunner. And the crowd-pleasing St Vincent gives Bill Murray his best role ever as a grouchy old man who takes a young boy under his wing.

We also caught up with the next teen dystopia franchise launcher, the nicely made and well-acted but slightly thin thriller The Maze Runner; the wonderfully atmospheric and slightly undercooked 1970s British drama Northern Soul; the slick and unsettling drama A Good Marriage, starring Joan Allen and Anthony LaPaglia; and the documentary Corpus Christi: Playing With Redemption, about how the controversy surrounding the notorious play is largely misplaced.

I took it a bit easier on London Film Festival screenings this past week - just three: the searing British drama Bypass with George MacKay; the haunting American ghost story Jamie Marks Is Dead; and the Australian aboriginal drama Charlie's Country with David Gulpilil. And I got away from screening rooms for music (my first Kylie concert), theatre (a fringe comedy) and a set visit with Drew Barrymore. I was also elected vice chair of the London Film Critics' Circle, and had a power cut for 16 hours on Wednesday. Quite a week.

Films this coming week include the all-star ensemble comedy-drama This Is Where I Leave You and Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall in The Judge. As for London Film Festival, screenings in my diary over the first six days include: The Imitation Game, Rosewater, Wild, The Drop, My Old Lady, Kung Fu Jungle, The Falling, Return to Ithaca, Pasolini, The Salvation, Silent Storm, 1001 Grams, Second Chance and The Goob. Daily blog entries start on Thursday...

Critical Week: Riding the rails

London critics got to see Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman in the true story The Railway Man this past week - a deeply relevant, perhaps too-emotional drama about reconciliation and understanding. Another highlight was Denis Villeneuve's haunting, exquisitely well-made Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal as men who react very differently to a child kidnapping. We also had a chance to see the fractured JFK assassination drama Parkland, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini in the smart and mature rom-com Enough Said and DeNiro and Pfeiffer going all Besson on us in The Family.

Screenings began this week for the upcoming 57th London Film Festival. The first two were James Franco's bleakly artful but rather off-putting Faulkner adaptation As I Lay Dying and the surehanded but extremely low-key Aussie thriller Mystery Road. More on those soon. We also saw the sequel to an animated film we'd forgotten about, the goofy but engaging The Reef 2: High Tide, the super-pretentious arthouse hit Leviathan, and the talky, intriguing Argentine gay drama Solo.

This coming week we'll catch up with Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck in Runner Runner, Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips, Shailene Woodley in The Spectacular Now, Sheridan Smith in The Powder Room, Francois Ozon's Jeune et Jolie, the British immigration drama Leave to Remain, the quirky festival film Floating Skyscrapers and Alex Gibney's doc The Armstrong Lie. We were also supposed to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, but the distributor has uninvited most critics from the press screening for some reason. Finally, the Raindance Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday and runs until 6th October in Piccadilly. Updates to come!

LFF 3: Take a swim

Another sunny day (with spots of rain) at the 56th BFI London Film Festival as huge crowds gather around the city to watch movies from off the beaten path. Here are a few Sunday highlights, including Rust and Bone (above), my favourite film of the year so far...

Rust and Bone
dir Jacques Audiard; with Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts 12/Fr *****
With an almost unblinkingly honest approach to relationships, this French drama crushes every cliched romance in its wake. The story and characters are messy, tetchy and fiercely passionate, forcing us to experience the pain and joy in equal measure... REVIEW >

End of Watch
dir David Ayer; with Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena 12/US ****
Off-handed performances and an earthy, gritty style elevate this police thriller above the fray. And it's made all the more watchable since Ayer has abandoned his usual corrupt-cop theme, instead focussing on two realistically complex good guys... REVIEW >

West of Memphis
dir Amy Berg; with Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin 12/US ****
This lucid, harrowing documentary recounts a 20-year miscarriage of justice so thoroughly that it leaves us slack-jawed at the corruption, self-interest and intractability of the Arkansas legal system. It's also sharply well shot and edited to leave us with no doubts about the truth... REVIEW >

Beyond the Hills
dir Cristian Mungiu; with Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur 12/Rom ****
Dark and unsettling, this drama juggles its provocative subject matter and unusual setting in ways that constantly surprise us. Not because we can identify with the situations, but because filmmaker Mungiu is so skilled at finding larger truths in his characters. It's about two young women who grew up in an orphanage but took very different journeys: Alina (Flutur) moved to Germany to find work, Voichita (Stratan) joined a rural monastery. And now Alina has come back to collect her friend, but instead she ends up upsetting the delicate balance of religion and superstition that infuses life in this oddly timeless place where there's no electricity or running water. There are all kinds of social issues at play here, from underfunded hospitals to child abuse. Not to mention the bigger theme of a group of deeply religious people struggling to deal with someone they see as a dangerous interloper. Rather long and repetitive, it's also scary and emotional film that leaves us with a lot to chew on.

Zaytoun
dir Eran Riklis; with Abdallah El Akal, Stephen Dorff 12/Isr **.
Lively characters and a series of offbeat events make this movie watchable, except that we never believe anything that happens. The script feels contrived to tell a heartwarming story using a series of corny touches. So there isn't much tension. And no insight into the thorny political situation... REVIEW >

Critical Week: Oscar bait

It's that time of year when we start to get a look at those films that are most likely to catch the eye of Oscar voters. Joe Wright's Anna Karenina certainly qualifies, with its epic love story plot and lavish costumes, sets and production design. Critics are just getting a first look at the film in advance of its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in a week or so. A new trailer also gave us a glimpse of Hyde Park on Hudson, which frankly looks like The King's Speech II as it follows King George and Queen Elizabeth (Sam West and Olivia Colman) to America for an encounter with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt (Bill Murray and Olivia Williams).

Critics are also seeing David Ayer's End of Watch, a gritty point-of-view thriller about two good cops (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) in Los Angeles - yes, good cops, a departure for Ayer. Len Wiseman's action-packed Total Recall remake stars Colin Farrell, who is easily the best thing about this film. There are two gritty East End crime dramas: The Sweeney, based on the iconic TV series, stars Ray Winstone and Ben Drew as members of London's elite crime-fighting squad. while Twenty8k stars Parminder Nagra as a lawyer trying to clear her brother's name from two drug-related murder charges.

More highbrow fare was provided in the astounding documentary Five Broken Cameras, through which we see life on the wrong side of the Israel-Palestine border through the eyes of a perceptive, camera-wielding journalist. And it was great to revisit Francis Coppola's newly remastered 1983 drama Rumble Fish, starring the very young Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke (Shadows award winner that year!) and Nicolas Cage.

This coming week includes a long weekend here in Britain, so the pickings are a little slim. We have the American indie The Myth of the American Sleepover, the French comedy-drama Untouchable (aka The Intouchables), Guy Madden's latest film Keyhole, the space-station thriller Love, the Queen concert film Hungarian Rhapsody and the fan-fave doc Room 237, about the lasting legacy of Kubrick's The Shining.