Critical Week: Yet another night in

Aside from a certain royal interview and the evolving lockdown situation, the biggest news this week was the most diverse list of Bafta Film Awards nominations in history, a remarkably varied collection of movies, filmmakers and performances that breaks from their tradition of trying to predict Oscar. Attention to British gems and filmmakers outside the system is particularly notable this year, even with some surprising omissions. BAFTA 2021 NOMINEES >

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Human Voice
Judas and the Black Messiah
The Dissident • Verdict
ALL REVIEWS > 

As for movies this week, I caught up with two films recently out in US cinemas. Silk Road stars Jason Clarke and Nick Robinson (above with Alexandra Shipp) in a true story about the dark web that's fascinating but rather lacking in nuance. And Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley star in Doug Liman's conceptual sci-fi thriller Chaos Walking, a well-made Western-style adventure that fails to deepen its themes or characters.

Further afield, the prison drama Luz is an American independent film infused with Latin culture as it recounts an unusually introspective, tender romance between two inmates. From Germany, Undine is another seriously clever film by Christian Petzold starring Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski, this time a fantastical, whimsical, darkly moving romance. From Australia, Sequin in a Blue Room is an artful coming-of-age drama about a young man on a journey of self-discovery and connection.From Bosnia, Quo Vadis, Aida? is a flatly stunning, unmissable drama about the Srebrenica genocide told from a powerfully involving perspective. From the Philippines, Verdict is an absolutely riveting drama about a woman navigating a torturous legal system. And I decided to catch up with this documentary on the day it received its Bafta nomination...

My Octopus Teacher

dir-scr Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed

with Craig Foster, Tom Foster 

release US/UK 7.Sep.20

20/South Africa Netflix 1h25 *****

Beautifully shot and edited, this documentary recounts an involving story in a way that's enormously engaging as it traces the extraordinary connection between a man and an octopus over nearly a year. It's a riveting exploration of the nature of student and teacher, friend and foe, predator and prey. And as both of them transform their perceptions of each other, the film becomes both moving and inspirational.

Struggling with burn-out, and worried about his ability to be a good father to his teen son Tom, filmmaker Craig Foster turns to the ocean for inspiration, drawing on his childhood in the ocean near his home at the tip of South Africa. In an effort to feel amphibious and to eliminate barriers, he eschews a scuba tank or wetsuit and returns into the kelp forest every day. And he becomes fascinated by an octopus, building trust that leads to an unexpected back-and-forth relationship with her. Their ongoing adventures are simply awesome, revealing the inter-connections between living things.

Cinematographer Roger Horrocks gloriously captures how it feels to float through an underwater forest amid a wide range of creatures. This is augmented by Foster's own work behind the camera, revealing the extravagant diversity, balance and beauty under the sea. Meanwhile, the narrative is grabbing hold of us as we watch these two very different creatures begin to interact in unexpected ways. And the ultimate message is simple and provoctive: "She taught me to feel that I'm part of this place, not a visitor."

9.Mar.21

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Next week's films include the new four-hour cut of Zack Snyder's Justice League, Robin Wright's Land, the romantic comedy Me You Madness, the comedy drama Shoplifters of the World and the acclaimed Russian drama Dear Comrades. There will also be press screenings for the forthcoming edition of BFI Flare, with the festival itself kicking off virtually on Wednesday 17th March. Reports to come!

 

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Critical Week: Pesky kids

After missing them during the festival, I caught up with this week's two big releases at press screenings on Tuesday. Pet Sematary is a remake of the horror thriller adapted from Stephen King's novel. It's better than the first stab at it, as it were (I dredged up my archive review of the 1989 version and posted it together with the new one HERE.) And then there was Shazam!, easily the most enjoyable movie in recent memory from DC. It's lively and funny and has a solid plot and characters.

Seth Rogen has made unlikely romantic-comedies before, but perhaps Charlize Theron seems like a stretch too far. Well, their pointed political comedy Long Shot is a nice surprise, hilariously well written and sharply played. Judi Dench is of course great in Red Joan, as a woman accused of working with the communists back during her Cambridge University days. The film is a bit plodding and choppy, but the true story is fascinating. And from Wales, Gwen is a grim, atmospheric 19th century drama with strong horror overtones. Superb performances and skilful photography make it worth a look.

Coming up this week we have Isabelle Huppert in Neil Jordan's Greta, bonkers horror Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, medieval German thriller Hagazussa and Sergei Loznitsa's Donbass.

Critical Week: Teacher's pet

This week's line-up of press screenings was refreshingly female-oriented, offering a respite from the usual masculine bravado that's trumpeted on the big screen. Maggie Gyllenhaal is terrific in the understated drama The Kindergarten Teacher, which is remarkably sympathetic for how creepy the story turns. Brie Larson storms the superhero genre in Captain Marvel, an unusually engaging character-based action thriller with a cool 1990s vibe. Keira Knightley is at the centre of The Aftermath, a post-war romantic melodrama that's finely shot and acted but let down by a drippy script. And the bracingly original Icelandic comedy-thriller Woman at War focusses on a mother-to-be trying to protect the planet from abuse.

The rest of the week's movies were just as eclectic. The futuristic comedy-drama 2050 is witty and stylish as it explores falling in love with sexbots. Set in a foreboding forest, Devil's Path is a creepy thriller following two men who seem to be hiding secrets. An inventively intense drama from Portugal, Sunburn features four friends on holiday struggling to deal with repressed 10-year-old emotions. Peccadillo's short film collection No Ordinary Boy: Boys on Film 19 is another set of skilfully made mini-dramas exploring, this time, a darker angle on sexuality. And on my flight back to London I revisited the 1976 version of A Star Is Born, starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. It's a far more female-oriented version of this story than last year's hit remake, which makes it even more strongly involving and ultimately much more moving. I'm not sure I'd seen it since watching it as a young teen on its original release (I loved it back then too).

Screenings this coming week include Julia Roberts in Ben Is Back, Jessie Buckley in Wild Rose, Paolo Sorrentino's Loro, the black comedy Bruce!!!, the caveman thriller Iceman, and two documentaries: Last Breath, about a stranded deep-sea diver, and Silvana, about the Swedish hip-hop artist.

Critical Week: She's behind you!

With my time largely consumed by the London critics awards, it was a slower week for screenings, with just one big title: the ghost story Winchester, which is very loosely based on a true story. Helen Mirren adds some star power, as Jason Clarke is solid, but the film is little more than a collection of the usual cheesy scary movie cliches. At least it's good fun.

In fact, all of the films this week were fact-based: The Music of Silence is an Italian drama (acted in English) based on the fictionalised autobiography of singer Andrea Bocelli, starring Toby Sebastian and Antonio Banderas. It's a bit dry, but a strong story well played. Birth of the Dragon fictionally traces the mythical clash between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man in early 60s San Francisco. It's out of balance due to a subplot that takes over, but the fights are great. And Thirsty actually stars Scott Townsend as himself in a dramatised telling of his life, as he grows up to become drag star Thirsty Burlington. It's colourful and entertaining.

Screenings this coming week include Black Panther, The trilogy finale Fifty Shades Freed, Clint Eastwood's thriller The 15:17 to Paris, the family romp Peter Rabbit, the French thriller Revenge, the Canadian drama Sebastian and a restoration of Bergman's 1971 drama The Touch.

Critical Week: Never surrender

It was a disparate collection of movies this past week. The most obviously prestigious one was Darkest Hour, which chronicles the first month of Winston Churchill's first term as UK prime minister. It's a lavishly made film, anchored by a bullish performance from Gary Oldman. At the other end of the spectrum, Daddy's Home Two reunites Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell (plus Mel Gibson and John Lithgow as their dads) for a holiday comedy that's amusing without doing anything very new. More ambitious, The Dinner features strong performances from Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Laura Linney and Rebecca Hall, although the film might be too tricky for its own good.

There were also three more true stories. Josh Brolin and Miles Teller lead the firefighting drama Only the Brave, which gets a little too caught up in its heroic machismo. Colin Firth stars in the sailing adventure The Mercy, a riveting tale with an enigmatic core. And The Man With the Iron Heart is a great story of the Nazi resistance, thrown out of balance with its duelling plot-strands starring Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O' Connell and Jack Reynor.

I'm travelling over the next week or so, and not sure what I'll be able to catch up with along the way. Targeted films include Justice League, Wonder, Thank You for Your Service, The Disaster Artist and The Current War. I'll be posting comments whenever I can...

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: 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.