Critical Week: Cinematic royalty

Pretty much everything in London this week is centred around Saturday's big coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla. I'm avoiding the crowds, and will catch it on TV. Meanwhile, movie queens Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenbergen return for Book Club: The Next Chapter, a much funnier, more engaging sequel to the corny 2018 hit. An even larger ensemble returns for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, which has had better reviews than it deserves. It's funny, and fans will love it, but there isn't a single exciting or thrilling moment.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Pamfir • The Blue Caftan
Chile '76
ALL REVIEWS >

Jim Parsons stars in the involving romantic drama Spoiler Alert, which infuses real-life humour into a sad story. BlackBerry stars Jay Baruchel as the man who first combined email and mobile phones. It's a fascinating story, skilfully told. Two decades in the making, the witty and rather overlong autobiographical comedy 5-35-77 traces Patrick Read Johnson's journey into filmmaking, via a preview screening of Star Wars. And Still is a gorgeously well-made documentary chronicling Michael J Fox's acting career as well as his experiences with Parkinson's. 

I also covered two stage shows this past week: the inventive, insightful Supernova at Clapham Omnibus, and the fiendishly entertaining musical comedy Eurovision: Your Decision at Wonderville

This next week I'll be watching Jennifer Lopez in The Mother, Finnish action film Sisu, 1970s British thriller Dead Shot and Anton Corbijn's doc Squaring the Circle. I also have a couple of catch-up movies to watch.

Critical Week: On the run

It's been the hottest week in Britain for 60 years, and I don't think I've stopped sweating for more than about 30 seconds. Great weather for heading to the cinema, if only there were press screenings! But no, I've watched everything this week in my very warm home office. And it's been another eclectic collection of films. Claes Bang (above) is terrific in The Bay of Silence, a slightly muddled mystery that spins a twisty Hitchcockian plot, costarring Brian Cox and Olga Kurylenko. Waiting for the Barbarians boasts the powerhouse trio of Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson, all excellent in an insightful and challenging exploration of imperialism.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Big Fur • Babyteeth
Waiting for the Barbarians
PERHAPS AVOID:
Endless
FULL REVIEWS >

Ethan Hawke is superb as Tesla in an odd, artful biopic that loosely depicts the genius' life story and celebrates a complex man who is still changing the world. Alexandra Shipp stars in Endless, a relentlessly sappy romantic drama that ultimately lets her down. Roberto Benigni is perfectly cast as Geppetto in an earthy, faithful adaptation of the classic Italian novel Pinocchio. Jay Baruchel writes, directs and costars in the comic book thriller Random Acts of Violence, which starts very well before giving into its own into grisliness. Anthony LaPaglia stars in Pearl as a failed filmmaker who finds meaning through the teen daughter he never knew he had. Yes, it's as sentimental as it sounds, but also surprisingly edgy. And there were two docs: Barbara Kopple's astonishing Desert One offers astonishing firsthand accounts of the failed US rescue mission to free the hostages in 1980 Iran, while the entertaining Big Fur is a cheeky profile of a taxidermist trying to recreate a sasquatch for the world championships.

I'm taking a few days off this next week, but I have some films to watch before and after the break, including Jamie Foxx in Project Power, Janelle Monae in Antebellum, the animated adventure The One and Only Ivan, the British drama S.A.M, the revenge thriller Message Man and the Iranian drama Ava.

Critical Week: And I feel fine

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

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

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

Requisite Blog Photo vs The Apocalypse