Critical Week: Phone home

Awards season is properly cranking up, with lots of screenings (and online links) for movies that are coming out in December and January - so we can see them ahead of voting deadlines, which are quickly approaching. It's great to see these films on a big screen when possible. Certainly, two unusually striking films I saw this week deserve that - both are very long movies based on true stories. Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme stars Timothee Chalamet (above) as an aspiring ping pong champ, and it's a singular visual odyssey, high energy and utterly riveting. It's also a little exhausting. And then there's Mona Fastvold's The Testament of Ann Lee, starring Amanda Seyfried as the founder of the Shakers in 18th century England and New England. It's a swirling, mesmerising journey that leaves us thinking. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Rental Family • Cactus Pears
Wicked: For Good
The Thing With Feathers
Zodiac Killer Project
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Ice Tower
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A bit more mainstream, Emma Mackey stars in filmmaking maestro James L Brooks' Ella McCay, a sparky and enjoyable comedy-drama about a family and political ambition. Bill Skarsgard leads the cast of Gus Van Sant's Dead Man's Wire, based on the true story of an unusual 1977 kidnapping. It's a gripping, strikingly well-made film. June Squibb stars in Scarlett Johansson's directing debut Eleanor the Great, a lively and likeable comedy-drama about memories and perception. Nicolas Cage leads The Carpenter's Son, an offbeat horror film based on an apocryphal gospel about the childhood of Jesus Christ (played by Noah Jupe). It's ambitious and creepy, and a little overwrought.

And then there was Park Chan-wook's overlong but sharply observant comedy No Other Choice starring Lee Byun-Hun as a guy who takes desperate measures to find a job. Sope Dirisu stars in the gorgeous British-Nigerian drama My Father's Shadow, as a man who takes his two cheeky sons on a day out in 1993 Lagos. The wonderful Iraqi drama The President's Cake centres on a young girl navigating her way through a restrictive system simply to bake a cake. The moving French drama Nino features yet another astonishingly transparent performance from Theodore Pellerin. And the Taiwanese drama Left-Handed Girl takes a snappy, fresh approach to connections between generations of women. I also attended the British premiere screening of Landman season 2 with Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore and Ali Larter in attendance.

It's another big week coming up, and I'll be watching Jodie Foster in A Private Life, Josh O'Connor in The Mastermind, Lav Diaz's epic biopic Magellan, the Spanish adventure Sirat and the animated films Scarlet and Little Amelie, plus festive live performances of Growled at the RVT and The Magic of Christmas at Brick Lane Music Hall.

Critical Week: Grandma's got a gun!

Summertime always brings a slow-down in press screenings, which is a relief after the flurry of London film festivals in June. But there are some great movies out there, plus blockbusters that aren't always quite as great but are good fun to watch on a big screen that's been packed out with cynical critics and gung-ho influencers. The mix of groaning and cheering is a lot of fun. The best I saw this week was the action comedy Thelma, starring June Squibb as a sparky 93-year-old (take that, Joe Biden!) who takes matters in her own hands when she's scammed out of some cash. Fred Hechinger is terrific as her worried grandson. And then there's Twisters, the thinly written almost 30-years-later sequel that's tangentially connected to the rather forgettable 1996 hit. Glen Powell is even more magnetic than the impressive tornadoes, with solid sidekicks Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Crossing • Thelma
Scala!!! • Shayda
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More arthouse offerings included The Outrun, a kaleidoscopically immersive memoir about addiction starring the always excellent Saoirse Ronan and set in gorgeous Orkney Isles landscapes. Hayley Bennett stars as Widow Cliquot in a lavishly produced but rather stilted biopic about the early 19th century Champagne innovator. And Louise Brealey brings an engaging edge to the offbeat Welsh drama Chuck Chuck Baby, which is wonderfully infused with pop tunes. I also saw two shows live on-stage: National Youth Dance Company's Wall at Sadler's Wells and Jack Tucker's Comedy Standup Hour at Soho Theatre.

Things are still quieter than usual coming week, but I'll be watching Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine, Zachary Levi in Harold and the Purple Crayon, New Zealand drama Mysterious Ways, Swedish drama Paradise Is Burning, Mexican doc The Echo and Palestine doc No Other Land.