Critical week: The artistic process

As Britain begins to lock down again to weaken a second wave, I had one in-cinema screening this week, and also one live (outdoor) theatre performance. Otherwise, my life continues to be online. There were two special press screenings on Netflix sponsored by the American Film Institute, with added Q&As after the films. Over the Moon (pictured) is an animated adventure with a Chinese setting, gorgeously designed and unusually imaginative. The Q&A featured director Glen Keane and actors Ken Jeong and Cathy Ang. The Boys in the Band is a remake based on the landmark 1968 play, a superbly observed black comedy set in the New York gay subculture with an excellent all-star cast, all of whom participated in an unusually raucous Q&A, including Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells and Matt Bomer.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Boys in the Band • The Glorias
Summer of 85 • Eternal Beauty
FULL REVIEWS >

This week's other big-name movie was Julie Taymor's insightful and bracingly original biopic The Glorias, starring Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander (and two others) as Gloria Steinem at two points in her life. Sally Hawkins stars in Eternal Beauty, an offbeat drama about life trauma that's cleverly written and directed by actor Craig Roberts. And my one real press screening was for the Irish drama Herself, which features a superb central performance by cowriter Clare Dunne as a single mother pressured from all sides.

There were two funny-creepy independent black comedies: Scare Me, in which the terrific Aya Cash (see the current season of The Boys) and actor-filmmaker Josh Ruben try to terrify each other, and Say Your Prayers, in which two hapless religious siblings botch a hit on an atheist. And there were also two docs: the insightful I Am Greta offers a remarkably detailed portrait of climate activist Greta Thunberg, while The Painter and the Thief beautifully chronicles the unusual relationship between an artist and the junkie who stole her paintings.

Films this coming week include Robert De Niro in The War With Grandpa, as well as Making Tracks, From the Vine, The Wanderings of Ivan and Song Lang. And virtual press screenings begin for the London Film Festival as well, so I already have several in the diary, including the opening film, Steve McQueen's Mangrove, plus Riz Ahmed in Mogul Mowgli, Evan Rachel Wood in Kajillionaire, the horror hit Relic, Honeymood, Siberia and I Am Samuel.

Critical Week: Bust a move

With the warm, sunny weather this past week, it wasn't easy to concentrate on movies, so I spent a bit of time each day outside getting some exercise. And at home I spent more time catching up on TV series (including, after pointlessly resisting it, all of Tiger King). Otherwise, my lockdown routine has been pretty much the same as ever: watch a movie, eat something, watch a TV show, eat something, watch another movie, and so forth. And today they announced at least another three weeks of this.

There were a handful of big movies this week. The Dave Bautista comedy My Spy (above) is a surprisingly engaging action romp, although the comedy is a lot more fun than the thriller side of things. Chris Hemsworth goes all manly in Extraction, a gritty kidnap-rescue action movie that's riveting and violent. And Sam Claflin is at the centre of the farcical goings on in Love Wedding Repeat, a silly and charming romantic comedy with a magical cheat in the plot.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Ema •  Martin Eden
A White, White Day
PERHAPS AVOID:
Abominable • Butt Boy
Behind You

The best I saw this week was the indie comedy Faith Based, which premiered at Santa Barbara Film Festival in February before seeing all of its other festival slots vanish. It's a knowing, affectionate look at both moviemaking and America's religious film industry. Great characters, a funny script and some fabulous cameos too (FULL REVIEW). Two other independent films were a little less impressive: Getaway is an inventive inversion on the woman in danger horror movie, as three women turn the tables on some murderous rednecks; and Abominable is a yeti horror movie with only about half a script and no funds for sets or actual actors - so bad it's rather funny.

Finally, I caught up with 17 short films spread across three collections, released by New Queer Visions between November and February: The Danish Boys, The Latin Boys and The Israeli Boys. All of them are serious short dramas exploring issues of identity and culture relating to the gay male experience. Refreshingly, while the films are a bit of a mixed bag, there isn't a dud in the bunch. And a few of them are mini-masterpieces (REVIEWS).

Coming up over the next week are the action comedy Why Don't You Just Die, the controversial dark drama Cuck, the indie crime thriller Ghost and horror movies 1BR and We Summon the Darkness, plus three more Netflix movies: Wagner Moura in Sergio, the animated comedy The Willoughbys and the documentary Circus of Books.