On the Road: What's for dinner

I'm visiting family and friends in California for a couple of weeks, enjoying the bright sunshine and rather outrageous food. Yes, I went straight to In-n-Out from the airport, and have also had fish tacos most days. Plus an amazing brisket taco at the notorious Heritage Barbecue in San Juan Capistrano and a gorgeous short rib taco at personal favourite Amor y Tacos in Cerritos. And a church potluck. But it's not all about food. I finally saw a film in a cinema, plus catching up with a couple on the plane, and two more besides...

Killers of the Flower Moon
dir Martin Scorsese; with Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro 23/US *****
Martin Scorsese recounts a true story with a remarkable sense of scale, keeping events intimate while exploring the much larger issues and ramifications. It's a harrowing lesson in American history, highlighting the systemic injustice that peppers pretty much everything that happened once the Europeans claimed North America as their own. Expertly made on every level, the film never boils over, maintaining a riveting simmer of menace so urgent that we don't want to blink.

Moving On
dir-scr Paul Weitz; with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin 23/US ***. 

There's a surprising edge to this comedy-drama reuniting Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in more serious roles than usual. As they confront an awful event from their distant past, they also grapple with where they are now. It's nostalgic, but never overplayed, and writer-director Paul Weitz keeps the film truthful and smart, with occasional hints of a breezy caper that seems a bit out of place with dark theme at the story's centre. Thankfully, strong writing and characterisations add more nuance than expected.  

Full Time [À Plein Temps]
dir-scr Eric Gravel; with Laure Calamy, Anne Suarez 21/Fr ****
With a riveting central performance by Laure Calamy and a nonstop running pace, this French drama has an electric kick in its exploration of the hectic pace of modern life. Writer-director Eric Gravel keeps the audience right with this single mother as she navigates a series of personal and professional issues amid a calamitous national strike. It's sometimes exhausting to watch her flail against these obstacles, but her tenacity is inspiring, and the film includes sharp humour and honest emotion.

Before leaving London, I caught up with William Oldroyd's period-style melodrama Eileen with Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway, which is finely produced but oddly underwritten. And I also watched Luc Besson's spy thriller Anna, which I'd somehow missed when it was released. Although it's such a familiar plot, even with its plot fragmented into a choppy mess, that it can't help but cause deja vu. Fun turns from Helen Mirren (as a gruff Russkie), Luke Evans and Cillian Murphy.

This coming week, I'll catch up with a few films at AFI Fest in Hollywood, namely Kate Winslet in Lee, Pater Sarsgaard in Memory, JA Bayona's Society of the Snow, and the festival season favourites Evil Does Not Exist  and Io, Capitano.

London Film Fest: Sleep with the fishes

And that's a wrap on my 22nd year covering the BFI London Film Festival. I haven't counted up the number of films I've seen this year, but it will still only be a fraction of the hundreds of movies that are programmed here. The closing night saw the international premiere of Martin Scorsese's new movie, and I actually walked right past Robert De Niro and Al Pacino at one point this afternoon, which was pretty cool. Then I saw all three of them, plus Harvey Keitel and Anna Paquin on the red carpet outside the Odeon this evening, mercifully under clear skies. I'm sure they're having a great party tonight. Here are my final few comments on movies, plus the festival award winners and my favourite films of the festival...

The Irishman 
dir Martin Scorsese; with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino 19/US *****
A thumping cinematic epic, this film deserves to be seen on the biggest screen available as it recounts a staggering true story that stretches over half a century. In addition to the expert writing, direction and acting, this is a pungent look at how American culture and politics have become so thoroughly enmeshed with criminality. This isn't shouted loudly, but it's impossible to miss as the story centres on a singular personal perspective.

The Lodge
dir Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala; with Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell 19/UK ***
There's a staggeringly bleak sensibility to this gothic horror movie. Without being particularly scary, it's a seriously unnerving freak-out simply because it gets under the skin. Austrian filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala throw all kinds of nasty things at the screen that add both intrigue and unease. It's skilfully shot and edited, with a terrific sense of the settings and a steady stream of inventive visual and thematic touches.

On a Magical Night [Chambre 212]
dir-scr Christophe Honore; with Chiara Mastroianni, Vincent Lacoste 19/Fr ****
French filmmaker Christophe Honore playfully uses magic (complete with Barry Manilow) to explore the nature of a long-term relationship. The story unfolds like A Christmas Carol played out as a French farce, with a collision of past, present and future that offers a jolt of insight into the way we grow and change (or not) within a relationship. It's surprisingly engaging, anchored by a wonderfully deadpan performance from Chiara Mastroianni.

Happy Birthday [Fête de Famille]
dir-scr Cedric Kahn; with Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Bercot 19/Fr ***
With a real-life mixture of comedy and drama, French filmmaker Cedric Kahn explores a variety of intriguing family dynamics. It's not an each film to connect with, because just as it pulls the audience in with some warm humour it veers off somewhere rather dark and disturbing. The superb actors keep up with these mood shifts, although they can be rather jarring for the audience, especially as characters take turns being the bad guy.

LFF Awards

• Best Film: MONOS
• Documentary: WHITE RIOT
• First Feature: Mati Diop (ATLANTICS)

Rich’s Best of the Fest

1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
2. The Irishman
3. I Lost My Body
4. The Report
5. Monsoon
6. Marriage Story
7. By the Grace of God
8. Bacurau
9. Luce
10. Monos

ALSO: The Kingmaker, Moffie, Invisible Life, Tremors, Martin Eden, Ema, Earthquake Bird, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, And Then We Danced, The Painted Bird.


Links:
Shadows LONDON FILM FEST homepage (full reviews will be linked here) 
Official LONDON FILM FEST site 

Critical Week: King of the world

The final week of press screenings for 2013 brought us Martin Scorsese's barnstorming new comedy-drama The Wolf of Wall Street, which we saw just in time to vote (it got 4 nominations from the London Critics: film, actor, director and screenplay). It's a fiendishly entertaining, full-on romp. And it carries a strong punch. It seems cruel to compare it with the other big press show: Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie, which uses state-of-the-art technical and scientific skills and then adds one of the most inane, trite dialog tracks imaginable. For very young kids only. 

Although it seems aimed at young kids, adults are likely to enjoy the French-German animated adventure Moon Man even more than the children. The sophisticated writing contrasts with simple but clever animation work. And there were also two docs: Penn and Teller explore the art world with Tim's Vermeer, the fascinating tale of an inventor who sets out to prove Vermeer's genius in an unexpected way. And How to Make Money Selling Drugs has garnered controversy for its sarcastic approach to America's disastrous war on drugs - but it's witty, telling and frighteningly important.

SHORTS ON TAP: This week I also participated as a juror for the second Shorts on Tap event, which this month was themed "Through Challenge and Change". We watched 11 short films, all introduced by their directors, who stuck around to answer questions. And we awarded our top 3 films to:

Beached by Graham Austin and Dave Walker: a witty romp set on a snowy beach, where a man and his dog find themselves in an unexpectedly twisty situation. It's especially well shot and played, with a terrific final shot. And it's even more impressive since it was filmed in one day.

Driftwood by James Webber: a gorgeously shot and edited story about a young swimmer who has a series of encounters that add to his stress levels in a variety of ways. The film expertly crosscuts between three scenes, building a sense of drama and suspense before turning in unexpected directions. Especially strong acting too.

I'm Christian Okoli by Cyrus Trafford: frankly this shouldn't work at all, as it's just one guy (Okoli) sitting on a stool on a stage telling a story. But he's a seriously great storyteller, and filmmaker Trafford keeps the camera prowling suggestively, adding impact to every element of Okoli's tale, which builds to an astonishingly strong final punch, literally and figuratively. It's very dark, but utterly unforgettable.

Honourable mention goes to Darren Bransford's Dust & Waltz, a beautifully made and skilfully brief short about a couple coping with a difficult situation, and Chris Lee and Paul Storrie's The Hedgehog, a surreal little exploration of a young boy and an older man, whose connection drifts from darkly whimsical to wrenchingly emotional. Shorts on Tap takes place monthly at Juno in Shoreditch.

Critical Week: Welcome to digital

London critics got a look at the documentary Side by Side this week, in which Keanu Reeves chats with a series of a-list directors and cinematographers about the shift from using film to digital cameras. It's fascinating for any audience - perhaps too academic for mainstream viewers and too simplistic for serious film fans. But the line-up of interviewees makes it unmissable.

Otherwise, we had a rather low-key start to the year, with screenings of the creepy indie horror movie Midnight Son, an uneven twist on the vampire genre, and the riveting, award-winning sushi chef doc Jiro Dreams of Sushi. There were also two low-budget American gay films: the smart, sharply written and played New York comedy Gayby, and the introspective, sensitive Mormon missionary drama The Falls. Both avoid cliches to deal with some big issues in inventive ways.

Tonight I'm catching up with Ryan Gosling's Gangster Squad, which opens later this week. We also have screenings of Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Last Stand, Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe in Broken City, the sleeper awards-season darling Compliance and, finally, a chance to see Monsters Inc in 3D.