LFF: Queen of hearts

It's only day two but I'm already feeling a bit worn out by the 65th London Film Festival, and I'm blaming it on these super-early screenings. While most of the year morning movies start around 10.30am, during the festival it's 8am, which is perhaps a bit early for something violent or sexual, or indeed violently sexual. But we're trained professionals, so we persevere. Alas, limited capacity means that even arriving 45 minutes early was no guarantee of getting in, and I spent more time waiting in queues today than actually seeing films. And I was actually on the red carpet tonight with Kristen Stewart, briefly. Here are highlights from inside the cinemas...

Spencer
dir Pablo Larrain; with Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall 21/Ger ***.
Taking an inventive, ambitious approach to a familiar story, writer Steven Knight and director Pablo Larrain elicit resonant emotions over a few days in the life of Princess Diana. Calling this "a fable from a true tragedy", the film uses surreal touches to get deep under the surface of events depicted. This adds humour, melodrama and even horror, while pulling us down into the rabbit hole.

Red Rocket
dir Sean Baker; with Simon Rex, Bree Elrod 21/US ***.
Pushing his loose, improvisational filmmaking style in a new direction, filmmaker Sean Baker combines comedy with a hint of a thriller for this engagingly unhinged exploration of masculinity and ambition. It helps that the lead character is such a likeable loser, because as he ricochets from one potential crisis to another, we find it eerily easy to identify with him. And the setting becomes another character in the story.

Bergman Island
dir-scr Mia Hansen-Love; with Vicky Krieps, Tim Roth 21/Swe ***.
A textured look at the nature of relationships that's played as a warm homage to all things Ingmar Bergman, this multi-layered drama isn't quite as grim as you'd expect it to be. Writer-directer tinges the story's knowingly sad angles with glimpses of hope and even happiness. This is a provocative depiction of the challenge of balancing a connection with deeper, lingering feelings. And it's gorgeously shot in striking locations.

Cop Secret [Leynilögga]
dir Hannes Thor Halldorsson; with Audunn Blondal, Egill Einarsson 21/Ice ****
Wild and loose, this punchy 1970s-style police thriller from Iceland starts with a bang and never lets up. Hilariously over the top, the film gleefully deploys the tough-guy genre cliches. The film is entertaining both for its gritty crime action and the way it makes the usual homoerotic subtext in a buddy movie much more central to the narrative. But can the nation's toughest cop admit that he's gay?

Full reviews of festival films will be posted when possible and linked at Shadows' LFF HOMEPAGE  
For full information, visit BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 

London Film Fest: Take the prize

It's been another long, busy day at the 63rd BFI London Film Festival, going from film screening to epic-length queue to film screening, and repeat. I'm kind of losing the will to live at this point, as the films begin to blur a bit as actors pop up in multiple movies (Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, even Udo Kier). But at least all three films today were superb - easily four stars (two are below). And because we're all a bit punchy, there's a lot of camaraderie while standing in line. So I'm sure we'll all cheer each other on through the next three days of crack-of-dawn screenings to the finish line on Sunday. Here are Thursday highlights...

Le Mans '66 [aka Ford v Ferrari]
dir James Mangold; with Matt Damon, Christian Bale 19/US ***
There are plenty of exhilarating racing sequences in this revved-up drama about Ford's quest to best Ferrari at the iconic 24-hour French race. Director James Mangold captures the energy of the mid-60s period, and the lively personalities of the men involved in this story. But the script is badly out of balance, creating a corny movie villain simply to add some tension, while ignoring Ferrari completely.

Official Secrets
dir Gavin Hood; with Keira Knightley, Matt Smith 19/UK ****
Based on a true story, this riveting political thriller carries both a strong thematic punch and some powerful emotional elements. It's a strikingly well-made film that moves at a gripping pace to uncover a horrific violation of trust by the US and UK governments. It's also an urgent story that needs to be told now, and filmmaker Gavin Hood makes sure it feels darkly relevant at every step.

Earthquake Bird
dir-scr Wash Westmoreland; with Alicia Vikander, Riley Keough 19/Jpn ****
There's a wonderfully disorienting tone to this dramatic thriller, which gives the audience the perspective of a woman who may be losing her mind. Is someone trying to get her, or is she the killer? With Hitchcockian overtones, writer-director Wash Westmoreland crafts a mystery that snakes around in ways that are intriguing, sexy and also rather scary. And it feels even more involving because of its offbeat setting and characters.

Judy & Punch
dir-scr Mirrah Foulkes; with Mia Wasikowska, Damon Herriman 18/Aus ***
There's an ambitious artistry behind this raucous Australian-made film about jolly olde Englande. Taking on the tradition of those iconic battling puppets, filmmaker Mirrah Foulkes flips the legend on its head to make a colourful, blackly comical revenge thriller. The plot meanders all over the place, and the pacing is rather uneven, but it carries a fierce a kick of righteous anger about some big issues.

Pink Wall
dir-scr Tom Cullen; with Tatiana Maslany, Jay Duplass 19/UK ****
For his feature debut, actor Tom Cullen takes a remarkably ambitious approach, letting actors improvise within a clearly devised structure. The result is a film that feels almost unnervingly authentic, with characters and dialog that tell a specific, structured story while also capturing loosely disconnected rhythms of real life. Told out of sequence, it's the impressionistic story of a six-year relationship between Americans in Britain. It's warm, funny, sexy and moving.

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

Critical Week: Cold shoulder

It was Liam Neeson's turn this week to bear the full brunt of self-righteous internet rage, as he told a too-candid story from his distant past, which was then wrenched horribly out of context. He wasn't racist back then; he was just stupid. He said so before telling the story in ill-chosen words as an explanation of how he could identify with the irrational urge for revenge, which he had to play in his new film Cold Pursuit. The film was screened for the press this week, an odd remake made by the original Norwegian director. It's watchable, but lacks the nuance that made the original, 2014's In Order of Disappearance, so memorable.

Asghar Farhadi got Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Ricardo Darin to headline his Spanish drama Everybody Knows, which is a bit overwrought but still finely observes human behaviour in extraordinary situations. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World wraps up the trilogy with an involving, often exhilarating adventure fans of the franchise will love. And Christopher Abbot and Mia Wasikowska star in the bonkers horror Piercing, which seems more interested in effects than creating a coherent story. But it's properly freaky.

A little further afield, Christophe Honore's personal French drama Sorry Angel is involving and moving, and bracingly honest. A pair of documentaries are notable for their willingness to embrace conflicting viewpoints: The Sunday Sessions follows a young man as he tries to eliminate his homosexuality, while The Gospel of Eureka profiles a town where a Christian pageant and a lively LGBTQ community coexist and thrive together. I also saw Desire, a collection of six shorts by Thai photographer Ohm Phanphiroj: half are evocative narrative films, while the other three are bracingly honest docs about his work and connections.

Coming up this week, we have Florence Pugh and Dwayne Johnson in Fighting With My Family, Willem Dafoe's Venice-winning/Oscar-nominated turn in At Eternity's Gate, Andrew Garfield in Under the Silver Lake, Dev Patel in The Wedding Guest and Carlos Acosta in Yuli.

Critical Week: Your biggest fan

I caught up with one of my most-anticipated films of the year this week, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Not only am I an unapologetic Julianne Moore fan, but films by David Cronenberg have been thrilling and tormenting me since I started writing about movies (starting with Scanners and Videodrome). Maps to the Stars challenges audiences with a glamorous and gruesome trawl through Hollywood's inbred underbelly. Cannes Best Actress Moore is of course amazing, as is another favourite of mine, Olivia Williams. There are also offbeat, clever performances from Mia Wasikowska (above), Robert Pattinson, Evan Bird and John Cusack.

It was a busy week, as I got back up to speed after five days off. Big movies included Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua's slick but formulaic The Equalizer, loosely based on the 1980s TV series; the rather off-putting British posh-university drama The Riot Club, which has a terrific rising-star cast including Sam Claflin, Max Irons and Douglas Booth; and Claflin in rom-com mode opposite Lily Collins in Love, Rosie.

There were also two foreign films: the Brazilian drama The Way He Looks, which won the Teddy at Berlin, is an utterly charming coming-of-age movie expanded from the award-winning short I Don't Want to Go Back Alone; and Human Capital is a strikingly bold Italian film that kind of bungles its central theme but thrills with its twisty plot. And there were four docs: Filmed in Supermarionation is the lively and witty story of Gerry Anderson (best known for Thunderbirds); Born to Fly features the goosebump-inducing work of Elizabeth Streb's acrobatic dance/circus group; I'm a Porn Star gets up close and very personal in the gay adult-movie business; and Dick: The Documentary is pretty much what it says on the tin: a group of men photographed from the neck down as they talk about their, ahem, masculinity.

This coming week we have Woody Allen's Magic in the Moonlight with Colin Firth and Emma Stone; Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children with Adam Sandler and Emma Thompson; The Giver with Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges; the Pittsburgh comedy Not Cool; the Aussie horror movie The Babadook; the multiple-personality thriller The Scribbler; and the British painter documentary Hockney. We're also cranking up for the 58th London Film Festival, which runs 8-19 October - press screenings start next week.

LFF 8: Hello ladies

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was on hand at the 57th London Film Festival this week to present his writing-directing debut Don Jon, looking every bit the dude on the red carpet that his movie requires. There's definitely a sense that the festival is winding down, as film journalists are starting to wake up from their zombie-like states with the thought that they may get to sleep in a few days. Here are some more highlights...

Don Jon 
dir Joseph Gordon-Levitt; with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson 13/US **** 
Gordon-Levitt catches us off-guard with this remarkably assured writing-directing debut, which also gives him a chance to go against type as an actor. It's a warm and raucous comedy that wins us over as it reveals the soft side of a dedicated hard-man... FULL REVIEW >

Kill Your Darlings 
dir John Krokidas; with Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan 13/US ***.
Based on a shocking true story about celebrities before they were famous, this dark drama is strikingly written, directed and acted to recount a series of unnerving events while evoking a mood that would later grow into a movement. It's a clever approach to a complex group of artists, even if it feels somewhat mannered... FULL REVIEW >

Parkland
dir Peter Landesman with Zac Efron, James Badge Dale 13/US **.
With a documentary sense of detail, this film recounts JFK's assassination from a variety of previously unseen angles. It's skilfully made but lacks any sense of focus that might draw us in. There isn't a single well-developed character, and it oddly doesn't even centre on the hospital that gives the film its name... FULL REVIEW >

Blue Is the Warmest Colour 
dir Abdellatif Kechiche; with Adele Exarchopoulos, Lea Seydoux 13/Fr ****. 
Food, art and sex are the three elements of life in this evocative French drama, which takes a generous three hours to tell its story. This is an almost unnervingly honest film that holds us in rapt attention, shaking us even if we have nothing in common with the characters. Because it's about something much deeper than what's on screen... FULL REVIEW >

Tracks
dir John Curran; with Mia Wasikowska, Adam Driver 13/Aus *** 
As an account of an incredible journey, this film can't help but hold our interest, especially when the central figure is so beautifully played. But director Curran opts for glossy warmth rather than expansive nature, which leaves it feeling more like a movie and less like real life. [review coming soon]

Gloria
dir Sebastian Lelio; with Paulina Garcia, Sergio Hernandez 13/Chl **** 
This Chilean comedy-drama may have a rather meandering narrative, but it's packed with memorable scenes that bring its characters vividly to life. It's also a rare film that centres on a 50-something woman trying to make the most of life on her own terms... FULL REVIEW >

LFF 5: Ready for labour

Kate Winslet and her rather large baby bump braved the chilly red carpet tonight in Leicester Square for the UK premiere of her film Labor Day at the 57th London Film Festival. She was joined by costar Josh Brolin and writer-director Jason Reitman. And yes, the city is crawling with cinema celebrities at the moment. In addition to the Labor Day junket, I also attended a small press conference today for The Family (not showing at LFF) with Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Dianna Agron. But then, everyone seems to be in London at the moment. More festival highlights...

Labor Day 
dir Jason Reitman; with Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin 13/US ***
While this drama starts off well, with another remarkably layered performance from Winslet and a growing sense of uneasy tension, it slowly transforms itself into a Nicholas Sparks-style sappy romance along the way. To say this is frustrating is an understatement, and by the time we make it to a series of deeply schmalzy epilogues, we wonder what happened to the Reitman of Up in the Air or Young Adult... [review coming soon]

Like Father, Like Son 
dir Hirokazu Kore-eda; with Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono 13/Jpn ****. 
Japanese filmmaker Kore-eda is an expert at telling sentimental stories in a way that's genuinely involving but never remotely sappy. By catching tiny details in characters who are cleverly underplayed by the cast, he draws us into the events in an uncanny way that's utterly disarming. And wonderful... FULL REVIEW >

Ida
dir Pawel Pawlikowski; with Agata Trzebuchowska, Agata Kulesza 13/Pol **** 
With pristine black and white photography and beautifully textured performances, this simple story overflows with big ideas about history and faith. And since the two central characters are so beautifully written and played, they are able to engage us on layers that go much deeper than we expect... [review coming soon]

The Double
dir Richard Ayoade; with Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska 13/UK *** 
Dostoevsky's novella is adapted into a Gilliamesque black comedy that's packed with visual invention but never quite grabs hold narratively. Still, the cast is so good that we willingly go along with them on a surreal odyssey about a young man struggling to make sense of his own identity. And the surprise-packed cast is a lot of fun... [review coming soon]

The Selfish Giant
dir-scr Clio Barnard; with Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas 13/UK **** 
After the brilliantly inventive drama-doc The Arbor, it's unsurprising to find that Barnard takes an original approach to a kids' story. This film was inspired by the Oscar Wilde tale, and the connections are askance at best. But there's such an intense blast of realism that it's utterly gripping, right to the shattering conclusion... FULL REVIEW >

Critical Week: Nicole's on fire

London critics had a double bill of Nicole Kidman this week, as she vamped her way through both Lee Daniels' The Paperboy and Park Chan-wook's Stoker. Both are the kind of movie you talk about - full of style and passion, colourful characters and controversial situations. And costars on fine form too: Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack in one, Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode in the other.

The other big films included the funny-cruel British anti-romcom I Give It a Year, starring Rafe Spall, Rose Byrne, Stephen Merchant, Minnie Driver and everyone else they could rope into it. An even more outrageous cast populates the harshly unfunny Movie 43, which wasn't shown to the press (I bought a ticket Friday morning with all the other critics) and which is being sold on its Oscar-calibre cast alone. More likeable were the low-budget British films Papadopoulos & Sons and Do Elephants Pray, both of which yearn for simpler times by undermining a workaholic businessman. Neither is a classic, but the former is at least likeable.

We also had a trilogy of terror in Mama, a cleverly creepy horror starring Jessica Chastain; Chained, some effectively grisly nastiness from Jennifer Lynch; and Crawl, a twisted pitch-black comedy from Australia. More artful freakouts were had in the bracingly well shot and edited Danish ship-board thriller A Hijacking and the darkly artful Korean animated bullying drama The King of Pigs.

This coming week we have Ben Affleck in Terence Malick's To the Wonder, Al Pacino and Christopher Walken in Stand Up Guys, Nicholas Hoult in the zombie romance Warm Bodies, the undersea animation Sammy's Great Escape, the 3D crazy-stunt movie Nitro Circus and the Turkish drama Home (Yurt).