Critical Week: Aye aye

Now that the key film festivals have taken place, the movie landscape shifts into awards-season mode. I've actually been working on the London Critics' Circle Film Awards since June, but everything kicked up a gear this week, as I've sent our voting roster to studios and for-your-consideration screenings are starting to appear in the calendar. Meanwhile, London Film Festival is revving its gears, and several of these films are already screening two weeks before the festival even starts. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
It Lives Inside
Accused • R.M.N.
PERHAPS AVOID:
Expend4bles
ALL REVIEWS >

As for films I've seen this week, there's the reunion of the fabulous Glenda Jackson and Michael Caine in The Great Escaper, based on a true British story. It's sentimental but also beautifully played by its expert cast. And then there was Expend4bles, nearly a decade after the third movie. But the less starry cast can't explain why the script is so undercooked or the direction so sloppy.

More fun was the breezy crime comedy The Kill Room, starring Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson and Joe Manganiello as the art world meets the mob. Accused is a ripping British thriller starring Chaniel Kular as a guy the internet decides is a terrorist, which is something from all of our nightmares. Rhys Darby stars in the goofy time-travel comedy Relax I'm From the Future, which is charming and enjoyably messy. From Northern Ireland, Ballywalter is a comedy with a dry, emotional heart as two unmoored people find a connection. And I also saw the harrowing World War II Poland-set stage play The White Factory at Marylebone Theatre (review up soon).

Films this coming week include the sci-fi epic The Creator, the animated adventure Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, the comedies The Plus One and The Re-Education of Molly Singer, British runway-kids drama I Am Urban and the Hong Kong police drama Where the Wind Blows, plus live events with the Kyiv City Ballet's Tribute to Peace and a street performance called Code of Justice.

Critical Week: Let's get weird

After two straight months of film festivals, I made the decision to sit out the 30th Raindance Film Fest, which is underway in London this week. It's always packed with great screenings, unsung films often with filmmaker Q&As. But I've needed some mental health space. I also had to prepare for the annual Critics' Circle Services to the Arts award today, which this year went to Emma Thompson. As chair of the Film Section, I sat next to her for lunch and then delivered a speech about her career before she replied with a fabulous speech of her own about the nature of criticism and its impact on her life. There were about 75 members of the Circle in attendance from across all six sections - film, theatre, dance, music, books and art. A superb afternoon.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Causeway • Living
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Missing • Utama • Neptune Frost
PERHAPS AVOID:
Dear Zoe
ALL REVIEWS >

Movie-wise, the surprising highlight was the pastiche biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe as the king of parody songs. It's a riotously hilarious film, and the screening was accompanied by a lively launch party for Roku in the UK. Other films included the violent and entertaining action drama Medieval, starring Ben Foster, Michael Caine and Sophie Lowe; the superbly unsettling urban horror drama Nanny, with Anna Diop as a Senegalese woman in New York; the remarkable Sadie Sink in the melodramatic and rather slushy drama Dear Zoe; the latest from Cornish filmmaker Mark Jenkin, the folkloric freak-out Enys Men; and a new inventively nutty mind-bender from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the paranormal adventure Something in the Dirt.

Movies to watch this next week include the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek in Sam & Kate, Romain Duris in Final Cut, Latin American horror in Blood-Red Ox, the Australian romance Expired and the surreal comedy Homebody.

Raindance: Get up and go

The 29th Raindance Film Festival heads into its first weekend with a packed programme of independent movies. There's a strong festival vibe at the House of Raindance hub at Charing Cross, with nightly gatherings for filmmakers and press and industry delegates. And the programme of offbeat films always includes some real gems if you look for them. Here are some from the first couple of days, starting with the opening night film...

Best Sellers
dir Lina Roessler; with Michael Caine, Aubrey Plaza 20/Can ***
A snappy comedy centred on a generation gap, this movie is brisk enough to hold the interest, layering bigger ideas under a silly situation. Director Lina Roessler tells the story with a jaunty sensibility that plays on character eccentricities and narrative gimmicks. Little about the plot is unpredictable, but the tension between the characters touches a few nerves. It's also a gentle celebration of the power of literature... FULL REVIEW >

Hating Peter Tatchell
dir-scr Christopher Amos; with Peter Tatchell, Ian McKellen 21/Aus ****
Quick-paced and packed with terrific footage, this documentary traces the life and work of someone who's been called the most disliked man in Britain. Australian-born Peter Tatchell has unapologetically pursued justice on human rights issues, using civil disobedience to protest against wars, oppressive regimes and inequality based on race, gender and sexuality. This is a riveting, intimate, remarkably balanced film that carries a series of urgent kicks... FULL REVIEW >

The Man With the Answers
dir-scr Stelios Kammitsis; with Vasilis Magouliotis, Anton Weil 21/Gr ****
With an understated storytelling style, writer-director Stelios Kammitsis takes the audience on a road trip that meanders engagingly while exploring an unexpected connection between two young men. With its gently loping pace and warm comical touches, film is beautifully shot in lovely locations, sharply capturing the characters' personalities and physicality. And it has a lot to say about the freedom that comes from being honest with yourself and others... FULL REVIEW >

Father of Flies
dir-scr Ben Charles Edwards; with Keaton Tetlow, Page Ruth 21/US ***
Building a queasy sense of unease with disjointed imagery, writer-director Ben Charles Edwards further augments this horror film with cheap filmmaking tricks using music to create jump scares. While the tone is effectively nasty, and there are quite a few superbly chilling moments along the way, the film as a whole feels like a somewhat thin variation on the solid freak-out concept of the wicked stepmother.

Beans
dir Tracey Deer; with Kiawentiio, Rainbow Dickerson 20/Can ****
Recounting an involving story that's set during a 78-day land rights stand-off in 1990 Canada, this involving film skilfully mixes dramatic and documentary elements. Seen through the eyes of an alert child, the story has an earthy resonance that has strong echoes in current conflicts on a range of issues. In addition, writer-director Tracey Deer  infuses the film with autobiographical elements that add insight and unexpected emotions.

Full reviews of festival films will be linked at Shadows' RAINDANCE HOMEPAGE 
For full festival information, visit RAINDANCE FILM FEST 

Critical Week: The holiday's over

The new James Bond movie was already delayed by six months when it became one of the first casualties of the pandemic way back in March 2020. So finally getting to see it was a momentous occasion, with press screenings held alongside the London world premiere (we didn't get the stars, but we had martini-flavoured popcorn). And it was worth the wait, because No Time to Die is a big, beefy, complex finale to Daniel Craig's five 007 films.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Getting Away With Murder(s)
No Time to Die
Freshman Year • The Carnival
ALL REVIEWS >

Other films paled in comparison. Best Sellers is a mildly amusing literary comedy with Michael Caine and Aubrey Plaza. Falling for Figaro is a silly opera comedy with Danielle Macdonald and Joanna Lumley, but there's more going under the surface. And then there was American Night, a lurid Italian made Tarantino-wannabe thriller that has some style but never gels. Much better were two astute docs: David Wilkinson's Getting Away With Murder(s) takes a fresh approach to seeking justice for those who carried out the Holocaust, while Marco Berger provocatively explores masculinity in The Carnival. I also saw a preview screening of a beautifully delicate British drama that I can't say anything about - it's not out until next year.

London Film Festival screenings this week included the bonkers but strongly pointed Berlin winner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, the sharply astute Belgian drama Playground, the stylish British horror Shepherd, and the gorgeously animated Japanese drama Belle.

This coming week, there are still more London Film Festival press screenings ahead of the opening night next Wednesday, including the Palme d'Or winner Titane and the opening night film The Harder They Fall. I'll also be watching Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch, the musical Dear Evan Hansen and the doc Pier Kids.

Critical Week: In at the deep end

Passing the 100-day mark in the London lockdown, this week also included my birthday, so I took it a little easier as far as screenings were concerned. There was also continually shifting ground relating to the reopening of UK cinemas. Most are now waiting another month, and won't open until August, because both the cinemas and the distributors need as much capacity for seating as possible in order to pay the bills. Press screenings are much less likely, because these are usually tiny rooms with very few seats, so it's looking like online viewing links will be the only option for us for awhile. I miss going to the movies for a communal experience. But even film festivals are bypassing press screenings, moving everything to streaming. So this may become a permanent change, but I hope not.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
A White, White Day
Four Kids and It • Cut Off
PERHAPS AVOID:
The F**k-It List
FULL REVIEWS >

As for the films I watched this past week: The F**k-It List is a well-acted teen comedy-drama (Eli Brown, above, is particularly good), but it's full of badly contradictory messages that sound great but are actually very dodgy. Will Ferrell's passion project Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga really should be more sharp-edged than this. But as an homage to the annual competition, it has some iconic moments of its own, and a great soundtrack. And Four Kids and It is a lively family adventure with some quirky comedy that nicely subverts any sentimentality. It's not terribly complex, but is enjoyable while it lasts.

Further afield, Cut Off is a strikingly well made thriller from Germany with a superbly complicated plot and the always terrific Moritz Bleibtreu. Midnight Kiss is a strongly written slasher comedy about a group of friends on holiday in Palm Springs over New Year when a killer strikes. Black Magic for White Boys is a close-to-the-knuckle freeform comedy with some provocative racial overtones. And for my birthday I revisited a favourite from 1987, that gloriously snarky fairy tale for adults The Princess Bride. Bliss.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Charlize Theron in The Old Guard, Garrett Hedlund in Burden, Tobias Menzies in Carmilla, the romcom Desperados, the thriller Parallax, the comedy Saint Frances, the Japanese musical We Are Little Zombies and the doc Mucho Mucho Amor.

Critical Week: A family portrait

I'm missing being in Venice this year for the festival, but it's been a busy week for screenings in London. This week we've caught up with the Sundance hit Wildlife, Paul Dano's riveting, moving directing debut starring Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal as a couple coming apart in 1960 Montana. It's powerfully told from the perspective of a teen boy (Ed Oxenbould), as is Eli Roth's offbeat horror movie The House With a Clock in its Walls. Its main stars are Jack Black and Cate Blanchett as magical neighbours who take in a teen boy (Owen Vaccaro) with scary/comical results.

The most fun at the movies this week was the screening of US box office hit Crazy Rich Asians, a fairly standard rom-com plot packed with massively entertaining characters. The all-star true heist story King of Thieves features Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent and Tom Courtenay, and is more fascinating than thrilling. The all-star adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull features Annette Bening, Saoirse Ronan and Elisabeth Moss, and is involving but perhaps over-ambitious. And Jeremy Irons has a great time chomping on scenery alongside Jack Huston in the engaging comedy-drama road movie An Actor Prepares.

And there were two less-starry offerings: Five Fingers for Marseilles is a gorgeously shot modern-day Western from South Africa about childhood friends facing off over the future of their struggling hometown. It's seriously powerful. And the Raindance documentary I Hate New York is the eye-opening profile of four trans icons who have changed the fabric of the city they love (yes, the title is ironic).

This coming week I'll be distracted from the goings-on in Venice and Toronto by Mark Wahlberg in Mile 22, Bella Thorne in Assassination Nation, Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky, Omari Hardwick in A Boy A Girl A Dream, Blaxploitation remake Superfly, the mystery thriller Lost Child, the British drama Sodom, the Palestinian drama Wajib, the Guatemalan drama José and the immigration doc Bisbee '17.

Requisite Blog Photo: Who's up for a heist?

LFF: Challenge the system on Day 4

At one point today, between screenings at the 61st BFI London Film Festival, I walked through a very crowded Leicester Square and spotted Billie Jean King signing autographs for fans before the gala screening of Battle of the Sexes. Sometimes it's fun to see how this festival changes the landscape of the city. Otherwise it was another day of press screenings for me. Need to watch some terrible television tonight to cleanse the pallet I think. Here are more highlights...

Battle of the Sexes
dir Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris; with Emma Stone, Steve Carell 17/US ****
Emma Stone and Steve Carroll are simply terrific in this dramatisation of the events leading up to the eponymous epic showdown between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973. Much more than a re-enactment of the match, this is a biopic exploring what drives someone at this level of sport and fame. And it's assembled with a steady stream of knowing wit that keeps the audience engaged... FULL REVIEW >

Ingrid Goes West
dir Matt Spicer; with Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen 17/US ***.
This black comedy pulls very few punches as it follows a social media stalker into her latest obsession. With a fiendishly witty script and a committed lead performance from Aubrey Plaza, director Matt Spicer creates a jaggedly hilarious tone that gets very nasty indeed. Although it dips a little too far into one contrived plot point, the film is both entertaining and a bit freaky... FULL REVIEW >

Dark River
dir-scr Clio Barnard; with Ruth Wilson, Mark Stanley 17/UK ****
This is another moody Yorkshire drama from British filmmaker Clio Barnard, and it's also one more beautifully devastating gem. Gorgeously shot and edited, and featuring raw performances from the actors, the film has an almost primal quality to it that never lets the audience relax. There may be the odd plot point (it's inspired by Rose Tremain's novel Tresspass), but the power exists in the connections between the characters and the land. Watching it is darkly moving.

120 Beats Per Minute [120 Battements par Minute]
dir Robin Campillo; with Nahuel Perez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois 17/Fr ****.
There's a striking realism to this epic drama about Aids activists in early 1990s Paris. Filmmaker Robin Campillo sometimes seems too ambitious for his own good, indulging in the intense debates between protesters, but the film's core is a tender love story that's powerfully moving. And it highlights the struggle these men and women went through to gain attention for their cause, saving millions of lives in the process... FULL REVIEW >

Redoubtable [Le Redoutable]
dir-scr Michel Hazanavicius; with Louis Garrel, Stacy Martin 17/Fr ***
Michel Hazanavicius gets a little too clever for his own good with this biopic about Jean-Luc Godard's decade-long relationship with second wife Anne Wiazemsky. It's smart and playful, packed with hilariously inventive touches both in the dialog and visuals that will especially please Godard fans. And it's brightly played by the cast. But its characters are enigmatic and belligerent, wannabe revolutionaries who can't escape their own neuroses.

My Generation
dir David Batty; with Michael Caine, Paul McCartney 17/UK ***.
A groovy trip through swinging 1960s London, this colourful documentary explores the seismic shift in British society as working class artists teamed up to break the rules and become global stars in music, film, art and fashion. Narrated by Michael Caine, its full of enjoyable personal anecdotes, terrific songs and lots of clips edited together into a swirling concoction. It may feel rather gimmicky, but it's packed with entertaining surprises... FULL REVIEW >

Venezia74: Speak your mind on Day 6

I finally made it across the lagoon in the warm sunshine from the Lido to Venice today. (It took me this long last year as well!) After the two morning films, I jumped on the vaporetto, and then spent the afternoon roaming around one of my favourite places on earth, visiting a couple of museums (Damien Hirst's fabulous Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable at Palazzo Grassi, and the glories of the Guggenheim Collection) and of course eating gelato. Then back over to Lido for two more movies at the 74th Venice Film Festival, so a rather full day...

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
dir-scr Martin McDonagh; with Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson 17/US *****
Writer-director Martin McDonaugh is on blistering form with this fiendishly clever personal drama, which arrives masquerading as a funny, violent police thriller. With take-no-prisoners performances from the entire cast, particularly a storming Frances McDormand, the film tackles our angry world head-on with a surprisingly heartfelt plea for compassion. And it tackles the riveting story as well as a series of pungent themes with remarkable honesty.

The Third Murder
dir-scr Hirokazu Kore-eda; with Masaharu Fukuyama, Koji Yakusho 17/Jpn ****.
Expertly orchestrated by master filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, this is on the surface a police procedural thriller. Except that it's actually a detailed exploration of a group of intertwined characters who may or may not be telling the truth. Which is kind of the point for what turns out to be a provocative look at the nature of justice in a world full of imperfect people. It's also the kind of movie that demands close attention from the audience.

A Family [Una Famiglia]
dir Sebastiano Riso; with Micaela Ramazzotti, Patrick Bruel 17/It 1h37 **
This may look like a gritty Italian drama that addresses a dark corner of Roman society, but nothing about it feels very believable. Despite some strong acting by the lead actors, the characters are impossible to sympathise with simply because their overpowering self-interest is so contrived. There are some intriguing comments about male-female dynamics and co-dependence, but any astute observations seem to emerge almost by accident.

My Generation
dir David Batty; with Michael Caine, Paul McCartney 17/UK 1h25 ***.
A groovy trip through swinging 1960s London, this colourful documentary explores the seismic shift in British society as working class artists teamed up to break the rules and become global stars in music, acting, art and fashion. Narrated by Michael Caine, its full of enjoyable personal anecdotes, terrific songs and lots of clips edited together into a swirling concoction. It may feel rather gimmicky, but it's packed with entertaining surprises.

Tomorrow we have the world premiere one of the most anticipated films of the festival: Darren Aronofsky's Mother! There's also Jim & Andy, about Jim Carrey and Andy Kaufman, and Loving Pablo, with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.

Critical Week: Fly away

It's been another eclectic collection of screenings this week for London-based critics. My Life as a Courgette is the wonderful, resonant Oscar-nominated French animated drama. Going in Style is a fluffy comical remake starring Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin and Ann-Margret. The Sense of an Ending is a thoughtful, enjoyable British drama with Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter and Michelle Dockery.

And then there was the far too sunshiny and simplistic Christian parable The Shack with Sam Worthington and Octavia Spencer; the far too gloomy but provocative post-tragedy drama Aftermath with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Scoot McNairy; the nihilistic and point-free murder-fest of The Belko Experiment; the gripping, nasty kidnapped-tourist thriller Berlin Syndrome with Teresa Palmer; and the awkward, goofy British Muslim rom-com Finding Fatimah.

This coming week we have The Fate of the Furious, A Dog's Purpose, The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki, Slack Bay, Suntan and the doc Whitney: Can I Be Me.

LFF 10: See the world

The gang from Youth lined up on the red carpet last night at the London Film Festival: Paul Dano, Harvey Keitel, Paloma Faith, Rachel Weisz, Michael Caine and director Paolo Sorrentino. I had a slightly slower day today - just two films and a night off at the theatre! Here are a few more highlights...

Dheepan
dir Jacques Audiard; with Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan 15/Fr ***
With a powerfully topical subject, this drama both grapples with big issues and gives in to some oddly slanted politics that seem to convey a rather lopsided message. It's strikingly well made, with a solid cast and a sometimes startling realism. But filmmaker Jacques Audiard seems to get caught up in both the violence and the unrealistic dreams of refugees.

Taxi Tehran 
dir Jafar Panahi; with Jafar Panahi, Hana, Omid 15/Irn *****
Banned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi continues to make sharply clever films that manage to just fit within the rules of his sentence (this is his third). Once again cleverly exploring the nature of filmmaking itself, this film also offers a strikingly earthy, funny exploration of Iranian culture. And human nature.

Gold Coast 
dir Daniel Dencik; with Jakob Oftebro, Danica Curcic 15/Den **.
Beautiful landscapes and an artful, almost experimental approach make the most of this rather pointed drama about colonial Europeans in Africa. Packed with big ideas about how humans bend the laws of nature at their peril, the film is ambitious but also self-important and morally simplistic. And the way the story is told eliminates any opportunity for either narrative kick or emotional resonance.

Chemsex
dir William Fairman, Max Gogarty; with David Stuart, Matt Spike 15/UK ****
An unblinking exploration of one of London's more disturbing drug scenes, this documentary plays on both fascination and distaste for sexual activities that go against the flow. It sometimes feels sensationalised, veering perilously close to Reefer Madness territory, but the issue is real. And what it has to say about both addiction and sexuality is hugely important.

Screen Talk:
Todd Haynes

The filmmaker sat down with festival director Clare Stewart to talk about his work in front of an audience of 450 gripped cineastes. The conversation was extremely literate, as Haynes went into his thought processes, methods and experiences while making Superstar, Poison, Safe, Velvet Goldmine, Far From Heaven, I'm Not There, Mildred Pearce and Carol. He discussed running themes (illness, isolation, societal demands) and recurring actresses - he clearly adores both Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett and offered intriguing insights into the different ways they work. 

LFF 9: Don't be shy

Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett were the stars of last night's red carpet premiere of Carol, and Blanchett will be out again on Saturday for the premiere of Truth and to be honoured with the BFI Fellowship at this year's London Film Festival. Tonight's red carpet stars include Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz and Paul Dano for Paolo Sorrentino's Youth, and Agyness Deyn, Peter Mullan and Kevin Guthrie for Terence Davies' Sunset Song. Here are a more highlights...

Youth
dir Paolo Sorrentino; with Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel 15/Italy ****
Gorgeously shot in a spectacular setting and edited with cheeky energy, this atmospheric film has a rather freeform plot exploring age and mortality from unexpected angles. But the characters are so witty and offbeat that they can't help but hold the attention, and writer-director Paolo Sorrentino plays engagingly with artistic ambition and romantic passion to keep the film utterly riveting.

Sunset Song 
dir Terence Davies, with Agyness Deyn, Peter Mullan 15/UK ****
Adapted from Lewis Grassic Gibbon's classic 1932 novel, this is a wrenchingly beautiful look at life in rural Scotland, crafted with real artistry by Terence Davies. The film has an unusually period tone, keeping everything bracingly realistic while observing events from a darkly personal perspective.

Closet Monster 
dir Stephen Dunn; with Connor Jessup, Aaron Abrams 15/Can ***.
Filmmaker Stephen Dunn takes a strikingly introspective look into the life of a young boy who feels like his life is spiralling out of control. Beautifully shot and edited, the film mixes artfully stylised flights of fancy with earthy themes that cut to the heart of big issues like bullying and self-loathing. But more than that, this is a thoughtful exploration of someone learning to accept his sexuality.

Ratter
dir Branden Kramer; with Ashley Benson, Matt McGorry 15/US **
Yet another gimmicky found-footage style movie, this feels more like a polemic about the dangers of webcams than a thriller with a cogent story. While it's slick and unnerving, filmmaker Branden Kramer seems so intrigued by his idea that he completely forgets to establish proper characters or situations. It looks cool and has some solid freak-outs, but never seems to have a point.

Critical Week: Metal-on-metal

Having opted to take a holiday the last week of June, I missed key press screenings of two July blockbuster sequels. But I caught up with them this week. Transformers: Age of Extinction is yet another loud and incoherent robot fighting extravaganza from Michael Bay - just as ludicrous as the previous films while wasting an all-new cast including Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer and acclaimed rising star Jack Reynor, plus this episode's requisite scantily clad female Nicola Peltz. Fortunately, I cleansed the memory of that movie from my system with How to Train Your Dragon 2, a strong film in its own right with a startlingly complex script, unusually detailed animation and the most thrilling movie action sequences we've seen all year.

Also this week, I caught up with Philip Seymour Hoffman's intriguing but relatively thin Philadelphia drama God's Pocket; Michael Caine in the engaging but somewhat lightweight French drama Mr Morgan's Last Love; the rather too-repressed but sharply well-made period drama A Promise, starring Rebecca Hall and Alan Rickman; the moving and visceral American indie Hide Your Smiling Faces; the extremely well-observed Danish mystery thriller Keeper of Lost Causes; and the blackly comical Spanish zombie-soccer thriller Goal of the Dead, which actually has its moments. There were also two artful but deeply pretentious epics: from Mexico, Julian Hernandez's I Am Happiness on Earth is a sensual exploration of physical connections. And with Norte, the End of History, gifted Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz takes an unnecessary four hours to tell a darkly involving story about crime and unjust punishment. I also managed to revisit Bob Fosse's classic 1972 film version of Cabaret, starring a particularly fabulous Oscar-winning Liza Minnelli.

This coming week, we have the Daniel Radcliffe rom-com What If, the acclaimed British feel-good drama Pride, the British football drama Believe, the Britain's Got Talent-inspired Pudsey the Dog: The Movie, and the Aussie skateboarding movie All This Mayhem, among other things.