Critical Week: A walk in the park

London's cinema community is gearing up for this Sunday's British Academy Film Awards, which will be hosted by Richard E Grant at the Royal Festival Hall with all the stars in attendance. And this year the Baftas will air some of the awards live (but only a handful). I'll watch it at home, but I'm attending a few parties over the weekend, which should be fun ... and rather glamorous. More about all that on Monday, after the dust settles.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Inspection • Framing Agnes
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
PERHAPS AVOID:
Devil's Peak
ALL REVIEWS >

Meanwhile, we're starting to see movies released early in the year, far from awards consideration. Sharper is a thriller about con artists, so it's no surprise that it's packed with twists, turns and revelations. All of that is fun, even if it's a bit predictable, but it helps that the film stars Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan and (above) Briana Middleton and Justice Smith. Also sticking to the formula is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the latest slice of Marvel mayhem. The action largely swamps Paul Rudd's superb sense of humour, but the film does have its moments, and Jonathan Majors is seriously good as the villainous Kang. And then there's Devil's Peak, a backwoods thriller that sinks completely under the weight of its cliches, even as strong actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Robin Wright do what they can.

A little further afield, 88 is a political thriller with a nicely complex plot, although the dialog is overstuffed with lectures. From Italy, Nostalgia is an involving drama about a man trying to return home even as his past warns him to leave. From Spain, 8 Years artfully mixes colourful energy with thoughtful emotion as a man ponders the good and bad in a broken relationship. Chase Joynt's astonishingly inventive doc Framing Agnes works on many levels to explore trans experiences and social justice. And Gaspar Noe has rearranged his shocking 2002 classic as Irreversible: Straight Cut, which becomes something very different chronologically.

In addition to British Academy Film Awards events this weekend, this coming week I'll see the nutty thriller Cocaine Bear, Michael Shannon in A Little White Lie, Kore-eda's drama Broker, the Argentine drama Wandering Heart and the climate activism thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline.

Critical Week: Is it raining?

Happy New Year from now-outside-the-EU London! Days have been blurring together over as I watch movies, go for walks and eat, and not a lot else. I'm still catching up on awards-season titles as voting deadlines approach. It's a tricky business, deciding which ones are worth the time and which can perhaps be skipped. As a critic, I hate not to give everyone a fair shake, but I do have to set priorities. Among the ones I watched were the quirky Irish romantic-comedy Wild Mountain Thyme, with Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan and Christopher Walken. Odd casting aside, it's warm and funny. Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman are on top form in the sharply well-made drama The Father, based on a stage play. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
We Can Be Heroes • DNA
Pieces of a Woman 
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Blackout 
ALL REVIEWS >

There was also Michelle Pfeiffer, terrific alongside the always-watchable Lucas Hedges in the black comedy French Exit. An all-star cast including Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher and Judi Dench star in an entertaining if not particularly needed remake of Noel Coward's nutty comedy Blythe Spirit. Jack O'Connell and Olivia Cooke star in the swirling, sensual, sad romance Little Fish. And Kelly Reichardt's First Cow is one of the best bromances in recent memory, following two men in 19th century Oregon.

Much less demanding, Robert Rodriguez's colourful kids' superhero movie We Can Be Heroes is an energetic guilty pleasure. And then there was this eclectic trio: Savage is a gritty, violent story of gang life in New Zealand; DNA is a heartfelt French film looking into a woman's Algerian roots; and from Russia, The Blackout: Invasion Earth is an ambitious alien-attack epic that's messy but still spectacular. Finally, I caught up with two awards-worthy docs: an inventive exploration of grief and mortality in Dick Johnson Is Dead and a powerful look at disability rights history in Crip Camp.

I'm still catching up on contenders over the next week, as both the London and Online critics groups are casting nominations ballots next week. And I also need to watch a few films that are coming out over the next few weeks. It's a mixed bag that I haven't quite defined yet. 

Critical Week: Long live the king

In in recovery mode following the London Film Festival, but that also means catching up with movies that are coming to normal cinemas. One of these is Zombieland: Double Tap, screened quite late to the critics just a few days before it opens. It's a lot of fun - a guilty pleasure sequel that reteams the original cast and adds some hilarious new characters. By contrast, the sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil has superb actors (both returning and new ones) but has such a terrible script that it would be unwatchable without Disney's amazing visual effects extravaganza.

Ken Loach is on fine ranting form with Sorry We Missed You, taking on zero-contract jobs with a terrific fresh-faced British cast. The Danish drama Sons of Denmark is a harrowing trawl into the life of a cop infiltrating Muslim fanatics and, more terrifyingly, nationalist racists. And the sunshiny drama The Third explores the life of a three-way relationship in Palm Springs, maintaining a balance of light romance and very dark drama. And there was also this doc, which I'd missed at LFF...

Mystify: Michael Hutchence
dir-scr Richard Lowenstein
with Michael Hutchence, Bono, Kylie Minogue, Helena Christensen, Tina Hutchence, Rhett Hutchence, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, Tim Farriss, Garry Gary Beers, Kirk Pengilly, Chris Thomas, Martha Troup, Gary Grant, Chris Bailey, Michele Bennett
release Aus Jun.19 sff, UK 18.Oct.19
19/Australia 1h42 ***.

With a superb collection of archival footage, photos and audio recordings, filmmaker Richard Lowenstein presents a chronological narrative documentary about the INXS frontman. It's not a particularly flashy film, but it's elevated by the fact that it's narrated by Michael Hutchence himself using cleverly edited interview clips. And as it continues, it provides never-heard information that should end the rumours that have swirled since his death at age 37 in 1997.

After a childhood spent in Australia and Hong Kong, Hutchence set up INXS with the three Farriss brothers, Beers and Pengilly in 1977, and over the next decade rose to international fame. He is remembered by family and friends as a gentle soul, an artist who became another person in the spotlight. And being a celebrity, his rock god behaviour and romances with the likes of Kylie Minogue and Helena Christensen were top fodder for the paparazzi. What no one knows is that in 1992 he suffered a terrible brain injury that changed his personality, leaving him struggling to maintain his identity. Suddenly prone to outbursts of anger, his romance with Paula Yates was passionate and tempestuous.

There's a lot of amazing home movie footage woven in here, revealing both the youthful Hutchence and his own perspective behind-the-scenes on tour, on holidays, at family events and so on. This is so intimate that by the end it's easy to feel like the public image everyone knew was just a mask. In other words, the film demystifies him. It's beautifully assembled by Lowenstein, who lets Hutchence and his friends, family and colleagues recount his story in remarkable detail. And despite his final years of drug abuse and public misbehaviour, Hutchence emerges as a remarkably likeable man who never got the care he needed after his injury. So his suicide takes on a whole new meaning, and becomes even more tragic.

15.Oct.19

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Coming up this next week are screenings of the James Cameron-produced Terminator: Dark Fate, Margot Robbie and Charlize Theron in Bombshell, Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins in The Two Popes, Ewan McGregor in Doctor Sleep, a new animated The Addams Family, the British drama Connect, the Ukrainian rom-com Just Sex Nothing Personal, and the Brazilian comedy-drama Cousins.

Critical Week: Just act natural

It's been another hot week in London, with a heatwave arriving just in time for the weekend. Again. Thankfully, screening rooms are nicely cooled. Films I caught up with this week include the action comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me, a genuinely hilarious romp anchored by Mila Kunis and the riotous Kate McKinnon. With its UK release delayed by the World Cup, Ant-Man and the Wasp was finally screened, and it's a lot of fun. Although it's nothing we didn't expect. And one to watch is the Japanese anime Mirai, a gorgeous, family-friendly story that's bound to cross boundaries.

Off the beaten path, we had the Portuguese arthouse drama The Forest of the Lost Souls, a cleverly twisty story about mortality that shifts into a slasher horror. From Italy, Sicilian Ghost Story is a sumptuously inventive take on a true story, told through the eyes of two pre-teens whose sweet romance is interrupted by a mafia kidnapping. The micro-budget American drama Brotherly Love bravely tackles the issue of homosexuality through the eyes of a young man training for the priesthood. And The Eyes of Orson Welles is a treat for movie fans, a love letter from British archivist Mark Cousins to one of the last century's most iconic filmmakers.

Coming up this next week, screenings include Jason Statham vs a giant shark in The Meg, Spike Lee's acclaimed BlacKkKlansman, Michael Jai White in the thriller Making a Killing, the British animation Sgt Stubby, the British canal-boat drama Tides, the Icelandic comedy Under the Tree, and the Elvis/America doc The King.