Critical Week: On an adventure.

I took a four-day trip to France this week to attend the Annecy Festival of Film Animation, and along with spending time with filmmakers and fellow journalists, I also managed to see five films. Writer-directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado enthusiastically offered a sneak screening of Forgotten Island, a ripping, gloriously animated adventure centred around friendship memories. And Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri were on hand to open the festival with the world premiere of Minions & Monsters. It's a joyous romp through early Hollywood, the best minions movie yet. I also saw Nobody, a gorgeously animated and superbly well-told adventure from China; The Violinist, a beautiful but unsatisfying personal drama set over half a century in Singapore; and Soul Shift from Germany, a riotously silly, bright-hued sci-fi comedy with a sharp point. (NB. Titles link to reviews; Forbidden Island is embargoed until closer to release.)

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Drunken Noodles
A Private Life
ALL REVIEWS >

Meanwhile in London, the 34th Raindance Film Festival is heading into its final weekend. I caught four films: Think of England is a cheeky wartime British comedy that morphs into a rather intense drama; from Iran, My Daughter's Hair is a dark and involving family melodrama; Pescador is a provocative, artistic road movie that plays with magical realism in Mexico; and The Troll is a brightly deadpan pastiche of influencer delusion. Raindance reviews are linked HERE >

Finally, I saw two films that open in cinemas this week. Milly Alcock is Supergirl in a followup to last year's Superman. Set in outer space, it's a very different film, enjoyable but derivative, with lots of big action-comedy set-pieces. And the Icelandic vampire thriller Thirst has a dry, camp sense of humour running through the queer, outrageously grisly nuttiness.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching a few more films at Raindance and catching up with others that I've missed. Oddly, there are no press screenings in the diary for my birthday week, but I do have a show titled -370°F at Sadler's Wells.

Critical Week: Leader of the pack

It's been a very busy week, but there have been few screenings. The one big one was a festive press screening for the second Despicable Me spin-off prequel Minions: The Rise of Gru. It's as delightfully silly as expected, and rather a lot more manic than the last movie. The splintered plot is somewhat frustrating, but the gags are quick and consistent.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
George Michael: Freedom Uncut
Elvis • Olga • Apples • Wildhood
ALL REVIEWS >

I also caught up with the Swiss drama Olga (which I'd missed on its UK release last month), about a Ukrainian gymnast facing identity issues. It's powerfully involving, inventive and eerily timely. There was also the Brazilian documentary Uyra: The Rising Forest, a gorgeous odyssey about artistic indigenous activists raising awareness of an environment under threat. And I'm also on the short film jury for London Indian Film Festival, so watched 10 seriously engaging shorts. Tomorrow I'll meet with the other jurors to decide a winner of the Satyajit Ray prize.

It'll be another rather offbeat week ahead, and films to watch include the Ukrainian drama Sniper: The White Raven, the anime adventure Pompo: The Cinephile and the short film collection Boys on Film 22: Love to Love You.

Critical Week: Back to black

Asaf Kapadia's documentary Amy provided an emotional experience for London critics this week, a beautifully made film recounting the wrenchingly sad story of local girl Amy Winehouse. It stood in stark contrast to the two other big releases of the week: the surprisingly loose and thoughtful sequel Magic Mike XXL, which combines silly striptease antics with an exploration of male friendship; and the formulaic Terminator Genisys, which attempts to reboot the sequel without any inventive writing or directing and only one solid performance (from Emilia Clarke). Although Arnie's deadpan humour livens things up.

I also caught up with last week's release Minions, the Despicable Me prequel that's surprisingly low-key and charming rather than the usual sharp-edged digitally slick action mayhem. And I watched the 10 shorts that Peccadillo has collected for Boys on Film 13: Trick & Treat - another terrific collection of mini-epics dealing with various aspects of sexuality.

Coming up this week: Saoirse Ronan and Domhnall Gleeson in Brooklyn, the doc-style horror film The Nightmare, the doc Misery Loves Comedy and a few more. Thankfully, with a heatwave in London, it's refreshing to take a break in an air-conditioned screening room!