On the Road: Use your head

I'm in Southern California for a couple of weeks, mainly to celebrate my mother's birthday, but also to visit with family and friends and hopefully get some nice weather this time of year. Although the rainy storminess hasn't started off very promisingly. I'm also going to completely miss this weekend's Baftas - the British Academy Awards - and will just have to read about the winners online. Meanwhile, on the flight over here I caught up with three films from last year that I'd missed...

Dumb Money
dir Craig Gillespie; with Paul Dano, Pete Davidson 23/US ***.
The story of the GameStop stock market mayhem is made thoroughly entertaining by lively direction from Craig Gillespie that concentrates on character quirks rather than the dull financial details. That said, some of these details begin to make sense as a group of amateur traders take on the big hedge funds. The terrific over-packed ensemble includes Paul Dano, Nick Offerman, Seth Rogen, America Ferrera, Pete Davidson, Sebastian Stan and Shailene Woodley. Some plot threads get lost along the way. But it's consistently entertaining and occasionally engaging too.

She Came to Me
dir-scr Rebecca Miller; with Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway 23/US ***
Writer-director Rebecca Miller creates an intricate, intelligent multistrand narrative using light and nicely offhanded performances and jagged interaction. But the plot never quite grabs hold, as it centres around a blocked opera composer (Peter Dinklage) and a scrappy tugboat pilot (Marisa Tomei) who becomes his muse, while his obsessive wife (Anne Hathaway) spirals. Subplots involve their teen son, his girlfriend, her parents and lots of tangled feelings, bad decisions and messy behaviour. It's all a bit corny, and aside from the general economic realities it's difficult to connect with a central theme. So even with the wonderfully nuanced acting, it ends up feeling cute and a bit simplistic.

Strays
dir Josh Greenbaum; voices Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx ***
The central joke here is that a sweet movie about cute dogs is bursting with profane dialog and outrageously adult jokes. That concept feels stale within minutes, but thankfully the script is loaded with genuinely hilarious humour aimed squarely at grown-up dog lovers. The plot is very simple, as an abandoned pup realises that his owner mistreated him, so vows revenge with a group of fellow strays. Wacky adventures ensue, often involving humping things. So if the general tone is belaboured as it tries desperately to push things rudely over the top, the furry characters win us over, ably voiced by a first-rate cast.

While I'm out here I'm planning to catch up with a few films that are in cinemas here but not yet out in the UK, like Drive-Away Dolls and Lisa Frankenstein, and I'm on the lookout for press screenings of Dune: Part Two and Kung Fu Panda 4. Otherwise, I'm enjoying time with family and friends and not thinking about movies.

On the Road: Where's the party

Another week of sunshine in Southern California, spending rather too much time in the car driving up and down the 5 from Orange County (where I'm staying with family) and Hollywood (where awards-consideration screenings take place). My main purpose for this trip is to see friends and family, so it's a bonus to be able to take them to screenings with me. The biggest movie this week, screened right on the Paramount lot, was Damien Chazelle's 1920s Hollywood epic Babylon. There's so much going on that it's understandably uneven, but it's also dazzling, with a series of breathtaking set-pieces that need to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

Steven Spielberg is also exploring the nature of filmmaking in The Fabelmans, his autobiographical film about growing up in a messy family while developing a love of storytelling. There's a lot to love about this film. Florence Pugh gives yet another powerfully involving performance in The Wonder, a provocative period drama set in Ireland and directed with style by Sebastian Lelio. The often outrageously over-the-top adaptation Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical is a lot of fun, with some darkly pointed themes and a scene-stealing Emma Thompson. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is a little more difficult to love, even if its stop-motion animation is wonderfully designed. As artful and passionate as it is, the dark story and dull songs are tricky to engage with. And Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi's Holy Spider is far more than a scary thriller based on the true story of a serial killer in Iran's holiest city; it's also a knowing, almost terrifyingly timely look at power dynamics in a nation where women are sidelined.

Films coming up this week include Noah Baumbach's White Noise, the spinoff-sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Disney's Strange World and the doc All That Breathes. I'm also travelling back to London next week - annoyingly missing the Avatar 2 screenings both in London (on Sunday) and Los Angeles (on Tuesday). I'll catch up with it later...

On the road: Drop the mask

For my first trip out of Britain in two years, I returned to Southern California to visit family and friends. This is where I was when the first lockdown hit in March 2020, so it's been a bit surreal to be here as restrictions are finally lifting - and it's great to catch up with friends and family after such a long gap. Plus of course the fish tacos. 

I've caught up with just one movie here: Matt Reeves' new take on The Batman, starring Robert Pattison as the Dark Knight. It's a big film, bold in its emphasis on deeper emotions rather than the superficial action. But it's also overwhelmed by a cliched visual stylisation that stubbornly refuses to switch on a light or add much in the way of colour. Fans will love the earnestly whispered dialog, while serious filmgoers will roll their eyes.

On Saturday, I visited the Academy Museum with two university friends (an Instagram image set is below). We had a lot of fun with the extensive collection of clips and artefacts, but wondered why the curators so resolutely ignored the history of Hollywood and the studios. There are a variety of spaces that explore aspects of cinematic craft, and a fun space featuring clips and memorabilia from Oscar ceremonies, while sections dedicated to specific films and filmmakers felt more than a little random. I quite liked the Spike Lee exhibit, which centres around his influences. An enormous room dedicated to Almodóvar features lots of gorgeous posters and unidentified clips and nothing else. And it's fun to stand under the massive Moount Rushmore backdrop from North by Northwest. Other highlights include a large area exploring The Wizard of Oz, a collection of iconic movie creatures and a colourful special exhibition tracing the career of Hayao Miyazaki. Oddly, the small room celebrating Citizen Kane is the same size as the room celebrating Real Women Have Curves. And then there was the giftshop, which is completely lacking in souvenirs that feature Oscar, which seems like a seriously missed opportunity (the one Oscar photo op costs an extra $15). Another inexplicable error is omitting a snack bar on the vast open-air observation deck looking out over West Los Angeles. And lighting the exhibits in a way that makes selfies almost impossible. Let's hope they bring someone on board to make this museum something more properly amazing.

Because of The Batman, there are very few other films being released here these days. The only one in cinemas I'd kind of like to see is a guilty pleasure - the Foo Fighters' Studio 666 - but of course no one here wants to see that with me! So I'll probably wait until returning to London to see something new - plus the offerings at BFI Flare, a festival starting on March 16th.

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LFF: Flights of fancy

The 62nd London Film Festival continues on without me, as I wish I was there! But I saw several films before I flew off to the other side of the earth, and here are some highlights from days 4 to 6, including some gorgeous animation, a fumbled multi-strand all-star drama, an auspicious directing debut, a Cannes best actor winner, and a couple of extraordinary docs...

Mirai
dir-scr Mamoru Hosoda; voices Moka Kamishiraishi, Haru Kuroki 18/Jpn ****
Japanese anime features are terrific at combining flights of fantasy with deeper, resonant themes. And this movie is a beautiful portrait of family connections, exploring the nature of relationships between spouses, siblings, parents and children through the generations. The story is relatively simple, and yet its flourishes are packed with provocative meaning for both adults and kids in the audience.

Life Itself
dir-scr Dan Fogelman; with Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde 18/US **
Writer-director Dan Fogelman has gone from his hit TV series This Is Us to a film with an even more anodyne title. His approach here is similar, leaping around various timelines to tell the story of a family over three generations. And this time he ambitiously weaves in a second family and continent. But even the persistent voiceover can't connect the leaps in logic or overwrought sentimentality... FULL REVIEW >

Wildlife
dir Paul Dano; with Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal 18/US ****
Beautifully shot to emphasise the unspoken feelings of the three central characters, this film gets deep under the skin with its dark emotions and intense drama. It's a terrific directing debut for Paul Dano, cutting through the noise to quietly expose the inner lives of the characters from the perspective of a singularly sensitive teen boy... FULL REVIEW >

Dogman
dir Matteo Garrone; with Marcello Fonte, Edoardo Pesce 18/It ****
There's a gritty, gloomy tone to this Italian drama, but filmmaker Matteo Garrone cleverly undermines the overt sadness using a steady stream of wry humour. With themes that echo through classic Italian cinema (strong parallels with Fellini's Nights of Cabiria), the film skilfully and artfully explores the idea of hope even amid darkly violent situations. The characters are vivid, as are the emotions... FULL REVIEW >

Bad Reputation
dir Kevin Kerslake; with Joan Jett, Kenny Laguna 18/US ****
With a driving rock 'n' roll vibe, this documentary traces the career of one of our most iconic rockers: Joan Jett. As a take-no-prisoners woman, her story seriously inspiring, even if she would balk at the thought. This is a hugely entertaining film, recounting her life with humour and texture, revealing her as a dedicated musician who has never forgotten who she is... FULL REVIEW >

Won't You Be My Neighbor?
dir Morgan Neville; with Fred Rogers, Joanne Rogers 18/US ****.
Warm and engaging, this documentary lets the iconic TV personality Fred Rogers narrate his own story using extensive archival interviews and a wide range of clips. Director Morgan Neville skilfully crafts a film that's both fast-paced and deeply personal, exploring exactly what made Rogers such a one-off. It also vividly captures his message that the essentials in life are invisible to the eye... FULL REVIEW >

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.

Critical Week: Say your prayers

As another heatwave settles in over London, I had two film-free days this week. First was the baseball event in Hyde Park (see the post below), and the other was the Critics' Circle annual summer party on the gorgeous roof terrace at Picturehouse Central. As for films, I really enjoyed Sofia Coppola's remake of The Beguiled, but then I love her loose filmmaking style and the way she lets her actors bring out unexpected depths of character. At the other end of the cinematic spectrum, the franchise continues with Cars 3, the fifth (don't forget the Planes movies) in the series about a world populated by vehicles but not humans. The set-up is just as odd, but the movie has an earthy simplicity to it.

Much more offbeat, Bong Joon Ho's Okja is a witty, involving action adventure with very dark themes about globalisation and sharp performances from Tilda Swinton (times two), Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano. Also worth a look is It Comes at Night, an inventively complex horror movie starring Joel Edgerton. It's set after some kind of undefined apocalypse but heavily reminiscent of the world today. Hickok is a cheesy Western tracing the story of the iconic historical figure, nicely played by a beefy Luke Hemsworth. And Do You Take This Man is another thoughtful drama starring Anthony Rapp, set around a pre-wedding dinner at which the usual personal issues are brought to the surface.

This coming week, screenings include Terrence Malick's Song to Song, Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke in Maudie, the Aussie sequel A Few Less Men, the horror thriller Killing Ground and the fact-based drama Dark Night.

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: Watch the skies...

Secret Cinema presents Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back hit London this past week, and looks set to be a box office presence until it winds up at the end of September. And rightly so: staged with a mind-boggling level of inventiveness, this is a staggering experience that lets the audience live the final sequences of A New Hope (travelling to Mos Eisley, the rebel base and the Death Star itself) and then watch The Empire Strikes Back as part of an epic six-hour evening. MY REPORT >

Other films screened to UK press this week include the gorgeously creative Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, starring John Cusack, Paul Dano and the great Elizabeth Banks; the corny farce She's Funny That Way, starring Imogen Poots, Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston; and the arty, mannered character study Manglehorn, starring Al Pacino. Further afield there were three uneven but promising low-budget dramas: American posh boys in Those People, a working class British guy in SoftLad, and three Sao Paulo teens in Boys in Brazil.

There were also a few more documentaries. Going Clear is a staggeringly strong doc about Scientology, taking only one side (no one else would talk) but still offering a rare glimpse into the workings of the mysterious religion. The Yes Men Are Revolting furthers the activists' cause with more lively pranks, this time calling attention to the urgency of climate change. And the still ahead-of-its-time experimental 1929 Soviet classic Man With a Movie Camera gets a digital restoration that reminds everyone why it's consistently named one of the 10 best films ever made.

This coming week I only have a couple of screenings before I take a week off, including the WW2 thriller 13 Minutes, the Brazilian drama The Second Mother, the British indie thriller 51 Degrees North and the supernatural gay thriller Angels With Tethered Wings.