Critical Week: Eye of the tiger

It's a busy but short week here in London, and I've been running around catching the usual eclectic variety of movies at press screenings. I've been a fan of Henry Golding since his excellent work in Crazy Rich Asians and Monsoon, so I was willing to set Snake Eye aside and look forward to Assassin Club. Alas, this one's a generic, poorly written thriller. At least he's good in the first act, before things get truly nutty. Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult are gleefully over-the-top from the start of Renfield, and they're the best thing about the movie, which mashes-up horror, comedy, romance and drama in ways we've seen before. But at least it's good fun.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Suzume • Everything Went Fine
Private Desert • Cairo Conspiracy
PERHAPS AVOID:
Assassin Club
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Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton are of course excellent in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a very British road movie about a man who decides to walk the length of England. Thankfully, it avoids sentimentality for something darker and more resonant. Teyana Taylor is a force of nature in A Thousand and One, an unusually realistic New York drama that traces a mother and son over a decade that's as tumultuous for the city as it is for them. And the Norwegian pitch-black comedy Sick of Myself, which lampoons how everyone is vying for attention, is so bone-dry that it makes us feel uncomfortable in all the right ways.

This next week I'll be watching Eva Green in The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan, Jim Gaffigan in Linoleum, the Polynesian epic Pacification and the Filipino drama I Love You Beksman, which opens the Queer East Film Fest (reviews here soon).

Critical Week: Smiles everybody

Screenings continue to be a mixed bag of current releases and awards contenders. Higher profile films this week include Javier Bardem in the Spanish film The Good Boss, a blackly comical satire about the tension between a boss and his employees. And the true World War II adventure Operation Mincemeat has a first-rate cast featuring Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilton, Jason Isaacs and Johnny Flynn.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Flee • C'mon C'mon
The Hand of God
Boxing Day • Final Account
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The main reason why I saw so few films this week: I spend eight hours watching The Beatles: Get Back, Peter Jackson's hugely engaging documentary made from footage unseen for 50 years. It's essential for fans. Also a bit off the beaten path were the thoughtful and provocative Canadian drama I Am Syd Stone, addressing issues of sexuality in show business; Andrea Arnold's experiential doc Cow, following the life of a farm animal in a way that's riveting; the World War II doc Final Account, interviewing Germans who were children when the Nazis came to power; and the shorts collection The French Boys features five very strong dramas.

Coming up this next week, I will be watching Steven Spielberg's remake of the musical West Side Story, Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley, Lea Seydoux in France, the horror thriller Agnes, the drama Famous, the pantomime on film Cinderella and the shorts collection The French Boys 2.

Critical Week: Turn the tables

The women ruled at this week's press screenings. Jennifer Lopez (with Constance Wu, above) chomps merrily on the scenery all the way through Hustlers, a far-too-energetic retelling of a true story about strippers who con Wall Street clients out of their cash. Renee Zellweger is nothing short of astonishing in the terrific biopic Judy, following a few months near the end of the icon's life with passion and emotional power. And Downton Abbey brings those fabulous grand dames to the big screen. The men are there too, but who cares when Maggie Smith is shooting daggers at Penelope Wilton?

Brad Pitt travels into space, and into his own repressed daddy issues, in the muted and rather odd Ad Astra, a gorgeous sci-fi epic that simply fails to resonate. Peter Sarsgaard leads the charge as a quirky-nerdy house tuner in The Sound of Silence, a nutty little drama that's more intriguing than involving. From Colombia, Monos is a ripping dramatic thriller about a group of teens working for some sort of paramilitary organisation, isolated in the mountains and then jungle. It looks amazing, and packs a punch. And there were two documentaries: the harrowing Sea of Shadows skilfully traces the horrors inflicted by humans on the diverse sea life in the Gulf of California, while Mother is a sensitive, powerfully moving look at a carer who works with European Alzheimer's patients in Thailand.

This coming week, there are no press screenings for Sylvester Stallone's franchise closer Rambo: Last Blood, so we'll be at the cinemas with everyone else to see this swan song. But we do have screenings lined up for the comedy-horror Ready or Not, Awkwafina in the comedy-drama The Farewell, Dev Patel in the true drama Hotel Mumbai, the claymation sequel A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Celine Sciamma's acclaimed Portrait of a Lady on Fire and the British drama Real. Advance press screenings also start next week for the BFI London Film Festival (which runs 2-13 Oct).

Critical Weeks: Stop playing games

There were a couple of big releases screened for the London press this week. The latest Blumhouse horror movie Truth or Dare (above) is a contrived collection of cliches with a preposterous plot. It's slickly made, but only watchable because of its bright, young cast. Dwayne Johnson kicks into action in Rampage, a videogame adaptation that's a proper guilty pleasure: stupid but funny, and full of mindless mayhem.

The longest title of the year award goes to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, based on the novel about a WWII book club. It's lovely and very British, easy to just go along with even if it feels rather over-sweet. The skilfully made documentary McQueen traces the designer's career with plenty of style as well as a strong emotional kick. And from Belgium, Cas is a 50-minute mini-feature that's getting a release due to its finely produced, complex story of a couple who brings a stranger into their relationship.

Coming up this week, we have Amy Schumer in I Feel Pretty, the canine comedy Show Dogs, the drama Every Day, the French comedy Jeune Femme, the 1970s doc Studio 54 and the Tour de France doc Time Trial.

Critical Week: A big buddy

London critics saw two big effects-based movies this week featuring young kids interacting with huge digital costars. Steven Spielberg brings his usual sense of wonder to The BFG, based on the Roald Dahl classic. The excellent cast features Mark Rylance, newcomer Ruby Barnhill and Penelope Wilton, and the story is involving and lovely, although it does feel very animated. Surprisingly, Pete's Dragon feels rather more tactile and grounded, with its loveable giant green furry puppy dog-like dragon. It's just as wondrous, with fine acting from Bryce Dallas Howard, Oakes Fegley and Robert Redford.

Off the beaten path, we had screenings of Things to Come, a clever, thoughtful French drama starring Isabelle Huppert; the moving documentary Jim: The James Foley Story, about the American journalist kidnapped and executed by Islamic State; and the artful portmanteau movie Confessions, exploring issues of love and sex through rather actorly monologs.

This coming week I have rescheduled screenings for both Jason Bourne and Hell or High Water, plus that other Chris Pine movie Star Trek Beyond, Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic and the new film version of the British classic Swallows and Amazons. Then I'm off on a short holiday for five days, hurrah! My first proper break since last November.