Critical Week: She's behind you!

This past week has been a flurry of awards voting deadlines, watching both contender and holiday releases. Then after several critics' groups started announcing their year-end winners, the Golden Globe nominations came out on Monday, and awards season is now in high gear until Oscar night in March. Among the eclectic group of movies I watched this week, perhaps the most fun was had with The Housemaid, Paul Feig's latest female-led blackly comical thriller, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried. It's twisty, nasty and entertaining.

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And then there was Nia DaCosta's sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, picking up the story from Danny Boyle's movie last summer, starring Ralph Fiennes and Jack O'Connell. It's brutally nasty, with intriguingly thoughtful moments along the way. Rose Byrne gives a tour fe force performance in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, a staggeringly immersive drama abotu a woman grappling with motherhood. H Is for Hawk stars the excellent Claire Foy as a woman dealing with grief by raising a feisty goshawk. It's warm, earthy and very moving. From Japan, Kokuho is a lavish, powerfully involving epic about a boy determined to become a great kabuki artist. The scale is both enormous and vividly intimate. Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys play frazzled parents in Hallow Road, almost entirely set inside their car. The plot doesn't quite work, but it's riveting. I also finally caught up the wonderfully warm and funny comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island, a ridiculously likeable music-infused British movie starring Tim Key, Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan. And there were two live performances, The Fit Prince at King's Head Theatre and Boys in the Buff (ooh err!) at Golden Goose Theatre, all before flying out to see my family in California for the holidays. 

Coming up this next week, I don't really know what I'll be watching, as I'm spending time with my parents and family members. I'll no doubt see something on the flight! And at some point I do still need to watch The Plague with Joel Edgerton, Rebuilding with Josh O'Connor and, now that it has a Golden Globe nomination, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle.

Screen: February TV Roundup

I watched more TV than usual over the Christmas break, and then in January there was an onslaught of new material, while film screenings have been quiet. So here's an update on what I've been watching to kill time in between the movies...

Hawkeye
Due to my general exhaustion about Marvel-world, I was planning to skip this series. But the clips revealed a lively comical sensibility, so I've been sucked back in. And this is an enjoyable romp, with sparky turns from Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld as arrow-shooting heroes who bicker because the script insists that they must. The story is enjoyably convoluted and a bit out of control, packed with characters who are rather too sure of themselves based on flawed information. As Kate, Steinfeld's refusal to be the usual brooding hero is hugely refreshing. And the best surprise is the sizzling action-banter between Steinfeld and Florence Pugh's Yelena. Please give them their own movie. (Disney)

The Tourist
Jamie Dornan is terrific as a guy who wakes up in an Australian Outback hospital with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He makes a connection with Danielle Macdonald's rookie cop, while she intrepidly investigates his identity against all advice. Details about who he is and the trouble he's deeply into dribble out slowly over six episodes, maintaining a ripping sense of mystery while throwing in some heart-stopping action here and there. It's more violent than was strictly necessary, with one villain to many. But the variety of the baddies (from Olafur Darri Olafsson's man-beast to Alex Dimitriades' swaggering billionaire to Damon Herriman's wheezy cop) keeps things very lively. (BBC)

The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window 
Kristen Bell somehow maintains a straight face all the way through this thriller pastiche, which deploys every imaginable cliche of the mystery thriller genre with gusto. Although because those movies are essentially spoofs themselves (they never resemble anything like real life), this show really needed to go much further than this. Even the requisite steamy sex montage is oddly undercooked, as it were. Still, it's hilarious to watch Bell guzzle litre-sized glasses of wine as she gazes out her window, so emotionally wounded that no one believes she's witnessed a murder. As the whodunit takes some silly turns, more arch, over-the-top satire might have set this apart from the shows it's poking fun at. (Netflix)

A Very British Scandal
Claire Foy and Paul Bettany are terrific as the real-life Duke and Duchess of Argyll in this three-part drama about a 1963 court case that caused a seismic shift in Britain's tabloid coverage. There's a problem woven into the fact-based narrative, because it's impossible to end this story on a satisfying note. But the writers bravely refuse to embellish anything, so all of the events are deliberately left as hazy or undefined as history has recorded them, which is also slightly frustrating. Still, the entire cast is excellent, and the period is recreated with understated flair. It's also an eye-opening exploration of gender roles, centring on a woman who simply refused to be bound by the rules. (BBC)

Around the World in 80 Days
Lavishly produced on a remarkable scale, this grand adventure stars David Tennant and Ibrahim Koma as Phileas Fogg and Passepartout, with Leonie Benesch as a gender-swapped Fix, who's now a feisty journalist rather than a tenacious detective. Switching characters around isn't a problem, but the writers have essentially abandoned Jules Verne's novel completely, with big set pieces that feel contrived to add thrills at specific intervals. And the plot contrivances that have been inserted are surprisingly lazy and underdeveloped. Thankfully the actors are terrific, creating a nice sense of camaraderie between the bickering-but-loyal trio. And the landscapes are spectacular, augmented by above-average effects work. (BBC)

The Wheel of Time 
Clearly straining to be the new Game of Thrones, this over-serious epic about ancient lands and terrible wigs is bursting with convoluted mythology about the nature of fate (see the title) and how various people tap into power for good or evil, represented as white or black swirls, of course. The costumes designs are just as cliched, but at least the production is splashed with some bright colours to liven up the usual drab beige-greyness. Rosamund Pike produced the show, so it's surprising that she's wasted in an underdeveloped role (including two episodes in which she's unconscious). The rest of the cast has a fresh-faced intrigue that bodes well for a second series. Just give Pike more to do, please. (Amazon)

T H E Y ’ R E   B A C K !

And Just Like That: aka Sex and the City series 7 
This reunion show catches up with three of the central characters: Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis (Kim Cattrall's Samantha has moved to London). It works best when it's exploring how the characters have maintained their spark into their mid-50s, although packing so many momentous life events into these 10 episodes feels rather artificial. It also feels awkward as it tries to tick a series of trendy and politically correct boxes, while the darkly emotive sequences are rather soggy, as if concocted by writers to add depth on cue. That said, revisiting these characters is fun, and the lively and engaging new cast members add a fresh perspective. (HBO)

Dexter - New Blood: aka Dexter series 9
All these years later, we catch up with our favourite blood-spatter expert Dexter (Michael C Hall), who's now calling himself Jim and working in a weaponry shop somewhere very snowy. He's also being haunted the ghost of his snarky sister Debra (the great Jennifer Carpenter). Of course he's managed to fall in love the local police chief (Julia Jones). Then his now-teen son (Jack Alcott) turns up, triggering a series of momentous events that churn into a powerful finale. This has never been the most tightly scripted show, with its gaps in logic and continuity, but its characters have been so indelible that we hate to miss a single episode. And this limited series has clearly been created for the fans. (Showtime) 

A N O T H E R    S E A S O N

The Great: series 2 
Even more raucous than the first season, this historical romp continues to play loose with the facts while unpicking deeper truths about humanity. Everyone in the story is somewhat cartoonish, and the plots are bonkers, but that's the point, as present-day attitudes and dialog are overlaid on the 18th century Russian court. Now that Catherine (Elle Fanning) has seized control of the Russian Empire, her lovelorn husband Peter (Nicholas Hoult) languishes in house arrest. Although he can't be contained at all. The surrounding characters come into their own this season, orbiting hilariously around these bickering rulers. And then there's Gillian Anderson's riotous appearance as Catherine's mother. (Hulu)

The Witcher: series 2 
While this show still has some self-effacing wit, this season is far more serious than the lively, scruffy first set of episodes. This time it's much more about politics and power, as the characters jostle for position and engage in a lot of soapy melodrama that just seems silly because everyone maintains such a straight face. Which is even more astonishing since everyone is wearing an appalling wig. Thankfully, Henry Cavill knows how to rock a terrible weave, and his costars have plenty of tetchy energy as they circle each other. What makes this show so engaging is the fact that everyone is trying to find their place in this crazy world. But the writers need to have a lot more fun with it next time round. (Netflix)

Dickinson: series 3
The American Civil War is now raging, and the Dickinson family continues to battle among themselves, comically butting heads on all sides as poetry-minded Emily (Hailee Stanfield) tries to make sense of things in her askance, observant way. The narrative unfolds in a flurry of modern-day expressions mixed in with period detail in a way that's sometimes oddly jarring. But there's an important point being made here about the power of poetry to heal both a family and a society that are torn in half. And while the bigger issues may be rather overly pointed, and given rather a lot of artistic licence, the show does draw some well-deserved attention to the iconic poet and the challenges she faced. (Apple)

M O R E   T O   C O M E

Star Trek - Discovery: series 4a
Things get very dense very quickly this season, with yet another undefined "anomaly" causing catastrophe and confusion across the galaxy. The crew's various attempts to investigate this are rather tiresome, distracting from the much more intriguing interaction between them, which leaves their personal journeys to develop more slowly than usual. Sonequa Martin-Green is still a tremendous presence at the centre, complex and fascinating, and her connection with David Ajala's Book is at the show's heart. Also terrific are characters played by Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz and the excellent Blu del Barrio. But the departure of Mary Wiseman's Tilly feels like a mistake, as her fresh vibe is badly missed. (Peacock)

Ozark: series 4a
It hardly seems possible, but this saga turns even darker this season, as the Byrdes find themselves increasingly squeezed between the FBI, the Mexican drug cartel and local suppliers. As if the show needed another psychopath, the kingpin's nephew Javi (Alfonso Herrera) is perhaps even more wildly unpredictable than terrifying opium farmer Darlene (Lisa Emery). Meanwhile, Marty (Jason Bateman) keeps a level head, and Wendy (Laura Linney) is properly losing a grip on reality, especially where their daughter Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and 14-year-old son Jonah (a series-stealing Skylar Gaertner) are concerned. And it leaves things set up for even more carnage in the final run of episodes. (Netflix)

C A T C H I N G    U P 

Squid Game 
I defiantly refused to watch this Korean show when everyone else did, then finally gave in when I was in covid isolation over Christmas. It's an entertaining thriller packed with terrific characters and some gasp-worthy violence as society's losers are given a chance to make a fortune, or die trying. Colourful visual flourishes also make it stand out from bleak American thrillers. Although some more sharply pointed satire might make it more memorable. (Netflix) 

What/If 
I find Renee Zellweger mesmerising, even with her oddly pinched physicality. She's the driving force in this series, but remains mainly in the background as the central plot follows a young couple (Jane Levy and Blake Jenner) drawn into the gravitational pull of Renee's billionaire. The show is slick and prudishly sexy and, aside from the melodramatic reveals, it makes some nice observations about the power of greed and the strength of real relationships. (Netflix)

NOW WATCHING: The Book of Boba Fett, Peacemaker, The Afterparty, Pam & Tommy, Murderville, Euphoria (2), Snowpiercer (3), The Connors (4), This is Us (6).
COMING SOON: Severance, Star Trek: Picard (2), Star Trek: Discovery (3b), Killing Eve (4), The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (4).

Critical Week: Nose to nose

I've had a line-up of events and stage shows this week, rather than movies, which makes a very nice change. I only saw three films: The Call of the Wild is based on the Jack London novel about a dog's adventure in the Yukon, with a human cast including Harrison Ford, Omar Sy (pictured) and Dan Stevens. There is no dog cast, as that's Terry Notary in digital motion capture. The film is a lovely adventure but you can always tell that it's not a real dog.

There are actual horses in Dream Horse, based on the true story of a syndicate in a small Welsh village that raised a thoroughbred champion against the odds. Toni Collete leads an eclectic cast in an earthy, crowd-pleasing charmer. And Rosamund Pike stars as Marie Curie in the biopic Radioactive, which recounts the earth-changing scientist's life with some ambitious but distracting flourishes. And because I had the time, I revisited Parasite in a cinema packed-out with a paying audience, and loved it all over again. I originally saw it at a small press screening in September.

Outside the cinema I had the fringe theatre play Undetectable at the Kings Head (already reviewed) and the extremely starry press night for Message in a Bottle (review incoming), a thrilling dance performance staged to Sting's memorable songs and pointedly themed around the refugee experience. There was also a lively launch event for the new production of the Hairspray musical, which opens in April at the Coliseum starring Michael Ball and Paul Merton. I attended the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards, which was a terrific ceremony packed with luminaries from the dance world, including Cats star Francesca Hayward, who was named Best Female Dancer for her work with the Royal Ballet. And finally, the British Film Institute hosted the launch of the 34th edition of BFI Flare, London's LGBTIQ+ film festival, another lineup of great cinema that runs 18-29 March at BFI Southbank. The event included the lively annual launch party, complete with a seriously yummy cake designed to match the festival artwork (see below). This is my 22nd year covering this festival.

There's a bit more stage to come this week too, plus press screenings of The Invisible Man with Elisabeth Moss, Colour Out of Place with Nicolas Cage, Villain with Craig Fairbrass, Scott Graham's drama Run, the noir thriller Blood on Her Name and the romcom Straight Up.

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It’s the annual #BFIFlare cake! A particularly delicious one, I should add. Tonight’s was the programme launch for the festival’s 34th year.

A post shared by Rich Jack Cline (@ukcline) on Feb 18, 2020 at 2:53pm PST

LFF: Fancy footwork

The 62nd London Film Festival wrapped up tonight with the world premiere of Jon Baird's Stan & Ollie. It seems to have gone by in a blur for me this year, mainly because I missed about two thirds of the festival due to my travels. Although I still managed to see 35 of the films! And I am catching up with a few more over the coming weeks. There are eight more films listed below, beneath the award winners (none of which I've seen) and my own best of the fest.

2018 LFF AWARDS
Best Film: JOY
Sutherland Award - First Feature: Lukas Dhont (GIRL)
Grierson Award - Documentary:
WHAT YOU GONNA DO WHEN THE WORLD'S ON FIRE?

RICH'S BEST OF THE FEST

1. If Beale Street Could Talk
2. Colette
3. The Favourite
4. Won't You Be My Neighbour?
5. A Private War
6. Dogman
7. Border
8. Shadow
9. The Breaker Upperers
10. Stan & Ollie

Stan & Ollie
dir Jon S Baird; with Steve Coogan, John C Reilly 18/UK ****
With a gentle tone, this biopic traces Laurel and Hardy's final stage tour. The focus is on their relationship, and Jeff Pope's script beautifully captures their rivalry and deep affection. Director Jon Baird stages the film as a loving homage to the iconic duo, replaying their best bits and thankfully resisting the temptation to over-egg them for a modern audience. So the film remains warm and, yes, funny.

A Private War
dir Matthew Heineman; with Rosamund Pike, Jamie Dornan 18/UK ****.
Filmmaker Matthew Heineman (City of Ghosts) brings his documentarian's eye to this biopic about noted war reporter Marie Colvin. Played with earthy intensity by Rosamund Pike, Colvin was a powerhouse who shined light on people caught in the crossfire. This film is sharply well-assembled to throw the audience into both her life and her perspective... FULL REVIEW >

Can You Ever Forgive Me
dir Marielle Heller; with Melissa McCarthy, Richard E Grant 18/US ***
Based on an extraordinary true story, this low-key comedy-drama is a terrific showcase for Melissa McCarthy's acting skill, something lost in the silly mayhem of her usual projects. It's a punchy tale about artistic frustration and the need to find an outlet for expression, even if it might be an illegal one. And while the events are actually rather serious, they unfold with plenty of offbeat wit and warmth.

Sorry to Bother You
dir-scr Boots Riley; with Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson 18/US ***
There's a loose, surreal nuttiness to this film, which mixes topical drama and edgy comedy to create something bracingly original. It starts out as an office satire, but shifts gears along the way as writer-director Boots Riley plays with fantastical imagery and thematic parody. Sometimes, the pastiche becomes a little too insane for its own good, and where the story goes is deliberately confrontational... FULL REVIEW >

The Hate U Give
dir George Tillman Jr; with Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall 18/US ***
Despite an oddly simplified script and glossy mainstream direction, this film tackles a huge issue in a way that will engage a wide audience. It's a take on Black Lives Matter that helps illuminate the issue with a warmly involving story packed with solid characters. So even if the ideas are obvious, the film may help audiences understand the topic with more clarity... FULL REVIEW >

Sauvage
dir-scr Camille Vidal-Naquet; wtih Felix Maritaud, Eric Bernard 18/Fr ***.
Observed in an offhanded, almost documentary style, this French drama traces the day-to-day experiences of a French prostitute who is looking for love. Filmmaker Camille Vital-Naquet takes an unflinching approach that catches details in the characters and the relationships between them. With minimalistic dialog, the film features skilful naturalistic performances from a cast of brave rising stars.

Utøya - July 22
dir Erik Poppe; with Andrea Berntzen, Aleksander Holmen 18/Nor ***.
This film explores the events of 22 July 2011 in Norway. After CCTV footage of the Oslo car bomb, filmmaker Eric Poppe traces the right-wing extremist's subsequent attack on a summer camp outside the city. Shot as a single take matching the 72-minute attack, events unfold in real time through the eyes of the (fictionalised) young people. It's a harrowing film that vividly puts the audience into an unthinkable situation.

Burning
dir Lee Chang-dong; with Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun 18/Kor ***
It wouldn't be too difficult to cut an entire hour out of this dramatic thriller. While the meandering approach does add some realism and earthiness, plus a lot of fascinating detail, it also leaves the audience unable to piece together disparate, seemingly irrelevant elements into something coherent. Still, it's finely written, directed and played, and it's packed with superb moments.

Critical Week: Fooling no one

It's been a busy week in the press screening rooms this week, and I saw a few films that have been among my favourites of the year so far. Sundance award winner American Animals (above) is a stunner, a true heist thriller that happily breaks genre rules. Performances are terrific, and Bart Layton's direction is masterful. And Mission: Impossible - Fallout was a very pleasant surprise, easily the best in this six-film series, and the most satisfying action blockbuster of the summer. Tom Cruise even manages to deepen the iconic character he first played 22 years ago.

Playing on our social media culture, Searching is an inventive thriller that is viewed on various screens, yet is also taut, moving and packed with superb performances. Jon Hamm is excellent in The Negotiator (aka Beirut), a gritty and very well-made thriller set in the chaos of early-80s Lebanon. Hot Summer Nights features another solid turn from Timothee Chalamet, but the film itself is too hyperactive and grim to be the pastiche it seems to want to be. And the documentary King Cohen is a joy for movie fans, especially lovers of cult movie guru Larry Cohen.

There were also three small British films: Apostasy is simply excellent, a fair-minded depiction of a crisis within a family of Jehovah's Witnesses that makes us think about our own belief systems. Strangeways Here We Come is an uneven black comedy about a group of neighbours who concoct a murderous plan. And Possum is a somewhat pretentious arthouse thriller about a man with the creepiest ventriloquist dummy in movie history. Finally, the American web-series Paper Boys has been compiled into an involving, nicely flowing little feature about young people trying to start their lives in San Francisco.

This coming week I'll finally catch up with Ant-Man and the Wasp, plus the comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me, offbeat WWII adventure The Captain, coming-of-age drama Brotherly Love, horror comedy Fanged Up, French WWI epic The Guardians, Italian mystery A Sicilian Ghost Story, Portuguese horror The Forest of the Lost Souls, anime fantasy Mirai, and the doc The Eyes of Orson Welles.

Critical Week: Own it

Among films screened to the London press this past week was Amy Schumer's new film I Feel Pretty, which is bound to get a mixed response for a variety of reasons. It may not quite be funny enough, but its message is complex and empowering. Less complex, the latest weepy teen romance is Every Day, which at least has a premise that catches the imagination. And it's a solidly made movie for what it is. And then there's Show Dogs, a talking dog action comedy that's flat-out ridiculous and knows it. So it's rather a lot of silly fun.

More serious fare included the true drama Entebbe, recounting the hijacking and commando raid in 1976 Uganda from so many perspectives that the overall effect is somewhat dulled. The intense French drama Jeune Femme features a fierce performance from Laetitia Dosch. And there were two docs: Studio 54 features amazing footage and photographs as it tells, for the first time, the firsthand account of the friends who founded the iconic disco, and Time Trial is an immersive, superbly shot and edited look at cyclist David Millar's attempt at a comeback.

Coming up this week, we have the seriously anticipated Avengers: Infinity War, starring pretty much everyone in the Marvel universe, plus Charlize Theron in Tully, John Hurt in That Good Night, the animated comedy Sherlock Gnomes, the horror thriller The Strangers: Prey at Night and Bruce LaBruce's The Misandrists.

Critical Week: The morning news

Awards season is heating up with a flurry of late screenings and screener discs before voting deadlines. Two sets of awards I vote in - London and online critics - have a nominations deadline on Friday 15th December, so there's a lot to see. Although there are so many documentaries this year that it's impossible to watch them all. Here's what I've watched in the past few days...

Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks are at the peak of their powers in The Post, Steven Spielberg's expertly made film about the release of Pentagon Papers in early-70s Washington DC. It's startlingly relevant. Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike are excellent in Hostiles, Scott Cooper's remarkably gritty, realistic Western. It beautifully tackles some huge issues. Claes Bang and Elisabeth Moss are terrific in the Cannes-winning Swedish black comedy The Square, which unapologetically takes on the art world. It's challenging and fiendishly clever.

Outside awards season, Better Watch Out is a riotously edgy pastiche that plays with cliches of both Christmas and horror movies to create something both entertaining and nasty. Native is an extremely low-key British sci-fi thriller about two officers on a deep space mission who question obedience to their leaders back home. And after seeing The Disaster Artist last week, I had to check out Tommy Wiseau's 2003 bad-classic The Room, which is every bit as terrible as they say, but also has a bizarre charm to it. Finally, there was this doc, which I watched so I could participate in a lively TV discussion programme...

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Whose Streets?
dir Sabaah Folayan; with Brittany Ferrell, Bassem Masri 17/US ***.
This documentary takes an intensely personal approach to the aftermath of the shooting of unarmed teen Mike Brown Jr by police in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014. Using firsthand interviews and extensive video footage of the events, it traces how the vigil turned into a peaceful march and then an activist movement demanding an end to racially charged policing. And also how this was met with a heavy-handed official response with heavily armed cops in militarised tanks. It's definitely not a one-sided film, condemning the looting and vandalism as well as how the media and police focus on that, ignoring the name of the victim. The springboard is Martin Luther King's statement that "a riot is the language of the unheard". Without ever getting shouty, the film is raw and angry. Although it gets a little bogged down in personal stories. These may be resonant, but they feel a bit off-topic. And as it follows years of investigations, riots, vigils and arrests, it also gets a little repetitive. Which is exactly the point.

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This coming week we have the hotly anticipated screening of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, plus Dwayne Johnson in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, British drama Beast, Hungarian drama Jupiter's Moon, Brazilian drama Bingo: The King of the Mornings and the short film collection Boys on Film 17: Love Is the Drug.

LFF 1: Unroll the carpet

The 60th London Film Festival kicked off last night with the UK premiere of Amma Asante's biopic A United Kingdom. Rosamund Pike (above) ruled the red carpet, making the most of a wardrobe malfunction. And her costar David Oyelowo hit the headlines today as host of a symposium on race issues in movies. And so it begins, with an exhausting schedule of nearly 250 movies over the next 12 days. I'm packing as many in as possible, and still will be missing several big titles on my list simply because there isn't time. Here are some highlights for today...

A United Kingdom
dir Amma Asante; with David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike 16/UK ***
This is a great true story with a huge present-day relevance, and it features robust, engaging performances from both David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. So it's a shame that the screenplay lets it down so badly. Not only are characters painted with broadly cartoonish strokes, but the structure drains any sense of momentum from the narrative. So if it's not hugely compelling, at least it's still a worthy biopic packed with important themes.

A Monster Calls
dir JA Bayona; with Lewis MacDougall, Liam Neeson 16/UK ****.
This may look like a fantasy adventure, but it's actually a staggeringly resonant emotional journey that will connect with audience members of all ages. As it explores enormous themes from loneliness to grief, the film builds an earthy authenticity that even carries through its big effects sequences. Not only is it shot with skill and care, but it's anchored by a terrific performance from the young Lewis MacDougall.

Into the Forest
dir Gilles Marchand; with Jeremie Elkaim, Timothe Vom Dorp 16/Fr ***
Clearly a riff on Zvyagintsev's The Return by way of Kubrick's The Shining, this dark thriller evokes considerable dread, mainly in its sound mix. But director Guy Marchand also has some visual tricks up his sleeve to freak out the audience. There doesn't seem to be much to the film beyond insinuated nastiness, but it's enjoyably spooky.

Ma' Rosa
dir Brillante Ma Mendoza; with Jaclyn Jose, Julio Diaz 16/Ph ****
Shot with handheld urgency and extended real-time sequences, this Filipino drama grabs hold of the audience from the start and never lets up. Filmmaker Brillante Mendoza skilfully immerses us in the rain-soaked bustle of Manila, focussing on a low-level drug dealer whose concern for her family makes her enormously sympathetic. And while the drama is more than enough to hold the attention, the film also has some harrowing things to say about justice in the Philippines.

And two films I saw in Venice were also screening in London today: the French drama Heal the Living and the Italian drama Indivisible.

Critical Week: Into the wild, wild west

There were several starry films shown to critics in London this past week, as many of our colleagues were still in Cannes watching things we won't see here for a few months. The best one was Slow West, a beautifully shot, cleverly paced drama set in the Wild West and starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Michael Fassbender (above). Melissa McCarthy reunites with The Heat filmmaker Paul Feig for Spy, a raucous action comedy that's profane, violent and utterly hilarious. I see a franchise brewing. Dwayne Johnson tackles the biggest earthquake ever in the rather ridiculously over-the-top disaster movie San Andreas, which opens this week. Rosamund Pike is terrific in the rather underdeveloped post-attack drama Return to Sender. And Guy Pearce and Coby Smulders play duelling personal trainers in the witty but ultimately thin Results.

Off the beaten path, we had the beautifully shot Eden, which traces France's club music scene authentically but without much in the way of character or plot. Also from France, the even more loosely structured Love at First Fight (Les Combattants) at least traces a strongly involving personal journey in two young people who join the army to get away from their boring homes. From China, Black Coal, Thin Ice is a gorgeously artful police thriller that leaves its twisty, surprising mystery plot in the background where it belongs. Oriented is a groundbreaking documentary about three gay Palestinians in Tel Aviv that has a lot to say about Israel's political situation. And finally, The Human Centipede 3 (Final Segment) is the conclusion of Dutch filmmaker Tom Six's insane gross-out trilogy, this time set in an American prison. It's over-the-top, clumsy and frankly awful, but makes some strong points with its satirical-comedy tone.

I also caught up with Bessie, the biopic about the iconic blues pioneer Bessie Smith, played beautifully by Queen Latifah. It's a remarkably tough story, directed with flashes of real insight by filmmaker Dee Rees and featuring superb supporting turns by the unstoppable likes of Khandi Alexander, Mo'Nique, Michael Kenneth Williams and Mike Epps, all of whom make their characters startlingly complex. In the end, the structure is a bit tricky to make much sense of, but the characters are so strong that we don't mind much. And the music is simply divine.

This coming week, screenings include Insidious Chapter 3, Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal in Accidental Love, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courteney in their Berlin-winning roles in Andrew Haigh's 45 Years, the horror thriller Cub, the aristocrat doc Lord Montagu, and the Open City Docs highlights Before the Last Curtain Falls and Daniel's World.

35th London Critics' Circle Film Awards: words & pics

My third year as chair of the London Critics' Circle Film Awards at times felt like it might do me in, but after all the work, the night was another triumphant celebration of the year in cinema. On Sunday 18th January we gathered at The May Fair Hotel for our annual ceremony and party, joined by a smattering of wonderful guests.

Our ceremony hosts this year were Alice Lowe and Steve Oram (below left), who won our Breakthrough Filmmaker award two years ago for their Sightseers screenplay. They set the tone for the ceremony perfectly: irreverent humour mixed with a love of cinema. After the clatter of the red carpet (above with Miranda Richardson and below right with me and Richard Linklater), the ceremony felt intimate and almost conspiratorial because it was so much fun.

After a couple of introductions (from me and from our Film Section Chair Anna Smith), we were straight on to the awards themselves. Winners included Mica Levi (below left), who won the Technical Achievement Award for her score for Under the Skin, and Dirk Wilutzky and Mathilde Bonnefoy (below right), recently Oscar-nominated producers of the Documentary winner Citizenfour.

Three of our Young British Performer nominees were in the house, left to right: Corey McKinley ('71), Daniel Huttlestone (Into the Woods) and the winner Alex Lawther (The Imitation Game).

And we invited some potential future nominees along as well. Below left, that's Toby Sebastian (soon to be seen in Game of Thrones) and his sister Florence Pugh (star of Carol Morley's upcoming stunner The Falling). Below right are Ferdinand Kingsley (Dracula Untold) and Louise Brealey (Sherlock).

Quite a few British filmmakers were on hand, including Breakthrough Filmmaker nominees, left to right, Hossein Amini (The Two Faces of January), James Kent (Testament of Youth) and Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth (20,000 Days on Earth), here flanking director Jonathan Glazer, whose film Under the Skin won the Attenborough Award for British Film of the Year.

Breakthrough British Filmmaker was won by Yann Demange for '71 - he accepted his award by video (below right), as did Andrey Zvyagintsev (below left), whose Leviathan won Foreign-Language Film of the Year.

More video messages were sent by Michael Keaton (bringing down the house with a trouser-free acceptance of Actor of the Year for Birdman), Rosamund Pike (British Actress of the Year), Patricia Arquette (Supporting Actress for Boyhood) and Wes Anderson (Screenwriter for The Grand Budapest Hotel. Actress of the Year winner Julianne Moore (Still Alice) sent a generous written speech, while Supporting Actor winner JK Simmons (Whiplash) was conspicuously absent.

And Richard Linklater took to the stage twice for Boyhood, winning Director of the Year and Film of the Year (the award I presented). Finally, Stanley Tucci presented our biggest honour to the gorgeous Miranda Richardson - The Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film. Both gave speeches that combined sharp humour, warm friendship and a love of cinema.

Finally, at the after-party I was snapped in perhaps my luvviest picture of all time - with Miranda and our British Actor of the Year winner Timothy Spall. Darlings!

Photos by Dave Bennett

Critical Week: Get out, girl!

London-based critics had a chance to catch a press screening of Effie Gray, the true story of a Victorian woman (Dakota Fanning) trying to get out of a sexless marriage so she can run off with a hot painter (Tom Sturridge). Written by and costarring Emma Thompson, it's refreshingly dark and female-focussed. Another bad marriage is at the centre of David Fincher's Gone Girl, although novelist Gillian Flynn's screenplay leaves no doubt who we're supposed to root for. At least both Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike give marvellously layered performances. Susan Sarandon stars in The Calling, a Fargo-style rural-cop mystery that gets surprisingly, and entertainingly, dark. And Steve Carell leads the family antics in the lively comedy Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. 

A little further afield, John Lithgow and Alfred Molina are terrific as a long-time couple whose life takes a turn in the New York drama Love Is Strange; New Zealand comics Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi are hilarious in the reality-TV style vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows; and the American indie comedy-drama Believe Me takes a knowing jab at organised religion.

I also had several screenings as part of the run-up to the London Film Festival (which begins on 8th October): The Keeping Room is an American Civil War horror drama starring Brit Marling and Hailee Stainfeld; Queen & Country is John Boorman's post-war comedy-drama; The Duke of Burgundy is Peter Strickland's astounding exploration of a relationship; the drug-running thriller El Nino is Luis Tosar and Daniel Monzon's followup to Cell 211; A Girl at My Door is a cleverly unnerving Korean drama; and Bjork: Biophilia Live (codirected by Strickland) is a film of the last night in the Icelandic musician's concert tour.

This coming week we'll be watching Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, Bill Murray in St Vincent, John Cusack in Drive Hard, and Joan Allen in A Good Marriage, plus LFF screenings for Bypass, Charlie's Country, Next to Her, Wild Life, Dear White People and more...