Critical Week: Starry starry night

Organising an event like the 43rd London Critics' Circle Film Awards, which took place on Sunday at The May Fair Hotel, takes me about seven months. Although since this was the first in-person ceremony in three years, the process felt a bit steeper this year. The main challenge was sourcing new sponsors as, aside from our wonderful venue sponsor, we had to start from scratch. But our organising committee came together and brought in a group of terrific partners who we hope to work with in years to come. And with our event in the middle of both Bafta and Oscar voting periods, the stars turned out to celebrate. It was a fantastic night. For more photos, see the Insta posts below. And there's also a full list of winners...

Of course working on this has meant skipping quite a few films, so I've only seen a few over the last two weeks. Magic Mike's Last Dance with Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek is enjoyable for what it is but frustrating for what it could have been. The Locksmith with Ryan Phillippe and Kate Bosworth is such an overfamiliar crime thriller that watching it is almost enjoyably relaxing. From Italy, Amanda is a bracingly original portrait of a prickly but endearing slacker. And the indie drama The Way Out has a fascinating edge that kind of vanishes into a genre thriller. I also revisited Baz Luhrmann's Elvis because it was a chance to see it again on a big screen, with an added one-hour Q&A with Austin Butler that was strikingly intimate.

This coming week I'll be watching Paul Rudd in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Alexander Skarsgard in Infinity Pool, Paul Mescal in God's Creatures, Alison Brie in Somebody I Used to Know and the Italian drama Nostalgia.

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43rd LONDON CRITICS’ CIRCLE FILM AWARDS
Full list of winners • 5th February 2023, The May Fair Hotel

FILM OF THE YEAR
Tár

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR (tie)
Decision to Leave
The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin)

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

The Attenborough Award:
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR
The Banshees of Inisherin

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR sponsored by The House of Koko
Todd Field - Tár

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Martin McDonagh - The Banshees of Inisherin

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR sponsored by Nyman Libson Paul
Cate Blanchett - Tár

ACTOR OF THE YEAR sponsored by The House of Koko
Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin

SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Kerry Condon - The Banshees of Inisherin

SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Barry Keoghan - The Banshees of Inisherin

BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR for body of work
Florence Pugh - Don't Worry Darling, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Wonder 

BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR for body of work
Bill Nighy - Living

The Philip French Award:
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER sponsored by MetFilm
Charlotte Wells - Aftersun

YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER
Frankie Corio - Aftersun

BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR
A Fox in the Night - dir Keeran Anwar Blessie

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio - Guillermo del Toro and Brian Leif Hansen, animation

DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM
Michelle Yeoh 

Critical Week: Survival of the fittest

Awards season continues with nightly Q&As designed to focus voter attention on various films. I've been able to host a couple of these, which has been a lot of fun, chatting with actors and filmmakers around the world. Another group I vote in, the Online Film Critics, released its nominations this week. Beyond awards contenders, films I watched this week included Outside the Wire, a standard action-packed military thriller elevated by lead actors Anthony Mackie (as a robot!) and Damson Idris. From India, The White Tiger is a must-see blackly comical drama about a guy who leaves his low caste behind through sheer determination.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Are We Lost Forever
The White Tiger • Breaking Fast
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Exception • Imperial Blue
ALL REVIEWS >

It was an eclectic week of movies for me. From the US, Brothers by Blood is a growly, grim Philadelphia crime drama starring the always excellent Matthias Schoenaerts and Joel Kinnaman. From Sweden, David Fardmar's Are We Lost Forever is a gorgeously observed drama about a painful breakup. From Belarus, Persian Lessons is a fascinating true story of one man's survival during WWII, starring the terrific Nahuel Perez Biscayart. And from Denmark, The Exception is an intriguing thriller with big themes, although the filmmakers take a rather contrived approach to it.

I still need to catch up with a couple of this week's releases, including the acclaimed Mexican drama Identifying Features and the shorts collection The Male Gaze: Hide and Seek, plus the biographical documentary The Capote Tapes. And there are also some awards contenders: Radha Blank's prize-winning The Forty-Year-Old Version, the animated drama The Wolf House and the five shorts nominated in the London Film Critics' awards. 

Flare 4: Emerge from the deep

One of the highlights of this year's BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival was the appearance of 83-year-old screen icon Tab Hunter in person - still looking great while answering questions after screenings of the new documentary about his life by Jeffrey Schwarz (I Am Divine). The British Film Institute does a great job at bringing filmmakers and actors over for this festival, including a huge number from the local London cinema scene that make it feel like a class reunion every year at various drinks receptions and parties over the 10 festive days. Here are some more highlights...

Tab Hunter Confidential 
dir Jeffrey Schwarz; with Tab Hunter, Allan Glaser 15/US ***.
While this documentary about the 1950s heartthrob feels a bit gentle and overtly positive, it manages to focus attention on how the Hollywood studio system routinely moulded its stars into a carefully managed image, creating a whole generation of artists who were living a lie. This makes it an important document, even if a much grittier film is needed to dig up the darker edges of the story

Stories of Our Lives 
dir Jim Chuchu; with Kelly Gichohi, Janice Mugo 14/Ken ****
Based on true accounts, the five segments in this film are artfully shot in black and white and played with raw honesty and pointed human insight. As a collection, it has an even stronger impact because the filmmaking is both artful and straightforward, reflecting a deeply repressed, harsh society through stories that are very sad but are also full of hope. These are important voices that demand to be heard. (Gala screening)

Jamie Marks Is Dead 
dir Carter Smith; with Cameron Monaghan, Noah Silver 14/US ***.
This soft-spoken film is both a sensitive teen drama and one of the most inventive ghost stories in recent memory. It's haunting and visually stunning, with moments that are deeply moving and genuinely horrific. And at its core it's a thoughtful exploration of adolescent yearning to make sense of unexpected feelings.

Everlasting Love [Amor Eterno]
dir Marcal Fores; with Joan Bentalle, Aimar Vega 14/Sp ****
Arch and over-stylised, this clever film also manages to remain eerily natural, as writer-director Flores insinuates all sorts of freaky secret-society goings on. The idea is to trace love from that first flash of lust to something more eternal. And while the plot is somewhat undercooked, as it were, it's also thoroughly involving, unnerving and ultimately haunting.

54: The Director's Cut
dir Mark Christopher; with Ryan Phillippe, Mike Myers 98-15/US ****
On its original release, Miramax executives cut nearly 15 minutes of footage from this film, deleting all of the gay content in a misguided attempt to appeal to wider audiences. The result was a movie that made little sense since this also eliminated much of the character motivation and complexity. Writer-director Christopher has now restored that material in a director's cut. Some of these scenes are VHS quality, which gives the film an intriguing period touch. More importantly, this restored material adds a serious kick to the plot. It's a much better film now, more focussed on the central journey of Shane O'Shea (Phillippe). As a result, it's more resonant and makes a much more provocative comment on the time and place.

BEST OF THE YEAR SCREENING

The Duke of Burgundy 
dir Peter Strickland; with Sidse Babett Knudsen, Chiara D'Anna 14/UK ****
After Katalin Varga and Berberian Sound Studio, no one expects British filmmaker Strickland to make a straightforward movie, and this is far from the mainstream. Yet despite its superficially shocking premise the film is actually about the core elements in any relationship, and this is beautifully revealed through vivid filmmaking and raw performances... FULL REVIEW >