Critical Week: They're everywhere

Heading into my birthday weekend, Britain is in full-on summer mode, with London's Pride march on Saturday, Glastonbury in full swing, Wimbledon finishing week 1 and England playing in the European Football Championship knockout round. It's also a double blockbuster week in cinemas, and both films had their only press screenings just a few days before opening. A Quiet Place: Day One is a prequel to John Krasinski's 2018 hit, and it's a remarkably personal, deeply involving thriller starring Joseph Quinn and Lupita Nyong'o (above), plus the year's best cat so far. Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter I is a three hour epic that's skilfully made and strongly acted by a starry ensemble cast as vast as the Montana landscapes. Basically an introduction to a planned series of films, it's all set-up with no pay-off at all. At least we only have to wait about six weeks for chapter two.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Network • Kinds of Kindness
A Quiet Place: Day One
Dance Revolutionaries
ALL REVIEWS >

Other films this week included the excellent Julianne Nicholson and Zoe Ziegler as mother and daughter in the quirky Janet Planet, which is beautifully observed but far too indulgent for most audiences (including me). Currently on television with Fantasmas, Julio Torres brings his quirky acting-filmmaking style to the big screen with Problemista, a hugely inventive immigrant drama that explores the urgency of being creative. And it costars an on-fire Tilda Swinton.

Set at an isolated clothing optional campground in New Hampshire, Birder is an unusually casual serial killer thriller that gets under the skin, as it were. The queer drama Spark finds all kinds of clever, resonant ways to explore a familiar story about identity. From India, the action thriller Kill is a seriously well-orchestrated rampage of gritty violence and heightened emotion on a train. Filmed at locations around Britain, Dance Revolutionaries features first-rate performers in gorgeously choreographed pieces. And I had a chance to revisit one of my all-time favourites, the 1976 TV newsroom drama Network, as it's being reissued to celebrate director Sidney Lumet's centenary. With its ace cast (Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch) and Paddy Chayefsky's blistering screenplay, it still feels frighteningly current.

This coming week is even busier, as I'll be watching Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron in A Family Affair, Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Mia Goth in MaXXXine, Nicolas Cage in Longlegs, Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Tuesday, Ewan McGregor in Mother Couch, Hayley Bennett in Widow Cliquot, Stellan Skarsgard in What Remains, Paul Raci in The Secret Art of Human Flight, Chinese drama Black Dog and Carlos Acosta's stage production of Carmen.

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: Tiger taming

London critics have finally been able to catch up with some big awards contenders this past week, including Ang Lee's remarkable Life of Pi, a staggeringly beautiful film with rich, moving themes. Frankly it's difficult to believe that such a complex, delicate film made it through the Hollywood system. Even bigger is Tom Hooper's film of the long-running musical Les Miserables, with a powerhouse cast including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried. It's a bit too much to fit in a movie, frankly, and rather exhausting. But also unmissable.

More award hopefuls appear in Hitchcock, an enjoyable, lightweight look at Alfred Hitchcock's battles to make Psycho. Anthony Hopkins plays the title role exactly like Hitch's screen persona, but Helen Mirren steals the show as his wife. There's probably no chance of awards attention for The Man With the Iron Fists, a messy 1970s-style kung fu romp cowritten, directed and scored by and starring RZA. Genre geeks might enjoy it, but not many others will. And finally there was the doc Ballroom Dancer, following a world champion's attempt at a comeback while he alienates everyone around him. Compellingly dark but not easy to watch.


This coming week I've got screenings of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher and Carlos Reygada's Post Tenebrus Lux, among other things. It'll also be voting time at the end of next week for a couple of critics awards - my own meagre contribution to the awards-season hubbub.