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: All for one and one for all

I'm back in London today after a few weeks in Los Angeles visiting friends and family, celebrating Thanksgiving with them, and catching up with a few films there as well. Jet lag will make the next few days a challenge, as will Britain's icy cold snap, but I have too much going on during awards season to give in to that feeling that I should be sleeping. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Matilda the Musical
The Silent Twins
The Alleys • Hidden Letters
PERHAPS AVOID: The Leech
ALL REVIEWS >

The forthcoming sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish continues the lively antics of the swashbuckling cat voiced by Antonio Banderas, alongside Salma Hayek's Kitty Softpaws. It's hilariously entertaining, as expected. Less satisfying is Devotion, based on an inspiring true story about Korean War pilots that's told with far too much earnest reverence. There's enough to hold the interest and stir the emotions, but the film feels like it plays out in slow motion. And then there's the doc All That Breathes, which sneaks up on us with its bracing insights and vividly involving people who rescue traumatised birds in Delhi.

I also managed to catch up with two movies on the flight home. Infinite Storm, directed by Malgorzata Szumowska, stars Naomi Watts, Billy Howle, Denis O'Hare and Parker Sawyers in a contained, often silent story of survival on a snowy mountain. A jaw-dropping true story, it's spectacularly shot to put the audience in the situation with Watts' tenacious rescue worker. Ad The Outfit, directed by Graham Moore, stars Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Johnny Flynn, Dylan O'Brien and the fabulous Nikki Amuka-Bird in a 1950s Chicago-set tale of a suit maker who becomes entangled with feuding mob bosses. The twisty plot is great fun, even if the film is rather uneven.

Movies this coming week include the blockbuster sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker, Ulrich Seidl's Rimini, Pakistani drama Joyland, the Iranian drama Winners, Italian comedy Marscapone, Spanish musical The Phantom of the Sauna and last year's surprise Oscar nominee Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom.

Raindance: Making movies

The 29th Raindance Film Festival is heading into its final weekend in London, as audiences get a taste of independent films that are often unlikely to turn up in either cinemas or streaming sites. I'm still watching the films online, but have been meeting filmmakers at the House of Raindance social space as well. My usual weekly routine continues amid the festival, so it's covered below. But first a few more Raindance highlights...

The Rossellinis
dir Alessandro Rossellini; with Alessandro Rossellini, Isabella Rossellini 20/It ***.
There's an offhanded honesty to this documentary, in which Alessandro Rossellini explores his sprawling family and the meaning of his famous grandfather's legacy. Key film clips and extensive archival footage are included that tellingly explore layers of family history. But the filmmaker's goal is to reveal stories that have never been told and find the defining factor that keeps him so closely connected to his aunts, uncles and cousins... FULL REVIEW >

King Car [Carro Rei]
dir Renata Pinheiro; with Luciano Pedro Jr, Matheus Nachtergaele 21/Br ***.
Blackly comical and wildly outrageous, this satirical Brazilian thriller plays on the idea that cars have consciousness and would change the world if they could communicate with humanity. While set in the present, filmmaker Pinheiro cleverly evokes a 1980s vibe, including a terrific Christine-meets-Knightrider kick as the story spins into an epic battle against government oppression. And there are several even more bonkers elements to the story as well... FULL REVIEW >

Against the Current
dir Oskar Pall Sveinsson; with Veiga Gretarsdottir, Gretar S Petursson 20/Ice ****
Beautifully shot in spectacular locations, this introspective documentary traces a daring physical challenge. And as a trans woman, Velga Gretarsdottir's life has been full of challenges. The movie doesn't shy away from bleak elements of her life, but it maintains a sense of positivity, facing each obstacle with dignity and tenacity. Filmmaker Oskar Pall Sveinsson keeps the tone earthy and warm, celebrating a woman who has never followed the crowd... FULL REVIEW >

Zip It
dir-scr Anicee Gohar; with Mohanad "Kojak" Aglan, Nabila Yassin 21/Egy ****
This documentary about rising star Egyptian fashion designer Kojak takes on the thorny issue of being a queer artist in the Middle East with openness and honesty. Filmmaker Anicee Gohar vividly captures Kojak's energy and style, including lots of glitter and glamour. Even at just an hour long, this film provides a remarkably complex portrait of a bright young designer who is quietly determined to change his harshly proscriptive culture.

Full reviews of festival films will be linked at Shadows' RAINDANCE HOMEPAGE 
For full festival information, visit RAINDANCE FILM FEST 

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
C R I T I C A L    W E E K

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Card Counter • Beans
The Beta Test • A Cop Movie
ALL REVIEWS >

Non-festival films I caught up with this week include Chloe Zhao's Marvel epic Eternals, which has a fantastic ensemble cast led by Gemma Chan and some lovely character touches, but is disappointingly dense and effects-laden. Josh O'Connor and Odessa Young are terrific in the British period drama Mothering Sunday, which is unusually sexy for the genre. The British comedy Pirates bristles with energy even if it feels silly. Paolo Sorrentino's The Hand of God is a gorgeously autobiographical coming-of-age drama. And the shorts collection The Male Gaze: Celluloid Dreams features a remarkable set of vintage films about masculinity and sexuality.

This next week, in addition to Raindance films, I'll be watching the reunion sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Almodovar's Parallel Mothers, Ryan Reynolds in Red Notice, Tom Hanks in Finch and Clint Eastwood's Cry Macho.

Critical Week: Put that thing down

As Britain enjoyed a sunny heatwave, we were clobbered with the news that pandemic restrictions won't be further lifted on 21st June as planned: we have another month to go before things will get back to a semblance of normality. Most things are open now with distancing regulations, which means that press screenings are few and far between (literally!). I only had one this week, a special celebrity packed screening of the sequel Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, introduced by the always lively Salma Hayek in person. The film is messier than the first one, too busy and distracted to really hold together, but it has quite a few hilarious moments along the way. Meanwhile, Disney is bypassing cinemas with Pixar's latest minor masterpiece Luca, a gorgeous story about friendship and the importance of diversity set on the sunny Italian coast (and under the seas around it). 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Luca • The Reason I Jump
It Must Be Heaven
Summer of 85
Truman & Tennessee
ALL REVIEWS >

The rest of the films I watched this week were an eclectic mix: Untitled Horror Movie is a computer-screen based comedy-thriller that's very well put together, with a terrific cast, but isn't very scary; from Brazil, Half Brother is a naturalistic, moving drama about two people finding themselves; and premiering at Tribeca Film Festival, Pray Away is a straightforward, expertly shot and edited doc about gay conversion therapy, as seen through the eyes of the people who ran those programmes and are now trying to make amends.

Finally, I revisited Stephen Frears' 1985 classic My Beautiful Laundrette, starring breakout young actor Daniel Day-Lewis. I'm hosting a conversion with the film's writer Hanif Kureishi on-stage before a screening of the film on Friday night at BFI Southbank as part of the London Indian Film Festival. It's a remarkably timely story about connections between communities, adeptly touching on ethnicity, culture, class and sexuality. And it's depictions of right-wing bigotry are eerily current.

Coming up this next week are the latest entry into the Fast & Furious franchise, F9: The Fast Saga, as well as Isabelle Huppert in Mama Weed, 1980s-set horror comedy Vicious Fun, the action thriller Unchained, the Argentine comedy thriller Rock Paper & Scissors and the Roma drama Carmen and Lola.

Critical Week: Isolation blues

It's becoming clear that this extended third lockdown is making Londoners a bit loopy, especially as it has no end in sight. Although we keep hoping that as the pandemic numbers improve slightly, relief is on the horizon. But being able to get back into a cinema seems like a distant hope! I've been rather swamped with preparations for the London Critics' Circle Film Awards on Sunday night, which has involved lots of email communication with Los Angeles - something an eight-hour time shift makes rather tricky. As a result, I only watched four movies this past week.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Falling • Another Round
Two of Us • Malcolm & Marie 
ALL REVIEWS >

By far the biggest film I saw was the Russo brothers' Cherry, starring Tom Holland (above) as an Army veteran who becomes a junkie to deal with his post-traumatic stress. It's 2 hours 20 minutes long, and feels like an operatic epic. It would look amazing on a big cinema screen. Ambitiously taking on the same theme in a very different way, Mike Cahill's Bliss stars Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek in a fantasy-style thriller about a parallel reality. It's provocative and engaging. The Australian remake of the Icelandic gem Rams stars the superb Sam Neill, Michael Caton and Miranda Richardson, and finds earthy humour in a dark situation. And the pitch-black Argentine thriller 4x4 traps lead actor Peter Lanzani inside an SUV, becoming a seriously harrowing ordeal.

Coming up this week, I need to catch up on quite a few films, including the true thriller Murderous Trance, the British comedy Running Naked, the Argentine romcom A Skeleton in the Closet, the Chinese drama Twilight's Kiss and the short film collection Desire in the Dark.

And if you want to watch the 41st London Critics' Circle Film Awards, our virtual ceremony goes live at 7pm Sunday night 7th Feb and will also be rewatchable on the CRITICS' CIRCLE YOUTUBE CHANNEL >

Critical Week: Peering outsite

As cabin fever sets in with lockdown well into its second month, the longing for human contact is getting intense. But so is a sense of fear about returning to a crowded place like a cinema or pub. At least the weather has turned cold and wet in Britain, which makes going outside not nearly as tempting as it was last week. Meanwhile, watching all of these streaming movies is beginning to weigh me down - especially when even the arthouse films are so mediocre. There were two good ones this week, but the rest left me feeling rather meh. By contrast, TV series are offering a lot more variety and quality at the moment. But here are the movies...

BEST OUT THIS WEEK: 
Bad Education • The Assistant
The Roads Not Taken
PERHAPS AVOID:
Endings, Beginnings
Dangerous Lies

Sally Potter's The Roads Not Taken is a very clever film, although its relentlessly slow, introspective style will put off some audiences. The talent-heavy cast is on peak form, including Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek (above with Bardem) and Laura Linney. Julia Garner continues to build on her promise as an actress with the title role in The Assistant, a subtly insightful look at workplace toxicity. Alexandra Daddario and Tyler Hoechlin and a team of shameless scene-stealers make Can You Keep a Secret just about watchable, even though it's a very lazy romcom. Camila Mendes and Jessie T Usher lead the rather obvious thriller Dangerous Lies, which never even tries to grapple with the moral questions it raises.

A spin on the vampire genre, The Shed uses its sunny, rural setting brilliantly, combined with elements from teen movies and family dramas. A spin on the zombie genre, Blood Quantum adds intriguing elements from Canada's indigenous culture to the usual grisliness. The road comedy Vanilla has a nicely loose, improvisational tone to it, but remains a bit silly. And from Israel, 15 Years is an ambitious, alienating drama about a man who sabotages his 15-year romance as well as his closest friendship.

And I have another offbeat collection of things to watch this coming week: Liam Hemsworth in Arkansas, the horror riff Gretel & Hansel, World War II action Enemy Lines,  extortion thriller Cry for the Bad Man, working class drama Working Man, darkly romantic Clementine, evil teen horror Reborn and the documentary Spaceship Earth.

Sundance London: Drink to that

The fifth Sundance Film Festival: London is now fully underway with a series of screenings and quite a few chances to meet the filmmakers at Picturehouse Central in Piccadilly. Last night's opening event was superb, with the team from Beatriz at Dinner in attendance - writer Mike White, director Miguel Arteta and actor Salma Hayek, all on great form. I'm catching movies all weekend, including the surprise film tonight (I have an inkling). Here are a few more highlights...

Beatriz at Dinner
dir Miguel Arteta; with Salma Hayek, John Lithgow 17/US ****.
A third teaming of the terrific director-writer duo Miguel Arteta and Mike White (see also Chuck & Buck and The Good Girl), this astute pitch-black comedy cuts a razor-sharp line through affluent American society. It's a fiendishly smart film with moments in which we're not sure whether this is funny or terrifying, simply because it resonates so strongly. And it's anchored by Salma Hayek's best ever performance.

Walking Out
dir-scr Alex Smith, Andrew J Smith; with Matt Bomer, Josh Wiggins 17/US ***.
A sensitive drama about the awkward bonding between a father and son takes a very dark turn in this beautifully photographed film. As things get genuinely gruelling, filmmakers Alex and Andrew Smith somehow manage to avoid both melodrama and sentimentality. The themes get a bit lost in the dictates of the plot, which makes the pace feel draggy, but there's still a thoughtful, moving edge.

Bitch
dir-scr Marianna Palka; with Jason Ritter, Jaime King 17/US ***
A jarring production style and unsympathetic characters make it difficult to enjoy this offbeat pitch-black comedy, but there are important themes that surge up throughout the story that make it worth a look. And it's always great to see a film that keeps you off-balance. In addition, writer-director Marianna Palka draws boldly realistic performances from her cast. And herself.

Icarus
dir Bryan Fogel; with Bryan Fogel, Grigory Rodchenkov17/US ****
This documentary starts out to explore drug use among professional cyclists then becomes engulfed in another series of events that have far bigger repercussions. Filmmaker Bryan Fogel may be too involved in what happens to tell the story with journalistic vigour, unable to resist framing everything as some sort of epic spy thriller, but what's revealed is genuinely earth-shaking. And it's a movie that's impossible to ignore.

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 >