Critical Week: Bugging out

With yet another long weekend in the UK, we're all getting used to the idea of a four-day week. But the next holiday here isn't until the end of August. Between now and then, we'll be getting roughly one enormous studio blockbuster movie per week. Some of these are greatly anticipated, while others induce a feeling of dread. This week I caught up with two that I was actually looking forward to. Sony was very late in screening Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, perhaps so they could treat us to a star-studded blue-carpet premiere experience. The film is even more eye-popping than the first one, and the story is nicely involving amid the visual mayhem. And then there was an early screening of The Flash, easily the best DC movie in years, with a lively sense of humour and two terrific performances from Ezra Miller.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Unidentified Objects • Reality
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Amanda • Fragments of Paradise
ALL REVIEWS >

I also caught up with Paul Mescal and Melissa Barrera in the ambitious and intriguing, but ultimately awkward Carmen, which is infused with music and dance. The low-budget Breaking Infinity is an enjoyably brain-bending time-travel romp.  From France, The Innocent is a superb mashup of romcom, heist caper and crime thriller from actor-filmmaker Louis Garrel. And from Italy, The Neighbor is a dark drama about a man grappling with homophobia in his partner's family. 

I also attended three live performances: as a critic for State Shift at Sadler's Wells; as an audience member for Re-Member Me, Dickie Beau's clever but difficult one-man show about Hamlet at Hampstead; and as part of the crowd right in the middle of Guys and Dolls, the wonderfully lively and engaging new version of the classic musical at the Bridge.

This next week I'll be watching the franchise reboot blockbuster Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Toni Collette in Mafia Mamma, the Canadian drama You Can Live Forever, the series-turned-feature comedy Bridesman, and the Chilean documentary My Imaginary Country. I'll also attend live performances of Inside the Blind Iris / Air de Temps at Sadler's Wells (review here soon) and the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards.

Critical Week: Suit up

Awards season is cranking up with various bodies chiming in on the best films of 2021. Indeed, the London Critics' Circle announces its nominations tomorrow! As chair, I've had quite a bit of work to do this week to make that happen, so it will be nice to enter the holiday season while the members are considering the nominees for the final round of voting in January. I have a couple of nominees to catch up with myself. In the mean time, there were two big movies screened to critics this past week. The King's Man is Matthew Vaughn's 100-years-earlier prequel to his Kingsman films. A great cast helps make it watchable, but the tone varies wildly between hyperviolent action and serious war thriller. Spider-Man: No Way Home is even more audacious, but manages to stir its chaos into a coherent, entertaining romp through the multiverse with Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zendaya and others. Spoilers abound, so writing that review was tricky.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Swan Song • Cyrano
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Lola and the Sea
ALL REVIEWS >

Even more starry, Don't Look Up is a smart, funny social satire about two astronomers (Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio) trying to warn a wilfully disbelieving world that the planet is about to be obliterated. Mahershala Ali is terrific in the lightly futuristic Swan Song, an elegant exploration of memory and identity. Comedians come together for A Clusterfunke Christmas, a silly and occasionally hilarious pastiche of TV holiday movies. Berlin Film Festival winner Happening is a very serious French drama about a teen in the 1960s, when abortion is illegal. From Belgium, Lola and the Sea is a thoughtful, observational film about a young trans woman and her deeply bigoted dad. And from Turkey, Not Knowing is a bracing look at the dangers of self-involvement, tapping into a range of big topics.

This coming week, I'll be watching Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza, Romola Garai's Amulet, and awards contenders including The Worst Person in the World, Minyan, Great Freedom and Mass.

Critical Week: In stealth mode

This week's blockbuster press screening was for Spider-Man: Far From Home, a refreshingly enjoyable blockbuster starring the hugely engaging Tom Holland. It continually undermines the usual overserious nonsense of superhero movies, and is relentlessly good fun. Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon and Nicholas Hoult star in the stylish historical drama The Current War, as Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla, respectively. It's a riveting story, nicely told. Alicia Vikander and Eva Green play sisters in Euphoria, a drama about mortality that's beautifully shot and acted, but eerily elusive. And nearly 25 years after Braveheart, Angus Madfadyen returns to the role of Robert the Bruce, a solidly produced film from a choppy script. And Peter Strickland's In Fabric is an enjoyably bonkers stylised horror movie about a murderous dress.

From abroad, we had The Shiny Shrimps, a French comedy drama based on the true story of a gay water polo team. It's funny and involving, but ultimately uneven. Also from France, Amin is an edgy immigration drama that's very sharply observed. From Mexico, Fireflies also centres on immigrants, this time an Iranian in Veracruz, and his story is strongly moving. From India, Photograph is a beautifully involving love story with some unexpected touches. From Canada, the provocative, engaging Roobha centres on an offbeat relationship between a middle-aged married man and a young trans woman. And there were two from Bangladesh: Saturday Afternoon is a tense and sharply pointed one-take thriller set during a terrorist standoff, while Sincerely Yours, Dhaka is a collection of seven superbly well-made shorts exploring pungent issues that resonate strongly.

I also caught a few documentaries. Memory is especially gripping for film fans, as it traces the origins of Alien, which was released 40 years ago. Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love is a fascinating bio-doc about Leonard Cohen centring on his relationship with his muse Marianne Ihlen, with filmmaker Nick Broomfield adding himself into the story as usual. Political activists, not devil-worshippers, are the focus of Hail Satan, a witty doc about how the Satanic Temple exists mainly to provoke and challenge pompous injustice. And the warm, personal Southern Pride follows two bar owners in Mississippi as they try to celebrate LGBTQ culture.

Coming up over the next week, we have Florence Pugh in the horror thriller Midsommar, Colin Firth in Kursk: The Last Mission, Sylvester Stallone back for Escape Plan: The Extractors, the Sundance-winning comedy Brittany Runs a Marathon, the French coming-of-age drama Love Blooms, and the doc Varda by Agnes.

Critical Week: London marches on

London critics caught up with a couple of big blockbusters this week. Mortal Engines is a whopping effects extravaganza from Peter Jackson, so it's surprising to find the story so simplistic. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a whizzy animated adventure with lively characters and plenty of thrilling action.

On the awards-worthy front, we had Hugh Jackman as The Front Runner, the true story of Gary Hart's 1988 presidential campaign scandal, which tells the story in an oddly straight-arrow style. Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe star in Boy Erased as parents who send their son (Lucas Hedges) to gay conversion therapy. It's thoughtful and moving. John C Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix are The Sisters Brothers in Jacques Audiard's refreshing spin on Western vengeance thrillers. And Natalie Portman is terrific as a Gaga-like popstar in the meaty drama Vox Lux.

A bit further afield, Tyrel stars Jason Mitchell as the only black guy on a white dudes weekend in a cabin in the woods. It's superbly insinuating and creepy. Carol Morely's evocative Out of Blue stars Patricia Clarkson as a haunted detective in a film more about her psychology than the serial killer case. All the Devil's Men is a clunky British action thriller starring Milo Gibson as an anti-terror mercenary. And Newly Single is a bracingly abrasive comedy-drama about a hapless filmmaker.

We have a similar mix of genres this coming week, as voting deadlines in the awards I vote for get closer and closer. These include the Transformers prequel Bumblebee, underwater superhero Aquaman, Christian Bale in Vice, the Coen Brothers' The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, topical drama Blindspotting, and rock-climbing doc Free Solo, among others.

Requisite Blog Photo: Next dimension

with Rita Di Santo

Critical Week: Nuns on the run

There were a few big blockbusters screened to the London press this past week. The Hitman's Bodyguard is a riotous action-comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson; Spider-Man: Homecoming is the hugely entertaining and surprisingly hilarious Marvel movie that finally puts the gifted Tom Holland front and centre; War for the Planet of the Apes concludes the prequel trilogy starring the awesome Andy Serkis with a remarkably thoughtful and involving thriller; and Despicable Me 3 is the manic continuation of the entertaining animated action-comedy series featuring Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig.

Less tentpole-ish: The House is a feeble comedy starring Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler that only has a few amusing touches. Final Portrait is a riveting but over-stylised true story anchored by a career-best performance from Geoffrey Rush; and Hotel Salvation is a remarkably sensitive Indian comedy-drama that knowingly tackles issues of religion and mortality.

Coming up this next week, we've got screenings of the Pixar sequel Cars 3, Tilda Swinton in Okja, Joel Edgerton in It Comes at Night and Luke Hemsworth in Hickok, plus a few catch-up films to watch at home. Meanwhile, both the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the East End Film Festival in London come to a close this weekend.

Wolverine attacks!

To tie in with Guardians of the Galaxy, Morph Costumes gave me a chance to test out one of their suits and then offer two Shadows readers the chance to win one for themselves. When the Wolverine costume arrived, I dutifully put it on to see if it lives up to the promises in the advertising copy. 

Amazingly, these photos of me in the suit look pretty cool, not too far from the promotional artwork (below). This is surprising because I generally don't look great in spandex of any kind. But the suit has all kinds of manly contours drawn onto it.

It also covers every single inch of the body, which makes operating things like a smart phone rather tricky (although you can). The main issue is that it's very difficult to see anything. The bit covering the face is rather a lot like having ladies' stockings stretched over your head, bankrobber style. It smashes your features and clings so tightly that even blinking is a bit tricky. Sight is also rather limited, like seeing everything through a dark fog.

But it would be a great costume to wear to a party (eating is impossible, drinking would be messy). There's also a pouch for a smart phone, which will light up the belt buckle and create the illusion of Wolverine claws on a camera screen (other suits have their own tricks).

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C O M P E T I T I O N

Shadows partnered with Morph Costumes to give readers the chance to win one of the most advanced pieces of costume engineering known to man. Congratulations to Angel in Shoreham-by-Sea and Paul in Whiteley - we're sure they'll look great in their Spider-man and Deadpool costumes, plus their custom added superpowers of chainsaw arms and telepathy, respectively.

For more information, follow Morph Costumes on TWITTER or FACEBOOK. Marvel Morph Costumes include: Wolverine, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and Deadpool.

Critical Week: Clean your room

The big press screening this past week in London was for The Amazing Spider-man 2, which opens here three weeks before it hits America. The lavish world premiere was also in Leicester Square this week. As for the film, it's that same mixture of sharply observed comedy-drama and whizzy spidey-swinging action, but the blockbuster plot elements feel invasive and pointless.

There was also the fascinating but diffuse Nigerian drama Half of a Yellow Sun, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton; the devilish but random thriller 13 Sins, starring Mark Webber and Rutina Wesley; the hilarious in-joke Christian music satire Jesus People; and the sensitive but undercooked gay Chicago drama In Bloom. And we also had two music-based docs: SuperMensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon is the lively, entertaining story of an important and remarkably nice-guy music promoter, while Mistaken for Strangers is the rather slight but enjoyable story of a rock singer on tour with his cheeky little brother, a documentary filmmaker.

This coming week's screenings include Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann in The Other Woman, Zac Efron and Seth Rogen in Bad Neighbours (aka Neighbors), Gael Garcia Bernal's Who Is Dayani Crystal, the award-winning Singaporean drama Ilo Ilo, the Native American musical doc American Interior, and two films starring young British actors: the crime caper Plastic and the romance Benny & Jolene. 

And I'm already bracing myself for the following week, as the Sundance London Festival (25-27 April) begins early for journalists with four days of press screenings - I have 14 films in my diary over six days.

Requisite Blog Photo: A Spidey face-off

Critical Week: Bedtime stories

Topping the US box office, Seth MacFarlane's raucously funny comedy Ted was screened to UK critics this past week and kept us laughing all the way through (this had nothing to do with the beer and pizza they served to us beforehand). We also caught up with Marc Webb's enjoyable but unnecessary origin-reboot The Amazing Spider-man, of which the best aspect is the teen rom-com between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone;; and the still-entertaining fourth animated adventure Ice Age: Continental Drift, which was preceded by a Simpsons short that's nothing short of genius - The Longest Daycare, a wordless adventure starring Maggie.

We also had an early screening of Bradley Cooper and Dax Shepard in the roady comedy Hit and Run, for which reviews are embargoed. And further off the beaten path were the low-budget British prison drama Offender, an ambitious approach to a rather tired genre, and the British indie thriller In the Dark Half, which is a proper cinematic creep-out.

Coming up this week, I'll catch up with two Edinburgh Film Festival titles I missed while I was there: Disney-Pixar's Scottish epic Brave and John Hillcoat's Lawless. There's also the British drama My Brother the Devil, the American indie Shut Up and Kiss Me, the Monty Python doc A Liar's Autobiography, the green-technology doc Revenge of the Electric Car, and restored versions of Luis Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and Orson Welles' F for Fake.