Critical Week: It's an emergency!

Well, I'm back in London after a couple of weeks visiting friends and family in Southern California. Of course, I also caught a few films out there. There were press screenings for two movies that open this week: Stop! That! Train! is a silly disaster movie satire with RuPaul Charles and a bevy of drag queens (including Ginger Minj and Jujubee, above) on a runaway train through a stormagaza. It's profoundly ridiculous, and fairly hilarious. Steven Spielberg is back in the alien business with Disclosure Day, a riveting thriller starring Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo. It's expertly assembled in a way that's hugely entertaining, and also thought-provoking.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Disclosure Day
Pink Narcissus
ALL REVIEWS >

There was also a screening of The Invite, a pungent, play-like drama featuring just four characters superbly well-played by Olivia Wilde (who also directs), Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton. And Boorman and the Devil is a fascinating multi-layered documentary exploring John Boorman's biggest bomb, Exorcist II The Heretic (1977). Back in London, there was the fiercely original Mexican stop-motion animated fantasy I Am Frankelda, the slickly made Norwegian underwater monster movie Kraken, and the uneven but provocative indie dramatic horror thriller Red Lights. 

While in California, I took my parents to see Project Hail Mary on the big screen, as I wanted to see it again, and loved it just as much as the first time. We also caught up with Rob Reiner's And So It Goes (2014). a scrappy and warmly likeable romcom starring Diane Keaton and Michael Douglas, and The Union (2024), a dopey but likeable action comedy with Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg. It was a special treat to attend a retro British concert at the Hollywood Bowl featuring 1980s icons The Human League, Soft Cell and Alison Moyet (see below). On the flight back to London, I finally watched last year's amusingly nutty reboot of Anaconda, starring Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Thandiwe Newton and some big cameos, as well as the expansive two-part doc Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, which I enjoyed a lot.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Pixar's Toy Story 5, Joan Collins in A Murder Between Friends, British comedy Virginia Woolf's Night and Day, British drama Ish, US drama Blue Film and global doc Super Nature. And the 34th Raindance Film Fest kicks off on Wednesday.

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Critical Week: Life's a beach

Awards season stuff continues to take up much of my time, with another flurry of nominations and winners released this week, including the biggest nominations of the season: the Oscars. As usual, the news was full of stories about surprise nods and angry snubs, as if this was something new. Meanwhile, I'm in the final 10-day push toward the London Critics' Circle awards, looking forward to having Michelle Yeoh at our ceremony to receive our top honour. It's looking like a properly starry event after two virtual years. Lots still to do to get ready for that!

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Close • The Fabelmans
Concerned Citizen
PERHAPS AVOID:
Maybe I Do • Shotgun Wedding
ALL REVIEWS >

Of course I've also been watching movies, and the Philippines was the main villain in two big Hollywood productions. Filmed in the Dominican Republic, Shotgun Wedding stars Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel as the bride and groom who plan a lush destination wedding that's interrupted by ruthless pirates. Filmed in Puerto Rico, Plane stars Gerard Butler as a pilot who crash-lands on a remote Filipino island overrun with a ruthless militia. Both movies require their stars to step in when the law fails to protect them. And both are plainly preposterous, although Plane just wins the battle by being a bit more fun.

The rest are an eclectic bunch: Maybe I Do has a super-starry ensemble cast that features Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Richard Gere, William H Macy, Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey. And yet the transition from stage to screen feels a bit dull and contrived. From China, the massive blockbuster sci-fi epic The Wandering Earth II takes the breath away with its enormous scale and vast cast of characters, and it's also deliberately funny, which is refreshing. From Australia, Seriously Red is an endearing drama about a woman who becomes a Dolly Parton impersonator to find herself. It's funny and edgy, like Muriel's Wedding. And from Israel, Concerned Citizen is a lovely naturalistic drama about a guy trying to decide whether to improve his Tel Aviv neighbourhood or just move away like everyone else.

Screenings are a bit scant this coming week, although that's because I've already seen the awards-contending films that are coming into cinemas now. Movies to see this coming week include Ryan Philippe in The Locksmith, Nick Moran in Renegades and some straggling awards contenders.

Critical Week: I feel pretty

This is the final week before my first ballots are due in this year's awards cycle. I vote in three sets of film awards - London Critics, The Dorian Awards, Online Critics - and it can be tricky to make sure I'm voting for the right movie that's eligible for the right award. Even more difficult is seeing movies that are major contenders when the distributors simply refuse to show them to us. And I still have gaps among this year's titles (haven't yet had a chance to see Licorice Pizza or Don't Look Up, for example). 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Lamb • Being the Ricardos
West Side Story • I Am Syd Stone
ALL REVIEWS >

But I did catch up with three big ones this week: Steven Spielberg's dazzling remake of West Side Story is worth catching on the biggest screen possible, with its explosion of fantastic dance choreography, iconic songs and a hugely moving story. Guillermo del Toro's remake of Nightmare Alley has a powerhouse cast (including Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette and Rooney Mara) and is a hyper-stylish mystery noir. And Peter Dinklage has the title role in a musical remake of Cyrano, spectacularly directed by Joe Wright with a strong emotional kick.

Slightly more adventurous films include Todd Stephens' Swan Song, which stars Udo Kier as a retired stylist who rediscovers his fabulous self; the creepy and blackly witty Icelandic drama Lamb, starring Noomi Rapace; the ambitious, provocative and rather scattershot journalism comedy-drama France, starring Lea Seydoux; and the sensitive Swiss-Turkish drama Beyto. I also had Peter Duncan's riotously entertaining filmed pantomime Cinderella and another excellent collection of shorts in The French Boys 2.

Over the next week, I'll continue to catch up with movies big and small, including Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Harris Dickinson in The King's Man, Mahershala Ali in another movie called Swan Song, Tate Donovan in Wild About Harry, the Belgian drama Lola and the Sea, the Turkish drama Not Knowing and the animated adventure Summit of the Gods.

Critical Week: A big buddy

London critics saw two big effects-based movies this week featuring young kids interacting with huge digital costars. Steven Spielberg brings his usual sense of wonder to The BFG, based on the Roald Dahl classic. The excellent cast features Mark Rylance, newcomer Ruby Barnhill and Penelope Wilton, and the story is involving and lovely, although it does feel very animated. Surprisingly, Pete's Dragon feels rather more tactile and grounded, with its loveable giant green furry puppy dog-like dragon. It's just as wondrous, with fine acting from Bryce Dallas Howard, Oakes Fegley and Robert Redford.

Off the beaten path, we had screenings of Things to Come, a clever, thoughtful French drama starring Isabelle Huppert; the moving documentary Jim: The James Foley Story, about the American journalist kidnapped and executed by Islamic State; and the artful portmanteau movie Confessions, exploring issues of love and sex through rather actorly monologs.

This coming week I have rescheduled screenings for both Jason Bourne and Hell or High Water, plus that other Chris Pine movie Star Trek Beyond, Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic and the new film version of the British classic Swallows and Amazons. Then I'm off on a short holiday for five days, hurrah! My first proper break since last November.

Critical Week: One last shot

Yes, UK critics saw another of the year's most anticipated films this week, the final instalment in the franchise: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. The A-list cast and Suzanne Collins' terrific source material continue to make this a superior series, with a epic-sized conclusion that's packed with strongly emotional moments in between the action mayhem. Jennifer Lawrence's usual costar Bradley Cooper leads the cast of the super-chef drama Burnt, which never quite sells either the story or the too-fancy food, but it's watchable enough.

Also this past week, we had a look at two prestige films going for awards-season attention: Tom McCarthy's Spotlight is a superb investigative drama about a news team (led byMark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton) looking into Boston's abusive priest scandal; Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies is a stately period thriller starring Tom Hanks as a negotiator navigating the tricky waters of Cold War Berlin.

At the other end of the spectrum, the nonsensical South African action movie Momentum stars a plucky Olga Kurylenko being chased by a scene-chomping James Purefoy. Somewhere in the middle, The Queen of Ireland is a fabulous, inspiring doc about Rory O'Neill and his iconic drag alter ego Panti Bliss; and the earthy, honest Mexican drama Velociraptor centres on two teens exploring their sexuality as the world is about to end.

I'll be in America over the next two weeks, so hope to catch up with several things that are out there but haven't screened here, including The Peanuts Movie, The 33, By the Sea, Love the Coopers and Secret in Their Eyes. We'll see how that goes! Watch this space...

Requisite Blog Photo: Embrace the future

I attended the premiere last night at Bafta of Extant, a new summer series that debuts in America on CBS tonight and in the UK on Amazon Prime tomorrow. Along with canapes and cocktails, they brought along a robot for us to interact with, which was a bit eerie, especially when it started flirting with me.

The show is set in the near future, as Halle Berry tries to readjust to her husband (Goran Visnjic) and robotic son  (Pierce Gagnon) after a year on a space mission, during which something very odd has happened to her: she's become pregnant despite being unable to have children before she left. Not quite sure if I'm in for the duration, but I'll give it a few more episodes before I render my verdict. From one episode, it feels a bit manipulative, one of those shows that dribbles facts very slowly to keep audiences hooked. But it'll need to start dropping some major bombshells soon to hold on to viewers.

Critical Week: Smash it up

Press screenings for London critics this past week included Disney's energetic new animated comedy-adventure Wreck-it Ralph, which is already out in the US but won't open here until February. We also finally caught up with Chris Smith's astute Indian drama The Pool, which inexplicably took six years to reach UK cinemas; the hugely engaging Canadian comedy-drama Starbuck; the involving Oscar-nominated Belgian drama Bullhead (starring Rust & Bone's Matthias Schoenaerts); the hilarious micro-budget sci-fi comedy pastiche Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same; and the dense and creepy Japanese horror X Game. And I actually bought a ticket to see Breaking Dawn: Part 2 at midnight last Thursday with a cinema full of teenagers and middle-aged women. The film is utterly bonkers - and more fun than the other four parts of the franchise put together.

As for awards-consideration screenings, we had Judd Apatow's hilarious extended sitcom This Is 40, starring the wonderful Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann; Daniel Day-Lewis' measured and astute performance in Steven Spielberg's epic political argument Lincoln; and Matt Damon's reunion with Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant for the beautifully assembled Promised Land.

This coming week, the screening schedule is still in flux. In the diary already are: Clint Eastwood in Trouble With the Curve, the acclaimed British indie Broken, the Muslim stand-up comedy drama Material, the school bullying doc Bully, and the indie Christmas comedy Walk a Mile in My Pradas.