Critical Week: Smiles everybody

Screenings continue to be a mixed bag of current releases and awards contenders. Higher profile films this week include Javier Bardem in the Spanish film The Good Boss, a blackly comical satire about the tension between a boss and his employees. And the true World War II adventure Operation Mincemeat has a first-rate cast featuring Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilton, Jason Isaacs and Johnny Flynn.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Flee • C'mon C'mon
The Hand of God
Boxing Day • Final Account
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The main reason why I saw so few films this week: I spend eight hours watching The Beatles: Get Back, Peter Jackson's hugely engaging documentary made from footage unseen for 50 years. It's essential for fans. Also a bit off the beaten path were the thoughtful and provocative Canadian drama I Am Syd Stone, addressing issues of sexuality in show business; Andrea Arnold's experiential doc Cow, following the life of a farm animal in a way that's riveting; the World War II doc Final Account, interviewing Germans who were children when the Nazis came to power; and the shorts collection The French Boys features five very strong dramas.

Coming up this next week, I will be watching Steven Spielberg's remake of the musical West Side Story, Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley, Lea Seydoux in France, the horror thriller Agnes, the drama Famous, the pantomime on film Cinderella and the shorts collection The French Boys 2.

Critical Week: A hot topic

It's been a busy week screening-wise, as I have packed in films in preparation for taking next week off. There was a new adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, one of my very favourite novels, although the film changes the plot and kind of loses the focus, despite strong performances from Michael B Jordan and Michael Shannon. And I managed to catch two screenings of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the Han Solo origin movie, which ticks a lot of entertaining boxes to take the audience on a fun ride.

A little off the beaten path, Travis Mathew's evocative Discreet is a swirling experimental drama about past wounds, regrets and the pointlessness of revenge. Hooked is a slightly over-obvious drama about a young rentboy on a dangerous trajectory. Freelancers Anonymous is a refreshing if silly comedy about a woman trying to start over in a tough economy. And Astro is an amateurish sci-fi thriller with a couple of decent performances and laughably overserious dialog.

There were also three docs: The Fabulous Allan Carr is a lively and moving trip through the life of the iconic, life-loving but lonely producer of Grease; All the Wild Horses is a spectacularly shot trip across Mongolia on the world's longest horse race; and Arcadia uses a lot of amazing archival footage to try and say something odd about Britain's relationship with the land. And finally, I had a chance to catch the restored Yellow Submarine on the big screen as it gets a 50-year reissue. It's simply delightful - great animation and a thoroughly whimsical story.

I'm on holiday over the next week, so am avoiding films altogether! I return home just as the Sundance Film Festival: London kicks off, and will catch up with the anticipated horror Hereditary, Leave No Trace, Generation Wealth and Skate Kitchen, plus a programme of short films. Then the following week, it's time for Jurassic Park: Fallen World.