LFF: Chin up

While it's packed to the brim with an astonishing array of high-profile movies and small gems from all over the world, the 65th BFI London Film Festival will probably be remembered just as much for all of the queuing involved. Today I got caught in a brief rainshower standing in a urine-soaked alleyway outside a cinema waiting to get into a press screening - which is something I've had to do for two to three hours each day between films. The things we do to watch movies we've read about but haven't had a chance to see yet! And in most but not all cases, it's well worth the effort...

The French Dispatch
dir-scr Wes Anderson; with Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand 21/Fr ****.
Wes Anderson creates yet another offbeat, fully realised universe in this witty homage to old-school journalism. With a fabulous cast of hundreds, including at least two dozen A-list stars, the film has a sprawling feel to it but remains engagingly intimate as it traces a series of contained stories. Mainly set in the 1970s, it's even more gorgeously designed than expected, packed with hilarious touches and audaciously inventive storytelling... FULL REVIEW >

Ron's Gone Wrong
dir Sarah Smith, Jean-Philippe Vine; voices Zach Galifianakis, Jack Dylan Grazer 21/US ***.
Lashings of goofy charm, wildly coloured imagery and frantic action make this resolutely silly animated romp enjoyable. And it even has a decent message buried under all the usual guff about the importance of family and friends. The filmmakers perhaps try a bit too hard to keep the jokes firing throughout the slapstick narrative. But it's ultimately impossible to resist a movie that's this warm and funny... FULL REVIEW >

Last Night in Soho
dir Edgar Wright; with Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy 21/UK ***
A luridly over-the-top sensibility makes this crazed London drama compulsively watchable. And while it looks terrific, the film becomes rather exhausting in the way it depicts a young woman's struggle with madness. Filmmaker Edgar Wright pours style into each scene, skilfully using real locations to playfully mirror the present day with the swinging '60s. And the superb ensemble is fully committed to even the most outrageous moments... FULL REVIEW >

True Things
dir Harry Wootliff; with Ruth Wilson, Tom Burke 21/UK **
Like an indulgent autobiographical first film, this British drama is so insular that that it becomes increasingly difficult to identify with the characters. Director-cowriter Harry Woodliff is actually adapting a novel, which adds an odd sense of distance to the material. It looks gorgeous with its swirly cinematography and dreamy editing, and Ruth Wilson gives a tremendous central performance. But the pushy filmmaking leaves it feeling empty.

Costa Brava, Lebanon
dir-scr Mounia Akl; with Nadine Labaki, Saleh Bakri 21/Leb ***.
With an earthy pace, this film set on the outskirts of Beirut is both a sparky family drama and a lament for a nation engulfed in corruption. It's skilfully shot in a terrific location, with a few surreal touches that reveal the characters' internal journeys. And its universal themes about justice, regret and expectation carry a nice kick, as the politics are deliberately drowned out by the personal story... FULL REVIEW >

Full reviews of festival films will be published as possible and linked at Shadows' LFF HOMEPAGE 
For full information, visit BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 

LFF: Feeling festive

The 65th London Film Festival launched on Wednesday evening with a gala screening of The Harder They Fall at a grand new venue, the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank (critics watched the film there very early in the morning). The festival still has some online elements, but is largely back in-person this year, with a full schedule of press screenings that's keeping me busy. As usual for journalists attending, this feels less like a film festival than a lot of standing in long lines to get into screenings. But it's a terrific season of top titles from the past year's leading festivals - with only a few exceptions, all of the most prominent movies from Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Toronto and New York are showing here. So I have a lot of great films to look forward to over the next 10 days. Here are some highlights from the first few days, followed by my usual weekly roundup...

Belle
dir-scr Mamoru Hosoda; voices Kaho Nakamura, Ryo Narita 21.Jpn ****
A spectacularly animated riff on Beauty and the Beast, this Japanese drama layers in social media themes with complex explorations of pungent issues like grief and child abuse. It's a fascinating approach to a story that's packed with surprises, even as it sometimes feels wildly over-emotional or somewhat gimmicky. Filmmaker Mamoru Hosada (see Mirai) is skilled at maintaining perspective to tell a story that's vividly visual and hauntingly resonant... FULL REVIEW >

The Harder They Fall
dir Jeymes Samuel; with Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors 21/US ***.
Loud, stylised and loaded with attitude, this action Western pits two gangs of outlaws against each other in a violent series of gun and fist fights. Essentially a blood-splattered fantasy, the film has deeper resonance in its themes, while filmmaker Jeymes Samuel puts the focus on the snappy carnage. It's all strikingly well-staged with a powerful ensemble cast, but the mayhem almost drowns out the story's subtler meaning... FULL REVIEW >

The Feast
dir Lee Haven Jones; with Annes Elwy, Nia Roberts 21/UK ****
Strikingly directed by Lee Haven Jones, this Welsh drama has a blackly comical surface with churning folk-tale horror elements underneath it. And Roger Williams' script taps into some very deep ideas along the way, including a wider resonance that relates to the impact greedy humans have had on the planet. It's a gripping, grisly, remarkably assured feature debut for Jones, and it carries a vicious kick.

Compartment No 6 [Hytti Nro 6]
dir Juho Kuosmanen; with Seidi Haarla, Yuriy Borisov 21/Fin ****
A celebration of brief connections that can change a life, this offbeat Finnish comedy-drama is set on a long Russian train journey. But it isn't the typical road movie that it seems to be, about a budding romance or friendship; it's a more nuanced exploration of self-discovery. Filmmaker Juho Kuosmanen has a terrific eye for detail, both in people and places, so the story reverberates with witty real-life touches... FULL REVIEW >

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C R I T I C A L   W E E K

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
No Time to Die
Knocking • Pier Kids
PERHAPS AVOID:
John and the Hole
ALL REVIEWS >

Among the films I saw this week are Wes Anderson's delightful new ensemble comedy The French Dispatch, Ridley Scott's punchy epic 14th century morality drama The Last Duel, Joanna Hogg's audacious autobiographical sequel The Souvenir Part II and the adaptation of the darkly moving hit stage musical Dear Evan Hansen. There was also the warm but cliched drama South of Heaven with a superb Jason Sudeikis,  the shot-for-shot cartoon remake Night of the Animated Dead, which doesn't add much to the original, and the astute street-life documentary Pier Kids.

Films next week are almost all LFF titles, although many will soon hit cinemas as well, including Spencer, Ron's Gone Wrong, Last Night in Soho, The Lost Daughter and Belfast. I'll also catch up with Venom: Let There Be Carnage, On the Fringe of Wild and Night Drive, which open next week.