Critical Week: Nice kitty

While many critics are darting off to Venice this week for the film festival there, I'm holding the fort in London. I had been hoping things would be a bit quieter here than usual, but that's not the case next week. There were two big last-minute screenings for films opening this week. Austin Butler stars in Darren Aronofsky's entertaining action romp Caught Stealing, which is funny and darkly violent. The acting and storytelling are often exhilarating. Meanwhile, Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch star in Jay Roach's new take on The Roses, which is both more British and less bitter than the 1989 classic adaptation The War of the Roses. But its characters and dialog are sharp and hilarious.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Young Mothers • Big Boys
Caught Stealing • Motel Destino
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Theodore Pellerin and Archie Madekwe are excellent in Lurker, a riveting dissection of celebrity culture as a young ruy worms his way into the entourage of a rising star musician. It's engaging and utterly riveting. The Japanese drama Happyend, follows a group of teens who are rebelling against both the school and national leaders who are wanting to watch and control them. Huge issues and engaging characters make this well worth a look. And the newly restored 1980 thriller Night of the Juggler is one of the grittiest, most ripping New York action movies I've ever seen. It stars James Brolin and Cliff Gorman and takes no prisoners. I also watched rather a lot of FrightFest movies over the long weekend, reported here in earlier posts.

This coming week I'll be watching Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in The Conjuring: Last Rites, Denzel Washington in Highest 2 Lowest, Benedict Cumberbatch in The Thing With Feathers, Cooper Hoffman in The Long Walk, dog's-eye-view horror Good Boy and British drama Brides.

Critical Week: Into the sea

While the Cannes Film Festival continues in the South of France until this weekend, I've been keeping busy here in London with an eclectic collection of screenings. Most unusual was the Chinese animated adventure Deep Sea, which is dazzling to look at even if the story feels a bit busy. It's definitely worth seeing on the biggest screen possible.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Hit Man • Solo
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In
In Flames • Kidnapped
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Garfield Movie
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Last Friday I attended the UK premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, attended by the cast and crew. Anya Taylor-Joy is terrific in the steely title role, and the film boasts terrific action sequences even if it feels a bit thin. Jennifer Lopez stars in the sci-fi thriller Atlas, which is fairly simple but enjoyably packed with very cool tech. Greg Kinnear stars in two movies I watched this week: alongside Isla Fisher in the silly but cute family fantasy comedy The Present and opposite Terry Chen in the inspirational and relentlessly preachy fact-based drama Sight. And from Canada, the drama Solo is a gorgeously observed character study set in the drag scene. 

After seeing Hit Man last week, I thought I should perhaps catch up with Glen Powell's last hit, the romcom Anyone But You, which is deeply goofy but also sunny, charming and sometimes even a bit sexy. On stage, I also watched the superbly provocative musical comedy drama Piece of Me at Camden People's Theatre.

This coming week I'll be watching Jessica Lange in The Great Lillian Hall, Anthony Hopkins in Freud's Last Session, Richard Armitage in The Boy in the Woods, Francois Ozon's The Crime Is Mine, Palestinian drama A House in Jerusalem and the doc The Pilgrimage of Gilbert & George.