Raindance: Get up and go

The 29th Raindance Film Festival heads into its first weekend with a packed programme of independent movies. There's a strong festival vibe at the House of Raindance hub at Charing Cross, with nightly gatherings for filmmakers and press and industry delegates. And the programme of offbeat films always includes some real gems if you look for them. Here are some from the first couple of days, starting with the opening night film...

Best Sellers
dir Lina Roessler; with Michael Caine, Aubrey Plaza 20/Can ***
A snappy comedy centred on a generation gap, this movie is brisk enough to hold the interest, layering bigger ideas under a silly situation. Director Lina Roessler tells the story with a jaunty sensibility that plays on character eccentricities and narrative gimmicks. Little about the plot is unpredictable, but the tension between the characters touches a few nerves. It's also a gentle celebration of the power of literature... FULL REVIEW >

Hating Peter Tatchell
dir-scr Christopher Amos; with Peter Tatchell, Ian McKellen 21/Aus ****
Quick-paced and packed with terrific footage, this documentary traces the life and work of someone who's been called the most disliked man in Britain. Australian-born Peter Tatchell has unapologetically pursued justice on human rights issues, using civil disobedience to protest against wars, oppressive regimes and inequality based on race, gender and sexuality. This is a riveting, intimate, remarkably balanced film that carries a series of urgent kicks... FULL REVIEW >

The Man With the Answers
dir-scr Stelios Kammitsis; with Vasilis Magouliotis, Anton Weil 21/Gr ****
With an understated storytelling style, writer-director Stelios Kammitsis takes the audience on a road trip that meanders engagingly while exploring an unexpected connection between two young men. With its gently loping pace and warm comical touches, film is beautifully shot in lovely locations, sharply capturing the characters' personalities and physicality. And it has a lot to say about the freedom that comes from being honest with yourself and others... FULL REVIEW >

Father of Flies
dir-scr Ben Charles Edwards; with Keaton Tetlow, Page Ruth 21/US ***
Building a queasy sense of unease with disjointed imagery, writer-director Ben Charles Edwards further augments this horror film with cheap filmmaking tricks using music to create jump scares. While the tone is effectively nasty, and there are quite a few superbly chilling moments along the way, the film as a whole feels like a somewhat thin variation on the solid freak-out concept of the wicked stepmother.

Beans
dir Tracey Deer; with Kiawentiio, Rainbow Dickerson 20/Can ****
Recounting an involving story that's set during a 78-day land rights stand-off in 1990 Canada, this involving film skilfully mixes dramatic and documentary elements. Seen through the eyes of an alert child, the story has an earthy resonance that has strong echoes in current conflicts on a range of issues. In addition, writer-director Tracey Deer  infuses the film with autobiographical elements that add insight and unexpected emotions.

Full reviews of festival films will be linked at Shadows' RAINDANCE HOMEPAGE 
For full festival information, visit RAINDANCE FILM FEST 

Critical Week: Scary season

It's Halloween week, so the cinemas are packed out with various kinds of horror movies, including big-budget creep-outs (Antlers, above), stylised arthouse offerings (Last Night in Soho) or down and dirty ones (Chuck Steel). And the 29th Raindance Film Festival has also just kicked off, so I'll get a chance to catch up with some indie movies over the next 10 days. I'll add some festival updates along the way.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
A Cop Movie • Wild Indian
The Souvenir Part II
Cicada • Keyboard Fantasies
ALL REVIEWS >

As for movies I saw this week, Antlers is an atmospheric monster movie from filmmakers Scott Cooper and Guillermo Del Toro, starring Keri Russell. It's sharply well-made, but feels a little thin. Oscar Isaac is excellent in Paul Schrader's provocative drama The Card Counter, a challenging exploration of the tension between revenge and redemption. The British haunted house horror Barun Rai and the House on the Cliff has a riotously arch tone that's entertaining even if it's clumsy. Using stop-motion animation, the riotous action satire Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires is packed with witty touches and knowing gags, even if it's all rather ridiculous. And the Turkish drama Love, Spells & All That is a lovely look at lingering romantic feelings between two women who haven't seen each other in two decades.

In the coming week, I'll be watching Chloe Zhao's Eternals, Josh O'Connor in Mothering Sunday, the British comedy Pirates, Paolo Sorrentino's The Hand of God, the black comedy Decrypted and several Raindance movies.

Critical Week: Play ball

I've been laying low this week, watching few films to recover after the glut of the London Film Festival (42 features in two weeks!). The final weekend of the festival featured a few movies that will be hitting cinemas over the coming months, including King Richard, starring Will Smith in a biopic about Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena. It's a crowd-pleasing movie, but would have been stronger if it was actually the sisters' story. Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand lead a strong cast in Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth, a retro-style Shakespeare movie that's bold and riveting, even if it's never surprising. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The French Dispatch Dune
The Harder They Fall
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Show
ALL REVIEWS >

Further from the beaten path, Memoria is a surreal Colombian odyssey by Thai filmmaker Apichat Weerasethakul starring Tilda Swinton. It looks and sounds amazing, never mind what it's about. From provocateur filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, Benedetta audaciously mixes religion with sexuality in the true story of a 17th century French nun. Dashcam is a riotously inventive London-set horror thriller as seen through a live-stream camera. Todd Haynes' doc The Velvet Underground traces the story of the iconic New York art scene band with an inventive mix of visuals and music. The terrific Mexican doc A Cop Movie blurs the lines between fact and fiction with its skilfully layered approach. And the British doc Rebel Dykes recounts the important story of 1980s queer activists with the energy and attitude they deserve.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Oscar Isaac in The Card Counter, the big-budget horror thriller Antlers, the British-Indian horror Barun Rai and the House on the Cliff, the vampire thriller Dead & Beautiful and the Turkish drama Love, Spells & All That.

Stage: What is love anyway

Cupid's Revenge
created and performed by Tom Roden, Pete Shenton
music Gareth Ellis Williams
designer Will Holt
National tour • 9.Sep-13.Nov.21

Taking on the massive theme of mythical love, Tom Roden and Pete Shenton carry the audience on a remarkably engaging odyssey over an hour of riotous comedy, physicality and emotion. It's an extraordinary show, which feels simple and almost haphazard in the way it's put together. But in the end it reveals its complexities in a final act that's properly powerful.

Roden and Shenton have been working together for more than 20 years. They put this show  together before the pandemic, then used lockdown to hone it into their most ambitious performance yet. At the top, they challenge the audience to find the funny things, and then they keep us laughing fairly nonstop with their evolving banter, going back and forth to push each other verbally and physically in a series of lists that inventively circle around back on each other using a witty mix of words, dance, sound and imagery.

The central idea is that the concept of love has been watered down by advertisers who use it to sell us things. And yet we still know the difference between this and loving a friend, relative or romantic partner. To cut through this, Roden and Shenton start wide, chatting about the nature of being and the different ways we interact with society and each other. It feels silly and random, but gets increasingly personal as it goes along, repeating key words and movements to provoke a wide range of thoughts about human connections. The way it comes together in the end is breathtaking.

It's a simple stage, a large square of artificial turf onto which it seems like a brightly lit heart has crashed alongside two deck chairs that are referred to as being on a pier in Llandudno. Echoing phrases and choreography fills this space, including a repeating slow-motion scene in which Cupid fires an arrow across the stage. The show is precisely choreographed while also allowing for some moments of loose improv. This allows for some timely gags and rudely personal insults that affectionately nod at the duo's decades of working together.

Roden and Shenton take a lovely non-political approach to issues that are usually partisan, as their patter encompasses religion, government, sexuality and ethnicity without any judgement. And their loose, often deliberately ridiculous performances beautifully capture the joys of childishness and of connecting with another person. This is a knowing look at what makes us human, and it plays out like a refreshing tonic in a divided, cynical world.

For tour information: NEW ART CLUB >

The Place, London • 14.Oct.21

LFF: If looks could kill

The 65th BFI London Film Festival came to an end tonight with the closing night gala screening of Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth. As always, I've enjoyed catching up with a lot of great films over the past month, and there are some I still need to chase in the coming months. Here are my favourites from this year's festival, and three more highlights...

RICH'S BEST OF THE FEST

• 
  BENEDICTION (Davies, UK)
• FLEE (Rasmussen, Den)
• THE POWER OF THE DOG (Campion, NZ)
• THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Anderson, US)
• A HERO (Farhadi, Irn)
• PLAYGROUND (Wandel, Bel)
• BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN (Jude, Rom)
• COMPARTMENT NO 6 (Kuosmanen, Fin)
• HIT THE ROAD (Panahi, Irn)
• MEMORIA (Weerasethakul, Col)

The Tragedy of Macbeth
dir-scr Joel Coen; with Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand 21/US ***.
Joel Coen takes a strikingly stylised approach to Shakespeare's Scottish play, shooting it in the style of a 1950s movie adaptation with grand-scaled stage sets and glowering black and white cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel. It looks spectacular, and the fine ensemble cast throw themselves fully into the dialog and action. Although the over-egged sound mix muffles their words, the emotionally energetic performances give the film several strong kicks... FULL REVIEW >

Wild Indian
dir-scr Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr; with Michael Greyeyes, Chaske Spencer 21/US ****
As it grapples with issues of identity and justice, an ethereal tone engulfs this dark indigenous American drama. Drawing on his own Objiwe heritage, writer-director Lyle Mitchell Corbine add layers to characters and situations that force audience to engage on an especially intense level. It may get a bit melodramatic, but this is a sensitive, thoughtful film that has a lot to say in a short time.

Dashcam
dir Rob Savage; with Annie Hardy, Amar Chadha-Patel 21/UK ****
Shot as live-stream footage, this horror romp makes The Blair Witch Project look like it was made for the Hallmark Channel. With relentless action, raucous violence and a continuous stream of hilarious gags, this is another fantastic genre reinvention from Host filmmaker Rob Savage, who is clearly a flan of classic horror movies. This is hugely enjoyable filmmaking that delights in both shocking the audience and keeping us laughing.

All full reviews of festival films will be published as possible and linked at Shadows' LFF HOMEPAGE

LFF: Art appreciation

It's always bittersweet to get to this stage in the festival and realise how many films I'll be missing this year. At the 65th BFI London Film Festival, I made a list of the movies I wanted to see - about 70 titles from nearly 200 films in the programme. And in the end I've had to admit that there about 35 of those that I won't catch here. Some will pop up during awards season or on UK release dates over the coming months, but sadly many will never be available again here. Meanwhile, with the festival's end in sight, I'm trying to catch up on the backlog of reviews for the website - they should all be posted there over the next few days. Here are five highlights for Saturday...

Memoria
dir-scr Apichatpong Weerasethakul; with Tilda Swinton, Elkin Diaz 21/Col ****
Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul makes his first foray abroad, taking an international cast on an evocative odyssey set in various beautifully shot locations in Colombia. It's the kind of film that only hints at its meaning, requiring faith from the audience as we're taken a journey that's haunting for reasons we can barely define. It's a beautiful exploration of sights, sounds and, as the title says, memory.

King Richard
dir Reinaldo Marcus Green; with Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis 21/US ***
In this lively, crowd-pleasing biopic, Venus and Serena Williams' rise to fame is recounted through the story of their father. This throws things out of balance, because it's not actually his movie. In a mannered performance by Will Smith, Richard comes across as stubborn and annoying, which no doubt fuelled his daughters' success. But we're much more interested in their points of view, which are underrepresented here.

Benedetta
dir Paul Verhoeven; with Virginie Efira, Charlotte Rampling 21/Fr ***.
Leave it to Paul Verhoeven to turn the true story of Sister Benedetta into a lurid religious horror romp with equal measures of fervour and lust. More than a little camp, this biopic is deliberately provocative as it adds steamy melodrama to real-life events. It's skilfully assembled, with strong period detail and a vicious sense of humour. So even if it plays loosely with facts, it remains devilishly entertaining.

Bull
dir-scr Paul Andrew Williams; with Neil Maskell, David Hayman 21/UK ***
Highly stylised in the form of an old-time movie, with added quirky touches and hints of a modern sensibility, this offbeat British biopic is impossible to pigeonhole. And filmmaker Will Sharpe isn't afraid to mix overwhelming cuteness with pitch-black drama and soaring sentimentality. It's all a bit too mannered to properly engage the audience, but it does look amazing, and it features some defiantly singular performances.

Petrov's Flu
dir-scr Kirill Serebrennikov; with Semyon Serzin, Chulpan Khamatova 21/Rus ***.
A riotous odyssey through post-Soviet Russia, this demanding epic keeps the audience on its toes, as adept filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov moves rapid-fire through a series of full-on set pieces. The camerawork is extraordinary, often in elaborately long takes. With the titular viral infection spreading, the film has a clever timeliness, and its blackly comical tone prevents the outrageously gloomy series of events from ever feeling too heavy... 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: Tell your story

There are several reasons why film festivals become addictive to fans and critics. There's nothing like the feeling of seeing something amazing before you've ever heard anything about it. And the range of movies is much more diverse than what makes it out into general release, so a festival opens up places, cultures and even filmmaking styles you've never seen before. It's tricky with a programme like the 65th BFI London Film Festival, because it's impossible to see even a third of the films. So here are a few more that I managed to catch - including two of my very favourites so far...

Flee
dir-scr Jonas Poher Rasmussen; voices Rashid Aitouganov, Daniel Karimyar 21/Den ****.
Bracingly cinematic, this documentary traces an Afghan refugee's staggeringly involving story. Because much of his journey wasn't captured on film, and since he prefers to remain anonymous, his story is gorgeously animated by director Jonas Poher Rasmussen in a range of hand-drawn styles. But it's so detailed and skilfully put together that it's hugely involving on a range of levels, both in the bigger themes and the darker emotions... FULL REVIEW >

Benediction
dir-scr Terence Davies; with Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi 21/UK *****
Master filmmaker Terence Davies takes a gorgeously poetic look at the life of poet Siegfried Sassoon, blending moments that are funny, sexy and wrenchingly emotional into a stunning collage of powerful moments. Grappling with the nature of time and mortality, the film is a swirl of punchy scenes and period newsreel footage that isn't afraid to tackle hard truths about humanity. It's an elegantly devastating work of art.

Shepherd
dir-scr Russell Owen; with Tom Hughes, Kate Dickie 21/UK **.
This British horror thriller is so atmospheric that it's almost overwhelming. The sound mix alone is ceaselessly jarring, with added unsettling imagery and a story that plays on some deep emotional issues. So it's more than a little frustrating that writer-director Russell Owen keeps the scary stuff on the surface, rather than mining the complex underlying themes. Still, it looks and sounds amazing, and features superbly evocative performances.

Money Has Four Legs 
dir Maung Sun; with Okkar (Dat Khe), Ko Thu 20/Mya ****
Not only is this a rare film out of Myanmar, it's also a knowing comedy about Myanmar's movie industry. With a low-key pace, it gently pokes fun at the absurdities of filmmaking in general, but also specific issues in nations with their own challenges. And the earthy, realistic approach takes the audience into the messy life of a young filmmaker battling obstacles to make his first real movie.

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