Critical Week: Pucker up

This week I attended the UK premiere of Jeanne du Barry, which opened last year's Cannes Film Festival. And there was a very rare red carpet appearance by Johnny Depp, who introduced the film with filmmaker-costar Maiwenn. It's a great film, a lavish true costume drama with an earthy edge to it. (Yes, I snapped pics for Instagram as always - see below). And then there was the lively press screening of Luca Guadagnino's new film Challengers, which stars Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist in perhaps the most detailed love triangle ever put on film. It's absolutely breathtaking cinema.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
If Only I Could Hibernate
Jeanne du Barry • The Book of Clarence
Boys on Film 24 Happy Endings
ALL REVIEWS >

Also this past week, I caught up with Matthew Modine as a cycling coach in Hard Miles, a warm-hearted true story that feels a bit obvious but still inspires. Jo Hartley leads an ensemble of British comical actors in the hilarious mock-doc Swede Caroline, although the plot spirals out of control. The French Canadian comedy-tinged romance The Nature of Love is a bracingly honest look at the rules of attraction, beautifully directed and played by a terrific ensemble cast. The Mexican drama All the Fires finds new things to say in a darkly involving coming-of-age story. I attended the premiere of the bracingly energetic music doc Bass Impact, which outlines the history of dubstep with real flair. And we also had the short film compilation Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings, which is said to be the final edition of the long-running series (I've covered all of them).

This coming week I'll be watching Justice Smith in The American Society of Magical Negroes, Nikki Amuka-Bird in Jericho Ridge, the historical drama Kidnapped, the German drama Elaha, and two spider-based horror movies: Infested from France and Sting from Australia. I also have two stage performances to attend.

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Critical Week: Watch out

There were a range of more offbeat movies to watch this week, which always makes this job a bit more fun. Not a blockbuster in sight! Furthest afield was the Belgian-Congolese odyssey Omen, a powerful exploration of identity with terrific characters and colourful settings. From Ireland, All You Need Is Death is a delightfully unnerving folk horror about a cursed song. And from Japan, Spy x Family Code: White is frankly bonkers animation (a feature expanded from the Netflix series) about a assembled family made up of a spy, an assassin, a telepath and a dog who can see the future. Jaw-droppingly hilarious.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Close Your Eyes • Opponent
The Teachers' Lounge • Omen
Since the Last Time We Met
ALL REVIEWS >

Back to more mainstream fare, we had the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, a strongly well-made if incomplete film anchored by a tremendous performance by Marisa Abela. I loved The Book of Clarence, an uneven biblical comedy-drama that's both silly and earnest, but works thanks to LaKeith Stanfield. And then there was Liuben is an awkwardly dubbed Spanish-Bulgarian drama with a strong story about a repressive society. And the delightful Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in 2 Pieces engagingly traces the comedian's life from stand-up to movie stardom and beyond.

I also watched three films from Argentina: Close Your Eyes is an epic-length mystery that makes the most of its extended running time with an attention to character and detail; Since the Last Time We Met is a remarkably sensitive look at a rekindled relationship; and Carnal Sins is a clever, beautifully made folk horror about a monster in the woods. 

This coming week I'll be watching Zendaya in Challengers, Johnny Depp in Jeanne du Barry, Matthew Modine in Hard Miles, the Canadian romcom The Nature of Love, Mexican drama All the Fires, the mock-doc Swede Caroline and the final compilation in the series Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings.

Stage: Past the wit of man to say what dream it was

FLABBERGAST THEATRE’S
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
director/designer Henry Maynard
with Lennie Longworth, Reanne Black, Krystian Godlewski, Simon Gleave, Elliot Pritchard, Vyte Garriga, Nadav Burstein, Paulina Krzeczkowska
music Nick Hart • lighting Rachel Shipp
Wilton's Music Hall, London • 9-20.Apr.24 ★★

As with last year's staging of The Tragedy of MacBeth, Flabbergast presents Shakespeare's oft-performed comedy in a blindingly impenetrable flurry of lavish costumes, masks, puppets and outrageous physicality. There are moments of genius along the way, with a playful play on gender and clever touches that are hilarious, moving and strikingly visual. Those who know the play well will find plenty to enjoy. Others will struggle to understand much of the over-performed dialog, which makes it impossible to get involved in the story. So the farce begins to feel like it will never end.

Set in Athens, this is the lively multi-strand story of four lovelorn young people lost in a forest where fairies are manipulating their emotions. Hermia and Lysander (Krzeczkowska and Pritchard) are trying to run away together, while Hermia's best friend Helena (Garriga) wants to capture her crush Demetrius (Burstein). Fairy Queen Titania and King Oberon (Black and Godlewski) use the sprite Puck (Longworth) to manipulate their affections, but get tricked themselves. Meanwhile, a troupe of actors led by the preening Bottom (Gleave) gets entangled in the chaos.

The lushly cluttered set features a large carriage, as if a theatre company stopped alongside the road to perform for us. This gives the show an intriguing timeless feel, and we can almost imagine the play being put on like this 400 years ago. With colourful costumes and props, and a clever use of the venue, the actors invest their full bodies into these roles, creating sparky personalities, big emotions and pointed interaction. Standout turns from the clownishly gifted Godlewski and the fearlessly silly Gleave keep us laughing; they and others provide a few moments of pathos. The entire cast has such a big stage presence, overflowing with cheeky energy, that it's fun to watch, even if we can only rarely make out the words spoken in such a range of accents amid constant physical movement.

Punctuated by group sing-songs, wildly energetic action and of course an entire play within the play, there's plenty here to hold the attention, even if the incomprehensible delivery makes it feel like it drags on far too long. What's most surprising is that there's nothing particularly new or enlightening about this production, which for all its irreverence is slavishly respectful toward both Shakespeare's play and traditional performances of it. Perhaps Flabbergast needs to more inventively adapt their approach to their audience, because this production feels like it's only made to please themselves.

For details, WILTON'S MUSIC HALL >

photos by Michael Lynch • 10.Apr.24

Critical Week: Another nosey novice

Hot on the heels of Sydney Sweeney in Immaculate, here comes Nell Tiger Free investigating another sinister female-centred Catholic conspiracy in The First Omen, a 1971-set prequel that's strong on atmosphere and gothic grisliness but never feels hugely original. The events around setting up the notorious 2019 Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew is dramatised in Scoop, an interesting if straightforward account starring Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Evil Does Not Exist
Io Capitano
The Old Oak • Luca
ALL REVIEWS >

And then there's Woody Allen's latest, the sparky French comedy-thriller Coup de Chance, which maintains an entertaining tone even when it gets rather dark. Viggo Mortensen wrote, directed, composed the score for and stars alongside the always-superb Vicky Krieps in the Western dramatic thriller The Dead Don't Die. It's gorgeously shot and strongly involving. The faith-based drama Someone Like You is sunny and beautiful and almost painfully sudsy and predictable. And the Mongolian drama If Only I Could Hibernate is a fascinating glimpse into a complex culture, through the eyes of a stressed-out teen.

This coming week I'll be watching the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, the biblical epic The Book of Clarence, Irish horror All You Need is Death, Spanish mystery Close Your Eyes, Congolese thriller Omen and the Japanese anime Spy x Family: Code White.

Screen: April TV Roundup

I feel like I've had less time than usual to watch television shows over the past three months, largely because of organising the Critics' Circle Film Awards, taking a three-week break to visit family in California and the 38th BFI Flare festival. But I've been sneaking episodes in here and there, and even watched one of these series on the flight. Starting with some shiny new shows...

Mary & George
Casting is everything in this lurid historical series about the first Duke of Buckingham, his voracious mother and King James. Nicholas Galitzine, Julianne Moore and Tony Curran are fantastic in these roles, spinning around each other with multiple layers of intent. The first four episodes are spicy, sparky and great fun, and then the story settles into the political rumblings that have previously stayed in the subtext. So the last three episodes are a bit of a slog, getting lost in stylistic indulgences and painfully dry plotting. It's frustrating that the writers couldn't maintain the juicy, sexy vibe to the end of this true story. (Sky)

Mr & Mrs Smith
Donald Glover and Maya Erskine play spies assigned to live as man and wife, although we have to wait until the final episode for a replay of the spy-vs-spy mayhem depicted in the 2005 movie. The show is played with a nice sense of edgy humour and a parade of terrific guest stars that liven things up in various episodes. So it's very entertaining, even if the overall plot feels rather underpowered, building the connection nicely before nosediving into relational trouble without any real warning. Thankfully both Glover and Erskine are intriguingly offbeat leads, the locations are gorgeous and the expected cliffhanger ending leaves us wanting more. (Prime)

3 Body Problem
Apparently set up as the first of four seasons based on Cixin Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, this near-future sci-fi show gets off to a strong start thanks largely to a very strong cast. The globe-spanning plot is epicentred in Oxford, where top scientists get entangled with alien technology, learning that beings from another world are heading toward Earth (due to the show's title). Quite a few central characters die in the process, often in shocking ways, as the show explores issues of mortality and destiny and so on. While the intrigue is fascinating, it's all a bit dense. And the ending is merely a set-up for more to come. (Netflix)

Open to It
A web series with snappy short episodes, this comedy centres on Cam and Greg (Tim Wardell and Frank Arthur Smith), a couple who invites a third into their relationship to liven things up. But of course there are the usual underlying issues, unspoken reservations and nosey neighbours. Intriguingly, the scripts take on deep-seated beliefs relating to morality and fidelity, which puts gay relationships into a fresh context. While it's a refreshing take on polyamory, the show never quite grapples with the issue. But the open-minded approach is lively and sexy, with some drag-scene antics that provide extra colour. (OutTV)

The Flatshare
The uber-likeable Jessica Brown Findlay and Anthony Welsh star in this sparky British comedy about two young professionals who share an apartment on alternating schedules without meeting each other. Except that they do of course, in a somewhat contrived embarrassment that sparks a flurry of wildly random plotting, which spirals into an entertaining mess of humour and emotion. There's never even the slightest doubt where this is headed, but the writers and a superb ensemble of actors have some fun getting there. And while it's a nice look at professional life in London, it feels a bit scrubbed-up. (Paramount)

My Life With the Walter Boys
Enjoyably stupid, this earnest drama is full of soap opera style characters who don't act like normal people. So watching the show is effortlessly escapist. Even the premise is vaguely dodgy, as teen Jackie (Nikki Rodriguez) goes to live with family friends (Marc Blucas and Sarah Rafferty) when her parents die in a crash. This couple already has 10 kids, including four teen boys who are around Jackie's age, but no one thinks it's a problem for them to all live in a massive Colorado ranch house. Love-triangle chaos ensues, but these are resolutely cliched caricatures, so the drama is silly rather than involving. (Netflix)

A N O T H E R   H E L P I N G

Fargo: series 5
Quite a bit darker than previous seasons, this one has hints of horror and surreal nastiness along with some genuinely harrowing storylines that focus on domestic abuse. As always, the first-rate cast is terrific at balancing the tone with witty throwaway dialog, ably led by Juno Temple. There are also wonderful scene-chomping turns from Jon Hamm and Jennifer Jason Leigh as very different kinds of baddies. Show-runner Noah Hawley is terrific at coming up with sympathetic characters who get into life-or-death situations, often at random, revealing untapped strengths ... or weaknesses. Riveting. (FX)

Feud - Capote vs the Swans: series 2
Lavishly produced with a terrific cast, this long-awaited follow-up to 2017's Feud: Bette & Joan centres on Truman Capote's relationship with New York's elite socialites in the 1960s and 70s. Scrambling the narrative eliminates any momentum, so it's essentially a series of beautifully played scenes exploring how Capote (an on-fire Tom Hollander) fell out with his inner circle of powerful women (including Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Demi Moore, Chloe Sevigny, Calista Flockhart and Molly Ringwald). It's a great story, but a more linear approach might have carried a stronger punch. This feels oddly massaged to death. (Hulu)

Young Royals: series 3
For its final season, this Swedish teen drama piles on the usual mix of romantic messiness entangled with royal family politics, as spotty 16-year-old Crown Prince Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding) grapples with more trouble at his posh school, his now out-in-the-open romance with dreamy scholarship classmate Simon (Omar Rudberg) and ongoing family chaos. On-off villain August (Malte Gardinger) is less sneery this time round, although Simon's sister Sara (Frida Argento) still only ever looks worried. Thankfully, the show remains a bit prickly even when it strains to be Heartstoppers cute. Cue another sweet song by Simon. Awww. (Netflix)

Girls5Eva: series 3
Wildly overwritten, this rapid-fire sitcom packs more hilarious gags into a 20-minute episode than most shows can manage in a 20-episode season. The problem is that it's such a relentless pile-on of references, puns, absurd jokes and silly gags that it's impossible to take it all in. Thankfully, the foursome (Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, Renee Elise Goldsberry and Paula Pell) is able to layer in some surprising pathos beneath the nuttiness, as this 1990s girl band attempts to take a reunion tour culminating in a hopefully triumphant concert at Radio City. What could go wrong? More than seems humanly possible. (Netflix)

Invincible: series 2
It's easy to zip through episodes of this hyper-violent animated superhero series, which plays on the idea that people with powers are as complex as mere mortals. The title character Mark has been crushed by his now missing all-powerful father, leaving his mother distraught. So Mark tries to carry on with his studies and also be a good hero. But a call from a planet of insects diverts his attention, changing his destiny. This show is enjoyably messy, bombastic and grisly, but not quite deep enough to really work. But its bonkers approach to the narrative makes sure that it is never remotely dull. (Prime) 

GUILTY PLEASURES: The Traitors (2), Queer Eye (8), Drag Race (16).

NOW WATCHING: Ripley, Palm Royale, The Gentlemen, Expats, Sexy Beast, Night Court (2), Abbott Elementary (3), True Detective (4).

COMING SOON: Loot (2), Star Trek: Discovery (5), Sugar, The Sympathizer, The Veil , Acapulco (3), Hacks (2), Bridgerton (3).

Previous roundup: JANUARY 2024 > 

Critical Week: A big bromance

I've been taking it a bit easier this week, catching up after the film festival. But there have been a few screenings to attend. First there was the mammoth sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, screened to the press in Imax. Essentially a cartoon with a few humans running around in the margins, this is a movie that will make die hard fans happy, but others might be wise to steer clear. Meanwhile, Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway have a lot of fun layering on insinuating intrigue in Mothers' Instinct, a Hitchcock-style slow-burn thriller that's thoroughly entertaining.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Beautiful Game
Disco Boy
PERHAPS AVOID:
Godzilla x Kong
ALL REVIEWS >

Even better is the British feel-good drama The Beautiful Game, about a homeless football team. Thankfully, the on-pitch action is kept in check for more character-based comedy and drama. Liam Neeson and Kerry Condon are terrific in the gritty thriller In the Land of Saints and Sinners, set during the Troubles in 1970s Ireland. And the French drama Ama Gloria takes a child's eye view for a slice of life with a couple of momentous moments along the way.

This coming week I'll continue catching up on things, and I have screenings of Scoop, The First Omen, Woody Allen's Coup de Chance, If Only I Could Hibernate and Someone Like You.

BFI Flare: Reveal yourself

The 38th BFI Flare wrapped up on Sunday, after Saturday night's closing ceremony and the world premiere of Lady Like, starring Lady Camden, who brought her starry glamour to the evening. It was a great festival, with lots of excellent films. Although without a delegate centre or team, it was tricky for press to see the films. And of course the best thing about this event each year is catching up with my Flare friends! Here are some final highlights, plus comments on the relatively few short films I managed to see and my 10 best films of the fest...

Lady Like
dir-scr Luke Willis; with Rex Wheeler, Shiloh Brody-Clarke 24/US ***
There's a terrific story at the centre of this documentary, tracing the life of drag star Lady Camden from her London childhood to TV stardom and beyond. Filmmaker Luke Wheeler has wonderful access, capturing Camden's alter-ego Rex Wheeler with unusual openness and authenticity. But the film itself isn't edited together with momentum or a clear structure, circling around and repeating emotional points. So it's entertaining, but never as moving as it wants to be.

Unspoken
dir-scr Jeremy Borison; with Charlie Korman, Michael Zapesotsky 24/US ****
Sensitive and introspective, this teen drama plays out almost like a mystery thriller. Sharply shot with a vivid attention to detail, the film has a focussed perspective that's both riveting and involving. Writer-director Jeremy Borison maintains narrative momentum along with a knowing sense of how it feels to be gay in a religious community. And because the story is connected to history, it carries surprising weight and complexity.

Love Lies Bleeding
dir Rose Glass; with Kristen Stewart, Katy O'Brian 24/US ****
Cleverly using excessive audio and visual flourishes to heighten the mood, filmmaker Rose Glass takes the audience on a pitch-black adventure that propels forward without mercy. The film is dark and often intensely gruesome, but there's a terrific undercurrent of raw emotion even in the more outrageous situations. So as it closes its grip on us, the movie becomes a skilfully lurid, heady mix of romance, murder and bodybuilding.

Orlando, My Political Biography
dir-scr Paul B Preciado; with Paul B Preciado, Oscar Miller, Janis Sahraoui 23/Fr ****
Breathtakingly original, this drama-documentary hybrid is a loose adaptation of Virginia Woolf's classic novel blurred inventively with portraits of trans people who connect with and elevate the book's story and ideas. Writer-director Paul Preciado maintains a cheeky tone, mixing plot elements with real-life details to create a movie that's colourful and often hilarious. And it also takes on several enormous issues with wit and knowing observations, challenging audience preconceptions.

Baldiga: Unlocked Heart
dir Markus Stein; with Jurgen Baldiga, Ulf Reimer 24/Ger ***.
Shot and edited with a contemplative, artful sensibility, this documentary focusses on thoughts and feelings as it recounts the life of German photographer Jurgen Baldiga, remembered depicting the truth in his images, which was uncomfortable to gay men during the Aids epidemic. Even if it's a bit slow and ponderous, the film is a remarkable depiction of a man who was hungry for everything life had to offer.

Flare Shorts

I wasn't able to watch as many shorts as I hoped to see, because they didn't make them accessible to the press this year. So I only managed to catch 12 of them - including the Five Films for Freedom. My favourite was from Spain, The First Kiss (dir Miguel Lafuente), a sharply clever drama that goes from funny to cute to intense in 15 minutes. I also really enjoyed The Lime Green Shirt (UK, Kaushik Ray), a lovely mother-son drama that's moving and provocative; Halfway (India, dir Kumar Chheda), a simple and inventive relationship drama with a quirky twist; We Collide (UK, dir Jason Bradbury), a two-minute thrill ride through a nightclub; Car Wash (Spain, dir Lucas Sogas), a complex drama about closeted football players; and A Bed for Three (Germany, dir Jan-Peter Horstmann), a silly but pointed comedy with a witty Ikea kick.

Rich’s Best of the Fest

1. 
   Crossing
2. Orlando, My Political Biography
3. The Summer With Carmen
4. Unspoken 
5. Unicorns
6. Love Lies Bleeding
7. Toll
8. Calls From Moscow
9. Riley
10. Desire Lines

All full reviews will be posted soon and linked on Shadows' BFI FLARE PAGE >
For festival information, BFI FLARE >