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film^ 14-20 Oct 2017^ guide^24

Five of the best

1

The Party (15) (Sally Potter,

2017, UK) 71 mins.

This sharp chamber piece could

almost be a lost 1960s play, with

its old-school theatricality and

middle-class savagery. Kristin

Scott Thomas plays a politician

whose promotion celebration

is upstaged by the revelations

of her husband Timothy Spall

and guests including Patricia

Clarkson, Cillian Murphy, Cherry

Jones and Emily Mortimer. Oh,

and there’s a gun.

2

The Meyerowitz Stories (New

and Selected) (15) (Noah

Baumbach, 2017, US) 112 mins.

Familiar territory here, in a

Woody Allen-meets-Royal

Tenenbaums way, as we visit

another cultured New York

family with a patriarch (Dustin

Hoffman) and his messed-up

kids (Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler,

Elizabeth Marvel). The plot isn’t

as inevitable as expected, and

there’s enough wit and warmth

to justify the exercise. Stiller, in

particular, is a revelation.

3

Blade Runner 2049 (15)

(Denis Villeneuve, 2017,

UK) 163 mins.

Back to the future with a slow

and spectacular sci-fi that

Out now

• The Snowman (Tomas
  Alfredson, 2017, UK/Swe/
  US) (15) 119 mins.
  Michael Fassbender leads
  a serial killer hunt that
  throws in so many red
  herrings and suspects
  it feels convoluted and
  far-fetched.


• Loving Vincent (15)
  (Dorota Kobiela, Hugh
  Welchman, 2017, UK/Pol)
  95 mins.
  The last days of Van Gogh
  are animated in the style
  of his oil paintings, which
  can’t help but come off
  as a gimmick.


• The Lego Ninjago
  Movie (U) (Charlie Bean,
  Paul Fisher, Bob Logan,
  2017, US/Den) 101 mins.
  Lego animation that’s
  more junior-oriented and
  less pop-culture savvy
  than its predecessors.


• The Ritual (15)
  (David Bruckner, 2017,
  UK) 94 mins.
  This Rafe Spall-starring
  horror, about a hiking trip
  that goes wrong, brings
  late-stage mayhem but
  doesn’t stray far from
  the beaten track.


• Hellraiser: 30th
  Anniversary (18) (Clive
  Barker, 1987, UK) 93 mins.
  Say hello to Pinhead and
  friends as Barker’s cult
  horror returns.


• School Life (12A)
  (Neasa Ní Chianáin,
  David Rane, 2016, Ire/
  Spa) 100 mins.
  Charming documentary
  on a liberal Irish school
  staff ed by eccentric,
  caring teachers.


• Double Date (15)
  (Benjamin Barfoot, 2017,
  UK) 89 mins.
  Comedy-horror in which
  a couple of frisky lads pick
  the wrong sisters.

honours its predecessor without

replicating it. Ryan Gosling is

our lonely sleuth, following a

thread that threatens to unravel

the slave-based dystopia, or at

least bring Harrison Ford out

of retirement.

4

The Ornithologist (NC) (João

Pedro Rodrigues, 2016, Por/

Fra/Bra) 118 mins.

A journey into surrealism, gay

erotica and biblical allegory – not

far from Weerasethakul, Pasolini

or Jodorowsky. A birdwatcher

is in the wilds of Portugal and

encounters everyone from

sadistic Chinese pilgrims to a

handsome shepherd called Jesus.

5

Boy (15) (Taika Waititi, 2010,

NZ) 88 mins.

You’ll be hearing a lot more about

Waititi when Thor: Ragnarok

comes out but this, his feature

debut, is more in the fashion of

his Hunt for the Wilderpeople

• unpretentious and often drily
  hilarious, but touching, too. It’s
  centred on a Michael Jackson-
  loving 1980s Maori kid (Boy is
  actually his name) reconnecting
  with his supposedly “gangster”
  father (played by Waititi himself ).

Steve Rose

Party politics

Cherry Jones,

Timothy Spall

and Bruno Ganz

in The Party

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