What to Watch this Week (5-12 Dec)

The best things to watch this week on the big screen, the small screen and your laptop screen, including behind the scenes of the latest Xavier Dolan film and Kristen Stewart rocking out to The Rolling Stones

Go behind the scenes of Xavier Dolan’s first English-language film

An interesting behind the scenes video has emerged this week giving a glimpse of Québécois writer-director Xavier Dolan at work on the set of his first English language film, The Death and Life of John F Donovan. Part of CNN’s Masters at Work series, the film includes an interview with the 27-year-old filmmaker, who describes the film – which stars Game of Thrones' Kit Harington in the title role – as a “private analysis on the everyday life of a young man striving to be great, and to be remembered as a great actor.”

CNN also had a few words with Harington between takes. When asked about working with Dolan, the British actor said it was novel to be “working with someone who’s definitely my generation, my age. It’s exciting. It’s an important part of his process that he’s an actor as well as a director. He very much lives the text.”

Watch the full behind the scenes video in the player above and read our recent interviews with Dolan (on Mommy; on Tom at the Farm) and Harington (on Game of Thrones and Testament of Youth)

Watch Kristen Stewart in the new Rolling Stones video

Kristen Stewart has been making some interesting acting choices since coming to mega-fame as star of The Twilight franchise. Since those films came to an end she’s given vivid performances in films from Walter Salles (On the Road), Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper, Clouds of Sils Maria), Woody Allen (Cafe Society) and Kelly Reichardt (Certain Women). Her latest starring role is in a music video for ageing rockers The Rolling Stones. In the promo we see the actor riding through LA in a blue Mustang, clearly digging the song on the radio, Ride ’Em on Down, the Stones’ new cover of the 1955 Eddie Taylor track.

“It didn’t take much more than a few words to get me amped on the idea,” Stewart told Entertainment Tonight. “The Stones. A 65 Mustang. Alone in Los Angeles. And the shoot was just as dreamy as the idea.” Watch Stewart rock out to the song in the player above.

What to watch in cinemas: Krisha

It’s that time of year again – end of year lists time, where critics of all stripes reveal their rundown of the best films released in the past 12 months. There are only two of these lists that are worth a damn, however: The Skinny’s (although we may be biased) and John Waters’.

The Pope of Trash’s annual summary of the year in film is always full of eccentric selections and eclectic takes on the films in his list, and this year’s is no exception. On the 2016 list is Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!!, which Waters describes as “The best accidentally gay movie ever made by a known heterosexual director featuring the most talented and sexy ensemble cast of the last decade,” and Pedro Almodóvar’s Julieta, about which Waters asks “If Hitchcock had actually understood women, might he not have made this serious and absolutely stunning hellodrama about female longing and loneliness?”

Top of Waters’ list, however, was Trey Edward Shults’s Krisha. The American indie film wasn’t really on our radar, but we’ll be seeking it out on Waters’ recommendation alone. “This hilariously harrowing portrait of a family reunion ruined by an alcoholic relative and too many dogs is told with verve and lunacy and features a top-notch performance by Krisha Fairchild, the director’s own aunt,” writes Waters. “Other people’s hell can sometimes be so much fun. Released 9 Dec by StudioCanal

Also in cinemas: The Pass

Since it opened BFI Flare back in March, we’ve been looking forward to the release of Ben A. Williams’ cinematic take on John Donnelly's play The Pass, which follows the life of a closeted gay premiership footballer over a decade. Our reviewer, Philip Concannon, was impressed with Williams’ handling of the material: “The key virtues of John Donnelly's play have survived the process of adaptation intact, namely Donnelly's sharp writing, which serves up gripping and emotionally rich drama laced with witty dialogue, and a tremendous lead performance by Russell Tovey.” Released 9 Dec by Lionsgate

What to watch at home: The Shallows

We recommended The Shallows back when it was released in cinemas, and we’re recommending it again now that it’s made it to DVD. In both cases we're advocating on the strength of its director, Jaume Collet-Serra, who has proven himself the master of turning ideas that sound implausible on paper and turning them into slick thrillers made with modest budgets. Take his latest, for example.

In most directors' hands, a survival thriller featuring Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively, a CGI shark and not a lot else wouldn't be much fun, but such is the Spanish director’s flair for lucid action and inventive set-pieces that the simple setup becomes riveting. File along with Gravity and Buried, the other great solo survival yarns of recent years. Released on Blu-ray and DVD by Sony