Wadjda by Haifaa Al-Mansour

This is brilliant. If you liked The Kite Runner, Bend It Like Beckham, A Separation or anything else with a similar theme or set in a middle-eastern country, you'll love this.

Wadjda is a girl, aged about 12 or so, who wants desperately to own a bicycle, to prove to her friend (a boy about the same age) that she can ride as well as he can. In Saudi Arabia, where this is set, girls riding bikes are frowned upon: indeed, women are not allowed to drive cars and have to walk around out of doors (in that heat!) covered with the full black gear covering most of their faces, so you can imagine the opposition to her ambition.

The plot is simple, but there are many, many interesting threads and themes here: the emotional turmoil of Wadjda's mother when her husband wants to take another wife; the scarily strict, religious, beautiful  teachers at the school; the friendship between Wadjda and a boy of her own age which will clearly be under threat as they get older (we hear what happens to an older girl who is caught in the presence of a man not a relation) and, not least, the fascinating insight into another culture which this film affords us Westerners: I love the domestica detail, in particular. The ending is satisfying, though not totally predictable, which is another reason to like these films not made in Hollywood.

I hope this wins at least one award: it deserves to.

Star Trek: Into Darkness by J.J. Abrams

Not quite sure why it had this title.

Plot line was fairly straightforward: evil terrorist causes trouble then escapes, Kirk vounteers to go after him into enemy territory but there's a danger of causing global (sorry, this is Star Trek, not the real world, I meant inter-global) war by firing weapons in enemy space. Evil terrorist turns out to be more complex (and more evil) than first thought.

Meanwhile there's some magnificent special effects and more than a nod to later (i.e. past films) in the Star trek franchise.

Before Midnight dir. Richard Linklater

I've not seen the much-lauded first two installments to this trilogy (I was probably bringing up kids or something) but it didn't matter in the slightest: this film stands by itself.

The story is a single day in the life of a young-middle-aged couple with kids, and centres around their hopes and aspirations and indeed their relationship, which unfolds - or rather, collapses before our eyes. (Or does it? The ending is hopeful but ambiguous.) It's mainly dialogue - action-film fans will be bored to tears - and much of it seems to take place in real time - hence the title. The dialogue was so well done that much of it will seem uncomfortably familiar - or is that just me? It reminded me of Woody Allen's Annie Hall and Roman Polanski's Carnage. I loved it.

One slight disappointment - the certificate at the beginning promised "strong sex scenes" though I didn't see any. But still worth watching.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist dir. by Mira Nair

This is brilliant! If you love something thought-provoking, topical, tense, with exotic locations and a bit of romance: this is for you.

Changez Khan is a Pakistani young man in the corporate world of America whose life radically alters after 9/11. After that, it's a bit of a mystery as to what extent he's involved in a plot to murder an American college professor.

The colourful photography in Pakistan (India too, according to the credits), Istanbul and the USA, plus haunting, exhilarating music, add up to a film that is not only thought-provoking and philosophical, but also a feast for the senses. Romance is in there too, and nothing is ever simple - especially human relationships.

It's a 15 certificate and one scene in particular towards the end is unsuitable for anyone of a squeamish disposition.

This film definitely deserves to be more widely known.

Argo by Ben Affleck

Wow, this was amazing! Was on edge of my seat all way through. Really scary in parts, made worse by fact that it was TRUE.

Basically, if you haven't heard, it's about a group of six staff members from the American embassy in Iran who escape when the place is stormed in 1979. They have to be rescued by a secret agent, who manages to convince the (genuinely scary) men in beards and uniforms that the group are Canadian film makers scouting for a new movie location and not the missing "spies" from the American embassy.

I loved the snippets of reality: such as at the end when original photos of real events are shown alongside stills from the film, and the fact that the cast looked so like the real people they played. On the other hand, it's this that makes the thing so terrifying. I've never felt so relieved to live in Western Europe before!

Neither does the film flinch at telling us, at the beginning of the film, that the whole situation was at least partly caused by Western interference in the first place.

Also loved the touches of humour, pitched at just the right level.

No wonder this won prizes.

I Give it a Year by (dir.) Dan Mazer

A sort of anti-rom-com, this nevertheless falls into the rom-com trap of a predictable happy ending and, as such, has more of an American feel than a European one, but not without a few good laughs along the way.

The wedding at the beginning, where things go embarrassingly wrong, sets the scene for a whole load of cringe-making situations. There's the terrible Best Man speech, the appalling relationship counsellor and numerous faux pas with the in-laws. Look out for the game of charades and the "holiday photos" scene. Brilliant.

The main characters are a little bit annoying, just like real people, so it's hard to be too sympathetic when things go pear-shaped. No, the main entertainment lies in schadenfreude and recognition of realistic situations which could occur in real life, but don't tend to, generally. And of course the obligatory American or two to stir things up a bit.

I would have preferred a different ending, though. Perhaps the Americans could have decided they preferred each other, leaving the main characters high and dry. They certainly deserved it.

Les Miserables

Well,  I didn't expect it to be cheerful with a title like that. Let me say now I've neither seen the stage musical, nor read the book, so went in with a relatively open mind. Knew at least one of the songs, though, courtesy of Susan Boyle.

Some brilliant acting, especially (and surprisingly) Anne Hathaway, and the songs are great - but it's relentless. The grime, the music, the emotion - all relentless. But don't be fooled into dozing off or being otherwise distracted: during one solo I actually got up (for the first time ever in a cinema) to go to the loo, only to return a few minutes later and find that we were now in another decade, another place and the little girl had grown up.

If you like musicals then this is one of the best and definitely for you. It's a bit like a cross between Oliver! and Phantom - with all the nasty bits left in. But if you hate the idea of people suddenly breaking into song when they could be trying to escape or improve their lot, then avoid.

I might go and read the book now.