Critical Week: To boldly go

I may have seen seven films last week, but there was only one anyone cared about: JJ Abrams' new take on Star Trek. It's easily one of the most entertaining films of the year - I can't remember the last blockbuster movie that actually kept me this gripped from start to finish. It cleverly combines the old, familiar characters with new cast members and an all-new story. I want to see it again on the Imax screen.

Other press screenings were a mixed bag. Crank: High Voltage brings Jason Statham back to another of his iconic roles for more riotous adrenaline-charged mayhem, although it's not quite as much fun as the first film. Observe and Report is a startlingly unfunny anti-comedy starring Seth Rogen as an unlikeable mall cop. Last Chance Harvey is an almost shamelessly cute rom-com starring Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman, and it works mainly because of their gentle chemistry. Red Cliff is an amazing spectacle, a Chinese battle epic with a superior cast and John Woo's unique sweeping filmmaking skill. The Last Thakur tells a Shakespearean story of community mistrust and clashing religions in Bangladesh. And Three Miles North of Molkom documents a touchy-feely retreat in Sweden attended by the most astonishingly self-indulgent people you've ever met.

This week's schedule is rather a lot lighter, including the British comedy DG: A Love Story, the Welsh refugee/farming doc Sleep Furiously, the British horror flick Summer Scars, the French drama The Last of the Crazy People, and a mini-festival of restored Pasolini films, from The Canterbury Tales to The Decameron.