Critical Week: Having a friend for dinner

A brief foray outside of the cinema for me last week, to the London fringe to see Silence! The Musical, based on, yes, The Silence of the Lambs. This deranged comedy takes the wacky tone of Airplane! and the deeply rude song-style of South Park and blends them into a sublimely rude evening - so rude in fact that I can't really mention any of the song titles here. It's also performed with surprising skill by the up-for-it cast at the Above the Stag theatre. If you get a chance, don't miss it.

Meanwhile, back in the movies, last week's press screenings included starry movies like Youth in Revolt (Michael Cera once again playing Michael Cera in a rather too-quirky romcom); Leap Year (Amy Adams turning on the charm once again in a so-so romcom); and Malice in Wonderland (Danny Dyer once again delving into the comical London crime underworld genre, this time a pastiche of Lewis Carroll's classic tale).

Slightly more original was the uneven British comedy My Last Five Girlfriends, even though it had no remotely likeable characters. Which leaves Samantha Morton's directing debut The Unloved as my best film of the week - a searing, emotional tale of a young girl who is taken in to care and longs for her parents. Visually stunning, the themes are so strong that when plot kind of loses its way we don't mind too much. It was also fun to see Toy Story 2 on a big screen again - and in 3D too.

This week's critical offerings include Mel Gibson's return to acting in the thriller Edge of Darkness, Paul Bettany in Legion, Robert Carlyle in A Boy Called Dad, Rupert Grint in Cherrybomb, Sean Bean in Black Death, David Baddiel's Muslim-Jewish comedy The Infidel, and Tilda Swinton in the Italian drama I Am Love.