Critical Week: Now I'm a belieber!

Yes, the London critics were left stunned after the late press screening of Justin Bieber's 3D doc Never Say Never - mainly because we enjoyed it a lot more than we expected. Sure, he comes across as a precocious, privileged teen, but he also has undeniable charisma and talent. And the 3D was pretty good too. And there were further surprises in store. Dwayne Johnson tries to suppress his charisma in the so-serious action movie Faster, but can't quite manage it. So the film is actually rather good fun. Then Woody Allen tries to recapture his astute take on relationships in the comical London-set farce You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, but also can't quite manage it. Still, mediocre Allen is better than most of what's out there. And Anthony Hopkins tries once again to channel Hannibal Lecter in the Rome-set demonic horror The Rite, and just about manages it. It's predictable but rather good fun.

This left the week's most challenging and interesting film as Confessions, an artful, offbeat Japanese revenge thriller. Comments on two other high-profile films were specifically embargoed by their distributors, so I can't really say anything about them yet, besides this: Matt Damon and Emily Blunt star in the fantasy-thriller The Adjustment Bureau, and Johnny Depp and Isla Fisher lend their voices to the animated comedy Rango.

This coming week, we'll be seeing Julie Taymor's all-star take on Shakespeare's The Tempest, Liam Neeson in the action thriller Unknown, Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell in Roman-era action in The Eagle, the Farrelly Brothers' buddy comedy Hall Pass and Wim Wenders' 3D Pina Bausch doc, cleverly titled Pina. But of course, the most important thing this week is this year's Oscar ceremony, which is coming on Sunday night. Is it in 3D too this year?