Critical Week: Action porn

The big press screening in London last week was for Zack Snyder's hotly anticipated Sucker Punch, which instantly becomes the most disappointing film of the year. Not because of the high expectations as for the fact that the film is chaotic, nonsensical and fetishistic in its approach to women and action. Much more enjoyable was the animated comedy Rio, a colourful 3D romp that kept us laughing nonstop.

Off the beaten path, we had two independent British dramas: Blooded is a provocative thriller about anti-hunting activists that looks terrific even if it never really grabs hold; and Break My Fall is a scruffy, postmodern romance about two girls (it also marks my first on-screen credit, since I was an extra on the film set last summer). Foreign films featured two of the week's best performances, both by young children: the gripping South African drama Life Above All centres on a young girl trying desperately to maintain her family's dignity, while the artful Turkish drama Honey follows a young boy struggling to connect with his mother, society and nature.

This coming week we have the horror movies The Roommate and Rubber, the "don't ask, don't tell" drama A Marine Story, and a trio of documentaries: Becoming Chaz, about Chaz Bono's gender transition; The Oath, about a Guantanemo prisoner; and the acclaimed Danish war doc Armadillo. We also have the kick-off of the 25th BFI London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, which has been stripped-down this year from 16 to 7 days due to budget cutbacks at the British Film Institute. I'll have daily highlights here.