Critical Week: All for one

The big press screening in London this week was for Paul WS Anderson's 3D remake of The Three Musketeers, a goofy but violent action-comedy variation on the story. Yes, it's bloated and stupid, but also has some guilty-pleasure fun in it. And there were two other hyperviolent big American movies: Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert DeNiro thundering through the blunt spy thriller Killer Elite, and Taylor Lautner posing his way through the identity/chase thriller Abduction. At least high-powered casts held our attention through all three movies, it's just a shame there wasn't a subtle moment between them.

Much more involving was Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea, a quietly gruelling post-war romance starring the amazing Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston. Miranda July's The Future is deliberately quirky but also full of telling observations about relationships and life. Sion Sono's Guilty of Romance is bold and difficult and exhilarating. The Texan indie Red White & Blue is disturbing and unpredictable. And The British Guide to Showing Off is a colourful and lurid doc about the hilarious Alternative Miss World competition. Even the relentlessly inspirational disabled-dolphin movie, cleverly titled Dolphin Tale, was surprisingly involving even if it used the possibilities for 3D even less than The Three Musketeers did.

This coming week, we'll be seeing George Clooney's political comedy-drama The Ides of March, Ralph Fiennes' modern-day version of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Rowan Atkinson in the spy-spoof sequel Johnny English Reborn, the American remake of the violent thriller Straw Dogs, and the British comedy Threesome. In addition, the 19th Raindance Film Festival starts on Wednesday, and screenings are now underway for the 55th London Film Festival, which takes place later in October. Busy busy!