Critical Week: A message from the desert

UK critics this week had an enjoyable press screening for Tom Hanks' new comedy-drama A Hologram for the King, complete with themed cuisine. And the film was enjoyable too - elusive and provocative. We also got to see Ricky Gervais' Netflix movie Special Correspondents on a big screen, and we laughed a lot more than some grumpy America critics did (perhaps because the film isn't very nice about the American media). And then there was the multi-strand ensemble drama Mothers and Daughters, a gentle series of interlinked stories livened up by an all-star cast and some nice observations.

Further afield, the Australian pre-apocalypse drama These Final Hours avoids thrills for a deeper, more emotional approach. Michael Moore's latest documentary Where to Invade Next is entertaining and very, very pointed as it looks at things Europe has done better than America has. And we also had the final chapter in Miguel Gomes' epic trilogy about Portuguese politics, the beautifully made and surprisingly moving Arabian Nights: The Enchanted One.

Screenings coming up this week include Zac Efron and Seth Rogen reuniting for Bad Neighbours 2 (aka Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising), the animated adventure The Angry Birds Movie, Ethan Hawke in Born to Be Blue, Penelope Cruz in Ma Ma and two docs: Author: The JT Leroy Story about the literary scam and The First Monday in May about the Met Gala.

Critical Week: Welcome to the club

UK critics had a chance to screen Richard Linklater's new comedy Everybody Wants Some!!, a spiritual follow-up to two of his earlier films: Dazed and Confused and Boyhood. It's clever, funny and very sharp. Jake Gyllenhaal is simply terrific in Jean-Marc Vallee's Demolition, a parable that is a bit obvious in its metaphors but still wrenchingly powerful. By contrast, Melissa McCarthy's The Boss has a lot of potential, but it's squandered with filmmaking that's based on pratfalls instead of the vivid central character.

John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson find more intriguing characters than expected in the horror thriller Cell, a freaky twist on the zombie genre from Stephen King. Rio I Love You is the latest collection of shorts in the Cities of Love series, and a much more coherent, warm and involving film as a whole. Arabian Nights: The Desolate One is the second in Miguel Gomes' inventively surreal trilogy. This one's drier than the first one, but has a terrific dog at the centre of the third set of shorts.

Further into indie movie land, Daddy is a well-made and sharply acted American film that shifts uneasily from a lively rom-com into a very, very dark drama. And there were two low-budget British crime dramas: The Violators is a compelling story of siblings in crisis, while the fact-based Hard Tide follows a guy who discovers something valuable in himself. Both give in to cliches and underpowered filmmaking.

Of course, proper reviews will follow in each film's week of release - some are already up on the site.

Screening this next week: Tom Hanks in A Hologram for the King, Ricky Gervais in Special Correspondents, Susan Sarandon in Mothers and Daughters, the apocalyptic Aussie drama These Final Hours, the final episode in the trilogy Arabian Nights: The Enchanted One, Michael Moore's sociological doc Where to Invade Next and the British public unrest doc The Hard Stop. We also have a three day weekend ahead!

Critical Week: Don't wake up

This week's big movie event was Secret Cinema: 28 Days Later, which is great fun but a bit of a let-down after the highs of Back to the Future and Star Wars. The elaborate interactive experience runs until the end of May in London (see my FULL REVIEW). Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke and the divine Julianne Moore star in Maggie's Plan, Rebecca Miller's Woody Allenesque New York comedy, which is a bit uneven but very entertaining. Nicolas Cage and Elijah Wood stage a heist in the Las Vegas black comedy The Trust, also entertaining if rather thin and forgettable.

Off the beaten path, there was the German drama You & I, a cleverly original look at three young men on a road trip, breaking all the rules about sexuality and friendship. What We Have is a thoughtful, haunting Canadian film about a young man trying to escape his past. Arabian Nights: The Restless One is the first part of Miguel Gomes' fiendishly inventive trilogy combining classic tales with a satire of present-day austerity. And there were two documentaries: the lively and moving if rather limited Street Dance Family follows the UK's most successful dance troop, while Chantal Akerman's No Home Movie is a difficult, experimental doc with some striking insights.

This coming week, we have the next Avengers action epic Captain America: Civil War, Jake Gyllenhaal in Demolition, John Cusack in Cell, Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some!!, the anthology movie Rio I Love You, the true thriller Hard Tide, the British drama The Violators and part 2 in the series Arabian Nights: The Desolate One.