rogerdarlington

If you live in London (as I do), then the Isle of Dogs is a former area of dockland bounded by a major meander in the River Thames. In this case of this move, however, it is a fictional island opposite the Japanese metropolis of Megasaki City headed by a cruel mayor who expels all dogs from the city to the island on the ground that they are a health threat to local citizens. It's not difficult to see this as a liberal-minded allegory for how we threat any group in society which is seen as different.

But this is not an overtly political film because of its utterly whimsical style - after all, this is a work directed and written by Wes Anderson who never does things conventionally and whose last production was the wonderful "The Grand Budapest Hotel". This time - as with his earlier "Fantastic Mr Fox" - the whole thing is a beautifully-rendered stop-motion animation with some striking visuals but, in spite of the certification and the involvement of a 12 year old pilot, this is not a children's film. It is just too quirky, with all the references to Japanese culture (including exciting taiko drumming) and the use of Japanese language (not always translated).

The speaking cast is simply incredible with a dozen well-known actors voicing the different dogs, including Bryan Cranstan, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, and Jeff Goldblum plus (in smaller roles) Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton. Some scenes seem random and unexplained, but the whole thing is so charming and enjoyable that it doesn't need to make complete sense to be an unusual delight of a movie.

The much anticipated and hugely hyped latest directorial offering from cinematic wunderkind Steven Spielberg is visually stunning, set substantially in a fantastical virtual world of 2045 called The Oasis. An early visit to The Oasis involves a race and the experience is genuinely thrilling. The movie is also visually rich with an unbelievable number of allusions to (mainly 1970s and 1980s) pop culture - by some estimates around 300 so-called Easter eggs. It seems that every scene, every wall, every item of clothing features some (often subtle, even opaque) reference.

This is an enormous artifice to place on the shoulders of a largely young and under-known cast, notably Tye Sheridan as Parzival/Wade and Olivia Cooke as Art3mis/Samantha and the only stars in the work are British actors Mark Rylance and Simon Pegg who are hardly recognisable in their roles. Above all, this is a film which needs a more engaging plot as the discovery of three keys is just so, well, like a video game.

The problem could be that I'm not in the demographic at whom the movie is pitched and with whom it is doing so well: I've never played a video game and a lot of the pop culture appearances simply passed me by (for instance, I haven't see "The Shining" and don't want to). The clue is in the source material, since the movie is based on a young adult novel by Ernest Cline. But I acknowledge that, for many cinemagoers - especially younger ones - "Ready Player One" is going to be a smash that will need to be seen several times.

It is such a rarity - but a delight - to see a maintstream movie both written and directed by a woman. As well as being a fine actress, Greta Gerwig has written before (notably "Frances Ha" and "Mistress America") but this is her directorial début. Astonishingly (but deservedly), at the age of just 34 this made her only the fifth woman in history to be nominated for a Best Director Academy Award and the first to be so honoured for her directorial début (but she did not win).

It is also uncommon - but again a pleasure - to have a leading role in a film with a decent budget taken by a young actress. Here Irish Saoirse Ronan plays the eponymous 17 year old American senior year high school student in this coming-of-age story. We first saw Ronan in "Atonement" but she has since proved to be an outstanding talent in work such as "Hanna" and "Brooklyn".

"Lady Bird" is clearly semi-autobiographical territory for Gerwig: the central character's real name is Christine (the name of Gerwig's mother); the narrative is set in the early 2000s when Gerwig herself was a teenager; and, like Christine, Gerwig went to a Catholic high school in Sacramento before studying at a liberal arts college in New York City.

But Gerwig does not romantise her central character who has acne and a poor hair dye and exhibits selfishness and anger as well as charm and humour in a narrative that is at turns poignant and funny but always engaging. Although the focus is on one girl in one year, the supporting characters - notably Lady Bird's parents and four friends (two girls and two boys) - are well-cast with Laura Metcalf especially impressive as the hard-pressed mother. In short, a rare treat of a movie which, at just 93 minutes, never overstays its warm welcome.