Tremendous critical acclaim has greeted writer/director Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight, which I finally caught up with last night (on the night it won Best Picture). So is it really that good? Well, certainly the acting and direction cannot be faulted, and as an examination of what it is like growing up black, poor, and gay in Miami, it is undeniably insightful. It also has interesting things to say about the nature of masculinity, identity, and the masks people wear to hide who they really are. And yet, for all these praiseworthy aspects, and although I am well aware I am going against critical consensus, my niggling suspicion is that Moonlight might be a tad overrated.

Perhaps a second viewing might change my mind, but I couldn’t shake a nagging sense of emperor’s-new-clothes when watching the film. I expected something more dramatic somehow. Admittedly it is a low key piece, and I can hardly fault the film for that. It is subtle, with a trio of superb performances from Alex R Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes as the lead character Chiron (who invariably is known as “Little”, “Chiron”, and “Black” at key points in the story). The coming of age drama begins with him as a withdrawn and bullied child, when he is taken under the unexpectedly kind paternal wing of local drug dealer Juan (Mahershala Ali), and his girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monae). From there we see the decline of Chiron’s relationship with his drug addict mother Paula (Naomie Harris), through to his teenage years learning to stand up to bullies. In one genuinely arresting cinematic moment, “Chiron” places his face in a basin of ice, emerging metaphorically reborn as “Black”, the drug dealer he grows up to be. Yet throughout all this he secretly yearns for his lost love Kevin (Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome, and Andre Holland respectively in the different time periods). Because homosexuality is a taboo part of the culture Chiron and Kevin grow up in, violent peer pressure eventually crowbars it’s way their all to brief relationship, with destructive consequences.

Again, I cannot emphasise strongly enough that the performances and direction are first rate. Moonlight is completely convincing in that respect, and the screenplay (based on a story by Tarell Alvin McCraney) is simply but brilliantly structured, with understatement and nuance to spare. By the way, for those who appreciate warnings about such things, the film contains strong language, drug use, and sexual content (the latter handled relatively discreetly).

Yet as I write this, I really can’t quite put my finger on why this didn’t connect with me the way I wanted it to. Perhaps awareness of overwhelming critical acclaim meant expectations were too high. Sometimes it takes a film a few viewings to really click, and whether or not that is the case here, I cannot say at present. However, based on one viewing, for all its undoubted merits, I have to confess I admired Moonlight rather than loved it.

The Oscar nominated Hidden Figures, a true story of civil rights and the space race, is the third film in what feels like as many weeks to feature photographs of the people it is based on in the end credits. I am getting really, really annoyed at this lazy shorthand for “it’s a true story, honest”. Because the real people are invariably less good looking than their Hollywood counterparts, it bursts the cinematic bubble and if anything makes the film feel less convincing, not more. Stop trying to convince me the story is true, because I have already suspended disbelief for two hours. In this case, you had me at hello because Hidden Figures, besides this increasingly irksome cliché, is a pretty good film. If viewers want to see pictures of the real subjects, they can go online or look at a history book, but unless you are pulling a Schindler’s List (the one time bringing actors and the people they were portraying together had genuine knockout emotional punch), please, please just stop.

Annoying end credit photo montages aside, Hidden Figures does an admirable job of telling a story that deserves to be told. In the 1960s, during the space race, NASA hired several black women who were literally called “computers” to help with their calculations. These human “computers” were kept separate from their white counterparts, with segregation being very much the norm at the time. The plot focuses on three women, Katherine Johnson (Taraji P Henson), Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) and Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer). Main protagonist Katherine is a genius mathematician who winds up working with NASA big cheese Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), helping him create “maths that doesn’t exist yet” to put a man into orbit. Elsewhere Mary is determined to become an engineer, but keeps hitting brick walls when she discovers she has to study courses at a whites-only college to qualify. Dorothy, unofficial supervisor of the other black female “computers” at NASA, wants recognition of her title, but hits bureaucratic obstacles underpinned with racism in the form of Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst).

The central performances are all very good. Taraji P Henson in particular steals the film in one extraordinary moment when she explains to Harrison that there are no “coloured” bathrooms where she has been seconded, so she has to walk half a mile to take a pee. Harrison’s subsequent action (spoilt by the trailer if you’ve seen it) is a great cheer-out-loud moment. Look out for a fine supporting role for The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons too.

The story of how these three women triumph over adversity, and in the process make an extraordinary contribution to the history of the space race, is competently if unremarkably directed by Theodore Melfi. But not every film needs to reinvent the language of cinema and Hidden Figure certainly hits all the right dramatic notes, providing an absorbing and entertaining story that also has a modicum of genuinely interesting food for thought on the civil rights issue. The message of the film seems to be that the way to confront injustice is not through violence or demands, but by allowing hard work and perseverance to speak for itself, thus exposing the folly of racial prejudice and bringing about change.

In short, whilst this arguably falls a little short of the genuine awe in space race movies such as The Right Stuff or Apollo 13, nevertheless Hidden Figures is a diverting and worthwhile watch, primarily for the excellent and sympathetic performances from the lead cast members.

After The Lego Movie turned out to be something quite special instead of the soulless cash grab so many had anticipated, further films were inevitable. The Lego Batman Movie is a fine way to continue, given Batman’s involvement in The Lego Movie. Relentlessly paced with gags to spare, this is an absolute blast, albeit not quite on a par with its predecessor.

Batman (Will Arnett) begins his character arc here as a hilariously unbearable narcissist, unable even to acknowledge that the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) is his arch enemy (he likes to “fight around”, apparently). Back at the Batcave/Wayne manor (appropriately on an island), the melancholy of Batman’s lonely existence is amusingly spoofed, with him eating microwave lobster, watching Jerry Maguire and ruminating over photographs of his dead parents. Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) attempts to encourage him out of his self-centredness to pay attention to Dick Grayson aka Robin (Michael Cera), the orphan he adopted in circumstances too ridiculous to detail here.

The sheer amount of in-jokes and background details will no doubt warrant repeat viewings, and the kinetic, anarchic style established by The Lego Movie is continued here by director Chris McKay. Said anarchy comes amusingly to the fore when uber-villains from other stories – including the Wicked Witch of the West and her army of flying monkeys, Lord Voldemort, Sauron, Gremlins, King Kong, the Medusa and the Kraken from Clash of the Titans – threaten Gotham City, again in circumstances too ridiculous to explain in a review. Even the Daleks make an appearance – “British robots” the Joker amusingly and inaccurately remarks (after all, Daleks are technically deranged fascist mutants in robotic casings). “Ask your nerd friends” he continues, presumably a reference to the fact that Doctor Who is not quite the cultural phenomenon in the US that it is in the UK. Look out for over-the-heads-of-the-children gags too, including a cinema showing “Two Shades of Grey” and a rude joke involving Batman’s number plates. Oh, and you won’t be able to take any film seriously that begins with ominous music and a black screen ever again.

The fine vocal cast also includes the likes of Billy Dee Williams, Eddie Izzard, Channing Tatum and Rosario Dawson as Barbara Gordon. Incidentally, Barbara favours a more group effort to crime fighting in Gotham city, given that despite Batman’s years of effort, crime levels haven’t changed and all the Batman villains are still on the loose (the too-many-villains criticism levelled at many superhero movies is also amusingly satirised). Needless to say this does not sit well with Batman’s lone vigilante work ethic, but throughout the course of the film he learns the predictable lessons of the importance of family, the need for, whisper it, “teamwork”, and so on.

Despite being utterly demented, The Lego Batman Movie does feel like a proper Batman film, emphasising fun rather than darkness, but also very aware of it’s own history, with references and even clips from previous Batman movies. When Batman tells Robin they are going to punch the villains so hard “words describing their impact are going to spontaneously materialise”, it is impossible not to feel a sense of joy at the sheer cine-literacy of the filmmakers. Some of these jokes are obvious, some are subtle, some are blink-and-you-miss-them, some are for the children, some for the adults, some for the fans… In fact, you could argue this film has something for everyone (I got a particular kick out of a subtle reference to John Williams’s score for Richard Donner’s Superman during Batman’s visit to the Man of Steel).

In short, The Lego Batman Movie is a very good half-term family trip to the cinema. You could argue it doesn’t quite have the heart of The Lego Movie, but on its own terms it is a roaring success.

Toni Erdmann, which has been Oscar nominated for this year’s best foreign language film, is a triumph of surreal, awkward, painful and poignant dark humour. Comparisons with The Office (the UK version) are not unjustified although this is a very singular beast.

Winfriend Conradi (Peter Simonischek) is a practical joker attempting to reconnect with his somewhat estranged daughter Ines (Sandra Huller), who works as a corporate strategist schmoozing oil company clients in Bucharest. He travels to Bucharest and starts to gatecrash her life, posing as her CEO’s (non-existent) life coach Toni Erdmann by sporting a wig and fake teeth. What follows really needs to be seen to be believed, particularly in two stand-out scenes; one involving an impromptu musical number, and the other a birthday party featuring quite possibly the funniest nervous breakdown ever put on film, for reasons that are too convoluted and hysterically funny to spoil.

In any other hands, this kind of material could have fallen flat on it’s face, but somehow writer/director Maren Ade manages to not only make this work, but make it work brilliantly, and at a surprising length too (the film runs for two hours forty-two minutes, but doesn’t feel a frame too long). Performances are outstanding, the documentary style direction superb, and quite honestly I strongly suspect this could win the big prize for foreign language film come Oscar night. It is worth adding warnings as this contains strong language, hard drug use, nudity and one eye-wateringly awkward sexual moment that whilst hysterically funny, will prove too much for some constitutions. This is absolutely not for the easily offended.

For everyone else however, Toni Erdmann is a raw, painfully honest tragic-comedy that explores its estranged father/daughter themes with surprising poignancy. The underlying message is laudable and more relevant than ever, namely that we have but a few years in which our children chase us for attention, and if we miss it, we could end up chasing them for attention in an attempt to make amends for past regrets. It also explores how the pursuit of career can bring profound unhappiness, and cause us to miss what is important in life. None of these insights are particularly new, but they are examined here in such a unique way that they feel very fresh.

It’s hard to believe US laws prohibiting marriage between races still existed in the early 1960s, but Loving, the new film from Jeff Nichols, provides a sobering reminder of such alarmingly recent times and attitudes. That said, it is important to stress that Loving is a subtle and quietly touching piece of work that celebrates everyday innate human decency, rather than something designed to provoke outrage in an obvious way.

The film tells the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga), a young couple who marry after Mildred falls pregnant. They decide to go to Washington DC to get married, purely because there is less paperwork. Upon return to Virginia they are promptly arrested for having an illegal marriage and told they potentially face jail time, unless they leave the State. The ACLU later picks up on their story, and the case is poised to make legal history, going all the way to the Supreme Court.

Had this been directed by, say, an Oliver Stone or a Spike Lee, this would have been a very different film. However, instead of being an angry polemic with raging courtroom battles and scenery chewing, Loving quietly tells the story from the point of view of a married couple who simply want to be left alone. Indeed, Nichols’s direction is so full of poignant, tender moments between the couple – holding hands in a car, cuddling up on a sofa, sitting on a porch at night – that a surprisingly intimate tone is generated. The viewer almost feels as though they are intruding on private moments, and of course that is exactly how the Lovings felt. Richard particularly comes to dislike the ACLU lawyers and press that intrude into their family life, even though obviously they are trying to help. However, Mildred understands the political battle far more than Richard, and sees the press intrusion as a necessary weapon in the bigger fight for civil rights.

The lead performances are superb, especially from the Oscar nominated Ruth Negga. Nichols is rapidly becoming one of America’s most consistently interesting directors, and whilst this this might ultimately prove too understated for some tastes, Loving is nonetheless a warm, humane and deeply moving film.