Sing Street – 7

There can never be too many movies about misfit high schoolers who form a rock band to get the girl of their dreams (although the Swedish We’re the Best was the exception proving the rule). This one from Ireland was a bit of a stretch, although the impossibly good music the tyro band produced was pleasanter on the ear than reality would have been. In the end, like most rom-coms, it came down to how much one enjoyed watching the young lovers, not to mention suspending disbelief as they motored, penniless, off to sea.

Viva – 7.5

A very sweet movie about a young Cuban caught between his macho, ex-con father and his aspirations as a drag queen. There are plenty of cliches and moments of predictable melodrama, but the setting – the slums of Havana – is realistic enough that you forgive some predictabilities in this, surprisingly, Irish-made film. Most of all, the lead actor, Hector Medina, is so guileless and winning that you feel a happy ending is, realistic or not, more than deserved.