Dreambuilders (out Jan 7) is Inception for kids. It’s a Danish animated feature (dubbed into English) about a young girl who finds a way to change dreams. The film is pushing well-worn themes but I like the way they’re presented. Grade: B.

Monster Hunter (out Jan 1) features an increasing number of monsters and a dwindling number of hunters. I liked the scenario (humans sucked into a parallel universe) but the action scenes become familiar and tiring as the film progresses. Grade: B-.

Dragon Rider (out Jan 1) is both mimicking and mocking the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. This German animated feature, dubbed into English, is about a dragon who teams up with a human to find a mysterious land. Grade: B-.

Pieces of a Woman (out Dec 31) opens with a 23-minute unedited scene of a young woman giving birth (all before the opening title) and then transforms into a character study centered around a tragedy. There are clunky elements (eg the legal case) and too many subplots but Vanessa Kirby’s lead performance makes it a film to remember. Grade: B+.

Soul (out Dec 25 on Disney+) is an animated feature about a middle-aged music teacher who falls down a pothole, travels to the afterlife and then must find a way home. This is deep, creative and beautiful. The kind of movie you could love as a 10-year-old and then love as a 40-year-old for completely different reasons. Grade: A.

Wonder Woman 1984 (out Dec 26) comes up short when compared to its predecessor. I’m energised by Hans Zimmer’s music score and I think Gal Gadot is a terrific choice for the lead role... but this is a formulaic superhero movie that takes few chances. The plot doesn't make much sense and the villain's motives are weak. Grade: B-.

Nomadland (out Dec 26) is centred on a 60-something-year-old widower (Frances McDormand) who, after losing her house and job in 2011, now travels around the United States in a simple van. Largely using non-professional actors, director Chloé Zhao pulls you into this world and makes you feel part of it. There's no huge character transformations or a “they all lived happily ever after” finale. It’s the kind of movie that asks you to observe and reflect. Grade: A-.

Superintelligence (out Dec 17) is centred on an ordinary woman who must prove to a powerful artificial intelligence device that the world is worth saving. It's light on laughs and the story is nonsensical and poorly developed. That said, I didn't mind the more poignant scenes between the two leads, Melissa McCarthy and Bobby Cannavale. Grade: C+.

The Croods: A New Age (out Dec 26) isn't selling any new messages but it's a serviceable sequel to the 2013 original. This time around the cave-dwelling family learn there's more to the world than they think (including bananas). Grade: B-.

Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (out Dec 26) is the perfect documentary (it's just over 70 mins) for those who love desserts. An acclaimed Israeli-English chef teams up with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to recreate/reimagine desserts consumed by French royalty during the 17th and 18th century. It won't change the world but it delivers what it promises. Grade: B.