And Then We Danced - incomprehensibly

It was ok but not knowing the homophobic background in Georgia or really appreciating the formal nature of Georgian dance as an expression of a particular cultural background it didn't really resonate.

Several quite nice scenes - the tour of the underground Tibliski nightlife, the wedding party, using quite fluid camerawork and ensemble acting.

The stuff in the dance studio by contrast didn't work for me. 

Ashes of a Road Trip

Quite entertaining but let down by a silly scene near the end where Alex is tied to a cross in a church for no obvious reason.

Ignore the official critics

Despite being "a critical and commercial failure" this is actually very good. If you've read the book you'll have to make allowances for the need to distil the essence of a long and complex book into a 2 hour film - often this is a recipe for trivialisation, over simplifying, dumbing down and missing the key points in the narrative.

Not so here - the film captures the essence of the book and illustrates it brilliantly - so much so that at some points I "remembered" having seen the film before - which I definitely had not.

If you haven't read the book, then the film stands on its own as a story of growing up; hard knocks  (in a privileged bubble), hard friendships, and life unexpected.