By Justin Bateman

Yesterday morning's press screening of Shame was a busy one. It could have been because Steve (Hunger, not Bullitt) McQueen's film wowed the critics at this year's Venice Film Festival or it could have been because Michael Fassbender appears naked in it. I'm sure it wasn't the latter though. It's not like there were loads of women at the screening. Oh, hang on a minute...

The script by Will Reiser is genuinely funny and is helped enormously by Rogen, JGL and especially Anna Kendrick who plays Adam's inexperienced therapist. Anjelica Huston provides excellent support as Adam's over-protective mother and tops off what is an entertaining and funny film.

Having already missed out on several weeks' worth of press screenings for the 55th London Film Festival, I was determined to make the most of my first day.

And what better way to start my festival than with a film ostensibly about suicide. Takashi Miike's Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai appealed to me not least because of the impression 13 Assassins made on me earlier this year. And not just the impressive swordsmanship but also the notion of honour that comes with the life of the samurai. Also set in 17th century Japan, Death of a Samurai is a very different beast, slow and emotive, and focused very much on poverty, vengeance although again honour. It's a tough watch but if you're in the mood for something grim and moving, this might just be for you.

17 Girls is a French film based on a true story which took place in Massachusetts, USA, in 2008. A teenage high school girl accidentally becomes pregnant which, partly of her own making, sets in place a ripple effect. One by one all of her friends and many others at her school decide that having a baby is the thing to do, much to the confusion of the boys and the annoyance and distress of their parents and teachers. It's an odd trend, to say the least, but it's well constructed, atmospherically shot and beautifully performed by the young cast.

With Australian serial killer drama Snowtown moved to Monday at the last minute, I instead saw She Monkeys, a Swedish coming of age drama. When teenager Emma joins an equestrian acrobat troupe (yeah, yet another one of those films) she is drawn to an older girl called Cassandra. The film concentrates on their relationship but at least as interesting is Emma's pre-pubescent sister Sara, a precocious young thing who has a crush on her older cousin and something of an obsession with horses. There's even an unexpected not to say bizarre scene of horse jiggy which certinaly had me baffled. Overall though, it's an intruiguing take on a fairly standard story.

• The 55th BFI London Film Festival runs until Thursday 27 October 2011

When it emerged that John Le Carre's cold war spy novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (henceforth TTSS) was being adapted for the big screen I can't honestly say I was massively enthused. I'd never read any of his books or even seen Smiley's People, the BBC production starring Alec Guinness so it had nothing to live up to.

The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and critics fell over themselves to praise it. Words like 'atmospheric' and 'gripping' were being bandied around. As well as a starring a veritable who's who of modern British cinema, it was directed by Tomas Alfredsson who had made the Swedish vampire tale Let The Right One In. I'd loved that and he could certainly do atmosphere so that was promising.

After weeks of further acclaim I finally saw TTSS at the weekend and was rather underwhelmed and disappointed. The acting is great, no doubt about that. Gary Oldman as George Smiley underplays it marvellously and he's supported by Cumberland Bandersnatch - that's his name, right? You know, BBC's Sherlock Holmes - Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, Mark Strong et al. As promised, Alfredsson delivers on atmosphere. It's all smoky and muffled and most of all beige. This is that 70s, not the lurid disco version.

Where it fails for me is in any sense of drama. The characters are, by and large, so withdrawn and secretive that it's virtually impossible to feel any empathy or sympathy for them. The plot hinges on finding the mole in the British secret service and yet we're given minimal information by way of clues. Unable to join in with the game of whodunit but even if I wanted to, the big reveal ends up being a bit 'so what?' because a) I didn't care about any of them and b) I couldn't see the long or even short term ramifications. Perhaps the idea that in the end it doesn't matter what people do is realistic but if the outcome is that the viewer isn't engaged then that's a problem.

Critics will doubtless claim that the ponderous pace, lack of information and emphasis on furtive glances rather than actions represents spying accurately. Well, that's as maybe but six hours of a man on a riverbank reading a book may well represent the reality of fishing but it doesn't make it entertaining.

I think another reason critics are all over it is because it's different. Very few filmmakers have the balls to make a film as long and slow as this, focusing on subtlety and nuance - there's almost no money to be made from it. Like them or not, the Transformers films made billions and so films like TTSS are a welcome respite for the hardened film reviewer. Probably the vast majority of films a critic see in any given year will be rubbish so anything showing a bit of skill and, dare I say, art, is universally applauded.

There is a lot to admire in TTSS but given the hype I was hoping for something a lot more engaging, moving even. Alfredsson knows what he's doing behind the camera, that's for sure and I'm keen to see what he does next.

As an alternative to TTSS I'd like to recommend two films which have a similar feel but which I feel deliver on intrigue and emotion a lot more successfully. Interestingly, both won Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. First, there's The Lives of Others, set in 1980s East Germany  and centres on surveillance in the Cold War. It's necessarily quiet, slow moving and unflashy but manages to be a taut thriller and a devastating piece of cinema.

The second film is The Secret in Their Eyes, a mystery-drama-thriller from Argentina. Spanning several decades it follows an investigation into a murder of a young woman by a police detective who becomes obsessed with the case. It's wonderfully shot and although long provides a terrific conclusion, just when you think you have it sussed.