Angie Errigo

As he did with "The English Patient," Minghella has reshaped the novel’s structure, zeroed in on what matters cinematically and dramatically upped the emotional stakes.

Marvelous supporting performances from scene-stealing Kirby, Maximilian Schell, Paul Benedict as the nutty professor and Frank Whaley as Broderick's quiff-coiffed room mate pile on the pleasures, but the sight of Marlon Brando on ice skates is surely the absolute treat in a film well worth rooting for.

Comedy doesn't come much more classic. If you haven't seen it, it's about time you did.

A mysterious army of enemies, with no suggested motive and, what's worse, they're your friendly garden crows. Clamps itself to your recollection and doesn't let go.

While it may not be perfect on a technical level, dramatically it’s a blow-your-socks-off triumph. Be moved. Very, very moved.

Altogether, this is as fine a piece of craftsmanship as one could expect of Eastwood, with Hackman and I Freeman's performances standing out, and given the sombre tone there are entertaining surprises and even some good laughs to be had.

Key to its success - along with its vivid characters and brilliant performances - is the snappy pace throughout. Non-stop gags, invention, twists and comic incident flow, as Joe and Jerry - sexy Curtis and screamingly funny Lemmon - elude mob boss George Raft by wriggling into an all-girl jazz band, with Josephine and Daphne’s legendary drag act taking in amorous adventures, seductive deceptions and madcap pursuits.

Inspired, innovative, stunning, with unforgettable performances and images, this is up there with the great screen Shakespeares. The playwright surely would be thrilled with it in its full-blooded vigour.

Damn, damn funny.

Utterly absorbing, extremely smart and - considering this is a sad, shabby, drably grey-green world of obsessives, misfits, misdirection, disillusionment, self-delusion and treachery - quite beautifully executed.

Wow! It may not be art or good taste, but throbbing melodrama doesn't come with more conviction. Even to those usually turned off by the tough Crawford, Mildred is compelling.

It was Roman Polanski's genius, however, that made the film not merely an intelligent and intricate narrative but a great, disturbing vision.

Another great, landmark American film of the '70s.

Its faults - sketchy narrative, overblown abstraction - are counterbalanced by its gripping engagement between man and machine, and its rhapsodic wonder at heaven and earth and the infinite beyond.

Much more fun than its stuffy "Greatest Film Ever Made" tag suggests, with a literate script, stylish direction, a great song and cinema's most romantic couple in Bogie and Bergman.

Still one of the most thrilling and thoroughly entertaining of all musicals.

This is a superbly crafted, landmark film which invested a much-derided and frequently ludicrous genre with a welcome degree of dignity and respectability.

Flawed but staggering cinema, the unforgettable Apocalypse Now setpieces are extraordinary.

Day-Lewis and Pfeifer are on top form with Ryder giving the performance of her career.

Terrific: tough, exciting, funny, gorgeous and bewitchingly acted, this is darn close to perfection.

Astonishing cinematography and brilliantly played, this certainly one of the most influential crime movies in history.

One of the most accomplished, influential and enjoyable films of the '70s.

Depp puts in a reliable performance as the put-upon son who finds solace in the company of waitress, Juliette Lewis. All three deliver memorable performances along with a strong supporting cast.

Terrific. Michael Shannon delivers a fractured everyman who'll stay with you long after the final frame.

It's that smile playing on Rosemary's lips, suggesting that her maternal instinct and the conspirators' hold on this vapid baby doll have prevailed, that provides the biggest chill.

A clear winner that makes you laugh, cry, and generally want to party and parade like it’s 1984.

A stand-out romantic fantasy and surefire hit of Ghost-ly proportions. But all you cynical and smart-arsed brethren, beware: this is definitely not for you.

These episodic adventures are a joy to watch and although not all of them are as memorable as each other, each has an entertaining quality that means the film as a whole will stick with you for a long time. Feore is excellent as the pianist, even though you never actually see him play.

An over-strung last act aside, this is funny, brilliant and sickening all at the same time.

Extremely well done and well acted, it’s an attractive, appealing, involving adaptation, just not as iconic as the ’60s film.

Two absolutely riveting performances and a smart reversal of the usual male-female stalker scenario leave behind a nasty taste and an unforgettable cinema experience.

There have been many Draculas. But the one against which all others are measured is Bela Lugosi. Tod Browning's 1931 film is stagey and creaky, but it also has wonderful, unforgettable moments.

For another, this film is that still shamefully rare pleasure, an absorbing ensemble piece in which a fine group of actors get to show their class and range, playing a black American family who are prosperous, cultured and complex.

Remains hilarious throughout.

Very funny underdog comedy that’s genuinely heartwarming and full of charm.

DJ Audrey Wells' crafty screenplay brims with truths about the sexes, providing great lines for Garofalo, and great business for Thurman's confused waif, and cranks the feelgood factor up so high it's almost off the scale.

The only phoney note, ironically, comes from Miller's gaffe of enlisting retired Yorkshire biochemist Don Suddaby, extractor of the said oil, for a self-conscious appearance as himself. That aside, this is exhausting, intelligent and undeniably moving .

The dazzling ensemble perfectly captures every nuance in one of the finest acting showcases you could hope for.

This is a startlingly superior piece of craftsmanship, with the flavour of life and richness of the script conveyed via uniformly wonderful performances. Above all, though, it's Lee's foodie masterstrokes, as Chu prepares his elaborate menus, that make the film so mouth-wateringly unforgettable.

It's a tale told with considerable warmth and humour, some spiffing explosions and a multiple-hanky act of self-sacrifice to round things off.

Falling on the meaty, potential role of a lifetime like a ravenous lion, erstwhile comedian Jamie Foxx, so good in "Collateral," is just wonderful as the eponymous star.

Offbeat and downbeat, it’s a film full of thoughtful stillness, powerful moods, reflective internal struggles and shattering, lonely self-realisation, suggesting more critical kudos than commercial impact.

Along with the psychological intrigue there is romance and wit. And fans will enjoy Hitch's most amusing trademark cameo: photographed as before and after silhouettes in a newspaper ad for diet product Reduco.

Dedicated to Morris’ champion, Roger Ebert, who would be proud, this is a provocative, revelatory and disturbing film.

A thoroughly pleasing family film with fine performances and honest, affecting real situations mixed with joyful adventure.

If you can overlook the smarm and the historical airbrushing there's much to enjoy here.

Simply terrific, enormously watchable and an absolute must for all Eastwood fans. Gotta say it: this film will make your day.

It's easy to dismiss Branagh's Shakespeare productions as nothing new, but before he went on to more heavy duty fare such as Hamlet, he made this bright, accessible romantic comedy which still stands out as one of his greater directorial efforts. The cast are a joy to watch, while the beautiful location matches the romantic mood.

A Hugely, irresistibly enjoyable, with star chemistry to spare, genuine laughs and tears, and the bonus of apt Lennon songs on the soundtrack.

A very neatly plotted blend of elaborate heist and twisting thriller, peppered with amusing gags and smart one-liners for its top class ensemble.

Wang never loses the pieces, directing with clarity, force and evident affection, building a multi-plotted, multi-layered collection of intimate individual stories into a sweeping, emotional mosaic of life. Wonderful.

An enchanting story played out by a great female cast, particularly Cavazos as the poor Tita, and unique visuals from Arau. With equal parts melodrama, comedy, tragedy and cookery, Like Water For Chocolate adapts well from script to screen, unlike most Hollywood attempts.

A richer plot, life lessons and loving Chinese cultural references rendered by turns sweet, scary and charming, with yet more fantastical kung fu, make this an engaging winner. Stunning visuals make it real art as well.

Coming from a novice director, the film is not as impressive as "Sense And Sensibility", but as a light-hearted and energetic comedy of who-loves-who? and small upsets, this works well - and it boasts Paltrow's star-making turn.

Among the excellent principals, top-billed Turturro enlivens things wonderfully, but the real star, Buy, is magnificent.

Sharp, very funny, surprisingly moving and rejoicing in great work from the entire cast, this sparkling little gem takes the family road movie to unhoped-for heights of hilarity and humanity.

A cracking conspiracy thriller that's well-cast, slyly satirical and -- as a solid, glossy, contemporised remix of a classic -- rings enough creepy changes to surprise.

Rigorous adaptation of the notoriously "difficult" play.

Talk about a pleasant surprise! Real storytelling, well thought-out and beautifully, at times insanely, executed, with excitement, laughs and fun to make you feel seven years old again.

It wouldn’t be like Martin Scorsese to pick up the tabs on a simple sequel, and this glossy, hard-spoken pool drama, a follow-on from The Hustler, never aligns to the simple organising principle of repeat value.

If Fosse's film fails to capture the man or his art completely, it remains a damn good place to start.

Lyne's efforts to be both passionate and artistic are generally successful, although a few sex scenes are disturbing and arguably close to salacious.

It's a mostly winning combination of sassy humour and sentiment, enlivened by some fun "newsreel" recreations that catch the period flavour of a sport adopting showbiz tactics - flirty-skirted uniforms, cheesecake stunts and skin-scraping do-or-die game plays - to attract the crowds.

Of sentiment there is too much and the final sequence when the white men inevitably rear their heads and raise their rifles so fraught with tears and peril as to be exhaustingly melodramatic.

Apart from the odd titter, this is a sound formula suspense movie with spiffy set piece thrills, directed with assurance by Dead Calm's Philip Noyce and attractively played by the plausibly anxious principals.

The word 'icon' is overused but as this charming Muhammad Ali portrait shows, occasionally it's utterly warranted.

A superior, haunting thriller of abduction, deception and ethical dilemma with a sobering ending - a moral quandary that demands strong debate outside the cinema.

The performances transform this otherwise orthodox cat-and-mouse movie into a gripping experience.

It has grown a little thin with age, especially Gere’s yuppie baiting speeches, but there’s a hardness here, an aversion to the dumb action thrills of the genre, that keeps it respectably high up the scale.

Adorable. Ad-or-able. It will melt even the coldest heart.

A slow burner; intense, utterly engrossing and believable.

Not as divine as Ang Lee's "Sense and Sensibility," but engagingly comparable to the Gwyneth Paltrow-starring Emma and vastly superior to Mansfield Park.

William H. Macy is a scream as the composite radio announcer whose hyperbolic racetrack reports are not only hilarious, but illustrate the impact of radio in creating a mass culture and how it was instrumental in making sporting events a nationwide obsession.

Exciting, ironic, with assured direction, accomplished performances and the tension of topical themes, this is Shakespeare as relevant as you like it.

A crowdpleaser that also tells an important story about showbiz, it’s fab. You’ll come out singing.

As with Platoon, Stone captures the horrific essence of an environment and transfers it to us without the need for prior knowledge. Dazzling filmmaking.

Very funny, it's also penetrating on the ravages of time on love and marriage and sweetly touching, but with abundantly incongruous randy content to heartily amuse.

Handsomely done and beautifully acted, just slightly wanting in a screenplay that leaves questions unanswered about what's behind these unhappy people. And it's ultra-depressing...

Stylish, sophisticated, simmering crime and character drama with Shakespearean dimension and bravura performances. Who knew heating oil could be a sexy subject?

One for lovers of ravishing craft, although the elusive emotional engagement is frustrating.

A rounded portrayal that leaves an overwhelming sense of the miraculousness of life.

An effective look at women's lives in a decidedly non-Hollywood setting.

Surprisingly sentimental by turns, this emerges not as just another gangster initiation movie, but as a story of father and son love with enough guts to hold those anticipating the former, while also touching the heart.

Smart, honest, sickeningly funny and supremely well judged in the writing, direction and acting.

Iain Softley directs his feature debut with simplicity and feeling, and you don't have to have been a Beatles fan to get with the beat. Gives you hope for the British film industry.

For anyone who appreciates artistic integrity and is interested in genuinely independent films, the prolific and highly personal work of John Sayles is essential viewing.

Just wonderful with its offbeat but wholly credible storyline, down-to-earth style and exceptionally fine performances.

A superior directorial debut for a smart, literate screenwriter delivers both first-class character drama and edge-of-your-seat suspense.

There is delight and distress in equal measure: for his talent, mischief, waywardness, for the disillusionment and tragedy of his later years. Unique.

Ardent, accomplished, overwhelmingly emotional, with something to say and a dream cast saying it in song. Bravo.

Funny peculiar and funny ha ha, with a spontaneity and energy that gather up a powerful emotional head of steam as it chugs along.

Original, sad, suspenseful and involving: the kind of work that helps independent American cinema retain its good name.

A stirring, lushly-constructed celebration of youthful spirit.

The allusions and illusions are just a treat until about two-thirds of the way in, when a genuinely shocking development takes the film off into psycho-horror that is almost as baffling as it is unsatisfying.

Unashamedly romantic and achieved with a beautifully subtle, old-fashioned elegance, it’s a graceful coming-of-age tale ripe for awards.

Think The Archers with a sprinkling of trendier folk and a lot more shagging. Very intelligently funny, with stellar performances.

Elevated from nice to beautifully memorable by wonderful performances and thoughtful direction of perfect small moments.

Streep and Eastwood's chemistry makes the film.