Ian Nathan

For much of its slowburn build there is a classy, intelligent thriller at work, something closer in tone to The Odessa File. Still, you must remain guarded to how over the top and quasi-horror events will finally turn.

What a peculiar but effective children’s adventure movie this is.

Already a hit in America, 42 is a well-told but square biopic doing justice to Jackie Robinson rather than exploring him.

One for the die hards. The saving grace here is a knowing sense of humour so lacking in its predecessor, For Your Eyes Only.

In the grand pantheon of Sinbad movies, those pleasurable Arabesques of silly beasts, big swords and scantily clad maidens, this lower league Ray Harryhausen stop-motion thriller squeezes between the better Eye Of The Tiger and the worse Seventh Voyage.

This sprawling epic rewards patience with an emotional pay-off and non-triumphant ending that reminds us all too starkly of the sacrifices made during war.

Forgettable, innocent, old fashioned fairy tale with not nearly as much sexual chemistry as is required.

Michael Caine as a Nazi and Donald Pleasance as Himmler...what more could you want?

Highly-evolved it ain't, but this Stone Age slacker is a lot of fun.

What begins as a thrilling pastiche of comic-book formula gets bogged down in its own scientific prattle — not that you ever stop adoring Johansson’s magnificent heroine.

A tormented movie about torment; loopy, over-reaching and occasionally suspicious. Simultaneously, it is a daring artistic endeavour.

It's not the plot that disappoints, it's the poor dialogue between action sequences. Sadly another film to file under not as good as the book.

Classic War caper with a few too many plot contrivances but high on adventure.

A bit silly really but it has a bizarre mix of a cast and some tension in places.

The effects may have dated, as have the Cold War themes, but the almost real time adventure still has some tension to offer.

The tale from the past is very nostalgic, heartwarming and mouth-watering and all, as Idgie and Ruth cook up a storm, are kindly to their black domestics and stand up to piggy men while events fitfully progress to a courtroom climax. And Masterson is a peach. But the best bits belong to Bates as her dreary Evelyn raises her consciousness, lowers her weight and starts speaking her mind. It's a nice, pleasant celebration of friendship, but without much meat to chew on.

It’s ragged round the edges, but then Fritz Kiersch is working with a budget Roger Corman would laugh at, and he does a good job.

On one level a fascinating refraction of the Amanda Knox trial into an examination of perception, on another an increasingly trying hall of mirrors.

Smart and satirical but very dated, obviously.

Derivative sci-fi hokum but some imaginative touches here and there.

An insanely effective no-brainer of a film, sparkling with a simple charm and energy rarely witnessed this side of illegal substances.

The definitive wacky screwball comedy that spawned a genre.

Family dysfunction to make Jeremy Kyle blush, but thanks to McConaughey's oily power and Friedkin's unflinching purpose it's a compelling beast.

Vallée’s post-traumatic stress comedy is more scientific than genuinely moving. Nevertheless, Gyllenhaal continues his post-Nightcrawler upgrade with another vivid performance in the key of strange.

Not a masterpiece, by any stretch of the imagination, but it's pleasing to see a sequel strive so hard to reach the same heights. That it fails is through no fault of its own - the original simply raised the bar too high.

One of the most legendary tear-jerkers of the 20th century.

Fairly routine western makes a disappointing swansong for Hawks. Still good fun though, if you like this kind of thing.

For all it boasts in ingenious style, this genial American yarn lacks the delicious bile of Jenuet’s early days.