Kim Newman

Dark, twisted and beautiful, this entwines fairy-tale fantasy with war-movie horror to startling effect.

Managing to be cynical and heartwarming at the same time, this is an almost perfect satire on the American Institution of beauty pageants.

It's an intelligent, well-written, excellently played movie, with top flight gore/horror effects, perverse humour and a provocatively bleak vision. Also, it has the world's first true zombie hero in Bub, who listens to Beethoven and eats people.

Gripping throughout, with an impressive central performance, this is like a Dogme 95 redo of a Chuck Norris film - by heroic effort, the good guys find and kill a bad guy. How you feel about that is something Bigelow leaves you to decide.

For a change, we're in a privileged position, always knowing more than the characters we're following, understanding their wrong-headed thought processes, appreciating the ironies they miss, seeing where a slightly different bit of behaviour would have saved lives or led to happier endings.

Even if you’ve skipped the Dardennes’ work until now, this is a talking-point movie — and an outstanding lead performance — you need to see. It’s a rare film of unforced simplicity that will stick with you for a long time. And it’s honest right to its perfectly judged ending.

This is a great director's greatest love story.

Even one-scene characters are unforgettable, but Sayles really gets under the skin of his struggling-to-be-heroic leads, Sam and Pilar. Long after this summer's crop of action flicks is gone, you'll watch this for the third or fourth time and see fresh material. Outstanding.

If you set aside Frankenstein as more of a horror film and King Kong as a fantasy, The Invisible Man is the first truly great American science fiction film.

This really is the musical for people who don’t like musicals.

Even if you think you've seen this story too often, Big Bad Wolves will surprise and enthrall. A thriller which bites deep, it has a light touch which finds humanity even in the worst horrors.

The funniest, most deliciously venomous Jane Austen movie ever made, and conclusive proof that, a) Kate Beckinsale has been seriously undervalued by the movies and, b) Whit Stillman is a major, distinctive talent.

Eichhorn, who should have had a much bigger career, is luminous as the sad-eyed heroine, while Heard pulls off the showy role - especially in a climax that finds him rampaging through a posh party at the Cord estate in search of justice.

Beautiful photography, a heartbreaking story, and iconic moments from beginning to end. Absolutely unmissable.

Keeping the dialogue minimal and the action high on the agenda, life in Paris' underworld proves to be surprisingly yet suitably violent and threatening.

Bogart as Marlowe is compelling in this classic thriller that is complex but triumph of atmospheric cool.

Flawless, essential viewing that would earn more than its five stars if only Empire would allow it.

Of course, this is a film you have to meet half-way. If you’re willing to enter its world, it’s an immensely rewarding, amusing, wise, melancholy and involving experience.

Part of its strength is that it’s not a glossy, predictable Hollywood horror and so it has a grainy, semi-amateur, black and white look which gives it a dread sense of conviction.

Paul Newman gives one of his best performances in this prison film, where he inspires life in to his fellow inmates. Has something important to say with several memorable moments and a superb supporting cast.

The film has outstanding sound effects, art direction and editing, and a clutch of effective, if necessarily, one-note performances.

Al Pacino delivers a powerful performance in this compelling biopic...of a cop and a city's police force.

Shades of Pinter and Beckett are affectionately retouched with dark humour, dynamic wordplay and a tension all Kubrick's.

None of the humans — not even scream queen Wray — can compete with Kong. But the film remains a perfect star vehicle. It prepares for its hero's entrance with hints of mystery, violence, eroticism and fantasy, then cuts loose with all the action, adventure.

No mere creature feature, this 1940s classic offers more subtle chills.

A well observed and deeply tender tale.

Superbly Vincent Price!

A wonderful picture set in a world of silly heirs and sharp-eyed dolls as remote from reality and yet wholly credible as that of P. G. Wodehouse.

It's a tragedy that someone else' happy ending is tacked onto his tale, but the film retains enough brilliance to make us glad it's been re-released.

Von Trier is a burr under the hide for many viewers, and the unconverted won't be convinced. But it's audacious, beautiful, tactful filmmaking and perhaps the perfect match for "The Tree Of Life" on a bipolar double bill.

With its genuinely cute hero and appealing storyline, Dumbo's exactly right for younger children but not too milk-soppy for anyone over eight. Indispensible.

The City Of Lost Children is as great a film as you thought "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was when you were five years old.

Genuinely disturbing thriller classic from the master of suspense.

Epic performances in a movie that seethes with atmosphere.

A subtle criqiue of the main character that contains some astonishing set pieces.

The greatest laugh-out-loud comedy of the 80s.

An absolute must.

Utterly compelling - Sean Penn is a powerhouse in support - and with a railway station set - piece in which De Palma actually betters what was his previously Untouchable effort.

Clouzot achieves an analysis of the human condition at least as bleak as Huston's The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre but without the grandstanding speeches and with more subtle performances.

Spartacus' merry rabble swarms across country to face a Roman army that, seen from a distance, resembles either a group of ants moving in perfect formation or living chessboard squares marching in order — an unbeatable, fascist machine. It's a breathtaking moment, which forces you to realise that Kubrick (before CGI) had to command extras as rigidly as Crassus runs Rome.

Great effects for its time and some incredible performances makes this a true cinema classic.

Savagely witty on backstage life and audaciously edited, Jazz stands alongside Cabaret as the best “musical” of the last 20 years.

Cleverly wrought and expertly played crime thriller.

Absolutely brilliant. It's funnier, sadder and cooler on the big screen.

Well, even if it is essentially four hours about a selfish, silly cow, it's impeccably well made, and should be seen by anyone with even a passing interest in romance or movies.

A well-warranted remastering of his Aussie new wave classic.

Kurosawa is always worth a look but this is a particular classic that has influenced so much to come, it's almost essential.

Humane and harrowing, highly recommended. This one will stay with you.

One of the strongest, most effective horror films of recent years — with awards-quality lead work from Essie Davis, and a brilliantly designed new monster who could well become the break-out spook archetype of the decade.

In 1956 audiences flocked to The Searchers precisely because it was a John Wayne western, and lapped up its mix of Injun-fightin' action, rough comic knockabout and intense, emotional storyline. Seen now, it is all that and much, much more.

A movie masterpiece.

Because it is a sequel, it's less satisfying than the more idea-driven original, but this is still top-flight kick-ass entertainment

Lemmon and Mathau's finest hour.

If hell is in the details, Roman Polanski has captured it here in his disturbing portrait of falling into psychosis.

Bogart and Cagney are gloriously dark in this gangster tour-de-force.

Deep down, you know it's not as good as Seven Samurai — but few films are. You also know that next time it's on television, you'll find yourself watching it.

It's a deep film, but also elusive, accepting that some mysteries can never be solved.

Beautifully directed with a lovely visual lyricism, this film packs a western punch with perfect performances and a fine script.

On the strength of only two films, McDonagh and Gleeson are a director/star team on a par with Ford/Wayne, Fellini/Mastroianni or Scorsese/De Niro. Calvary is gripping, moving, funny and troubling, down to an uncompromising yet uncynical finish.

A much-maligned and misunderstood classic, this is one of Kubrick's finest movies.

Even though he was just staring out, Kubrick instantly mastered the crime genre. A stunning film.

An outstanding film, showcasing a great performance, at once celebrating, analysing and criticising an important writer and his major book. You'll appreciate it more if you've read "In Cold Blood" recently and have seen enough footage of the real Truman Capote to know Hoffman is underplaying.

Among the most purely entertaining films of the year, which cuts its laughter with a dose of Celtic melancholy. It still delivers cop/action requirements - shoot-outs, revenges, daring deeds - and chances are, we'll be quoting lines from this forever.

Overall this film is truly a triumph, its greatness being revealed in its tiny moments - the close-up of a swastika badge that introduces Neeson or the bungled defiance of Fiennes at his hanging.

Now, it's a slower film, with a little more intellect and sentiment, but perhaps the added time to think will make you feel less overwhelmed.

At once a devastating, curiously uplifting inhuman drama and a superbly crafted genre exercise, Let The Right One In can stand toe-to-toe with Spirit Of The Beehive, Pan's Labyrinth or Orphee. See it.

However, as with Dead Ringers, Cronenberg approaches a touchy concept with a mixture of icy tact and cinematic daring, always informing the wilfully perverse material with a penetrating intelligence and (almost subliminally) very black wit.

Intelligent science-fiction sometimes seems an endangered species - too much physics and there's a risk of creating something cold and remote, too many explosions and get lost in the multiplex. Looper isn't perfect, but it pulls off the full Wizard Of Oz: it has a brain, courage and a heart.

The kind of film that starts off with a climax and builds to a plateau of surrealist delirium that, one way or another, will have you shrieking.

Measured in pace, yet thoroughly gripping and completely accessible. The title soft-sells the picture, but it's among the best of this or any year. And Manville should clear some shelf space for well-deserved awards.

Superlative crime yarn adapted with precision and skill from the classic James M. Cain novel.

And with supporting roles from the likes of Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall and Lee Strasberg, to say nothing of Roger Corman and Harry Dean Stanton in bit parts, this is nothing short of magisterial.

A dazzling spy thriller that’s still amazing.

A quality ghost story with an unusual backdrop and great performances.

It shouldn't work, but it does.

The effects, arguably the best of the year, only add to the thrill.

A uniquely British blend of excruciating comedy of embarrassment and outright grue, not quite as disorientating in its mood shifts as Kill List but just as impressive a film.

Strong performances anchor a series of unforgettable scenes. Breathtaking and unfathomable.

An instant gangster classic.

This Neil Simon-scripted pastiche of an array of much-loved detective characters is surprisingly charming.

This is lots of fun and the actors definitely look like they're having a good time.

A war movie with enough honour and heroism to make a grown man weep.

The ideas are good enough for you to allow for some risible performances.

Some Host or DASHCAM fans might be disappointed that Rob Savage has opted for something ostensibly more conventional — but The Boogeyman shows he can also make an involving, ungimmicky ghost story with perfectly constructed menace and mayhem.

Bigger action, more amazing deserted (and devastated) London sequences and biting contemporary relevance, if a touch less heart than the original.

This was controversial at the time and that put alot of people off, believing that the film was probably all hype, but this is a respectful and complex work of fiction around the concepts of the biblical character and his life.

The business of this story in both versions is suspense, and Watkins is very good at ratcheting screws . . . but also springs satisfying reversals and pay-offs.

A provocative, engrossing, often hilarious, frequently tough picture. Not for all sensibilities but it’s among von Trier’s more playful, purely entertaining films, with insight and humour in even the horrors.

In an era not exactly short of quirky bungled heist movies, Anderson and Wilson take an interesting tack – coming in late on lifelong relationships, and showing us the pay-offs to friendships and resentments that have been simmering for years.

Solid history, fine cinema. Downfall is gripping, moving, and, in the end, profoundly horrifying.

A truly great documentary.

Not all the plot developments ring true, but moments carry a real chill - even in a coma, McKellen can terrify a fellow patient almost to death - and it has more than enough thought-provoking material to command your interest.

Darker and more subtly complex than you'd expect from a 1950s crime caper.

It has few fireworks, but still sticks in the mind, and is a definite upgrade from Digimon: The Movie for director Mamoru Hosoda.

Punchy and confronting, with another terrific turn from Seimetz.

Lovingly designed in black and white, and played with a nice sense of irony, this offers the not unappealing spectacle of gorgeous, funny, clever women making fools of hard-boiled Mafia guys.

Wonderfully acted by a large cast of star bit-players who were obviously just keen on being in this particular movie - and with Edwards amply making up for his criminal appearances in Revenge of the Nerds and Top Gun.

This remains a compelling Hitchcock thriller but it's Tippi Hedron's remarkable central performance which steals the show.