Olly Richards

Jackie does what the very best biopics should: it makes you view someone you’ve seen countless times as if you were seeing them anew.

A very strong debut by writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig deals with all the usual teenage concerns — dating, family, school — in a way that tries to go beyond genre cliché, with a heroine who is often unlikeable but always believable.

Eastwood’s message that no good deed goes unpunished feels misplaced, but for the crash sequences and Hanks’ turn it’s worthwhile. But for goodness’ sake, don’t watch it on a plane.

A Molotov cocktail of laughs and anger, Chi-Raq is a powerful state of a nation address. The result is the most creatively exciting Lee has been in a decade.

If you’ve asked yourself why on earth there needs to be a movie about Troll dolls, this doesn’t really provide a strong answer, yet for all its awkwardness and fluff-brained logic, its enthusiasm is infectious.

Perhaps it’s fitting that this story about babies has the attention span and grasp of logic of a newborn.

Its plot isn’t going to win any prizes for originality, but Nair tells the story with immense warmth and cheer. You can see just about every move coming, but it’s making all the right ones.

Even if you didn’t know what comes next, this story of the first days of the Obamas would still seduce as a sweet, smart romance.

This is a gentler, less confrontational Solondz. It makes you laugh, but probably won’t leave you reeling after. Some fans of his might consider that a disappointment, others might find it a relief.

Strong performances and direction make the most of a lightweight tale.

There’s not a lot of consequence to this bizarre meeting, or really the film, but as a character study of two men alone at the top, it’s both very funny and quietly astute.

The ambition is laudible, but it's to little end. At once empty and impenetrable, this brings to mind a mix of John Carter and Dungeons And Dragons, regrettably in both themes and level of enjoyment.

Just as with "Once" and "Begin Again," Sing Street will make you laugh, cry and leave you humming its songs for days.

It's a tight thriller played out smoothly but tying the viewer in moral knots. A film to think about for days, with little hope of finding a comfortable answer.

Rather than the cynical ‘one last grab’ of the series, Kung Fu Panda 3 might actually be the best. Also, and this is so rarely the case that it’s worth mentioning, it deserves to be seen in 3D.

Strong subject matter and a superb cast are treated disappointingly with sledgehammer subtlety.

It’s fun to take another turn with Derek and Hansel, but they probably don’t have another season in them.

Eddie The Eagle turns a long-running joke of British sport into a crowd-pleasing story of inspiration. It’s a solid gold winner.

Everything that comes after the confident, dangerous first half-hour just makes you pine for what could have been as this devolves into ten-a-penny teen-lit sludge.

It’s a riveting, complex film that asks one simple question: what do you do when there’s no right answer?

Tough, but resilience is amply rewarded. If last year’s larky Frank suggested Abrahamson was a director to watch, this makes him a director to be cherished.

Given the work lavished on every detail of the glorious backdrop, it’s a pity that the story happening in front of it is so familiar and safe.

A cheerful comedy-drama with charm to spare.

It’s extremely antic for the most part, covering a lack of real story with a lot of distracting quirk. Yet when Petit’s foot slips out onto a wire thousands of metres from the ground, it’s quietly mesmerising.

Potent and visceral in its depiction of street life and blinged-up excess alike, Straight Outta Compton delivers big beats of both kinds.

Despite a second act lull, Connolly convinces in this cute and charming comedy.

Less fun than last time and oddly unpleasant in its tone. MacFarlane takes potshots at everyone he can find, while shielding the two characters that deserve it most.

Farty, burpy, fall-y over fun tied to a pretty inconsequential plot. Your kids will explode with joy.

Maclean has made a Western of such confident ease that it’s hard to believe this is the director’s first feature film.

The supporting cast is a kick. Law gets to send up the Bond role, something he could very well have played in his younger days; Allison Janney fills her boots as the angry head of the agency and Statham, frankly, should only ever play this role for the rest of his life.

Bird and Lindelof have thrown everything they have at this film and, aside from a pause for breath at the end, they’ve made something funny, surprising and packed full of wonder.

The golden-larynxed franchise graduates with a merit.

A retrograde fantasy with the depth of a dressing-up box, but it’s spirited, genuinely funny and played to the hilt by an excellent cast.

Sum up the plot and it sounds interminable. Watch the film and it will spit you out elated, exhausted and cheering for an encore.

A much bolder, braver horror sequel than most. Except for a wispy ending, it’s a match for the first.

A mushy mix of sentiment and some off-key singing lets the air out of this beloved musical's limo tires.

Long-shelved, the final product never lives up to the promise of its contemporary-Grimm-brothers conceit.

The gleefully Gothic fingerprints of Guillermo del Toro are all over this zippy excursion into Mexico's myths and legends, although the gag-count falls quite a lot short of Pixar greatness.

A dream cast are on good form in a film that makes you want to call your siblings, but very glad you don’t live with them.

Heroes in a half-arsed shell.

Since the adorable, simple Garden State, Braff’s ambitions as a filmmaker have grown. He’s reaching for answers to really big questions, but they are, just slightly, beyond his grasp.

It may share a narrator with "March Of The Penguins" but this short documentary is happily more sturdily scientific.

Sharp, funny and feeling, this isn't just Juno-meets-Girls but a smart film that tackles real-life issues with rare frankness.

Despite the gusto its star brings to the role, it's hard to ride shotgun on Hector's voyage of discovery.

Endless wordplay and dumb slapstick do not a rewarding animation make. Pun-ishing.

If you enjoy Gondry’s brand of homemade art direction then there’s plenty to delight early on, but it’s all wallpaper.

If this tiresome yarn is the ‘true’ story of one of Disney’s most popular villains then, please, give us colourful lies and happy ignorance.

A few big laughs but weakly drawn characters mean a film that is enjoyable enough in the moment but then quickly forgotten.

There are films to see on huge screens, but this is one that almost cries out for a small cinema, surrounded by total blackness. It’s a daring experiment brilliantly executed, with Tom Hardy giving one of the performances of his career.

The Lego Movie is bursting out of its box with enthusiasm and excitement for the possibilities of a little pile of nubby plastic.

In stripping Jack Ryan back to basics it’s lost some sophistication, but reinvigorated an action hero who’s unlike any other on offer and who absolutely earns his second — or rather fourth — shot.

Surprisingly watchable, at least by recent Vince Vaughn standards, with Chris Pratt stealing the show was the hilariously gormless lawyer.

As a director, this feels like Stiller’s moment. Mitty is a film that bravely rejects cynicism. In many ways, it’s the new Forrest Gump. Go with it and it is, in all senses, wonderful.

It's always trying to do something unusual. It has a great lead in Pegg. What it doesn't have is an ending or a clear reason what it wants to be.

Not bootiful.

A muddle.

Macdonald's film is a noble stab at bringing Meg Rosoff's YA novel to the screen, which sees Ronan in typically watchable form.

A thin soup of weak jokes and contrived drama.

High in gloss if not necessary insight, this is manna for fashion fans but a marginally slighter piece of work than The September Issue.

Confusing and uninspired rather than completely inept, it’s still likely to be swiftly struck from the résumés of all involved.

A film for every age, whether you’re an awkward kid, former awkward kid or awkward kid-adjacent. Funny, real and uplifting. A film that reaffirms your belief in the human spirit.

A likeable comedy that uses its greatest asset, its talented, funny cast, to good effect.

Dazzlingly clever and hugely funny, it succeeds both as a broadening of the Monsters universe and as a film in its own right. Monsters University had a tough task, and it’s passed with honours.

Tonally a complete departure from the rest of the series, which is at once laudably brave and disappointingly unfunny.

The jokes are strong and delivered by a very talented cast, but the heart isn’t there. It’s easy to laugh, but hard to care.

Kosinski has again built a fantasy world that feels real to its core, but once more put most effort into the scenery and too little into the people.

In trying to tell an enormous amount of story it can spread itself too thin and leave some strands feeling unfinished, but when it’s at its best, this is beautiful and bold filmmaking.

Fast Five was a good example of how applying The Rock to a tired series could bring it back to life. G.I. Joe, by opting for self-seriousness instead of knowing daftness, has squandered its secret weapon.

An intense mix of horror, thriller and domestic drama, this is exquisite film making.

It may look like a documentary but Gibney's film is a horror film in every sense. Essential, uncomfortable viewing.

It's the kind of silly you can only get away with when your writing is very smart. A little bit odd and very, very funny.

To produce a coherent film from Martel's tricky novel would be achievement enough, but Ang Lee has extracted something beautiful, wise and, at times, miraculous.

The storyline delicately tiptoes along the line of good taste and is embroidered by a first-rate cast. Still, a knockout moment is missing.

It's gorgeously designed, deftly written and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. For child or adult, this is a fantasy to get lost in.

It's a collection of cop-movie clichés but presented with sufficient flair and strong performances that the ride is enough, even if it's on rails.

A movie that while thin and silly, moves with such joyous speed that you almost want to throw your arms in the air and scream.

Lovely to look at and with some fun material not of Seuss' invention, but it's too hectoring, like reading an environmental textbook with jolly pictures.

Old friends and new voice talent will delight kids with a never-ending love for the most undemanding animation out there. A megabucks franchise drifts on.

Like every one of its songs, it makes a lot of noise about nothing much and cockily straddles awfulness and greatness. It's enormously entertaining nonsense.

Even with a strong cast to gild its endless chambers and salons, there's barely a spark of soul to fuel its story. Pattinson is no Malkovich either.

Superlative performances from Roberts and Hammer almost cover the shortcomings. Like most Tarsem films it's a muddle, but this time not one with enough distracting dazzle.

Another Aardman triumph. The animation house's most technically ambitious project so far and, if not quite at the genius level of Wallace & Gromit, still a comedy treasure and far too good just for kids.

As thrilling and smart as it is terrifying. There have been a number of big-gun literary series brought to screen over the past decade. This slays them all.

21 Jump Street has that "Anchorman" experimental-chaos vibe, with all the hit-and-miss moments that implies. It's completely lunatic and sort of a mess. It's also the funniest high-school comedy to come out of Hollywood in ages.

Made absolutely for grown-up fans, this is the Muppets as you fondly remember them: funny, smart and gleefully insane. Kermit, it's great to have you back.

This true-life tale takes some believing in the era of global warming (too much ice? Really?) but the sledgehammer emoting should let you know you're in a family drama.

Check behind the doors. Switch on all the lights. You won't be sleeping soundly for a while.

Like most kittens, it's not always perfectly behaved, but at least this new Puss adventure doesn't have you reaching for the cinematic spray bottle. And thank goodness the spin-off does nothing to neuter the charismatic cat's appeal.

You don't need to understand anything of baseball to get behind this, a chest-swelling story about second chances and flipping a finger up (even a giant foam one) to The Man.

A great, big joy. Even if you're a bit bah humbug, just delight in the supremely clever Aardman comedy.

A wonderful comedy of romance, pain and getting it all wrong until somebody makes you do it right. The kind of film that makes you want to call someone the minute it's over, even if just to tell them to go see this movie.

Okay, so it's not exactly a groundbreaking advance from the team behind "Ice Age," but with its kaleidoscope of colour and heaps of humour, you'll be charmed.

If you can make it through the bland schmaltz of the first half you'll be rewarded with a spectacular blast of sustained action and the promise of even better to come. This could be the start of something great.

Well above the standards of your average romantic comedy, it's funny, sexy and smart. It's just not smart enough to stick to its guns to the end.

It’s a hugely enjoyable descent into epic gluttony.

A great debut from a promising talent.

So quirky that it’s almost in danger of collapsing under the weight of its own antic whimsy at times, but a comic delight destined for cult adoration.