William Thomas

The two stars are very good, doubtless enjoying their high fashion outfits, and the script has one clever plot reversal in the third act, but it really could have done with a few more thrills (the motives for the killings lead to necessarily slow plot development), either in the murder or the sexual perversity departments.

Initially, the film works well as a tense, teasing suspense vehicle. But one of Dead Calm’s major problems is that it brings to mind ideas and plot similarities from so many other films that you are constantly being reminded of its own rather humble status.

A comic take on Rear Window, Badham's latest has the acting talent to carry it over the sizeable gulfs in plot to an end product that brings laughs aplenty.

While Dudley's booze-sodden antics tire after a while, there's relief in the form of John Gielgud as the old-fashioned English butler with a nice line in four-letter words, and a return to the screen from Liza Minelli, who plays the waitress Arthur falls in love with.

Labyrintine and hypnotic, there's undoubtedly more style than substance to the film, but Von Trier manages to blind and bewilder his audience in a truly masterful manner.

Stone takes gritty subject matter and hacks it into a perilous ride based on Boyle's life in Salvador. Showing the true, upsetting and harsh realities of which most of us try not to think of. Pure Oliver Stone.

For Freeman's first feature as director, the end result is enjoyable but given his strong roles over the years, somehow more was expected. The equally powerful Glover gives a memorable performance in an interesting film that will inspire and educate.

The only romantic comedy out there which spans two lifetimes, Chances Are you'll wind up wishing it didn't.

Expertly executed example of a golden time in British cinema - one to savour.

Murray's initial transition from the small screen is a classic.

A worthy diversion for the very young, but against their more venerable stablemates - notably DuckTales - The Rescuers's identification/memorableness factor remains second division.

Connery was perhaps wise to call it quits the first time round.

Engaging performances by Penn and Walken can’t quite turn this brutal curio into something more substantial.

The technique used here to plonk Martin in classic movies seems out of place given the kind of sophisticated effects we have on tap today, but there is a real sense of fun at work nonetheless.

Not as closely controlled as My Beautiful Laundrette, but still a purposeful cross-cultural comedy that raises a few questions alongside the few laughs.

As a fish-out-of-water comedy-drama, it works well.

Entertaining family movie for rainy nights and Christmas holidays.

Weird, but kind of cool.

The script self-destructs, but the performances — including Daniel Stern as an expendable sidekick — are fun, and John Badham stages some super stunts with the insectile title machine.

From the visceral plunges of the first person mind clip sequences (including a terrifying, controversy courting rape sequence) to the overwhelming finale this is a, literally, stunning event. Some directors can, thank God, still make you experience films.

Knowingly kitsch, Liquid Sky uses the most basic effects and featuring music and fashion that were cutting edge at the time, it now looks fashionably retro. With lots of sex and violence, it sounds a lot more promising than it is, let down by its poor acting, script and a cast we feel little sympathy for.

Maddin's surrealism is always gently persuasive rather than all-out shocking. Nobody else is doing anything remotely like this; reason enough to treasure it.

With a heavily improvised script Cassavetes gets the most from his actors, each giving emotive performances.

Tense, powerful and considerably less crass than "Crash," Elah may be jammed with ideas that don’t all connect, but Jones’ devastating performance makes this a compassionate and very human look at the Iraq conflict.

While the backgrounds and animation are wonderful, the film suffers from an intensely depressing middle section, full of heart-stopping chases, damaged friendships and forgettable songs more likely to invoke fidgets than sniffles among the younger contingent in the audience.

While never as trailblazing as its subject, The Express is a worthy addition to the lengthy canon of sports biopics

Enjoyable enough nonsense, even if it barely cracks a smile.

A dedicatory, sometimes sombre recreation of the career of 50s teen-throb Richie Valens, which feels like a personal project by director Luis Valdez.