A mess then, but a mess that deserves to be indulged.

Dark, lurid, sadistic and powerful, it is at the least a fascinating and bold debut, and promises better to come.

There are numerous delights for the patient and the two leads give prize-worthy performances but at just under three hours this is one drawn-out gag that almost outstays its welcome.

While Sirk didn’t believe it to be his greatest work, it’s perhaps best-known for being his most personal, ambitious and starkly cynical film; far removed from the more distinguishable, Technicolor-infused melodramas of that peppered his career.

The story begins with the film's defining act and most accomplished sequence but, despite handsome execution, never hits those heights again in a plot where familiarity severely dampens the squib.

Shazam!’s candy-floss sweetness rarely fails to hit the spot.

It's endearing, but unlikely to convert those that have previously resisted the director's charms.

Films about teens looking for love and acceptance may be well-trodden ground, but Paper Towns finds a fresher path to get there.

Though there's an awful lot to be admired - not least an enormously impressive soundscape - The Revenant ultimately lacks the nerve-jangling thrills or the spiritual resonance that it strives for.

A desire to avoid sentimentality is admirable, yet Still Alice relies entirely on Moore's performance to mask its multitude of shortcomings.

An entertaining and suitably gruesome gangster thriller which nevertheless feels like a missed opportunity.

Slattery does at times struggle to bring anything new to the impoverished blue-collar, working-class trope. Relying heavily on several top-drawer character actors to lift his occasionally flat, even nihilistic story of love and death amidst urban decay, it's Hoffman and Jenkins that deserve the largest proportion of praise, while other characters quickly fall to the wayside of our interest.

Schumer is a gifted comedienne and shines brightly when left to run riot, make former wrestlers cry and stick up for modern-day women (for most of the time). It's just a shame it doesn't stick to its guns as it could have really been something.

The visual aspects of the film cannot override the sometimes cumbersome dialogue that orientates political scenes of this subject matter.

Legend crucially lacks almost any sense of gravitas, although the bold and brash approach does keep you entertained.

Shim directs well, but he lacks the verve for this to sail through on its visuals and although the denouement returns to the unconventional (discounting the unnecessary coda), the climax reduces the impact of what was otherwise an enthralling voyage.

This affectionate portrait in failure is more in the tone of Darren Aronofky's Venice winner The Wrestler, carried mainly by a brilliantly swollen performance by Schrieber, full of humour and bluff and yet with an intelligence to learn his lessons, slowly, but learn them.

Unsurprisingly, Jackman is as perfect for Wolverine as he was when he first played the character 13 years ago. Convincing whether going berserk on a troublesome ninja or showing Logan's inner turmoil, he's a commanding presence throughout and, as you might expect, is the film's engine.

Araki does manage to give Kasischke's ending a subversive little twist, but the scenario has spawned numerous complex questions and while they may be given traction throughout, the rushed and forced conclusion leaves one simultaneously nonchalant and conflicted, much like Kat.

A postmodern experiment in both form and function, Life of Riley's rigidity can at times feel like its restricting its actors, leaving them unable to treads the boards with the same authority they would on the stage.

As in thrall to its fantasy as its characters, On a Magical Night confuses what is admittedly a charming conceit for depth. Nevertheless, that charm is enough to sustain the picture across its 90-minute runtime, even if its effects quickly recede into memory.

Much like young Jeanette, there is no compromise in Dumont's vision that mixes the irreverent and the austere.

There is something of Scorsese to this rise and fall of a criminal family and Trapero crams The Clan with life.

Cosmatos’ Mandy matches Cage grimace for grimace and achieves, at times, a transcendent midnight madness.

There's no getting away from it, Gibson has produced another bombastic, crowd-pleasing and obviously blood-soaked movie which expertly glorifies that which its hero was against.

What lets the film down somewhat is an issue that has dogged much of the studio’s recent middling efforts, namely an inert narrative and a wishy-washy message that ultimately doesn’t have the courage of its own convictions.

A United Kingdom is a solid, competently made and gorgeously photographed film, but its exploration of complex issues - race, gender, politics and affairs of state - feels rather safe throughout, their full impact and import somewhat dialled back.

That Sy and Gainsbourg's love story never quite inflames the heart ultimately means that Samba remains a pleasant, rather than an enduring watch.