A compelling mix of music and misery as Bird flushes himself down the can.

These episodic adventures are a joy to watch and although not all of them are as memorable as each other, each has an entertaining quality that means the film as a whole will stick with you for a long time. Feore is excellent as the pianist, even though you never actually see him play.

By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, this is a fascinating and funny twin portrait of a Hollywood rise-and-fall, and the realities of living with Parkinson’s. It only confirms what we already knew: Michael J. Fox is one of the greats.

The Man With No Name faces a whole lot of pain in Clint's thrilling directorial debut.

Come to this clever satire for Sebastian Stan’s radical transformation, beyond the prosthetics, but stay for Adam Pearson’s remarkable performance as a bona fide matinée idol.

A sweetly pitched — and appropriately unorthodox — tribute from a movie megastar son to his filmmaking legend father.

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

Don’t confuse it with Russell Crowe staring out of a window. After a patient build-up, Les Misérables becomes a Molotov cocktail of a movie, tense, explosive and urgent. A powerful fiction debut from documentarian Ladj Ly.

Witty, warm and beautifully filmed by Franz Planer and Henri Alekan, it remains an unabashed romantic delight, with Hepburn particularly luminescent. [Review of re-release]

Styx is a gripping sea adventure that mixes thrills and spills with thoughtfulness and compassion. The MVP here is Wolff, who superbly etches emotional disintegration alongside amazing physical prowess.

Avoiding the danger zone of mere retread, Kosinski and co deliver all the Top Gun feels and then some: slick visuals, crew camaraderie, thrilling aerial action, a surprising emotional wallop and, in Tom Cruise, a magnetic movie-star performance as comforting as an old leather jacket. Punching the air is mandatory.

A corporate comedy of errors — but the film really shines thanks to Howerton, whose towering, shark-like performance makes him a villain for the ages.

Gas Food Lodging's poster sums up everything the movie isn't about. In a woeful effort to put a sexy spin on proceedings, lone Skye and Fairuza Balk stare out with dodgy come-hither pouts, and the tag line ("When Shade's good she's very good, but when Trudi's bad, she's better") succeeds, with just a dozen words, to undermine the integrity of the whole damn shooting match.

Meticulously controlled, but simmering with a tension that is suffused with fury, this treatise on dignity and depravity, aspiration and apathy is the Dardennes at their most accusatory and damning.

This imaginative and intriguing Anime deserves all the plaudits heaped upon it.

Along with the psychological intrigue there is romance and wit. And fans will enjoy Hitch's most amusing trademark cameo: photographed as before and after silhouettes in a newspaper ad for diet product Reduco.

Ünel and the debuting Kekilli are as impressive as Akin’s atmospheric snapshots of Hamburg and Istanbul.

Deliciously cruel to children, Roeg remains true to Dahl's underlying sense of real horror.

The distinguishing feature of what many people consider to be the funniest movie ever made is the sheer number of gags.

War is hell, and Warfare refuses to shy away from it. Free of the operatics of most supposed anti-war films, it’s all the more effective for its simplicity. It is respectfully gruelling.

Exceptionally well-rendered and emotive war drama.

Like Spinal Tap's more seriously older brother, Jay Bulger's fond but unsparingly honest film is a treat for fans and music lovers. A juicy slice of rock history.

A reminder of the astonishingly kinetic talent that John Woo maybe still possesses, this at times is on the verge of melodrama, but rescues itself from the brink with some fine gunplay.

It's a stark vision of humanity in a hellish world. Tough and thought-provoking.

A eye-popping visual treat and a journey into the creative spirit.

While it may not be perfect on a technical level, dramatically it’s a blow-your-socks-off triumph. Be moved. Very, very moved.

The fantastic action scenes featuring Chan in his pomp are slightly let down by comic overkill.

If it’s a hard film to like, Monos is ridiculously impressive filmmaking, savage and surreal, immediate but timeless. If Hollywood wanted to do a darker, grittier take on The Goonies, Landes is their man.

Given the wealth of footage available, you can’t really go wrong with docs on the Apollo era – and yet amongst all that, Cernan is compellingly frank about the human costs of spaceflight.

Allen’s best film in years, astute, humane and shot through with keen observations on the state of the world. It may also, in its pondering the price of deceit and the pain of rebuilding a life from nothing, count as broad social allegory.

Played with restraint and individuality by a fine ensemble, this is a moving but provocative study of belief, duty, compassion and acceptance.

Full of character-based suspense, it’s dramatic and ramped-up with tension. Existing between a Sundance and a FrightFest film, this is a challenging, horribly plausible future vision.

As much Tolkien's baby as Mignola's, this has more heart and humour than most fantasy films can dream of. Hellaciously good.

An indie with real pedigree and smarts, Holofcener's comedy of manners is well-observered and well worth watching.

Deftly handled direction from Sophie Hyde and a thoroughly impressive dual performance from Emma Thompson 
and Daryl McCormack enlivens an electric script, tackling taboo sexual subjects with wit, flair and welcome realism.

If you thought the sweetness of The Straight Story was unprecedented in Lynch’s work, look again at this earlier true-life tale of odd, everyday heroism.

Some gorgeous imagery – mostly in pictures taken by the kids – and heartbreaking stories, but the directors' appearances sometimes feel self-indulgent.

Marvelous supporting performances from scene-stealing Kirby, Maximilian Schell, Paul Benedict as the nutty professor and Frank Whaley as Broderick's quiff-coiffed room mate pile on the pleasures, but the sight of Marlon Brando on ice skates is surely the absolute treat in a film well worth rooting for.

Killer Of Killers looks the business and comes with all the gory kills and human heroes you’d hope for, but like most anthologies it is a little hit-and-miss.

If you’re not up for a film that’s nearly three hours of wall-to-wall fighting, this chapter might get on your wick. That fighting, though, is a bone-crunching, butt-clenching masterclass.

Mesmerising and mystifying, in equal measure. Enys Men confirms Mark Jenkin as one of the most exciting, original cinematic voices in the UK right now.

This Cannes favourite regards Egypt’s recent political uprisings from a fascinating new angle. A minor masterpiece of claustrophobia and expertly managed tension.

An interesting introduction to (or reminder of) Amanda Knox’s story following the murder of her flatmate Meredith Kercher, but it doesn’t have the depth of other recent true-crime investigations.

There’s palpable dread throughout this stagey but nevertheless evocative whirlwind of dysfunction. It’s a gripping, appropriately stifling experience, and the feelings — the fear, the disappointment, the unhappiness — hit home.

An ace in the hole from a filmmaker himself unafraid to gamble. The Card Counter’s pacing won’t be for everyone, but Schrader fans will be all-in on this gripping portrait of lament.

There are no gothic extravagances in Kathryn Bigelow's bone-dry, style-rich, noir-steeped vampire western. Instead it comprises a fascinatingly modern take on blood sucking mythology, shedding tradition to examine the creatures as human counterparts.

Impeccably mounted and played, this is gastro-cinema at its most sensual and intoxicating.

A touching and revelatory piece of film-making about the plights of real people living in an uncertain world.

If your anti-Apartheid musical knowledge only goes as far as The Specials’ Free Nelson Mandela, this is a toe-tapping, thought-provoking education.

If it falters early on, The Summit Of The Gods emerges an astonishing work of animation of both intimacy and incredible scale, stunningly well-crafted and smartly adapted.

Clara Bow is mesmerising in this ahead-of-its-tie air force drama.

An uncompromising debut that weaves Lidia Yuknavitch’s rich but troubled life into hypnotic poetry. Kristen Stewart reintroduces herself as an exciting filmmaker who’s out to make a splash.

As the drama circles their inaction, this trio of excellent performances fills the screen with a form of spiritual exhaustion, and the film slumps into noir’s typically happy-clappy comeuppance of failure, betrayal and ruin. But the mood has caught on, and the film, stamped with a stunning visual emptiness, haunts the memory for long after its sour close.

Perhaps, it was the choice of material, a much more internalised story despite its glossy Raj setting, or the absence of Robert Bolt as screenwriter (it was he who put the fire in Lean’s belly), but the film, for all Lean’s innate elegance, is strangely remote and unmoving.

Loach scans the contemporary landscape, and instead of a firebrand approach of stereotype, delivers a film of immense sadness. Someone should project this on the walls of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Hardly must-see Wenders, but for fans of his road movies, it remains a treat.

With spectacle in abundance and sexiness in (supporting) parts, this is superhero filmmaking on an unprecedented scale. Rises may lack the surprise of Begins or the anarchy of Knight, but it makes up for that in pure emotion.

Solid and stately, a ’70s-feeling jungle adventure film that’s more of a thought-provoker than an excitement-inducer. But there’s nothing wrong with that.

Compared to similar genre offerings, this ain't much cop. But standing alone, it's an entertaining and amiable film.

A small but effective portrait of adolescence in Scandinavia, unpretentious enough to avoid heavy-handed lessons, but not bold enough to become an all-timer.

A victory lap that moonwalks through the best part of the MCU back catalogue and emphasises emotion as much as action, this is an intensely satisfying piece of blockbuster filmmaking.

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.

The Ballad Of Wallis Island is a big-hearted, consoling hug of a movie. It might not reinvent the wheel, but it’s the low-(Tim)-key crowd-pleaser of the year so far.

A lean, tough, thoughtful thriller with depth, Blue Ruin establishes Jeremy Saulnier as a promising indie auteur and Macon Blair as an unusual leading man.

A raw, blood-soaked glare into the seedy underworld of sport, with terrific performances by two of Hollywood's heavyweights.

This was understandably inspiring to wartime audiences and actually still holds up as a heartwarming story with a very decent cast.

Stylish, elegant, tense, cerebral, satirical and creepy. Garland’s directorial debut is his best work yet, while Vikander’s bold performance will short your circuits.

An eccentric, funny yarn filled with eccentric, funny characters, Audiard’s oater deftly twists Western tropes, sending its charming, ramshackle heroes scurrying from one bizarre incident to the next.

Not quite the classic that Spike Lee had been threatening to make for so long, but, after a return to form after Mo' Better Blues which proved a huge disappointment.

We're marking time before the final battle between Good and Evil, with the promised darkness sitting somewhat clumsily with teen romance and humour.

It remains entertaining throughout — a testament to the inventiveness of the on-screen action. And Pixar’s influence.

A heartfelt digital eulogy for an unconventional but extremely human life.

The filmmaking is immaculate and the emotional wallop undeniable.

A highly effective merging of star power (both in front and behind the camera) and finely honed horror sensibilities.

I’m Your Man is science-fiction with soul and a romance written for adults. Just like its mechanical hero, this tender film is attractive, smart and cunningly designed to win your heart.

This beautifully shot drama transforms an Italian summer of fraternal love into a delicate, decades-spanning exploration of friendship. It’s overlong, and overfamiliar, but remains a nuanced dual character study.

There are very few action movies that cut to the chase quite as quickly as Speed and then have the stamina to keep it up for nearly two hours.

All modern life is here — the good, the bad, the insufferable — and it’s glorious. Non-Fiction is Olivier Assayas in a lighter register and he wears it well.

For another, this film is that still shamefully rare pleasure, an absorbing ensemble piece in which a fine group of actors get to show their class and range, playing a black American family who are prosperous, cultured and complex.

The beginning of the super-successful franchise, this remains one of the most satisfying Bond films.

Nair has made a truthful film about race which avoids hatred. It leaves a joyously hopeful taste.

It will require no conspiring to make you fall for this one; Whedon and Shakespeare are a perfect match.

It has lost none of its power: Scum is, in the final analysis, horrific.

A rare animated film without a shred of sentimentality but bucket-loads of heart and soul. “Stories remain in our hearts all our lives,” Parvana’s father tells her. The Breadwinner is testament to that.

Both leads are likeable and have the cutting neuroses that Brooks delivers so well. They can’t really carry the film until the dramatic plot twist but from then on its all good fun.

Vibrantly recreating a seminal period in Jodorowsky's personal and artistic development, this bullishly played saga has enough quirky detail, audacious incident and visual panache to sweep the storyline through its less persuasive phases.

Powered by a taciturn, soulful performance by its young star, this meditation on fear, shame and sexual repression packs a wallop.

There's atmosphere and absurd wit, but the surreal style creates a distance from the characters that's only likely to be appreciated by fans of Maddinís self-conscious artistry.

Sharply scripted with a melancholic charm.

Wildly unpredictable, Barbarian begins as a tale of awkward circumstance, before mutating into something intensely claustrophobic, satirically amusing, and in its best moments, both.

However familiar the terrain, this is a vivid, heartbreaking and captivating character piece and travel movie in one, guided by an outstanding Wasikowska.

Though not one for subtlety, Bronstein’s pressure-cooking, panic-mongering sophomore feature is perversely enjoyable — as long as you can take the stress.

Lightning, camera, action… Frankenstein is brought to life in glorious, Gothic fashion by Guillermo del Toro’s painstaking artistry and Mike Hill’s elegant creature design. A big film with a huge beating heart.

No fence-sitting here, Sorry To Bother You wallops its targets. Drenched in self-awareness, it is fantastically refreshing, defiantly announcing Riley as a radical new voice.

As passionate and wide-ranging as you'd hope, but disappointingly mistrusting of its audience's interest in the finer points of the case.

Despite the generic title, Only You is an emotional treat, lit up by stellar charisma from Laia Costa and Josh O’Connor. And debutante Harry Wootliff is a filmmaker to watch.

Who could ever buy Atticus Finch as the demonic Ahab driven by hellfire to hunt down that dreaded white whale?

Romance novel in narrative this transcends its genre with visual depth and perceptive socio-cultural insights.