Anchored by great performances from Liam Neeson and especially Lesley Manville, Ordinary Love is alive to the feelings and moments other hospital dramas overlook. Its accumulation of details form a shattering whole.

Unrelenting, unremitting, a brilliant broad-brush of a parody.

Nostalgic and charming romance with special moments in the extra-narrative action.

Superbly acted allegorical drama with a climax that is not only breathtakingly exciting but flawlessly handled.

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

It may not consistently stay the distance, but the sublimely funny moments make up for an awful lot of misfires.

Bold and breathless, this trippy, hilarious, know-it-all comedy-thriller will have you reliving its ironic spoils for days, but you'll still be hard-pressed to nail the actual story.

A worthy farewell that packs in as much action as its seven predecessors combined and manages not to stint on the emotional beats. Harry Potter leaves us as a quiet, bespectacled, corduroy-wearing hero for the ages.

Christophe Honoré goes epic in a tale of interlocking lives that owes a debt to Jacques Demy. It won't be to everyone's taste but it's playful enough to win us over.

Building slowly from a stately start, Del Toro manages to unite all his disparate elements - ghosts and gold, infidelity and politics - for a devastating final reel. The command of sound and colour is breathtaking.

Among the excellent principals, top-billed Turturro enlivens things wonderfully, but the real star, Buy, is magnificent.

Bold, unblinking filmmaking – no less than a living document of a global scandal straight from the whistleblower. Alarming and essential – anyone with a phone should see it.

A stomping good documentary.

Steven Soderbergh’s first-person experiment is a gamble that pays off massively. This is an eerie family drama that turns the horror genre inside out and infuses it with greater empathy.

A vibrant, insightful film about writers and writing, featuring Daniel Radcliffe’s best post-Potter performance.

Superbly played and realised, this stays with you.

Exceptionally well-rendered and emotive war drama.

Millions, like all kid-powered movies, stands or falls in the first place on the performances of its child actors, and Alex Etel and Lewis McGibbon both delight.

It has great performances, snappy one-liners and a likeably tricksy structure, all wrapped up in an affirmative antidote to life’s daunting complexities. Welcome back, Woody.

Director Bong’s on song for his dark debut. A little rough around the edges, Barking Dogs Never Bite still delivers the blackest comedy lightened by some thrilling filmmaking, a clear calling card for Parasite. Caninophiles beware.

Sharp, very funny, surprisingly moving and rejoicing in great work from the entire cast, this sparkling little gem takes the family road movie to unhoped-for heights of hilarity and humanity.

A distinctively crass, hugely enjoyable sick satire from director Paul Bartel, working for uber-producer Roger Corman – allegedly, Bartel kept thinking up more and wilder jokes, while Corman insisted more and more people got run over.

An uncliched teen movie that features terrific performances from a young cast.

A nuanced and intelligent legal drama that neatly combines big characters and big ideas. By focusing on wider issues of race and injustice, Betts finds continuing resonance in a case nearly 30 years old.

This is thoughtful and beautifully observed work, from the social backdrop and the tell-me-what-you're-feeling analysis sessions to the painful performances including Mary Tyler Moore playing against type as the chillingly repressed mother.

And then, of course, there was the music, better music than any film had had for many years.

This is a film about performances and features simply some of the best seen in years.

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.

A cracking conspiracy thriller that's well-cast, slyly satirical and -- as a solid, glossy, contemporised remix of a classic -- rings enough creepy changes to surprise.

A really good, dumb comedy can be a joyous thing, and this is a really good, dumb comedy.

An entertaining and compelling story about music’s unsung heroes.

Filmmaker Sean Ellis does terrific work balancing the disparate elements of his crime-laced drama.

Croghan accurately illustrates the frustrations of a charismatic bunch of characters who are frank, funny and full of life.

Take it from us — ignorance is bliss. The less you try to figure out Anderson’s rambling, mesmerising mystery, the better. Just relax and let this beautiful, haunting, hilarious, chaotic, irritating and possibly profound tragicomedy wash over you. There is nothing else out there like it.

A creepy, compelling creature-feature packed with interesting themes, and carried by an impressive lead performance. Cracking stuff.

What it covers is so fundamentally relevant, and its polemic so persuasively structured, it’s worth braving the runtime even if it could easily have been more concise.

It may climax with an overly formulaic splurge, but The Winter Soldier benefits from an old-school-thriller tone that, for its first half at least, distinguishes it from its more obviously superheroic Marvel cousins.

Rigorous adaptation of the notoriously "difficult" play.

A warm, mature offering from Hughes, with Martin's restraint a perfect counterpoint to Candy's enormous (and enormously amusing) fooling around. You'll find sympathy here, but just as many calamitous antics as you'd expect in any Hughes vehicle.

Place your faith in Saint Maud. Original, unsettling and surprisingly moving, it’s a strong calling card for filmmaker Rose Glass and actor Morfydd Clark.

Chris Cooper's superb performance and numerous authentic details makes this a little gem.

Starting the moment Breaking Bad ended, this is very much a ‘what happened next’ double-episode. Which means, short of resurrecting Walter White, El Camino does precisely what you want it do.

Like all the best exploitation flicks, Piranha is driven by a ruthless desire to entertain and, in this non-pretentious ambition, it succeeds magnificently.

Jackass: Number Two aims low and hits lower, but is as hilarious and uncomfortable an encounter as possible

Goldstein is enormously endearing, while Drever milks the mundanity for laughs and unexpected sweetness.

Die Hard karaoke this may be, but it delivers — and eclipses at least two of John McClane’s outings in the process. Look forward to future eye-rolling debates as to whether it qualifies as a Christmas movie.

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.

Extreme and outrageously blasphemous.

A bold and uncompromising debut feature from a bright new directing team. There’s a question over whether it justifies its own misery, but if you care about homegrown cinema then you have to see it.

Vibrant visuals, a stack of stellar songs, and a story with real heart make for another Disney banger. Sixty films in, the Mouse House still has that magic.

Talk about a pleasant surprise! Real storytelling, well thought-out and beautifully, at times insanely, executed, with excitement, laughs and fun to make you feel seven years old again.

Sickles and Santini’s documentary is intimate, unvarnished and hugely touching, finding universal truths in its two subjects’ unconventional romance.

Almodovar consolidated his status as a challenging and bold filmmaker by forcing Americans to drop their zany preconceptions of him and see his world through his eyes.

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

The Scooby-Doo-ish central plot is forgivable in a movie with so much visual verve, energetic action and a character so wondrously designed as Baymax.

Moving, complex and brutal, it's an outstanding film about men at war.

Jokes so stupid as to seem almost surreal, an amazing range of cultural referents and a smattering of genuinely witty conceits.

Filled with striking and scarringly disconcerting images of vandalised nature, satanic mills and redundant modernity, this is a mournful tribute to a maligned migrant workforce and a sobering reminder that nothing comes cheap.

Another winner from Daldry, this is an unexpectedly gritty crime drama set in the teeming favelas and grimy backstreets of Rio. A cracking script from Richard Curtis, with roughly 80 per cent of the dialogue in street patois, is brilliantly served by the three leads.

A clever and enjoyable wrapping-up of the time-travelling adventures.

An extraordinary, intoxicating movie. Its hard, twisted edges may turn off some, but there's no faulting either Aronofsky's technical mastery or Portman's flawless performance.

This unconventional film will offend anyone looking for a plot, but Linklater's smart observations speak volumes.

The Avengers have been assembled and, for the most part, they fit together superbly. A joyous blend of heroism and humour that raises the stakes even as it maintains a firm grip on what makes the individual heroes tick.

Only stony hearts won't be moved by Attenborough's vivid, if occasionally sentimental, evocation of a great well of human potential cruelly snubbed out.

Herzog and Singer have assembled a riveting and moving portrait of Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet president and arguably the greatest living politician, guided by Herzog's mellifluous voice and gently probing interview style.

It may be too slow for some tastes, but Babel remains emotionally bruising but compulsive viewing.

Long but consistently engaging biopic.

This lesser known Kurosawa feature is worth a look, with outstanding performances and stunning cinematography.

An insightful examination of racism, homophobia and identity in Latin America.

The results are highly subjective perhaps, but highly entertaining just the same and make an interesting companion piece to Nick Broomfield’s "Biggie And Tupac."

Every one of its cues might be tele-prompted, but this is an assured, likable comedy. Ford is as good as he's been in ages, but the stand-out is McAdams. If there were any justice, the movie would send her stellar.

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.

As soon as Howard steps up to the mic, the movie crackles to life.

As absorbed as he is with his characters, McTiernan is still able to provide a couple of dazzling set pieces - the sustained opening heist (involving a pun-intended Trojan horse) is a doozy, while the Magritte-inspired, music-fuelled denouement is, well, inspired.

One of the most cinematic movies to come along in a while, with sparse dialogue, top-notch action and plenty of visual razzamatazz.

A lean and mean throwback of a thriller bolstered by excellent performances and first-class filmmaking. Occasionally bites off more than its CG budget can chew, but when director Taylor Sheridan keeps the action grounded, it’s sweaty palms central.

A taut, thrilling documentary that plays out like a heist movie while never overshadowing its message or activist credentials.

Lane as the greedy schemer and the timid, gangly Evans make a good slapstick team, with great support from a cast of larger-than-life characters including Walken as the exterminator who approaches his task with military precision and outrageous hardware.

Zen and the art of toilet cleaning? You’d better believe it. This is as gentle as it gets — a humble little film, maybe, but an enriching one. It’s a soul-cleanse.

Marx brothers anarchy that makes up for plot inconsistencies with infectious humour.

This is a criminally neglected piece of good gothic fairy tale fun.

A harrowing, economical thriller that will sit with you for days, this is Shyamalan’s best film in years, and a calling card for Bautista in his strongest performance yet.

The luxurious feel of the film is a perfect counterpoint to the painful truths drawn on each brother's face, whilst Pfieffer is much more than eye candy.

Ruddy hilarious. Just what big-screen comedy needed.

Silver remains exceptionally clear-eyed. The result is a powerful, gripping and deeply shocking film, and a contemptuous critique of Florida’s stand-your-ground law.

Gere proves that there’s more to his range than ageing romantic leads in a multi-layered tale of public fraud and self-deception.

It has a wealth of marvellous Western imagery, grotesque-comic business (Van Cleef striking a match on seething baddie Klaus Kinski’s hunchback), Ennio Morricone’s baroque score, iconic stars and unforgettable supporting faces.

It’s a potentially mid-’90s B-movie premise, but director Patrick Vollrath and star Joseph Gordon-Levitt keep it taut, tense and classy. Just a shame it doesn’t stick the landing.

In a film that could have bowed to easy clichés, Chastain and Sarsgaard are a class act — their touching, tactile chemistry is the film’s triumph.

Flashes of bleak humour makes this wry portrait a compelling experience.

You might need to take a Norwegian guide along to explain various local references and identify the specific trolls, but Troll Hunter's proud cultural identity - tremble, a US remake is in the works - is its strongest suit. It's wry, spectacular fun.

More than just a time-travel rom-com, this is a movie that asks you questions and doesn’t sugar-coat as many of the answers as you’d expect. Smart and sweet, funny and genuinely moving. Should probably come with a ‘there’s something in my eye’ warning.

This movie-movie gem scores on levels few horror films ever have. Not just a disturbing ride but also a hard-hitting political statement.

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.

An effective and unsettling allegory for growing up, this is the kind of low-key horror that will make you look twice at cherub-faced youngsters.

Lewd, funny and immensely quotable, this is one of the very best high school dramas ever made.

Not quite a terrifying thrill-ride, Ghost Stories is a creepy, disturbing ghost train with a beefier backbone than its source material, trading on tropes but still making your skin itch.

Sour as month-old milk and with a tang of off-screen animosity in its mouth, Robert Aldrich's melodrama is still hysterical in every sense of the word.