Passionate performances from De Niro and Jeremy Irons in this stark but thematically complex historical drama.

A supremely likeable film. Its message might seem obvious and its template overcooked, but it boasts a warm heart, with two astoundingly good lead performances to guide it home.

One for lovers of ravishing craft, although the elusive emotional engagement is frustrating.

It's a film you might argue with, but its sparing use of on-screen violence, some extraordinarily protracted scenes and sensitive handling of thorny subject matter make it also a film you ought to see.

A loopy joy from start to finish, Bradley Cooper proves that he's the real deal.

It may not be an access-all-areas portrayal of one of rock's most enigmatic characters, but then, where would be the fun in that?

Thick with sharpened scissors, and barbers with barbed tongues, Medusa Deluxe is a unique take on the whodunnit mould, and a hell of a debut from British filmmaker Thomas Hardiman.

A moving hymn to outsiders, this thrives on two criminally good performances from Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant. It also confirms Marielle Heller as one of the brightest directorial talents around.

The method is well-worn and the subject-matter familiar, but this is a smart, scary little picture.

Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi subverts expectations beautifully, but this brain-teaser makes no bones about the violence that often comes with ‘progress’.

Not perfect, but a much more satisfying Earth-in-ruins film than Oblivion or After Earth. It is a little more conventional than District 9 (what isn’t?), but confirms Blomkamp as one of the potential science-fiction greats of this decade.

From Elmer Bernstein's sweeping dramatic strings - perhaps the first counterpoint score in comedy - to the gleeful mixture of low-brow and lower-brow gags, Animal House is arguably the most influential comedy of our time.

Petersen pulls off the thrills at a stomach lurching pace, and with its requisite Hollywood ham - husband and wife reuniting over piles of haemorrhaging bodies - loud performances, crashing stunts and a fearsome, hypochondria-inducing conceit, there's barely room to catch your breath, let alone cry foul.

Warm, charming comedy with one of the best one-liner scenes that remains a classic.

Intelligent and uncompromising, with knock-out performances from Downey Jr. and Foxx .

If it says nothing new about the dangers of over-indulgence, Another Round is funny and rich, a fresh, perfectly played, clear-eyed take on middle age ennui. Intoxicating.

The more intimate scenes are almost unbearably poignant.

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

A screen-acting showcase by a man whose best days, many thought, were behind him. There's life in the old dog yet.

A cautionary tale against the dangers of excessive podcasting, this is a supremely spooky sonic ordeal. As an allegory for Catholic guilt, it’s haunting; as an auditory experience, it’ll fuck you up.

Sweetening up a smidgen without chilling out, this is Miike having fun, bombarding us with squirm-inducing violence while making us laugh and — ever so slightly — tugging on the heartstrings.

Probably the best Western since "Unforgiven."

A beautifully crafted, intimate adventure movie and - presented in hand-drawn 2D - one of the most visually arresting you'll enjoy all year.

A fast-paced, entertaining, if somewhat on-the-nose mélange of thriller, satire, and drama, this is Jodie Foster’s best movie as a director. And we’d happily watch any TV show George Clooney wants to host.

With plenty of heart and soul, Devotion is an emotional spectacle, packed with soaring highs and gut-wrenching potency. It's another compelling performance for Jonathan Majors' increasingly impressive resume.

Undoubtedly the finest of Argento's thrilling horrors, this one takes the radical step, for the director at least, to concentrate on a plot that equals the shocking visuals of his other works. David Hemmings is well cast and is given a great script which genuinely frights.

While on the surface very much a girls' film, this ruefully honest picture has something to say to everyone.

Western Stars is not only a concert film presenting 13 Springsteen bangers, plus one great cover. Showcasing his charisma, wit, thoughtfulness and vulnerability, it emerges as a telling portrait of one of music’s modern greats.

A very smart take on the stalker movie, which resists easy laughs for harder truths, and might make you think twice the next time you’re lining up a photo for social media.

Horrifying, heart-breaking, often hilarious - Moore’s latest shock doc is a potent polemic.

On Her Shoulders is a compassionate, level-headed portrait of a remarkable woman. What it lacks in filmmaking fireworks, it makes up for in the sheer magnetism and moxie of its hero.

As angry and unflinching a piece of documentary filmmaking as you'll see this year.

The filmmaking is exemplary but most impressive of all is the tone that mixes comedy, melodrama and darkness.

Beautifully observed stuff, classy performances, and an occasionally exquisitely funny movie.

Inventively animated, giddily funny, and a surprisingly authentic take on the outsider experience: it is virtually impossible not to be charmed by these reptilian bros.

After Ned Kelly, Jagger needed a hit and Performance was it. Although playing a rock star probably wasn't the greatest challenge, he more than holds his own against Fox in a psychedelic classic.

The powerhouse of the film is Tim Curry's cross-dressing alien, Frank N. Furter, who would never reach these kinds of gloriously demented heights again.

It may sound dismissive to call a film ‘nice’, but that’s exactly what this is. It’s beautifully produced, entirely uncynical niceness. If you’re after just a lovely time, come on in and put your feet up.

Unlucky to miss out a Best Foreign Film Oscar, this moving war flick is a nerve-jangling odyssey into the underground world.

A perfect example of early Brooks firing on all spoofily comedic cylinders.

The second half occasionally descends into melodrama, but for the most part this is bleak, non-judgemental, riveting stuff.

Turning slumberland into a twisted murderer's den is a masterstroke by Craven, who has brought new blood to a genre that seemed as if it might choke on it's own excesses.

Compelling 1970s take on the monster horror genre which remains fresh and hugely watchable.

A powerful story about father and sons, told by a father and son. At once a showcase for a monumental talent, and the arrival of an exciting new one.

It’s a classy weepy with some killer dialogue, but Bening is the big sell here. Given one of the juiciest roles of her career, she makes every moment count.

Humane and perceptive memoir from Allen, with a pleasant visual nostalgia and the usual slew of impressive performances.

Although time doesn't flatter the film much, it remains engaging and insightful.

Complex and sophisticated, this genre-defying crime story is spellbinding viewing.

The forgettable title and cookie-cutter concept may seem lazy, but Coogan and Rudd work their asses off to make Erasmus and Paul the most memorable screen gay men since The Birdcage. It’s caustic, authentic, and very, very funny.

As darkly disturbing as Jim Thompson's novel, this is a genuinely upsetting film that might also be Winterbottom's best. Not for everyone, but near-faultless all the same.

The film is too long at well over two hours, but the effects are impressive for the time and the musical numbers zippy.

One of Hollywood's forgotten masters and one of its brightest new actresses team for what could well be an Oscar wild card.

The fact that Alma Har'el is still stuck in music video director mode makes for an interesting new breed of documentary.

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 touching and insightful black comedy that gracefully spans sixty years.

Still the definitive werewolf movie.

Intelligent, classy and skin-crawling. You won't see a better acting masterclass this year.

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

It’s as subtle as a sledgehammer, but Fresh’s audacious storytelling, full-throated performances and accomplished direction make for a tasty, wildly entertaining concoction. Deliciously deranged stuff from Mimi Cave and writer Lauryn Kahn.

The prequels this ain’t. We can all breathe again.

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

Christopher Landon dials down the blood and dials up the feels for a fun, heartfelt horror-comedy enlivened by David Harbour’s accomplished apparition-acting.

Lord knows how it all connects, but there's a strange power in how About Endlessness flows, jumping around the whole spectrum of human experience and the ridiculous places to which our emotions push us. Andersson's pigeon is at flight once more, and cinema is a richer place for it.

An energetic, urgent and damning assessment of our prison crisis, Wasteman marks Cal McMau as an exciting new homegrown director.

An engrossing slice of modern history.

Witty, moving and visually dazzling.

Directors Harri Shanahan and Siân A. Williams have created a commanding, if one-sided, film that documents the importance of the Rebel Dykes sub-culture in detail for the first time — its importance for future generations of queer women will be vital.

By The Grace Of God lives in the present, a fast-paced, exciting, beautifully played film that matches Spotlight as a searing portrait of modern heroes who stood up.

This smart and funny creation is not just wish-fulfilment for the "Sex And The City" generation -- it's a Wall Street for the 21st century.

Less melodramatic and earthier than the classic 1939 version with Olivier, Robert Fuest’s take still heaves with passion thanks to Dalton’s fiery chemistry with Anna Calder-Marshall’s Cathy. John Coquillon’s cinematography expertly captures the drabness of the Moors setting, while Michel Legrand offers a haunting score.

Hive cooks up a beautifully delicate rally for independence and justice, brought out through precise processes of the communal culinary experience. Although not entirely well balanced, it makes for nourishing, inspiring viewing.

A smart indie sci-fi which has much to say and some great ideas, all wrapped up in a designer-drug-based premise that makes it sound less interesting than it actually is.

It’s a fairy-tale, a glittering New York fable told in a silvery black and white, laden with nostalgia for times and oddities long gone from the hallowed halls of Broadway. Another Allen gem.

A marvellous follow-up to 2004's "Sideways" - well worth the wait.

A rounded portrayal that leaves an overwhelming sense of the miraculousness of life.

Talented Norwegian Joachim Trier - distant cousin to the better-known (and Danish) Lars - delivers a wonderful, melancholy character piece that's funny and tender, and as fresh as a breath of Oslo sea air.

Superb performances, exquisite direction and that Ennio Morricone score create an authentic 1920s Chicago feel and a hugely entertaining crime drama.

It may be a tad predictable, but Eternity skirts the trappings of its romcom tropes by elevating the love triangle to a riveting existential quandary.

Abel Ferrara out-sleazes even his own grubby oeuvre with this powerful if overbearing study of a soul swallowed by depravity.

Harrowing and complex, this study in terror is not for the faint of heart.

Chu amps up the colour and spectacle to extraordinary, almost overwhelming heights, but the real magic comes from Erivo and Grande as the frenemies at the story’s heart. 

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.

An effective look at women's lives in a decidedly non-Hollywood setting.

Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise deliver on their promise, with a witty, violent take on Reacher that makes up for its lack of height with an abundance of smarts and thrills.

Very humane portrait of a potentially extremely unlikeable character.

It may not have Lost In Translation's reach, but it's original and smartly funny with top performances.

A gripping insight into the problems faced by men trying to sustain interest in playing the music of their youth.

Top Gun is not so much a movie in the conventional sense as an escalating series of masterfully crafted adverts: motorcycles, aircraft carriers, pectorals and planes all look as if they’ve been shot for a particularly luminous beer campaign.

Creepy Price in all his gnarled splendour.

Gnarly, gross and delightfully unconventional, this is exactly the kind of Sam Raimi film his fans have been waiting for, carried by a committed, no-holds-barred Rachel McAdams performance.

Surprisingly sentimental by turns, this emerges not as just another gangster initiation movie, but as a story of father and son love with enough guts to hold those anticipating the former, while also touching the heart.

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]

You can take issue with its overly Anglicised approach to an international tragedy, but there's no denying that this rousing, superbly acted, no-holds-barred melodrama is a mighty feat of physical filmmaking.

Keiller's follow up to his cine-essays London and Robinson In Space is another intelligent, thought-provoking piece of filmmaking.

Though slightly marred by a clunky structure and a lack of truly catchy tunes, Nine’s wall-to-wall first-rate performances from its stellar cast (especially Cotillard) add a touch of class.

For all the courage and ingenuity of this extraordinary film, it's clear that Caouette has actually resolved few issues and that his life is still very much a work in progress.

A sharp study of corporate greed for those who felt Michael Moore pulled too many punches.

Glen Powell achieves certified movie-star status and Adria Arjona shines in this slick, seductive romantic thriller. Don’t let it get buried in your Netflix watch list.