Some acute performances do justice to the novel in a quirky adaptation of the novel. Balasko steals the show as the prickly concierge with the warmer side.

Once you get over the unlikelihood of Affleck and Crowe as buddies, State Of Play stands as a sterling thriller, benefiting from admirable convictions and an arguable return to form by Russell Crowe.

It's hard to care about the characters in this defiantly downbeat drama.

As a direct tribute to the dignity of the solider facing attacks on both their bodies and their souls it puts things in a salutary context.

Fans of David Gordon Green, you may well leave feeling confused. Fans of daft laughs and James Franco, you're in for one of the funniest comedies of the year.

Murray’s finest, funniest, meatiest performance since "Lost In Translation" — just a shame it’s contained in such a lightweight dramedy.

A unexpected pleasure to watch, disturbing for new parents, slightly silly but ever so enjoyable.

Frenetic, kinetic action meets satisfyingly soapy drama. See it before everyone tries to copy the best bits.

The tale from the past is very nostalgic, heartwarming and mouth-watering and all, as Idgie and Ruth cook up a storm, are kindly to their black domestics and stand up to piggy men while events fitfully progress to a courtroom climax. And Masterson is a peach. But the best bits belong to Bates as her dreary Evelyn raises her consciousness, lowers her weight and starts speaking her mind. It's a nice, pleasant celebration of friendship, but without much meat to chew on.

Spectacular and well-acted, this suffers from much the same problem as the situation it depicts — too many people on the mountain and too many threads to follow so that affecting individual stories get lost in the snow.

Gentle, unchallenging drama for people who already know they like it, this is a nostalgic and rosy depiction of an England that was, surely, never so innocent.

A film that, despite being about theatre itself, is remarkably cinematic and entirely unafraid to revel in the English language.

Wedding Crashers doesn't quite live up to its promise, but through no fault of its off-the-wall cast.

Great performances, provocative ideas and gripping action scenes fall prey to Hollywood logic and pat storytelling in the final hour.

Despite solid work from the engaging cast, there’s nothing new here to distinguish Freedom Writers.

Skewers the action genre while also finding room for sheer madness. We've still yet to see the equal of Ron Burgundy, but this latest offering is a wonky yet worthy addition to the McKay/Ferrell pantheon.

It might veer towards hagiography at times, but its subject is so entertaining you don't even care.

Entertaining and ambitious horror hokum, slightly tarnished by a disappointingly obvious "shock" ending.

Never brave enough to feel far-reaching (or, ironically, far-fetched, when time-travel and space flight are so popular at the movies), Navigator still fulfills its mission, distracting the family for bang-on an hour and a half.

What could have been a ponderous, predictable sequel to a much-loved Oscar-winner instead turns out to be a fun romp. However Gladiator II fares this awards season, it’s a hell of a ride.

A high-energy doc that does a tidy job of spanning 50 action-packed years. We suggest you don’t run to the hills but your nearest cinema instead.

With Better Call Saul about to come to an end, Odenkirk switches gears with admirable ease, anchoring one of the most purely enjoyable action movies in ages. It’s not quite a case of Nobody does it better, but it’ll do until somebody does.

Apart from the odd titter, this is a sound formula suspense movie with spiffy set piece thrills, directed with assurance by Dead Calm's Philip Noyce and attractively played by the plausibly anxious principals.

Butler’s best star vehicle in years, what could have been a bombastic bunch of boulders is, instead, a refreshingly clear-eyed and compelling affair. One of the best disaster movies in years.

Another humane, odd and highly accomplished Yorgos Lanthimos film, one that sees him returning to the tone of his earlier work after The Favourite and Poor Things.

Spielberg has seemingly done the impossible: balancing sugar-rush nostalgia with an involving story to create a pure, uncynical, cinematic ride that recaptures the magic of his early films.

The result never comes close to being hilarious, merely cute in the corniest way. That it is more of a pleasure than it deserves, is down to the light, bright leads. Cage and Fonda are both charming, though he’s particularly endearing in his uncharacteristic but welcome turn as a soft-hearted, irresistable darling. The slightness is a disappointment, but the concoction is still very sweet indeed.

Paltrow does an excellent job as the shy loner, affecting youthful, sulky mannerisms without resorting to stereotype. Anthony Hopkins, meanwhile, brings both gravitas and dark humour as Catherine's mentally ill father, while Jake Gyllenhaal makes for an effective, if buff, maths geek.

Spielberg has mounted a courtroom drama to rival the finest Grisham, with a coruscating civil rights debate resonating both within the film and into the present as the audience knows it.

Philip Seymour Hoffman puts his oar in with a tender, thoughtful adaption of Robert Glaudini's stage play. A little too measured to deliver an emotional punch, it's nevertheless beautifully acted and at times rather lovely.

Vastly enjoyable despite the syrupy, soppy song bit in the middle (go make a glass of mulled wine during it). Michael Caine is perfect in the role and there are many genuine belly laughs.

Tonally the film is never more than the sum of its parts, while Sumpter, although physically perfect, just isn’t charismatic enough as Peter.

A provocative, engrossing, often hilarious, frequently tough picture. Not for all sensibilities but it’s among von Trier’s more playful, purely entertaining films, with insight and humour in even the horrors.

It's a great set-up but sadly the plot unfolds slowly and with little action, playing like a short story.

Despite some inventive photography and decent gore for its day, its uneven pace renders it a curio for Coppola fans.

Audacious, yet sensitive, Fire may shock traditionalists but is the sort of film that ought to win Indian cinema a whole new audience.

The only movie to truly deliver the visceral power of a dental drill, John Schlesinger’s taut, well written if far-fetched and baffling thriller, is the film that gives you a tooth ache in a good way.

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

A smart, tragic take on just how dark the American Dream can be, with award-worthy work from Stan and Strong.

A serious, well-intentioned slice of WWII naval history full of compelling detail and good action but lacking the dimensions and dynamics to make you truly feel it.

Best of all, an astonishing sequence in which Bugs, Daffy and Porky Pig leap from painting to painting in a breathless chase through the Louvre sufficiently demonstrates just how much life modern animation techniques can breathe into these timeless characters.

Occasionally irritating farce but inventive and boasting an endearing as well as laugh-out-loud performance from Murphy in and out of fat suit.

Engrossing western which inspired a huge genre revivial.

Lovingly photographed in a monochrome that recalls Woody Allen’s Manhattan, this is a slickly scripted rom-com.

One comes out of this fragmentary documentary about the King Of Cool’s passion for motor racing liking him much less than one did going in.

A profoundly affecting story of doomed love and lost time that boasts captivating performances from Mescal and O’Connor. Come for the boys, stay for the magic of storytelling through song.

A gross and engrossing attempt to humanise a hot-button subject, using a star-sprinkled cast to reveal some unpalatable truths.

With some gorgeously stylised animation and sharp comedy making up for its somewhat lightweight storytelling, The Bad Guys is... not bad.

The dialogue and storyline are both a little on the clunky side, but the action excels.

As horrifying and hard to watch as you'd expect a paedophile's-eye view of life to be. It's neither sensationalist nor trite, and the questions it asks are intelligent and thoughtful.

The dirty compañeros of the old Spaghetti West ride again in this stirring tale of hate, murder and revenge.

Waters' attempt to reach a bigger market sees him lose his own unique identity.

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.

Beautiful to look at, but shot with a cruel and unerring eye, it gives no quarter to the German people for their complicity in events, and in turn disgusts, amazes and frightens.

A little heavy-handed with its moral messaging, this is nevertheless a self-deprecating and diverse tale of discovery. Michael Peña’s take on rave culture alone is worth your money.

Episodic western with a great performance from Hoffman.

The movie is lavishly designed and assembled. However, the sometimes muddled, sometimes boring, and definitely overlong screenplay, lacking subtlety and definition, disappoints the expectations of enjoyment that are set up in the first 15 minutes.

Official Secrets is a timely, ambitious if broad take on a complex subject, but remains engaging and entertaining. anchored by Keira Knightley on great form.

A solid, bare-knuckle action-thriller.

Without a doubt, hard hitting and thoguhtful, but Clarke's style here (as it would continue to do) hints at something altogether more disturbing.

An amazing achievement for a 'first-time' filmmaker, which measures up to the finest indies for performance and character-work, and the biggest blockbusters for jaw-dropping effects. And it has the year's best sex scene, too.

An inspired, soulful piece of sci-fi, the endlessly stunning visuals all in service of a heartfelt, sensitive story. Gareth Edwards is the real deal — this is fantastic, enveloping cinema.

Iain Softley directs his feature debut with simplicity and feeling, and you don't have to have been a Beatles fan to get with the beat. Gives you hope for the British film industry.

It’s "Top Gun" with gamer’s thumb. Ethan Hawke shines in a complex, satisfying character study turned combat thriller.

A war film without the war but with some interesting observations nonetheless.

Funny in places but not Allen's best writing...and its difficult to get beyond the conceit.

The performance of Harvey Stephens as the young Damien has invested the film with the chill of genuine credibility.

Enjoyable from start to finish, this throw-away action flick does what it says on the tin.

Douglas and Turner make a great double act in this exuberantly directed adventure movie with a great start turn from the always enjoyable De Vito. Good stuff.

Another thriller absent of any real thrills.

Despite a few narrative gaps that needed filling, Sam Hobkinson delivers a rollercoaster-ride of a documentary with superb characters, insightful talking heads and jaw-dropping plot twists.

Rarely has screen satire been so bleak or so mercilessly funny.

This sprawling epic rewards patience with an emotional pay-off and non-triumphant ending that reminds us all too starkly of the sacrifices made during war.

John C Reilly just about holds together a funny but patchy comedy that puts a ten-megaton bomb under the cliched rock biopic – and never detonates it.

Gyllenhaal flexes all his considerable acting muscles in this taut, tense thriller. One of the better remakes you’ll see.

Silly, witty, extremely British — this is a family film made with a very Aardman-y kind of craft and care. A good egg.

Depp plays on both his looks and quirky charm to make the title character a joy to watch, while Brando thoroughly enjoys himself as the suddenly amorous physician. Utterly charming.

A slow-burn, sluggishly surreal horror, The Feast takes its time getting to the point — but the bloody final act is something to really sink your teeth into.

Effective melodrama with some satisfying emotional confrontations, particularly from Lana Turner.

Lemmon and Maclaine fail to reproduce the chemistry from The Apartment but this slight film is not as ignorable as reputation suggests.

Hold The Dark is rather unwell. Both intimate and epic, it is appropriately cold, resisting warmth at every turn, more a philosophical adventure than an emotional one.

Handsomely done but short on the atmosphere and passion of a genre classic.

Bleak and compelling.

A solid thriller with McConaughey doing what he does best.

Another typically assured piece of work from Ozon with a showstopping turn from newcomer Vacth.

Piece By Piece’s very existence is baffling, and the Lego of it all is never entirely justified, but as an unconventional documentary of a maverick musician, it works — just about.

A classic American sports movie, with all of its triumphs and clichés — kept afloat by two brilliant, warm lead performances from Annette Bening and Jodie Foster.

The witty, loquacious Cocker is watchable as ever and the gig scenes will thrill Pulpers.

A frustratingly thin epic. You're left wanting more exposition, more character development, the tidying up of loose ends.

The filmmaking is a tad formulaic, but On Swift Horses is a beautifully shot piece of period escapism with a mesmerising central performance from Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Too often The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain favours eccentricity over actual insight. But even when the tones jar, Cumberbatch’s vulnerable, layered performance always rings true.

Mostly harmless. A very British, very funny sci-fi misadventure that's guaranteed to win converts.

So it may not be Citizen Kane, but it is a hilarious comedy (although not a very believable one — there can be no eight-year-olds this ingenious) that kids will love and adults won’t mind sitting through either.

A charming, visually sparkling Parisian fantasy with a dark edge.

A sturdy by-the-numbers legal drama that really belongs on the small screen.

A quality production, with awards-bid performances from Bale and Affleck to prove it... but, as signalled by the curiously unmemorable title, it flounders while trying to come up with a story to embody the things it wants to say about the sorry state of modern America. Worth seeing, but a near-miss.

A grimly funny social allegory that doesn't pull a single punch.

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but maybe they’re wrong: on this evidence, Guy Ritchie can absolutely learn how to make a Paul Greengrass film, delivering a handsome slice of serious war drama.