Spirited, amiable, featherweight summer fun.

Star Wars really does begin here.

This year's Dodgeball? Not a chance. Ferrell admirably tackles the so-so material, but it soon defeats him.

A note to Fonda: even thin, fabulous 67-year-olds shouldn't wear strapless gowns. It's scary.

A promising idea that never develops beyond that.

Cute, comical kids help make this ballroom dancing comp-romp a feelgood winner despite inexpert editing.

A true emotional epic.

A desperately sad look at two men whose determination to rebel against their heritage and succeed in their artform has rendered them unable to communicate. Compelling stuff, though.

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

Corbet emerges as an actor of sensitivity and depth, but it’s Gordon-Levitt who steals every scene as the damaged, destructive but ultimately sympathetic rent boy.

Sounds rather soapy and melodramatic, but director Susanne Bier, assisted by an able cast, ensures the traumas are painfully realistic and subtly observed.

A haunting, perceptive and uncompromising examination of controversial subject matter, expertly written and directed by Paul Haggis and characterised by excellent performances from its starry cast.

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

A compelling, if obscure, experience with evocative scene-setting and dreamy atmosphere.

Solid, mature and finely acted, but intermittently daft.

Peet works hard with the slight material and there are some cutely kooky moments.

Despite the talking heads and grainy blow-ups of TV footage, the film boasts some rather gorgeous cinematography and moves briskly, with the interviews masterfully edited.

It's part satire of the drug-fuelled clubbing scene, part harrowing disability drama -- and almost entirely improvised.

This is a gentle, camp but nonetheless revealing satire on how a nation circumvented the social strictures imposed upon it by Franco's fading fascist regime.

It’s occasionally sick-funny, but large swathes are unforgivably dull.

About as good as a big, stupid American action movie can be without ever being anything better than a big, stupid American action movie.

Not a Farrelly brothers classic, and (some testicle-washing aside) not much in the way of their trademark gross-out humour, but the boys from Boston do an admirable job of transferring Hornby's story into the States and onto the baseball diamond.

Kung Fu Hustle pummels "The Matrix" trilogy into a puddle.

Interesting misfires from Wong Kar-wai and Steven Soderbergh barely manage to atone for the seedy muddle concocted by eightysomething Michelangelo Antonioni, who mocks his own reputation for existential ellipsis with his voyeuristic vignette.

For the guys it's Rodriguez's best film by far and a treat for fans of good-looking girls in black-and-white, of classic film noir and of imaginative ultra-violence.

This has the power to unite a female audience ready and willing to overlook its supposed weaknesses.

Mildly amusing.

There are films that demand sequels, and then there's Miss Congeniality.

Delivers a decent puzzle and enough jumps to keep you enjoyably jittery.

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.

Visually arresting, with an enjoyably wacky premise, but scuppered somewhat by its rusty, clunky storytelling.

Right from the intriguing opening sequence, which hints at the bleakness which envelops the movie, Willis’ Talley is an interesting character.

Compelling and honest with flashes of dark humour which makes this a meaty comedy 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.

Castellitto deserves great credit for toning down the melodrama in wife Margaret Mazzantini's novel and producing a very human story about chance, choice and consequence.

A poorly written, directed and acted imitation of the first. Not funny, not clever and, crucially, not cool.

A gripping, affecting, strange movie -- but oddly, it's just like too many other gripping, affecting, strange movies we've seen recently.

Fails on both an emotional and comedic level.

The uniformly excellent performances feel real and familiar.

There is some fun to be had if you're in an undemanding frame of mind.

There are some amusing moments and some good performances despite the poor material, but it's not enough.

It means well, but it's all just a bit too tired a formula - even by the standards of a kids film. Put this one in the top field to 'rest'.

While lacking the richness of its source material, it remains an enjoyable, immoral and sometimes beautifully Gothic tale.

Solid history, fine cinema. Downfall is gripping, moving, and, in the end, profoundly horrifying.

Without doubt, Jaa's a star — a man very possibly worthy of the 'new Bruce Lee' tag.

It has charm, comedy and a populist concept, but is structurally weak and too self-consciously multicultural.

There's nothing preachy about this slick and funny doc (narrated by Dennis Hopper), which as a brief history of how porn spurted into the mainstream has all the money shots you could ask for.

An opportunity to exploit childhood nocturnal fears is missed in a second-rate horror.

This is a leaden mess that offers only brief moments of respite.

Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis, predictably impressive in the roles of abusive, alcoholic dad and troubled-but-tough mum.

Shifting between bourgeois soap, tabloid parable and tale of the unexpected, this three-storied study of salvation in extremis makes for unsettling but compelling viewing.

Aside from some effectively understated acting from the leads, there's not much to remember or recommend.

The final shot, in particular, is awesome, and confirms that the sooner Cameron gets back to making proper movies, instead of Boys’ Own diversions, the better.

Well-served by a laudably authentic ensemble, the director explores both character and ethnicity with a canny wit.

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

A smart script, edgy acting and a gradual accumulation of suspense set-pieces makes for a decent popcorn high.

It's a good story, well told.

Enormous plot holes and a script that’s fatally light on character mean there’s few selling points beyond Jennifer Garner's corset...

It’s been done before, and better. With pigs.

There’s little interest in probing characterisation, but the plot progress is steady and the performances likeable.

The characters might physically appear rounded, but are otherwise paper-thin.

The plot may play second fiddle to the visuals, but there’s no denying that these visuals are to die for.

Clever, original and terrifically witty.

Stark, bold drama.

It's Bacon's astonishing performance that is a quiet, challenging and ultimately discomfortingly human voice.

A few laughs are salvaged due to the sheer quality of the talent present.

The end result, although entertaining and well-crafted, certainly isn't on the same breathtaking scale of, say, Alan Parker's epic "Evita."

It's a weighty message movie, but it's a message worth delivering – and the cast's delivery is flawless.

DiCaprio shines, dispelling fears that he hasn’t the weight to carry such a complex, forceful role.

Silberling does a good job of introducing Snicket to the big screen in an impressive adaptation that’s always smart, even if it’s rarely spectacular.

A satisfying and grown-up flick that boasts all of James L. Brooks' strengths. It's good to welcome back a unique, low-key voice.

The more intimate scenes are almost unbearably poignant.

Terrific performance alone can't mask the lack of originality.

To steal from Ali, this one floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

Compared to its ultra-slick predecessor, it's a bit of a mess. But it maintains a breezy sense of fun and certainly looks as cool as its minus-one equivalent.

The garish, exotic, retro styling is Anderson at his visual best. In terms of character and sensibility, though, this is sadly Anderson at his worst.

Masterfully manipulative and bloody scary.

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

It’s almost as structurally daring as "Memento," demanding that the audience fills in the gaps.

This is how action movies should be made.

A must for movie buffs, but too much of the charm resides in the clips and exhibits and those unaffected by the nostalgia will find the romantic triangle a touch too contrived.

Inventive and lyrical, A Very Long Engagement is a joyous contradiction in terms: a war-torn romantic comedy.

Unwieldy and flawed, but Stone remains a tornado in an era of airless formula and -- to paraphrase our Ptolemy -- its failings are greater than most films’ successes.

Brings a lump to the throat without resorting to emotional manipulation. Deserves an A for effort.

Style over substance, but very stylish indeed.

A lot of fun.

As horror, it's a worn-out succession of gory, meaningless, hard-to-enjoy deaths, and too much of the running time is given over to puppets arguing with each other.

For the most part, Edge Of Reason is as saggy and well-worn as Bridget's big knickers.

A deftly directed, superbly acted and occasionally witty biopic which is not afraid to engage with the complexities of its central character.

Law's slick, pretty-boy reincarnation is less icy and insensitive than Caine's wide-boy original, so we still have all the painfully confused "What's it all about?" soul-searching.

Looks like 2004 has given birth to a new superhero franchise after all.

Relentlessly juvenile, it will offend moralists while making fans laugh out loud. It's only when demands of storytelling intrude that the film can't keep it up.

Falling on the meaty, potential role of a lifetime like a ravenous lion, erstwhile comedian Jamie Foxx, so good in "Collateral," is just wonderful as the eponymous star.

As good an all-out, non-camp horror movie as we’ve had lately.

Imagine if Stanley Kubrick had made Ghost and you're some way to this classily restrained oddity, but its morbid preoccupations and ambiguity might prove too cuckoo for most.

Some great acting and visuals make up for this thriller’s frostiness.

This tale of Mexican poverty refuses to lapse into sensation or melodrama.

Brilliantly observed characters are becoming second nature to Payne and Taylor, and the performances here are uniformly terrific. This is wonderful, original stuff.