One of modern American film’s most intelligent and provocative accounts of a nation’s political failings, and a near-perfect depiction of journalism at its purist and most inspired. To be more succinct, it is quite brilliant.

Uncompromising, intelligent and searing cinema. Along with The Assassination Of Jesse James... and No Country For Old Men, this is the best batch of Western-set dramas in decades. John Huston would have been proud.

Tense, kinetic, intelligent and real – as if Paul Greengrass had remade Vera Drake.

One of the most accomplished, influential and enjoyable films of the '70s.

The blend of Schrader's script, Scorsese's direction and De Niro's performance is both riveting and unnerving. A film that will stay with you forever.

An exhilarating fight-flick that, like its scrappy central character, is impossible not to root for.

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.

Measured in pace, yet thoroughly gripping and completely accessible. The title soft-sells the picture, but it's among the best of this or any year. And Manville should clear some shelf space for well-deserved awards.

Impassioned, sensitively acted and supersized in scope, Steve McQueen’s tribute to the Mangrove Nine provides a pulsating Black British history lesson — and kicks off his Small Axe anthology with an urgent bang.

Enigmatic and fascinating.

The hippest crime flick this side of "Goodfellas," Reservoir Dogs has all the hallmarks of a modern classic.

You will seldom find a film that cuts open a city and shows you its insides like Rocks does. Respectfully crafted, righteously funny and tender, Gavron has defined a generation like no-one else, and these efforts are not to be ignored.

Joanna Hogg delivers an object lesson in how to deliver a follow-up: deeper, funnier, more imaginative than its predecessor, The Souvenir Part II is a filmmaker working at the peak of her powers.

Note-perfect performances, a screenplay steeped in both nostalgia and a timely sense of insight, and anti-heroes you can't help but love.

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

Funny, brutal and breathtakingly beautiful. Two exceptionally raw lead performances, supercharged by a bold script from Martin McDonagh, could make Three Billboards this year’s Awards-upsetter.

Sum up the plot and it sounds interminable. Watch the film and it will spit you out elated, exhausted and cheering for an encore.

With so many films dedicated to the agonies of filmmaking, Singin’ overflows with the pleasure of movie creation, stitching together references to Hollywood history with more alacrity than Tarantino. One of the highpoints of hoofin’ history but, more importantly, an unadulterated joy.

Absurd, outrageous, gross, disturbing, insightful, and so funny it’ll burst half the blood vessels in your face.

Not just for women of whatever size. Warm but never wishy-washy, cosy without being cutesy, this is a superb adaptation of the source and further evidence that Gerwig is the real deal.

Aptly for a film so concerned with time, Button is 13 minutes shy of three hours and just flies by. If this is Fincher selling out, can he sell out more often please?

Newman is at his very best, and the cinematography is backing him up every step of the way. Must-see material.

A masterful documentary to rival Macdonald's "Touching The Void."

The Maltese Falcon is an unassailable triumph of script, casting, direction and editing.

And with supporting roles from the likes of Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall and Lee Strasberg, to say nothing of Roger Corman and Harry Dean Stanton in bit parts, this is nothing short of magisterial.

Rare and special is a film capable of summoning this much poignancy: a feeling which lingers well beyond the film’s final, achingly moving moments on screen. That Aftersun is the debut from British filmmaker Charlotte Wells only adds to its accomplishment.

A 50s horror classic that remains a gem of allegorical paranoia.

Splashing around in the same mad puddle as Lynch but a good deal funnier, this tale of a man with many faces is an exhilarating, audacious, lunatic rocket-ride. Hop on board.

So much more than a one-take gimmick movie, Victoria is a stunning cinematic achievement. Full of twists that feel authentic and believable characters, it grips from the first compelling frame to the last.

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.

Ledger's performance is monumental, but The Dark Knight lives up to it. Nolan cements his position as Hollywood's premier purveyor of blockbuster smarts – and the Batbike is kinda cool, too.

The small screen doesn't quite do justice to the rich visuals but with an incredible story and fine performances, it is still a compulsive and moving epic.

An awe-inspiring piece of filmmaking from Edgar Wright that plays out as a musical through the lens of an action thriller. Sweet, funny and utterly original — you won’t see a film like it this year.

Amadeus skewers the period finery - stunning costumes, production design, sublime music - with piercing intelligence and thematic gravitas.

Little can come close to captivating the grandeur and epic quality of William Wyler's magnificent bum numb-er.

The premise sounds like an off-Broadway play gone wrong. Far from it — this is extraordinary, vital, and fuelled by great performances.

Josh Safdie follows brother Benny’s The Smashing Machine with his own sports biopic, of sorts. This uncut gem dazzles, from its spotlit table-tennis contests to its dark portrait of American dreams.

A searing indictment of all sorts of American dreams, Glengarry Glen Ross is a welcome if foul-mouthed reminder of just what it takes for a lot of folk to make it through the working day.

A dazzling spy thriller that’s still amazing.

The collapse of the Cold War may have left Kubrick's satire on mutually assured destruction less relevant than it was, but it still features Peter Sellers' finest three performances as well as proving that the supposedly humourless Kubrick was up for a laugh.

Pawlikowski is in complete control of the form, but this is no austere piece of work — he even finds time for a few good jokes. Accessible, humane and compassionate: what a treat this is.

A quality ghost story with an unusual backdrop and great performances.

Insightful, revelatory and profound, Moreh's Oscar-nominated documentary combines riveting interviews, archive footage and - yes - state-of-the-art photographic effects to offer a unique perspective on the Israel-Palestine issue.

Really smart people on a really smart person: Fassbender, Winslet, Sorkin and Boyle await Oscar nominations. But for all its relevance and grandeur, Steve Jobs is ridiculously entertaining. You might say, user-friendly.

A suspense-filled nailbiter that plays on a fear no weapon weilding psycho can top.

A tense, slickly executed thriller.

A glowing tribute to The Beatles and their music, this is both a toe-tapping pleasure to watch and a smart, occasionally scathing look at how we get things wrong.

It shouldn't work, but it does.

A thriller that twists and turns with an understated power that will have you gripping the arm of your seat. Terrific stuff.

Although AWIL's comedy/horror elements aren't always cosy bedfellows, the film retains its original, quirky charm. Great effects for the day, too.

Ultimately, overlapping notions of family, cinema and healing are neatly tied up in an arresting and heartrendingly gentle finale that will leave an ache in your chest. Stripping dialogue and editing flourishes away, Sentimental Value’s final note is a showstopper.

An honest, affection-hooking, coming-of-age drama which proves that there is life beyond Hogwarts for Emma Watson.

While it may blunder down the odd comedy cul-de-sac, Madagascar 3 is often inspired and very, very funny.

It's beautifully mounted to capture the age and the passing seasons, though director Gillian Armstrong never lets the production values overwhelm the gentle sketches of girlish hopes and pastimes tempered by the trials of life.

Here it is at long last: a truly great vampire comedy. And also the funniest horror film to come out of New Zealand since Braindead.

Whether you're after a comedy-drama about cancer or a Rogen laugh-fest with added heart, this does a remarkable job of balancing the odds. And the laughter/tears split? Call it 70/30.

Depp puts in a reliable performance as the put-upon son who finds solace in the company of waitress, Juliette Lewis. All three deliver memorable performances along with a strong supporting cast.

A pot-bellied fable unlike anything else you’ll see this year. Not since Babe has an adorable porker inspired such peculiar joy or unexpected heartache.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever stands out from a somewhat formulaic era of Marvel movies: held together by its compelling sense of place, and by acting as a passionate eulogy for Chadwick Boseman.

Shelton keeps the humour straight down the middle and, just like "Bull Durham" before it, uses the rituals and metaphors of sport to relate the complexities of love and relationships.

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.

A diabolical treat with Rourke and De Niro in fine form.

Although not all the loose ends are tied up in the telling of this bizarre and absorbing tale of love, grief and goose-bumps, one scarcely minds at all, since the fourth-dimensional doings on offer, (underlined with a marvellously moody, haunting score by Zbigniew Preisner) are like an erotic trip into The Twilight Zone.

By equal turns tense and witty but with plenty of perceptive social commentary to go around, this is a film that only gets more rewarding the more you look under its surface.

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

A beautifully rendered, long, drawn-out but ultimately very satisfying story of betrayal and revenge in an uneasy setting of wartime paranoia.

Terrific. Michael Shannon delivers a fractured everyman who'll stay with you long after the final frame.

It’s a hugely enjoyable descent into epic gluttony.

The effects, arguably the best of the year, only add to the thrill.

A sorta-sequel to Mrs Brown deals effectively with another of Queen Victoria’s unconventional friendships and reprises Judi Dench’s powerful and unparalleled portrayal.

As shocking as it is hilarious, as ridiculous as it is insightful, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is the comedy we both need and deserve right now.

Wielding inspiration and uplift in equal measure, this musical odyssey is one of the cinematic journeys of the year. Don't miss it.

Marvel's most deranged and energetic movie yet, as much of a winning comeback for director Sam Raimi as it is a mega-budget exercise in universal stakes-raising.

A moving look behind the curtain of a rarely-explored community.

A celebratory portrait of author Toni Morrison painted by those who knew her, this compelling documentary also explores how her work gives such a powerful voice to the African American experience.

The movie that really showed Tom Hanks' promise as a deliverer of great comedy and heart-warming pathos.

Inna De Yard, while not always incisive, is soulful and uplifting in its exploration of the hearts behind the music Webber clearly loves — a feeling compounded by its charming subjects.

Stunningly beautiful and quietly powerful, this is a portrait of a vanishing way of life and of a determined woman who’s just trying to make her way in the world.

A modern-day treatment of Pygmalion and Cinderella rolled into one, it is graced by first-class performances from two easy-on-the-eye stars and a sharp, funny script.

Not so much bad Bad Boys, more good Bad Boys. And not so-bad-it’s-good Bad Boys either. Instead, this is comfortably the best entry in the series to date. Which isn’t bad.

Despite some gags which use the benefit of hindsight too much for their own good, this is a smart piece of filmmaking which suggests Linklater is already one of the more formidable talents of the 90s.

Another tenderly executed triumph from Francis Lee, and a captivating, serrated starring performance from Kate Winslet. Ammonite is a fine feat in British filmmaking craft.

Chock full of larger-than-life characters, it's an enthralling insight into a raw, bloodied world.

Alan J. Pakula directs with an aptly chilly eye on blue steel and grey walls, favouring whirring tape recorders and silently lurking voyeurs. Sutherland's melancholy title character is constantly challenged and prodded into the background by Fonda's Oscar-winning turn, which takes centre stage until the film becomes more obsessed with probing the riddles of her personality than solving the fairly transparent mystery.

Combat-heavy pulp of the highest order, this is the most enjoyably over-the-top entry so far. Where else can you get samurai dogs and a Tarkovsky reference?

It's that smile playing on Rosemary's lips, suggesting that her maternal instinct and the conspirators' hold on this vapid baby doll have prevailed, that provides the biggest chill.

For Sama powerfully mixes the personal and the political to thought-provoking, emotional ends. The result is one of the best documentaries of 2019.

A difficult film and one that's likely to offend in some ways. But as an elliptical, dream-logic infused visual poem, it certainly leaves a searing impression.

Even for non-Allen fans this has all the appeal of a good story well told and capped with a deliciously vicious little twist.

Adèle Exarchopoulos excels in this dark, elemental drama. A sensory delight that marks Léa Mysius as a filmmaker to get excited about.

A clear winner that makes you laugh, cry, and generally want to party and parade like it’s 1984.

It's a genuine delight and a definite thumbs aloft for kids of about six upwards.

This wonderful documentary succeeds as a reminder of human endeavour.