Conjuring menace and mystery from solitude and seagulls, The Lighthouse is a folk tale, a black comedy, a horror, a mystery, a (platonic?) romance — and something more still, something unspeakable. Something like a masterpiece, perhaps.

This summer's most satisfying, spectacle-packed movie. Like its predecessor, it offers a strong story rather than a feeble excuse to connect set-pieces.

Although some say Wayne's Oscar was given out of sympathy instead of his performance, he still acts well as the sheriff who's past his peak. Proving he wasn't always a serious as he was made out to be, he plays the role with aplomb, even pastiching himself in other films.

Rose Plays Julie is impactful and unsettling, heightened by slippery performances and enigmatic visual construction.

Fresh, funny and frank, Saint Frances is a welcome shake-up of tired genre clichés; a messy, uplifting story about a woman who may not have everything figured out, but is fully in charge of her own fate.

You already know if you’ll enjoy a film where LSD-crazed leather daddies are summoned via something called the Horn Of Abraxas. A no-holds-barred ride into madness destined for a thousand midnight screenings.

A crowdpleaser that also tells an important story about showbiz, it’s fab. You’ll come out singing.

It's been twelve years since "Titanic," but the King of the World has returned with a flawed but fantastic tour de force that, taken on its merits as a film, especially in two dimensions, warrants four stars. However, if you can wrap a pair of 3D glasses round your peepers, this becomes a transcendent, full-on five-star experience that's the closest we'll ever come to setting foot on a strange new world. Just don't leave it so long next time, eh, Jim?

Slightly overlong and glosses over certain aspects but a profound examination of a tortured artist.

An insightful and, on occasion, laugh-out-loud piece of filmmaking. Artfully shot and structured, while its warmth and wit shine as brightly as the Californian sun.

It's a surprise to see Wim Wenders embracing 3D in its full, feature-length glory but the medium works well to capture the graceful swirl of the German choreographer's work.

A dark rites-of-passage story meets lethal Shakespearean drama, with low-key performances that artfully get under the skin.

Stunning cast and scenery cannot fill the hole where the heart of this film should be. A satire with an unnaturally soft centre.

This is a great director's greatest love story.

Tenebrae is essential viewing for fans of the Italian stallion thanks to some of his most arterial gore to date.

While it's all very pleasant watching these undecided pubescents frolic in the lake in their undies, there's a distinct lack of real drama or purpose in the self-indulgent, humourless proceedings.

The Lego Movie is bursting out of its box with enthusiasm and excitement for the possibilities of a little pile of nubby plastic.

Impressive because Loach keeps things simple in an accurate social study.

The mesmerising García and sensitive direction by Lelio light up this delicate yet spiky drama. Terrific stuff from both Chileans.

One of Woody's most aesthetically gorgeous films as well as his classic love-hate letter to the city of his soul.

Thrilling and often hilarious, it’s good to see one of Hollywood’s most inventive directors fully reinvigorated. On this form, Spider-Man 4 should be a belter.

Keeping it surreal has never been so nauseating and, at times, hilarious.

A terrific human drama about two boys about to be consigned to the scrapheap, with standout performances from its young leads.

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

Al Pacino delivers a powerful performance in this compelling biopic...of a cop and a city's police force.

This is smart, silky, sensitive, and funny old-school movie magic.

Milk thoroughly deserves all of the press ink that will doubtless be spilt over it. Wear your 'Vote Penn' Oscar pin with pride.

A cracking cold war story.

It's not a great film, but Lee's superhuman skills make it an occasionally jaw-dropping experience.

It's not for nothing that these guys are the world's finest live act.

This feels like history-in-the-making, as both a fresh insight into the interior lives of historical figures and a snapshot of a future filmmaking great just getting started.

Tragic and tender Fuller classic. Way ahead of its time.

Sensitively made, thought-provoking and ultimately moving, The Reason I Jump provides telling insights into the neurodiverse worldview. The result is a powerful documentary that presents life through fresh eyes.

Belle is an exhilarating transformation of a classic tale, updating a story of alienation into something deeply resonant with our digital way of life. Though it misses a couple of notes in its final act, it’s an exhilarating sensory experience, with great emotional depths.

As it is, it’s an aloof conclusion, an unclimactic climax to a stand-alone film.

Painful for many reasons, but highly recommended.

A spectacular documentary portrait of a great artist and extraordinary pop star. Despite a few omissions, it’s a triumph of Sound And Vision, and essential for every David Bowie fan.

There are few filmmakers as consistently, burningly passionate as Spike Lee. This is vital and timely work that’s up there with his best, with a gut-wrenching sting in the tail.

It’s delightful to see these characters again, particularly the long-suffering Gromit, and if the jokes don’t come quite as thick and fast as before, the beating heart beneath the clay remains intact.

This gentle and intimate coming-of-age drama from beloved playwright Annie Baker is an assured but frustratingly slow-paced directorial debut which evokes the bittersweet nostalgia of ‘90s pre-teen girlhood.

Odd and sexy, troubling and touching, frustrating and mesmerising, dull and haunting. A film by Jonathan Glazer.

The interviews are as entertaining as the slick interplay on the ice.

It's solid Miyazaki, although he has reached greater heights both before and since.

It has a decent story, Hanks and Streep are two compelling leads, and Spielberg is laughably over-qualified to direct it, but it’s neither as thrilling as All The President’s Men, nor does it have the emotional heft of Spotlight. But there’s no shame coming second best to those two titans of the genre. On its own considerable merits, The Post is first class.

The revolutionary visuals find endless ways to honour the mind of an innovator – but simultaneously risk an overwhelm of aesthetic information, rather than a lucid insight into the anatomy of contemporary dance.

This reflection on isolation, technology, creativity and desire brilliantly blurs the lines between perception and voyeurism, the objective and the subjective.

Manages to gain classic comic book feature status through a combination of great stunts and a great human angle.

Very humane portrait of a potentially extremely unlikeable character.

Dog-lovers, in particular, will go ga-ga for this, but this remarkably fresh and funny period tale (set in England, fact fans) has all the ebullience and lovability of its titular characters.

Branagh's Henry V must, however, be counted a success - it might never be as famous as Olivier's, but it should carry considerable clout for years to come.

This is a superbly crafted, landmark film which invested a much-derided and frequently ludicrous genre with a welcome degree of dignity and respectability.

One of those instances where everything good about Hollywood just fell into one place at the right time, it's almost impossible not to get swept up in the vivaciousness of The Sting as a whole. Magnificent, timeless stuff.

Mortensen shines but a contrived, issue-driven plot destabilises what could have been a great Russian gangster movie.

Intriguing and visually atmospheric melodrama with Dietrich doing her sultry thing.

Moving, enlightening, but above all entertaining, this is a worthy tribute to a prolific talent that fortifies our appreciation for Vandross and his art.

This is daring, dangerous and dizzying stuff, the story of a one man simultaneously in competition and cooperation with nature. Meet Tom Cruise’s hero, probably.

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.

It’s taken a long time getting here from across the Pond, but some things are worth waiting for. A wonderful, witty and weird spin on an old favourite, which seems destined to become a classic itself.

A first-rate horror movie, It Follows adds a new monster to the pantheon expect pranksters to imitate the Follower for cheap shocks soon — and has a refreshing, unpretentious sense that a meaningful subtext doesn’t undercut spookiness.

Whether horror fans are ready for high-notes or musical buffs will appreciate Dario Argento levels of gore is an open question, but this is a rich, demented experience.

Perhaps the best Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made.

Satirical Samurai action of the highest order.

With such a strong cast, the film almost turns into an ensemble film instead of a star vehicle for Stewart in his first of many collaborations with Mann. An Archetypal Western with the required cowboys, gunfights and damsels in distress, it has become an all time favourite.

There are films to see on huge screens, but this is one that almost cries out for a small cinema, surrounded by total blackness. It’s a daring experiment brilliantly executed, with Tom Hardy giving one of the performances of his career.

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?

Polanski arrived on the scene with an almost super-human knack for tension; one of the great directorial debuts in cinema's history.

Nothing can make an agnostic squirm like full-on religion but by loading his central character with lay weaknesses as well as spiritual strengths, Duvall invests the near-documentary style film with an everyman appeal.

It may have a tenuous relationship with nuance, but RRR is a bombastic delight. Making the Fast And Furious series look restrained by comparison, it hits the parts Hollywood actioners just can’t reach. Rise! Roar! Revelation!

The best Rocky film since the original, honouring the Stallone legacy while setting it in a different direction. Feel the need. The need for Creed.

Not as divine as Ang Lee's "Sense and Sensibility," but engagingly comparable to the Gwyneth Paltrow-starring Emma and vastly superior to Mansfield Park.

An Oscar nominee at this year's Academy Awards and for good reason, Falardeau's film is moving, smart and sensitive. Terrific stuff, in short.

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

A tale of pelts that pelts along, with more lunacy and creativity than a brace of other films, this film dares to go full beaver. Don’t sleep on it.

Levinson’s self-penned 1982 directorial debut and the first of his “Baltimore films” is a disarming reminiscence on buddydom.

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.

You don’t have to be cray-cray for Tay-Tay to enjoy The Eras Tour. Taylor’s version of a concert flick might not reinvent the music movie wheel but, as a gift to the hardcore or a primer to her immense talent, it works a treat.

Paying fitting tribute to a photography legend, this slice-of-life film is a delectable treat, with among the best marriages of the ordinary and the transcendent since Perfect Days. 

Director Pablo Trapero seals his enviable reputation with this exceptional study of isolation and grief.

Impressive scope, storytelling and sensitivity makes this a fine capture of Irish abortion rights history being made and the beautiful spirit of the campaigners who fought to push their country into the future.

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.

A surprisingly fun, effervescent against-the-odds drama that offers an upbeat moral without the usual punishing survival-story clichés. Not for the faint-hearted, mind.

This isn't traditional heritage cinema and it may not tickle the same taste buds that devoured "Tinker Tailor" or "The King's Speech." It does, however, represent the unique vision of an artist who needs to be met halfway, and in an age of hubbub, its patient elegance is a rare thing we should nurture.

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.

A thumpingly good ode to friendship, hope, wit, wiles and wisdom, brimming with crackling characters and topped with the most twisteroo of twists since "The Crying Game."

Strong performances carry this unyielding portrait of dementia and elderly suffering that marks an interesting shift for Noé, but its relentless efforts to inflict sorrow and pain can feel overdone.

Instructive, insightful and inspiring, Maiden is a rousingly riveting record of a remarkable accomplishment that says as much about British bloody-mindedness as it does about feminist fortitude and underdog pluck.

The conflict here is one of morality, identity and the boundaries of humanity; all the guns and napalm, while present, are secondary to War’s purpose.

Serious, topical filmmaking of a very high order. It may not engage as immediately as a Bourne, but it sticks with you longer.

Short Term 12 is a miracle of a movie. Beautifully written and perfectly played, all of human life is here: the good, the bad, the messy and the uplifting.

A funny and touching look at the joys of family life.

Cronenberg's best for a long time -- broad and entertaining enough for those unacquainted with the director's work, but layered with the themes of infection and mutation that have defined it.

Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls’ feature co-directorial debut is a riotously funny, unexpectedly poignant ode to gaming, Shakespeare, the indestructible nature of art, and the benefits of befriending bazooka wielding extraterrestrials.

A storming debut from writer-director Saim Sadiq: emotional, tender, and quietly radical. With any luck, it will herald a new era for Pakistani cinema.

Ridiculously charming, immensely funny, and shot with an unusual zestiness, Rye Lane is purely joyful company — and a shot in the arm for future romantic comedies.

Lesser Hitch, but still superb entertainment.

Mark Jenkin is still Mark Jenk-ing: the most stubbornly analogue filmmaker out there has produced another satisfyingly baffling film about Cornish communities and the supernatural tension between past and present.

All gothicky, christmassy, romantic and Burtonesque. Worth a look.

As frustrating as it is rewarding.