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

It’s absolute nonsense, of course, but does quite nicely as knockabout Friday night fun. We can smell a sequel if Travolta can be bothered.

An uneven, somewhat meandering thriller is given emotional pull by Mel Gibson’s excellent comeback performance. The lethal weapon hasn’t lost it.

Could have been T2 with seraphs, or Assault On Precinct 13 crossed with Revelations. Instead, it’s a lazy genre bore. Doesn’t bode well for Priest, the next Stewart/Bettany film in the pipeline.

Thoughtful, moving, and Bettany is brilliant. To be reminded of the power of love to redeem and repair, catch Creation.

A smart and incisive look at race, identity and dysfunction in modern French society.

Mad Max 2 with Thought for the Day thrown in. There’s some ace post-holocaust action, but you can’t help feel you were invited to a party with fizzy pop and cream cake and got suckered into a sermon instead.

44 Inch Chest gets by on the quality of its performances.

A vivid portrayal of life at society's margins with a compelling turn from newcomer Jarvis. Little wonder it scored at Cannes.

Lots of interesting concepts competing for limited running time make for more of a TV pilot than a feature film.

Rubbish. Irish eyes will be hard pressed to grimace, let alone smile.

It’s chaotic and episodic, but this is Cera’s star turn. "Superbad" meets "Fight Club?" That’ll do it.

A hard film to love, but a hypnotic meditation on all the elements -- gossip, religion, bullying -- that can turn a parish and country bad.

Some of the tension drains from a slow middle act, but it remains a gripping tale of sleuth-work and moral awakening.

A fun, action-packed reintroduction to Conan Doyle's classic characters. Part Two should provide more in the way of scope.

Like all Meyers’ films, it’s more about interior design porn than real human emotions and drags on for far too long. Still, Streep, Krasinski and Baldwin are so good, they almost make it work. Almost.

There are thrilling flashes of Gilliam getting back to top form here. A scrappy movie with more ideas than it can control, but one born out of a passion and determination that are wholly infectious.

Alvin does high school rom-com and very poorly at that.

A riveting slice of Romanian new wave drama, haunted by shadows of the Ceausescu era and never less than thought-provoking.

Neither good nor bad. Scales dizzying new heights of okay. Aims for mediocrity... and nails it.

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?

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.

An elegant, entertaining, informative picture with a gallery of vivid supporting turns, this provisionally crowns the winning Blunt as a Brit-pic star - but it skimps a bit on the bodice-ripping, blood and thunder.

A phenomenal, heart-breaking performance from Jeff Bridges powers this simple but affecting redemption story.

One of the year's originals - frantic, unpredictable and very, very funny. Remove brain. See loud.

Like “The Lord Of The Rings,” The Lovely Bones does a fantastic job with revered, complex source material. As terrific on terra firma as it is audacious in its astral plane, it is doubtful we’ll see a more imaginative, courageous film in 2010.

Eastwood hits all the right notes in exactly the right order, but it’s his least personal film for a while.

It sounds like a downer but A Single Man is exciting, emotionally alive filmmaking, a potent cocktail of style and substance. And Firth thoroughly deserves the Oscar.