A surreal head-scratcher that'd make Luis Buñuel smile, it may not be perfectly formed, but there's no denying its fierce originality.

Built around a multilayered performance from Duris, it's a film unafraid to pose more questions than it answers.

A hugely powerful, moving study of a small village's stand against overwhelming state power. Despite all the suffering and injustice, the final message is one of optimism that feels neither facile nor tacked-on.

Despite its hard-scrabble setting, eco-gloominess and dystopian story, this dark fairytale is engagingly vivid and life-affirming. An ambitious love letter to a Louisiana way of life that's being literally washed away.

Despite the all-star talent, an overload of sight gags and an always-amiable vibe, Genndy Tartakovsky's monster house is a bit too loony for its own good.

An amusing, thoughtful romcom about love, literature and coming of age. Whatever age.

The ghost of Tex Avery is alive and well in a frenetic sequel that does more than reheat and serve. Madagascar 4? Don't bet against it.

Smart, literate and romantic, it's this year's (500) Days Of Summer, but with a few more shadows. Like Calvin, you'll find it hard to resist Ms Sparks.

Sparkle isn't "Dreamgirls" – but fans of schmaltzy showbiz fairytales should enjoy it.

A romcom that fumbles for heart in the gutter, and finds only glib gags.

An enjoyable, if boilerplate, boo-flick that maintains an enviable rate of scares per minute by throwing everything – demons, ghosts, snakes, loud noises – at the screen.

A brutal fusion of angst and action, this mini-epic gives the sword-and-sorcery genre a bleak, brusque new life. Watch it for some terrific limbchopping and a mighty turn by James Purefoy.

Burton's finest, freshest film in ages is a welcome homecoming. You'd call it patchwork pastiche, if it weren't so zapped with energy, feeling and imagination. It's alive!

Sadly, any hopes Mark Tonderai's US follow-up to 2008's "Hush" could have some "Cabin In The Woods"-style surprises up its sleeve are swiftly dashed as its talented lead is reduced to being just another scantily clad babe getting stalked by a psycho.

Logan Lerman delivers a career-making turn in this sweet, sincere film. It might not be a massive hit, but it will certainly ease a few paths through the awkwardness of adolescence.

Giant brains with teeth, suburban mutant zombies, more bullets than a John Woo film festival, and hot girls in skin-tight S&M outfits pummelling each other to a deafening dubstep soundtrack. If you're looking for brainless, blood-guzzling carnage, you've found it.

"What are you going to do?" wails Maggie. "What I do best!" growls Liam. Yet while it's fun to watch him take out the Eurotrash, we've seen him do it better.

Nods to "Hostel" and "Glengarry Glen Ross" make for a cine-literate affair further buffered by a smart cameo from erstwhile Brat Packer Andrew McCarthy.

A fashion world Who's Who offer accolades, while Vreeland's vulnerabilities are revealed in interviews telling how, ridiculed by her socialite mother as ugly, she invented herself on her own terms.

The best sci-fi movie since "Moon." The best time-travel yarn since "12 Monkeys." And one of the best films of 2012. You'll immediately want to see it again.

Taking a weird swerve into rom-zom-com, the third [REC] shaky-horror ends up pulled apart by its own genre mutations.

The filmmakers stay back, observing, for a restrained, intimate and poignant result.

Tough, stylish, violent and studded with stars – but like so many of its American gangsters, Killing Them Softly doesn't quite get the job done.

Pimped, primped and dressed to the nines, Joe Wright's Tols-toy story looks the business. Like a disappointing Christmas present, though, the pleasure quickly evaporates once you remove the shiny paper.

Grungy, compact and delightfully violent, Dredd wants to hit you as hard as it can. The sequel may be the movie you really want, but for now, justice has been done.

Affection for the characters will bring fans in. But many will leave wishing the makers of one of the most enjoyable programmes of recent years had left well enough alone.

"I'm getting sick of this!" says Sigourney during one of Cold Light's many shoot-outs. Those tempted to give it the benefit of the doubt will swiftly reach the same conclusion.

Stylish and savage, but nothing you haven't seen before. Lawless is something of a blunt instrument but seductive nonetheless.