David Hughes

Feeling like a relic from the wave of ’90s crime ensembles that followed in Tarantino’s wake, Arkansas not only squanders some good talent, it’s a tragic waste of a fine book.

The Wrong Missy is a little hit-and-miss, but it’s funny and inventive, and Lapkus is good enough to make the word “zany” tolerable again.

McKellen and Mirren, sharing the screen for the first time, are exquisitely matched in this slight but enjoyable yarn, which is like watching two magnificent vintage cars in a road race, without minding too much who wins.

Herzog and Singer have assembled a riveting and moving portrait of Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet president and arguably the greatest living politician, guided by Herzog's mellifluous voice and gently probing interview style.

At a time when television is easier to make than films, it's a pity that a quart of plot in a pint-sized pot is largely to blame for this muddled misfire, which wastes some promising ideas and an impressive cast.

Van Sant never strays far from the man-overcomes-disability genre, but this is more than made up for by some impressive directorial flourishes and an engaging central performance.

Close gives a performance that demands the Oscar voters consider her for a seventh time, and with Pryce matching her barb for barb, this is a heavyweight piece of theatre that grips whenever they’re on screen.

Dean Devlin finally steps out from Roland Emmerich’s shadow with a tight, twisty little thriller. Add a fourth star to the rating if David Tennant going full Nicolas Cage sounds like your kind of thing.

The forgettable title and cookie-cutter concept may seem lazy, but Coogan and Rudd work their asses off to make Erasmus and Paul the most memorable screen gay men since The Birdcage. It’s caustic, authentic, and very, very funny.

A sub-Hitchcockian thriller with enough forward momentum to thunder over its many plot holes, The Commuter is a surprisingly enjoyable if instantly forgettable crowd-pleaser that takes the audience for a ride — in more ways than one.

Holm’s well-judged adaptation of the bestseller keeps the maudlin to a minimum and plays the black comedy just right. A strong contender for feel-good film of the year.

Two-and-a-half hours long, but never slow, The Wailing takes its time to burrow under your skin, but by the time it weaves its dark, potent spell, it leaves you with a lingering, unshakeable sense of dread that Hollywood horror films can rarely muster.

Cage and Wood make a hugely enjoyable double act (has True Detective season three been cast yet?) in this deceptively dark thriller with comic undertones, arguably sunk by a seismic tonal shift that not only wipes the smile off your face, but leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Tune into its offbeat frequency, however, and there is much to enjoy.

The late, great Robin Williams brings great nuance to the anguished Nolan’s inner struggle in a slight but sensitive story about a man facing a life-changing choice. It’s a worthy legacy for a beloved, talented and much-missed actor.

Crackling with energy and fizzing with ideas, this fresh take on Frankenstein is a thrilling adaptation that reinvigorates a well-worn tale.

The heartfelt telling of a truly extraordinary true story with a mesmerising central performance.

Nicholas Hoult does his best to bring Niven's weapons-grade scumbag to life, in a film hobbled by amateurish acting and absence of production value.

A bold portrayal of a boy soldier in a brutal, bloody conflict, anchored by commanding performances from Idris Elba and 14 year-old newcomer Abraham Attah.

While Ascher brings the experiences to life in a way that could conceivably induce nightmares in casual viewers, the potency of these scenes is ultimately diminished by repetition.

An exposition-heavy opening gives way to a modestly effective Australian mash-up of sci-fi/horror hybrids.

If only he had probed a bit deeper, and widened his scope beyond the predominantly white, male subjects (including our own Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan and Stephen Merchant), this could have been a fascinating film as well as a funny one.

Zac Efron makes a convincing bid for movie stardom — and Ratajkowski proves she’s more than just a pretty face — in this flawed but fitfully entertaining film, even if it all goes a bit Pete Tong at the end.

Tom and Anna are so thinly sketched that by the time the painfully slow set-up starts to pay off, we no longer care who does what to whom, or why.

A flawed yet fascinating Aussie indie.

The former comedy co-stars (Knocked Up) are superbly cast in this fascinating, fact-based story.

Some of his Salgado's depictions of human suffering are not for the faint-hearted but, like this fine film, demand to be seen. Unmissable.

As bleak, unflinching and utterly unmissable as its predecessor.

Triebel is an outstanding presence in this slow-burning thriller, which continues to smoulder long after the credits roll.