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As well as being brain-dead, the plot is nasty.

Murder is more satisfying than sex

Schlesinger's North is constructed in smudgy shades of grey. Rain falls heavily; steam billows up from unseen trains; the streets are always wet, sometimes bright cobbles, sometimes just dirt.

This film puts its cards on the table from the start, but plays them with a light touch.

What matters more is whether this mixture of stunt riding spectacle and tongue-in-cheek works. Surprisingly, it does. Almost.

LoCascio does an impressive job of shooting in cramped spaces and squeezing dramatic potential out of what must have been a difficult location shoot.

What at first seems a simple premise with a dumb-assed popcorn resolution might well unravel in your head into something altogether more resonant and perplexing (or not).

If you don't believe in parallel universes, fairy stories or the power of the puzzle, Story's story will leave you as cold as her skin.

An intriguing picture, with plenty of heart.

Funny, thoughtful and self-aware, he is a wonderful raconteur with a fabulous turn of phrase.

This is a film that is at times painfully beautiful, with some striking sequences that are painterly in their execution.

Goes to show that life is often more fascinating than fiction.

Dumont - for all the outlandishness of the film in other aspects - prioritises a messy realism over straightforward likeability in relation to his protagonists.

Too niche to reach

This is a classic, undiminished by time.

An impressively accomplished first feature.

Race is a complicated issue, and knowing the past, Daniels seems to say, is as important as making up your mind to act in the present.

By going bigger, faster and louder than before, Lethal Weapon III doesn’t hit the same highs.

Writer Michael Arndt has cleverly captured the bribery and corruption which lie at the heart of most families.

Although the emotions in this story are raw, she approaches them with sensitivity and a strong respect for people who are trying hard even if they don’t always succeed.

Long Distance Information depicts that phone call so well, the stilted awkwardness as you ask about things you don't care about.

Looted is all at once a localised crime drama, a tale of a difficult yet loving father-son relationship, an exploration of escapism's price, and a social realist anatomisation of a community.

The film comes into its own because of Gyllenhaal's non-judgemental perspective, even sympathy, for the small suffocations of motherhood.

It feels middle-aged, lazy and reliant on stereotype.

Mompremier is superb in the lead.

The script stuns you with its verbal observation of regular dullness

Nearly 30 years later and John Mackenzie’s classic is still the yard-stick for any new entry into the genre.

Despite Nichols’s softly-softly approach, the film packs a powerful punch, constantly reminding us of just how recent these historical injustices are.

There is no dull speaker, and director Simon Ennis deftly illustrates the subjects with well-chosen archive footage.

At the midway point, the screenplay begins to flap about all over the place but Smoczynska's firm, high-energy directing - including an extras-laden shopping centre extravaganza - doesn't stop to let you consider them for too long.

The film is directed with an air of dignity and the performances are deserving of eternal praise, but as a child of the movies, I was sucked helplessly into a comatose state of boredom.

What James has tried to do is film a Hollywood Blockbuster on an independent British budget, and it shows.

Despite same old same-old, the performances are interesting, the attack on media integrity spot on and the sentiments sweet as strawberry shortcake.

The off-kilter predicaments at times feel like increasingly disconnected sketches and the narrative, for the most part, just wanders along as wide-eyed and disorientated as Alice herself.

The inevitable schmaltz may be a little too saccharine for some, but the premise is unique and the situations dynamic enough to elevate this a little higher than it seems at first glance.

There are several standout compositions among Figueroa's cinematography.

Filmed with limited resources, Marin Blue is a great festival entry, with a lovely dreamlike feel.

Despite its missteps, there is substance in Mary Marie and indie dauntlessness in conjuring something from so little.

The directors and writers aren't afraid to experiment with the conventions of story-telling.

MASH is lovely - a long lost friend returning.

Gaying by numbers.

There are strong, even hilarious, performances throughout.

Pleasant enough.

The strength of this story is its simplicity, yet, at a full two hours, that's also its weakness.

The film is at its best when it is portraying conflicted emotions - as old love underlies fresh acrimony.

Reichardt’s attention to detail is visible in every aspect, and the perfect casting is no exception.

As painful as a kick in the pants.

Samuels' film both contextualises and celebrates these strange slices of subversive counter-culture.

The idea of a younger family member gradually forming a connection with an older one is a constant in cinema but it has a purity here that is shorn of unnecessary sentiment.

The truth is, as much as Disney wants to inspire its young viewers, it also knows what sells.