Floria Sigismondi directs Mackenzie Davis, Brooklynn Prince and Finn Wolfhard in the 1990-set adaptation of Henry James’ ghost chiller The Turn of the Screw.

I kept willing this to kick into life and start getting scary or unpredictable, then suddenly it ended, abruptly, and I’m not entirely sure what happened. I know I wasn’t entertained or fearful. The grunge era setting wasn’t really exploited unless you count the fact that it exists in a world where it can feel somewhat current but not have google or smartphones. The cast is likeable enough. Brooklynn Prince gives a very untethered child performance and there’s a spark there you don’t see in more cookie cutter kid actors. Mackenzie Davis has better lead turns in her. It is just baffling why this feels both jarring yet Paint-by-Numbers. Only the end credits of a non-diegetic hand aimlessly stroking floral wallpaper to a Lynchian industrial noise score has any oomph. Maybe 90 minutes of that would have been more effective. Feels wasteful.

3

Alfred Hitchcock directs James Stewart, Kim Novak and Barbara Bel Geddes in this thriller where a retired police detective becomes embroiled in the mystery of a shipping magnate’s wife who might be possessed by a dead heiress’s spirit.

Maybe I’m too wholesome for Vertigo? While I can appreciate its darkness, experiments in colour and morbidly kinky twists and know just how risky and revolutionary this kinda storytelling was in the mainstream Hollywood of that era… I find it ponderous. Also I’m Team Midge all the way. Scottie is letting the best in life slip through his fingers overlooking his brassiere sketching, faithful nerd best friend. Greatest Film Ever Made… haven’t you geeks seen Psycho? That motherfucker is a dangerous rusty, ramshackle rollercoaster. This is an inappropriate fumble on the teacups ride. Dizzying, colourful, a little shame inducing but you are taking your own life in your hands on that dirty big horror nailbiter racing nearby in 1960. Brilliant score by Bernard Herrmann, unforgettable nightmare sequence and a great broken man lead turn by Stewart.

7

Steven Spielberg directs Dennis Weaver, Carey Loftin and Jacqueline Scott in this made-for-TV action thriller where a businessman is dangerously stalked by a truck.

What was Steven Spielberg’s true debut? His lost amateur film Firelight? This, one of three telemovies, that while made for broadcast in the States, was extended and released in cinemas internationally? Or The Sugarland Express which, while his first pure feature film, somehow seems less Spielbergian? The hook of man versus truck works well enough. Throughout Duel’s runtime the paranoia of being pursued by a bigger, faster bully is palpable. Yet it isn’t as lean as you may remember. This is a film that takes lengthy time outs at pit-stops and diners and phone booths. While some of these rests do ante up the mystery or spring a surprise attack on us, they do sap the film of its essential forward energy. There comes a point where you do start to wonder why Weaver’s sweaty wimp doesn’t at least turn his car around and just head back towards the city limits? For an intended for the small screen thriller the set pieces are spectacular and as a calling card for one of blockbuster cinema’s greatest game changers this makes the right first impression. Yet he wasn’t at his Jaws / Indy / Jurassic Park peak just yet. Here’s a wunderkind finding his feet.

7

Leos Carax directs Denis Lavant, Édith Scob and Kylie Minogue in this French arthouse puzzler where a man changes persona in his stretched limousine as he journeys around Paris acting out strange anti-social scenes.

No fucking idea. Indulgent, impactful, strange, pretentious, shocking and memorable. Never has the phrase just try and enjoy the ride been more appropriate for a movie.

5

Nancy Meyers directs Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway and Rene Russo in this comedy where a delightful pensioner proves an asset to a .com entrepreneur.

A witty, warm hug of a movie. Sweet yet with a nice hidden edge. Fluffy yet perceptive. Glossy yet not off puttingly charmless. De Niro and Hathaway are two very different talents that share the problem that Hollywood doesn’t really know what to do with them most projects. This surprisingly sly and surprisingly spry Boomer fantasy warms up Bobby’s softer masculinity while dialling back his pantomime anger. Hathaway gets a role that feels made to measure for her glamorous looks, dorky outsider vibe and high maintenance flintiness. Sure, it is overlong and Meyer’s rich honky attitude towards wealth and work can be seen as toxic if you are looking for humbug. But you shouldn’t really be nitpicking such an assured old fashioned throwback. The Intern glides along entertainingly through areas of life most movies strain to avoid and it is put together as solidly as an antique oak coffee table in an era of Ikea tat.

8

Guy Ritchie directs Jason Statham, Brad Pitt and Dennis Farina in this London gangster farce where an illegal boxing match and a diamond heist cross paths and ensemble chaos ensues.

Guy Ritchie’s best, featuring a baby faced Stephen Graham and the unlikely moment in cinema where blue 70s comedian and kids quiz show host Mike Reid meets Oscar Winner Benicio Del Toro. Alan Ford’s pugnacious gangster steals the show as the embodiment of mundane, graceless evil. Though Brad Pitt’s incomprehensible gypsy fighter is a lotta laughs too. Either you go with the forced energy and faked posturing of these things and have a blast or you see them as a dirty little waste of time. This one is the best case for the former.

8

Burt Kennedy directs John Wayne, Ann-Margret and Ben Johnson in this western where a group of hired guns try to reach a derailed train full of stolen gold before a posse catches them.

A fun little western. 70% of it is just horses riding through landscapes but the shoot-outs are enthralling, the attitude elegiac without being dour and Ann-Margret and The Duke have a nice platonic bond. Sturdy.

7

Jean-Luc Godard directs Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli and Jack Palance in this tale of lust and movie-making in Italy.

Tyrannical Hollywood producer wants to fuck Bardot. Comes across as spitefully misogynistic and brightly dull. I’m watching some of these “greatest films ever made” after them not being in my cultural life for 40 years and realising I haven’t watched Face / Off in the past 5 years. I could be spending my time more effectively.

4

Ramin Bahrani directs Michael Shannon, Andrew Garfield and Laura Dern in this thumping drama about a struggling construction worker who joins the payroll of a callous evictions profiteer after he is dispossessed by the same man.

When they compile lists of the forgotten or overlooked classics of the last decade this will be prominent in all of them. A Sweet Smell of Success for home owners. A Wall Street for vapers. A muscular, unleashed, moving Glengarry Glen Ross. A Big Short not interested in smugly lionising or crassly humanising the corrupt suited scumbags who profit from the misery the system produces. Like all of the above films have their seductive devil figure, this one has Shannon. A beast of a character actor – imposing, righteous, untrustworthy. Here he justifies his role’s parasitic business practices with unwavering belief and ire. Watching him patiently de-house a family with scripted rigorousness and calm scheduled aggression is just one of a series of powerhouse scenes. For the first hour, 99 Homes plays like wave after wave of distressing panic attacks. The pace and the emotional impact, the constant intelligent distress Bahrani causes to his more sympathetic protagonist, and to us, is masterful. Then the corruption comes. Always gripping, never cloying this a financial thriller, a battle for a soul, relevant. Yet it does fumble the final moments. Reaching for an overly dramatic conclusion where Garfield’s ostensible hero can get away clean. It doesn’t achieve it. But for a film this ambitious and effective not to completely join its loop isn’t the end of the world. It is not exactly a happy ending, certainly not a falsely triumphant one.

9