Steve Miner directs William Katt, Kay Lenz and George Wendt in this horror comedy about a slasher writer who inherits a unhinged property.

Absolutely all over the shop but never dull. One scene will drip with sitcom farce, the other with fantastically gooey practical creature effects work. Nam flashbacks share running time with a man fighting a wall mounted marlin. While it never marries its smorgasbord of tones as well as say Evil Dead 2 or Beetlejuice, there’s enough fun on offer that you look forward to another viewing of the schizophrenic thrills of House almost as soon as the credits roll.

7

Lewis Gilbert directs Sean Connery, Mie Hama and Donald Pleasence in this fifth 007 adventure featuring spaceship theft and Far East intrigue.

Scripted by Roald Dahl, this is cunning mix of twisty cliffhangers and PC obliterating swagger (dated sexism and racism the way only Bond can seemingly make palatable). It is also one of my favourite action thrillers. There are stylistic risks taken here not quite dared again in the series until Quantum rears its divisive head; the incredible yet minimalist one shot rooftop barney, Little Nellie’s elegant flight, the opening death of the Commander himself, that other shock murder of an untrustworthy character, the pop art grand finale of ninjas versus henchmen in a fucking volcano. Budget excess, sugar rush storytelling and cinematic confidence. Forget Jaws, the modern blockbuster was born here.

9

Jason Zada directs Natalie Dormer,  Taylor Kinney and Yokiyoshi Ozawa in this weak horror about a forest in Japan, infamous for its suicides. 

The kind of flick that does absolutely nothing wrong except fatally forgets to be scary. There are a few scenes with the potential to have been more intense, a few clumsy jump scares that sit safely within the PG-13 remit of nasty (Uggghhh! Old people…. Aaaarrggghh! Foreign people….) but really all this boils down to is mucho treading of watero until a rushed twist finale that has all the emotional weight of a dry leaf. A waste of Dormer, who I’d bet most Game of Throne fans would like to see breakout into better things. A nothing film.

3

Nicolas Roeg directs David Bowie, Candy Clark and Rip Torn in this tale of an alien visitor who becomes a reclusive capitalist, a captive of the state and alcoholic lover while all age around him. 

A unique yet frustrating mixture of esoteric connections, dull longuers and visually exciting bonking and commerce, this represents the very best and worst of Roeg’s distinct style. For example he gets a fine performance from the normally wooden yet hammy Bowie – he can milk gold top cream from a pop star like few can. And taken as a quirky sex film (there be a lot more craftily edited fucking than rocketships or rayguns) then the writhing shots of the enigmatic protagonist and a lovely Candy Clark have a winning charm and energy. Alienating but intentionally so, if you are in the right mood there’s enough to explore but trad sci-fi fans take heed, Star Wars this ain’t.

7

Fred Zinnemann directs Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller and Robert Shaw in this tale of the state persecution of Thomas More, who refused to comment on Henry VIII’s second divorce. 

Fans of Wolf Hall will absorb this classy earlier take on that cracking true drama. The bonus here is the breadth of the playbill – with tons of great parts (maximum weight Welles, a terrifyingly young John Hurt, a gregarious yet vicious Robert Shaw) all orbiting the ever marvellous Scofield. His calm, stately performance warps the rhythm of the events and machinations. He quietly dominates, determining that this aged Oscar sweeper actually still feels really valid.

8

1 Green Room

2 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

3 The Jungle Book

4 Hell or High Water

5 Deepwater Horizon

6 Tale of Tales

7 Don’t Breathe

8 High Rise

9 Allied

10 Legend of Tarzan

11 The Nice Guys

12 The Revenant

13 The Neon Demon

14 Purge: Election Year

15 The Magnificent Seven

16 Triple 9

17 The Hunt for the Wilderpeople

18 Blood Father

19 The Invitation

20 Arrival

John Landis directs Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis in this Christmas classic where a stockbroker and a hustler have their lives swapped by some mischievous one percenters. 

Randolph Duke: Ezra. Right on time. I’ll bet you thought I’d forgotten your Christmas bonus. There you are.
Ezra: Five dollars. Maybe I’ll go to the movies… by myself.
Mortimer Duke: Half of it is from me.
Ezra: Thank you, Mr. Mortimer.
[mouthing silently]
Ezra: FIVE DOLLARS!.

Every scene, absolute gold. Perfection.

10

Kelly Fremon Craig directs Hailee Steinfeld, Blake Jenner and Woody Harrelson in this teen drama which is wry and raw.

Evocative of early Cameron Crowe, more than John Hughes, Edge of Seventeen is the best teen movie we’ve had in years. Amusing and honest, while avoiding the easier emotions, it has a constantly gripping off kilter feel. Teen lonliness in stereo. And while it manages to stay fun while going down some potentially dark roads, I found a sequence where our lead gets in a car with the wrong boy to be as gripping and threat filled as any action set piece this year. Perhaps the real reason I liked Edge of Seventeen quite so much is, that after half a decade since she shone so brightly in the Coen’s True Grit, Hailee Steinfeld finally gets juicy lead role to stretch her. She knocks it out of the park, making an often unlikeable anti-hero delightfully human.

7

Ron Clements, John Musker, Don Hall and Chris Williams direct Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson and Jemaine Clement in this Polynesian themed feminist adventure. 

Not a classic like Frozen or The Princess and The Frog, Moana is a bit too blatantly calculated yet slapdash to let you settle in and be taken back to that wondrous childhood feeling a great Disney animation effortlessly envokes. There’s just too much flashbacking and exposition in the first half for the viewer to ever settle in comfortably, the songbook is weak (though You’re Welcome and Shiny manage to at least replicate fun moments from Hercules and A Nightmare Before Christmas respectively) and it all feels like the pot luck stew of way too many cooks (Four directors? How many writers?!). I would have written the whole adventure off until The Rock’s demigod Maui arrives at the midway point and the plot suddenly forms into a recognisable shape. From his living tattoos to his infectious arrogance to his chaotic part in the decent action sequences that fill the remainder to his strong chalk and cheese dynamic with our oh so modern title hero… let’s just say Dwayne Johnson franchise viagra can even perk up the relentless Disney machine at its clunkiest.  A side note – the rooster sidekick plus vague ethnographic look and score made me hanker for a Nando’s… just me on that one?

6

Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis direct Kevin Costner, Christopher Lloyd and Mary Stuart Masterson in these short stories with twists.

Disappointing. Two masters take on lesser projects in what is in all but name two TV episodes crammed together to little decent effect. Both set ups are intriguing but the twists are truly weak and journey there lacking any vitality. Despite some starpower and occasional kinetic energy on display, if you didn’t already know the hands wielding the megaphones you’d quickly switch channels.

4