Midnight Cowboy review – a still potent stew of 60s sleaze
Fifty years on, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman’s squabbling amid the squalor of low-rent New York remains a heartbreaking triumph - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarFor Sama review – searing story of a Syrian warzone baby
A student documenting the siege of Aleppo kept filming when she became pregnant. The result is a profoundly moving study of horror and hope - Mike McCahill
starstarstarstarstarThe Painted Bird review – savage, searing three-hour tour of hell
Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel and Udo Kier star in this phantasmagorical horror about eastern Europe that saw half the Venice audience walk out. I couldn’t look away - Xan Brooks
starstarstarstarstarBait review – one of the defining British films of the decade
It’s war between the locals and tourists in a Cornish fishing village in Mark Jenkin’s dreamlike masterpiece - Mark Kermode
starstarstarstarstarAd Astra review: Brad Pitt reaches the stars in superb space-opera with serious daddy issues
The actor blasts off in search of long-lost pops Tommy Lee Jones in James Gray’s intergalactically po-faced take on Apocalypse Now - Xan Brooks
starstarstarstarstarThe Souvenir review – sumptuous class study puts Joanna Hogg in the limelight
The director confirms her status as a modern visionary with a deft, distinctive and deeply personal story of young love - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Film Music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis: princes of darkness offer light relief
Cave and Ellis provide fresh angle to scores for films including The Proposition and Hell or High Water - Marcus Teague
starstarstarstarstarNotorious review – Hitchcock's deliciously entertaining story of espionage
Ingrid Bergman is magnificent alongside Cary Grant in this brilliantly crafted, lethally elegant thriller - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarApocalypse Now: Final Cut review – crazed exposé of the heart of darkness
From Marlon Brando’s extraordinary cameo to Dennis Hopper’s crazed photojournalist, Coppola’s epic ‘definitive’ cut of his brilliant 1979 war film is triumphant in restating the inhumanity of empire - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarHoliday review – inside the villa from hell
An unflinching examination of a drug dealer’s inner circle - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarOldboy review – a beautifully blood-spattered modern classic
Limbs, teeth and live octopuses all come in for unblinkingly brutal treatment in Park Chan-wook’s stunning revenge epic - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarDo the Right Thing review – Spike Lee's towering, timeless tour de force
Racial tensions hit boiling point on the Brooklyn streets in a masterwork whose relevance remains starker than ever - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarUne Femme Douce review – Bresson's transcendent reflection on marriage
The French director’s 1969 spectacle about the wife of a pawnbroker who kills herself is still difficult, devastating and captivating 50 years on - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Great Hack review – searing exposé of the Cambridge Analytica scandal
This chilling documentary lays bare the cynicism and chaos surrounding the data research company that harvested information from millions of Facebook users - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarOnly You review – a perfectly realised story of love and longing
The course of true love runs less than smooth in this engrossing debut feature from writer-director Harry Wootliff - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarDon't Look Now review – Roeg's scary movie can still make you jump
From its red stalker to its eerie strangers, this suspenseful classic set a template for horror – but its sexual intimacy adds a dramatic counterpoint few films can match - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarMidsommar review – outrageous black-comic carnival of agony
Florence Pugh is plunged into a terrifying pagan bacchanal in a magnificent folk-horror tale from Hereditary director Ari Aster - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarApollo 11 review – stunning return to an incredible journey
Featuring previously unseen footage, this electrifying documentary marks 50 years since the first moon landing - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Chills review – Martin Phillipps' triumph and tragedy told with extraordinary candour
While shooting the documentary, the frontman was told he had a 31% chance of dying within a year. He allows the film-makers in every step of the way - Andrew Stafford
starstarstarstarstarRolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese review – passion on tour
This freewheeling doc hitches a ride in Dylan’s ‘75 tourbus, with Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez and a young Sharon Stone in tow - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarMother review – tender portrait of a charismatic carer
Kristof Bilsen’s documentary focuses on Pomm, who looks after Europeans with Alzheimer’s in Thailand while facing problems of her own - Charlie Phillips
starstarstarstarstarThe Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert review – riotous return trip
In this smart, lovable gem, now rereleased, a trans woman and two drag queens kick up the dust in Australia’s outback - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarSaving Private Ryan review – war epic still hits with sledgehammer force
The trauma of war is made viscerally clear in Steven Spielberg’s dazzling fusion of audacity, action and poignant human drama - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarKind Hearts and Coronets review – the most elegant serial killer in history
The Ealing genre reached utter perfection with this superb black comedy of manners starring Dennis Price and a miraculous Alec Guinness - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Blue Angel review – a masterpiece of erotic obsession
Marlene Dietrich’s iconic cabaret singer is as mesmerising as ever in Josef von Sternberg’s tale of a teacher’s foolhardy infatuation - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarRocketman review – Elton's sparkliest spectacle yet
Taron Egerton is terrific as the singer, but the real star of this electric biopic is director Dexter Fletcher - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarOnce Upon a Time ... in Hollywood review - Tarantino's dazzling LA redemption song
With Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt playing a TV actor and stuntman who cross paths with the Manson cult, Tarantino has created outrageous, disorienting entertainment - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarPortrait of a Lady on Fire review – burning desires and flashes of Hitchcock
Girlhood director Céline Sciamma’s gripping 18th-century story of obsession demonstrates a new mastery of classical style - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Lighthouse review – Robert Pattinson shines in sublime maritime nightmare
For his follow-up to The Witch, Robert Eggers launches a salty story of two men trapped in a turret - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarSorry We Missed You review – Ken Loach's superb swipe at zero-hours Britain
The I, Daniel Blake director raises his game yet further with this gut-wrenching tale of a delivery worker driven to the brink - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarDr Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb review – still a blast
Age has not withered the queasy nightmare of Stanley Kubrick’s nuclear holocaust satire, starring Peter Sellers at the peak of his powers - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarHigh Life review – Robert Pattinson electrifies in sci-fi odyssey
An evil doctor and a monkish man consider their crimes in space in Claire Denis’s stirring English-language debut - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarHugh Jackman live review – he really is the Greatest Showman
The renaissance man’s song-and-dance spectacular skips merrily through his acting career with celebrity pizzazz and unashamed sentimentality - Mark Fisher
starstarstarstarstarAmazing Grace review – euphoric vision of Aretha Franklin's gospel glory
This documentary, shot during recording sessions by the charismatic queen of soul in a Los Angeles church, is a transcendent joy - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarHigh Life review – Robert Pattinson heads to infinity and beyond
An astronaut on an odyssey to a distant black hole faces the challenges of parenting – and existential panic – in Claire Denis’ mysterious drama - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarRosmersholm review – Atwell and Burke are breathtaking in Ibsen masterpiece
Duncan Macmillan’s deft but daring tweaks underline the majesty of this sexually charged study of faith and heartbreak - Michael Billington
starstarstarstarstarEighth Grade review – brilliant coming-of-age debut
Bo Burnham’s first feature film is a note-perfect tale of a shy teenager’s struggle with our internet-obsessed culture - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarAsh Is Purest White review – epic outlaw romance in a changing China
A resilient gangster’s moll burns with misguided love in Jia Zhangke’s melancholy drama - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarStanley Kubrick: The Exhibition review – from erotic milk bars to haunted hotels
Design Museum, LondonThis astounding exhibition reveals the obsessive level of genius the great director showed, whether inventing the space age – or restaging the Vietnam war in a London gas works - Oliver Wainwright
starstarstarstarstarAvengers: Endgame review – unconquerable brilliance takes Marvel to new heights
The climactic movie in the Avengers series is an irresistible blend of action and comedy, guaranteeing a sugar rush of delirious enjoyment - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarHomecoming review – Beyoncé documentary is a triumphant celebration
The Netflix film, featuring rehearsal and live footage of Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella performance, is one of the all-time great concert docs - Jake Nevins
starstarstarstarstarMonty Python's Life of Brian review – an unholy work of satirical genius
Despite its obscenity and button-pushing humour, this mock epic stands up four decades on as a stirring paean to tolerance - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarHappy As Lazzaro review – magic, enigma and a dark journey
Alice Rohrwacher’s enigmatic drama is an unsettling and moving satire about the unquestioning toil of peasants’ lives - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarOut of Blue review – Carol Morley’s visionary thriller
Patricia Clarkson’s homicide cop is the enigma in the director’s inspired reworking of a Martin Amis crime novel - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarMinding the Gap review – a remarkable coming-of-age documentary
Bing Liu’s joyous, poignant film explores how skateboarding provides escape and identity for a teen film-maker and friends - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarA Moon for My Father review – a poetic meditation on body and beauty
Mania Akbari reaches for the sublime with a dreamlike film that tries to join the dots between past and present - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarAlien review – Ridley Scott's masterpiece is lethally contemporary
The 1979 movie that made Sigourney Weaver’s name is a heart-stopping essay on the hell of other people - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarApollo 11 review – eye-opening documentary is a five-star triumph
An exceptional, vibrant restoration of never-before-seen footage results in one of the most astounding films about space ever made - Adrian Horton
starstarstarstarstarThe Lady Eve review – card sharp Barbara Stanwyck steals the show
Stanwyck is brilliant as a woman of mystery aboard a cruise ship in Preston Sturges’s glorious screwball 1941 comedy - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarMonos review – Apocalypse Now on shrooms
Chaos intensifies in Alejandro Landes’s deeply mad thriller about a wild cult of teenage bandits who have rituals, guns and a hostage – but no Kurtz - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarIf Beale Street Could Talk review – a heart-stopping love story
Moonlight director Barry Jenkins cements his high reputation with this mesmerising adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarBurning review – mesmerising thriller of murky motives
Lee Chang-dong’s elegant mystery is full of pleasingly unsettling moments - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarCan You Ever Forgive Me? review – horribly hilarious odd-couple caper
Melissa McCarthy is magnificent as an odious literary forger abetted by Richard E Grant as her lounge-lizard drinking buddy - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarHale County, This Morning, This Evening review – poetic and profound
RaMell Ross abandons convention in this dazzling Oscar-nominated documentary about a black community in Alabama - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarHale County This Morning, This Evening review – visionary doc about lives in Alabama
Executive produced by Laura Poitras, this documentary RaMell Ross is a revelatory study of African American lives - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarAn Impossible Love review – brilliantly dark and tender family drama
A daughter’s life is shaped by her father’s arrogance and her mother’s humility, in Catherine Corsini’s beautiful film - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarAn Elephant Sitting Still review – melancholic and mesmerising
The first and last film from the late Chinese director and author Hu Bo has a desolate beauty - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarIt’s a Wonderful Life review – Capra's Christmas cracker shines anew
A crisis in housing, a racist ruling class and a struggle against a hideous ego-plutocrat who names everything after himself – this 1946 classic still resonates - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarKhrustalyov, My Car! review – delirious and visually amazing Russian gem
A rerelease of Aleksei German’s 1998 satire is a journey into a hallucinatory world shot with documentary realism - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarCarnival Night / Hakob Hovnatanyan review – a pair of pre-Christmas Soviet treats
A nimble 1950s Russian musical comedy is coupled with a restored 1967 short by the Armenian director of The Colour of Pomegranates - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarDie Hard review – Bruce Willis Christmas classic is still a blast
The deafening shootouts, the uproarious explosions and the killer catchphrase remain gloriously intact as the festive face-off gets a 30th anniversary rerelease - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarRoma review – an epic of tearjerking magnificence
Alfonso Cuarón’s intimate family drama, set in 1970s Mexico, is a triumphant blend of tragedy, comedy and absurdity - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarEnnio Morricone review – a rapturous farewell to the maestro
At 90, the film composer is finally retiring from live performance – but his capacity for evoking emotion with devastating simplicity endures - Ian Gittins
starstarstarstarstarShoplifters review – Kore-eda's audacious latest steals the heart
This Palme d’Or-winning drama about a Japanese family of crooks who lift a lost little girl from the streets is a satisfying and devastating gem - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarAmazing Grace review – transcendent Aretha Franklin documentary
The queen of soul didn’t want this film of a two-night recording session in a Baptist church to be seen – but it’s a spine-tingling sensation - Jordan Hoffman
starstarstarstarstarThey Shall Not Grow Old review – an utterly breathtaking journey into the trenches
Peter Jackson and team’s painstaking restoration of first world war footage is a cinematic triumph that all but brings young British soldiers back to life - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarWidows review – Steve McQueen delivers an outstanding heist thriller
A dream cast, led by Viola Davis on Oscar-worthy form, have a field day in McQueen’s inspired reworking of Lynda La Plante’s 80s TV drama - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarThe Guilty review – so taut, you almost forget to breathe
Gustav Möller’s nerve-jangling thriller about an emergency police dispatcher and one fateful call uses minimal ingredients to devastating effect - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarBeetlejuice review – Tim Burton's afterlife comedy still full of eye-popping charm
Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis star in this spiky, inventive 1988 ghost story about a house makeover - Steve Rose
starstarstarstarstarNight of the Living Dead review – still vital, brutal, cryptic and subversive
George Romero’s 1968 classic about a mass attack by cannibalistic ghouls is brilliantly perplexing, horrifying and mysteriously allegorical - Steve Rose
starstarstarstarstarOrphée review – Cocteau's classic never looks back
Jean Marais’ journey through the underworld gains new strangeness and rapture in this restoration of Jean Cocteau’s 1950 Orpheus myth - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThey Shall Not Grow Old review – Peter Jackson's electrifying journey into the first world war trenches
Jackson has restored, colourised and added voices to footage of the western front, bringing the soldiers unforgettably back to life - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Captain review – savagery at the war’s end
A Nazi deserter poses as an officer in a compelling drama that captures the ugliest qualities of mankind - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarThe Big Lebowski review – The Dude bowls back the years
Twenty years on, the Coen brothers’ comic masterpiece is sleeker and sharper, with even more menace and mystery - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarHigh Life review – orgasmic brilliance in deepest space with Robert Pattinson
This shocking and amazing sci-fi drama directed by Claire Denis follows a group of voyaging astronauts who switch their attention from black holes to sex - Charles Bramesco
starstarstarstarstar22 July review – Paul Greengrass's searing account of Anders Breivik's mass murder
Drama and journalism meet in this brave and masterly film about the 2011 massacre of 77 people in Norway by a smirking, far-right extremist - Danny Leigh
starstarstarstarstarAmerican Animals review – audacious stupidity and teeth-clenching thrills
Bart Layton’s true-crime heist caper about an incompetent plan to steal valuable books from a college library is a triumph - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarCold War review – love in a communist climate
Paweł Pawlikowski’s love letter to his parents is a sweeping tale of passion and politics set in the shadow of the iron curtain - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarPeterloo review – grit and brilliance in Mike Leigh’s very British massacre
A biting sense of topicality pervades this passionate account of the murders of protesters at a mass pro-democracy protest in Manchester in 1819 - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarA Star Is Born review – Lady Gaga mesmerises in Streisand's shoes
Bradley Cooper directs and co-stars in this outrageously watchable update of the love story doomed by shifting fame - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarRoma review: Alfonso Cuarón returns to Venice – and Mexico – for a heart-rending triumph
The Oscar-winning director has made his best film yet with this exquisite study of class and domestic crisis in 70s Mexico City - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarDistant Voices, Still Lives review – vividly present autobiographical masterpiece
Pete Postlethwaite and Freda Dowie shine in Terence Davies’s remarkable 1988 portrait of a working-class Liverpool family that is as gripping as any thriller - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Women review – Manhattan's magnificent social whirl
George Cukor’s rereleased firecracker comedy, with Rosalind Russell and Norma Shearer as ladies who lunch, is an exhilarating delight - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarAcute Misfortune first-look review – Adam Cullen biopic is an enthralling, complex triumph
With a brilliant performance by Daniel Henshall, this hauntingly poetic film asks if we celebrate the wrong kind of people - Luke Buckmaster
starstarstarstarstarThe Producers review – Mel Brooks’ maniacal comedy still grips
Like a parody of Brexit Britain, never has the 1967 comedy been more horribly pertinent than it is now - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarMaurice review – Merchant Ivory’s EM Forster adaptation richer than ever
Hugh Grant and James Wilby star in this intensely poignant story of two young men forced to deny their love - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarMamma Mia! Here We Go Again review – full of hits and emotion
This slick sequel delivers sharp one-liners, joyously contrived plot twists and an emotional punch that left our critic reeling… - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarSummer 1993 review – a moving look at loss from a child’s perspective
The debut feature from Spanish writer-director Carla Simón is a finely crafted portrait of personal upheaval - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarThe Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick review – Wim Wenders' bizarre noir is a keeper
A murderous footballer’s journey is the focus of this majestic mediation on madness, misogyny and the American dream - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarSummer 1993 review – stunning drama of a childhood ripped apart
Carla Simón’s brilliantly realised story of a six-year-old traumatised by the death of her parents features miraculous child performances - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarVertigo review – still spinning its dizzying magic
Hitchcock’s masterpiece, rereleased after 60 years, combines his flair for psychological shocks with a genius for dapper stylishness - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarLeave No Trace review – flawless, deeply affecting
Debra Granik follows Winter’s Bone with this overwhelming tale of a father and daughter living on their wits in the US wilderness - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarSicario 2: Soldado review – terrific tale of terror on the Mexican border
Isis is smuggling suicide bombers into the US in this fierce and riveting sequel that chimes with Trump-era tribulations - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarVagabond review – Agnès Varda's classic chronicle of a death foretold
Revived to mark the director’s 90th birthday, the story of a young woman’s short, troubled life is cool, enigmatic and as gripping as any thriller - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarLittle Vera review – nudity and sex behind the iron curtain
Made in the final years of the Soviet Union, the sensational tale of a sexually voracious teenager was the key perestroika movie - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarMikey and Nicky review – a neglected gem of 70s cinema
John Cassavetes and Peter Falk are at the top of their game in Elaine May’s tangy, talky classic about mobster lowlife - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Piano review – Jane Campion's drama still hits all the right notes
Rereleased after 25 years, this literary work about a mute woman in 19th-century New Zealand remains full of extraordinary images and enigmas - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarA Woman Captured review – brave and up-close story of modern slavery
This traumatic documentary about a Hungarian woman forced into domestic servitude is an outstanding example of how film-making can make a difference - Charlie Phillips
starstarstarstarstarA Very English Scandal finale review – leaves you reeling, seething and laughing
Fabulous performances all round as Jeremy Thorpe finally comes to trial in a sea of hypocrisy, prejudice, ghastly snobbery, injustice and a chorus of tittering from the public gallery - Sam Wollaston
starstarstarstarstarHereditary review – Toni Collette is outstanding in brilliant fear machine
Collette give a terrific, hypnotic performance as a harried mother facing down family evil in Ari Aster’s rivetingly shot horror debut - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstar