a selection of what we like
Our favourite films from 2021 …
- 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (D) – Torquil Jones
- A Quiet Place Part 2 – John Krasinski
- Back to the Outback (A) – Clare Knight, Harry Cripps
- Becoming Cousteau (D) – Liz Garbus
- Being The Ricardos – Aaron Sorkin
- Bike Thief, The – Matt Chambers
- Boiling Point – Philip Barantini
- Card Counter, The – Paul Schrader
- Cruella – Craig Gillespie
- Don’t Look Up – Adam McKay
- Dying to Divorce (D) – Chloe Fairweather
- Encanto (A) – Jared Bush
- Eye of the Storm (D) – Anthony Baxter
- Final Account (D) – Luke Holland
- Flee (A) – Jonas Poher Rasmussen
- Found (D) – Amanda Lipitz
- Free Guy – Shawn Levy
- Getting Away With Murder(s) (D)- David Wilkinson
- Guilty, The – Antoine Fuqua
- Hostile (D) – Sonita Gale
- House of Gucci – Ridley Scott
- JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass (D) – O Stone
- Killing Escobar (D) – David Whitney
- King Richard – Reinaldo Marcus Green
- last Bus, The – Gillies MacKinnon
- Lost Daughter, The – Maggie Gyllenhall
- Luca (A) – Enrico Casarosa
- Misha and the Wolves (D) – Sam Hobkinson
- Munich- The Edge of War – Christian Schwochow
- No Time to Die – Cary Joji Fukunaga
- Phil Lynott: Songs For While I’m Away (D) – E Reynolds
- Power of the Dog, The – Jane Campion
- Quant (D) – Sadie Frost
- Raya and the Last Dragon (A) – D Hall, C López, EP Briggs
- Ron’s Gone Wrong (A) – S Smith, JP Vine, OE Rodriguez
- Surge – Aneil Karia
- The First Wave (D) – Matthew Heineman
- The Lost Leonardo (D) – Andreas Koefoed
- The Rescue (D) – Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin
- The Summit of the Gods (A) – Patrick Imbert
- Torn (D) – Max Lowe
- Unforgivable, The – Nora Fingscheidt
Our favourite films from 2020 …
- 76 Days (Weixi Chen, Hao Wu) – doc
- Ammonite (Francis Lee)
- Assistant, The (Kitty Green)
- Athlete A (Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk) – doc
- Away (Gints Zilbalodis)
- Babyteeth (Shannon Green)
- Bacurau (Dornelles, Filho)
- Calm with Horses (Nick Rowland)
- Climbing Blind (Alastair Lee) – doc
- County Lines (Henry Blake)
- Courier, The (Dominic Cooke)
- Crock of Gold (Julien Temple) – doc
- Da 5 Bloods (Spike Lee)
- David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet (Fothergill, Hughes & Scholey) – doc
- Delivered, The (Thomas Clay)
- Devil All the Time, The (Antonio Campos)
- Dig, The (Simon Stone)
- Dissident, The (Bryan Fogel) – doc
- Father, The (Florian Zeller)
- Finding Jack Charlton (Gabriel Clarke, Pete Thomas) – doc
- Greyhound (Aaron Schneider)
- Hilbilly Elegy (Ron Howard)
- I Care A Lot (J Blakeson)
- Invisible Man, The (Leigh Whannell)
- Last Ones, The (Veiko Õunpuu)
- Limbo (Ben Sharrock)
- Man in the Hat, The (Stephen Warbeck)
- Mauritanian, The (Kevin MacDonald)
- Midnight Sky, The (George Clooney)
- Minari (Lee Isaac Chung)
- Moffie (Oliver Hermanus)
- Mogul Mowgli (Bassam Tariq)
- My Octupus Teacher (Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed) – doc
- Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hittman)
- News of the World (Paul Greengrass)
- Nomadland (Chloe Zhao)
- One and Only Ivan, The (Thea Sharrock)
- Onward (Dan Scanlon)
- Over the Moon (Glen Keane)
- Palm Springs (Max Barbakow)
- Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)
- Rocks (Sarah Gavron)
- Six minutes to Midnight (Andy Goddard)
- Social Dilemma, The (Jeff Orlowski) – doc
- Soul (Pete Docter, Kemp Powers)
- Sound of Metal (Darius Marder)
- Two of Us (Filippo Meneghetti)
- Wolfwalkers (Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart)
Our favourite films from 2019 …
- 1917 (Sam Mendes)
- Amazing Grace (Alan Elliott, Sydney Pollack) – doc
- American Woman (Jake Scott)
- Apollo 11 (Todd Douglas Miller) – doc
- Arctic (Joe Penna)
- Armstrong (David Fairhead) – doc
- Ben Is Back (Peter Hedges)
- Bombshell (Jay Roach)
- Diego Maradonna (Asif Kapadia) – doc
- Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (J Berlinger)
- Farming (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje)
- For Sama (waad al-kateab) – doc
- Ford v Ferrari (James Mangold)
- Frozen 2 (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee)
- In the Tall Grass (Vincenzo Natali)
- Joker (Todd Philips)
- Klaus (S Pablos, C Martínez López)
- Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love (N Broomfield) – doc
- Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach)
- Mrs Lowry & Son (Adran Noble)
- Parasite (Bong Joon Ho)
- Richard Jewell (Clint Eastwood)
- Sea of Shadows (Richard Ladkani) – doc
- Tell Me Who I am (Ed Perkins) – doc
- The 12TH Man (Harald Zwart)
- The Great Hack (K Amer, J Noujaim) – doc
- The Guilty (Gustav Möller)
- The Keeper (Marcus H. Rosenmüller)
- The King (David Michôd)
- The Vanishing (Kristoffer Nyholm)
- The White Crow (Ralph Fiennes)
- Toy Story 4 (Josh Cooley)
- Two Popes (Fernando Mereilles)
- Uncut Gems (Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie)
Our favourite films from 2018 …
- 22 July (Paul Greengrass)
- A Quiet Place (John Krasinski)
- A Star is Born (Bradley Cooper)
- Beautiful Boy (Felix van Groeningen)
- Birdbox (Susanne Bier)
- Bohemian Rhapsody (Bryan Singer)
- Can You Ever Forgive Me (Marielle Heller)
- Evelyn (Orlando von Einsiedel) – doc
- First Man (Damien Chazelle)
- Free Solo (J Chin, E Vasarhelyi) – doc
- Leave No Trace (Debra Granik)
- On the Basis of Sex (Mimi Leder)
- Puzzle (Marc Turtletaub)
- RBG (J Cohen, B West) – doc
- Roma (Alexandra Innaratu)
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (B Persichetti)
- Stan & Ollie (Jon S. Baird)
- The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos)
- The Grinch (Yarrow Cheney, Scott Mosier)
- The Square (Ruben Östlund)
- The Wife (Bjorn Runge)
- Three Identical Strangers (Tim Wardle) – doc
- Vice (Adam Mckay)
- Widows (Steve McQueen)
Our favourite films from 2017 …
- All the Money in the World (Ridley Scott)
- Beguiled (Sofia Coppola)
- Darkest Hour (Joe Wright)
- Despicable Me 3 (Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda)
- Detroit (Kathryn Bigelow)
- Get Out (Jordan Peele)
- I Am Not your Negro (Raoul Peck) -doc
- Kaleidoscope (Rupert Jones)
- Lady MacBeth (William Oldroyd)
- Loving Vincent (Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman)
- Maudie (Ashling Walsh)
- Mudbound (Dee Rees)
- Norman (Joseph Cedar)
- Risk (Laura Poitras) – doc
- The Party (Sally Potter)
- Three Billboards (Martin MacDonagh)
- Victoria & Abdul (Stephen Frears)
- War for the Planet of the Apes (Matt Reeves)
Our favourite films from 2016 …
- 13th (Ava DuVernay) – doc
- American Honey (Andrea Arnold)
- Deepwater Horizon (Peter Berg)
- Embrace of the Serpent (Ciro Guerra)
- Gold (Stephen Gaghan)
- I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach)
- Lion (Garth Davis)
- My Feral Heart (Jane Gull)
- Nocturmal Animals (Tom Ford)
- Planeta singli (Mitka Okorn)
- Sully (Clint Eastwood)
- Tale of Tales (Matteo Garrone)
- The Founder (John Lee Hancock)
- The Girl on the Train (Tate Taylor)
- The Light Between Oceans (Derek Cianfrance)
- The Little Prince (Mark Osborne)
- Train to Busan (Sang-ho Yeon)
Our favourite films from 2015 …
- ‘A Perfect Day (Fernando León de Aranoa)
- Amy (Asif Kapadia) – doc
- Beasts of No Nation (Cary Joji Fukunaga)
- Bitter Lake (Adam Curtis) – doc
- By the Sea (Angelina Jolie Pitt)
- Everest (Baltasar Kormákur)
- Force Majeure (Ruben Östlund)
- Mad Max Jury Road (George Miller)
- Marshland (Alberto Rodríguez)
- My Nazi Legacy (David Evans)
- Room (Lenny Abrahamson)
- Shaun The Sheep (Mark Burton, Richard Starzak)
- Sherpa (Jennifer Peedom) – doc
- Sicario (Dennis Villeneuve)
- Song of the Sea (Tomm Moore)
- Spectre (Sam Medndes)
- Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)
- The Danish Girl (Tom Hooper)
- The Gift (Joel Edgerton)
- The Revenant (Alejandro González Iñárritu)
- Victoria (Sebastian Schipper)
- White God (Kornel Mundruczo)
- Wild Tales (Damián Szifron)
- Youth (Paolo Sorrentino)
Our favourite films from 2014 …
- 20 Feet from Stardom (Morgan Neville) – doc
- ’71 (Yann Demange)
- Calvary (John Michael McDonagh)
- Citizenfour (Laura Poitras ) – doc
- Exodus: Gods and Kings (Ridley Scott)
- Foxcatcher (Bennett Miller)
- Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (D Geller, D Goldfine) – doc
- Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski)
- Interstellar (Christopher Nolan)
- Into The Woods (Rob Marshall)
- K2: The Killer Summit (Nick Ryan) – doc
- Keeping Rosy (Steve Reeves)
- Kreuzweg (Dietrich Brüggemann)
- Locke (Steven Knight)
- Omar (Hany Abu-Assad)
- Paddington (Paul King)
- Road (Michael Hewitt, Dermot Lavery) – doc
- Still Alice (Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland)
- Still The Enemy Within (Owen Gower) – doc
- Tales of the Grimm Sleeper (Nick Broomfield) – doc
- The Green Prince (Nadav Schirman) – doc
- The Imitation Game (Morten Tyldum)
- The Lego Movie (Phil Lord, Christopher Miller)
- The War Around Us (Abdallah Omeish) – doc
- Virunga (Orlando von Einsiedel) – doc
- Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)
- White God (Kornél Mundruczó)
Our favourite films from 2013 …
- Behind the Canelabra (Steven Soderbergh)
- Blackfish (Gabriela Cowperthwaite) – doc
- Captain Phillips (Paul Greengrass)
- Dallas Buyers Club (Jean-Marc Valee)
- Labor Day (Jason Reitman)
- Le Weekend (Roger Michell)
- Lore (Cate Shortland)
- Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (J Chadwick)
- Metro Manilla (Sean Ellis)
- Muscle Shoals (Greg Camalier) – doc
- Prisoners (Dennis Villeneuve)
- The Book Thief (Brian Percival)
- The Butler (Lee Daniels)
- The Counselor (Ridley Scott)
- The Crash Reel (Lucy Walker) – doc
- The Great Hip Hop Hoax (Jeanie Finlay) – doc
- The Place Beyond The Pines (Derek Cianfrance)
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller)
- The Square (Jehane Noujaim) – doc
- Utopia (John Pilger) – doc
- Wadjda (Haifaa Al-Mansour)
Our favourite films from 2012 …
- Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)
- Frankenweenie (Tim Burton)
- Ginger and Rosa (Sally Potter)
- The Hunt/ Jagten (Thomas Vinterberg)
- Ill Manors (Ben Drew)
- The Kid With A Bike/ Le Gamin au Vélo (Dardenne Brothers)
- Killer Joe (William Friedkin)
- London The Modern Babylon (Julian Temple)
- Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul)
- Silver Linings Playbook (David O’ Russell)
- Sister/ L’enfant d’en haut (Ursula Meier)
- Skyfall (Sam Mendes)
- Sleep Tight/ Mientras Duermes (Jaime Balguero)
- Snow White and the Huntsman (Rupert Sanders)
- Some Guy who Kills People (Jack Perez)
- Untouchable/ Intouchables (Nakache & Toledano)
- Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow)
Some of our favourite indy films
- Festen – Thomas Vinterberg (1998)
- Irreversible – Gaspar Noe (2002)
- Keane – Lodge Kerrigan (2004)
- Adam & Paul – Lenny Abrahamson (2004)
- Before Sunrise – Richard Linklater (1995)
- Before Sunset – Richard Linklater (2004)
- My Summer of Love – Pawel Pawlikowski (2004)
- Summer Scars – Julian Richards (2007)
- Time Crimes – Nacho Vigalondo (2007)
- The Three Robbers – Hayo Freitag (2007)
- Walz with Bashir – Arri Folman (2008)
- Sita Sings the Blues – Nina Paley (2008)
- Inside Job – Charles Ferguson (2010)
Some of our desert island films
- Midnight Cowboy – John Schlesinger (1969)
- Das Boot – Wolfgang Peterson (1981)
- Withnail and I – Bruce Robinson (1987)
- Le Grand Bleu – Luc Besson (1988)
- Romper Stomper – Geoffrey Wright (1992)
- Boogie Nights – Paul T Anderson (1997)
- 28 Days Later – Danny Boyle (2002)
- Open Water – Chris Kentis (2003)
- House of Sand and Fog – Vadim Perelman (2003)
- Downfall – Oliver Hirschbiegel (2004)
- Pans Labyrinth – Guillermo del Toro (2006)
- Marie Antoinette – Sofia Coppola (2006)
- Juno – Jason Reitman (2007)
- Cracks – Jordan Scott (2009)
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