Saigon (1988)
Dec 14, 2008Vietnam War Psycho-Thriller
Vietnam War film where the setting makes a unique and surprisingly effective backdrop for a modern film noir psycho-thriller
Willem Dafoe
Wild at Heart (1990)
May 22, 2001Surreal Disturbed Road Movie
One of David Lynch's finest films, with lovers Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern on the run in a road movie that travels through deranged places of the mind and explodes with crazy energy
Faraway, So Close! (1993)
Nov 21, 2001Angels
Wim Wenders returns to angels in this sequel to Wings of Desire, along with most of the cast. Again Wenders delivers a work of haunting beauty about the angels invisibly looking in on humanity
New Rose Hotel (1998)
Apr 9, 1999Cyberpunk/William Gibson Adpattion
Abel Ferrara adapts a William Gibson short story but seems disinterested in Gibson’s densely cluttered, technologically brimming Cyberpunk futures and strips the essence down to a caper film
eXistenZ (1999)
May 22, 1999Virtual Reality
David Cronenberg tackles Virtual Reality themes in an interestingly mind-bending work. Cronenberg has some interesting takes but this ended up being overshadowed by the phenomenon that was The Matrix the same year
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Jan 19, 2001Making Nosferatu with a Real Vampire
This comes with the clever and uniquely original premise that asks what would happen if during the making of the 1922 Nosferatu actor Max Schreck turned out to be a real vampire
American Psycho (2000)
Apr 14, 2000Yuppie Psycho
Mary Harron takes on Bret Easton Ellis’s controversial work about a yuppie serial killer and refines it to a blackly funny satire on 1980s pop culture and corporate greed
Spider-Man (2002)
Jun 20, 2002Comic-Book Superhero
A huge hit and one of the key influences that created the box-office dominance of Marvel Comics in the 2000s/10s. A fine incarnation of the comic-book, Sam Raimi brings it to life with exhilarating web-slinging scenes but overdoes the winsome innocence of Peter Parker
Finding Nemo (2003)
Sep 11, 2003Pixar Animation/Talking Fish
An unabashed delight among the Pixar films about a fish parent on a quest to find his missing son. This comes with an extraordinarily vibrant palette of colours and a line-up of winningly eccentric characters
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (2009)
Nov 2, 2009Young Adult/Vampire Wars/Circus of Freaks
Adaptation of a series of Young Adult books that should have emerged as Harry Potter made with the sensibilities of a Tim Burton. But the result fails to come to life in Paul Weitz's hands
Daybreakers (2009)
Jan 17, 2010World of Vampires
Australia's The Spierig Brothers create a strong and original scenario for a vampire film set in a future where vampires have killed almost all the humans and the blood supply is now running out.
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009)
Aug 27, 2012Madness and Matricide/True Story
As might be expected, a collaboration between Werner Herzog and David Lynch makes for an exceedingly strange film, involving matricide, mental illness and ostriches – and all apparently based on a true life murder. Very strange, if in the end it only produces a puzzled scratch of the head
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Nov 30, 2009Stop-Motion Animation/Talking Animals
Wes Anderson makes a delightful detour into stop-motion animation in this Roald Dahl adaptation, a droll caper comedy enacted by talking animals who are all characterised with typical Anderson eccentricities
Antichrist (2009)
Nov 30, 2009Grief, Madness and Torture
Lars von Trier made this deeply unfathomable film after a bout of severe depression. Claimedly a work of misogyny, it features Willem Dafoe trying to deal with a deranged Charlotte Gainsbourg
4:44 Last Day on Earth (2011)
Sep 3, 2012End of the World
Abel Ferrara makes an End of the World film that hardly ever leaves the characters' apartment and in which almost nothing happens. Considering the angry, bleak work of his heyday, you cannot wonder if the 60 year-old Ferrara has lost his mojo
John Carter (2012)
Mar 9, 2012Planetary Adventure/Edgar Rice Burroughs Adaptation
While the film bombed at the box-office, it emerges as a fairly good and faithful adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ swashbuckling planetary adventure that is lavishly produced and written on an epic canvas
Odd Thomas (2013)
Nov 10, 2013Eccentric Clairvoyant-Medium/Dean R. Koontz Adaptation
At first glance, Stephen Sommers and Dean R. Koontz seem strange bedfellows, but oddly enough it works – Koontz gives Sommers more story than he is used to working with and surprisingly it is the likeable characters and mind-boggling quirks of plot at the forefront rather than Sommers' usual CGI bombast
The Great Wall (2016)
Mar 26, 2017Historical Fantasy Epic
Matt Damon helps defend the Great Wall of China against invading monsters. Directed by Zhang Yimou, this should be seen for its breathtaking visuals – vast battle scenes, lavish costumes – but you wish there had been more than that
Death Note (2017)
Sep 2, 2017Notebook with Killing Powers
The English-language remake of the popular Japanese franchise from Adam Wingard. This essentially remakes the first film and is adequate in its own right but no patch on either of the original Japanese films
What Happened to Monday (2017)
Sep 3, 2017Overpopulated Dystopian Future
From Tommy Wirkola, director of Dead Snow and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, a film where Noomi Rapace plays seven identical sisters hiding their existence in an overpopulated dystopian future, A film where neither the scenario nor the central characters end up convincing in any way
Aquaman (2018)
Mar 16, 2019Comic-Book Merman Superhero
A few years ago Aquaman was regarded as a joke among superheroes. James Wan dispels any notion of Aquaman's wimpiness in a series of jaw-dropping effects sequences that propel this ahead of anything the MCU is doing at the moment
The Lighthouse (2019)
Jan 4, 2020Madness and Insanity Among Lighthouse Keepers
Robert Eggers made an extraordinary debut with The Witch: A New-England Folktale. This is his second film, less a work of horror than a dive into a disturbed and fraying state of mind in the tensions and hallucinations of two men isolated at a lighthouse in the 19th Century
Siberia (2020)
Nov 14, 2021Surreal Journey
From cult director Abel Ferrara, a film described as being being about the language of dreams in which Willem Dafoe drifts through a series of surreal landscapes searching for the meaning of life
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
Mar 27, 2021Comic-Book Superheroes
Zack Snyder’s original cut of Justice League is a magnificent work that restores much character depth and story. I would far rather watch this than any of the recent MCU films
Nightmare Alley (2021)
Feb 12, 2022Fake Clairvoyant/Predestination
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, Guillermo Del Toro’s remake of the 1947 film noirfilm about a fake clairvoyant is an exquisite piece of mood and design
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Mar 19, 2022Comic-Book Superhero
Sony’s Spider-Man franchise ingeniously competes with Marvel’s shared universe by bringing all their previous incarnations of Spider-Man together
The Northman (2022)
May 21, 2022Viking Film
Robert Eggers, the director who made The Witch and The Lighthouse, makes a violent, primal Viking film steeped in Norse mythology
The Kingdom: Exodus (2022)
Mar 11, 2023Haunted Hospital/Black Comedy
Lars von Trier returns to his darkly hilarious haunted hospital saga after a 25 years absence
Poor Things (2023)
Mar 9, 2024Frankenstein Film
Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone conduct a revisionist take on the Frankenstein film. This ended up a critical favourite at most of the 2023 awards with Emma winning the show in an hilarious performance
Asteroid City (2023)
Jul 21, 2023Retro 1950s Comedy/Alien Visitor
Wes Anderson’s quirky individualistic films can be an acquired taste. This is set in a stunningly designed retro 1950s town as various oddball characters intersect in between the appearance of an alien visitor
Kinds of Kindness (2024)
Sep 13, 2024Black Comedy Anthology
Yorgos Lanthimos has become a critically celebrated name in recent years. Here it feels like he has made an anthology of three surreal tales that come in black deadpan
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
Oct 19, 2024Gonzo Afterlife Comedy
After 36 years and several abortive attempts, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder reunite to make a sequel to Beetlejuice, but the essentials that fired up the young Burton now feel as they come by the numbers
Nosferatu (2024)
Feb 1, 2025Nosferatu Remake
Robert Eggers of The Witch fame conducts a remake of the classic silent Nosferatu that comes drenched in mood and period detail
The Legend of Ochi (2025)
Dec 7, 2025Magical Creatures
Quite a good A24 release that brings together an impressive cast as a young girl discovers and determines to protect a magical creature. This channels the essence of E.T. and tugs all the heartstrings if can