The Goodies ***

3. THE SPIRIT
►The blend of deadly deeds and cool characters sells you this on the surface, but the noir-ish feeling makes you dig deeper.◄

4. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
►Danny Boyle mixes his hero's nailbiting appearances on a quiz show with the fascinating stories behind him knowing the answer to each question.◄

5. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
►Tarantino's 152-minute eye-filling fest keeps you hooked on several related plots.◄

6. THE READER
►… sudden change in tone pull you into an entirely different – but subtly connected – storyline in which the actions of S.S. Guards in the Death Camps take centre stage.◄

7. A BUNCH OF AMATEURS
►…simply freewheels, with most conceits invoking anything from an endearing smile to an uncontrollable guffaw.◄

8. FROST/NIXON
►Compelling 2-hours of two failing figures (a discredited president and a disliked reporter) finding
things out about each other by default.◄

9. L'EMPREINTE DE L'ANGE / THE MARK OF AN ANGEL
►It's easy to overlook [Sandrine Bonnaire's] careful playing of a mother who may be perturbed for more than the reason that another hen is trying to steal her chick.◄

10. TWO LOVERS
►Surprisingly ‘real’ movie featuring ‘real’ characters in New York … director/co-writer James Gray has an un-Hollywood knack for understatement.◄

11 CHÉRI
►… twin delights of Stephen Frears' "CHERI" are the contortions of the story and the backgrounds they are played out against.◄

12. HARRY BROWN
►Michael [Caine] playing his age and cracking no jokes as he tries ridding his estate of yobs ... occasional risible moments but, as a straightforward, largely credible home thriller, this packs a punch◄

13. DOUBT
►the strict principal of a catholic school believes that a priest has been sexually abusing a boy ... she pursues her belief until we become hooked on the possibility that she's right◄

14. ZOMBIELAND
►[Jesse] Eisenberg grabs the lead in Ruben Fleischer's 'fun' zombie movie, and runs with it … [Emma] Stone makes an enjoyably sassy survivor.◄

15. TRIANGLE
►…clever narrative gradually envelops you in an intriguing, ever-more-intricate circular story.◄