The Italian Job (1969)

This is rightly regarded as a classic, but I never knew what all the fuss was about until I finally watched it today. No one told me how hilarious it was, either. What an amazing film! Michael Caine is dazzling as Swinging Sixties playbook crook Charlie Croker (note all the costume changes at the start) set on an audacious scheme to steal £4 million in gold. The Italian scenery is stunning. The car chases are spectacular. The music by Quincy Jones is perfectly suited to the film. There’s a self-conscious Britishness, too, from the “red, white and blue” Minis to the way Mr. Bridger (Noël Coward) worships the Queen. And the “cliffhanger” ending is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

Mannequin (1987)

Ludicrous romantic comedy about an enterprising young man in Philadelphia who discovers he has a gift for window-dressing, then falls in love with a shop mannequin...who just happens to be a reincarnated beauty from Ancient Egypt. The main couple (Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall) are entertaining and the impossible fairytale romance has a certain charm – as in Splash. However, the bit-part actors including James Spader, are uniformly appalling, with poor lines and a complete lack of comic flair. Entire scenes fall flat, many of them involving the pathetic security guard and his dog. As with The Secret of My Success, from the same year and which I had watched the day before, it’s very much a film about upward mobility, such were the prevailing values of the time. And yet, despite its awfulness, there are some entertaining and even heartwarming moments. The soundtrack is utterly of its time and when “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship begins playing, it’s not remotely surprising. I don’t regret watching it, but I probably don’t ever need to see it again.

The Secret of My Success (1987)

From the DVD box: “Can a kid from Kansas come to New York to conquer the business world and manoeuvre his way from the mailroom to the boardroom in a matter of weeks? Michael J. Fox proves it can be done in this very funny lampoon of corporate business life. Fresh out of college, he’s determined to climb New York’s corporate ladder in record time by masquerading as an up-and-coming executive, even though he’s really the new mail boy. However, Fox’s plans begin to go awry when the boss’s wife falls in love with him and he falls in love with a junior executive, who also happens to be the boss’s mistress.”

One of the most “1980s” films of them all, from the poundingly intrusive pop-video soundtrack to the romance with corporate life and the belief in upward mobility, it’s surprisingly quirky and entertaining. And the way it mutates into an old-fashioned farce with mistaken identities and tangled relationships is cleverly plotted. Helen Slater seems intended to resemble Lady Diana. One of the funnier scenes involves Michael J. Fox on the phone to his mother, trying to reassure her that everything is okay as he witnesses an armed robbery right next to him in the street.

The Fugitive (1993)

Harrison Ford is highly watchable as the smart Chicago doctor Richard Kimble, on the run after being wrongly accused of murdering his wife. Tommy Lee Jones is credible as the tough US marshall on his trail. It could have been awfully clichéd, but somehow ends up refreshing and compelling throughout. I especially liked the hair-raising “dam” sequence.

Thelma & Louise (1991)

What a great film. The two stars – Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon – are so compelling to watch. The scenery is stunning. The story works on many levels – road movie, thriller, feminist statement, homage to the likes of Bonnie & Clyde (1967), a story of friendship, and a study of personal development and transformation – that it’s captivating to see it unfold. There’s really nothing you could add or remove to improve it.

The Impossible (2012)

Scary and moving true story of a family caught in the 2004 tsunami that redrew the map around the Indian Ocean. It shows the shocking brutality of the event itself, but the focus is on what happens to the family when they are split up and wounded. It could so easily have been corny, but there were several moments that brought me to tears. It's gruelling and distressing to see so much human pain on such an epic scale.

Naomi Watts is highly convincing as the badly injured mother, trying to keep going for the sake of her son and the family members she believes lost. Ewan McGregor is less so as the father, although he's much better here than when he was being Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The film has been criticised for focusing on the "tourist experience" of the tsunami, rather than on how the event affected local people. That seems inevitable, somehow, but at its centre The Impossible celebrates the universal value of life and portrays all of the victims with compassion. For a "disaster film", there’s a refreshing absence of cliché and sensationalism.

A Single Man (2009)

Christopher Isherwood novel filmed with Colin Firth in the main part. A university professor in L.A. in 1962 mourns the death of his gay lover and plans his suicide. The film is set in one day, on which everything takes on heightened significance. Clever use of colour tones reflect his changing psychological state. Julianne Moore is absolutely terrific as a drunken friend who is in love with him. I wish she could have been in it more.