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John McKenzie's explosive The Long Good Friday has many of the qualities of a great gangster film. Bob Hoskins is fantastic as the menacing Harold Shand, the East End gangster whose world is falling apart while trying to strike the deal of a lifetime. Hoskins is capably backed up by a fine supporting cast, led by the peerless Helen Mirren. It also has a great pace to it, with just the right number of twists and turns.

Where The Long Good Friday falls short is that it loses its way on a few occasions, with the plot getting unnecessarily convoluted and confusing. It feels like there are a few too many connections the viewer must put together to fully understand what's happening. That's not to say that this is a bad film, there's a lot to recommend here and it's an enjoyable watch. However, I was left with the feeling that it fell a little short of what it could've been.

In Yi Yi we get to intimately know three members of the same family - a middle-aged father, his teenage daughter, and his old 8-year son. Although there are momentous occasions in Yi Yi, as much as anything this is a film about the little things in life. I's about the journey that we all go on, about how the events we experience help to shape and change us. It's a very measured film which never feels rushed.

Yi Yi contains many nuggets of wisdom, but it's not always an easy watch. It's slow moving and it feels every bit of its almost three-hour runtime. I found it somewhat difficulty to warm to the characters, although I was very interested in what happened to them. Ultimately, despite my slight misgivings, the good in this film far outweighs the bad, and I appreciate any film that makes the viewer think as much as this one does.

Garth Davis' Lion tells the extraordinary true story of Saroo Brierley, who at the age of five was separated from his family in India and subsequently adopted by an Australian couple. It's a beautifully made film with lovely pacing, as the story slowly unravels across thousands of kilometres, two continents and twenty-five years.

The two actors playing Saroo, Sunny Pawar and Dev Patel, are both fantastic, bringing a rare level of depth to their character. The story is genuinely gripping and moving. I was captivated from the first scene to the last and found myself brought to tears by the conclusion. This gem of a film is one to treasure and will be enjoyed by young and old alike.