275     Radio Days  (1987 / Woody Allen)
Allen’s nostalgic look at one working class family in 1940’s New York and the radio broadcasts they listen to is one of his sweetest and most poignant films.

274     The Straight Story  (1999 / David Lynch)
A real departure from the usual Lynch fare, this is an extremely moving account of a 73 year old man travelling across country on a lawn mower to see his ill brother. It features a career best performance from Richard Farnsworth who committed suicide shortly after the film was released.

273     Top Hat  (1935 / Mark Sandrich)
Probably the quintessential Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical. Like the similar Gay Divorcee, it smoothly combines laughs with great dance routines, most notably for the songs ‘Isn’t It a Lovely Day to be Caught in the Rain’, ‘Cheek to Cheek’ and of the course the title song.

272     Million Dollar Baby  (2004 / Clint Eastwood)
Eastwood’s powerful story of a grizzled boxing trainer taking on a promising young female boxer picked up Oscars for best film, director, actress (Hilary Swank) and supporting actor (Morgan Freeman). The emotional ending is certain to move you.

271     The Satan Bug  (1967 / John Sturges)
Alastair MacLean’s novels tended to transfer successfully to the big screen. Following The Guns of Navarone this faithful adaptation of his novel about a leak at a germ warfare lab is still gripping nearly 40 years on.

270     Pi  (1998 / Darren Aronofsky)
The Black Swan director’s first and best feature film is a complex study of a mathematician searching for a number that is the key to all human existence. Intense and more than a little disturbing.

269     Coma  (1978 / Michael Crichton)
As well as a successful career as an author, Crichton had an impressive roster of films as a director. My favourite of those, Coma, is adapted from a book by Robin Cook, and tells the story of a woman discovering a cover up at a hospital. A very tense thriller with solid performances from Michael Douglas, Genevieve Bujold and Rip Torn.

268     Ruggles of Red Gap  (1935 / Leo McCarey)
A classic comedy starring Charles Laughton as an English butler adjusting to life in America after being won in a poker game. Laughton is great but the film is stolen by the coincidentally named Charles Ruggles as his new employer.

267     Gosford Park  (2001 / Robert Altman)
Despite being in his mid 70s, Altman was on top form directing this hugely enjoyable movie. In typical style, multiple intersecting plot lines are presented as a party unfolds in a country house in 1930s England. Kelly MacDonald and Stephen Fry are the standouts in a star studded cast which includes Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon,, Derek Jacobi, Clive Owen, Kristin Scott Thomas, Charles Dance, Alan Bates, Helen Mirren and Emily Watson.

266     The Mystery of the Wax Museum  (1933 / Michael Curtiz)
The first and best telling of the story of a wax museum’s sculptor being linked to a series of mysterious disappearances. A perfect blend of horror and mystery with good performances from Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray.

265     A Shot in the Dark  (1964 / Blake Edwards)
The second of the long running Pink Panther films featuring Peter Sellers’ most famous role. It was released just 3 months after the original movie. Some marvellous set piece scenes – the snooker match and the nudist colony for example – and some great running gags make this film consistently funny. It is also notable for the first appearances of Kato and Dreyfus.

264     Bitter Rice  (1949 / Guiseppe de Santis)
This story of Italian criminals posing as rice field workers in order to avoid the clutches of the law has faded largely into obscurity. So, if you get the chance to see this compelling drama featuring great performances by Doris Dowling and Silvana Mangano, take it.

263     And Then There Were None  (1945 / Rene Clair)
By far the best version of this oft told Agatha Christie whodunnit. Can you spot the killer as 10 guests on an isolated island are killed one by one?

262     24 Hour Party People  (2002 / Michael Winterbottom)
A loose biopic of Tony Wilson, the founder of the legendary  Factory records that in the late 70s and 80s released some of the best rock music of all time. Extremely well cast with a good central performance by Steve Coogan with just the merest hint of Partridge and an excellent supporting one from Paddy Considine as Rob Gretton.

261     The Graduate  (1967 / Mike Nichols)
Classic romantic comedy that effectively launched the career of Dustin Hoffman. The perfect use of Simon and Garfunkel’s music is one of the highlights of this iconic movie of the 1960s.

260     Moneyball  (2011 / Bennett Miller)
A film about winning baseball matches by using statistics ought to be very dull. Instead, this is a riveting look at the subject and features a brilliant lead performance by Brad Pitt. Makes an interesting counterpoint to the excellent Trouble with the Curve.

259     To Catch a Thief  (1955 / Alfred Hitchcock)
Considered a lesser Hitchcock by many, this is in fact a very enjoyable romp. Cary Grant is at his charming best as a cat burglar and Grace Kelly is luminous too.

258     Downfall  (2004 / Oliver Hirschbiegel)
Bruno Ganz provides arguably the best performance of Adolf Hitler that has ever been committed to film. Concentrating just on the final days of the reich and the final days of his life trapped in a bunker in Berlin, it is very compelling.

257     Blazing Saddles  (1974 / Mel Brooks)
Probably Brooks’ most fondly remembered film, Blazing Saddles is a raucous Western comedy with a perfect cast, including Gene Wilder and Slim Pickens. If the sets look familiar, that’s because they were re-used from the film Westworld!

256     Harvey  (1950 / Henry Koster)
James Stewart plays a man who is friends with a human sized rabbit that is invisible to others. Both very funny and a serious examination of how people who are perceived to be different are treated.

255     In the Heat of the Night  (1967 / Norman Jewison)
Made at the height of the civil rights struggle, Jewison’s police procedural centring on a black cop investigating a murder in a southern US town was a timely release. It still feels fresh and relevant today thanks fine performances by Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger and an intelligent screenplay by Stirling Silliphant.

254     Lady on a Train  (1945 / Charles David)
Deanna Durbin was a huge star in the 1940’s but her films seem to be little watched these days and this is my favourite of hers. She plays the sole witness to a murder who the police believe is a timewaster when they can find no body or evidence of a crime. Not a hugely original story then but it bounces along in a breezy way.

253     Henry V (1944 / Laurence Olivier)
Designed to rally the spirits during the war, this version of the Shakespeare play can feel a little dated, especially when compared to Kenneth Branagh’s superior version from 40 years later. However, the delivery of the text by Olivier in particular means that this is still stirring stuff.

252     Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966 / Mike Nichols)
Truly an actors’ film, which is demonstrated by every credit member of the cast receiving an Oscar nomination. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor play an embittered alcoholic couple who embark on a hellish night of drinking and insults when they invite a couple over for a nightcap after a social event. Taylor was never better and George Segal is great in a supporting role.

251     Lone Star   (1996 / John Sayles)
Intriguing crime drama which was also written by Sayles who is one of the greats of American independent cinema. This came in his peak period between 1987 and 2002, features a career making performance from Chris Cooper and an ending you will either love or hate.