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Top 20 New to LOVEFiLM Instant

Robin Williams! Bill Murray! Paul! the other one! Anderson!!! We got laffs, we got thrills, we got Bruce Willis as a talking new born. Just add water.

Top 10

Grey's Anatomy (1 October)

Patrick Dempsey revived his career as Doctor Dreamy in this Seattle-based Hospital soap. It seems there is always at least one on TV and there always has been. This one might be described as ER meets Sex and the City, and it's insanely infectious. You have been warned!

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Hook (1 October)

It's often forgotten that Phil Collins starred in a Steven Spielberg movie. And with good reason, you might say, though "star" is something of an exaggeration. He plays Inspector Good in this imaginative retake on JM Barrie's Peter Pan. The real star is Robin Williams, as a middle aged Pan returning to Neverland to face his old nemesis, Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman).

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Jumanji (1 October)

Spielberg protege Joe Johnston (Captain America) directed this family adventure pic, one of the first to invest heavily in CGI effects. Two kids find an old board game that unleashes a manic Robin Williams and transforms their suburban home into a deadly jungle. It's brash, noisy and eye popping enough for the pre-teen set.

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Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (1 October)

Measured and flamboyant, Ang Lee's Oscar-winning Asian action movie pits a reckless, youthful couple (Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen) against two older, wiser souls (Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat) battling it out over love, duty and the priceless blade 'Green Destiny'. The gravity-defying wire work is a thing of beauty here, and the slow buildup leads to some breathtaking set pieces later on.

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Groundhog Day (1 October)

Amazing how a film about mind-numbing repetition stands up to endless repeat viewings. This was rightly acclaimed an instant classic back in 1993. Bill Murray is the weather guy who becomes marooned in time, and tries everything he can think of to get unstuck. Until he falls in love. We can only say this will always be his finest day.

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Look Who's Talking (1 October)

In which a very bald, and very, very small Bruce Willis does a lot of screaming and yelling as the sprog of Kirstie Alley and John Travolta. Folks, this was the 80s, we all looked different then. The talking baby shtick was popular too, this spawned two sequels.

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Bad Boys (1 October)

Before Men in Black, before Independence Day, Will Smith established his box office muscle with this buddy cop movie from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (bad boys if anyone ever deserved the name). This was Bay's first movie too, and fair warning of the testosterone charged flash and grab style he would pursue. Martin Lawrence costars, and supplies plenty of comic ballast.

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A Knight's Tale (1 October)

Not the Chaucer we learned in school (though I dare say it's part of the curriculum now), this zingy, irreverent take on medieval derring-do has Heath Ledger as a squire who reckons he has what it takes to become a knight. Paul Bettany is the struggling writer who forges the necessary lineage for him to cross sticks with Rufus Sewell's villainous Count Adhemar. Look for Berenice Bejo (from The Artist) as Christiana.

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Erin Brokovich (1 October)

In 2001 Steven Soderbergh was nominated for the Academy Award for best director not once but twice. He won for Traffic (which was also best picture) but Julia Roberts was named best actress for her brassy, busty portrait of a working class single mom who exposes the dodgy dealing of a California power company. Albert Finney was also nominated for playing Erin's lawyer boss (and Julia's straight man).

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Jerry Maguire (1 October)

'Show me the money!' 'You had me at hello.' This is probably the best written rom-com of the 90s. Tom Cruise is the sports agent who goes out on a limb with an ill-advised mission statement and winds up with just one client (Cuba Gooding Jr), plus secretary Renee Zellweger. Ironically Gooding should have found himself a new agent, he's never had it so good as he does here.

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Matilda (1 October)

Director Danny DeVito shows the right mischievous spirit in this adaptation of the Roald Dahl tale of a sweet, smart youngster pitted against her cruel parents (played by DeVito and his real-life wife Rhea Perlman) and bullying principal, Mrs Trunchbull (Pam Ferris). Miss Honey (Embeth Davidtz) helps. So do her telekinetic powers. Consistently sharp and funny, this deserves to be better known.

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Ghostbusters 1&2 (1 October)

The only thing we know for sure about Ghostbusters 3 is that Bill Murray won't be in it. Which means we also know that it almost certainly won't be worth watching, at least if parts 1 + 2 are anything to go by. But the reason he won't participate is because the script isn't as good as the first one, which is a pretty darn good excuse to revisit 1984 biggest and best slime comedy.

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Cruel Intentions (1 October)

Dangerous Liaisons goes to Manhattan preparatory school in this strenuously urbane examination of the louche unleashed. Ryan Philippe is the debauched seducer played by John Malkovich in the Frears movie, and his future ex Reese Witherspoon is the demure virgin he stakes his reputation on seducing. Plus Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in the buff!

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Buck (5 October)

Even if you're not horsey, you'll be eating out of the grizzled hand of real life horse whisperer Buck Brannaman after seeing this affecting documentary. It's not just that his patient, gentle methods make fascinating viewing, it's clear that they apply equally well to bipeds. All the more remarkable when you learn about his abused childhood.

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The Other Guys (10 October)

You know those crack NYPD partners who keep the streets safe? Well these are the other guys. Will Ferrell is the timid 'forensic accountant' who's happiest behind a desk. Mark Wahlberg is his angry, frustrated partner: 'I'm a peacock, let me fly!' Adam McKay (Anchorman; Talledega Nights) directs.

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Please Give (10 October)

Catherine Keener and Rebecca Hall shine in this characterful comedy from Nicole Holofcener (Friends with Money; Lovely & Amazing). It's a movie about generosity and selfishness, somewhere in the vicinity of Woody Allen and Mike Leigh in its mixture of tart observation and moments of human warmth.

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Three Musketeers (10 October)

You know Paul Anderson? Well this is the other one. Our own PWSA takes a whirling dervish to the classic Dumas swashbuckler, with entertaining results. It's a bit scrappy, perhaps, but you can't fault the gusto as Logan Lerman's D'Artagnan and his new friends fight for the queen's honour. Mads Mikkelsen is the despicable Rochefort and the climax involves not one but two airships.

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Resident Evil: Afterlife (10 Oct)

More from Paul William Scott Anderson and his good lady wife, Milla Jovovich. This is the umpteenth Resident Evil movie, and it's no less fun than the first three. (There's been another since, the series shows no sign of abating.) Ali Larter and Wentworth Miller costar.

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Takers (24 October)

Idris Elba (Stringer Bell from The Wire) leads a slick, style-conscious gang of thieves through elaborate planned, baroquely executed heists, while dedicated detective Matt Dillon carts his daughter along on surveillance (another steal from The Wire). Rapper TI Harris is Ghost, once given up for dead, now pitching the perennial 'one last job'. Cliche-city, for sure, but the film exudes a gloriously romantic swagger that's positively old school.

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The Ides of March (28 October)

Bone up on US politic manoeuvring ahead of the November general election. George Clooney knows the ins and outs, his dad having stood for congress, and has assembled a top notch cast including Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. Gosling is the back room guy who discovers his idol has feet of clay.

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Tom Charity