As he has proved with films such as Edward Scissorhands and Corpse Bride, Tim Burton is Hollywood’s greatest director of weird and amazing tales. And there is no more famous character who experiences incredible things than Alice, the girl who went down the rabbit hole. This beautiful, odd and sometimes quite scary 3D film takes its characters (the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and many more) from Lewis Carroll’s classic books, but builds a new adventure from them, with a late-teen Alice returning to Wonderland to battle the Red Queen.

Here are a couple of facts about Banksy – his stencil graffiti has made him one of the best-know British artists working at the moment – and there are plenty of people who believe he doesn’t exist. Or at least, there is no one person using the Banksy name. Will this odd documentary, directed by Banksy himself, clear things up? Not really – it’s (sort of) about the rise of a street artist Mr Brainwash, who is (supposedly) a Frenchman called Thierry Guetta. But it’s far more complicated than that – as well as edgy, thought-provoking, often very confusing and impossible to trust (in a good way).

If you don't know about freestyle basketball, the amazing high-skilled cross between sport and dance, this British drama is good place to start. If you do know about it, you'll be curious to find out how this film puts it on the screen. This low-budget, high energy film centres on a posh girl who wants a bit more excitement in her life, a tough boy with a sensitive side and - of course - a big showdown competition. It's got great music, killer moves and even makes some points that might surprise people - like the fact that the class divide is just as deep between black Britons as it is among everyone else.

Bazil has been shot in the head. He’s survived, but he’s got problems. Does that sound like the start of a thriller? Or a bleak realistic drama? Micmacs is actually an inventive and funny comedy about a group of people on the edge of society using their strange skills to take on the powerful weapons industry. It’s the work of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who is most famous for Amelie and who makes films with real actors that work more like crazy cartoons

A peaceful planet is under attack from well-armed invading aliens.. Only those aliens are humans. And since Earth has been destroyed, they need a new planet to live on, and Terra is that could be adapted for their needs. The only problem is that it’s already populated, and the human plans would kill off all the current inhabitants… This exciting computer animated film starts from the interesting idea of showing how both sides have their reasons.

A new addition to the long-running British tradition of comedies about men getting into situations over their heads. In this case, it’s Mark and Brian heading for the North Pole despite the fact that they haven’t a clue how to do it – and they’ve made it harder yet by deciding their expedition is going to be organic, vegetarian and carbon neutral. But rather than just make them the target of the jokes, Beyond The Pole turns out to have sympathy for its characters and their belief that their strange journey can help save the world from global warming.

In case you’ve never read one of the popular books that feature him, Percy Jackson is a modern American with plenty of things wrong with his life. What Percy (Logan Lerman) discovers not far into this film is that he is also the son of Poseidon, the ancient Greek god of the sea. Not only that, but his uncle Zeus, king of the gods, wrongly thinks that Percy has nicked his lightning bolt. Big trouble. Not a million miles from an American version of Harry Potter, this is a fast, fun adventure with gods, serpents, and centaurs – not to mention plenty of big stars popping in to help out.

It all starts when young Sosuke rescues a strange goldfish, and decides to keep her, naming her Ponyo. Not long later, the fish decides she rather be a girl, and turn into one. Then things start getting really strange… This brilliant modern fairytale was directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Japan’s most famous maker of animated movies. He’s responsible for masterpieces such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, and this lovely film has the same trick of making the incredible believable.