20 Brilliant Movies Turning 20 In 2015

Raking over films that have been and gone can feel like an exercise in amplifying your own fears of mortality. Even as memories of sitting in specific cinema chairs, watching the ratings screens evaporate away remain as fresh as if they were formed yesterday, IMDB clatters in with the sledge-hammer revelation that 20 years have passed and you're no longer the fresh-faced cinephile you once were. Since 1995 cinema feels like it's become an entirely different animal. Batman isn't a glo-paint covered James Bond clone (and neither is James Bond for that matter), CGI is now the norm rather than an exception and Nicolas Cage has gone from indie marvel to comical circus clown. Okay, so maybe the last one already had hints even then. In some cases, looking back at 1995 will make you feel horribly old - there are after all now university graduates who weren't able to watch Toy Story when it first came out - while for others it might offer a lamentation for what's been lost in terms of the summer blockbuster. To both ends, it's important to look back and remember the greatest films that dragged you irresistibly to the cinema 20 years ago.

Another high-point for Kevin Spacey, who pretty much won 1995 in performance terms (though without the accolades he was surely due), The Usual Suspects is the ultimate bait and switch and still a glorious watch.

Unlike other twists, the revelation of Keyser Soze is completely charming and feels like a reward as much as a ruse, and it's hard to resist the urge to applaud Verbal for his achievement as he disappears into the mist.