The director’s incredible versatility and talent meant that he could reduce to tears with anguish or laughter, effortlessly pivoting from comedy to courtroom drama, romcom to rock mockumentary

Obviously The Shining remains the greatest Stephen King adaptation ever made, but Stand By Me is the one I love beyond all measure. It’s the warmest, the saddest and the funniest, too: a lovely, grubby ode to the joys of misspent youth. “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12,” remarks small-town adventurer Gordie Lachance, who sets off with his pals to find a dead body in the woods. “Jesus, does anyone?”

The storytelling is brittle, but there is still enjoyment to be had from this story of a mother and child and rescue from a catastrophic flood in Seoul

Kim Byung-woo’s chimeric but not unenjoyable sixth feature begins like a normal apocalypse movie, with a deluge inundating Seoul. Then it flirts with taking on social stratification baggage as a beleaguered mother tries to climb up her 30-storey apartment block to escape the rising flood waters. But once it is revealed that An-na (Kim Da-mi) is a second-ranking science officer for an indispensable research project, the film becomes a different beast entirely – possibly something quite insidious.

As the film gats under way, An-na’s swimming-obsessed six-year-old son Ja-in (Kwon Eun-seong) sees his dreams come true when water begins flooding their apartment. Along with everyone else, they begin pounding the stairs – before corporate security officer Hee-jo (Park Hae-soo) catches up with them and explains that an asteroid impact in Antarctica is causing catastrophic rains that will end civilisation. But a helicopter is en route to evacuate her and Ja-in, because she is one of the pioneering minds who have been at work in a secret UN lab that holds the key to humanity’s future.

A festive musical blends fairytale optimism with lush orchestration and Sound of Music sweetness – even if this often overwhelms a thin storyline

Reported to be the first Thai musical in 50 years, The Christmas Dream is directed by Englishman Paul Spurrier, and is an intriguing blend of new and old: a modern Oliver Twist that progresses from the country’s northern hills to Bangkok, with old-school Technicolor trappings and emotionally lush showstoppers aplenty (written by Spurrier and set to an orchestral score by Mickey Wongsathapornpat).

With a Michelle Yeoh-like resoluteness but half her size, Amata Masmalai plays 10-year-old schoolgirl Lek, who is forced to flee after her abusive stepfather Nin (Only God Forgives’ Vithaya Pansringarm) fatally beats her mother (Chomphupak Poonpol). Hitting the road with her one-legged doll Bella for company, Lek has only a strong moral compass to guide her to the new home she is promised by her mum’s ghost. A number of picaresque companions put it to the test, including a spoiled rich girl (Kathaya Chongprasith) desperate for a friend and a quack doctor (Adam Kaokept) hawking dodgy cure-alls.