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As someone wise once said, everyone's a critic. With this truth in mind, we're breaking with tradition and opening up the Evening Standard British Film Awards to public vote this year.
Our individual categories acknowledge the best of British films and British artists and are chosen by a panel of film critics, but it's time to broaden the field. So we have introduced a new Blockbuster of the Year Award, open to Hollywood movies as well as British and to be decided by you, our readers.
Your job is to pick the most popular of the year's most popular films. You'll be choosing from the top 12 grossing films (that is, at it happens anything that has taken than £16 million) at the UK box office over the last 12 months (since last year's Awards on February 6, 2011).
And here's the thing. Those readers too fagged to make it to the cinema will have by now caught up with almost everything on dvd, bringing new demographics into the equation. Who knows what will emerge victorious?
The number one spot is up for grabs - pick a film and let your voices be heard so that Blockbuster of the Year winner can be announced, alongside our critics' awards, at the star-studded ceremony at London Film Museum on February 6.
VOTING HAS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT THE FILM AWARDS ON FEBRUARY 6
BRIDESMAIDS (15)Paul Feig's pitch-black comedy concerned preparations for a glitzy wedding and boasted a perfect cast - Melissa McCarthy has since won a clutch of awards for her turn as a testosterone-fuelled sage. Still, it was rightly dominated by Kristen Wiig's (semi-official) maid of honour. A frazzled failure, Annie Walker is also gloriously unfragrant and - crucially - never gets a make-over. All hail, Wiig (who co-wrote the script)! She's this century's first queen of comedy.
FAST & FURIOUS 5 (12) Hell, most people have stopped counting with this franchise. But the manly tussles between a knackered-looking Vin Diesel and new cop on the block Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson obviously struck a chord with the target audience. And Rio looked nice in the background.
THE HANGOVER PART II (15)Another hilarious romp, even though it's a case of deja vu for fans of the original Hangover. For the return match, our three thirtysomething heroes - off-kilter Alan, strutting Phil and square Stu (Ed Helms) - face another wedding (this time it's Stu's). They get together for one drink, only to wake up in Bangkok to complete chaos. You can imagine the rest...
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2 3D (12A) Deathly Hallows Part 2 is now the third highest grossing film of all time. Hurrah! Even the most hardened Harry sceptics admit this pacey finale was a triumph, crammed with eerie technical brilliance and heart-wrenching drama. The gimlet eyes of those Gringotts goblins. Mrs Weasley getting down and dirty with Bellatrix ("you bitch!"). The blooming of Neville Longbottom. And the heroics of an overweight Goth with loyalty issues. Professor Snape - sob! - we'll never see your like again.
THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE (15)Based on the delightfully loose-limbed E4 series, The Inbetweeners Movie was this year's surprise cash cow. It looks cheap. It was cheap (total budget, £3.5m). Schools out, for ever, and our half-fit foursome are off to Crete, with innocently precocious Will unable to get his pals to focus on the marvels of ancient Greece (says Neil: "You can see that shit anywhere!"). Writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris clearly adore their gormless creations and - like the human faeces on a 20 Euro note used by evil club rep, James - it rubs off.
JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN (PG)"Let's kick some bottom!" A fitfully inventive sequel to 2003 spy spoof Johnny English that proved Rowan Atkinson's awkward body is still good for a laugh. Highlights saw him being bested by a malfunctioning chair, patronised by haughty colleagues (Dominic West and Gillian Anderson) and cooking a meal to Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King".
KUNG FU PANDA 2 3D (PG) This charming cartoon sequel has Jack Black's outsize Panda bear Po taking a "journey to me" as well as trying to rout evil peacock, Lord Shen. (How evil can a peacock be? As voiced by Gary Oldman, Shen is pretty damn scary). The film's director, by the way, was Jennifer Yuh Nelson; KFP2 went on to become the highest grossing film ever directed by a woman.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 4: ON STRANGER TIDES 3D (12A) Critics were generally underwhelmed by On Stranger Tides but global audiences appreciated the attempts by producer Jerry Bruckheimer to tinker with the formula. The presence of a new director (Rob Marshall), new love interest (Penelope Cruz) and new villain (Ian McShane) - not to mention a heap of super-duper mermaids and an ever-youthful Johnny Depp searching for the Fountain of Youth - allowed this to become the 8th highest grossing film of all time.
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (12A) Thanks to a tour de force performances from Andy Serkis, this reboot/prequel to the 1968 sci-fi classic became a critical and box office smash. Serkis (with a little help from WETA digital) plays an orphaned chimp called Caesar, struggling to define the meaning of "home". Caesar is more intelligent than he needs to be. Ditto Rupert Wyatt's stylish film. Here's hoping they don't dumb down for the sequel.
THE SMURFS 3D (U) The latest comic strip favourites to be transplanted into the so-called real world, the curvy creatures thought up by Belgian artist Peyo looked very at home in modern day New York, pursued by a wicked wizard (the brilliant Hank Azaria) and generally turning the air blue with coy swearing. What the smurf? They stole that idea from Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr Fox.
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON 3D (12A) Michael Bay's toy-inspired franchise continued its successful run at the box office in 2011. The fourth highest grossing film of all time (as well as the most popular in the series) sees Optimus and Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky battling a new enemy called Sentinel (Leonard Nimoy). Which explains all the Star Trek references.
TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 1 (12A)It may have caused epilepsy in the cinemas (and convulsions among male critics), yet the fourth episode in the supernatural franchise turned out to be the most lucrative in the series. Why the gnashing of teeth? Breaking Dawn is cheesy as hell but it offers the perfect twist on Wuthering Heights - an attempt by a young woman to find heaven on earth. Passion, pregnancy and horror - they're all part of the bizarre, groundbreaking package.
*Voting closes at noon on Tuesday, January 31. The winner will be announced at the London Evening Standard British Film Awards for 2011 on Monday, February 6.
