1. An Education: Nick Hornby's sensitive adaptation of journlaist Lynn Barber's excellent memoir of her first boyfriend.
2. Tales From The Golden Age: Portmanteau film with five stories about the horrific final 15 years of the Ceausescu regime in Romania.
3. Fantastic Mr Fox: Wes Anderson’s take on Roald Dahl is full of quirky magic — with a sly George Clooney voicing Mr Fox.
4. Bright Star: Jane Campion's imaginative portrayal of the Keats/Brawne love affair.
5. Disney's A Christmas Carol: Starring Jim Carrey as Scrooge.

Critics' Choice

Fay Maschler

quote With a single dessert and just two glasses of wine our bill was kept in check - but the effort of doing so was not much fun quote

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Andrew O'Hagan

quote This is a film with beautiful performances and a visual style that urges you towards reflection quote

Bright Star Theatre

Henry Hitchings

quote Although the first half of Kwei-Armah’s production is pacy, funny and intelligent, the energy level then drops off quote

Seize The Day

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Squiz, Islington

quote I loved this film from start to finish. Take the girlfriend, tell your mum - I'd see it again tomorrow and will buy the dvd. quote

An Education Theatre

Joe, London

quote I saw this last night and can't remember the last time I was so moved in the theatre. quote

This Much Is True Restaurants

Hiroshi Sugiyama

quote I have been to many of London's so-called best Japanese restaurants and none have been as good as the food that I've had at Aqua Kyoto quote

Aqua Kyoto

Potter star in the driving seat

By Valentine Low & Alistair Foster, Evening Standard 05.09.06

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Julie Walters and Rupert Grint in Driving Lessons

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The first time he got behind the wheel of a car it ended in disaster. Mind you, as the car was a flying one, the passenger Harry Potter and the destination Hogwarts School, perhaps that was not entirely unexpected.

Now - and not a moment too soon - Rupert Grint, who plays Harry Potter's friend Ron Weasley, is having driving lessons - in real life and in the movies.

He stars in Driving Lessons opposite Julie Walters, which had its premiere in Mayfair last night. Among the audience was Harry Potter costar Emma Watson.

Fortunately for Grint, the film looks as if it will be rather more successful than the 18-year-old's attempts to learn to drive a car. He recently revealed he had to have 60 driving lessons before taking his driving test last month - and then failing. Asked how he was progressing, he said: "Not that well. I've had a few more so I suppose I'm pretty much ready for my next test."

Walters, a two-time Oscar nominee, said of her co-star: "I love Rupert - he is just lovely. He has definitely got a great career ahead of him and is capable of Oscar success."