1. Tulpan: Remarkable romantic comedy set among a nomadic tribe in Kazakhstan.
2. An Education: Nick Hornby's sensitive adaptation of journlaist Lynn Barber's excellent memoir of her first boyfriend.
3. The White Ribbon: Michael Hameke's Palme d'Or winner at Cannes is set in a German village just before the start of the First World War.
4. 2012: Roland Emmerich's thrilling apocalypse movie with John Cusack as the hero.
5. Fantastic Mr Fox: Wes Anderson’s take on Roald Dahl is full of quirky magic — with a sly George Clooney voicing Mr Fox.

Critics' Choice

Film

Andrew O'Hagan

quote New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it quote

The Twilight Saga: New Moon Theatre

Henry Hitchings

quote A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion quote

Cock Restaurants

David Sexton

quote Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave quote

Kitchen W8

Reader reviews

Film

Adam, Harrow

quote Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects quote

2012 Theatre

Rob, London

quote This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws quote

The Habit Of Art Music

Bernard, London

quote Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor quote

Alexandra Burke

Lee, Pitt and Blanchett win awards in Venice

10.09.07

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Cate Blanchett: won best actress for I'm Not There

Brad Pitt: named best actor for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

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Ang Lee's steamy espionage thriller Lust, Caution won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival while Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett took the acting honours.

It is Lee's second win in three years - his movie Brokeback Mountain triumphed in 2005.

Pitt was named best actor for his starring role in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, in which he plays the famous 19th century outlaw.

Blanchett won best actress for her extraordinary performance in I'm Not There, as one of six actors playing singer Bob Dylan.

Richard Gere and Christian Bale also appear in the Todd Haynes film but it was Blanchett's role which the critics singled out for high praise.

She is now strongly tipped for Oscars glory.

Neither Pitt nor Blanchett attended the ceremony but the actress sent a message saying that, despite her role as a man, she was sorry she could not be there "weeping just like a woman".

The only British win was best script for Paul Laverty, the screenwriter on Ken Loach's immigrant worker drama It's A Free World.

There were no prizes for British hopes Atonement, starring Keira Knightley, or Sleuth, with Sir Michael Caine and Jude Law.

The surprise best director winner was Brian De Palma for Redacted, his searing documentary-style film about US troops who embark on a rape and murder spree in Iraq.

The Secret of the Grain, from French-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche, shared the Special Jury prize with I'm Not There.

Legendary director Bernardo Bertolucci was awarded a special Golden Lion for his contribution to cinema.

There were 23 films in contention for the Golden Lion this year.

Lust, Caution is a thriller set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during the Second World War.

Its sexually explicit content has earned the film an NC-17 rating in the US and it is likely to be heavily cut before the authorities allow it to be screened in China.

Venice is increasingly seen as a precursor to the Oscars.

Last year the best actress prize went to Dame Helen Mirren for The Queen; she went on the win an Academy Award.