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

Babbo Film

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

Reader reviews

Film

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

Cinema visits reach a 40-year high

27.09.07

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Hit: Ten million UK cinema-goers went to see the Harry Potter adventure

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Film listings

This summer saw the largest number of cinema visits in 40 years, according to figures from the Film Distributors' Association (FDA).

There were 50.8 million visits to UK cinemas in the three summer months of June to August this year.

The figures represent an increase of 27 per cent from the same quarter in 2006, and an increase of 44 per cent compared to the same period in 2000.

The fact that it was the wettest summer since records began is thought to have contributed to the record number of box office receipts. Some 117 films received a UK cinema release between June and August.

In total, 12 blockbusters generated £305 million at the UK box-office. The top five - Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix; Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End; The Simpsons Movie; Shrek the Third; and Spider-Man 3 - all earned places in the UK's top 50 cinema hits of all-time.

Ten million UK cinema-goers went to see the Harry Potter adventure, fifth in the highest-grossing film series of all time.

Foreign language releases also attracted more than one million UK admissions. The last weekend in July, when the Simpsons Movie was launched, was among the most popular two days for the cinema recorded in the UK with 5.5million admissions.

FDA chief executive Mark Batey said: "These are sensational figures, unprecedented in modern times."

"The first eight months of 2007 have seen 116.5 million admissions - more than took place in the whole of 1995 - while the autumn line-up, including Ratatouille, Stardust, Lions for Lambs, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Kingdom, The Kite Runner and The Golden Compass, looks powerful and varied enough to make this an absolutely barnstorming year at the movies."

The top 12 blockbusters in UK cinemas this summer:

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
3. The Simpsons Movie
4. Shrek the Third
5. Spider-Man 3
6. Transformers
7. The Bourne Ultimatum
8. Die Hard 4.0
9. Ocean's Thirteen
10. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
11. Hairspray
12. Rush Hour 3