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

Captain Jack named favourite film character

01.10.07

Add your view

Favourite: Johnny Depp as Captain Jack in Pirates of the Caribbean

Look here too

More film news

Captain Jack Sparrow in the hit Pirates of the Caribbean movies has been voted the UK's favourite big-screen character.

Captain Jack, played by heart-throb Johnny Depp, beat Star Wars' villain Darth Vader into second place in the poll of 4,000 movie fans.

James Bond, played by Daniel Craig in the most recent spy thriller Casino Royale, is third in the survey by Total Film magazine.

In Pictures: Top 10 favourite film characters

Boy wizard Harry Potter (68th), singleton Bridget Jones (16), and caped crusader Batman (11) fail to make it into the top ten most-loved movie characters.

Adventurer and archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is fourth while Gollum, as voiced by Andy Serkis in Lord of the Rings, is fifth, followed by Robert De Niro's iconic part as loner Travis Bickle in acclaimed Martin Scorsese movie Taxi Driver.

Sigourney Weaver's character, Ellen Ripley, in the Alien films was the only female in the top ten, taking seventh place.

Mafia boss Michael Corleone in The Godfather is eighth, with Star Wars space cowboy Han Solo and serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) completing the top ten.

Total Film editor Matt Mueller said: "Captain Jack Sparrow has totally caught everyone's imagination - he's the perfect combination of mischief, adventure and alcohol - being slightly drunk at all times." It is Jack's sense of fun that made fans put him way out in front of a traditional UK favourite, James Bond.

"We were very surprised that Harry Potter didn't rank higher in the poll, but a strong showing from bad guys like Hannibal Lecter and Gollum proves that the villains are far more interesting than the good guys."

Top 20 Favourite Movie Characters

1. Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean)
2. Darth Vader (Star Wars)
3. James Bond
4. Indiana Jones
5. Gollum (The Lord of the Rings)
6. Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver)
7. Ellen Ripley (Alien)
8. Michael Corleone (The Godfather)
9. Han Solo (Star Wars)
10. Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs)11. Batman
12. Maximus (Gladiator)
13. Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
14. Jason Bourne (The Bourne trilogy)
15. Yoda (Star Wars)
16. Bridget Jones
17. Shrek
18. Lieutenant John McClane (Die Hard)
19. Norman Bates (Psycho)
20. Clarice Starling (The Silence of the Lambs)