Teenager Juno finds herself pregnant after a first-time sexual encounter with her school friend Paulie.  Through the local small ads she finds the ‘perfect’ couple to adopt her baby.  Of course, all does not quite go to plan and Juno has some lessons to learn in her rite of passage into adulthood.  Heart-warming and funny, this is one of the most enjoyable films to date this year and it is a deserving Oscar and Bafta winner for its witty and intelligent screenplay.

US 2007 Directed by Jason Reirman, with Ellen Page,Michael Céra,Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman (96 minutes)

The title refers to a scientific equation which supposedly disproves the existence of altruism and selflessness. The world-weary cop who sees the letters carved in the flesh of the dead bodies initially does not know this, but soon finds out as the body count mounts. A very dark movie with an interesting question at its heart - what would you suffer for love?

UK 2006 Directed by Tom Shankland,with Stellan Skarsgård, Melissa George, Ashley Walters,Tom Hardy (104 minutes)

Daniel Day-Lewis gives an incredible Oscar-winning performance as prospector Daniel Plainview, who travels in search of oil to a small California town, where he encounters preacher Eli Sunday.  The clash between the two forms the heart of a film that is about families, oil, the rape of the land, and the power of religion.  Stunningly photographed, and beautifully directed, with long scenes of low key unease punctuated by powerful ones of confrontation.  “A masterpiece *****” [5 stars] (Empire)

Us 2007 Directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson,with Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano,Kevin J O’Connor,Ciarán Hinds (158 minutes)

A family named Savage – elderly father, adult son and daughter – play out the unglamorous realities of ‘elder care’ in a marvellously acute, poignant and witty drama.  The two siblings are forced to interrupt their separate lives – he’s a well established, self-centred academic, she’s a long-suffering singleton who dreams of being a playwright – to care for their estranged father. Bosco, Hoffman and Linney give excellent performances and show how funny such blighted lives can be. 

US 2007 Directed and written by Tamara Jenkins,with Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco (114 minutes)

Jean-Dominque Bauby awoke from a coma after suffering a stroke, physically paralysed.  The action of this film takes place largely in his imagination and memories - a memoir painstakingly ‘dictated’ using his only means of communication, blinking his left eye.  This is a beautifully rendered and irresistibly moving adventure into the human psyche.

France/US 2007 Subtitles Directed by Julian Schnabel,with Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Segnier,Marie-Josée Croze (112 minutes)

Even those who normally hate show tunes will be thrilled by this powerful revenge tragedy/ splatter musical, Tim Burton’s best film in years.  Todd     returns to a magnificently bleak early 19th century London, vowing vengeance on the man who stole his wife.  As Todd, Depp is remarkable, and has a surprisingly-decent singing voice, doing justice to Sondheim’s misanthropic musical masterpiece.  Relentlessly nihilistic, but murderous fun.

US/UK 2007 Directed by Tim Burton,with Johnny Depp,Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman (116 minutes)

A rollicking story, unbelievable and yet almost entirely true, about an American congressman who covertly procured funds for Afghan rebels fighting Soviet occupation in the 1980s.  Three engagingly odd characters (Tom Hanks in unusual role, with a fresh bounce and charm, a regal Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman stealing every scene), join forces. The fall-out – Russian withdrawal, the collapse of the USSR, the mess of Afghanistan today – is not ignored, and the mischief is offset with a poignant reminder of the days ahead.

US/Germany 2007 Directed by Mike Nichols,with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman (102 minutes)

The wedding itself was uneventful. It is at the reception that it all happens. Everyone is preoccupied with sex, money or both. Everyone seems to have a deal on the side: the bridegroom, the father of the bride and even the parish priest. The action is all fuelled by crates of cheap (Slovak) vodka. A dark comedy that will bring back memories of all the family weddings you have ever been to.

Poland 2007 Subtitles Directed and written by Wojtek Smarzowski,with Marian Dziedziel, Iwona Bielska,Tamara Arciuch (105 minutes)

How do you present the many faces of an artist-cum-icon like Bob Dylan?  Todd Haynes’ answer is to use six actors, from an 11 year-old black boy to a craggy Richard Gere via the “Judas” of the electric years (Cate Blanchett).  Not one of these characters is called Bob, but each variation references a significant period in the life of a man who could seriously claim to have changed America.
“Technically and emotionally rich” (The Guardian)

Germany/US 2007 Directed and written by Todd Haynes,with Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere,Heath Ledger (136 minutes)