Waltz With Bashir
Astounding and original Israeli "animated documentary" combining a moving meditation on war, history and memory with some unforgettable visuals. One of the highlights of the year.

Hunger
Brit artist Steve McQueen makes his feature debut with a brutal, disturbing but affecting drama set during the 1981 IRA hunger strike. Rising star Michael Fassbender is outstanding as the controversial Bobby Sands.

Summer
Director Kenneth Glenaan's TV roots may be apparent, but he's managed to get a wonderfully mature performance from Robert Carlyle in this drama about two friends coming to terms their own mortality.

Choke
It's no Fight Club, but this Chuck Palahniuk adaptation still delivers its share of bohemian sleaze and improper comedy, as sex addict Sam Rockwell drifts through the margins in search of an identity.

What Just Happened
Art Linson's memoir of his days as a Hollywood producer lacks the teeth of other such exposes, but Barry Levinson's film makes up in humour and charm what it lacks in candour.