So this is officially The Summer of the Sequel. As many as 27 being released by the combined might of the major studios according to these guys. Now, while the likes of Transformers redux and The Hangover reheated hold no particular artistic merit, the sequel is not always such a bad thing. Here is my list of revisited titles that were even better than the films that spawned them: After the Thin Man The set up here is slightly over complicated, but the events leading up to and immediately following the first murder are handled expertly, so much so that the viewer is left guessing the identity of the guilty party until the very end. The Breezy dialogue is delivered effortlessly between the protagonists while the amount of booze consumed, incredibly, outdoes even the original. Nick can sniff out the crime without having seen the murder, the victim or the crime scene all whilst stinking drunk, and Nora can more than hold her own at a table of hardened crims – at one point ordering a memorable ‘whisky with a champagne chaser’. Hardly surprising that another four Thin Man films followed this one before the franchise came to an end. The Empire Strikes Back Beware of any film that ends with a celebration and boy, the self congratulation at the finale of Star Wars is so complete you’d be forgiven for thinking the whole Empire had crumbled. So it’s something of a surprise that this film opens with the formerly triumphant rebel forces hiding out on a block of ice and getting so badly thrashed in the first set piece that they barely make it out alive. Morale-wise things go downhill from there and the film is all the stronger for it. Luke must...

The usual disclaimers: there are still some potential releases that could have made the list that I just did not get around to seeing – Four Lions, Another Year, Mother, Restrepo, Waiting for Superman. An overall poor year for film that had me scraping the barrel somewhat. Still, a handful of flicks I’d be happy to revisit: Dogtooth Three twenty something siblings living in a very pleasant Greek country house play games all day and seemigly want for nothing…but it turns out they have never left the house: their knowledge of the outside world formed by the increasingly bizarre lies their parents invent to keep them pure and unspoilt. Things only start to get out of control when an outsider is brought in to ‘service’ the sexual needs of the young brother. Double Take What to make of this strange piece? Part examination of Hitchcock screenplays, part paranoid retelling of the cold war. Using archive footage and clips from Hitch’s own films we are told time and again by the master film maker ‘on meeting one’s double you should kill him lest he kill you’. Inception A total mind-bender that probably needs a university course in metaphysics and causality to fully explain it, Inception is proof the hollywood machine still occasionally cranks out action films you can care about. The Killer Inside Me As controversially violent as billed which made at least two scenes very difficult to watch, this embodied the jet black cynicism typical of Jim Thompson’s work while still exploring the rather touching love affair between Alba and Affleck. Monsters Making the list for achievement more than anything (microbudgeted, the director, small crew and two actors drove through Guatemala and Mexico with no script and shot whatever caught their fancy) this was...

I’ve just glanced at my ‘movies of the year 2007’ email which reads like a jeremiad lamenting the lack of decent flicks over the qualifying twelve months. Jeez, viewed with hindsight ’07 looks like a golden age compared with the junk coming to a screen near you in the year of our lord 2008. One or two real gems and perhaps two films (Man on Wire & Cargo 200) that could make Giles’ all time list but I’m stretching myself to make the full ten. So here goes – Persepolis Childhood and teen angst during the Iranian revolution that quite rightly blew up into the mainstream this year. More or less faultless from beginning to end. Cargo 200 This remains one of the most disturbing films I can remember seeing. A spectre of dread permeantes every frame and one scene in particular is spectacularly, yet fascinatingly disgusting. Despite the horror this is film making at its very best. No Country for Old Men Taut script from the Coens, a number of mesmerising performances, a nice character twist and as if that’s not enough a dog gets shot. What’s not to like? Juno A script that starts super hip and graduates into quite a touching platonic love story. Gone Baby Gone Another great adaptation of a Lehane book. Lots of enjoyable twists and turns tho’ I’m not 100% convinced Casey Affleck can lead a movie. [Rec] Waltz with Bashir Another Middle Eastern animated film that was gripping from beginning to end. Also another movie that featured dogs being shot. King of Kong The world record score for Donkey Kong has stood for 20 years…until now. Sounds like a pretty lame idea for a film, right? Wrong – this is probably the best flick of 2008....