According to Simon Dillon

The Final Verdict: Fantastic performances by Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte and Tom Hardy fuel this pounding, visceral, bruiser of a film. Essentially a tale of estranged brothers who compete in Mixed Martial Arts, every cliché in the book is present and correct, yet somehow it all works brilliantly. Released in the UK around the same time as Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, this was every bit as much of a must-see for altogether different reasons. Brutal, cathartic, redemptive and very emotional (I heard plenty of grown men crying in the audience).

Best bit: The genuinely unpredictable and hugely satisfying final fight.

5. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

The Final Verdict: The best thriller of the year is a dark, cerebral yet riveting intellectual puzzle, as a brilliantly subtle Gary Oldman attempts to uncover a mole at the heart of British intelligence during the Cold War. Director Tomas Alfredson is clearly on a roll after this and Let the Right One In, and the supporting cast is also terrific. Oscar nominations could well follow.

Best bit: The Christmas party, where drunken British spies sing the Soviet national anthem - one with a little less irony than the others.

4. True Grit

The Final Verdict: This Coen Brothers western is, for once, a remake that betters the original. With more of the book's original dialogue, and the reinstatement of Christian elements that were stripped out of the 1969 version, the characters are more convincing and the story is more emotionally involving. Jeff Bridges is very good in the role that won John Wayne an Oscar in the original film, but it is the brilliant Hailee Steinfeld that really steals the show.

Best bit: Steinfeld uses the King James Bible to insult one of the villains: "The love of decency does not abide in you!"

3. Senna

The Final Verdict: Astonishingly and criminally overlooked in the longlist (let alone the shortlist) for this year's Best Documentary at the Oscars, Senna is an absolutely riveting and tragic must-see, even if like me you have no interest in Formula 1. This isn't really a story about racing. It's about ambition, rivalry, faith, courage and loss - universal human themes that everyone can relate to.

Best bit: "Best" isn't the happiest adjective to use in this context, but the emotionally devastating finale, as Brazil loses one of its greatest national heroes, is poignant, respectful and heartbreaking.

2. Hugo

The Final Verdict: Martin Scorsese's dazzling, heartfelt love letter to early cinema gets my vote as the best family film of the year. Not only is it involving, educational and emotionally satisfying, but it is also visually stunning, and contains the best use of 3D I have seen to date. Unfortunately, due to poor box office and marketing, it will probably not be seen by many people, which is a crying shame. See it now, before it disappears from cinemas.

Best bit: When Ben Kingsley walks into the screening of A Trip to the Moon and subsequently recounts his life story.