We're now officially just over half way through the year, so as has become the habit, we'll take a week off from looking at new releases
and glance back at the best
films of the year so far.

And it comes as something of a surprise to me that – after years of slagging off their choices – most of the films are the same ones the Academy chose to honour with Oscars.

So, here we go. Starting with the things that Oscar got right.

The Social Network (*****) is about as good as they get, and a film with such detail and subtle layers that it rewards repeat viewing to marvel at the understated complexity of Jesse Eisenberg's performance and appreciate Trent Reznor's immaculate music. And much more.

The Kids Are Alright (*****) – lesbian mothers – and 127 Hours (*****) – guy hacks off arm – are very different but united by subject matter that many avoided. Shame! The former is a beautifully humanistic piece of drama that is funny, touching and complex, while the latter is a bravura piece of filmmaking, making a static story leap from the screen. Don't let the stuff with the blunt penknife dissuade you.

Most traditional were The Kings Speech (*****) and True Grit (*****). True Grit didn't actually get anything at the Oscars though it bagged a pile of gongs at other awards. It is a straight old-fashioned western adventure, brimming with memorable incident and delicious performances, and tinged with melancholy. The Kings Speech? Say what you will, the Brits do this royal stuff well, and this is as perfect as Brit drama gets.

Meanwhile, Black Swan (****) is an over-the-top lurid psychological drama, played at a fever pitch. And why not? The Red Shoes meets Sisters. More low key but as impressive as any of the others is Winter's Bone (*****) wherein the chilly Ozark mountains and their strange fringe-dwellers never seemed more hostile or alien. Great music too.

Leaving behind the Oscars and moving to comedy, the hands-down winner so far this year is Chris Morris's dangerously funny Four Lions (*****) which dares to take on English suicide bombers (though its satirical net is far wider) and manages to be both hilarious and (occasionally) disturbingly real. In a generally poor year for comedies, the other films that most tickled my funny-bone are Will Ferrell's police comedy The Other Guys (****) and another Ferrell-starrer, animated superhero romp Megamind (*****). And I don't even particularly like Will Ferrell.

The French also continue to produce impressive films. A Prophet (*****) is a crime saga with the scale and complexity to rival the best of American gangster fare, despite being largely set in prison. Father of My Children (*****) examines both the business side of the movie world and a family's reaction to tragedy. It's a poised and eloquent piece of work. Gainsbourg (****) on the other hand throws everything at its story of the titular French musical icon and is all the better for it, creating a dizzying ride through the sixties and giving imaginative insight into a controversial life

And to finish, a few personal favourites. Monsters (****), on virtually no budget, managed to create an unusual sci-fi movie, a tentative love story set in a Mexico quarantined after alien spores grow into giant Lovecraftian ‘monsters'. The Killer Within Me (****) is a violent examination of a small-town psychopath, viewed from the inside. Casey Affleck narrates the killing and double dealing and excels as the creepy killer.

Me And Orson Welles (****) featured the best-ever on screen reincarnation of the great Orson and is simply charming. For Welles fans it's almost like getting to hang out in the company of the master, egotistical bastard though he may be. And I really enjoyed RED (****). Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and really big guns… I can't pretend it has any real redeeming features but as far as action comedy goes, this kicked geriatric ass.