If I had a pound for every person I saw reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on the train this month I’d be rich. Well, I’d be able to afford a first class ticket anyways and not have to stand in the corridor having my faced pressed against book covers bearing the tattooed back of a naked girl. Without a doubt, Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy has captured the world’s imagination, with Oplev’s adaptation of the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo becoming the most watched film in its native Sweden. So what is all the fuss about? In a word, Lisbeth.

Based on a true story and redolent of Germany’s chequered past, The Wave is a compelling film which throws our reliance on authority into sharp relief. If you’ve ever thought that Hitler would never have taken you in, watch this and see how sure you are.

The harrowing story of an intersex teenager struggling to establish her identity. Or is that his identity? See, even we’re confused…

Mike Leigh’s gentle send-up of neighbourly relations is as enjoyable now as it was in the Seventies.

For anyone who is debating whether to see Toy story 3 this summer, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed. Pixar delivers another side-splitting, visual masterpiece guaranteed to have you smiling (and maybe crying, but just a little).

With the final instalment of the Toy Story trilogy opening in cinemas this week, it’s no wonder that parents (and grown-ups furtively pretending to be parents in order to justify their DVD collection) are stocking up on the celebrated parts one and two. Already being hailed as one of history’s most successful film trilogies, it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more DVD love from Woody, Buzz and the entire Toy Story team. And we couldn’t be happier about it.

“Abandon all hope ye who enter here”. Such reads the sign that confronts Queen Lillian and King Harold as they approach the unfriendly terrain of Rumpelstiltskin’s land in the opening scene of Shrek Forever After. 93 minutes later and you are left wondering who the words were really directed at. Beneath the fireworks of what has been celebrated as the the final chapter of a universally adored franchise lies an apology for an exit that is more dogged than triumphant.

Whatever happened to SatC’s spark? The programme’s USP was originally its progressive approach to modern women with modern sex lives, but at what point did someone think that ‘Cynthia Nixon getting them out’ constituted a sociosexual statement?

The vampire has become so well integrated into popular culture it is hard to imagine a time when a romance didn’t come with fangs, and their recent resurrection can be attributed to one film: Twilight. With one brooding scowl from R-Pattz the world was divided into two groups: swooning squealing Twi-hards and, well, sane people. Yes, as you may have guessed I am not exactly what you’d call a fan. I have never read the books and anything that makes a teenage girl scream like a banshee in my vicinity was always going to provoke feelings of intense hate from me. However, even I can admit Twilight is not without its good qualities.

Thanks to the tag-line “Ein Zwei Die!”, it was love at first sight for me and Dead Snow, a Norwegian zombie film in which a group of fine young things find themselves conveniently isolated from rescue in a snug, wooden ski cabin.