King of the American historical epic Ron Howard returns to form with Frost/Nixon. Based on Peter Morgan’s Tony-award winning Broadway play, the film chronicles ex-US President Richard Nixon’s infamous admission of wrongdoing in David Frost’s interview series in 1977. Howard’s intimate dual narrative draws you expertly into the lives of both the interviewer and his subject, while Michael Sheen and Frank Langella inhabit their characters with studied perfection. Despite its somewhat dry subject matter, you’ll find yourself fascinated by this battle-of-wits tale by the time the credits come up.

2009 certainly brought us a few cinematic corkers, from sci-fi epic Avatar to comic-book crunching goodness from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight and Watchmen. But it wasn’t all wham, bam and explosions – will 2010 be a year of smarter movies? Judging this list… maybe.

There are some things in life that you hype up to such a ridiculous extent, there’s no way they’re going to live up to your expectations. The media frenzy surrounding New Moon ensured there was very little chance it would live up to expectations, and surprise, surprise, it doesn’t. Golden Compass director Chris Weitz places the film squarely in cheesy superhero blockbuster territory with exaggerated special effects and embarrassingly corny love scenes. The only bright spot on the horizon is newcomer Taylor Lautner, who brings a surprising amount of warmth and likeability to the role of Jacob Black.