Blue is the Warmest Colour

Abdellatif Kechiche’s Palme d’Or-winning love story is at risk of being remembered for all the wrong reasons (the controversy around the lesbian sex scenes and stars Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos’ criticisms of the director) but it remains a raw and tender depiction of first love and heartbreak.

Gravity

Rightly praised for its technical achievements (director Alfonso Cuarón and his crew had to invent much of the equipment used to film the zero-G space scenes), Gravity also owes a great deal of its success to Sandra Bullock’s stand-out performance as the astronaut cut adrift in space.

Blancanieves

A black and white silent movie in the vein of The Artist, Pablo Berger’s charming, beautiful take on the Snow White story transferred the action to the bullfighting ring of 1920s Spain, with seven dwarf matadors and a seriously wicked stepmother (Maribel Verdú).

Django Unchained

What do you do once you’ve killed Hitler? For Quentin Tarantino, the answer was to go back even further and reconstruct the era of slavery with witty one-liners, sharp suits and gunplay galore. Christoph Waltz picked up the best supporting actor Oscar, but it was Leo DiCaprio’s scenery-chewing baddie who stole it for us.

Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks delivered what many (including our reviewer) considered a career-best performance in Paul Greengrass’ sea-faring piracy drama. Praise was also heaped on Barkhad Adbi, the ruthless leader of the gang which hijacks Hanks’ ship.