Given that this is a stateside-heavy list I thought I'd bring your attention to the new risen 'star' of popular UK film criticsm. Mark Kermode is rather like a rock-n-roll Anthony Lane who happens to like The Exorcist. A lot. You can read and listen to his reviews which are splashed all over every corner of the BBC at the moment here.

Mr Kermode has been in Cannes this week. Watching him in action for a late night BBC review programme reminds me why I pay attention to what he has to say.

Like most critics he's widely read and so his arguments have substance. He's also prepared to be hyperbolic either way - if it's bad it's drivel, if it's good then it's outstanding, etc. Best of all though is that he parades neither of these things to promote himself. He obviously loves the movies and wants us to as well.

Is he related to Frank Kermode, who was a leading Shakespearean critic?

He is an informative critic, who in his critiques clarifies the negative and positive aspects of the film. His writings for Sight & Sound are excellent essays. Any critic who is awarded an opportunity to write for Sight & Sound is a distinguished writer. As he is progressing, it will be imminent that the Village Voice, New Yorker, or New York Times will grant him the ability to write for their Film section. He will definitely have an editing position at Film Comment.