Up first is animated 3D owlfest Legends Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole (3/5). Based on the Kathryn Lasky novel, this animated adventure follows young owl Soren (voiced by Jim Sturgess) as he seeks the help of the legendary ‘Guardians of Ga’Hoole’ – sort of the Owls of the Round Table – after he and his brother are kidnapped by an evil flock who are looking to shift the balance of owl power their way. Story wise Legends Of The Guardians isn’t anything to really write home about but I have to say this is the best looking 3D animation I’ve seen in ages – some the scenes will literally take your breath away. Add in the fact that the movie is directed by Zack Snyder – best known for the likes of 300 and Watchmen – and this really was a pleasant surprise. But be warned, the final climatic battle may be a little intense for younger viewers.

By guest blogger Emma Roberts

LFF 2010 is underway and we will be there. Look, we've got our press pass and everything!

We love festivals. Whether we’re getting caked in mud in Glasto or rocking out in Reading, we’ll never say no to a good old fest. You can imagine that when the London Film Festival comes along, we get very excited indeed.

Each year, the London Film Festival offers a gourmet selection of the finest cinematic treats from around the world and this year is no exception. Here are the seven films that we’re most looking forward to...

Never Let Me Go

If a movie has been referred to as the “most haunting film about love and death” then you know you’re in for a winner. Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go enjoyed a fantastic reception at this year’s Toronto Film Festival and quite frankly, we can’t wait to get stuck into its sinister plot surrounding three children and an orphanage. What’s more, it marks the return of the Mighty-Knightley, who was praised by critics for her role as Ruth. In short, Never Let Me Go to the London Film Festival without watching this British gem.

127 Hours

Sometimes we all do something splendid and think “I’m never going to top that.” Poor Danny Boyle, his “something splendid” was the phenomenal Slum Dog Millionaire which dropped like an atomic bomb. So, his latest offering, 127 hours, has a lot to live up to, with James Franco starring as a rock climber stuck in a crag for, you guessed it, an uncomfortably long time...

Black Swan

We don’t normally get excited about ballet, but Darren Aronofsky’s latest offering has got us tapping our toes in anticipation. Swapping the wrestling ring for the ballet stage, Aronofsky explores the fiercely competitive world of ballet in his psychological thriller. And with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis taking up the tutu as the two leads, we think it’s going to score big with critics.

The King’s Speech

We find it difficult watching all of the Queen’s Speech on television at Christmas, so the thought of sitting through a whole film dedicated to a royal recital didn’t exactly make us shudder with anticipation. But Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech must be doing something right, as it won the People’s Choice Award at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. Starring our very own periodic drama pro, Colin Firth, the film is based on King George VI as he fights his toughest war: his speech impediment.

West is West

It seems like just yesterday we chuckled away at the TV at the Khan’s family’s exploits in the hilarious comedy, East is East. Now, over ten-years since the original hit our screens, Andy De Emmony takes over as director in West is West, which focuses on the Khan family eight years after the original. We expect colossal laughs and family fun but will West be best?

Another Year

Another Year has got us really excited for two reasons; it’s directed by Mike Leigh, who’s a Brit-flick master and it also stars acting legend Jim Broadbent.  We’re sold.

The First Grader

We love nothing more than a heart-warming true life tale. With his last film being The Other Boleyn Girl, Justin Chadwick swaps corsetry for safari in his latest flick set in Kenya. The plot follows a village elder on an academic quest to gain an education, only to be confronted with conflict and prejudice. It sounds, and looks, like powerful stuff.

The main release is the much lauded The Social Network (4/5). Ok, so a film that essentially chronicles the creation of Facebook and the multiple lawsuits that followed may not sound too appealing but give this a chance and you’re in for a treat. Superbly written by Aaron ‘The West Wing’ Sorkin, delicately directed by David ‘Seven’ Fincher and well acted by Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, this is a master class in well constructed and involving cinema. None of the main characters come off particularly sympathetically but it’s not a film about heroes – it’s a film about how success can cloud judgement and how redefine relationships. PM your friends and take them to see The Social Network.

By Andy Gibbons

We’ll kick things off with Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2/5) which sees ‘Greed is good’ legend Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) out of jail and back on New York’s lower East side in this sequel to the Yuppie classic of  1987. As well as the usual wheeling-and-dealing​, this time round director Oliver Stone throws in the economic crash of the last few years and introduces Carey Mulligan and Shia LaBeouf as Gekko’s daughter and ambitious future son-in-law. As you’d expect from Stone, this is a well crafted enough movie but it certainly didn’t educate me in the way of dodgy hedge funds - instead it’s the cinematic equivalent of Stone screaming ‘Capitalism bad, capitalism bad’ over and over again right in your face.

by Andy Gibbons

The thought of watching a movie about industrial action in the East End at the tail end of the ‘60s may not exactly get your pulse racing but new Brit flick Made In Dagenham (3/5) is well worth a look. It tells the story of the women workers at Ford’s Dagenham plant who downed tools in a bid to win parity with their male colleagues and it’s a fascinating story. Featuring a great cast (Sally Hawkins, Rosamund Pike, Jaime Winstone, Bob Hoskins) and witty script, it does get a little message heavy at times but it’s a story that deserved to be told and one hopefully people will go see.

by Andy Gibbons

First up is Eat Love Pray (2/5) in which we join Julia Roberts as she embarks on a journey of indescribable smugness. Julia stars as Liz Gilbert, a New York writer who one day realises she isn’t happy in her marriage and so sets off round the world to ‘find herself’. She stops off in Rome to eat, an Indian ashram to pray and then finds love in Bali – that’s quite a trip. While the locations are exotic and enticing, Eat Love Pray gets too caught up in its new-age messages and hokum (‘If you want to get to the castle, you’ve got to swim the moat!’) to hit home and at 2½ hours, it feel way too indulgent. Pah!

This is just a cracking bit of casting. The stars were alligned on this one. Brian May revealed that Sacha Baron Cohen will play the charismatic lead singer in the film, currently being written by Frost/Nixon scribe Peter Morgan.

"We have Sacha Baron Cohen, which will probably be a shock to a lot of people, but he's been talking with us for a long time," May told the HARDtalk show at the BBC.

The film, focusing on the period leading up to Live Aid in 1985, will begin shooting next year.

And yeah, we're excited.