2007 is coming to an end and here at FemaleFirst we are about to look back on a year of cinema.This summer saw the blockbuster wagon role into town with releases for Spiderman, Pirates and Bourne. We have had a string of unexpected hit this year including musical Hairspray and Michael Vaughn's Stardust.But what have been the best and worst of 2007? Over the next ten days we are counting down to reveal what was hot and what was not in the last twelve months.

No 10 The Best: The Curse of the Golden Flower

Curse of the Golden Flower enters our best of 2007 at an impressive number ten and is the follow up to the critically acclaimed House of Flying Daggers.With a $45 million production budget the film which once again highlights the popularity of Eastern cinema as these movies continue the march into the mainstream.

An impressive cast, which includes Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li, have been assembled to tell the story of the royal family of AD928.

Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) returns home with his second son Prince Jai (Jay Chou) to celebrate the Chang Yang Festival.

But his relationship with his unwell Empress (Gong Li) is frosty. For several years she has been having an illicit love affair with her stepson Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye). But the Crown Prince wishes to escape the palace with his secret lover Chan (Li Mon) the daughter of the Imperial Doctor.

The Emperor is hiding secret plans, plans only known by the Imperial Doctor, as together they are slowly poisoning the Empress. Prince Jai is becoming worried about his mother’s health, as the poison begins to take its toll, and her growing obsession with golden chrysanthemums.

When the Emperor senses a threat he has the Imperial Doctor and his family sent away to a remote area where they find themselves under attack by mysterious assassins.

When Chan and her mother Jiang Shi (Chen Jin) return to the palace dark secrets are revealed and lies are uncovered as thousands of golden armoured warriors charge the palace. And Prince Jai must decide where his loyalties lie.

In past movies such as Hero and House of Flying Daggers the individual fight scenes have been impressive pieces of cinema and central to the plot.

However with Curse of the Golden Flower the major conflicts are intellectual and emotional, as opposed to physical, as this dysfunctional family tears itself apart.

But the battle scenes eclipse the rest of the film and would not look out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster.

House of Flying Daggers is visually stunning as director Zhang Yimou demonstrates once again that he is a quality film-maker.

No 10 The Worst: The Golden Compass

Billed as this years Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter it's a surprise to see The Golden Compass make the worst movies of 2007 list.

However it doesn't make the list for being a bad movie more for being disappointing.

The film is based on the novel Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman and is the first novel in his trilogy His Dark Materials.

At the centre of the story is Lyra (played by newcomer Dakota Blue Richards), a 12-year-old girl who starts out trying to rescue a friend who's been kidnapped by a mysterious organization known as the Gobblers - and winds up on an epic quest to save not only her world, but ours as well.

She’s then quickly swept up in a dangerous game involving disappearing children, a beautiful woman with a golden monkey dæmon, a trip to the far north, and a set of allies ranging from witches to an armor-clad polar bear.

Like Rings and Potter before it the fantasy book adaptation for Christmas is becoming a bit of a cinematic tradition.

While visually stunning with some superb CGI, in particular the ice bears, where this film stumbles is it's lack of pace.

If cinema go-ers are expecting a fast, high octane, romp through an alternate universe then they will be bitterly disappointed.

While it's not dull enough to send you to sleep it just lacks that exciting something and other world magic.

But we must not forget that this is the first part of a trilogy and had the unenviable job of introducing core characters and setting out the plot for future movies.

A great cast of Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Eva Green and voice talents of Ian McKellen and Kathy Bates have been brought together.

But it's Dakota Blue Richards who puts in a great turn as Lyra in her first role.

While The Golden Compass is riding high on a sea of controversy it's ultimately the script that this film down.

Helen Earnshaw