I’LL BE honest – I don’t think it’s been a vintage year for film releases, whether on the big screen or on DVD.

But there have still been the usual pearls among the swine and at this time of year they do make a convenient and reasonably priced Christmas gift.

Many people will still be talking about the final couple of episodes of TV’s genius poitical satire The Thick of It, undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year.

As well as the series box set there’s the film offshoot In The Loop, where Armando Iannucci took his creation to America and threw a bit of James Gandolfini from Sopranos fame into the mix.

It’s not quite as perfect as the TV version, moving away from its Whitehall powerbase, but it’s still well worth checking out.

I’d also point you in the direction of a little French classic in the form of The Class, the docu-diary of a teacher working in a school in a Paris suburb. The interaction between the pupils and their teacher, and the fast-paced dialogue, is captivating.

Another little foreign gem is Everlasting Moments, from Swedish director Jan Troell.

Maria Heiskanen is superb in the lead role as Maria Larsson, a working-class mother in Sweden at the turn of the 20th century. As she struggles to feed her children amid the violent rages of would-be Communist husband Sigge, Maria finds a wonderful escape in her discovery of the blossoming world of photography. A wonderfully-shot film.