barnesgonzo: Close up: Best. Film. Ever.

Catch up with the last seven days from the world of film

The big story

What's the greatest film of all time? According to the BFI's ten-yearly poll, it's a film that "tells a most unlikely tale about a wife-murder, and tells it for more than two hours in a style that is slow, wordy and, apparently, casual" – or, at least that's how the Manchester Guardian described it 54 years ago.

Vertigo has this week taken the top spot in the large-scale poll of critics and writers, dislodging Citizen Kane, which had occupied the position since 1962, into second place.

Discussing the result, the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw said: "I feel that Vertigo is inferior to Hitchcock's other more brutally explicit psychological thriller Psycho, but that a persistent gentility in the critical world feels it necessary to reward the classier and more subtle film, and Psycho, for all that it is adored, has the genre taint of 'horror' which keeps it out of lists like these."

It should come as no surprise that Psycho was Peter's nomination in our ongoing series, My favourite Hitchcock film. Other series highlights include Philip French on The Lady Vanishes, Pamela Hutchinson on Rope Xan Brooks on The Birds – but, as yet, no–one has opted for the BFI's greatest film. Will that change next week when the series continues? Join us to find out…

In the news

Prometheus sequel being planned by Ridley Scott

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit to be extended to three films

James Franco and Jason Statham to team up in new Sylvester Stallone film

Doctor Who movie rumour dismissed by Steven Moffat as 'weird fantasy'

Dark Knight Rises composer releases musical tribute to Aurora victims

Warner Bros considers The Shining prequel

On the blog

What's your favourite British film?

Gore Vidal: not just about the books

The Dark Knight Rises fends off Danny Boyle's 2012 Olympics ceremony

Why Painted Skin 2 has taken China by storm

Clip joint: Corpses

Cine-files: The Varsity Rooftop Cinema, Cambridge

Watch and listen

The Guardian Film Show

Ping Pong: watch the table tennis documentary on demand

Silent Hill Revelation - trailer review

Trailer: Will Cloud Atlas be the next Inception?

Skyfall: watch the trailer for the new James Bond film

In the paper

In tomorrow's G2 Film & Music there's a look at Christian Bale's new film Flowers of War, Charles Gant writes on the new trend for movies to open on a Monday, and there'll be reviews of the week's main cinema releases. Saturday's weekend magazine features a Q&A with with much–loved actor Tamsin Greig.