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(From The Northern Echo)

Byline: STEVE PRATT

As a teenage wizard, a magical nanny and a pair of Plasticine heroes top last year 's film charts, STEVE PRATT looks at the good, the bad and the remakes in his guide to the best movies in 2006

WHAT'S that zooming through the sky? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a franchise being revived for the summer blockbuster season. Last year, Batman was given the kiss of life. This year, Superman Returns gives another caped hero the same treatment in a bid to breathe fresh life into the franchise that stalled on a shabby fourth instalment nearly two decades ago.

Although many critics and fans were kind to the makeover given to the masked righter of wrongs, Batman Begins doesn't figure among the UK's top ten films of 2005. He's been overtaken in the chart by the likes of a teenage wizard, a magical nanny, a pair of Plasticine heroes and a chocolate-maker.

The list of the UK's highest grossing movies reveals three sequels, several remakes, a literary adaptation and an animated feature. Expect much the same in 2006. Hollywood may have been disappointed by this summer's sluggish blockbuster season and the disappointment of late entry Peter …