AS a fan of what might be loosely termed "quality" films, 2008 has been a frustrating year so far.

Not because there haven't been plenty of decent films released, but because of the last four films I wanted to see, only one (Sweeney Todd) was showing in Bolton on the first weekend of general release.

The others - Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, the Coen brothers' No Country For Old Men and Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood - either appeared briefly a week later or, in the case of There Will Be Blood, seem not to be coming to a local cinema at all.

I had the same problem last year when I wanted to see Babel, and in response to a rather heated email was assured by the manager of Vue, on Middlebrook, that cinema bosses did not think that Bolton audiences were "too stupid" (my, irate, words) for such films, and in fact the problem was down to the small number of prints available.

Meanwhile, we're left with a film selection that largely consists of Aliens vs Predator: Requiem and National Treasure: Book Of Secrets.

Great.

It might seem like a small price to pay to travel to Manchester to see these films as soon as they are released - but this led to me inadvertently making what must be the most expensive trip to the cinema of my entire life.

Having despaired of catching Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee's latest film, Lust, Caution, in Bolton, my film-loving other half and I decided it would be best to catch it at Manchester's Cornerhouse cinema.

Needless to say, the length of the film and a pressing need to find food afterwards that wasn't a kebab meant we missed the train home. Given a choice between waiting until half past three and forking out for a cab, we reluctantly opted for the latter.

As a certain credit card company might say - two cinema tickets: £12, pre-film drinks: £8, taxi home: £45. A decent night at the flicks: priceless.