I find myself rather insulted by that comment – as if, as a woman, it makes me weak, stereotypical, stupid even, to admit to liking a RomCom. Well, I’m afraid I must report to those male reviewers who know best about what films I should like that not only do I like the odd RomCom, I also thoroughly enjoyed The Rebound. At least as far as I’m concerned, maybe the ‘marketing man’ guessed right about what this woman wants from the movies.

Perhaps it is true that some films are aimed at men and others are aimed at women and only long-suffering partners endure both but I do believe that the romantic comedy (with its traditional plotting and characterisation) is on to a bit of a no-win situation from the outset if its (mosty male) reviewers believe they know best about what women want. So speaking personally, and not for all women, I have a weakness for a good RomCom just as I have a weakness for a good film with aliens in it.

On to The Rebound…

I have to admit to a certain distrust of Catherine Zeta-Jones. I remember The Darling Buds of May with rosy-spectacled nostalgic affection but after that, since she headed stateside, I haven’t had much interest in her movies, including Chicago, which I didn’t like at all. However, The Rebound touched a chord, arguably because Catherine’s character Sandy is exactly the same age as me, in a situation I can imagine myself in.

I would argue that if a woman is to see a film about a woman of her own age in a situation in which she can imagine herself in then a RomCom is the perfect format for it – otherwise you would drown in tears at the tragedy of it all. But the romantic comedy format enables one to laugh at the awfulness of the initial situation, while enjoying a clearly unrealistic and simplified happy ending. Wrongs are righted and the heroine is rewarded for her suffering with the ideal image of love spread out before her. In this romanticised world, women can get what women want. After all, that’s not always the case in the real world.

Interestingly, in The Rebound, part of the achievement for Sandy is achieving professional excellence – freed from her cheating, unrealised (and not needing to be realised as he’s that nasty) husband, Sandy heads back to the workplace and she reaches the top, not by trampling on colleagues but by working with other women who befriend her and don’t see her as a threat – for their men or for their job. Sandy believes she is in control but underneath lies fear and aggression and vulnerability.

The other side of the RomCom coin is 25-year-old Arum who comes from an equally unrealised set of circumstances but who now finds himself falling in love with a beautiful woman with two children he can relate to just as much as he wishes to relate to her. Here’s the odd thing for me – I can also empathise with him. As I get older, the harder it is for me to cast off ‘childish things’ and I am more of a geek now for computer games and Harry Potter and grabbing life than I ever was when I was younger. That’s because technology is only just catching up with what I want from it and because the older I get the less serious I realise my life should be. It’s hard enough without adding extra burdens of responsibility to the load.

The Rebound’s story works through its inevitable course – including an ending which some have found contrived but I found satisfying (as someone who spent their entire 20s travelling the world and understands that this is not just a dramatic cliche). The possible dates along the way made me laugh – I never usually find toilet humour quite as funny as in this film but that’s mostly because I was squirming in embarrassment along with Sandy. I will never look at Chiropractors in the same way again – I certainly don’t want to get within an arm’s length of them. I can find RomCom children rather irritatingly stereotyped, but not in The Rebound. They exhibit the annoying characteristics of children caught in a situation they don’t like and frightens them.

If you see a good RomCom, as I believe this was, then it will make you laugh and cry at the same time – judging by the state of the audience I saw this with, they’d go along with that. If a film makes you look at yourself, as this film did for me, then I’d say that’s a plus point too. Maybe it’s true that this film is only aimed at 40-year-old women – in that case, I’m glad to claim a film for myself.

Pictures from IMDb.

I am a big fan of Pixar. I will never forget watching Finding Nemo for the first time with a work colleague – we sneaked Marks and Spencers’ Gin and Tonic into the Oxford Odeon like the rebels that we weren’t and we were thoroughly charmed. Not just by the story and its immensely likeable characters but by the spectacular colour and beauty of the entire film and the vision of its creator. I think it’s still my favourite, although Wall-E and Up are right there as well. Toy Story 1 and 2 weren’t. In these two films, my brain couldn’t accept the moves between real child and real world with animated toy and animated world. Woody was a charmer though, and Buzz. Very difficult to not like those two.

However, Toy Story 3 is a different kettle of fish. What struck me, while I was getting emotionally entangled in this excellent story, was the depth of the characterisation. All of the toys, whether good or bad, had a consciousness about their past and a fear for their future, of not belonging, that I could relate to. Without giving anything away, the baddies Lotso and Baby managed to combine being menacing with being deeply pitiable. The tragedy in the situation of any toy – the child-owner must grow up, neglect is inevitable, loss is certain. Having limbs torn off, being painted, ripped and torn and crushed is nothing compared to the fate of becoming, finally, unwanted and discarded. And in this story, even the child players were believable and real. Bonnie is irresistible and Andy is shedding his childhood – a frightening business to go through, casting off childhood things. How many of us still have our favourite childhood toy? I know I do. Teddy’s looking at me right now from the chair in my bay window.

There is much to make child and adult alike laugh and gasp in Toy Story 3 – I could think of the flattened Potato Head, Ken and Barbie (these two are an absolute joy and surely merit their own film – or miniseries), the little squishy green aliens and their obsession with cranes, that horrible, demonic monkey, and nothing – nothing – could prepare me for the dancing, wooing Spanish Buzz. I could well up just thinking of Woody and Buzz and all their brave and bighearted friends as they prepare to meet a terrible fate…. Few films in recent months have moved me this way (although I did cry at the end of Inception – was I the only one?).

A good friend suggested to me that the end of 3D is nigh, citing this article. My response would be that 3D is only as good as the films that are made in it and no wonder 3D audiences fall when they’re ‘treated’ to Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, the Last Airbender and whatever else is contorted into 3D when it was never designed for more than 2D (and that’s probably a D too many).

If a film is made in 3D and is suitable for 3D technology as it exists today – such as Avatar, How to Train Your Dragon and Toy Story 3 – then there can be such pleasure in immersing oneself into this bright and colourful world of depth and flavour. Christopher Nolan wisely avoided 3D for Inception because he knew that the technology wasn’t up to his dream. But for these three films I mention, the 3D was arguably a part of that vision and each proved well worth the extra £2. Toy Story 3 in 3D was a visual pleasure – it wasn’t too obvious or clever about the use of 3D, instead one slipped into this other world while hardly noticing.

I would argue that audiences will continue to go to see a film in 3D if it is good, but these few good films have now made us realise that not all movies can be adapted to this format without doing a great deal of damage to themselves and to the format. The 3D screens should be left for the films that are made for it and are integrated with it.

And as a throwaway question on the matter of sequels – is a sequel more desirable when it’s made a full ten years after the predecessor (I’m not counting prequels – ie, Star Wars)?

You don’t need me to tell you that three quarters of the movie blogging world is at Comic Con in San Diego this week. There’s more to Comic Con than fine Batman and Star Wars costume recreations, there’s also the chance to see advance screenings of Scott Pilgrim vs the World. This has indeed created a tweeting stir as the lucky viewers reflect on seeing one of the summer’s big movies well in advance of everyone else and very shortly after the completion of the film. While the overall reaction to Edgar Wright’s movie appears extremely positive, not to mention hyper, early reviews have mentioned that this may not be the film for everyone, largely because of its attention span. And so, after the initial expectations, now hearing that the film goes by in a flash of short, sharp punches of image – as if someone was flicking quickly through the pages of a comicbook – I am a little concerned that Scott Pilgrim is more about style than content. More about scene stealing than story. I’ve decided now to steer clear of the reviews during the month leading up to the release (13 August in the US and 25 August in the UK). Each one I read is putting me off, just as each successive film clip or trailer is putting me off. This is definitely a case for I’ll make my own mind up when the time comes – given half the chance.

An opposite to this is Tron: Legacy. This film will not be with us until December but a trail of ever more enticing breadcrumbs has been left at Comic Con, including an appearance by the great Jeff Bridges – resulting in a new trailer, which makes me want to see this form more and more. It’s hard to believe that the original Tron was made in 1982 but it was. It was an extraordinary film for its time, as I remember, and looking at the trailers for the 2010 revisit one can’t help but thing something out of the ordinary awaits us. If only the wait weren’t so long…

The UK Film Council released its 2009 figures this week and they make great reading for the British film industry: ‘UK cinema visits of 174 million made 2009 the second highest year for admissions since 1971, while the UK box office grew to a record £944 million… Avatar was the run-away box office success of 2009, generating more in 3D takings alone than the total gross of any other 2009 film. Still on release in April 2010, with UK box office takings of over £91 million, it displaced Titanic at the top of our inflation-adjusted all-time top 20 UK box office chart. It was the only film of 2009 to break into this chart. Three UK films had a particular impact at the UK and international box office in 2009: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince continued the dominance of the schoolboy wizard franchise, while Slumdog Millionaire hit the jackpot as the most successful-ever UK independent film. The third most popular UK film of the year, Sherlock Holmes, confirmed the enduring appeal of characters from classic British fiction. Other UK independent films to win significant audiences in 2009 included St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold, Nativity, Harry Brown, Dorian Gray and In the Loop.’

On top of that, of course, were critically acclaimed films An Education and Moon, which won awards internationally for their originality and cast. The list of top 20 UK films for 2009 can be seen here. The Guardian’s report makes interesting reading.

The big stars in the UK this week were Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz who reached London in their Knight and Day tour of the world. Personally, I’m looking forward to this flm due to its inclusion of the one and only Peter Sarsgaard (as a baddie, naturally), but aside from all that, as a movie fan, I always respect Tom Cruise on the red carpet. He is a fan’s movie star. He interacted with his fans for three hours last night and finished off sitting on the floor with writers and bloggers as they filed their reports. He and Cameron also managed to fit in a day at the racetrack competing as ‘Stars in a reasonably priced car’ for Top Gear. Publicity? Absolutely (they even turned up at the Tour de France today, on either side of the Yellow Jersey). Above and beyond what we can expect from other movie stars on our shores? Absolutely. When I was in LA a couple of years ago, I went to the Beverly Hills Hotel to see what I could see for the Oscars Night Before Party. The barman in the Polo Lounge told me that Tom Cruise had just done the rounds with his family, saying hello to everyone, staff and guest alike, shaking hands with everyone and introducing them to his daughter. For a personal experience of movie stardom you can do a lot worse than being a fan of the consummate movie star Tom Cruise. As for the film, it seems irrelevant… Couold be fun though.

Back to Comic Con – kind of… Piranha 3D was too hot and nasty for San Diego. It lost its place at the last minue. However, JoBlo has reported on a screening of a good few minutes from the movie that took place down the street from Comic Con. It seems fair to say after reading their report that the film is a tad gory and gratuitous when it comes to the merciless slaughter of all and sundry at the hands of a bunch of razor-toothed grumpy fish. Also, the fish are well trained and prefer to snack on big boobed morsels.

But, obviously, talking about fish movies, there can be only one…

Of course there’s always this one.

Finally, we’ve had some publicity about next year’s Cowboys and Aliens, which will star Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig (directed by Jon Favreau) and may well boggle the mind: ’1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents-townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors-all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.’ May time fly.

You can view the new trailer on the official website. You can also, like me, shake your head at why only a word was altered for this version – surely it would have been the perfect excuse to produce a new trailer with more new material and not just one new word?

David Fincher is set to be a major attraction at Comic-Con in San Diego this week. Fincher will join the panel for The Goon, an animated film he’s producing, on Thursday.

Two new films have made it into the IMDb top 250 favourite movie list – Inception (at no 3) and Toy Story 3 (no 8). The inclusion of Inception has caused some to question whether it is ‘accepted’ for some critics to dislike the film. Two features stand out for me. In the first, Roger Ebert considers whether a film can be accepted universally as ‘great’, and in the second, the Guardian looked at whether there really is something meaningful behind Inception or whether it’s a case of the emperor’s new clothes.

Here is the IMDb top 10:

1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2. The Godfather (1972)
3. Inception (2010)
4. The Godfather: Part II
5. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
6. Pulp Fiction (1994)
7. Schindler’s List (1993)
8. Toy Story 3 (2010)
9. 12 Angry Men (1957)
10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Personally, I think lists are there to disagree with and I most certainly disagree with this one. No Close Encounters of the Third Kind? What more proof do you need? And if Inception is there, why not The Dark Knight? No doubt, in a week, the list will juggle once more. Interesting though.

I have a lot more to say about this list but WordPress is not well tonight, so I’ll return to it later.

Includes pictures from Zodiac and Paramount (via IHJ), and Empire Magazine.

In twenty years’ time, I wonder if we’ll be talking about remakes and reboots of Avatar and Inception… I was in more than two minds about whether to see Predators before I finally got to see it yesterday. The 1987 original with Arnold Schwarzenegger left quite an impression, when I was at an impressionable age, and I also enjoyed the relocation of the chase to Los Angeles with Danny Glover. It is quite possible that I am the only viewer who didn’t mind Alien battling Predator in an ancient trap-rigged pyramid – although even I didn’t go so far as to see the sequel to that one.

One big surprise with Predators was its lead – Adrien Brody. At least I think it was Adrien Brody… What I saw was a muscular fighting machine with a husky voice, a relentless instinct for survival and a deeply buried sentimental streak. A world away from the Pianist. But what a relief to see Brody liberated in an action movie, not at all as he appeared in King Kong, but holding his own and winning over the soldier women. So, while The Adrien Brody Factor had caused me doubts before, it turned out to be a strong point of the movie.

The film got off to an excellent and exhilerating start as the ‘prey’ awake freefalling into an unidentified jungle. The group gathers – a mix of merceneraries, soldiers, killers and murderers with one exception: a doctor (Topher Grace), without weapons and any means for survival. Shortly afterwards, the rather argumentative group discovers a second dropzone but this is full of cages and disgusting remains of something very definitely not human and very definitely dangerous. And so begins the hunt.

The traps and twists in the tale are entertaining and quite clever. We’ve seen the Predator before and so director Nimrod Antal finds other ways to surprise us and, on a few occasions, shock us. Actually, there were very few shocks and I only had to hide my eyes on a couple of occasions. There is a twist but I did see it coming – I’d be surprised if anyone didn’t. But apart from the game of trying to work out which member of the ‘team’ will be wiped out first, and how, there are some fine set scenes as hunter and prey come together. Several of the actors get their time in the hunter’s spotlight.

There is predictability – as with the preceding two Predator movies – but the world in which the prey find themselves in is vividly realised – you can almost feel the humidity on your own skin. What I didn’t get, though, is why the ‘heroes’ don’t get hungry and thirsty?

But if you, like me, approach a film such as this with a certain amount of trepidation (and an empty stomach), have no fear – this is not as scary as it possibly should be. For me, that’s a good thing.

Pictures from IMDb.

You can read my review of Inception here – there be spoilers – and let me know what you thought

But never mind all that, because hot on the heels of this superhero comes a super trailer – for The Social Network, David Fincher’s new movie. This is very special indeed. And it shows the power of David Fincher for me – I know little about Facebook (except that I don’t like it) and yet if David Fincher makes a film about it then I know I want to see it. If anyone can inject drama and suspense into the little details, it’s him. But the details are set within a wide landscape and context, all magnificently recreated and intensified through colour, music and things you wouldn’t even notice unless you searched for them or were told they were there. David Fincher’s films are to be explored through repeated viewings. It’s a miracle I haven’t worn out my Zodiac and Benjamin Button discs.

And the take on Creep here is a great touch.

On the eve of Inception – how I’m longing for that one (despite my normal irritation with Leo DiCaprio) – the release of this trailer demonstrates to me that it’s not just the movies with cgi, evil exes, 3D and green maskage that I’m looking forward to. There is so much to enjoy.

Talking of things I didn’t enjoy, I saw Eclipse this week as a bit of an experiment and as a dare – thanks to Excuses and Half Truths Rob – and he today posted his own take on this painful couple of hours: The Girl Everyone Wants. This is much more fun to read than the film was to watch.

Update: Thanks to Movieweb I can see more evidence that Peter Sarsgaard is not looking at his best in Green Lantern. Gonna be a toughie to watch.

Pictures courtesy of MTV and Movieweb.

It is true that Eclipse, the third of the Twilight movies, is not aimed at me. But, as someone pointed out to me, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be good. If a film’s good, whatever its genre, whatever its style, whatever its story, it will be enjoyable. I am quick to judge a movie and so I wanted to give Eclipse the benefit of the doubt and actually see it before I got at it. We went in the afternoon, hoping that this would make for a quieter viewing. However, I’d not reckoned on the scores of language students who frequent the cinemas of Oxford in the daytime. We woud be treated to occasional gasps and giggles in Spanish and Italian.

My friend was not the only man there. I assured him there was another a few rows down accumulating huge quantities of brownie points while looking pained. But we’d had a pint, we were fortified, we could withstand whatever Eclipse through at us. Afterall, I know about vampire movies – I saw Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater and Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire… Admittedly, I have not seen any of the True Bloods, Buffys and Angels that have followed. Which brings me to a question – can you outgrow vampires? Are you only susceptible when you haven’t got a mortgage?

Back to Eclipse – it disappointed. I could almost forgive the interminable and repetitive exchanges between Edward and Bella, Bella and Jacob, Bella and Edward, Jacob and Bella, and Jacob and Edward, but what I couldn’t forgive were these diamond-boned vampires, trying to live as normal a life as possible, while fitting in discreet, out-of-camera hunting and being a little distrustful of their furry neighbours. I had seen Twilight and in that film I had quite enjoyed the few moments when the force of the Cullens emerged and they threw themselves through forests and over mountains, truly conquering that tremendous Alaskan scenery. There was none of that in Eclipse.

Here was a group of vampires that had an eternity to live and every minute of it would be suffered. I think that Vampires should be bad – they should be like Lestat and Louis and Armand. I don’t need them to sparkle in the sun. There is no blood and fire in the veins of these icey Twilight vampires so why do they need to consume blood?

From the trailers of Eclipse, I imagined a great battle, but what we had was a bunch of about five pale vampires, a small pack of werewolves, and a bedraggled buch of not very hard to fight new blood vampires. But that’s because our attention was supposed to be directed to The Tent scene, where Bella has to be warmed by the barechest of her hot-blooded werewolf Jacob while her cold-blooded Edward looks on mildly perturbed.

At the end I was left with quite a few questions – why do werewolves not need shirts in human form? This Alaskan town has to be the most cliquey community on the planet and yet newcomer Bella was favourited by werewolves and vampires alike, so much so they all want to die and kill for her (albeit a little half-heartedly) – why? The whole story for me could have been a projection from the head of this rather dull, hunched and inward-looking teenage girl. She says that she is out of step and has no place and yet what about her mother and father? Their love for her is clear throughout the film and she hardly gives them a moment’s thought – a brief visit to say goodbye to mum in Florida and jokes at the expense of long-suffering dad, who no doubt will give his daughter away in marriage on the day she dies to him.

Listening to the crowd outside the screening, it was clear that the main verdict was about how hot Jacob or Edward were. There wasn’t much more to it than that. I can’t imagine that this is a film many would see more than once and so hopefully the number of screenings will diminish very quickly so that we and the cinemas can get back to what really matters this month – Inception!

As someone who has no interest in shoes unless they have a Nike swoosh, I was never going to see Sex and the City 2, but while films (such as Knight and Day, Toy Story 3, Karate Kid and the A Team) have been opening in the US, they haven’t made an appearance here yet. Not that I can blame distributors – you don’t have to see all the flags on the cars, buildings, offices, building sites (I even saw one on a dog), to know there’s a football tournament going on. The shop displays of Doritos, dips and Australian lagers also indicate that people are sticking with their living rooms or local pub rather than a cinema.

It is a poor show at UK cinemas right now (with the exception of Prince of Persia, of course!) but it’s as if we’re on hold, waiting for good things to come along when the hot weather and sport gives us a break. Knight and Day will come (as they have done since time immemorial) and I want to see this for Peter Sarsgaard – a fine actor who continues to feel the need to mix the good with the not so good. Always good in whatever he does, I do wish he would focus on the roles he enjoys rather than those he professes that he will never even watch. I don’t know if Knight and Day falls into that category – I hope not. I would like to say, though, that I can’t help but resent the use of Muse in the trailer above. Muse will always make me want to see a film.

The two films that I’m looking forward to the most this summer are Scott Pilgrim and Inception. This is despite the problems that I have with Leonardo DiCaprio’s movies. I would rather have had my eyes torn out than see Shutter Island but then I feel guilt for such a statement because I know Leo is a good actor, I just don’t believe many of the roles he adopts. But what I have seen of Inception, which is less than little, indicates that DiCaprio may be serving a story rather than it serving him. And Christopher Nolan is at the helm. Hopefully, it won;t hurt to give it a go.

Judging by my previous post, you can see I’m keen to see Scott Pilgrim and the second trailer was great. But I didn’t enjoy the third trailer. I don’t want everything in a film to be explained to me before I see it and while trailer number 2 fired me up, trailer number 3 got the extinguisher out.

The Last Airbender is another big movie on the way but I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been put off by the latest offerings of M Night Shyamalan. I’m also getting a little tired of movies where people fight with poles. I did enjoy Sixth Sense and Signs made me a little nervous (at least for the first half) but everything since has disappointed. Maybe the Last Airbender is Shyamalan’s last chance to impress. The trailer does – I’m more worries about the other 100+ minutes. I’m passing over the A Team because I can, unfortunately, remember the original and I can also remember my disappointment at hearing that Liam Neeson was taking part in this movie remake.

A story that I have followed with interest over the last month is the question of who will become the archetypal enemy known to history as Professor Moriarty. The voice heard in Guy Ritchie’s last Sherlock Holmes was one of those where, no doubt intentionally, you can’t put a name to it. The blogs are indicating that Daniel Day Lewis is a possibility and when I think about it that could be a good choice. He’s an actor who excels in both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ roles and is always believable. I can’t help but think that the actor must be well known – a worthy opponent for Robert Downey Jr – and this does narrow the field. Fortunately, in this role, Daniel wouldn’t have to sing.

A movie I am most certainly looking forward to comes later in the year – The Social Network from David Fincher. Watching the teaser trailer below, which has just been released, my spine tingles. Drama is brought in on itself and the little details become epic.

I would have liked to have seen Centurion, but that didn’t make any theatre near me at all.

So let’s get this World Cup out of the way…

My Batmobile picture from the London premiere of The Dark Knight

Where was I…? Oh yes, what I’m trying to say is that, for someone like me, a comic book movie or a superhero movie has to have something a little different about it to get me in to see it. These movies are rare but when they come along I’m chomping at the bit for opening day. Today the second trailer of Scott Pilgrim vs The World was released – after the film got the right number of Facebook fans (I count myself among them) – and without doubt, this is it!

Normally, with a superhero movie I get caught at the first hurdle – I find nothing in them to relate to. Heroes with superpowers in outrageous costumes save the world in a setting I’m supposed to recognise, such as (usually) New York City. It all seems so implausible… But that hurdle appears to be removed in Scott Pilgrim and the way is left clear for me to immerse myself. No pretence is made here – we have Pow! Thump! Crash! smashed large across the screen and I don’t have to believe in the power of the 11 Evil Exes because they’re polite with it – and one feels they’re not out to destroy the world, they’re just testing a boy’s love for a girl. So it’s a love story and that I can relate to. And sometimes love really does play out in technicolor 2D/3D action and you really can take a Whallop! and it really can make you feel that you can throw someone twenty storeys.

It was not a surprise to see that this film is made by Edgar Wright, who also made the only zombie movie that I’ve been able to watch and laugh my head off at: Shaun of the Dead. This skill of bringing the most unbelievable happenings into our streets, homes and hearts and minds (not to mention pubs), where the extraordinary is simply accepted as the ordinary… and everyone just gets on with it. Updated to add and correct that the original books for Scott Pilgrim were penned by Bryan Lee O’Malley (a comparison here).

I’ve not seen Scott Pilgrim vs The World and so I have no idea if the film will live up to the promise of this second trailer but I am very happy to give it a go in August. I can even cope with the idea of a school band…

Talking of superhero/superbaddie movies – there’s another one on the horizon and this one I feel very unsure about: Green Lantern. Its premise is baffling (IMDb: ‘A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe’). Ryan Reynolds, an actor I enjoy, is the eponymous hero but all my concerns are centred around the baddie, Hector Hammond. Peter Sarsgaard is one of my favourite actors – but what have they done to you, Peter?!

Picture from Splash.