Film

Cowboys, aliens, Han Solo, James Bond and the man who brought us Iron Man...given the possibilities, Cowboys and Aliens could have been epic. And with an engrossing storyline, engaging characters, exciting action scenes and some extremely pissed-off aliens, it is very close - but doesn’t quite live up to expectations.

Tom Holland’s 1985 Fright Night was 80s camp at its best - a cartoonish mix of sharp fangs and glowing eyes that quickly became a cult classic, spawning a sequel and, more recently, a remake. Now, let me start by saying that I am not a huge fan of remakes; most of them are pointless and unnecessary and rarely add anything to the original. However, the joint star power of Colin Farrell and Anton Yelchin (who was brilliant in Alpha Dog) – not to mention David Tennant in a pair of leather trousers – proved hard to resist, and so I pushed my cynicism aside...and was actually very pleasantly surprised.

Hmm, what’s that I smell?...Ah it’s the faint whiff of desperation.  As hoards of fake (Yes, I am talking to you Mrs Bercow) celebrities gear up for the re-launch of Channel Five’s revamped Big Brother format, I’m left wondering if there’s still a place in our television schedules to accommodate what was once a national institution.

Joe Johnson’s Captain America has a lot working in its favour: an iconic hero, a charismatic leading man, a World War II setting, a plot that favours the underdog and a power-hungry villain - not to mention a ready-made fan base of Marvel devotees. On paper, it is box-office gold. And while Captain America will undoubtedly be a huge hit both sides of the Atlantic, I couldn’t help but feel that these aspects do not come together as well as they should.