This article contains spoilers for Burke And Hare and other cameos, if you've not yet seen the films.

Wow! This article begins with an appearance from Bill Murray! Oh, he's missed the train and is now left behind on the platform and we're already heading down the line of no return. I guess the narrative isn't following him. Never mind. On with the journey...

(If this means nothing to you, you clearly haven't seen The Darjeeling Limited and I recommend you watch it. For a start, you get to see Bill Murray missing a train.)

Back on track and I'd like to talk about cameos. This concept is a curious phenomenon unique to the motion picture and television realms.They didn't have cameo appearances before the invention of cinema. Sir Walter Raleigh once drunkenly stumbled on stage during a private performance of Hamlet and Bill and Ted's Wyld Stallyns once travelled back to play a short set during the siege of Troy, but those are exceptional oddities which we'll ignore.

Moving forward to our present postmodern age of multi-platform mass media and pop culture, we end up with recognisable figures having miniature moments in texts that aren't really about them. In fact, they are only there for the audience's benefit, to raise a laugh or a self-satisfied nod. Wink wink, nudge nudge. I know that face and get that reference.

They may also be there for their own amusement, to lend an industry buddy a hand or, if they are really lucky, pick up a paycheque for next to no work. It's a harsh world out there. Any ego boost or extra income is welcome.

Though they can be ill-conceived, distracting and ruin the immersion process, cameos are generally fun and rewarding for film buffs. In fact, sometimes they can even be the best part of the movie. I'm thinking Zombieland, alien bustin' Tom Jones in Mars Attacks! and Keith Richards playing Cap'n Jack Sparrow's dad in the third Pirates Of The Caribbean flick.

Playing 'Where's Hitch?' is an essential part of watching Alfred Hitchcock films (Look! He's wearing a stetson!) and, likewise, the same is true for 'Spot Stan Lee in Marvel Comics Movies'.

There are awful ones (Ricky Gervais doing his Extras act in Stardust really jars) and there are downright atrocious ones (Madonna fencing with 007 in Die Another Day), but I'd say that, in general, cameos work out.

They add to the texture and fabric and flavour the experience for spectators who like to feel like smug smartarses. If you share a joke with your audience, they will like you. You are directly appealing to them, pushing their buttons, and thus, turning them into putty that you can manipulate. If that means you drop in a cult figure for a few frames to cause a stir and kick viewer resistance into touch, then so be it. You've breached their defences with two minutes of Arnie. They're all yours now.

Chopsocky connoisseurs are bound to get a kick out of Sonny Chiba's roles in Kill Bill and anime enthusiasts appreciate Totoro's appearance in Toy Story 3. Likewise, action fans, Internet meme addicts and redneck types who like to dropkick pickup trucks probably thrill at the Chuck Norris thumbs up scene in Dodgeball.

Cameos are fun, which partly explains why Burke And Hare, John Landis' black comedy return to big screen direction, is such an enjoyable romp. It's chock full of them and if you let your attention slip for just a moment you're likely to miss a famous mug popping up to chew the magnificent period scenery. (Huge credit to the production team for recreating 1828 Edinburgh in all its squalid glory. If the cameo turns do draw away from the immersion process, then the sets and aesthetic details pull the audience straight back into the story's own twisted bygone 'reality'.)

First and foremost, it's essentially Simon Pegg's show and he's the distinct standout as an appealing everyman version of William Burke. The film is fundamentally his and Hare's tale with a touch of medical science history told in light-hearted, revisionist style and that's the main emphasis.

What the cameo roles do, however, is underscore this caper of bungling and brutality, add to the comic texture and give audiences an extra something to smile about (and an audience smiling is better than an audience snoring or muttering "This is no fun. I should've gone to see Saw 3D instead.").

Saying a brief hello in Burke And Hare, then, we find British comedy luminaries such as Bill Bailey, Paul Whitehouse, Reece Shearsmith, Stephen Merchant and Ronnie Corbett in an extended role as captain of the Edinburgh militia. Landis also makes a nod to An American Werewolf In London by giving Jenny Agutter and John Woodvine small parts.

Christopher Lee, he who hath been Dracula, Saruman and Lord Summerisle, is in there as well, as is master of stop-motion animation Ray Harryhausen for the amusement of schlock B-movie buffs. It's also hilarious to see a scene in which Death Wish director and car insurance advert star Michael Winner ("Calm down, dear! It's only a commercial!") ends up as the victim of a highway accident.

Perhaps the most interesting cameo, though, is one which comes in the end credits in the shape of a skeleton. I don't think I'm spoiling anything by revealing that the real William Burke is now dead and that his remains are now kept in the Edinburgh University Museum. Anyway, said bones and their display case make an appearance at the movie's close and that kind of wraps it all up nicely. It says: "This is what's left of the man the film is based on and this is what it ultimately all comes down to and is all about. Death."

Maybe there's a nice precedent being set here where the deceased subjects of biopics or perished personalities from the past get their chance to shine regardless of their condition. It'll remind viewers that it's a true story that genuinely happened. It reiterates that the real heroes aren't Hollywood hacks or impersonators and may prompt life-affirming realisations of the fragile nature of mortality. Acknowledge the truth in all its morbid glory for just a minute and don't forget the dead.

Smilin' Stan Lee would, no doubt, approve. Death shouldn't deny his shot at immortality and obligatory cameo he makes in every Marvel Comics movie. I reckon this is a good idea, and symbolically, the sight of a skull makes the perfect climax. The End... Oh, look! Bill Murray!

James' previous column can be found here.

James sketched a series of movie-spoof comics and they can be found here.

Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here.

This episode's guest star is actress Candice Bergen, who has had a successful film and TV career dating back to the mid-sixties and has seen her nominated for an Academy Award and winning five Emmys and two Golden Globes. Her awards came for her performance in the long running sitcom Murphy Brown. She also had a prominent role in Boston Legal as well as appearing in the likes of Seinfeld, Family Guy and Sex And The City, to name but a few.

The appearance in this episode wasn't her first or last collaboration with Henson and co, as she appeared in a Saturday Night Live sketch one year prior to this episode's airdate with Henson-created co-stars. She would also go on to appear in The Muppets Go To Hollywood and appear on Sesame Street a couple of times as well as contributing to Miss Piggy's cookbook.

In stark contrast to the previous episode and its guest, this was a consistently entertaining episode with a thoroughly engaging and personable host. Bergen displays a variety of characters that reflect aspects of her personality and talents and, as a result, this is another episode that effectively supports the guest and brings out the best in them.

Bergen's contribution to the show is both significant and varied, with her demonstrating impeccable comic timing, often through her actions as opposed to saying anything, as well as adopting the aforementioned character for comic effect.

Her downtrodden housewife revolting against her chauvinistic husband by stripping away her apron to reveal a feminist slogan t-shirt and pull a gun on him during Put Another Log On The Fire is one of many highlights in the show. The sketch is wonderfully paced with the increasingly disgruntled wife becoming more and more frustrated providing a stark contrast to the lyrics sung by the Muppet husband, culminating in an entertaining finale.

Bergen's second sketch is the discussion panel where she and the usual group of Muppets discuss the topic: does travel broaden the mind? Bergen adopts the role of Dr. Clara Cartwell, who makes a number of digs at Sam the Eagle throughout, but ultimately seems enamoured by the noble, but dim-witted, bird. It's an endearing and amusing character that Bergen adopts here and is perfect for the material. The quality of the sketch hinges on her performance and her ability to adopt a character that's different from her own persona, but retains some of her key characteristics.

Bergen gets to interact with the Muppets in a couple of sketches where she essentially plays herself to great success. The first of these is the Talk Spot with Kermit, which sees a break from the format and has Bergen take a picture of the frog host only to have Sweetums eat her camera, and the second is where she goes to cheer up Gonzo with a rendition of Friends, which was made famous by Bette Midler. Whilst Bergen's voice doesn't match Midler's, it's a good closing musical number.

The other sketch that Bergen features in is another in which she puts across great comedic timing without saying anything or, indeed, moving a great deal. As she plays model to the Muppets art class, she does little more than pull a series of expressions as the class paint her in their own images, culminating in Animal taking the instruction of painting the model a little too literally.

There are other solid sketches filling in the rest of the show, but this is very much the guest's show and Bergen owns it like the best guests have this series. She does this by committing to the material and not seeming self conscious in any way.

If guests interact with the Muppets in a way other than they would with normal people it usually results in the material falling down, which is why it's great when guests take to it the way Bergman did here, resulting in comedy gold and a Muppet Show classic.

Such is the quality of the episode that it's one of the few where even Statler and Waldorf have nothing bad to say about it. This is one of the best episodes of the series so far, so I hope that the quality can stop yo-yoing and the remaining episodes can bring some consistency that has been lacking in the series so far.

Read our remembrance of episode 14 here.

Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here.

Let Me In, the British-American remake of the Swedish vampire drama Let The Right One In, finally receives its UK general release this week. We loved the earlier take on John Ajvide Lindqvist's tale of two children bonding in less than conventional circumstances, so we must admit we approached this new adaptation, directed by Cloverfield's Matt Reeves and produced by a revamped (ugh) Hammer Film Productions, with a little bit of caution.

Luckily, we had the chance to sit in on a roundtable interview with Reeves, and lead actor Kodi Smit-McPhee, who stars as Owen, the lonely boy who befriends the mysterious night walker Abby (Chloe Moretz). We talked about the production, Kodi's approach to the material and the process of adapting the property for an English-speaking audience, as well as the gruesome deleted scene that has appeared on the Internet, and what it is like carrying the torch for the resurrected (ugh) Hammer studio.

Why change the title?

Matt Reeves: Why change the title? Because, when I was first introduced to the film, it was before the movie ever came out, and I was shown it by a distributor. And I was so fascinated with it that I went and read the novel, and the American novel was called Let Me In. And then, as I started working on it, and I started writing the script, I found out that actually that was a title that the American publisher came up with, because they thought the other title was too, I don't know, unusual or obscure. And by that time, I felt like, well, wait a minute, maybe there's something to do with keeping the title, because I had such respect for the original film, I felt like if we differentiated it even by using this title, we're not saying ‘this is Let The Right One In, again'.

It was our attempt to do another telling of Lindqvist's story. So, it started as a mistake - I didn't really know that that was not the American title, well it is the American title of the first publishing, but ever since then it's now called Let The Right One In, in all the subsequent editions. But that's where it came from.

Kodi, there's a scene in the film where you're in front of the mirror, and it's very much like Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver. What inspires you as an actor?

Kodi Smit-McPhee: I'm not really sure if I have anything that inspires me. I think what goes into my work is everything beforehand that I do with my dad. He teaches me acting, and I think maybe without him it would be pretty hard. I started acting for fun, really, because my dad's an actor and my sister's an actor, so I started doing it and it was normal. But it got places really fast, and I started doing feature film auditions and stuff, and I got The Road and Let Me In. I love it.

Your performance feels so genuine. Do you have any experience of bullying that you drew from?

KSM: Well, I haven't been bullied like him, but I think everyone has been annoyed at school or in their life, that's a type of bullying. So, you can take those feelings and make them bigger. But I try not to use too much from my real life, because you'll be stuck with that all day.

So, I really do make it from scratch, and I know the whole character back to front.

What was it like living in the 80s for the duration of the film?

KSM: It was awesome! I was a nerdy 80s kid, I wanted to be a cool, rock and roll 80s kid... But, Owen's cool. And at least he knows Ms. Pac-Man. Actually, I've just realised, that doesn't make any sense. Ms. Pac-Man. It should be Ms. Pac-Girl. Anyway...! 80s is cool, I'd like to go back to the 80s.

You say you knew the character back-to-front. How do you prepare for the film? Did you read the book, or watch Let The Right One In?

KSM: Yeah, usually I would read the book, but actually I didn't know there was a book until halfway through the film. So, I thought, I've already started now, so I shouldn't be bringing that in. But I didn't see the film either. I didn't want to copy anything.

I heard that Matt didn't want anyone to see it either, because we were doing our own take on it. So, me and my dad built it from scratch. He makes me read through the script at least eight times, and then every time you learn something more about your character or other people. And you write down why you're saying that, why is that person saying that, and acting and reacting. So, when you have the whole backlife of the character, you know what's going on and you're in the moment.

Given that the film really depends on the two lead actors, how did you end up picking Kodi and Chloe?

MR: I went on a search. And Avi Kaufman, who was the casting director, she has a tremendous track record of finding really remarkably talented young actors. She did the Ice Storm, The Sixth Sense, Little Man Tate. And we started looking. And I was really worried, because it was such an adult story, and I thought, would we be able to find young actors who would be able to handle this kind of emotional complexity. And adults have to relate to what's going on with them, which means that they have to express in a way that's quite advanced for their age.

And I started hearing about Kodi, and somebody suggested that I see a movie he had done called Romulus, My Father. And I watched it, and I thought that he was remarkable. And it was very similar, in that there was a lot of non-verbal acting going on, where he was very authentic, and that is what I was looking for as the most important quality - someone who could feel real.

Because, although it is a vampire tale, the power of it is that it's very believable, it's very naturalistic. The thing is, though, he was nine when he did that movie, and he had an Australian accent. Here I was, trying to do the American version of this film, and I thought - how's that going to work? And they said, "Well, he does an American accent in The Road." And I said, "Great! Show me some of The Road!" And nobody could show me anything, because the movie was in post, and the same thing happened with Kick-Ass. Nobody could show me any of Kick-Ass.

But Kodi came in, and there was a scene I was concerned about, the scene where he's on the phone with his father, which was a very emotional scene which I thought could have gone into melodrama. And he read it in such an understated and authentic way. I was like. "Oh, we can definitely make the movie now." And we had to cast him immediately.

And the same thing happened with Chloe. I couldn't see Kick-Ass, but I said, "Please have her come in," and she came in, and I wanted someone who wouldn't play a vampire, but someone who would ground it in reality. And she did that, and so the whole thing was finding these two guys.

You've said that when you read the book, you related to the coming-of-age aspect of the story. Could you elaborate on that?

MR: Sure. Well, I was bullied. And I grew up at that time, and my parents went through a very painful divorce. And I identified with that sense of being incredibly confused and the sense of humiliation and the sense of isolation. There's tremendous shame with being bullied.

I think there's a level at which you think that there's a reason that you're being singled out, that you're being chosen. As a kid, I was always mistaken for a girl. Before you reach that age where your sexuality starts to display itself, kids can look very androgynous, and I guess I leaned more toward the feminine. All those things were very hard, growing up, because you're trying to create an identity, and you're feeling shameful about the one that you're making. So, I identified with it a lot.

And what brings you out of that?

MR: With me, frankly, it was making 8mm movies. I was obsessed with movies, and it ended up being the tool with which I could make friends. Because I was too painfully shy in other circumstances, I would say, "Hey, do you want to make a movie?" And that's how I made friends, and it was also my escape.

In the movies, I was James Bond, so it was pretty good.

Did you cut anything from the film in order to make it less adult? Maybe the so-called ‘rape scene'?

MR: That scene we shot. And I didn't cut that scene because - you say, to make it more palatable? I cut that scene because it didn't work in the flow of the movie.

What happened was, the scene where she comes in uninvited and she starts to bleed, in the script... It's interesting, when you're shooting something and different things become revealed. And that scene bonded them tremendously. When I was writing it, I was talking to Lindqvist and I was asking about it. And he said, "In that scene, once she's done that, she's put herself into Owen's hands, and once she wins his trust, he's hers forever." And I was like, "Oh, I get that."

But when we shot it, I didn't realise the power of it until we got to the next scene, the rape scene, which begins with him questioning her again, and saying "Who are you?" Basically putting her on the spot. But it felt completely out of place, because she had just done something that was so enormous, that it was a huge step backwards to discount the emotional place that their characters had reached.

That's one of the reasons that I put it on the Internet, because I thought they were so great in the scene, that I wanted people to see the scene, but it absolutely was not that it wasn't palatable to an audience, it was because it just didn't work in the flow. And part of the thing that I didn't put on the Internet was part of that scene, where he turns to her, she ends up pulling a knife at him. What happens is, they have this very tender coming together, and he says, "Would you have died?" And she says, "I knew you wouldn't let me." And that created a bond between them.

Then, in the next scene, he says, "Who are you?" And then she pulls a knife on him, and she starts saying, "I'm just like you." And you're like, wait a minute! Just a second ago, I was in this emotional place - why am I here? It just didn't work. And I was kind of heartbroken about it, because I love that scene, and I love what they did. But it was no attempt to soften the movie.

The first great thrill of the film is seeing the Hammer logo. Was Hammer an influence when you were making your 8mm films?

MR: It wasn't so much on the films themselves, it was on me. As a kid... It's ironic that I make genre films now, because they scared me. Hammer films, in particular, I remember my relationship with them was that they'd be on late night television, and that I would be peeking through my fingers at them, stealing a look at the lurid scenes with Christopher Lee and bright red blood, and all the stuff that gave me nightmares.

There's a kind of pleasure in knowing, cyclically, that maybe years from now, there'll be someone watching through their fingers that goes into films and make movies, but Hammer films definitely affected me in that way.

Did you feel a great weight of expectation, directing the first of the new Hammer films?

MR: I just was honored. I thought it was really cool. Those movies are so stylised, too, and they're very gothic. This movie is more naturalistic in that sense. I thought it was fun that it was being relaunched with something that was in the tradition of Hammer - it's a vampire film - but with a tone that was hopefully different. And it really reminded me a lot of the kind of late 70s, 80s horror movies that scared me the most, the American horror movies like The Shining and The Exorcist. Those scared me more than anything.

When working with kids, does it change your approach to the shoot in terms of scheduling, and how far you want to push your cast?

MR: Well, we had shorter days. But it's still a lot. Especially, Kodi was in almost every scene. And I know that the shoot wore on him tremendously. And I like to do a lot of takes, too. We like to explore, and he loves to play, but sometimes it's just too exhausting.

The thing that I tried to do was to be aware that there should be some play time but, frankly, a lot of the movie is just a tremendous amount of work. I mean, it was probably hard at times. What was it like?

KSM: I think once you get to the end of it - and this is with any film - once you get near to the end of it, it's still fun, but you're like, "It's nearly over!" And you know you're going to have to wait another year to see it. So, I was like "Gah, come on!"

Filming is awesome, and usually when you film something it's all over the place, but this was kind of on track, and we shot it from start to finish.

And comparing it to The Road, was it a more draining or tiring experience?

KSM: I don't think so, compared to The Road. The Road was my first American film, my first film in the snow. The first of everything. So, I was jumping into it, and that was pretty gruelling.

Matt and Kodi, thank you for your time!

Let Me In is released this Friday, November 5th. Read our review of the film here.

Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here.

Before we start, let's get acquainted. Let Me In is the British-American remake of 2008's Swedish horror-drama film Let The Right One In. I reviewed it on this site, and it topped my Best of 2009 list. Ron Hogan, Den Of Geek's US correspondent, checked the film out on its Stateside release, coming to it completely cold, without seeing the original. (There are links to all of these at the bottom of this article.)

My job, then, is to take Let Me In while set against the film that it's a remake of. So, now we're up to speed, that's what I'll do.

In the last decade, Hollywood backed remakes have been consistently eyed with much suspicion. They're often used as a yardstick for the declining imagination of mainstream American product, and of the callousness of producers sucking up the best ideas from abroad. So, it was no surprise that Let The Right One In, the Swedish vampire horror-drama, was greenlit for the English language makeover.

Cue the consternation. Den Of Geek's resident World Cinema expert, Nick Horton, recently had the following to say about Let The Right One In: "...it is the isolation of the Swedish backwaters which sets the oppressive tone from which the film takes its cues. The audience feel as abandoned on the edge of the world as the characters, and it is exactly the sort of place where the fantastical and creepy could coexist with the ordinary. To set it elsewhere is to rob the film of its hidden power."

For me, though, the change in setting is the least of this remake's problems. Exoticist assumptions about the undertones of Swedish society aside, Let Me In's murky small town New Mexico, coated with snow and populated by dreary architecture, is just as effective a backwater as suburban Stockholm. It is suitably mundane, quiet and eerie, and a fine context for the set-up, as lonely kid Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who spends his time hanging out in his apartment building's empty playground, develops a friendship with a mysterious girl, Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz), who only comes out at night and seems undaunted by the cold weather.

Moreso than most language barrier revamps, Let Me In is a facsimile of the original, with moments of heavy deja vu called up by the set design, the costumes, the jaundiced hue of its cinematography, and vast swathes of the screenplay. Director Matt Reeves, in adapting Let The Right One In, shows immense reverence for the Swedish film (itself a pared down adaptation of the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist), with situations, beats and sequences lifted wholesale. While this is a move of positive inspiration, it constantly calls reference to itself and its cinematic forerunner. It begs the savvy audience members to play spot the difference, in the process calling attention to many of this version's flaws.

As the first production from a re-energised Hammer Films (in conjunction with, amongst others, indie studio Overture Films), Let Me In seems to be laden with teething problems inherent in the slow awakening of a horror juggernaut. Let The Right One In, despite its horror genre trappings, was always more of a quiet mood piece, drawing dramatic weight out of its inferred horror, and finding its true power in the tentative relationship between its two leads. Let Me In retains almost all of these qualities, but it is wrapped up in a much more, for want of a better term, Hollywood horror sheen.

The first point is one of restructuring. Whereas Let The Right One In opened with silence, focusing on Oskar's solitude, Let Me In dives in headfirst, with a pseudo-mystery opening sequence, with a strange man admitted to hospital, his face scarred by horrific burns. Who is he? Is this connected with the recent spate of ritualistic murders? A young girl, introducing herself as his daughter, turns up at the reception desk, before disappearing out into the winter night. Who is she? Not long after, the man falls from the window of his room, avoiding questions from a police detective. Just what is going on? Fade to a intertitle: "two weeks earlier..."

Now, this reshuffling de-emphasises the drama of the story, and instead sets up anticipation as a horror. The images of an old man and a young girl, and the lingering threat of murder, hang over Let Me In's opening act. However, there's a tiny snag. In adapting so faithfully, Reeves has provided himself with an inadequate horror film, as the drive of his screenplay is still concerned with the gently developing relationship between Owen and Abby.

He compensates for this by pushing his version towards the extremes, removing its peer's sparse, poetic nature. This resonates right through the picture, up to post-production flourishes, such as filling most scenes with heavy, deafening bass hits, piercing your eardrum with unsubtle trauma.

Likewise, the score, from Academy Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino, is alternately oppressive and mood shattering, as he shows little of the nuance of his work for Up and The Incredibles, and saturates every second of the film with either twee, celeste-driven melodies (to accompany the young chums) or hackneyed, manipulative, microtonal string workouts (to highlight that something tense is happening on screen). There's barely space to breathe, let alone develop an atmosphere.

And while the change in context proves promising, Reeves over seasons his American setting, constantly reminding the viewer of its period landscape through pop culture touchstones, from the unending snippets of Bowie's Let's Dance, to the duo's date at an arcade, where they play Ms. Pac-Man, and are served by a dude in full Boy George-style New Romantic regalia, while Culture Club plays over the PA system. It's the 80s, you know?

This feeling continues in the smattering of superficial horror and thriller references, both general and specific, which serve little purpose and detract from the drama. Owen surveys the apartment's courtyard through a telescope, spying on his neighbours (who, in this version, do not provide light relief, but are no more than distant, undefined figures, and eventual victims), which Reeves frames as a slow pan, reminiscent of the voyeuristic gaze of Rear Window. Also, when Owen enacts fantasies of stabbing schoolyard bullies, he wears a plastic slasher-killer mask, as does Abby's keeper (Richard Jenkins, credited as The Father), who covers his face with what seems to be a black bin liner when venturing out on the hunt.

These hunting sequences are easily Let Me In's best, and also stray the most from Let The Right One In's example. In the second, misfortune-strewn, venture out for blood, Reeves is bold yet restrained in his direction, using fixed camera positions as The Father stumbles further into a morbid, chaotic farce. Richard Jenkins, as the fatigued, battered old accomplice, is pitch-perfect.

In fact, the cast are generally impressive. Kodi Smit-McPhee nails the loneliness and frailty at the heart of Owen. He is innocent, confused, compliant, and unable to look away. His infatuation with Abby is not one of physical, romantic involvement (although the film plays up their tentative forays into 'going steady'), but is reflected in his subtle shift in emotional gravity, becoming more buoyant as their friendship progresses.

The chemistry with Chloe Grace Moretz is wonderful, even if she is the weaker part of the pair. This is not a slight against her ability to appear genuine. It is more a case of her lacking the ethereal, spooky undertones of a vampire-girl. Perhaps the production team realised this, as she is shot at every turn with horrific flair, with her more monstrous moments signalled by incredible, Gollum-like CGI, or make-up befitting of a 28 Days Later infected.

There are plenty of these odd choices and counter-intuitive additions that scupper Let Me In's dash for glory. For every flash of inspiration, or gleam of polish, there's a dumb plot development (the detective, replacing the cabal of neighbours, acts like a stereotypical idiot horror film victim), a creative misstep (the bullies, led with ferocious zeal by Dylan Minnette, are drowned out by the score's spoon feeding) or a flat-out, unintentionally funny production flaw (The Father, after being burned by acid, looks dreadfully like the Toxic Avenger).

Sure, it is admirable that Reeves, Hammer and all concerned were able to retain much of the look, feel and broad strokes of the Swedish original, proving that, when committed, Anglophonic cinema needn't butcher properties when dragging them across the language barrier. But, in the process, they reveal their own irrelevance, because, as a remake, Let Me In is superfluous, too similar to be unique. And even judging it as a standalone, it is heavily flawed and self-destructive.

There is still a kernel of something special at its heart, but you'd be hard pressed to find it among the stylistic dissonance.  It's a curiously barren project, imaginatively, for both director and studio. Let's hope they have something better up their sleeves in the future.

See Also:

• Let The Right One In review
• Den of Geek Film Of The Year 2009
• Let Me In review

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I love Jack Kirby artwork. From the very first books (reproduced in this massive tome) through his seminal work with Stan Lee to his more adventurous 'Super-God'-inspired work at DC, his creativity and unique style has inspired nearly every creative mind in comics. While maybe Joe Simon sometimes (undeservingly so) is overlooked in his contribution to the world of comics, this fantastic compendium highlights both these giants of the industry in this equally giant collection

Away from the restraints of Marvel and DC, this is a glorious look at the pair's early work, which spans the majority of the 40s, both pre- and post-war, all wrapped up in a huge, full colour, oversized hardcover that features some of the earliest work that this dynamic duo produced.

Filled with characters you might not have heard of such as 'The Fly', 'Stuntman', 'Captain 3D' and 'Fighting American' (who is, if you look at the costume, the inspiration for Steve ‘Captain America' Rogers' most recent get-up), the book reprints these comics with caring love and attention and really keeps an authentic feel to everything From the use of fonts throughout, the page layouts, and indexes all keeping the style and feel of the original material, the book covers nearly the entire twenty year collaboration between these two creators.

The first thing you notice when you open the book is that it smells of comics, that inky, print smell that is lost in a lot of new books (thanks to new printing techniques). This is a great bit of attention to detail for old fans, who were bought up on four-colour smudgy print newspaper quality books and this (hopefully) deliberate attempt to reproduce that unique classic nostalgic feel of Kirby and Simon's work. The memories of the style this book brings back in the way it's printed shows a real love from the publishers for the original source material. The publishers have chosen the paper and print reproduction with care.

The book also comes with a foreword from recent comic legend Neil Gaiman, who mentions his love for this work, and how Kirby and Simon inspired his work on his own creations and comic career and that Sandman (which is one Gaiman's most famous works, was a reworking and adaptation of the original Sandman, which Joe Simon initially wrote.)

Chronological tracing Simon's and Kirby's career, the books begins with Black Owl, which dates back to 1940, and then traces the pair's work, which includes spies, street level vigilantes, historical heroes, super soldiers and stuntmen, all of which were published outside of Marvel and DC. 

While it could be debated that the pair's most famous work, the creation of Captain America, should have been an integral part of this collection, it's actually fascinating to see that has not been added (probably due to copyright issues) and really how very little impact not having the Captain America book actually has. As, even without this iconic book, this collection is still jam-packed with comic creativity and fantastic reads.

This collection contains a powerful and fascinating selection of stories crammed with some of the very best of the duo's work of the time. The intentional lack of DC and Timely/Marvel books within this collection is obvious, and in many ways makes for a more fun read.

Captain America and the rest of the more well renowned heroes of the time have their adventures printed and reprinted numerous times and can be bought in any number of collections, so to have this excellent chronology of ‘other' characters and creations of the time makes this a unique and fascinating (if a little expensive) piece of collectable comic nostalgia that has been produced with loving care for fans.

The Simon And Kirby Superheroes is out now and available from the Den Of Geek Store.

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Every now and again a more unusual request drops into my Inbox. Luckily for me, this was one of those times that it was to do with DoG.

To mark the release of The Pacific on DVD and Blu-ray this week, I had been asked if I wanted to take part in a boot camp, to see for myself the type of training the actors were put through prior to filming the series. Being the man-child I quite clearly am, this was finally a chance to act out all my childhood dreams of being in the Army.I couldn't wait to get started. If only I knew what was in store...

Arriving at a woodland retreat somewhere in Surrey, I was quickly introduced to my fellow 'recruits' Jay, Jack and Nat and our instructor for the day, ex-paratrooper Wayne. Despite his jovial and easygoing demeanour, I could quite clearly imagine him snapping necks behind enemy lines and/or possibly fighting a predator Arnie-style.

It was the hard glint in his eyes as he watched us foppish journalists pretending to be soldiers that gave it away.

Wasting no time, we were quickly dressed up in authentic WWII US Marine gear, although, due to my ill thought out yellow t-shirt ("Why aren't you wearing white?" Wayne growled at me) I was also given a natty camouflage scarf to wear. As one person put it, it made me look less like a Marine and more like Howard Moon.

More was to follow, however, as we were issued period weaponry (including a grenade for yours truly, but all, sadly, decommissioned) and marched out into the woods. There we were put through our paces as we were taught ‘pepper-potting', an Army drill involving laying down covering fire while your team-mates advanced and found cover.

Having aced that, we swiftly moved on to learning how to patrol correctly, including moving silently through the undergrowth and providing an arc of fire to protect the squad. Then came our chance to put this all together as we were ordered to patrol and then advance through a section of open ground.

Wayne gathered us round and, just like in the real Army, drew us a map in the mud with a stick. By this point I was pretty certain I could be shipped off to war and be awesome. There was nothing about soldiering I didn't immediately grasp. I was invincible! But these thoughts are pretty distracting so, unfortunately, I missed the finer points of the briefing.

I was vaguely aware of the fact he was warning us about something, but I guess it didn't really matter. My soldiering abilities would see me through.

Advancing smartly along the path, we entered the wide open 'killing zone', as I liked to think of it. I was just settling into position and then boom! Holy shit. Somebody had set off an explosion next to us, we were under attack!

While our photographers bravely tried to capture the action, the shockwave from it physically knocked me back, and all our crack training fell to pieces. Jay on point stood stock still and let out an almighty "Fucking fuck!", while Jack, who previously had been looking and acting the part of someone totally at ease with the military way, dropped his gun and dived into the bushes to hide. Ex-soldier Wayne just looked on with a mixture of contempt and amusement.

The grand finale was still to come, however. We were to be tested on the assault course, a beast of a route which had bested many a person before us. It began with a slide down a muddy bank into freezing cold water ("Don't stay still for long. Keep moving, otherwise your core temperature will start to drop and you'll be fucked." Words that are never the best to hear...) and didn't improve from there.

The next 30 minutes passed in a blur of clambering up muddy banks, swinging on ropes into muddy water, climbing over walls to fall into, yep, you guessed it, mud, and crawling on our bellies through what I hope was mud.

It was physically punishing stuff, and the bruises that now adorn my body attest to the demands it was under. However, it was also extremely fun and satisfying to complete, and by the end I was enjoying it and had cracked enough that I was able to dive-bomb off a platform into a big pool of stinking muddy water.

It didn't actually matter that I had that yellow t-shirt on in the end. Everything ended up a nice brown colour, including my lovely blue socks.

It was an eye-opening experience at just what the actors had to go through day in, day out to prepare them for The Pacific (let alone what real soliders must have to go through). We were knackered after a few hours, and I ached and complained for a good few days after!

To train at a high intensity, then to go out on location and act your way through some incredibly demanding shoots belies the reputation of acting as a soft option. Those guys were quite clearly incredibly fit and capable.

Of course, as Wayne pointed out, this is still nothing compared to the real thing. Those soldiers who fought in the Pacific for real. Now they were real tough guys.

The Pacific is released on DVD and Blu-ray from HBO Home Entertainment. The assault course day was held with Action Days Out, in Dorking. Their site is here.

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We're a few weeks away now from the cinematic release of Gareth Edwards' intriguing, low budget sci-fi thriller, Monsters, which finally lands in the UK on 3rd December.

And to celebrate the fact, we've got this treat for you. An exclusive clip from the film, which looks at the integration of the post-production effects work. Enjoy...!

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Big monsters, exotic weapons and epic scenery abound in the concept art for the imminent God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta, due out on 5 November for the Sony PSP (which is today, if our maths/calendar reading is correct).

Eye-popping violence aside, one of the most notable things about the God Of War franchise is its stunning production design. Its vast sense of scale and richness of detail elevate what might otherwise be a standard action platformer into something far more compelling, and there are moments where it really does feel as though you’re taking part in a huge Jason And The Argonauts-style mythical epic.

Co-produced by series creators SCE Santa Monica and Ready At Dawn, Ghost Of Sparta is the second God Of War game to appear on the PSP. The previous title, 2008’s Chains Of Olympus, was critically lauded on its release, and currently ranks as the highest-scoring game on Metacritic.

It’s therefore fair to say that Ghost Of Sparta has a tough act to follow, but from the footage we’ve seen, the game looks as though it pushes the PSP about as much as any yet released for the handheld.

In an interview with CVG, Ready At Dawn’s creative director Ru Weerasuriya said, “It was about trying to push things on the PSP that it wasn’t necessarily designed for, trying to exploit every possible avenue the PSP provided for us.”

God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta will be available on 5 November exclusively for Sony PSP. In the meantime, here are some suitably atmospheric concept images for your perusal – simply click on the previews for a better look.

CVG

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Its release dates have moved time and again, and after Gran Turismo 5’s most recent release date of 3 November was cancelled, it began to look as though the racer wouldn’t appear in time for Christmas, despite promises to the contrary.

According to SonyStyle.com, the US release date will be “on or about 11/30/2010”, which is rather puzzling, but hints that the game’s arrival is at least imminent. Earlier this week, a Japanese online shop listed GT5 with a 23 December release date, though this has since been retracted.

At the very least, it has been confirmed that GT5 has gone gold, so 30 November may really be the date the game becomes available.

Meanwhile, Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi revealed in an interview that work was already underway for GT6, but refused to talk about the project in any detail.

“It's not something that we can talk that lightly on," Yamauchi said. "It took 2,000 days to get all the ideas that went into GT5. It's just too early to be talking about GT6."

If GT5 is anything to go by, the next game won’t arrive until sometime in 2025, and will feature 250mph hover cars powered by household waste.

CVG

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Imagine the funniest thing you've ever seen, and then double it. If you can do that, you're getting close to the genuine hilarity that is Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, the second sequel to 2000's Big Momma's House.

Martin Lawrence once again stars as the FBI agent who goes undercover by dressing as an ample bodied middle-aged woman, and this time, he's brought his stepson (played by Brandon T. Jackson) along to join in with the gender swap frolics.

As ever, the film's humour is largely derived from the sight of Lawrence's inept appropriation of stereotypically feminine character traits, or by behaving in a manner that you perhaps wouldn't expect from a woman of advancing years.

Other laughs come from the use of wordplay to point out weight issues ("More like Mary J. Bulge!") or via the use of slapstick, as evidenced by the frequent instances of wince-inducing groin injury.

Tragically, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son won't be out until next February, putting it out of the running for an Oscar nomination.

Here's the trailer...

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When it was announced that a green light had finally been given for the pair of movies based on The Hobbit, there was instant speculation that the clouds may have been clearing for the James Bond franchise too.

Stuck in limbo for most of the year, Daniel Craig's third outing as 007 was set to be directed by Sam Mendes, and Rachel Weisz had been lined up to star. The problem was that MGM simply couldn't afford the cost of the production. And thus Bond went on hold.

Finally, however, a financial plan appears to have formed for MGM, one that's going to let it make movies again. And as such, Bond is very much back on the agenda. The new James Bond film will thus be shooting next year, and heading to cinemas for the end of 2012 (which, ironically, is when the first of the two The Hobbit films will also be taking its bow).

The plan thereafter is to release a new James Bond movie every two years, but given that MGM isn't out of the woods yet, it's probably best to take this one film at a time.

Bloomberg has more on the deal that's revived Bond right here.

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Unless you're seriously into 80s anime, you may not have heard of Bubblegum Crisis. Starting as an OAV (Original Animation Video) series in 1987, Bubblegum Crisis could be best described as an animated take on the future-noir of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.

Set in a 2033 Tokyo torn in two by an earthquake, the anime introduced the Knight Sabers, a quartet of female mercenaries, and related their ongoing battle against the GENOM Corporation and their army of robots called Boomers.

Best remembered for its distinctive, slinky character designs by Kenichi Sonoda, Bubblegum Crisis spawned several spin-offs (including Bubblegum Crash), tie-in videogames and a Dark Horse comic series courtesy of writer/artist Adam Warren.

According to Bleeding Cool, a 3D live-action adaptation of Bubblegum Crisis is in the works, with Anthony LaMolinara in the director's chair. LaMolinara is best known for his animation effects work on the first two Spider-Man movies, and Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man.

Set to commence shooting next year, the film, called Bubblegum Crisis: Knight Sabers, is a (deep breath) Canadian-Chinese-English-Australian-Japanese co-production. The visual effects will be handled by Canada's Mokko Studios (who worked on X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Darren Aronofsky's divisive The Fountain), so it should certainly look the part.

No word yet as to who will play the Knight Sabers themselves, but with shooting expected to begin next May, we should have some casting news very soon.

Bleeding Cool

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Well, if you're looking to add a bit of credibility to a project that's been taking a bit of a battering amongst fans of the franchise, then it's always worth calling on a president. In this case, President Jed Bartlet himself from The West Wing, aka Mr Martin Sheen.

Sheen is the latest addition to the cast of Sony's Spider-Man reboot, joining Andrew Garfield, Rhys Ifans and Emma Stone on the project. Sheen is set to play Uncle Ben in the movie, which will be arriving in cinemas on July 3rd, 2012.

SuperHeroHype broke the story, right here.

UPDATE: It's now being reported too that Sony has offered the role of Aunt May to Sally Field. There's no indication as to whether she'll take it or not, but the studio is clearly keen to topload the film with experienced talent, to balance out its otherwise young cast.

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The latest casualty of the new TV season in the US is one we wouldn't necessarily have picked back at the start of the autumn. Yet, JJ Abrams' new spy show, Undercovers, has been cancelled by NBC.

The network is not picking up its option to take a full season of the show, and instead it'll screen three more episodes in the weeks ahead, leaving three more yet to be seen. These are likely to be screened at some point, but there's no clue at this stage when that might be.

It's a rare failure for JJ Abrams, whose Fringe is in its third season. Then, of course, there was Alias, which seemed to trade far more successfully around this particularly genre.

You can read the full story over at The Hollywood Reporter here.

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This review contains spoilers.

5. The Guardian

Isn't it annoying when you're right in the middle of a normal, everyday bank robbery and an agent from a shady and clandestine government task force just happens be withdrawing a black box full of the nation's most portentous secrets from a safety deposit box at exactly that same moment? It happens to me all the time, as I imagine it does you, and I'm glad someone finally got around to making a programme about it.

This was the unfortunate series of events which led to a hapless bunch of robbers' sudden demise at the paws of a surprisingly buff and haggard-looking Devon Sawa, in the opening of an episode that, while not the most exciting so far, did still manage to get through quite a lot of plot meatiness whilst readjusting our first team players' positions on the chessboard. This, friends, is a mixed metaphor, and it is rude to point.

Anyhoo, Sawa played Owen Elliot, a Division agent given the enviable and grandiose moniker of The Guardian, who is at the personal disposal of Percy and is tasked with safeguarding one of many black boxes full of sensitive information Percy uses as leverage over his superiors to maintain his position of power.

It turns out not even Michael knows of the existence of this particular agent, yet more evidence of the disintegrating relationship between the two (as Percy grandly proclaims, "I am Division!"). It was slightly odd, though, that Michael was so vexed at having Percy walk out on an operation that took three weeks of planning, only to do the same himself to find out what he's up to. He obviously prioritised, of course, and the security of the nation can wait, it seems.

Nikita, however, made rather short work of tracking Owen down after he shot his way out of the bank, using the rather simple method of the cuckolded wife tracking his mobile phone GPS, something that is apparently beyond the swathes of law enforcement personnel, also apparently hunting him down. (Was that Stan Lee being interviewed by the news crew, by the way? What was he doing there?!)

By the end, it seems Owen may stick around for a while as Nikita's newest ally. Shame, as the initial skirmish between Owen and Nikita is the highlight of the episode. It seemed she'd well and truly met her match, after five weeks of cutting her way through goons like a hot knife through butter, and any character that introduces himself to our protagonist with a flying kick upside the head is more than welcome to hang around for a while, although spider-senses are tingling that he will perish due to some form of martyrdom in the not too distant future. Call it a hunch.

He fell foul to the same indiscretions that led to Nikita's exit from Division, in that he got a little bit too close to his neighbour Emily (played with all the acting ability of a depressed goat by Bianca Lawson), and we all know how Division respond to this.

To the show's credit, it always seems to throw in unexpected moments that take the viewer right out of their comfort zone, and although in hindsight, Emily's demise was a foregone conclusion, the moment itself still came as a welcome, jarring shock.

Now, Owen shares Nikita's desire for retribution, as if Percy didn't have enough enemies already. Percy should really consider altering his stance on bumping off his agent's loved ones, as it never seems to end well for him, although his leverage is obviously worth the lengths he is going to to protect it, as it prevents Nikita from killing him on the freighter when she had the most golden of opportunities.

What does Percy have over everyone? Will we ever find out? Despite the fact he handled a firearm like a grizzly bear pawing at a wriggling salmon, Percy was back on full-on evil mode this week, his motivations restored to solipsism and pure evil.

Back at Division HQ, however, Alex's bull in a china shop attempts at infiltration continued apace. Quite how she has managed to evade detection for this long is a true mystery. This week, she theatrically stormed out of a training session to get all MacGyver with Birkhoff's fingerprint, sneaked into Percy's office (which, judging from Birkhoff and Michael's feelings about doing the same, is a big fat no-no) and hid under the table, and slipped a bug into Birkhoff's pocket using some not entirely convincing idle chit-chat as a diversion, in conjunction with her usual M.O. of spending more time than obviously necessary clicking away in the computer room.

She couldn't suggest ‘mole' any more if she wore milk bottle specs and started digging holes. At least her annoying relationship with Thom hit an entertaining blip this week. She shot him down good. Mwahahaha.

An episode that remained rooted in the present tense, we were presented with something of a ‘story of the week' that didn't drag its heels, but also failed to engage in the same way as last week's. The main development was Nikita's finding of a friend in Owen, and hopefully his character will be used more effectively than some of the fringe characters are at the moment (Jaden could do with more to do besides being a right nob, for instance). A diverting enough hour of telly, but, judging by the preview, nothing compared to next week's episode.

A few questions we are left to ponder this week are:

• What is Percy's leverage?
• Does Owen present a potential love interest to Nikita, and will he stick around?
• Will anyone ever notice Alex's really, really (really!) suspicious behaviour?
• Would you ever get tired of punching every single person in the advert for 'Cranium' in the face, head and neck?
• Where does Nikita live, anyway? Her heating bill must be astronomical.

Read our review of episode 4, Rough Trade, here.

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One of the highlights of the telly weekend arrives tonight, Friday  November 5th in the highly anticipated debut of The Walking Dead, at 10:00pm on FX. The first of six episodes of the comic book-based zombie series is entitled Days Gone Bye, and gets off to a gruesome start from soon after the first few frames. We're sure you'll be hooked, if you can handle the extremely realistic effects, that is. Once you've watched it, catch up with our US speed review here and share your thoughts.

The ninth series of Spooks concludes with its final episode airing on Monday, November 8th at 9:00pm on BBC1. We'll see how tightly the plot threads and nooses will be tied in what's certain to be an action-packed ending. Who will survive and whether the series lives on remains to be seen, but we'll be watching.

Here's a bit of a personal admission, if I may. The flight that took me to my new country of England showed a marathon run of Only Fools And Horses, which I'd never seen before on the PBS channels that featured British shows in the US. While it took another year for me to figure out what the title meant, I understood the show and laughed along with everybody else.

But, as a transplanted American, I didn't get The Royle Family at first. Although the concept eluded me, I knew I was watching something truly unique and I stuck with it long enough to be totally entranced by this family that rarely got off the couch. Now it's a favourite and I'm happy to catch reruns and holiday specials any time they're shown. So, I'm very much looking forward to two specials about the family that bickered, but never barked. The first airs this week and features cast and crew interviews and outtakes on The Royle Family: Behind The Sofa on Wednesday, November 10th at 9:00pm on Gold. I'll be there on mine. Should be fun!

We're truly being treated to the good stuff this week as the second series of the surprise hit, Misfits, hits our screens on Thursday, November 11th at 10:00 on E4. The first series was much more than we'd anticipated in a show described as ASBO owners with superpowers and the strong writing and portrayals made this programme much more than preteen snack viewing. We can't wait to see where the dirt's settled and hope to have a review soon after the episode airs.

Now, on to the films showing through the weekend and a bit beyond. As always, if we missed anything interesting, have a shout in the comments, with our thanks.

Please also note: the ordinal numbers for dates will help you scan through this simple list with your browser's search function. Enter '6th' in your browser's Find box or window to highlight and/or tab through all movies shown on Saturday. Enjoy!

28 Weeks Later
On: Film4
Date: Wednesday 10th November
Time: 11:15pm

Audition
On: horror channel
Date: Wednesday 10th November
Time: 02:05am

Back To The Future
On: ITV2   
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 5:45pm (and 6:45pm ITV2+1)

Beetlejuice
On: Five
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 3:30pm

Blade
On: TCM
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 11:35pm

Blade Runner
On: BBC 3
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 11:45pm

Bugsy Malone
On: Film4  
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 5:10pm (and 6:10pm Film4+1)

Casino Royale (1967)
On: ITV4
Date: Monday 8th November
Time: 7:20pm (and 8:20pm ITV4+1, 6:20/7:20pm 9th Nov)

Crash
On: Film4
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
On: Film4
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Day Of The Dead (1985)
On: BBC 2
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 00:50am

Dragnet
On: ITV4
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 6:50pm (and 7:50pm ITV4+1)

Dressed to Kill (1980)
On: TCM
Date: Wednesday 10th November
Time: 11:05pm

El Mariachi
On: Sky Movies Indie   
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 11:45am (and 10:00pm)

Ghostbusters
On: FIVER
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Fiver+1, 5:50/6:50pm 6th Nov)

Harold And Kumar Get The Munchies
On: Five
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 11:15pm

Honey, I Shrunk The Kids
On: E4
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 2:35pm (and 3:35pm E4+1)

Hostage
On: E4  
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm E4+1, 10/11:00pm 9th Nov)

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)
On: more4
Date: Thursday 11th November
Time: 11:50am

Lethal Weapon
On: TCM
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 01:20am

Mr Saturday Night
On: ITV3
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 01:05am (and 2:05am ITV3+1)

Planes, Trains And Automobiles
On: Sky Movies Comedy   
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 08:35am

Ray
On: ITV3
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 11:10pm (and 00:10am 6th Nov ITV3+1)

RoboCop
On: TCM
Date: Saturday 6th November 2
Time: 11:15pm

Se7en
On: Five   
Date: Monday 8th November
Time: 10:00pm

South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut
On: Comedy Central
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: midnight Friday 5th November (and 1:00am 6th Nov CC+1)

Stand By Me
On: Five
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 2:40pm

Star Trek: The Motion Picture
On: Film4
Date: Sunday 7th November 2
Time: 6:25pm (and 7:25pm Film4+1)

Stir Of Echoes
On: SyFy  
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 11:40pm (and 00:40am 6th Nov Syfy+1)

Tenebrae
On: horror channel  
Date: Thursday 11th November
Time: 00:50am

The Cat O' Nine Tails
On: horror channel  
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 10:55pm

The Cannonball Run
On: Five USA
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 8:05pm (and 9:05pm Five USA+1, 12:15/1:15pm 7th Nov)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
On: more4
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 12:55pm

The Dirty Dozen
On: Five
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 6:05pm

The Long Kiss Goodnight
On: ITV4  
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 11:50pm (and 00:50am 6th Nov ITV4+1)

The Matrix Reloaded
On: ITV2    
Date: Monday 8th November
Time: 11:45pm (and 00:45am 9th Nov ITV2+)

The Night Of The Hunter
On: TCM
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 1:20am 8th Nov)

The Parallax View
On: Sky Movies Crime and Thriller  
Date: Monday 8th November
Time: 09:00am (and 5:00pm)

The Secret Of My Succe$s
On: ITV3
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 3:10pm (and 4:10pm ITV3+1)

The Way Of The Dragon
On: SyFy
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Syfy+1)

The Witches
On: Five
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 1:40pm (and 2:10pm Five+1)

The X Files
On: Film4
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Tron
On: Sky Movies Sci-Fi/Horror   
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 09:45am (and 3:50am 8th Nov, 3:20pm 10th Nov)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
On: horror channel  
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 10:55pm

Unforgiven
On: TCM  
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 1:55am 6th Nov, 10:45/11:45pm 7th Nov ITV4/+1)

V For Vendetta
On: Watch
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Watch+1, 9/10:00pm 7th Nov)

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
On: ITV3
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: noon (and 1:00pm ITV3+1)

You Only Live Twice
On: ITV1
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 3:15pm

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This is a spoiler-free episode review, but reveals details from series one, if you haven't seen that yet. You can catch up online with 4oD here.

This opener follows the revelation in last series' finale of Nathan finding out he's immortal, just after being buried. Lucky for him, the 'Super Hoodie' glimpsed in the last series (hobbies: free running and stalking) alerts Kelly to Nathan's life status. Using her telepathic power, a new meaning is given to 'stiff one in the coffin' when she hears his thoughts being broadcast from six feet underground.

Back at the community centre, there's new probation worker Shaun to oversee our group of delinquents. Whatever agency's sending them out clearly hasn't learned from losing two of their employees in suspicious circumstances. And Simon is eager to keep his past a secret when he's reunited with Lucy, who has a secret of her own too.

Misfits' second series starts off equally as confident as its first. The direction and camera work employed by Tom Green make this perhaps the most visually striking show currently on TV. It's a wonder that he hasn't been called upon for a summer blockbuster yet, as his work here is at times terrifyingly creative. Lucy's effects sequences rival Chris Cunningham's Aphex Twin videos for absolute mindfuckingness.

The young cast prove themselves once again. Robert Sheehan is a delight as Nathan who has an extra degree of cockiness in his swagger now that death holds no sway over him. The scene with him and Lauren Socha's Kelly shows a different side to our favourite delinquents and pushes their blossoming relationship forward convincingly and subtly. A far cry from the dull thud that occurred whenever Kaya Scodelario and Luke Pasqualino shared a screen in the last two series of Skins.

Craig Parkinson as new probation worker, Shaun, is great fun to watch with his weary demeanour being a highlight. And Evelyn Hoskins looks like she's stepped straight out of Sadako's nightmares as Lucy, the one person who manages to outcreep Iwan Rheon as Simon.

The fast pace of this episode manages to cram in characterisation, plotting and plenty of laughs. There's a moment that Pegg and Frost fans will recognise when a certain iced treat is brought up in a morbid context. And even with so much going on, this episode hints at more to come with the Super Hoodie. Is he friend or foe?

For a first episode, this is cracking stuff. With excellent visuals and a punchy script, Misfits is back on fine form, managing to avoid becoming the sprawling unfocused mess that Heroes turned into and being the genuinely witty and smart show that Skins wished it was.

This is the perfect jumping on point for new viewers and remains a fresh new take on the increasingly bloated arena of genre TV.

The second series of Misfits premieres on E4, Thursday, November 11th at 10:00pm.

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They’re nasty, duplicitous and casually violent, and they cross moral boundaries so we don’t have to. Here’s a selection of our favourite videogame antiheroes…

Kratos – the God Of War series

Let’s deal with an obvious one first. Kratos, perhaps more than any other character in videogames, is the epitome of an antihero. Across a series of games on the PS2, PS3 and PSP, Kratos has vented his fury on a legion of gods and monsters.

Other than his love of violence and the occasional sexual encounter, we know relatively little of Kratos and his day-to-day habits. We’d like to see a God Of War sequel where he has a day off, and sits around at home screaming at Jeremy Kyle on the television. Or maybe standing in a queue at Asda quietly clenching and unclenching one fist, while holding a basket of groceries in the other. He’d still be virtually naked and covered in white and red war paint, obviously.

Eric – Skool Daze, Back To Skool

From the obvious to the obscure now, with a classic 1985 game for the ZX Spectrum. One of the earliest examples of the sandbox adventure genre (though the sandbox was quite shallow by today’s standards), Skool Daze and its sequel Back To Skool allowed you to do more-or-less whatever you wanted within its school setting.

As young tearaway Eric, the point of the game was to steal your report card from the school safe, but you could just as easily wander around causing mischief. You could stand up in the middle of assembly, write rude words on the blackboard, fire your catapults at teachers, or walk around hitting your classmates.

Eric may have been only a few pixels high, but he and the other cartoonishly-drawn characters of programmer David Reidy’s games were instantly identifiable, from Mr Withit, the trendy Geography teacher to Angelface, the school bully whose occasional outbreak of mumps could end Eric’s day at school at any moment. A classic game, and a classic character that could be seen as a progenitor to Jimmy Hopkins in Rockstar's similarly themed Canis Canem Edit (or Bully in the US).

Nico Bellic – Grand Theft Auto IV

For a mainstream videogame, Nico Bellic is a surprisingly well-drawn, three-dimensional character. An ex-soldier from an unspecified country in eastern Europe, Bellic suffered a rough childhood at the hands of an alcoholic father, and witnessed terrible atrocities in the Yugoslav wars.

It’s this richness of background detail that makes even Nico’s most unpleasant activities in Grand Theft Auto IV (which, to be fair, he's forced to carry out by the player) vaguely palatable, and he remains one of the series’ most sympathetic violent criminals.

Wario – Wario Land series, WarioWare series

A wicked foil to Super Mario’s sunny, can-do plumber, Wario was created as a new antagonist for Super Mario Land 2 by Hiroji Kiyotake, But despite his villain status, there’s something oddly charming about Wario’s sneering misanthropy and downright ugliness. 

Perhaps this is why he’s been treated to so many spin-off games of his own – more, in fact, than Mario’s brother Luigi, who only has forgotten edutainment title Mario Is Missing and Luigi’s Mansion to his name – including the brilliant Wario Land and WarioWare series. He's a digital approximation of grumpy, jaded videogamers everywhere.

Max Payne – the Max Payne series

He may have been gloomy, introspective and terse, but then hard-boiled detective Max Payne had every right to be. Tortured by nightmares of his murdered wife an daughter, Payne seeks revenge against their killers while struggling with his own inner demons.

His actions as a vigilante, which involves killing apparently thousands of criminals in repeated John Woo-style encounters, are punctuated by Payne’s rambling, sometimes poetic inner dialogue, and he surely represents one of the most lonely, fatalistic antiheroes anywhere in the medium.

Agent 47 – the Hitman series

There are few vocations more antisocial than the professional killer, and the Hitman series’ Agent 47 was designed in a lab to be the most efficient murder-on-demand operator in existence.

Stealthy, silent and introverted, there’s nevertheless something oddly magnetic about Agent 47. Maybe it’s due to the occasional flashes of humanity we see from him throughout the series – the laboratory rabbit he adopted as a child, his habit of confessing his sins to Father Vittorio – that makes up for the fact that he could quite conceivably snap your neck like a breadstick.

Duke Nukem – the Duke Nukem series

To get a true impression of just what kind of an antihero Duke Nukem is, try to imagine taking him down your local pub. Within five minutes, he’d have made politically incorrect comments to the bar staff, written his name on the wall in bullets, sung a deafening rendition of Born To Be Wild while showering you with booze, and shown everyone the tattoo on his backside.

In short, Duke Nukem is a complete idiot, an unholy mixture of the  worst character traits of straight-to-video movie heroes. But then, that’s perhaps what makes the games in which he stars so much fun – you wouldn’t want to have to sit next to him in a pub, but he’s an entertaining character to play in a shooter. He brashly says the unsayable, and does the unthinkable, while at the same time saving the planet from aliens. He's versatile, if nothing else.

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It's already been pointed out far and wide on the Internet, but the summer schedules for the next two years are looking jam-packed with blockbusters. And more and more of them are being derived from a comic book source. Furthermore, it's not even the summer alone that's playing host to such films, either.

Next January, for instance, in a completely out-of-season slot, we get The Green Hornet. And that's going to kick off a series of films that includes two new X-Men movies, at least, Thor, Captain America, The Dark Knight Rises, Ghost Rider 2, The Avengers, The Green Lantern, possibly Deadpool, Iron Man 3, G.I. Joe 2, Sucker Punch, Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, Superman, Fantastic Four and Daredevil reboots, Ant-Man, and Judge Dredd. That's just for starters, and there's lots more we've missed out on.

The catalyst, if you trace all of this back, was the success of X-Men. Sure, before then, there had been comic book movie hits. But it was Bryan Singer's maiden X-Men outing, back in 2000, that arguably kick-started the fad that's continued right to this day. It took a few years for the impact of X-Men to really be felt, but it shunted up Marvel's own moviemaking ambitions, and it began a process that changed the industry.

What's surprising about this, however, was that the decade before was quite so barren where comic book movies were concerned. It wasn't that there weren't any. As we'll come to see, there were plenty. But they were regarded differently. They were, outside of the Batman universe, anyway, niche projects, designed to capture a small-ish audience, and thus made on tight budgets. It was the marriage of Internet hype and a big budget, serious approach to the X-Men that arguably turned things around.

Let's get the 90s big hits out of the way first. Tim Burton's Batman Returns, followed by Batman Forever and Batman And Robin, under the stewardship of Joel Schumacher, were all mass market movies that made mass market money. Even the much maligned latter film coined over $200m worldwide at a time when that kind of number was more impressive than it was now.

One of the most successful 90s comic book movies ironically arrived right at the start of the decade, but that in itself had ramifications. Disney poured a lot of money into Warren Beatty's big screen vision for Dick Tracy, and yet, while it brought in over $100m at the US box office, it inspired one of Disney's then-chiefs, Jeffrey Katzenberg, to turn the studio's policy around, actively seeking more smaller movies, rather than pouring all the efforts into one bigger one.

That policy would continue at Disney until, really, it started working with Jerry Bruckheimer in the back half of the decade. Nonetheless, it wasn't just Disney that had absorbed the lessons that Dick Tracy had taught.

Contrasting with Dick Tracy, and arriving in the same year, was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This, too, was derived from a comic book source, but crucially, was made on a far lower budget. For some time, it stood as the most successful independent movie of all time, courtesy of its $135m US box office total, and its similarly cheap sequels would earn a fair amount of cash, too. The lesson had been learned: you want a comic book hit, you don't need to spend big to get it.

And, boy, was that a lesson Hollywood was quick to embrace. Just look at the higher profile comic book movies, outside of Batman, that did turn up as the early 90s wore on. Alec Baldwin was cast as The Shadow, for instance, a hilarious (but not intentionally so) predictable three-act superhero-esque romp.

That fared a lot better than Billy Zane as The Phantom, though. Zane and the comic book genre have wisely been kept apart since. Even Barb Wire, despite the presence of Pamela Anderson in what was to be her movie star-making role, was relatively cheap, and ultimately disappointing.

The bigger hits that there were mainly turned out to be surprises. The Mask was powered primarily by the emerging star of Jim Carrey, at that stage hot off Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. The impressive The Crow came to screens off the back of its notoriety, given that Brandon Lee had died on the set of the film. Blade in particular, meanwhile, ramped up lots of its money on video and DVD towards the end of the decade.

Furthermore, in the family market, more easily sellable comic book movies were scoring solid hits. Dennis pulled in a few bucks for Warner Bros, Steven Spielberg oversaw Brad Siberling's take on Casper, guiding it to box office gold, while Richie Rich, a decent performer, hardly set the world on fire.

The films, meanwhile, where Hollywood did take some kind of gamble were failing to perform. Perhaps the highest profile of these was the Judge Dredd film, with Sylvester Stallone in the lead role. On the plus side of the Dredd film, it tried to pack in as many references to the 2000AD strips as it could in places, and it did have Dredd fanatic Danny Cannon at the helm. On the downside? Well, it was Sly, wasn't it? A star who never quite got the vehicle that he was in, and took his helmet off as a result.

There were, of course, films that still managed to bring in a decent profit. Spawn was a terrible, terrible movie, but it was a cheap one to make, and at least managed to get to the top of the box office pile temporarily. Van Damme, meanwhile, made one of his better flicks with Time Cop (even though the advertising, contrary to now, barely offered a hint of the source material), and there's an argument that suggests that Lori Petty's turn as Tank Girl deserves some reassessment.

We do, too, take every opportunity possible to mention Mystery Men, a flawed yet welcome little flick.

Still, most of the projects we've talked about nonetheless had something in common. They were low budget, lacking in ambition, or both. When you consider that the decade that followed would see Christopher Nolan twice pushing the superhero genre into darker territory, while Bryan Singer showed how to orchestrate a stunning opening action sequence with X-Men 2, and Sam Raimi redefined the financial expectations from the genre, it's surprising that the 90s was so shy. There were signs of the bandwagon, certainly, but outside of Gotham City, nothing could be seen as a guaranteed hit.

It's a very different picture now, of course, and one that's now allowing smaller comic books to get a look in. Would something akin to RED have been possible in the 90s, for instance? It's doubtful that the budget would have been signed off, even if similar star power could assemble. After all, it was mooted in the 90s that Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis could join together in a big screen take on Sgt Rock. That never happened, as the budget involved would have been too big a risk.

Were that project mooted today, with massive modern day stars involved, the cheque couldn't be signed quick enough.

But, then, today the comic book movie bandwagon is in full flow. Marvel Studios has a slate to rival any major studio, and DC is heading the same way. And small comic book publishers are being scoured for potential future hits.

For those of us walking out of a screening of The Phantom in the 1990s, and wondering just who, other than Billy Zane, auditioned, it would have been impossible to guess how far the genre would come. Who says progress is a bad thing?

See Also:

• 10 Comic Book Characters Who Should Never Make It To Film
• 8 comic book characters Hollywood is ignoring
• 5 comics that are better than the film versions
• The 10 worst comic book adaptations of all time
• Comics ideas Hollywood can't handle

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