Mini-Review: Despite reservations about a spiced up re-imagining of the famous detective (I'm a big fan of the Jeremy Brett portrayal) this certainly wasn't bad at all. Downey Jr's characterisation provides a much more youthful and exuberant, yet equally intense Holmes. After seeing him languishing in his dark room locked in a mad spiral of inner thought, you know everything is in the right place. That being said this feels lacking in a proper villain, more worthy of a prequel rather than a full blown film.

Mini-Review: Satirical and endlessly entertaining, In The Loop provides a sarcastic and spirited look into the chaotic affairs of intergovernmental agencies. It's been a while since a good old British farcical satire came along, so this went down particularly well for me. Despite some occasional awry moments it's a thoroughly entertaining experience, providing plenty of hilarity through extremely creative and profane insults. As for those who claim the swears are overused, "Don't be such a fucking faff arse"

Mini-Review: Carrying over the vibe from the short that spawned it, 9 is an unusual animation with a potentially interesting premise and a particularly good set of designs for the robotic nemeses which now dominate the shattered landscape. Although initially slow paced the discovery and old footage of the previous war with the machines is a surprisingly dark development, even if too many questions remain unanswered. Sadly the main gripe is with the characters, who often feel hollow and quite one dimensional.

Mini-Review: Caine's breakthrough performance certainly is an interesting one. Alfie is impenitent, callas and without moral inhibitions, measuring his success in life with saudid promiscuousness and demeaning all he encounters. It's a miracle Caine managed to infuse any charm into such a role but at moments Alfie often seems vulnerable and tormented by his life, even if his narration and egotistical nature often denies his wavering sense of self righteousness. An imorral but strangely facinating classic.

Mini-Review: With an often forced sense of humour and an awkward feel to many aspects of the production, Stardust provides a marginally entertaining but inevitably average viewing beyond the implied sentimentality and overused special effects. Although some of the action (undead swordfight) is quite good with a few reasonable cameos thrown in for good measure, it feels ravaged by plotholes and an occasionally flawed script. By the contrived, dry ending I was only left with an overall feeling of indifference.