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The Oscars can get a bit of a slating. Honouring obscure films which often aren't even out over here yet does get people wondering whether the Academy Awards (to be posh about it) really do deserve the massive credit they get. I mean, we've all heard of Sean Penn but how many people actually saw Milk? Or other nominees from last year, such as The Visitor, Doubt and Frozen River? They're all powerful films but they were equally as powerful when they were nominated for the San Diego Film Critics Awards and no-one took any notice of that. Sorry San Diego.

The Oscars also lose me a night's kip every year. Grrrr...

But here's how to love 'em. Don't think of the world's most famous awards ceremony as REALLY having anything to do with what are actually the best films around. With no nods for Sharlto Copley as Best Actor in District 9 or Best Original Screenplay to (500) Days Of Summer this year, how could they be? See them as a desperate, albeit fun, spectacle though and your night's suddenly a lot more interesting than agonizing over why you snored during The Hurt Locker when everyone else seemed to love it.

Wallow in the shamelessness. The campaigns that the films run to try and get Oscar voters to put a cross by their name on the ballot are legendary. Open up any trade mag in the early months of the year and 'For Your Consideration' ads pepper the pages, virtually begging Academy members to vote for, say, Clive Owen as Best Actor in The Boys Are Back. No-one did.

The speeches are also a great insight into stars' real personalities. In movies, they're scripted and directed to within an inch of their lives. On that podium, emotional and overwhelmed, you see the real people - and they've frequently got nowt to say. Who can forget ice-queen Gwyneth Paltrow spectacularly melting back in the day, revealing herself to be an unlikely wimp?

Mostly though, The Oscars are about the glamour and the publicity. It's an odd mix, seeing J-Lo blinged up to the eyeballs on the red carpet on a night when Blood Diamond is nominated but that's part of the charm. This is an occasion when every hungry star wants to be seen on the red carpet looking hot. Play a game of 'guess why that celeb has turned up' and invariably the answer is 'because their movie's out next week'. Watching The Oscars reveals what Hollywood is really all about. Money.

I'll see you at 3am.

On the 5th March street artist Banksy will release his film Exit Through The Gift Shop. Its already had screenings at the Sundance Film Festival, which you can read about here, and you can see the trailer for it .

Its being billed as "the world's first street art disaster movie" and is the first time that he's ever spoken on camera.

We've been given this WORLD EXCLUSIVE image from the film, so feast your eyes on it. Oh we do spoil you.

Alice In Wonderland - Of course it looks jaw-dropping but Tim Burton and his pal Johnny D have forgotten to add character and plot to this weird-for-the-sake-of-weird take on Lewis Carroll's classic book. 2 stars.

Legion - The story may be silly (a gun-toting archangel comes to Earth to save us from the apocalypse) but the joyfully odd Paul Bettany kicks the pretensions to one side and plays it brilliantly badass in this religious take on The Terminator legend. 3 stars.

Chloe - Amanda Seyfried is the prostitute testing Liam Neeson's faithfulness in this wannabe-sexy thriller that ends up more laughable than lusty. 2 stars.

Exit Through The Gift Shop - Slap-around-the-face documentary about the fickle world of street art, put together by the legendarily mysterious graffitti artist Banksy. Hilariously eye-opening and made with a cheeky wink. Love it. 5 stars.

www.twitter.com/jameskingmovies

Fearne Cotton is one lucky lady. She got to hang out with Johnny Depp & Tim Burton yesterday to talk all about Alice In Wonderland. If you missed it you can listen again here or watch the video below all this writing.

We've also got a load of really cool concept art from the film which you can see on the Radio 1 Movies Blog, here, here and here. Enjoy.

Earlier on this year we got to see the a little preview of StreetDance 3D, you can read what we had to say about it here.

Now we've got this exclusive for you, it's the first look at the poster for the film. They love a bit of orange don't they. You can see it in the cinema from the 21st May.

What's that? Who is that dinosaur up above this text? Well that's Trixie, another one of the new characters from Toy Story 3. Trixie isn't alone as a new character there is also Buttercup.Say hello to her/him... we think her... we're not sure, the hearts kind of give it away.

Toy Story 3 comes out on the 23rd July and they've just released a full length trailer which you can see .

Naughty boy Russell Brand is up next with his new film Get Him To The Greek in which he once again plays Aldous Snow from Forgetting Sarah Marshall who is bascially him.

The film is produced by Judd The 40-Year-Old-Virgin Apatow and also stars Jonah Superbad Hill and Sean P.Diddy Combs. Jonah's record company exec character has three days to drag Russell's unco-operative rock star character to a comeback concert. Its out on the 25th June and you can see the trailer .

I wonder if Damon and Gyllenhaal are kicking themselves? According to an article recently, both Jason Bourne AND Donnie Darko (as I like to call them) passed on the Jake Sully role in box-office monster Avatar before it went to Sam Worthington.

The good Lord James Cameron reckons he only offered it to the A-listers to keep the studio happy - for him it was Sam all along. Not bad for an actor who was apparently living in his car before he got the call. Didn't Darren Day do that for a bit too?

Finding out who turned down roles is an intoxicating glimpse into what might have been.
Sean Connery was offered roles in both The Matrix (as The Architect) and Lord Of The Rings (as Gandalf) but said no because they were too confusing. Okay Sean. You mean The League Of The Gentleman actually made sense?

Will Smith also passed on a role in The Matrix, as Neo, whilst Ozzy Osbourne was the first choice for The Green Fairy in Moulin Rouge! Kylie got the actual role and I know who I'd prefer to see in a glittery bodice. Other famous 'thanks but no thanks' include Sly Stallone as Han Solo in Star Wars and Brad Pitt in About A Boy. When you're that famous, all the scripts end up on your desk and not even The Pitt can do two movies at the same time. Hence passing on Apollo 13, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, The Bourne Identity, The Departed and the film that everyone seems to have turned their plastic-surgeoned noses up at, The Matrix.

The stars themselvse rarely like to talk about their mistakes. I once asked Gyllenhaal about how he lost out to McGregor for the role of Christian in Moulin Rouge! and, as he rightly said, there's no point in looking back. For us punters it's slightly different though. If Big Willy had agreed to the Wachowski Brothers sci-fi groundbreaker all those years ago, we might have had another Fresh Prince theme tune to add to 'Men In Black' and 'Wild Wild West'.

Yesterday morning our very own Greg James went to hang out with Travis Payne the choreographer of Michael Jackson's This Is It. For obvious reason the show sadly never hit the stage, but towards the end of last year they released rehearsal footage as the film This Is It.

If you missed it in the cinema Michael Jackson's This Is It is out now on DVD & Blu-Ray, and Greg has only gone and been taught how to do 'The Drill,' one of Michael's dances from Travis Payne, the man who worked with Michael to create them. Travis, Greg and his two backing dancers Nick Bass and Daniel Celebre took to a London dance studio and busted some moves.

Here's the video for your viewing pleasure, the photos of Greg in full dancing action are below it. Surely it's only a matter of time before he's on Strictly Come Dancing?

22:45
James As official legend Vanessa Redgrave gets an award for being an official legend, it's time for me to go. The top line of tonight's BAFTAs? The Hurt Locker is the big winner, the Brits took the big acting gongs and Jonathan Ross's gags bombed. Thankfully, there were surprises - always a good thing during this long awards season. I'd like to have seen Quentin Tarantino take home more but it was still fun to hear the posh voiceover lady swear everytime his film was mentioned.

22:39
James Award for Best Picture And the biggie goes to the intense, powerful and **film critic word alert** visceral The Hurt Locker. It's a knee-trembling movie. You really feel like you're slap bang in the middle of battle as these guys face death every day in the wartorn suburbs of Iraq. Jeremy Renner is also a real find. A worthy - and surprising - winner that puts The Hurt Locker on target for the Oscars in a couple of weeks.

22:35
James Award for Best Actress Carey Mulligan thoroughly deserves this gong. An Education is pretty good on its own but it's made excellent by her performance. She's a star.

22:33
James Mickey Rourke had trouble reading the autocue. Maybe he should get some lessons. At a School Of Rourke. SCHOOL OF ROURKE! HA HA HA!!!

22:29
James Award for Best Actor Colin Firth wins for his turn in St Trinian's 2: The Search For Fritton's Gold. Hang on... that might be wrong. Maybe it was for A Single Man?

22:24
James Award for Best Director Congrats to Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker. Am I allowed to say that she's significantly better looking than her ex James Cameron's current wife? Am I allowed to say that?

22:20
James My favourite fact about Precious is that the Mariah Carey role was originally meant for Dame Helen Mirren. 'What's that Helen? You can't do it anymore? Don't worry. We'll get the girl from Glitter to cover it'.

22:13
James Award for Best Animated Feature It goes to the brilliant Up. Films with talking dogs = always amazing.

22:10
James Patrick Swayze memorial bit. **Sniff**

22:01
James Award for Rising Star Well done Kristen Stewart. A smile wouldn't kill you though, love.

21:57
James Mickey Rourke has an actual ponytail. Amazing.

21:53
James Best Original Screeplay Awards Congrats to The Hurt Locker. Had a great script that's often overlooked because of the editing and direction. UNTIL TONIGHT FOLKS!

21:49
James Is Kathryn Bigelow related to Deuce?

21:47
James R Patz presents Best Original Screenplay. Hair FAIL.

21:39
James Award - Best Supporting Actress Mo'nique Amazing amazing amazing. She's awesome in Precious. Brilliant stuff.

21:36
James Best Supporting Actress. COME ON MO'NIQUE!

21:32
James I'm actually a bit bored now. It's the award for make-up & hair. Lovely.

21:25
Producer Chris - Bit of tech news, if you want to see all the posts as they come in on this blog just keep hitting refresh on your screen or F5 on your keyboard.

21:24
James Award - Best Supporting Actor Christoph Waltz wins for Inglourious People Born Out Of Wedlock. An amazingly chilling performance as Hans Landa. I love him. I want his beard.

21:21
James Second use of 'We're not in a Kansas anymore' clip from Avatar.

21.18
James Award - Visual FX Avatar wins for its CGI. GAG: What do you put in your car if you don't want to get lost on Pandora? Sat Nav'i. SAT NAV'I!!!!!!

21.14
James Award - Duncan Jones for Outstandin g Debut by a British Write, Director or Producer. Duncan Jones is crying, accepting his award for Moon. He's come on since being in boyband Blue, hasn't he?

21:08
James 'Killing In The Name Of' being used in the most establishment awards ceremony of the year. It's what Rage Against The Machine would want.

21:05
James Producer Andy thinks Carey Mulligan looks like William Hague.

21:02
James First gratuitous use of 'I Gotta Feeling' by Black Eyed Peas.

21:00
James And we're back at the BAFTAs after a little break watching some blokes skiiing on ´óÏó´«Ã½2. Jonathan Ross is presenting. Hasn't he left yet?

20:24
Producer Chris

At our hugely exciting BAFTAs party (which isn't actually exciting) we're now waiting for the main show. How are we passing time. We are printing out the nominations and highlighting who we think will win. We'll let you know who scores the highest at the end of the night.

19:59
James Well, that's the red carpet stuff done. I came back from a chat with Annie and Nick to see George Lamb flirting with Vera Farmiga, off of Up In The Air. Back for the awards at 9pm!

19:57
Producer Chris - Well that's almost enough of George Lamb for one night. The show starts at 9pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ 1. Be sure to send us your comments either email james.king@bbc.co.uk, post a comment below or send a message to on twitter.

19:49
James I'm not sure whether Quentin Tarantino especially warmed to George Lamb
Producer Chris - James has just popped down to speak to Annie & Nick in the Switch studio. I very much like the fact George Lamb holds a microphone with two hands. James also spotted a lady who works in film PR behind QT. He knows all the important people.

19:45

Producer Chris Look it's James with Kate Winslet. GLAMOUR

19:42
James Carey Mulligan keeps cutting her hair. By the time of the Oscars she'll look like Patrick Stewart.

19:39
James It's the famously warm and friendly Kristen Scott-Thomas, apparently wearing a bear around her neck.

19:36
James First use of 'You're not in Kansas anymore!' clip from Avatar.

19.35
James There's Jonathan Ross. I want to be him when I grow up.

19:33
James Kate Winslet is on. 'Oooh, isn't she looking slim' etc etc

19:31
James Oh look, it's George Lamb.

19:30
James - Woo! The BAFTA red carpet stuff is about to start on ´óÏó´«Ã½3! This is good because a) I love to gawp at famous people and b) it means that Snog, Marry, Avoid has finished. Welcome along film fans.

19:15
James King has just arrived to join in the live blog. He's a member of BAFTA don't you know. He's just told me that he forgot to send in his final nominations. What an idiothole. If your favourite film doesn't win, it's probably his fault.

19:05
The coverage of the red carpet starts at 7.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three, we've just heard that Prince William has turned up, but was somewhat upstaged by Mickey Rouke (no doubt doing the Ram Jam.) Is William a big film fan? Do you think they have a secret private cinema at Windsor Castle. I do hope so.

18:45
It's happening tonight, you can watch the action on ´óÏó´«Ã½ 1 from 9pm, but don't just watch it. Keep your laptop open and keep up with all the awards as they happen with free here on the added bonus witty commentary here on the blog. If you want to remind youself of , or you can check out who James Kings thinks will win here.

We'll keep this post updated throughout the night as we collate what team movies are saying in our BAFTA party and what people are saying all over the internet. Aces.

Here we go then. Now, the BAFTAs are notoriously difficult to predict, mainly because British patriotism often upsets the applecart. But here's where I'm going:

Best Picture: Avatar
Best Britsh Picture: An Education
Best Actor: Colin Firth for A Single Man
Best Actress: Carey Mullgian for An Education
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker

Don't forget to join us here from about half 7 for a BAFTAs Live Blog.

I've been to the BAFTAs a couple of times. Walking up the red carpet and having no-one take your photo or shout your name is officially the most embarrassing thing in the world. Actually, scrub that. Getting in the way of Catherine Zeta-Jones having her photos taken by the paps on the is officially the most embarrassing thing in the world. Both have happened to me.

But get past the flashbulbs and camera crews and find yourself inside the actual event (this year the Royal Opera House) and all of a sudden you're an equal. Reese Witherspoon sits her million dollar butt on the same seats as everyone else. Meryl Streep has a free packet of Minstrels on her seat just like the rest of the audience. Even leg-end Morgan Freeman will empty his wise old sage bladder in the same urinals as every other fella in the building.

Of course there is one major difference. These A-listers have been primped and preened to within an inch of their lives. The grooming will begin hours before they set a foot in front of the cameras, countless outfits discussed, make-up palettes debated and hairstyles workshopped. And that's just John Travolta. The stars and the chancers may all be eating the same goat's cheese and beetroot salad starter at the after-party but it's the botox fillers that really separate the haves from the have-nots.

So the official BAFTAs end and the private parties begin. Films and film companies host their own events (I've got a ticket this year to The Hurt Locker party - how much fun is a party for a film about a bomb disposal team gonna be?) but the famous rarely stay out late and get lagered up. That's another way to spot the real stars. For some of us, it's overwhelming to be at an event like the BAFTAs and we want to milk every last second of it. For the big names though, they've been to plenty of these things before. A few photos, a couple of handshakes and a sip of champers then it's off to the private jet and the next awards ceremony.

Well look at this alliteration, three t's all in a row on a Thursday can only mean it's Two Trailer Thursday.

2nd April is the day when Clash Of The Titans will be released in 3D, starring Sam Avatar Worthington as Perseus and Ralph Harry Potter Fiennes as Hades. In movie speak it's all about the ultimate struggle for power as it pits men against kings and kings against gods. You can or just click on the boat below.

Chloe is out on the 5th March starring Amanda Mamma Mia Seyfried as Chloe alongside Liam Love Actually Neeson and Julianne Laws Of Attraction Moore. Basically it's about a woman who suspects her husband is cheating on her so hires Chloe to confirm or silence her suspicions. You can , or click on the photo of Amanda and all her friends below.

With the BAFTAs happening this weekend and the Oscars just a few weeks away, have you ever wondered how you'd react if you won such an award? At some stage everyone's stood in front of the mirror and done their acceptance speech. We've all seen them cry at the Oscars and get played off by the music if they're going on too long, but this year they are going to try avoid some of the more cringe worth acceptance speeches but limiting their time to 45 seconds to say thanks.

At the recent pre-Oscar lunch the nominees were told that if they win they'll give two speeches, a short one on stage where they've been asked to explain what winning an Oscar means to them, then one backstage into a thank you cam in which they can thank anyone and everyone. That video will then go online for all their friends and family to see if they got a thank you or not.

Also for the first time ever the winners will now be able to take their statuette home after the event. In the past they've had to wait a few weeks for it to be engraved but this year they will get the name plate added to the Oscar straight after the ceremony. However with only two people knowing the results before they're announced on stage the only way to do this is for them to make up name plates for every single nominee. That means one will be added and the others will all be recycled. So if you don't win, not only do you have to do your best, I'm pleased they got it face, but you now have to do it, safe in the knowledge that somewhere back stage your name on a little piece of gold is being chucked in the recycle bin... or whatever sort of bin they put gold in to be recycled.

If you want some more Oscar info, why not check out this blog post about how the nominations work. Also be sure to join us on Sunday at the Radio 1 Movies Blog as we liveblog the BAFTAs.

One Tuesday. Two Trailers. That's how we roll.

First up it's the trailer for Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It starring Drew herself along side Ellen Juno Page. It's about a girl who dreams of escaping from her small American town and discovers the strange world of roller derby. By the way, did you know that Drew appeared in her first film at the age of 5, now that's a good fact. Whip It is out on the 7th April and you can see the trailer or just click on the image below.

The second trailer today is for the Oscar nominated The Blind Side starring Sandra Speed Bullock in a role that's won her a Golden Globe and got her a nomination for Best Actress at the Oscars. It tells the story of a young homeless teenager who is taken in by Sandra's character. It's out on the 26th March when it's out of .

At Uni I was once dragged to a sing-a-long screening of that old camp classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. When I say dragged, I mean it. Hanging out with a load of male Computer Science students dressed in stockings and suspenders was hardly my idea of fun.

It started badly. I was one of the few audience members dressed 'normally' so I immediately felt awkward. I was also sat next to a guy, all six and a half feet of him, who looked so disturbing in leather and lace that he should have been the subject of a documentary on Five.

But as the film went along - with lines being shouted out, dance moves being busted - I actually started to enjoy it. Science geeks dressed like Pussycat Dolls is still hardly my ideal night out but I can at least now see the point. It just makes the cinematic experience more memorable. With anodyne mutiplexes springing up on industrial estates across the country, a bit of novelty is always welcome.

Since Rocky Horror I've been to a sing-a-long Sound Of Music (lots of surprisingly hot women dressed as nuns) and, of course, at Radio 1's Big Movie Weekend my movie choice of Goldfinger brought tuxedo-ed fellas and their Bond girls to Bradford's National Media Museum.

And have you heard about that Secret Cinema idea? Don't worry if the answer's 'no'. Otherwise it wouldn't be that secret would it? It's like Aliens In The Attic being a film without any aliens. Or an attic.

It's essentially a pop-up screening at a location that's only revealed by text or message a few hours beforehand. And it's not just the setting that's a surprise - the film is too. It can be a bit of a faff when it comes to planning your diary but it can also pay off.

Gus Van Sant's dreamy skating pic Paranoid Park was a particular fave, screened in amongst the half-pipes of a central London boarding area a few years back. Just before Christmas it was Bugsy Malone - and fancy dress to boot.

Sometimes the sheer act of going to the multiplex is as boringly predictable as Matthew McConaughy's acting choices. Quirky screenings bring back the buzz, the unpredictability and a real community feel. And if it's Rocky Horror, the chance to slip on a pair of fishnets.

Back in December we had the first look at some photos from the new Tron movie (they're still here if you wanna see them.) Well they've just released another image, this time of Jeff Bridges. Have a little look below for your Trony-Bridges goodness.

Also there's a rather fab new video of Johnny Depp talking about his role of The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland which is out on the 5th March. You can have a , or you can check out some concept art from the film here and some more here.

Right that's enough for a Sunday.. time to go open all those cards that seem to have arrived.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, the imaginatively titled Valentine's Day has come out in cinemas. James King got to chat to Topher Spiderman 3 Grace and Emma Wild Child Roberts from the film. Why not have a listen to James wishing them a happy Valentine's Day and find out who knows the most about their co-stars and which of them once sung a song.

We also have this clip from the film to whet your love filled appatite featuring Bradley The Hangover Cooper and Julia Pretty Woman Roberts. You can .

Valentine's Day

Of course it's cheesy. That's a given. But this slick tale of beautiful LA types on the most romantic day of the year expertly gets the point of A-list rom-coms. It's about the warm glow you get from watching familiar faces tick the chick flick boxes with a smile on their face and Joss Stone warbling on the soundtrack. The movie equivalent of a comfort blanket.
4 stars

The Wolfman

It stars off well, gets a bit boring, then becomes totally ridiculous. Benicio Del Toro may have the hairy look but his 21st century cool doesn't fit with this Victorian horror story, heavily edited and delayed for months as the producers tried to work out what the hell their film was actually about.
2 stars

Percy Jackson & The Lightening Thief

It may be a shameless attempt at getting a new Potter-type franchise going, but this US teen take on Greek myth is fast, fun and frothy. Get past Pierce Brosnan as a half-man/half-horse and you'll have a good time.
3 stars

As usual if you're not going to the cinema this weekend, here are some decent movies to check out on the TV.

Get past a quite unbelievably squeaky performance from Chris Tucker and this sci-fi thriller with Bruce Willis and Mila Jovovich has a high-art, almost surreal futuristic quality that jumps off the screen. If you don't get the image on the left then look it up for added LOLs.

Exciting news for you if you're a fan of computer animated toys as we've got some pictures ofÌý the new characters from Toy Story 3.

It might not be in the cinema till the 23rd July, but between now and then the folks at Pixar will be shedding light slowly on their new characters, till this poster is full of them.

But what's this one about I hear you cry....? Well go on.. start crying it.

I'm glad you asked... this time Andy is about to leave to go to college, leaving Buzz, Woody and the other toys uncertain about their future... it'll also be in 3D. Ooooooooohhhh (like those green aliens say.)

Here are three of the newest characters. We can't work out who we love more, the bear or the peas.

Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear

Peas-In-A-Pod

Ken

Fresh from being nominated for 5 Oscars Disney/Pixar's Up is out on DVD & Blu-Ray on the 15th Feb. In his review James King said,

"It is a weepy classic about OAP Carl and his dream of adventuring to far off lands. Which he does by...er...tying loads of balloons to his house and floating off. Very funny, very exciting and VERY heartwarming. Get ready to blub. 5 stars."

If you didn't get round to seeing the floating house, tropical birds, talking dogs and old man Carl on the big screen then you missed a cinematic treat that was as much for the adults as it was the kids.

Luckily for you, you don't have to wait till the DVD is released to see a bit of it, as we've got this EXCLUSIVE clip from the film where they introduce us to one of the characters, Alpha.

Sometimes, less is more. Sometimes one line can do the work of a million dollar explosion; an expression can be worth a hundred heated arguments; a mumble can pack more punch than a car chase. Brit director Shane Meadows has mastered this art.

Somers Town tells the tiny 72 minute tale of gobby 16-year old Tommo (Thomas Turgoose) running away from his native Nottingham, heading to London where he pals up with a shy Polish teenager Marek (Piotr Jagielo).

For a few weeks that Summer, these two misfits are the kings of Marek's housing estate in North London, running wild and trying to earn some cash.

No attempt is made to repeat either the social punch of Shane's This Is England or the stomach punch of his Dead Man's Shoes, despite Somers Town boasting the star of the former and writer of the latter. In the foreground of Somers Town, however bleak (and black and white) the setting, there's always a ray of sunshine. This is just about two lads arsing about, the acting so casual. You'd be surprised how optimistic that can be.

It may be bittersweet - the film's so short, it's hard work out if there's an ending at all, let alone a happy one. But Somerstown is such a perfect little chatty package (I also use this phrase to describe Isla Fisher), that it's virtually impossible not to fall in love with. It's a titchy triumph.

Another Tuesday, so two more trailers for your cinema loving eyes.

First up comes Jim Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind Carrey and Ewan Star Wars McGregor in I Love You Phillip Morris. It's about the true story of a charismatic conman who goes from small-town businessman to flamboyant criminal all in the name of love. It's out on the 19th March and you can or just click on the photo of Jim looking fabulous below.

Then there's Wolfman which is out on the 12th February and takes its inspiration from the classic film. This time Benicio Sin City Del Toro, Sir Anthony Hannibal Hopkins and Emily The Devil Wears Prada Blunt take their turns to scare and be scared. You can , or just click on the image below of a Benicio really needing a shave.

So Jessica Alba's got a new film out (Valentine's Day). It got me thinking about her 2003 dance flick breakthrough, Honey. It's in Honey that we see the beginnings of the Jessica Alba movie star quality, that glazed look in her big brown eyes that exudes a simpleton willingness to do whatever she's told. 'Pretend to be a hip-hop dancer? Yep, I can do that. "Yo, yo! Your flava's hot girlfrend!"' As she blithely skips over each clichéd hurdle - as rags grow to riches, as fame morphs into resentment - there's still that rictus smile, walk and determination, a grace under pressure that never disappears. Jalba has got where she has not because she has a total insight into her film roles. She's got where she has because she hasn't. She's fascinatingly bland.

I read this quote once: 'Jessica Alba mesmerises men. It's what she does. Or to be precise, it's what Hollywood has let her do.' The Independent, 2008.

Well, that's almost right but 'it's what Hollywood has told her to do' would be better. Here is a woman who has a strict no-nudity clause in her contracts yet doesn't seem to realize that the skimpy outfits she's regularly put in are just as exploitative. She has criticized her cheeky 2007 flick Good Luck Chuck for being 'porn' - yet presumably she read the script (a lot can be achieved in the edit but creating porn from a rom-com isn't one of them.) You see, as much as Jalba bigs herself up, there's never any celluloid proof. Watch any Jalba film and you'll see the same performance over and over, the one note smile, the Stepford-like carrying out of orders.

But there's a comfort blanket feel to that predictability, an enjoyable blandness that's sometimes more welcome than, say, Daniel Day Lewis going nuts and banging on about milkshakes (see There Will Be Blood). The movie itself also provides a similar sense of déjà vu with its way-too-familiar 'puttin on a show' plot. BUT, as the legendary US critic Roger Ebert wrote about Honey : '(It) doesn't have a shred of originality... but there's something fundamentally reassuring about a movie that respects ancient formulas; it's like a landmark preservation program.'

That's the whole point of chick flicks and rom-coms and that's what I like about Honey. You do know what's gonna happen but it's the 'journey' (copyright: X-Factor) that's fun. Flying on Jalba Air you know there's never gonna be any turbulence.

Bayard The Bloodhound is voiced by Timothy Spall and is an unwilling accomplice to the Red Queen's forces.

Tweedledee & Tweedledum are voiced by Matt Lucas and are rotund twin brothers who constantly disagree with each other and whose confusing chatter makes little sense to anyone but them.

"I imagine them as naughty Victorian children, with their hand in the honey jar," says Lucas. "And so I have made them quite child-like, which does come naturally to me, because I'm a big kid anyway."

Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr Fox picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Animated film this week, and we've got our grubby fox like paws on some exclusive behind the scenes photos.

Fantastic Mr Fox is Wes' first animated film and tells the story of the Roald Dahl book. It features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray and Jarvis Cocker and is out on DVD & Blu-ray on the 1st March.

The whole film is done via handmade stop-motion techniques, often with Wes acting out scenes in Paris and emailing clips to the animators. He also took his voice cast out of a studio to record their lines, a best take was almost ruined by the sound of a nearby boat. Open to the randomness, Wes modified the scene in the film to include an airplane flying through the shot. Anderson said, "I think it was better with the airplane than without... a flaw in the recording gave us a new idea."

There were 535 puppets made for the film, 102 of them were for Mr Fox himself. All the human characters' hair was actual human hair collected from studio employees and it took 7 months to perfect the very first Mr. Fox puppet.

Here are some exclusive pictures from the making of those puppets. First up here is Wes on set being all director like and having a fiddle with the puppets.

Invictus
Tick off the sports movie clichés as you watch this true story of the South African rugby team's World Cup fight in 1995. Sports stars aren't known for sparkling wit and personality and Matt Damon's Francois Pienaar is no exception. Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela in the same way that Morgan Freeman plays everyone. Inspirational but predictable.
3 stars.

Astro Boy
Man, there's a lot of big names doing the voices in this. Nic Cage, Samuel L Jackson, Charlize Theron, Matt Lucas and Bill Nighy all lend their vocal chords to this Japanese space-age animation where humans don't treat robots too nicely. It's hardly Wall-E but it's enough for half term.
3 stars.

Malice In Wonderland
Danny Dyer stars in a London underworld version of the Alice In Wonderland story, playing a taxi-driving version of the Mad Hatter. Johnny Depp in 'losing no sleep' shocker.
1 star.

And now for the Weekend Watch, what to see on TV if you just can't be bothered to go to the cinema.

What a treat we have for you today. Can you guess what it is? Oh. You've read the title of the blog? Well in which case you'll know it's two trailers.

First up there's this one for Cemetery Junction, Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant's film about being trapped in a small town and dreaming of escape. Just like The Office and Extras they have both written and directed it. It's out on the 14th April and you can , or just click on the image below. Oh also, we should say the trailer has one naughty word in it... but not a big one.

The second trailer is for Crazy Heart which has picked up 3 Oscar nominations - including best actor for Jeff Bridges and best supporting actress for Maggie Gyllenhaal. Think of it as The Wrestler but with country music instead of wrestling. It's out on the 5th March and you can or just click on the image below.

I went to the Sundance Film Festival once. It's probably the only festival where you'll be watching films whilst also wearing snow boots. Set in the icy mountains of Utah, Sundance is chaired by legendary actor/director Robert Redford, a man whose head is more and more resembling a cornflake as the years go by. But to give Bob his dues, he also wants to champion low-budget indie cinema and that's exactly what Sundance is all about.

From here great things have come - Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine and Precious to name but a few. You want to get your micro budget pic noticed by Hollywood players? Strap on your skis, get your butt over to Salt Lake City and pray that God - or Harvey Weinstein - is watching.

Here are some of the faves of Sundance 2010:

Buried - Ryan Reynolds is captured in Iraq and imprisoned inside a coffin. .

Cane Toads: The Conquest - or as it's being called 'Ava-toad' (oh dear). It's a 3D doc bigging up the Aussie cane toad, March Of The Penguins-style.

Want a comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg (from Zombieland), Ryan Reynolds (from The Proposal) and Kristen Stewart (if I have to tell you what film she's from then you really should get out more)? What? You said yes? In that case the theme park-set Adventureland is right up your bowling alley, with Jesse and his pals trying to earn some cash by working on the stalls one holiday. Needless to say, there's a fair bit of snoggage along the way.

Adventureland is beautifully laidback. It's about killing time, hanging out and falling in love - surely the perfect Summer. Jesse Eisenberg may be the guy you go to when Michael Cera's diverting your calls but in Adventureland, him and Kristen are a perfect poster couple for indie dreamers. You'll want them as your friends (see also Nick and Norah, Tom and Summer, Bleeker and Juno).

It's out on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday 8th Feb and we've got this exclusive clip from it. It's part of the instructional video the staff at Adventureland have to view upon signing up to work there.

So they're in, and James King did pretty good with hisÌýpredictionsÌýof what would be nominated, getting Best Actor and Best Director bang on, and only being a little off on the others. Just in case you're wondering how a film picks up a nomination why not check outÌýthis post.Ìý

There don't seem to be any huge surprises this year, in fact the soundtrack could've been Radiohead with No Surprises... see what we did there? The only major one seems to be The Blind Side getting a Best Picture nomination to go with Sandra Bullocks Best Actress nom. Great news for Brit Armando Iannucci who got a nod for Best Adapted Screnplay forÌýIn The Loop along with fellow Brits Colin Firth, Dame Helen Mirren and Carey Mulligan all getting nominated.

UpÌýpicked up a nomination for Best Picture, and is the first animated film to do it since Beauty & The BeastÌýin 1992. AvatarÌýdidn't get quite as many nominations as everyone suspected it would, but did of course get Best Picture & Best Director, meaning James Cameron will be up against his ex-wife theÌýThe Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow.

The winners will be revealed by this years hosts Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin on the 7th March.

Here they are then, those for who it is an honour just to be nominated.

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney in "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth in "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman in "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker"Ìý

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon in "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious"Ìý

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren in "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan in "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia"Ìý

Best Actress in a Supporting RoleÌý
Penélope Cruz in "Nine"
Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"Ìý

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker"
Lee Daniels for "Precious"
James Cameron for "Avatar"

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First up there's this one from what is possibly one of the worst named sequels ever, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. The sequel to Oliver Stone's 1987 film Wall Street, once again directed by him and starring Michael Basic Instinct Douglas and Shia Transformers LaBeouf.

Money Never Sleeps but it does occasionally nap, perhaps would be a better title? Seriously, this title is probably worse than Speed 2: Cruise Control (set on a cruise ship), Babe 2: Pig In The City (set in a city) or even Legally Blonde 2: Red White & Blonde. Ignoring it's awful title you can see it when it's out on the 21st April and you see the trailer .

The BAFTA nominated A Single Man comes out on the 12th Feb starring Colin Bridget Jones' Diary Firth, Julianne Hannibal Moore and Nicholas About A Boy Hoult in the directorial debut from uber designer Tom Ford. It's picked up a heap of award nominations already and there's a strong chance it'll get more later today when the Oscar noms are announced... talking of which we'll have them on this blog later today.

Back to the film, set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, Colin plays a British college professor who is struggling to find meaning in his life after the death of his long term partner. It looks incredibly arty and beautiful, see for yourself by looking at the trailer .

Clint Eastwood isn't just a song by the Gorillaz, he is also a 79 year-old cinema legend who is still going strong. His latest directorial project Invictus had its premier yesterday & is out on Friday.

Invictus stars Morgan Freeman who was in with Fearne today. It tells the true story of how Nelson Mandela joined up with the captain of South Africa's rugby team, Francois Pienaar to unite their country. Morgan finally plays Nelson Mandela, and Matt Damon takes a break from action movies to don some rather spiffing shorts as Pienaar. If you fancy it you can check out a clip from the film

But back to it's director Clint and now seems like the perfect time to give you a little Eastwood quiz. Eyes down... here we go.

1. What film did Clint say was going to be his last acting role?
Gran Torino
Space Cowboys
Invictus

2. Which actress won an Oscar for her performance in the Clint directed Million Dollar Baby?
Angelina Jolie
Hilary Swank
Kate Winslet

3. In which one of these films would you hear Clint Eastwood breaking out into song in a full musical number?
Dirty Harry
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Paint Your Wagon

4. What is the name of his orangutan co-star in Every Which Way But Loose?
Bonnie
Clyde
Harvey

5. He stood at 6'4" at his peak, but due to recent back problems, how tall is he now?
6 foot
6 foot 2
6 foot 3 1/2

Click on read the rest of the entry for the answer.....

Read the rest of this entry