News that Guillermo del Toro is to helm 'The Hobbit' and its as yet untitled sequel makes the heart leap doesn’t it? A little Latin oddball sentiment should shake things up just nicely and with del Toro’s movies never less than visually and emotionally intriguing this is a tale of little folks we just can’t wait to see. Also, is it just me or does anyone else think that del Toro and Peter Jackson were separated at birth?

Well Worth It?

Are we the only ones disturbed – and frankly rather depressed – to see the once mighty Jackie Chan fronting the new Woolworths’ ads? Sure the talent has been massively diluted over recent years in Hollywood knockabout blah-blah like ‘Rush Hour’ and ‘The Tuxedo’, but how badly can the guy need the money/exposure to stoop to starring alongside ropey sub-Henson puppets “Wooly” and “Worth” (Oh yes, that is their names!)? More pressingly just how many pairs of two-quid kid’s jeans do Woolies need to shift to pay his fee?

We say: Bring on a digitally resurrected Bruce Lee waxing lyrical about Netto or Chuck Norris uzi-blasting his way through Robert Dyas on his way to picking up a cut-price twin-cylinder gas BBQ.

Damned if you do...

With US prosecutors pushing to get Wesley Snipes the full-on three years in clink, plus a $5 million fine for tax evasion, the poor guy's gotta be hoping to get Sly on the jury – simply restage ‘Demolition Man’ and the winner gets Sandra Bullock. No, no, wait! Suddenly 36 months in a small room with an inmate called “Tammy” must seem like the right move…

Judge, Dredd & Executioner

News that Sylvester Stallone has become the latest star to sign up for jury duty in Los Angeles brings a smile to the face doesn’t it? With the tagline on ‘Cobra’ memorably running “Crime is the disease. Meet the Cure.” some poor schmuck’s gotta be preying for Kurt Russell to show up and play Cash to Sly’s Tango.

Sharp shootin'

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RIP Heston

As Charlton Heston boldly claimed that a potential Al Gore administration could take away his Second Amendment rights "from my cold, dead hands", we can only assume that it’s go-go-Gore time. Still, dubious right-wing tendencies aside, Heston served up a number of memorable movies to be remembered by – ‘El Cid’, ‘Ben-Hur’, ‘Planet of the Apes’, ‘Khartoum’, ‘Soylent Green’ and, my all-time favourite ‘A Touch of Evil’, which, despite the least convincing Mexican impersonation of all time – save Vincent Gallo’s hilarious cross-dressing nun attempt in ‘Confessions of a Trickbaby’- rocks royally. So, Heston we salute you and to your detractors say, “damn you! God damn you all to hell!”