Confirmation! It has this morning been announced that directors Danny Boyle and Stephen Daldry will be co-ordinating the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony. Daldry will be in overall creative charge of ceremonies while Boyle will be artistic director of the opening ceremony itself. Bring it on!

Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, Let Me Go is a strange, slightly unreal story set in a dystopian Britian. However, seeing as it stars Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan, it is also a sure-fire box office smash. The team released their first trailer today, giving us a peek into the dark, unbalanced and slightly unnerving world of Ishiguro and director Mark Nomanek (of One Hour Photo).

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the flickering of Gary Winick’s winsome romantic comedy about one young woman’s quest for everlasting love in sun-dappled Verona, the setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet. Screenwriters Jose Rivera and Tim Sullivan serve up a steaming spaghetti of cliches, cultural stereotypes and unintentional laughs, garnished with a light classical and pop soundtrack.

For America, nothing signifies the joy of hand-drawn animation like the chipper (and all powerful) little grin of Mickey Mouse. Similarly, for Japan, Studio Ghibli and its cuddly character Totoro are symbols of their national talent. Founded in 1985 by visionaries Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, the studio has produced some of the finest hand-drawn features of the past 25 years, including the heartbreaking Grave Of The Fireflies, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and our personal favourite, Spirited Away. For his latest animated epic, Miyazaki turns to Hans Christian Andersen‘s fairy-tale The Little Mermaid for inspiration.

This Sunday, Colin Firth was awarded the Best Actor Bafta for A Single Man in a blaze of long overdue glory. Though he didn’t manage to clinch the Oscar, based on the performance his gives in this stunning, subtle, and achingly lovely film we reckon he deserved it.

The furry fiend known as The Wolf Man first howled at the silvery moon in 1941 with a suitably hirsute Lon Chaney Jr in the lead role., joined in the golden age of beasty baddies like Frankenstein and Dracula back in the 40s. Almost 70 years later, the eponymous beast runs free again across the blood-spattered English countryside in director Joe Johnston‘s tongue in cheek -and exceedingly bloodthirthy – remake.

Crimety, it seems the team of The Hobbit are taking a lot of inspiration from LOTR – the only thing missing from this endles production quest is a tromp around Mordor. With various stoppings, stallings, funding problems and director drop-outs, we’re beginning to wonder whether The Hobbit will ever get made. And the most recent rumour? That David Yates – director of the last four Harry Potter films – will step up to helm it.

The weight of public expectation can be a heavy burden – it can cripple even the strongest men. In 2006, Noel Clarke wrote and starred in Kidulthood. His gritty portrait of disenfranchised youth culture raised eyebrows and two years later, he wrote, directed and starred in the sequel, Adulthood. The continuation of his emotionally damaged characters was a wake up call to the UK box office, taking an impressive £1.2 million in its opening weekend. Cinemas hurriedly arranged additional screenings and Clarke accepted his newly-minted reputation as the bright young thing of home-grown cinema. There were obvious concerns that he was a one-trick pony. Thankfully not.

It’s time we had a re-think about the cinemas we visit. There’s never been a better time to support our local independent cinemas, and start hitting the corporate big dogs with bats made of pure not-going-to-see-them. We want you to tell us about your local independent screens – let the revolution commence!

Marital speculation aside, it’s good to know that Jolie is still as ambitious as ever about her roles. The pouty princess is set to join the likes of Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor, playing Cleopatra in a new movie.