Casting directors probably have one of the most important jobs in Hollywood. When it comes to getting somebody right for a role, all sorts of things have to be taken into consideration, like if they have the right look, or if they’re a cokehead who might just not turn up on set or whether or not they’re Jennifer Lawrence (so hot right now). Sometimes, casting directors take a chance and get it spot on – Heath Ledger as The Joker, anyone? Other times, they not only get it wrong. They get it really, really, weird.

By the time it comes out, X-Men: Apocalypse will be almost as far away in time from X-Men as Superman III is. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Oh, Shia.

ololol.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Ben Stiller’s latest film as both an actor and director, hits cinemas on Boxing Day. We loved it, and we suspect you will too, so we’re giving five lucky readers a chance to get into the Mitty mood with a grab bag of official goodies!

David O. Russell directs movies like he’s just snorted a big line of cocaine and been told the camera is a Grand Theft Auto controller – the actors in his scenes spend most of their time trying not to get run over. Intensity. That’s what Russell has in spades, and it’s again on show in…

American Hustle, the shiny retro mafia romp from The Silver Linings Playbook’s David O Russell, starring The Silver Linings Playbook’s Bradley Cooper, and The Silver Linings Playbook’s Jennifer Lawrence (and some other people) comes out next week. The title seems to suggest that there’s something particularly American about being a con artist in the seventies. As a full-on tea-drinking foul-mouthed middle class Brit, who am I to disagree with this? Here are five more titles which have taught me something about what it’s like to be from THE LAND OF THE FREE.

The Mask of Francis

Of the many wonderful things about Netflix – like being able to watch five seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race without getting up, and never being in danger of accidentally watching a film you’ve heard of – my favourite is rummaging through the weird careers of major Hollywood stars. For example, just by clicking on his name, I can look at Val Kilmer’s catalogue, watch all the horror movies that pop up, and then sort-of review them with gently derisive affection. Right, let’s do that then.

I am not afraid to say it, dear readers: I’m bored of Dickens. Not his stories, per se- she who is tired of A Christmas Carol is tired of life- but I’m bored of talking about Dickens, and Dickens’ troubled childhood in the bottle factory, and Dickens’ hilarious unsettling names for his children, and Dickens’ affairs. Frankly, dear readers, he’s just the least exciting affair-haver in Christendom. Old rich man boffs secretary. Readers appalled.