A wide-reaching crime drama from the director and star of intimate relationship study Blue Valentine seems an unusual prospect on paper, but in practice the transition isn’t as big as you might expect. Bold and sweeping as The Place Beyond the Pines may be, it still revolves around family – it’s just a shame Derek Cianfrance tries to spoil his child a little too much.

STOP PRESS: Michelle Williams is fabulous in My Week with Marilyn. As she is is literally everything else she’s ever made, ever. By rights, you should know her blood type and preferred cut of underwear by now – and if you don’t, then why are you lingering here and not ploughing straight into this Cheat Sheet? Go! Go!

At the age of 23, Kenton Bartlett has written, filmed, directed and produced a feature length film. Whilst taking some time out from making the rest of us feel inadequate, Bartlett has kindly agreed to give us the inside scoop on the making of Missing Pieces. This is one for all you budding directors out there – but be warned, making a film isn’t as easy as it looks…

2011 is the year of Gosling – Ryan and his jaw are starring in Crazy, Stupid, Love (“charming” – Caroline), Drive (“pulsing” – Tash) and The Ides of March (‘probably going to be a bit dodge’ – just a guess). If we could have organised a celebratory screening of Fly Away Home we would have done, but until we perfect our microlight a Cheat Sheet will have to do…

Dead baby jokes!

Actor shows art bandits their goose is cooked

There’s no such thing as a predictable superhero casting – all the best Avengers, X-Men and otherwise pumped-up persons are unlikely characters who stumble into their crime-fighting alter egos just as unexpectedly as do the actors cast to play them. With so many A-list actors now boasting a brush with superheroism on their CVs, we’ve come up with a few new suggestions…

Film classification has come a long way since a Birth of a Nation was banned in several American cities in 1915. However, with recent decisions bringing censorship back into the spotlight, it begs the question of whether it’s still relevant or tenable in its current form.

I’m betting you’ve looked at some of the film posters adorned on the tube escalators and thought, what the fraggle rock is this? You think you can do better? Of course you can, because movie posters are an excuse to dredge up the most tired old formats and situations they can find. I’m going to gently guide you through the most notorious clichés of the movie poster. Teal and orange, wacky jostling, quirkie indie writing…it’s all here.

Excellent performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams carry Derek Cianfrance’s romantic drama Blue Valentine; an intense and saddening portrayal of a couple’s courtship told in conjunction with scenes of their marriage’s potential breakdown. If only some time had been spared to show us what happened in between…