Hyper Japan, a three day “pop culture” event made its way to The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane last weekend. Imagine all things Japanese under a London roof; food, art, gaming, fashion and technology (I saw my first 3D telly!) and you’ve got something a bit like it. But I had no time for Japanese tomfoolery, I was there with a purpose. So I tore myself away from the manga illustrators and Japanese fashion show, slapped on my film hat and went to be wowed (and a bit weirded out) by the joy and absudity of anime.

It has been reported today that Emma Stone, the cute yet surprisingly husky voiced actress from Superbad and Zombieland, will “imminently” be offered the role of Mary Jane Watson in Sony Pictures’ upcoming Spider-Man reboot. But will she even be the film’s love interest? Oh, what a tangled web we weave!

Well, his comic-book might be, at least. Word is that Mark Hamill – that’s right, aka Luke bloody Skywalker – is finally going to have his face back in the media by adapting his comic-book series The Black Pearl for the big screen.

Hollywood loves drawing on twisted old fables for inspiration, so perhaps it was inevitable that the traditional tale of the Pied Piper and his irresistible music would one day charm its way onto the big screen. However, according to the developers- Persistent Entertainment, Pantry Films and Zenescope Entertainment – the story is getting a serious 21st century kick in the pants.

Damn you George Lucas! No, not for making the Star Wars prequels and casting a Canadian Redwood as the Dark Lord of the Sith. And not for flogging a dead, Indiana Jones shaped, horse in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. No, we damn you because as the Godfather of the franchise you are directly culpable for Ratnerised X-Men: The Last Stand. It’s complete uselessness is the reason we’ve been treated to this Wolverine prequel (and, if rumours are to believed, a sequel to the prequel plus a Magneto movie as well). An entirely new franchise of an existing franchise – great, just what we’ve always wanted!