We love George Clooney. If there was ever a man who looked like he could build a log cabin using wood he chopped himself, mixing a martini at the same time, while wearing a tux with a perfectly crafted bow tie it’s him. Seriously, which other actor could come back from the horror that was Batman & Robin to be one of Hollywood’s leading men? And if you don’t think that’s impressive, go ask Val Kilmer how life is treating him post Bruce Wayne duty. So when we settled into our cinema seat to watch his new film The Men Who Stare at Goats, we knew we were in for a treat.

As our economy spirals into the abyss of recession with no hope of returning to good health any time soon, everyone is cutting their budget.It’s the perfect time for Hollywood directors to start economising too. Not on film quality, but on choice of protagonists. Where they can’t afford the original A-lister, there’s a number of cheaper alternatives for them to choose from.

“Fantastic by name, fantastic by nature.” This is the tagline used on the Fantastic Mr. Fox posters currently lining every tube station for the film’s opening week. Much has been made of the remake of Roald Dahl’s much-loved children’s book, with indie director Wes Anderson, of Royal Tenenbaums fame, at the helm. If anyone could recreate Dahl’s bizarre, fantastic literary flight of fancy, he could (exhibit A, The Darjeeling Limited).