We can all think of a video game that somehow, beyond all sense and rationality, made it from the little screen to the big, and we usually wince when we recall them. The list of films based on video games is arguably one of the most excruciating compilations of film fails. So why do people keep on trying? And why do they always suck?

Master Chief is the proverbial dead horse that just keeps getting beaten and beaten…

The last Monday in January is officially recognised as the most depressing day of the year. This year, the day psychologists have nicknamed “Blue Monday” falls on January 25th, which unfortunately is shuffling ever closer. There’s only one thing to do – take to the sofa with a carton of Ben and Jerry’s and some good old-fashioned escapism. Here we present you with the best fictional film characters to live vicariously through when the fateful day arrives.

On December 11th, The Lovely Bones gets a limited release Stateside, with the full shebang rolling out a whole month later on the 15th. Over in the land of Blightly, we’ll get our fill of Peter Jackson’s latest a full six weeks later on January 29th, pretty much last in the world release queue. Not that we should feel maligned – the release date has been endlessly shunted about (it was originally slated for March 2008), ostensibly to ensure The Lovely Bones a spot on the Oscars shortlist.

20th Century Fox have released a new featurette about the human technology that’s being employed in the hotly-anticipated Avatar. The three minute video features the usual big-upping platitudes from head honcho James Cameron, Richard Taylor from WETA and producer Jon Landau, as well as cast members Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi and Michelle Rodriguez.

Why are computer game movie adaptations so universally, brain-wiltingly awful? Can Hollywood produce even one that doesn’t make you want to stick pins in your eyes and lambast creation? Jon Cooper has the answers.