Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling star together in new film The Place Beyond The Pines. This has led to an excess of oestrogen pumping into the atmosphere as hopelessly besotted women everywhere elbow film lovers painfully out of the way to be first in line for the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ extravaganza. But which hunk is better, Gosling or Cooper? There’s only one way to find out… boys, take it away!

Best For Film’s Favourite Flicks returns, and this week it’s safely in the hands of bona fide writer – seriously, she did a radio play and everything – Florence Vincent. What are you going to go for, Flo? Which bastion of classic cinema reigns supreme within your heart? Citizen Kane? Vertigo? What’s that – something more recent? How about Taxi Driver? Sátántangó? Requiem for a Dream? Oh, it’s a not-quite-nineties teen film with the Thong Song guy in it. Obviously.

Film is undoubtedly the art form that speaks to us the most here at Best For Film but there is one other that surpasses it. Music. Music is awesome. The right song can take your mood from FML to LMAO. The right song can mend your broken heart. The right music can cure a terminal disease. Ok, that last part was a little much but you get the drift. So, you can imagine how excited we get when music and film become one. Here follows a list of our favourite uses of music in film.

If you like reading lots of names this is the new story for you.

What one earth do you do after witnessing the brutal (and narratively ambiguous) murder of your own parents? Grow up to be a smoking hottie with revenge dripping off every exquisite sinew, that’s what. Zoe Saldana does her best in the deeply silly action-drama Colombiana, but as a film that’s never quite sure of its audience, the only things that ever really hit the mark are the bullets flying in every direction except hers…

The ever-increasing presence of performance capture techniques has led to a bit of a division in the film industry: is it to be admired or discouraged? Film purists say nay. Andy Serkis fans say yay. But what do you say?

Wilde about writing?

With its cast including Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen and Chris “Rihanna’s ex” Brown, Takers was never overly likely to make audiences think too hard. Given its title because its anti-heroes like to take things (told you it wasn’t a thinker), the plot follows a gang of bank robbers as they plan a $30 million heist, unaware that a hard-boiled detective is closing in on them, determined to crack the case. What results is a dodgy pastiche of crime films everywhere – fun in places, but ultimately brainless.

After mega-arguments with Michael Bay, super-babe Megan Fox has confirmed that she has quit the Transformers series. Apparently Paramount are seeing this as a good thing, as “giving Shia Labeouf a new love interest makes more sense for the story”. Yes. A logical and emotional mature storyline is, after all, the reason we all go and watch Transformers.

We need to be honest with you… we’re nerds – pocket protector owning, corduroy wearing, Windows 3.1 loving nerds and have been long before it became quasi-cool (thanks Pharrell). While our playground peers were debating The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan, we were having deep discussions about phasers, warp drives and why Captain Kirk would make the best dad ever. This makes us the worst type of nerd – a Star Trek nerd. And while we’ve never gone to a convention, it didn’t stop us pestering our mother’s in to making us a Federation captain’s uniform out of a knitted yellow jumper, some kitchen foil and a carefully cut egg carton. Hence you can only imagine our trepidation at the prospect of the Mr. Mission Impossible 3 J.J. Abram’s, reboot – but we and our fellow geeks needn’t have worried.