Films seen so far this year: 402
Films seen this week: Welcome, 2012, Jennifer's Body, Still Walking, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno, Disgrace, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, Paranormal Activity, OSS 117: Lost In Rio

Scary Movies
This week I saw Paranormal Activity, which I assume is going to be a big hit, because it's already become one of those films that everybody wants to know about. On Twitter, Facebook and in real life, it's the same question: “So, is it scary? How scary is it?” Well, without giving too much away, it's pretty bloody scary, although I would caution you to avoid the trailer because it gives away several of the film's scariest moments. Suffice it to say that the comparisons to The Blair Witch Project are well-deserved and go beyond just the style and presentation of the film (handheld camera, film purporting to be “found footage” of a real-life incident etc). I would also say that it's a film that should be seen with as big an audience as possible, because the collective atmosphere of people jumping in their seats (and possibly screaming) really adds to the film.

Anyway, it got me thinking about my favourite horror movie experiences and sure enough, the top three were all seen with huge audiences. They would be: The Blair Witch Project (which I saw on a special preview before it came out so the audience knew hardly anything about it except it had caused a buzz in the States), Aliens (which to this day I've only ever seen that once, on a big screen at the Ipswich Film Theatre and it bloody terrified me, so don't tell me it's not a horror, because it is) and, bizarrely, Scream 2, which I saw at a first night screening in UCLA with an audience full of fired-up college kids who jumped and screamed in all the right places. I'll never see it again, because there's no way it'll live up to that experience of it and I'd rather remember it that way. All that said, my personal favourite scary movie is Sidney Hayers' British 1962 witchcraft horror Night of the Eagle (aka Burn, Witch! Burn!), which is brilliant and should be seen by everyone. For some reason, witchcraft and voodoo scares me in movies and on TV much more than, say, vampires, zombies, serial killers, masked axe-wielding maniacs and the like – by the same token, the scariest X-Files episode, for me, was the one where the voodoo turned Scully into an old woman. So, what's YOUR favourite scary movie?

Films I'm Looking Forward To: Lucky Luke
I'm a huge fan of Lucky Luke. I read the few books (by Asterix creator Rene Goscinny and artist Morris De Bevere) that were available when I was a child and now that the good people at Cinebook are diligently releasing a new book every couple of months, I've been avidly collecting them all. So when I found out that there was a live action film in the works and, not only that, but that Jean Dujardin (OSS 117 himself) would be playing Lucky Luke, I was literally jumping up and down with excitement. The film is by James Huth and, judging by the trailer, it looks fantastic, with its own comic book style (Luke shooting faster than his own shadow), some fabulous-looking gunfights and impressive character design work. I'm particularly excited to see that Sylvie Testud (one of my favourite French actresses, who's nowhere near as well known as she ought to be) is playing Calamity Jane, but the moment that really sealed it for me in the trailer is the moment I realised Jolly Jumper (Luke's faithful horse) would be talking. Apologies for the lack of English subtitles on the trailer below, but I think you'll get the gist of it. No sign of a UK distributor yet, but I really hope somebody picks it up soon.

Top 10 Films On Release This Week (as recommended by me):
It's all change this week with no less than six new entries to the top ten, including one (the brilliant Love Exposure, all four hours of it) that I accidentally forgot to include last week. The new entries this week include: the part documentary, part restoration and part recreation of Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (previously considered one of the great lost films), French immigrant drama Welcome (starring the brilliant Vincent Lindon), Ewan McGregor and George Clooney in an adaptation of Jon Ronson's The Men Who Stare At Goats, Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish in Jane Campion's Bright Star and Jennifer's Body, which is admittedly trashy, but is also much better than you might have heard. Interview-wise this week, you can read our press conference interviews with George Clooney and Kevin Spacey here and here.

1. Love Exposure
2. Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno
3. Fish Tank
4. (500) Days of Summer
5. UP
6. Welcome
7. The Men Who Stare At Goats
8. Bright Star
9. Fantastic Mr. Fox
10. Jennifer's Body

DVD of the Week: The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (out now, RRP £17.99)
This week's DVD of the Week is The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, based on the best-selling novel by writer-director Rebecca Miller. Robin Wright Penn stars as Pippa, a devoted wife and mother who undergoes a journey of self-discovery-slash-minor nervous breakdown when she moves to a retirement home with her much older husband (Alan Arkin). The film also features extensive flashback sequences with a perfectly cast Blake Lively (Gossip Girl's Serena) playing the young Robin Wright Penn and terrific performances from Maria Bello (as Pippa's pill-popping mother), Julianne Moore (as her lesbian S&M photographer “aunt”) and Monica Bellucci (as Arkin's beautiful first wife). Even Keanu Reeves is good (as the grown-up slacker son of Pippa's neighbour). The film is both enjoyable and emotionally engaging, thanks to a fabulous cast and a superb script that presents engaging themes of identity and happiness, but is also shot through with dark humour and contains several offbeat touches. Extras include cast and crew interviews and the theatrical trailer, but sadly no commentary or deleted scenes.