),
Artificial Intelligence and something set in space that looks like a computer
generated arcade game also look good. Looking less good is Pearl Harbour despite starring
Ben Affleck's pecs. 
The last couple of times that Ross and I have been to the cinema, we have seen lots of trailers for the forthcoming releases.
Coming up and looking good are Planet of the Apes reworked by Tim Burton
and starring Mark Wahlberg's pecs (fabbity ),
Artificial Intelligence and something set in space that looks like a computer
generated arcade game also look good. Looking less good is Pearl Harbour despite starring
Ben Affleck's pecs.
On the far horizon, it's looking particularly good for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and for Lord of the Rings later in the year.
Also due are Star Wars: Episode Two (but film 5 in the series), X-Men 2, The X-Files 2, Men in Black 2, Scary Movie 2, American Pie 2, Basic Instinct 2, Matrix 2 and 3, Mission Impossible 3, Blair Witch 3, Jurassic Park 3, Terminator 3, Batman 5 and (almost improbably) Rocky 6. I cannot honestly see me attending many of those at the cinema but my video rentals may well be assured for most. Wild horses would not get me to watch Rocky 6.
In a televisual sequel, Big Brother has returned for a second series. Once again, I am fascinated. If Celebrity Big Brother was an essay in what celebrity does to people, then this series appears to be more about the way that editorialising in different media can alter your perspectives.
I watched the first few days last weekend whilst I was down in London through the Website updates only. I came home and watched the video recording of the TV programmes. I couldn't have been more surprised.
Bubble came across as an obnoxious git on the Web site. On TV, he has a real charm which enables him to get away with a lot. Elizabeth seemed to be a complete non-entity. On TV, she is obviously and quietly just biding her time. Stuart seemed genuinely cool and helpful. On TV, he is scheming and manipulative. Brian seemed bubbly and vivacious. On TV, you see more of the nelly queen. Penny seemed to be a neurotic, interfering, finger-wagging school ma'am. On TV, she seemed to be this and more so. Helen seemed as thick as pig shit. On TV, she seemed to be this and more so. Narinder seemed to be out of sorts with everything. On TV, she seemed to be this and more so and very divisive in her ability to encourage everyone to dislike each other.
And in every case, when I came to tune in to the live Webcasts on my PC at work, all of those impressions were mellowed and placed in a broader context. I do believe that there's a project there to engage people to only watch one stream of information and then to compare their reaction to the varieties of editorial interference.
For example, anyone watching the television episodes would not know that Bubble had once placed a knife in Brian's bed as a practical joke. Anyone just picking up information from the Website would not have seen the look that Stuart gets in his eyes from time to time.
First nominations were Penny and Helen. I really want Penny to be voted out because she whinges all the time but I suspect that Helen will go if for no other reason than she is Welsh. The final few to remain will be Amma, Elizabeth, Dean, Stuart and Brian.
Smart money from Phil and I says that Dean will win.
And there's a General Election on. I've not mentioned it before because, to be perfectly honest, I cannot get too worked up about it. Labour will win. I don't think I'm in possession of psychic powers to be able to reveal that. It'll be interesting to see how far the LibDems go. I fear they will fall back from their current showing. Goodness only knows how the Conservatives will do. Not well to be sure but it really does depend on how well the Europe card plays out there in the marginals. I think not at all. But we'll see.
Smart money says that William Hague will be persuaded to stay on after the defeat, fight the Euro referendum which will come early in the Parliament, lose that vote too as Tory grandees wish (after all a lot of their income comes from businesses who want to go into the Euro zone) and then resign. Portillo will become leader, after which he can fight the following election grudgingly accepting that we are now committed to the single currency even though (he can pretend) he doesn't like it.