I think I've seen all the major comic-book films of the year - are there more to come? But it's been (and currently still is) a great year for comic book adaptations in general. I was pleasantly surprised by Iron Man which has Robert Downey Jnr, Jon Favreau and designer Adi Granov to thank for it's impressive debut outing for Marvel Studios. This was quickly followed by The Incredible Hulk which might not have been quite 'in' but was certainly a credible effort and more evenly enjoyable than the off-kilter Ang Lee outing of 2003.

Mark Millar's Wanted was deliciously over-the-top and un-PC and, ultimately a great guilty pleasure (his Kick-Ass goes into production soon and is destined to have Fox News and The Daily Mail foaming at the mouth).

Then there's The Dark Knight which is genuinely one of the best movies I've seen in years. As mentioned previously, there's been a big hoo-hah in the UK about the rating and yes, I agree it's an obviously solid '15' and poor little twelve year olds may have their poor brains warped by the darkness that permeates every frame - but spare me the lip-quivering of the politicos and Daily Mail who blame the film-makers and the BBFC when their eight year old is traumatised by it. 12A may be an advisory certificate, but I have little sympathy with those who ignore such advice and take eight year olds in! Then again, I DO think the BBFC got it a bit wrong. But, hey, everyone's a critic, right?

Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens here shortly, but I got to see it last week. The story could have been tightened up a bit, but it's a joyfully bizarre romp and no-one can realistically dispute that the visual imagination of Guillermo del Toro remains as amazing as ever. I remember Ron Perlman from back in his Beauty & The Beast days and he remains firmly on my 'want to interview' list.

Oh and thanks to Gillian for highlighting the below video on her blog and pointing me in its original direction. It's one of many vignettes out there and kinda sums up this blog entry better than I ever could. Which is a hell of an exit line for those of you who had to sit through me...