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  If you thought the witch trials were the worst thing to happen in Salem, think again. You hadn't counted on 'Hubie Halloween'. A typically star studded Netflix comedy vehicle built around Adam Sandler, you get exactly what you fear. It's a typically laugh free movie that operates under the illusion that it is a joke fest. Sandler once again resorts to his comic simpleton act as a much derided delicatessen counter employee in Salem. He is naive, not that bright and, gee, all heart. Hubie lives at home with his devoted mum played by June Squibb, when he is not riding his bicycle around Salem. He is terrorised by the local kids from middle school and high school including Karan Brar's Mike Mundi who works with him at the deli and regularly pranks him. Ray Liotta's Pete Landolfa, an old acquaintance from his school days, also takes pleasure in bullying him - even shoving him into a grave after he buries his father. Hubie gets barbed comments from Tim Meadows and M

  In cinema no text is sacred. That is why there have been four versions of 'A Star Is Born'. It is why 'Scarface,' 'True Grit,' 'Cape Fear' and 'The Great Gatsby' have all been remade. It is why films like 'The Wages of Fear' have become 'Sorcerer,' 'The Seven Samurai' turned into 'The Magnificent Seven' and Christopher Nolan remade the Swedish thriller 'Insomnia'. However it takes either a lot of courage or misplaced self-confidence to remake an Alfred Hitchcock classic. Ralph Thomas and Don Sharp's 1959 and 1978 versions of 'The 39 Steps' suffered when compared to the original. Anthony Page took a hammering for his inferior 1979 remake of 'The Lady Vanishes' with Elliott Gould and Cybill Shepherd. Even an accomplished a director as Gus Van Sandt found out to his detriment that revisiting Hitchcock can backfire, especially when it was a shot by shot remake of 'Psycho'. Enter Be

  Sacha Baron Cohen's brand of humour is an acquired taste. Either you will love it or you will not be able to stand it. On one level, with its improvised humour and exaggerated characterisation Baron Cohen's comic creations like Ali G, Bruno or Borat are pure commedia dell'arte. On another, they fit right into the mould of the classic Shakespearean fool - using their apparent stupidity to shine a light on the stupidity of those around them. As Ali G, Bruno or Borat, Baron Cohen has duped many public figures and ordinary citizens on TV or in feature films. In doing so, he has shone a light on their prejudices and their sheer insanity. Fourteen years ago, the comedian and actor picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and also won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Larry Charles' mockumentary 'Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit the Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'. Borat, a caricature of a naive Kazhak journ

  And lo, it came to pass that Sky Atlantic and HBO did squeeze more episodes out for 'The Third Day'. And they cast Naomie Harris as a mother of three kids. And taking on the persona of Helen, she did bring two children to the troubled island of Osea. And those watching these episodes had their blood pressure spike from the off because Osea and children are never a good mix in this cod religious drama. And lo, Helen, Nico Parker's teen Ellie and Charlotte Gairdner-Mihell's Talulah did travel along the causeway from the Essex mainland to Osea at low tide and they cane upon a house where they hoped to have a holiday to celebrate Ellie's birthday. And Helen did leave the kids in the car as she went to meet the owners, only to be told the booking was a mistake and it should never have been indicated as being available on the website she used. And Helen grew very angry, believing she had been refused the booking because of her race. And when she returned to the car, Ell

  One of the great things about being a journalist is you occasionally get to encounter people whose work as an actor or director you have admired. I have been that fortunate. However in the case of Sean Connery, I happened to be on holiday when I caught sight of him. It was June 30 2007, on the day when Glasgow Airport would later be targeted by terrorists, only for them to be "set aboot" by locals (to quote the city's main hero during the attack, John Smeaton). An SNP minority government had just been elected in Holyrood. My wife, two year old daughter and I were holidaying in Edinburgh and, on the last day of our week long break, we hadn't realised there was going to be a state opening of the Scottish Parliament by the Queen. As we waited for a colourful parade featuring the Red Hot Chilli Pipers to roll through the Royal Mile, there was a flurry of excitement when Scotland's new First Minister Alex Salmond arrived. As the SNP leader swept onto the street and w