Or maybe that was just us. Anyway, once cameo in The Incredible Hulk that you might have missed was Captain America. Seriously. Captain America really was in The Incredible Hulk, but only if you bought the DVD and then squinted until your eyes bled for one specific millisecond during a deleted scene set in the arctic.

As Film School Rejects has discovered, you can quite clearly see Captain America buried in the snow in the picture above, taken from The Incredible Hulk. This nicely lines up the new Avengers film, because it presumably shows how Captain America fought in World War II and then got frozen in the arctic before he was brought back to life in the present day to fight evil alongside Iron-Man, The Incredible Hulk and Thor.

Unless, you know, that isn’t a picture of Captain America at all and it’s just a smudge, or a rock, or a shadow, or some penguin wee. But it isn’t. It’s definitely Captain America, Definitely.

Come to think of it, we think we saw another one of these Avengers cameos in Iron Man. At approximately the 48:22 mark, there’s a tiny movement in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. You won’t notice it unless you buy the Blu-Ray and view it frame by frame through an atomic microscope until you go mad, but it’s actually Thor performing a perfect rendition of Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble by PJ & Duncan in perfect Esperanto. Seriously, watch it. It’s not like you’ve got anything better to do with your time, is it?

Read more:

Found: Captain America in The Incredible Hulk – Film School Rejects

No, when they say ‘smart’, the makers of this film mean the American version of smart, better known to us Euros as intelligent, clever or big bloody brainboxes.

Here, the smart person in question is Dennis Quaid, and for us, his brainy bragging rights are already well secured- after all, he did pilot his way out of Martin Short in Inner Space, which is no mean feat.

Here, he’s more conventionally clever as widowed literature professor Lawrence living with precocious daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page). The prof is arrogant and hates his students, but worse still, he’s as socially inept as Barry George.

His brother, played by Sideways’ Thomas Haden Church, soon shows up and turns out to be the polar opposite of his stuffy sibling, sparking up a joint with Vanessa and taking her out for some good old underage drinking.

Meanwhile, Lawrence has managed to fumble his way into a relationship with doctor Sarah Jessica Parker, and for the rest of the movie we watch as he tries to mess things up, she frowns and ultimately everything kind of gets a bit better.

It’s all quite familiar dysfunctional American family territory, and fans of The Squid And The Whale or The Savages will recognise the middle-aged angst, acoustic guitar soundtrack and cord jackets present in all of these films.

Smart People also makes great use of facial hair as a signifier of intelligence, and there are more beards here than in 300. In fact, the only intelligent person on our screens for any length of time without a beard is Ellen Page, and she just wouldn’t look right with a goatee.

In all honesty, not an awful lot really happens here, but there are some nice moments and polished acting, particularly when the family are all together. Christmas dinner is a memorably awkward scene with Haden Church on fine form as the loser brother, and another highlight has to be Quaid’s pillow talk (“I thought it went OK? I just don’t want to blow it with you. Do you have any plans for Christmas?”).

So although you may sit wondering what you’ve just been doing as the final credits roll, it’s an enjoyable enough way to spend an hour and a half, during which time you could even put a bit of effort into growing a beard of your own and becoming a very smart person indeed.

That’s because Britney Spears’ ex-husband plans to release a fitness DVD.

You see, K-Fed does not want to rely on the $20,000 a month he gets from Britney Spears to help him bring up their two kids Jayden James, 21 months, and two-year-old Sean Preston, who he was given full custody of earlier this month.

Read the rest of this entry (link opens in new window)>>

Don’t let the bookworm prestige of the title or the two-hour plus running time dissuade you from The Kite Runner.

It’s one of those rare ‘issue’ films that remains an enticing and emotionally electrifying viewing experience that may restore your faith in cinema after the distracting memory left by that turgid Indiana Jones encounter you had a few weeks back.

The story commences in 2000 San Francisco, where a young Afghan writer receives a mysterious phone call from someone in Pakistan telling him that he has a chance to redeem himself.

We then quickly flash back to pre-war ravaged 1978 Afghanistan, where two boys (Amir and Hassan), compete in a friendly bout of local kite ‘cutting’ against others kids in the neighbourhood. Hassan is considered to be one of the best kite runners in town, and he easily shakes off his competitors to win the contest.

But the winning brews jealousy amongst town bully Assef and his groupies, who corner the boy in an alley with the intention to take the winning kite from him. When Hassan nobly refuses to hand it over he finds himself horrifically beaten and raped by Assef.

The sting in the tale comes in the form of a cowardly Amir who has secretly observed the act from afar but is too chicken to intervene or offer any assistance to his wounded friend. Later Amir attempts to cope with his own guilt by angrily lashing out at his poor faithful friend Hassan, having the audacity to frame the little nipper for stealing his priceless watch. Although he isn’t to blame, Hassan admits to stealing the item and finds himself leaving town with his downtrodden father, never to enter Amir’s life again.

Decades later Amir finds that the events of that fateful day clearly influenced both their lives in different ways, for better and for worse, and now he has been given the opportunity to finally redeem himself and change the uncertain future for someone close to his heart.

OK this might make The Kite Runner sound like self-indulgent pretentious drivel, but rest assured this is an intelligent and powerful film that does enormous justice to the audacious source material (what do you expect, it’s from Khaled Hosseini’s best seller!). It features some pretty impressive honours from all involved, ranging from the two young charismatic leads to Khalid Abdalla (previously witnessed in United 93) as th

e older incarnation of Amir in addition to boasting some pretty nifty (albeit CGI assisted) kite flying/cutting sequences.

If you were too lazy to either read the book or to get your bum on the seat at the multiplex then this is your third chance to catch something truly uplifting on DVD.

And the extras are pretty impressive too. There’s an insightful commentary from director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Stranger Than Fiction) and novelist Khaled Hosseini (who also provides an optional introduction to the film), several absorbing mini docs covering the faithful page to screen translation and how the harrowing literary imagery was brought vividly to life on screen, and insightful discussions with both the cast and several members of the crew.

The Kite Runner may be heavy-handed at certain narrative junctures where there’s a lot of leaning toward coincidental events that wouldn’t look out of place in a Catherine Cook adaptation, but at least we know that our future Bond helmer has got the directorial razzmatazz to make something prosperous out of that preposterously pegged Quantum of Solace project.

[story by Oliver Pfeiffer]

And with the back-to-its-best sixth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm hitting these shores on June 9, we thought it might be time to give you the chance to win a Curb Your Enthusiasm prize so incredible that it’s all we can do not to fake a new identity and give the prize to ourselves. Courtesy of HBO video, you can win a kickass Curb Your Enthusiasm goody bag containing:

• 

  A Curb Your Enthusiasm season six boxset,

• A CYE book,

• Two CYE mugs,

• A CYE T-shirt

And if you don’t win that, there’s a runner-up prize of a season six boxset as well. And all you have to do to win these prizes is to answer the following question:

Larry David’s filming a movie right now. Who’s the director?

Email your answers – with the subject line ‘Woody Allen competition’ – to hello@hecklerspray.com as soon as you can along with your name and address, and we’ll pick winners at random by the end of the week. UK readers only, please. Good luck.

Unfortunately he’s only in it for the first five or so minutes (he passes out amid a mist of intoxicating weed), and it’s therefore left for the younger likes of Phil Daniels, (ace in Quadrophenia) Gary Stretch (Dead Man’s Shoes) and co to carry the film to its mortal doom.

Freebird is a road movie of sorts that wants to be the British comedy answer to Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider but doesn’t have the inspiration, charm or guts to carry any fleeting comparison to that vintage biker film.

The film stars the aforementioned trio (including The Business‘ Geoff Bell) as middle-aged spaced-out biker types who journey to the Welsh mountains in search of an infamous hippy and his prosperous cannabis farm, and also to satisfy some personal missions of their own.

They set off on their road all kitted out with aspirations to fulfil their hopes of world and relationship conquests but end up all talk and no proverbial trousers, spending most of their time drunk or high or both and thus entering into a surreal fantasy world of adventures where they witness a seven-foot leather-clad masked wrestler and (following an excessive trip on magic mushrooms) end up convinced that the local pub landlord is a slurping frog!

This is undoubtedly an easy DVD to watch and one which requires very little concentration, or indeed thought, and is the perfect remedy for the Sunday morning hangover – because it sure as hell feels like a hangover. It’s tired, boring and oh so very predictable (hell, The Sun said it was ‘hilarious’ – nuff said), but if this sounds like your sort of thing, then it probably is. But the fact that film did dismally at the box office should set off some warning lights.

At least you get a little something for your buck besides the feature – a guided tour commentary track from debut director Jon Ivay, a routine ‘making of feature’ and passable interviews with the motley cast and crew, plus the usual deleted scenes, photo gallery and trailer. Freebird is about as exciting as it sounds: a wasted, sheepish (pun intended) road trip to Wales – lacking a heady ride.

Out to own on DVD June 2nd.

[story by Oliver Pfeiffer]

Oh, you know, The Kite Runner – the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who is tormented by the guilt of abandoning his friend Hassan, the son of his father’s Hazara servant. It was Oscar nominated and directed by the man behind the new Bond movie. We called The Kite Runner “the star on top of the tree,” whatever that means. Anyway, it’s out on DVD and HD on June 2 and we’ve got two copies to give away to you right now.

To win a copy of The Kite Runner on DVD, all you need to do is answer this question:

What’s the Japanese name for a traditional six-sided fighting kite?

Email your answers – with the subject line ‘Rokkaku Dako Competition’ – to hello@hecklerspray.com as soon as you can along with your name and address, and we’ll pick two winners at random by the end of the week. UK readers only, please. Good luck.

But this time we promise that we’ve got a good’un on our hands. Indie moviemaker extraordinaire Jim Jarmusch has a DVD boxset – inventively titled The Jim Jarmusch Collection Vol 1 – coming out soon, and we’ve got three copies to give away. Comprising Permanent Vacation, Stranger Than Paradise and the still-unbeatable Down By Law, The Jim Jarmusch Collection Vol 1 is basically the best rainy Sunday ever in box form.

To win The Jim Jarmusch Collection Vol 1, all you need to do is answer this question:

Which gravel-voiced singer stars in Down By Law?

Email your answers – with the subject line ‘Tom Waits Competition’ – to hello@hecklerspray.com as soon as you can along with your name and address, and we’ll pick three winners at random by the end of the week. UK readers only, please. Good luck.

A case in point is the Blade trilogy that people liked so much we got a TV series full of lunatic plotlines and enough fake fangs to restock the NHS. Heck, even John Carpenter’s Vampires managed two sequels and that had James Woods AND Daniel Baldwin.

They’re not all bad though, and while the prospect of a new bloodsucker flick starring master of the middle distance stare Josh Hartnett may not fill your soul with glee, we have some shocking news for you. 30 Days Of Night is actually not that bad.

OK, that’s hardly a poster quote (although please feel free to use it), but after Lucky Number Slevin the omens weren’t good for this one. Also, the plot is another to jump on the comic book adaptation bandwagon (there’s a copy included with the disc), and the female lead is Melissa George. Yes, that’s right, Angel out of Home and Away.

So just how have these factors combined to produce a decent film? Well it’s partly the fun premise. Josh is the sheriff of Barrow, Alaska; the northernmost town in the US, isolated in 80 miles of wilderness. As if that weren’t enough, the town is plunged into darkness for 30 days each year and alcohol is illegal all month.

That’s a real bummer, but nothing compared to the horror movie standards that follow, including mysteriously killed dogs, strange drifters and unresponsive phone lines.

Before you can say ‘I’ll check the basement’, a gang of dead eyed Vampires led by Danny Huston (surely only here for the cheque) have appeared, talking in a strange dialect and declaring open season on the town’s inhabitants.

Another draw is the skull cracking, torso tearing, eye popping violence that ensues, and the DVD release even gets upgraded to an 18 certificate from the original release’s 15.

Of course, a film about blood drinking beings was never going to be cutesy, but this is fairly graphically violent in a ‘several-blows-of-the-axe-to-sever-your-best-friend’s-head’ kind of a way.

It’s pitch black fun though, and as the vamps pick off anyone who so much as makes a noise, everything goes a bit Tremors on ice with a touch of The Thing as friends begin to turn on each other.

It’s a shame that Danny Huston features so little, with good moments including playing a record with his razor sharp fingernails, and there’s precious little back story other than a rushed romance between Hartnett and George, but that’s hardly the point.

As long as you can enjoy the simple pleasure of a few neat twists (like the ending), and the rarity of a solid Josh Hartnett performance, then this should at least bridge the gap until Samuel L Jackson signs on for Blade part four.

Buy 30 Days Of Night at Amazon

[story by Tom Atkinson]

That is the swiftest way we can get you away from here and back to rearranging your underwear draw. Of course, such a statement raises two serious concerns: why would anyone who does not like Jimmy Carr want to buy his new stand-up DVD in the first place, and does anyone even bother with an underwear draw these days, let alone rearrange it?

(Re. the first question: Jimmy Carr: Comedian could be gift or a promotional freebie. You might have inadvertently shoplifted the thing by accident.)

So, what you really want to know is will you, the consummate Jimmy Carr hater, the guy who moans every time he appears on some panel show – every time you ever turn on the TV – does a cameo in Two-Point Four Weddings And A Bit Part For Martin Freeman or gets interviewed in a Sunday supplement, will you change your mind about this suited, booted shoulderless man and his sardonic, blisteringly fast wordplay wit just on the basis of seeing this DVD alone? Nope.

(To the second question: try arranging your pants in order of tone and the socks into categories, say dress and sports. If you are a girl and wear girly things, consult a publication with Jennifer Lopez or Anne Hathaway on the cover.)

If you actually like Jimmy Carr, as we do – and that is important to mention because it will ensure our bias – then Comedian will make the perfect Christmas present for yourself.

It is very funny. So very funny that you might get too engrossed in the comedy and accidentally cross your legs in confusion, thus crushing a gently dangling testicle between your thighs. Comedian will not seem straightaway amusing after that, but you will bounce back surprisingly quickly.

Pop in the disc and you will be greeted by a lively set of menus, all accompanied by Jimmy’s sarcastic tones. "Welcome to my DVD" he says. That is not the finest example of his sarcasm, but to be fair the voiceover idea is a lame gag anyway. The ‘subtitles with a German accent’ option cracks a smile though.

The actual live show does not start particularly well. The dapper gent seems nervous for the recording night and his opening jokes reek of topical discrepancies (a Michael Jackson punchline stinks up the joint dreadfully). However it does not take Jimmy long to find his rhythm. Following a spectacularly nasty heckle towards a middle-aged woman in the audience ("She owes me a tenner!"), the moon-face killer lines up jokes like pump-action custard pies, launching them into the crowd with uncaring abandon for near-on 90 minutes.

He indulges a love of swearing ("Pardon my French, but we all know Paul is an ’effing cunt"), disdain for overly sensitive homophobia ("You’re gay, right? You’re so far in the closet you’re having adventures in Narnia"), jobs ("Finance and IT? That’s cashpoints!") – just about every drunk topic in the worth deliberating.

DVD extras are in abundance; mostly erroneous, with a few notable exceptions: the ‘Thumbing a Softie’ life-lessons (everything from teenage pregnancy to skewed history lectures), a worthwhile interview with Steve Wright and Leigh Francis’ rubber-faced Carr impersonation from TV’s Bo Selecta.

This is a good value set; it is probably Jimmy’s best so far. Always good craic, his starched style may resemble Microsoft Mike doing the Comedy Store, but the comedy quota is always high.  

Never chatting aimlessly or disappearing up his own clipped arse, the Channel Four frontman is nowhere near as stuck up and pretentious as you might think. He probably does not even shop in Waitrose.

Comedian may just prove to be Jimmy Carr’s busiest, best value, most accessible work to date. His Asda if you will.

Well, they're bound to be back this year – but if any of you have any sense you should avoid them all and head straight for Fingers On Buzzers, the new interactive DVD game that comes with a set of Buzz-style buzzers. Gloriously easy to set up and impressively easy to play – and that's coming from people who haven't fully grasped the concept of zips yet – Fingers On Buzzers does the impossible and actually makes interactive DVD games fun. We know, we were staggered too.

Anyway, to mark the release of Fingers On Buzzers, we've been given a giant stack of Channel 4 DVDs to give one lucky reader. In total one of you will win a stack of DVDs including Shameless 4, Peep Show 4, Skins, Jimmy Carr Comedian, Deal or No Deal Family Challenge, Fingers On Buzzers, Modern Toss and Fonejacker, and answer the following question:

Who was the 14th Duke Of Somerset?

Email your answers, along with your name and address to hello@hecklerspray.com with the subject heading 'Algernon St Maur quiz' and one lucky winner will be picked at random on Friday evening. UK readers only again, we're afraid. Good luck!