Other people talking in the cinema during a film is probably the number one gripe of most movie-goers.  So, what do you do? Fume quietly, shush them or, perhaps, turn around and politely ask them to shut up.

Brad Pitt in 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,' which also stars Cate Blanchett.

Not if you are 29-year-old James Joseph Cialella. This man was so riled by a talking family during a Christmas Day showing of new Brad Pitt movie, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in a Philadelphia cinema that he pulled out a gun and shot the father in the arm, according to police in Philadelphia. To add insult to injury he also pelted the man's son with popcorn.

Even more curiously, Mr Cialella then sat down to watch the rest of the film. He was later arrested and faces six charges including attempted murder.

Quite why Mr Cialella was "carrying a Kel-Tec .380-caliber handgun clipped inside his sweatpants" during a trip to the cinema is anyone's guess but he is probably wishing he had tried the other kind of movie shooting now.

LONDON, England - Can Mickey Rourke make one of the comebacks of modern movie history, bagging a Best Actor Oscar for his role as a fallen fighter in "The Wrestler?"

Mickey Rourke's arresting movie comeback as Randy Robinson, has some serious Oscar beef.

Don't bet against it after watching  Darren Aronofsky's harrowing drama, which took top awards on the autumn festival circuit and has just opened in the U.S.

Rourke - whose bad-boy existence has fed tabloids for the best part of two decades - confronts the part of fallen 1980s ring legend Randy "The Ram" Robinson, getting by on a diet of painkillers and steroids and at one point lamenting: "I'm an old broken-down piece of meat."

Wrestling traditionally presents itself as prime-time pantomime; in contrast Aronofsky takes a naturalistic, semi-documentary stance, revealing a contrived theater of gore, replete with staple guns, barbed wire and self-cutting as stage props.

Despite acknowledgment, even reverence, from fellow ring stars, Robinson looks toward stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), also engaged in a world of fakery, for solace; and his estranged student daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) for reconciliation.

But he is a relic fighting against time and his attraction to the limelight, as primitive and retro as his bleach-yellow scrag of hair or the 1980s bouffant rock that soundtracks the drama.

Photography sets the narrative within a series of interiors - the inside of trailer homes and locker rooms, supermarkets and strip clubs - to emphasize how Robinson is trapped in his addiction to the limelight. When the drama does switch to exteriors, it is into a chilly landscape washed in gray hues and slab browns. Rarely does Aronofsky - himself making a minor comeback after "The Fountain"(2006) - allow the camera to go wide.

Toward the movie's end there are a couple of minor narrative mistrips - but they are not enough to derail Aronofsky's intent nor Rourke's startling and raw performance.

Of course it's easy to say that Rourke is simply building on his own life experiences for the role (a seasoned boxer himself, he has referenced his wild times during publicity junkets for the movie).

But that notion suggests Rourke is somehow channeling and not acting; and with "The Wrestler" he draws from Robinson a fragility and vulnerability, even tenderness, that can only provoke a sympathetic wince from audiences.

For Rourke has made a comeback with serious Oscar beef. And in an awards season largely devoid of last year's clutch of masculine features - "No Country For Old Men", "There Will Be Blood", "Eastern Promises" - his performance sets him well apart from rival nominees. Whether that will help him with awards voters is another issue.

As movie resurrections go, Rourke's performance is up there with Oscar-nominee John Travolta's turn in the higher-profile "Pulp Fiction" (1994), which helped parlay his then-stranded career into longer-term gains. Here's hoping Rourke can do similar.

Who do you rate for the best movie comebacks - be they in front or behind the camera?

The American Film Institute honored Christopher Nolan's box office behemoth "The Dark Knight" as one of the top 10 movies of the year Monday in its annual list of honours.

The movie's inclusion could be another step closer to a posthumous Oscar for the late Heath Ledger, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe last week for his performance as The Joker in "The Dark Knight."

The late Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight. His performance was described by one critic as making all the past Jokers look like, well, clowns.

The Golden Globes, along with the likes of the UK’s BAFTAs, are considered to be a good indication of the movies and talent that will go on to get an Oscars nod.

The buzz around Ledger’s potential nomination first came to real public notice in July of this year, when the second of director Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies "The Dark Knight" was released into cinemas worldwide.

Rave reviews judged that Ledger would have deserved a nomination even without the added poignancy of his untimely death in January from a prescription drugs overdose.

Critics worldwide from The New York Times to Australian newspaper The Age, have called his performance everything from “tremendous” to “revelatory.”

“With all due respect to the enjoyable camp buffoonery of past Jokers like Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson, Ledger makes them look like - well, clowns,” said Justin Chang in movie industry bible Variety.

If Ledger does win an Oscar nomination, he will be only the second actor to receive the honor posthumously. The other was Peter Finch in 1977, who died just a few weeks before the awards ceremony and was subsequently awarded the Best Actor prize for his performance in satirical newsroom drama "Network."

Certainly Ledger's family would welcome recognition of his work. "This nomination is deeply appreciated and is not lost on those of us who continue to love and miss him. We are so proud our boy's work is being recognized in this way, " Ledger's father Kim told U.S. celebrity magazine People about the Golden Globes nomination.

Sentimentality is not unknown among Academy members. Movie pinup James Dean who, much like Ledger, died tragically young, was nominated twice posthumously for "East of Eden" (1955) and "Giant" (1956) but was unsuccessful both times.

More recently Oliver Reed ("Gladiator") and Ulrich Mühe ("The Lives of Others") were both considered possible prospects for Oscar nominations that never materialized.

But what do you think? Does Heath Ledger deserve awards recognition for his performance as The Joker in "The Dark Knight?"

The epic is a rare creature indeed in contemporary cinema. Which is a shame because, with the exception of the action blockbuster, it is the movie genre most suited to the big screen.

An inappropriately dressed Lady Sarah Ashley arrives in Darwin looking like she is ready for a couple of weeks on the French Riviera.

The latest director to step up to the dizzying task of producing one of these motion picture mammoths is Australian Baz Luhrmann.

Historical drama "Australia" is set , unsurprisingly, in Australia just before the outbreak of World War II. At something like $130 million it is the most expensive film in Australia's history. Starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, two of the country's most famous Hollywood exports, the picture is an identifiably Australian epic.

With these credentials, it is no surprise 20th Century Fox, the studio behind the film, has been pushing hard for awards glory, although the film and its stars were absent from this week's Golden Globe nominations.

Despite some pretty hysterical anticipation from fiercely patriotic Aussies, the film, which had a  lukewarm critical reception, has failed to perform that strongly at the box office in either Australia or the U.S.

Certainly, there is a lot to like. Nicole Kidman plays English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley - a winningly contradictory combination of uptight and feisty - who travels to Australia to her husband's remote cattle ranch. A series of incidents throws her together with rough hewn Aussie bloke, Drover (played by Jackman and his impressive upper body musculature) and together they embark on an epic journey across Australia to save her land from a takeover plot.

As we have come to expect from Luhrmann, "Australia" is exquisitely visualized. The sets for Lady Sarah's estate house are built in painstaking detail (there is even a tennis court) by Luhrmann'swife and long-time collaborator, Catherine Martin who had to transport everything to the remote East Kimberley region of Western Australia. Luhrmann shoots much of it in the magical dusk hours, showing the sets and the extraordinary landscape to their full advantage.

Kidman's wardrobe is also a delight: the pith helmet, gauzed netting and strange wire spectacles she wears on her initial trip to "Faraway Downs" are fabulously OTT. They say more about her incongruousness in the dusty, gruff frontier land of 1930s Australia than 10 lines of dialogue - which can be cringingly cheesy at times.

It is here that "Australia" film falls down somewhat, for despite its technical brilliance, it doesn't quite work. It could be because Lurhmann leaps from genre to genre - the Drover's pub brawl at the start is pure spaghetti Western; at other times the narrative veers so far off into kitsch melodrama that you expect the characters to burst into song. All this to-ing and fro-ing undermines the dramatic punch, mainly because melodrama's homely comforts sit uneasily on an epic canvas.

But, then what defines an epic?

In times past, they were easy to spot. They were historical films with a broad sweep like "Ben Hur" and "Lawrence of Arabia." They dealt with big events in big landscapes and featured even bigger stars. An element of romance, or war, was often thrown in the mix too.

Although traditional epics are still made today, such as Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" in 2000 and 2004's "Troy" starring Brad Pitt, their massive budgets make them risky investments. Get it right like James Cameron did with “Titanic,” which was the first film to cross $1 billion in box-office receipts, and you have a work of massive prestige and profit.

Get it wrong and the result is Michael Cimino’s infamous 1980 Western “Heaven’s Gate” - now a byword for excess and perfectionism - that went so far over budget it almost bankrupted the studio, United Artists.

"Australia" certainly isn't "Heaven's Gate" and it probably won't be "Titanic" either, but it is still a hugely visual film that, despite its flaws, still makes for a great cinema-going experience. Luhrmann should be congratulated for his work conserving this rare cinematic breed.

What's your favorite epic movie?

The buzz around genre-chameleon Danny Boyle's new movie "Slumdog Millionaire," shows no signs of abating after it was named best film of the year by the National Board of Review Thursday.

It is the second brush with the awards circuit for "Slumdog" this week.  Sri Lankan-born British musician M.I.A. was nominated for a Grammy for "Record of the Year" Wednesday for "Paper Planes," which features in the soundtrack.

Danny Boyle's film 'Slumdog Millionaire' has been tipped as a contender for the Best Picture award at the Oscars.

After winning the People's Choice Award at Toronto Film Festival earlier this year, "Slumdog" opened in the U.S. on limited release last month to very positive reviews. U.S. film Web site Rotten Tomatoes gave it a very impressive 100% positive review, using reviews collated from The New York Times, Hollywood Reporter and Time magazine among others. It is also being tipped for the Best Picture award at the Oscars, a buzz which its latest award will only strengthen.

I can see why too. "Slumdog" is a classic rags-to-riches story about a young boy from the slums who beats millions of other Indians to bag a coveted place on "Kaun Banega Crorepati," the Indian version of TV game show  "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

Astonishingly, for a young man whose only education is what he's picked up on the streets, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) gets to within one question of winning 20 million rupees (just over $400,000). Overnight he becomes a media phenomenon - but also comes under suspicion of cheating because no-one believes a "slumdog" could know the answers the way he does.

Malik is arrested and interrogated  - and this is where one of the most ingenious aspects of "Slumdog" comes in. Jamal describes to the police chief each experience that led to him being able to answer to each of the questions. Each experience is told as a flashback, illustrating his life story and forming the backbone of the narrative.

"Slumdog" takes the audience from the cheerfully money-grubbing micro-commerce of the slums where young boys charge slum dwellers money to use filthy latrines to Dev's later job as a "chaiwallah" (tea-maker) in one of India's much-publicized call centers, before his appearance on the planet-wide phenomenon "Millionaire."

In the process Boyle manages to capture the contradictions of modern India: the nuclear power that is home to four out of the world's eight wealthiest billionaires; the same country that doesn't provide public toilets for its population; and the nation where 1,000 children die of diarrhea every day.

Last week's terror attacks in Mumbai have added to the resonance as a portion of the action takes place in India's financial capital. The footage of slums which makes up some of the opening portion is shot in India's largest ghetto, Dharavi. Also featured is Juhu, situated next to the airport and clearly visible to anyone flying in to Mumbai.

Whether it lucks out in the awards or not, "Slumdog" proves a very contemporary and strangely uplifting tale of how India lives today, as well as the ways in which globalization affects everyone - even slumdogs.

Have you seen "Slumdog?" If so, then please let us know what you thought.

You suggested some great ideas, including early afternoon screenings during the week (that's how I caught "Cloverfield," "Tropic Thunder" and Indy 4 this year) and investing in a home cinema setup. For what it's worth I would also venture the following...

1. Try your local IMAX cinema if you're fortunate enough to live near one. The range of movies is usually limited to blockbusters and the tickets tend to be pricier - but the screen is as tall as an apartment block and the sound loud enough to drown out a mariachi rally. I thoroughly enjoyed "Batman Begins" at the IMAX in London in 2005 - despite a group of truant schoolkids who hollered throughout.

2. If you know any journalists or other media professionals, then see if they will take you as their guest to a preview press screening. Everyone usually sits there and, um, watches the movie.

3. It's also worth joining a film club if there's one in your town or city - fellow members are as likely to be as passionate about movies as you and not want to ruin your enjoyment.

Hope that all helps - happy viewing...

P.S. Myriam: feel free to use the flyer idea, there's no copyright on it - but I accept no responsibility for any adverse reaction.