The word “prequel” does not exactly inspire happy thoughts; the world of movies has suffered enough from backstory explanations taking away from the tantalising mysteries that cinematic stories have previously held. They can ruin narratives, wreck deliberate ambiguity and are, for the most part, shoddy and pointless. You only have to look at the drab and boring second “Star Wars” trilogy or the excruciating “Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd” to see that prequels can majorly suck anus when handled badly (as they usually are). But when handled with care and attention, they can enlighten a story and give it more weight and meaning, shining a light on the unknown pasts of major plotlines and characters.

Last Friday (August 5) saw Rupert Wyatt’s sci-fi “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” hitting US cinemas, the film serving as an explanation of how the apes, well, rose and sparked “Planet of the Apes” (1968). The film has received quite a bit of critical acclaim, evidently one of the few prequels that have been managed with that care and attention. To mark this, I’ve taken a look at the top five prequels that successfully expand upon the stories of their predecessor(s), instead of inhaling the contents of their forerunners’ bowels.

Being a child of the 1990s I grew up on a TV diet of Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and later, I hate to admit, Power Rangers…

Like most kids, my favourite character from Ghostbusters was Dr. Peter Venkman, played by Bill Murray and as an adult my affection for him and what he brings to his characters is still strong. Through the years I have watched a number of his movies and enjoyed his serious acting roles just as much as his comedy ones. I now want to share the top 5 Bill Murray movies that, for me, stand out above and beyond the rest

Our bosses are the people from whom we take orders. We follow their demands, do exactly as they say, scamper around town for them, make sure not to displease them as we carry out our duties, and try not to screw up their specific coffee requirements (spitting in the cup is always a temptation). We bow at their every word to save our skin, because if we don’t kiss their ass then it’s back to the job centre for us poor saps. And some bosses, mad with the power at their immediate disposal, abuse this position of commanding superiority, us inferior employees suffering miserably from their supreme, unquestioned ruling. With all this megalomania pouring through their veins, these control-freak bastards can make for marvellous antagonists in the world of cinema, mistreating their poor workers out of boredom or sheer insanity, whether they be typical office tyrants or space-dwelling dictators. So, here is my list of the top ten most horrible bosses ever to misuse their authority on the big screen. Side note: this may or may not be influenced by Seth Gordon’s comedy “Horrible Bosses,” released July 8 in the US. Okay, it is.

To coincide with the release of the third installment of Michael Bay’s robots-hitting-each-other franchise, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” I have compiled a list of the best robotic characters ever to clink and clang on the silver screen. Some we care for, some we love, some we wish would glitch and malfunction, and some we enjoy watching bash each other to scraps, but the electrically-charged hunks of metal listed below have all developed into iconic pieces of moviedom over the years. Without further ado, here are my top ten robots from the world of cinema. Oh, and no, I’m not going to include Johnny fucking Five in this list; Christ, that pile of scraps is annoying.

This was it. Today was the day. It was all going to stop. No one was ever going to laugh at me, or throw things at me, or threaten to beat me with bricks, bats, and Hello Kitty backpacks. Because last week, I watched the Nick Cage movie the Weather Man, about a weatherman (shocker) that finally runs out of fucks to give and starts carrying a bow around wherever he went. And you know what happened? People stopped messing with him.