Top Gun star and 1980s lothario Tom Cruise has vehemently denied accusations that he has help keeping his youthful looks wrinkle-free and age-resistant.

 

Speaking to Playboy magazine, Cruise stated: “I haven’t, and I never would” when asked about having cosmetic surgery.

 

The youthful-looking Scientologist is set to celebrate his 50th birthday in July, nearly 30 years after starring in American teen comedy-drama Risky Business.

 

At a time in life when the middle-age spread creeps up on the unsuspecting and receding hairlines begin to flitter in the gentle breeze, what is Tom Cruise’s secret to eternal youth?

 

“I honestly have no idea,” he admitted.

 

“I work. I’m always with family. I train, go without sleep. I just go hard.”

 

Men of the world, take note: eternally youthful Cruise has attributed his peachy skin and full, thick hair to working, sleeping and generally “going hard” (whatever that means).

 

But moreover, could it not just be a case of ‘you are as young as the woman that you’re married to?’ Tom is happily married to 33-year-old actress Katie Holmes, after all.

 

Famously becoming a touch overwhelmed while talking to Oprah in 2005 about then-girlfriend Katie (jumping up and down on her sofa like a man ridiculously in the throes of romance), Tom was slightly more reserved when talking to Playboy about his wife of six years.

 

“She is an extraordinary person, and if you spent five minutes with her, you’d see it,” he said.

 

“She’s funny and charming, and when she walks into the room, I just feel better. I’m a romantic.”

 

If only we could bottle up Tom’s romanticism and secret to eternal youth – we’d be rich beyond our wildest dreams!

 

There's no shortage of hot vampire characters around at the moment: Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins, Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen... the list goes on.

 

But if you had to choose between the Deppster and hottie R-Patz, who would get your vote?

 

We're massively torn on this one... But it seems Johnny reckons there's room for them both.

 

In an interview with The Sun, Johnny said: "There is room for two big vampires at the minute in the cinema but I'm the alpha vampire. I'm the more manly one."

 

Is that a vamp-off we feel coming our way? We kinda hope so. It wouldn't get better than Mr Depp and R-Patz together on the same screen, bearing their fangs...

 

But who do you prefer? Tell us below in our comments.

 

Movie review: Dark Shadows

 

Where did the idea for Brandon Generator come from?
The initial idea was to produce an interactive comic of sorts that can show off the capabilities of ie9. From my point of view it was a new avenue and a way to do something a bit different. I’d never written a comic before but this is perhaps something more than that. The interactive element meant collaborating with the general public which I thought was an interesting idea. I’ve written with other people and I’ve also written on my own. Usually the experience of writing on your own is not dissimilar to what Brandon goes through in episode one of the animation. I really liked the idea of this cliffhanger where he’s written all this stuff in a blackout. Then we ask the users to contribute the prose and the sketches that he’s drawn on his notepad and the audio that he’s recorded on his Dictaphone. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been great putting it together but perhaps even better reading everyone’s contributions.

See for yourself at Brandongenerator.com​

How do you filter the public contributions? How have you found the process of finding useable material?
It isn’t a completely open brief. It hasn’t been like a writing competition or something like that. We’ve actually asked people what Brandon’s written and drawn on his pad. You can see it all online. It’s in the gallery at the moment. A lot of people did what I hoped they would which is to write in Brandon’s voice. A lot of people have written with the same style that I have and they’ve in the voice that Julian Barrett (The Mighty Boosh) has narrated in. Some of them are completely random and that’s perfectly appropriate too. I’m very pleased by how many people have taken the ball and ran with it and used the same style.

What is the best way to get an idea into the Brandon Generator story? What’s your advice to would-be Brandon Generator contributors?
There’s no mystery to it other than write something on the pad and press submit. We read them all. Many of the entries have made it into the second episode and some will be in future episodes.

We’re impressed by some of the monsters people have drawn. Are we heading into a sci-fi/monster environment?
I guess so. I describe it as being ‘a head trip’. There are those elements but we’re also very much in Brandon’s world and we’re really exploring his levels of reality.

Will the story ideas need to be more specific as we get further into the story?
Yeah. At the end of episode 2 there will be a different task where we just ask people what happens next rather than using the ‘blackout’ dynamic from episode 1. The idea is that we have a different way of asking people to progress the story at the end of each episode. The prompts will be different each time. At the end of the second one you’ll be able to upload a photo which could potentially be in the third episode drawn by Tommy. There will also be a chance for comic artists to upload the next frame of the story. They can go away with a PDF, draw on it then upload it. It’s great to be able to use different tools for each episode.

What is the most outlandish idea you’ve seen or read from the public in this process?
That’s a great question. There was one particular bit of prose which springs to mind that started something like: “Ergle dived into a sea of rancid custard and swam across to the apple crumble peninsula.”

The creatures have been hilarious. There’s often a really simple idea that really made me laugh. What I’ve enjoyed is sowing the seed of an idea and watching people run with it. So someone actually drew a monster but the monster was Brandon. So I thought ‘well that’s an interesting idea’ and it made it all about his psyche. A lot of the prose ideas have picked up where we left off. There have been an awful lot about coffee. Then there have been some bizarre short stories. We had one about Santa being kidnapped which probably won’t make the next episode but it was amusing to read. The good thing is that they’re all up on the site, even if they don’t make the episode. There’s no right or wrong answer. It’s a great creative exercise. The whole thing is about people using it as a forum to expand their minds, really.

Tommy Lee Edwards is one of the best illustrators around. As a comic book fan you must have been excited to work with him.
Yeah I actually got to know Tommy through his work on Jonathon Ross’ comics. And I actually wrote these scenes knowing that they’d be drawn in Tommy’s visual style. I love the room it’s set in. I did have to tell him that it might be a normal size flat in the states but in London that kind of flat would cost you a million pounds. We liked the idea of the big window being an eye on the world.

It’s striking that you’re a writer and you’ve created this. Does Brandon’s situation mirror your own at any point in life.
Oh yeah there are definitely autobiographical elements in there. I was writing something on my own last year which I eventually got done but it was like pulling teeth to get there. If you’re not working with a co-writer it can be really tough to stop yourself getting distracted. The laptop is the worst thing because all your distractions are right in front of you. That never used to happen when you had a blank sheet of paper and a typewriter. Letting the cursor go down from the doc is always a bad idea. But yeah some of the things in there are me ‘dracula o’clock’ is me. The espressos are me. Using the thesaurus for inspiration is me too!

See for yourself at Brandongenerator.com​ 

Where did the idea for Brandon Generator come from?
The initial idea was to produce an interactive comic of sorts that can show off the capabilities of ie9. From my point of view it was a new avenue and a way to do something a bit different. I’d never written a comic before but this is perhaps something more than that. The interactive element meant collaborating with the general public which I thought was an interesting idea. I’ve written with other people and I’ve also written on my own. Usually the experience of writing on your own is not dissimilar to what Brandon goes through in episode one of the animation. I really liked the idea of this cliffhanger where he’s written all this stuff in a blackout. Then we ask the users to contribute the prose and the sketches that he’s drawn on his notepad and the audio that he’s recorded on his Dictaphone. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been great putting it together but perhaps even better reading everyone’s contributions.

How do you filter the public contributions? How have you found the process of finding useable material?
It isn’t a completely open brief. It hasn’t been like a writing competition or something like that. We’ve actually asked people what Brandon’s written and drawn on his pad. You can see it all online. It’s in the gallery at the moment. A lot of people did what I hoped they would which is to write in Brandon’s voice. A lot of people have written with the same style that I have and they’ve in the voice that Julian Barrett (The Mighty Boosh) has narrated in. Some of them are completely random and that’s perfectly appropriate too. I’m very pleased by how many people have taken the ball and ran with it and used the same style.

What is the best way to get an idea into the Brandon Generator story? What’s your advice to would-be Brandon Generator contributors?
There’s no mystery to it other than write something on the pad and press submit. We read them all. Many of the entries have made it into the second episode and some will be in future episodes.

We’re impressed by some of the monsters people have drawn. Are we heading into a sci-fi/monster environment?
I guess so. I describe it as being ‘a head trip’. There are those elements but we’re also very much in Brandon’s world and we’re really exploring his levels of reality.

Will the story ideas need to be more specific as we get further into the story?
Yeah. At the end of episode 2 there will be a different task where we just ask people what happens next rather than using the ‘blackout’ dynamic from episode 1. The idea is that we have a different way of asking people to progress the story at the end of each episode. The prompts will be different each time. At the end of the second one you’ll be able to upload a photo which could potentially be in the third episode drawn by Tommy. There will also be a chance for comic artists to upload the next frame of the story. They can go away with a PDF, draw on it then upload it. It’s great to be able to use different tools for each episode.

What is the most outlandish idea you’ve seen or read from the public in this process?
That’s a great question. There was one particular bit of prose which springs to mind that started something like: “Ergle dived into a sea of rancid custard and swam across to the apple crumble peninsula.”

The creatures have been hilarious. There’s often a really simple idea that really made me laugh. What I’ve enjoyed is sowing the seed of an idea and watching people run with it. So someone actually drew a monster but the monster was Brandon. So I thought ‘well that’s an interesting idea’ and it made it all about his psyche. A lot of the prose ideas have picked up where we left off. There have been an awful lot about coffee. Then there have been some bizarre short stories. We had one about Santa being kidnapped which probably won’t make the next episode but it was amusing to read. The good thing is that they’re all up on the site, even if they don’t make the episode. There’s no right or wrong answer. It’s a great creative exercise. The whole thing is about people using it as a forum to expand their minds, really.

Tommy Lee Edwards is one of the best illustrators around. As a comic book fan you must have been excited to work with him.
Yeah I actually got to know Tommy through his work on Jonathon Ross’ comics. And I actually wrote these scenes knowing that they’d be drawn in Tommy’s visual style. I love the room it’s set in. I did have to tell him that it might be a normal size flat in the states but in London that kind of flat would cost you a million pounds. We liked the idea of the big window being an eye on the world.

It’s striking that you’re a writer and you’ve created this. Does Brandon’s situation mirror your own at any point in life.
Oh yeah there are definitely autobiographical elements in there. I was writing something on my own last year which I eventually got done but it was like pulling teeth to get there. If you’re not working with a co-writer it can be really tough to stop yourself getting distracted. The laptop is the worst thing because all your distractions are right in front of you. That never used to happen when you had a blank sheet of paper and a typewriter. Letting the cursor go down from the doc is always a bad idea. But yeah some of the things in there are me ‘dracula o’clock’ is me. The espressos are me. Using the thesaurus for inspiration is me too! 

This is already THE comedy prospect of 2012. Sorry, Neighbourhood Watch with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, but it is.

The pair have revealed themselves on the new Facebook page, revealing some on-point accent work. "Vote here for us and I'm pretty sure those votes will count in the general election," says Galifianakis on the FB page. Harf...

 

If you… still haven’t seen one of the best superhero movies ever

Joss Whedon cracked the formula for incorporating CGI and a ton of characters into the same monster-budget movie with Avengers Assemble. His solution? Laughs! Yes, it leans heavily on Robert Downey, to the point that you could call it ‘Iron Man and friends’. But who cares?! If you’re going to the multiplex with mates and you want to have fun, there’s really no other option. Unless…

If you’ve... already seen that great superhero movie

Go and see Cabin In The Woods! We can’t really tell you why you have to see it without ruining it somehow. But go and see it! Needless to say, it’s more than your usual yokels vs teenagers horror schtick. And hey! Joss Whedon produced it. So The Avengers won’t mind you skipping that second viewing.

If you... want to see something brand new

Well the American Pie: Reunion kids, however fun they were to chat to, hardly knocked it out of the park to be honest. The formula seemed a little tired to say the least. So, if you have to watch something totally fresh, watch Jason Statham blaze a path of destruction through NYC in new pure-actioner Safe. Watch it while marveling at how a man with that face managed to get into Rosie Huntington Whitely’s knickers.



If staring at Zac Efron’s arms just seems right
There are wildly varying schools of thought on The Lucky One. Our own Lucy Mapstone certainly counts herself among those who can happily watch buffed up Zac walking around for two hours. She had to resist slapping a fourth star on this review. If you’re not in club zac and you enjoy mocking the predictability of Nicholas Sparks adaptations, skip it and check out Empire’s newest Nicholas Sparks flow chart. Genius.

If you’re a horse…
Go see Buck – the inspiring story of the real-life Horse Whisperer. Sadly, you already missed the screening. 

"This life is not an easy one," says Peter Parker. "No s**t" seems the obvious reply as his Spider-Man is put through the ringer by these two and a half minutes.

There's a mesh of seen and unseen footage in the new promo. We see plenty more of Spidey's battles with The Lizard. We also see a geek-tastic shot of Parker crafting his own web shooters. 

But the emotional journey is the focus here. Parker is on a quest to discover what happened to his parents. And his father's scientific research is somehow tied to that of Dr Curt Conners/The Lizard (Rhys Ifans). Someone intended for him to become Spider-Man.

 

This new French subtitled clip has surfaced in anticipation of the French release on 25 May. We don't have a UK release as yet but expect one of the big studios to pick this up promptish during Cannes.

Robert Pattinson's character drives through New York in a limo on a quest to get a haircut in the typically nuanced Cronenberg odyssey. We can't wait to get a look at it at Cannes!