With film studios Pixar and Dreamworks seeming to have a never-ending stream of animated output, it’s easy to forget that there is animation beyond what these two big Hollywood hitters produce.

The beauty of animation – and a large part of its appeal for studio executives and distributors – is that it’s easy to make an animated film foreign market friendly. Voices can be recorded in different languages to suit without damaging the viewing experience and actors that appeal to the target market can be cast, maximising box office takings.

Dragon Hunters is an odd little French-made animation, hugely bolstered in the UK and USA market by the recruiting of Oscar winner Forest Whitaker to supply the voice for one of the main characters. Not only does it give the film credibility, it also benefits from Whitaker’s enormous talent, which brings genuine sensitivity to the big dumb dude he plays adding much to the movie’s warmth.

Set in a time when the world exists as a series of disparate floating islands in the sky threatened by a fearsome supernatural dragon creature, this animated fantasy tale is a refreshing change from formulaic (albeit well-executed) Hollywood fare.

When inept dragon hunters Gwizdo (Rob Paulsen) and Lian-Chu (Whitaker) are asked by ruler Lord Arnold (Nick Jameson) to rid the land of the terrible World Gobbler before their world is literally gobbled up, the underhand Gwizdo, seduced by the promise of riches, accepts. Plotting to flee with the gold without completing the mission, his plan is scuppered when his burly kind-hearted partner doesn’t want to play ball, and when young Zoe (Mary Mouser) – Lord Arnold’s niece – decides to tag along, they are forced to carry out the task. Will Gwizdo learn the error of his ways? And can the three of them – with animal sidekick Hector (Dave Wittenberg) – manage to defeat the foe?

Dragon Hunters borrows elements from familiar animated features and rolls them into one to create an intriguing cartoon curiosity. With Shrek-like humour and an Igor-esque tone, the film is also visually reminiscent of anime king Hayao Miyazaki’s films, channelling as it does ideas from both Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away.

But, although it may feel like a mishmash of begged, borrowed and stolen ideas, it actually works well as a whole; there’s an appealing mix of humour, sweetness, darkness and fantasy.

Its strength, however, lies in its ability to tap into a child’s imagination. A child would think nothing of conjuring up a monster made of mutant bats, or throwing a herd of sheep into the mix. Its other strength is that it’s an original screenplay. In an age when fewer and fewer movies are made in this way (most seem to come from pre-existing source material such as novels or comic books), it is laudable that the animated feature still relies largely on original material.

With a relatively high number of scary scenes, Dragon Hunters might unsettle more sensitive children but ultimately Dragon Hunters is a far better watch than many live action movies aimed at the same age group.

Fans of Will Ferrell always wait with bated breath for his latest gag-littered offering but bar the blip that was Land of the Lost, it’s been two years since we were last able to get our laughing gear round some quality Ferrell funniness with Step Brothers.

In The Other Guys, Ferrell teams up once again with writer-director Adam McKay, forging another rib-cracking collaboration guaranteed to tickle your funny bone.

Taking a different tack to previous works Step Brothers, Talladega Nights and Anchorman, The Other Guys is essentially a buddy cop movie spoof, with two seemingly mismatched detectives thrown awkwardly together but who eventually find common ground and mutual respect to form a successful working relationship. However, where these sorts of films usually put two of the best guys on the force together (with one frequently a maverick), The Other Guys focuses on – well, the other guys.

When hotshot police partnership P.K. Highsmith (Samuel L Jackson) and Christopher Danson (Dwayne Johnson) are killed in the line of duty, a space opens up for a new venerable crime-busting duo and Detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), demoted to a low-key desk job after accidentally shooting baseball star Derek Jeter, is eager to make the role his. His admin-adoring partner Allen Gamble (Ferrell), however, wants nothing less.

FERRELL: He funny. It's official.

When the twosome arrest wealthy business man David Ershon (Steve Coogan) for a scaffolding permit violation, they find themselves embroiled in a far-reaching financial scam that they must get to the bottom of. But will their ineptitude put paid to their ambitions to act on their instincts and uncover the evidence they need to foil the plot?

A McKay – Ferrell comedy with edge, The Other Guys is a blend of typical Will Ferrell farce with an action-heavy crime story plot akin to forerunners Rush Hour and Pineapple Express.

McKay is a master at writing highly quotable screenplays and though The Other Guys isn’t quite as quotation-friendly as Anchorman, there are plenty of original witticisms to make you titter. The comedy begins with quick-fire funnies that almost wear you out, you’ll be laughing so hard and so often; in particular, the lion versus tuna exchange which is arguably the jewel in the crown of the movie’s comic dialogue.

Inevitably, the humour wanes as the film involves itself more with plot and you’ll lament the lessening of laughter more than you’re thankful for the chance to take a breath.

The film, therefore, sags in places and an occasional misplaced, mistimed joke will have you snickering uncomfortably.

A long-forgotten Michael Keaton is inspired casting in the role of police Captain Gene Mauch and adds much with his presence and delivery to the quality of humour in the film, while Steve Coogan is all but wasted in his sidelined role as the unscrupulous business man.

However, Mark Wahlberg makes a great po-faced straight man to play against Will Ferrell’s zaniness and although this isn’t Ferrell’s funniest film ever, it is great to see him on form and proving there are few working in Hollywood right now funnier and more consistent than he.

Featuring Superbad’s Jonah Hill as the eponymous Cyrus, the film’s low-key storyline focuses on divorcee John (John C Reilly), a down-on-his-luck freelance editor who has struggled to find romance since wife Jamie (Catherine Keener) left him seven years ago.

John is astonished; Molly seems too good to be true. And she is. A single mother, she lives with her 21 year old son Cyrus (Hill), enjoying a relationship that borders on Oedipal. Cyrus’s dependence on his mother, who he calls by her first name, quickly impinges on John’s relationship with Molly and when John attempts to play Cyrus at his own game, things fall apart. Will Cyrus realise the error of his ways and let his mum find happiness, or is it too late?

With star of frat pack-style comedies like Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, Jonah Hill, attached to the project alongside John C Reilly, who has graduated from dramatic roles to establish himself firmly in the comedy arena with roles in laugh-a-thons Step Brothers, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Talladega nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, you expect more of the same type of low-brow shenanigans from the chuckle-inducing twosome.

But what you actually get is a totally unexpected little indie-style romantic dramedy. As a result, it leaves you wrong footed and you spend a good deal of time working out the tone of the film. Once you realise that it isn’t going to break into juvenile humour, you begin to allow yourself to enjoy the restrained and subtly humorous performances from the cast. The directing duo cleverly plays to Hill’s strengths and allows elements of his unhinged, straight-faced tomfoolery peek through – in particular when Cyrus is playing his synth music and when relations between John and Cyrus are at their most strained, bringing a welcome touch of laugh-out-loud quirkiness to the film.

An injection of realism into the screenplay, aided and abetted by the shooting and editing style, directorial decisions and performances, lends a tragic feel to all three main characters that is a little uncomfortable for the audience to deal with at times but which also builds sympathy.

You will wonder how John – an unremarkable man in looks and personality – manages to bag two such gorgeous and intelligent women but this is ultimately a Hollywood-made flick and at least some glamour – and a modicum of suspension of disbelief – is required.

Stephen Frears has some pedigree. Director of The Queen, he is also the man at the helm of Hanif Kureishi-penned films My Beautiful Launderette – a critical hit on its 1985 release – and 1987’s Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, as well as landmark US films Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters and High Fidelity. As such, he is an unlikely name for directing duties on Tamara Drewe, a low-budget Richard Curtis-flavoured romantic comedy based on a comic strip.

That said, he does give it a modicum of depth and there is evidence of an acutely-observed slice of middle class country-dwelling life that injects some worthiness into the proceedings and lifts the film above the comedy-for-comedy’s-sake tag.

The Posy Simmonds comic strip which appeared in The Guardian and which itself is based on Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd has been closely adhered to in the making of the movie adaptation and as a result, the film is a minor triumph.

Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton) is a successful young journalist who returns to her childhood home in the English countryside when it’s put up for sale. Her return causes something of a stir amongst the locals as her emotions for her teenage love re-emerge, feelings of lust are ignited and she brings new boyfriend Ben Sergeant (Dominic Cooper), drummer from rock band Swipe into the village, sending two hormonal schoolgirls mad with envy. It’s fair to say she turns life in the rural idyll upside down. But as those around her are forced to face their own issues as a result of the sparks created by her re-appearance, so secrets and lies are uncovered and confronted.

Tamara Drewe is one of the most charming British comedies since the Mike Newell-directed Four Weddings and a Funeral, making eye-catching use of some glorious Dorset locations and shining a light on the oft-neglected (in cinematic terms) middle classes.

All luscious lips and curvaceous lines, Gemma Arterton is perfectly cast as femme fatale Tamara Drewe, the object of affection for several of the village’s males but it is Tamsin Greig that is the true heart of this film. Her affecting performance as the under-appreciated wife of successful writer Nicholas Hardiment (Roger Allam) makes your heart break.

Most of the film’s funniest moments occur when schoolgirls Jessica (Jody Long) and Charlotte (Casey Shaw) are on screen. Both put in accurate performances that brilliantly capture the small-town teen. The stereotyped rock star character aside (warning: Dominic Cooper may make you squirm), Tamara Drewe is an absorbing British comedy film with a heart and a theatrical feel that makes it worth a little more than the average low-budget rom-com.

I went to a very special screening of Back to the Future last night at The Empire, Leicester Square.

It was introduced by the MD of Universal. The Empire was the cinema in which the film had its UK premiere 25 years ago so it was quite a privilege.

It’s being re-released in cinemas, all spruced up and HD-ified for a new audience and people like me who love the film but never saw it on the big screen.

I have to say, I loved watching it last night more than I ever thought I would, even though I love the film, like everyone else.

It has lost none of its appeal. In fact, it’s quite possibly better because of the fondness we all have for it now. And having seen it so many times over the years (but not for ages), it’s nice to pay attention to subtleties that you may never have even noticed before.

So catch it when it hits cinemas on 1st October please. It’s well worth it!

The trilogy is also released on BluRay on 25 October by the way.