In these cynical times, it’s easy to pour scorn on the vague rumblings emerging from Hollywood’s rumour mill, as well as stars returning decades later to the roles that made them famous. Let’s face it, Indy didn’t exactly light our fires the fourth time around, and who the hell gives a shit about Wall Street II?

No-one, that’s who.

Of course, there is one property that we’ve been longing to see again, we’ve ruminated on it in the past, we’ve covered the rumours more recently, and given the current propensity for huge hair, bleached jeans and ‘Poison’ tour shirts here in London town, we pretty much encounter it on a daily basis on our way to work.

No, not ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’.

That’s right, we’re talking about the long awaited return of Bill S. Preston Esq. And Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan.

If there’s one thing likely to lift that grim sheen of shattered sequel hopes , it’s a final comeback tour from Wyld Stallyns themselves, and now it looks like it may actually happen.

Speaking to MTV, Alex Winter today confirmed that the bodacious duo are working on a way to return to this time period:

“We kicked around the idea over the years and had always thought if we could make something that was as kind of genuine in spirit as the originals and without falling prey to kind of retro cynicism or something that was unnecessary, it would be worth doing. Now the cat’s out of the bag, and the truth is that, yeah, we have finally hit upon an idea that we think is pretty great. We’ve been working on it for the past couple of years, honing that idea and getting it into shape.”

While there’s no set date for a release, this is the most promising franchise news we’ve had in a long time, let’s just hope it isn’t bogus.

God alone knows what John Cusack is thinking these days, sullying his once minty fresh, high fidelity screen persona with crud like 2010 and America’s Sweethearts. Fortunately it looks like he might be back on the winning horse as he and the three unlikeliest friends ever to grace the screen head back to the 80’s in new comedy Hot Tub Time Machine. Sure it’s stupid, but the decade that gave us the haystack rule of sexuality (the higher the hair, the sexier the woman…) was responsible for some of the gnarliest movie dialogue ever -so make sure you’re prepared with the new Hot Tub time Machine iPhone App!

Combining seemingly senseless words like ‘great white buffalo’ and ‘Twittagra’ will make sure you’re the most annoying person in your office for at least the next fortnight -get over to the Apple store and bag yours now!

Hollywood studios are renowned for relentless tinkering, middle managers and yes men sticking their oar in and befuddling a perfectly good script with Star Cameos, Product Placement and Giant Mechanical Spiders, usually resulting in a hopeless chud-fest that leaves the cinema crowd vomiting their bile all over the internet. It’s ruined careers – Joel Schumacher take a bow – and in some cases even bought studios to their knees – we’re looking at you Heaven’s Gate.

But just occasionally, it can be a good thing.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be taking you through some truly great movies, and showing you how totally crappy they’d have been if a few faceless suits hadn’t rocked up, treated the writers like shit and the director like a moron, and totally changed everything!

First up, a faultless 80s classic that got out alive: Back To The Future.

When Bob’s Gale and Zemeckis first came up with BTTF, it was roundly trounced by the studios. Now, admittedly any movie with borderline incest as a major plot point is going to be a hard sell, but with the relentlessly upbeat attitude, and fantastically tight dialogue that constantly drives an intricate plot, it’s a sure-fire winner right?

Well, maybe after 15 rewrites it is, but the first couple of drafts?

For starters there’s Marty, a cocky, consumerist kid who doesn’t give a damn about the people around him – in short, he’s a dick. And Doc Brown? Well, here he’s Professor Brown, a failure of a man, filled with self-hatred and running a bootleg video operation from his garage.

Together they flog dodgy Beta grot in a hideous, run-down and boarded up Hill Valley not a million miles from Biff’s alternate 1985 that popped up in part 2. Meanwhile the world outside is teetering at 2 minutes to midnight, permanently on the brink of destruction -and Marty for one is actively looking forward to it!

“You know what I think about atomic bombs – I’d kinda like to see one”

There’s no denying the cheery optimism of the script is there?

Not to mention the relentless product placement that runs through the whole thing. In the final version, the Flux Capacitor – with a little help from one point twenty one gigawatts of electricity – powers the DeLorean through time. In this draft? Coke. Nope, not that kind. Even for depressed screenwriters penning an Ibsen-esque version of a ruined future, drug-powered time travel may be too much to swallow -we’re talking good old fashioned Coca Cola.

You see, according to our hero, Coca-Cola’s recipe is ‘The most closely guarded secret in the world’. We kind of suspect that’s because it’s full of deadly chemicals, rather than harbouring dimension-cracking science secrets, but hey- we’re not writing a blockbuster! In fact such is it’s power that 50’s Professor Brown uses it to create a series of fizzy-pop powered sci-fi technologies and rescue the future!

Of course, all the flying cars and robot houses of the future come at a price: No Rock N’ Roll. This time round apparently Marty’s performance – at the ‘Springtime In Paris’ rhythmic courtship ritual – is so godawful it effectively kills off new music. You can have your flying car, but it will only pick up Nat “King” Cole on the radio – sounds like a gip to us.

In fact, there’s only one thing in this script that was worth keeping – instead of a bolt of lightning returning us to the 80’s, here it’s the most ass-kicking method imaginable: an atomic bomb test, meaning Marty gets his wish after all.

So, imagine a world with no meddling Studio Suits. In that alternate timeline, Back To The Future is a depressing, rock n roll killing -and perhaps more tellingly, DeLorean-less - downbeat post-modern nightmare.

Is that really a price you’d be willing to pay for artistic freedom?

Robert Schwentke obviously faced a tough job adapting Niffenegger’s rich, layered novel for the screen, and while it often feels both lacking in depth and overcrowded, Hapless Time-Jumper Henry’s struggle to build a relationship with Clare, remains intact, and it’s here that the film genuinely scores points.

Make no mistake, there’s an awful lot crammed into a running time just short of 110 minutes, and some fairly important nuances are lost. The trailer’s hinted that it may be an overly sentimental cut and paste job, and this is unfortunately often true. The already complex narrative deserving far more breathing room than it’s given.

Luckily for Schwentke, Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams are pitch-perfect. Their conviction anchoring a genuinely compelling and often very moving old fashioned love story, which will surely strike a note with anyone who has ever been involved in a long distance relationship. The performances ring with honesty and display two fantastic performances that are gripping without ever resorting to unnecessary pyrotechnics.

The direction itself echoes this, being competent and un-showy, and while the photography may have more than a hint of Hollywood treacle about it, it never becomes too intrusive, resulting in a tale that, despite the obvious McGuffin, doesn’t feel constructed.

A perfectly cast, if workmanlike adaptation that unfortunately lacks the elegance and depth of the novel, The Time Traveller’s Wife is still a solid love story worthy of consideration.