Apart from seeming like one of the friendliest people to walk the earth, documentarian Morgan Spurlock – the man with the 30 Day fixation – is fond of teaching us what we already know.

Following up his feature-length experiment with a certain fast food chain in Super-Size Me, Spurlock has turned to the power of product placement – or,  as it’s now more sterilely known, “co-promotion”. As 4 companies spent 75% of last year’s total advertising (totalling $412 billion dollars), the commercial trend towards co-promotion is an idea worth investigating. Using a meta approach, the film is entirely funded by product placement. Taking place in meeting rooms across America, Spurlock’s pitches explain the film’s concept as he traverses the landmine site of brand personalities and tricky contracts.

While there are tidbits of interesting theories of advertising from the likes of Ralph Nader and of artistic integrity from various blockbuster directors, it comes as no surprise when Spurlock’s seemingly forward-thinking brands of choice revert with immediacy to stock marketing techniques and safe-bet advertising.  A visit to Sao Paulo also serves the story well, throwing into sharp relief the sheer pervasive presence of advertising in our daily lives.

Though there’s not much to be learned, Spurlock’s dependably sharp ideas and jocularity shine through. Though he glosses over moments of frustration and confusion, his simple presentation provide facts to chew on, sending you back into the world feeling a little more aware of what’s around you. Throwaway but enjoyable, it’s documentary lite.

Read more: The Help Review; Footloose Review.

At the risk of outing myself as a child of the 90s, this film was a lot of fun. More fun, in fact, than the original.

Shifting our smouldering lead Ren McCormack from Chicago to Boston and trading his troubled family for a recently departed single mother, our loveable hothead is transformed into a multi-talented craftsman in the hands of possible up-and-comer Kenny Wormald. Meanwhile Julianne Hough steps into Lori Singer’s dancing shoes as preacher’s daughter Ariel Moore, native to the now-Southern town of Bomont, Georgia.

While this remake is more MTV than John Hughes, it also doctors a number of inefficiencies in the original script. Softened around the edges, both lead characters are infused with deeper backstories, tendencies towards confrontation over fisticuffs, and some serious moves. An updated but faithful soundtrack adds to the dynamism of the ever-awaited dance scenes, infusing that 80s charm with country flavour and a sprinkling of hip-hop beats. Between the serious and the salacious, a peppering of action sequences and fiery crashes fail to speed up the proceedings of a slow-moving story, but are pulled off with comparable aplomb.

Awkward dramatic moments and casual sexism put the film’s third act into throwaway territory, but behind the odd bungle there’s a cast of loveable hicks with big hearts and real community spirit.

Hammy, dramatic, but ultimately buoyed with euphonic energy, your toes will tap despite themselves.

Footloose is released in UK cinemas this Friday 14 October. If you’re a sucker for the original, it’s repeated this Saturday 15 October at 6.55pm on Film 4.

After a long summer of blockbusters and lacklustre rom-coms, one can’t help but crave the hearty Southern-style sustenance offered by The Help. Set in Jim Crow’s Mississippi, actor-director Tate Taylor’s adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling novel takes on the trials and tribulations of the help: granddaughters of black house slaves, part of the tradition of home-keepers and child-rearers for the affluent whites.

When white-girl Skeeter (Emma Stone) returns from Ol’ Miss and lands a job as the Jackson Journal’s “domestic maintenance” columnist, she enlists a friend’s maid Aibileen (a quietly powerful Viola Davis) for help. Rocked by old pal Hilly’s (Bryce Dallas Howard) treatment of her maid Minny (Octavia Spencer), Skeeter decides to interview the maids to tell their side of the story, embarking on an illicit bid to publish their tales.

Emma Stone shines as an ambitious 23 year-old smothered by old-world expectations, keeping worldly wisdom under the wraps of a youthful façade. In direct opposition, Bryce Dallas Howard resurrects a little matriarchal magic, but the true mammy is Minny, who encapsulates the frustration of disaffected labourers of the time.

Mississippi’s maids gain honour and respect in this war of wills, and though no literal war is won, The Help is an ideological heart-warmer.

The Help is released in UK cinemas on Wednesday 26 October. Buy the book here.

You can hear me and Paul Gallagher review The Help and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn on BBC Movie Café on Thursday 27 October.