“Ben: Actually, I know Rob a bit. He’s from very close to where I lived. I used to sing with his sister at school weirdly. We used to do Soul nights. I think it’s just about having confidence. The hardest thing is when you first start to do things like this (interviews). I’m not surprised if he was freaked out at Comic Con. It’s having confidence that people are asking questions because they want to know the answers not because they’re trying to ‘get’ you. If you can’t think of an answer it’s okay to say ‘I don’t know’. You don’t have to be interesting and funny all the time. But I’m sure he has a much better handle on it than I do. I wanted to be in that Twilight film but I was too old (geez, he’s only in his late 20’s). There’s no way I could look seventeen for the next three years. Tell Rob hi and good luck for me.”

Coming soon: Films for 2009

In 2008 Rambo, Bond and Batman got their comebacks right but Indiana Jones got it gut-wrenchingly wrong. So what’s on the cinematic menu for 2009? GAVIN ALLEN takes a look

JANUARY

January is like a clear night at the movies; all you will see are stars. The weightiest film will be part one of Steve Soderbergh’s massive biopic Che, starring Benicio Del Toro as Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, and you really won’t want to miss Danny Boyle’s Mumbai-set love story Slumdog Millionaire, which may not look like your cup of tea but, trust me, it’s magnificent. The big names are out in force though. Get ready for Will Smith in suicide drama Seven Pounds; Tom Cruise Nazi-ing up in an eye-patch for Bryan Singer’s WWII drama Valkyrie; the Titanic pairing of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio who are reunited for the ‘50s-set romance Revolutionary Road; Daniel Craig arming himself for combat in WWII resistance film Defiance; Sean Penn in Gus van Sant’s ‘70s-set gay rights film Milk. The Welsh interest comes when Michael Sheen leans into an act-off of frightening proportions with Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon, pictured.

FEBRUARY

Biggest film of the month will undoubtedly be David Fincher’s weird but apparently stunning film The Strange Case of Benjamin Button, in which Brad Pitt plays a man who ages backwards, below. There’s also part two of Che, while Clint Eastwood, above, returns to acting in fine style with Gran Torino. Acting gongs are also being thrust at Meryl Streep for crusading nun drama Doubt. There’s thinking-man’s sci-fi with Push and horror from Blade director David Goyer in The Unborn, about a girl who is cursed to live in a world of nightmares.

MARCH

The year’s most anticipated comic-book flick is The Watchmen, an adaptation of what many people consider to be the greatest graphic novel of all time. There’s the sure-to-succeed B-movie comedy horror of Lesbian Vampire Killers, which comes from Gavin and Stacey pair James Cordon, left, and Matthew Horne. Michael Sheen plays legendary football manager Brian Clough in The Dammed United and Gwyneth Paltrow falls in love with Joaquin Phoenix in New York-set romance Two Lovers. Also, Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly has made The Box, a film about a couple who find a mysterious box that grants their wishes, but each wish costs a human life.

APRIL

The box-office will be eaten by Monsters V Aliens, below, the latest CGI family comedy from Shrek creators Dreamworks, and advance word is that it’s more fun than swimming in a sea of raspberry jelly. Also likely to provide a lot of laughs is The Boat That Rocked, ‘60s set comedy from Four Weddings And A Funeral director Richard Curtis, with Rhys Ifans, below right, in the plum lead role. More weighty will be the big-screen adaptation of TV journalism drama State Of Play starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck.

MAY

The new Star Trek film, directed by Lost mastermind JJ Abrams, is sure to do massive business and overshadow pretty much anything else May has to offer, which includes Tom Hanks, below, wearing that ridiculous curly mullet again for Angels and Demons, the prequel to The Da Vinci Code; let’s hope it’s nowhere near as bad. Anyone looking for some decent horror in 2009 will want to keep their eyes open for Drag Me To Hell, a return to the frights for Sam Raimi after too-long in Spideyland.

JUNE

The summer blockbuster schedule is a battle of the giant robot sequels. Hope persists in my idiotic heart that Terminator Salvation will see Christian Bale, as John Connor, reinvigorating a once-great franchise. Shia Lebeouf will be facing down Megatron again as Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, below, returns to make sure that any box office dollars are taken by the machines in June. If you are looking for an antidote to the FX spectaculars then do not miss 44 Inch Chest, which reunites the Sexy Beast team for another burst of crazed swearing and British gangster violence.

JULY

Can anything stop Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince, below, from casting another spell over everyone? Yes it can. Competition for the family dollar will come from CGI threequel in Ice Age: Dawn of The Dinosaurs and Land Of the Lost in which Will

Benjamin "Ben" Barnes  (born 20 August 1981) is an English actor. He has appeared in the television series Doctors and Split Decision, and in the films Stardust, Bigga Than Ben and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Barnes was born in London, England to Tricia, a psychotherapist, and Thomas Barnes, a professor of psychiatry He has a younger brother, Jack, and is an alumnus of both Homefield Preparatory School and King's College School, where he was a contemporary of film actor Khalid Abdalla and comedian Tom Basden. He studied Dramaand English literature at Kingston University.Barnes began his acting career in theatre in 2004.It was revealed in the June/July 2008 issue of CosmoGIRL! magazine that he was a singer in the boyband Hyrise, who were in the running to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. Barnes began working in television in 2006. He made his film debut in the 2007 film Stardust, portraying Young Dunstan Thorn. He later starred in Suzie Halewood's Bigga Than Ben, which was released in October 2008 in the UK.In February 2007, it was announced Barnes would play the role of Caspian in the film adaption of The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian, directed by Andrew Adamson Adamson said "Caspian is a coming of age and, to some degree, a loss of innocence story, with Caspian starting out quite naïve, then craving revenge and finally letting go of the vengeance." While many readers interpret Caspian as a child, a passage in the novel mentions his age to be near that of Peter's, so an older actor was sought to match William Moseley. Barnes had read the novel as a child, and was cast in two-and-a-half weeks after meeting with the filmmakers. He spent two months in New Zealand horse riding and stunt training to prepare for shooting. Barnes modelled his Spanish accent on Mandy Patinkin's performance as Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride Adamson did not expect to cast a British actor as Caspian, and said Barnes fitted well into the surrogate family of Adamson and the four actors playing the Pevensies. When cast, Barnes was appearing in the National Theatres West End production of TheHistory Boys producer Mark Johnson joked Barnes "probably isn't the National [Theatre]'s favorite actor right now", although Barnes has stated in interviews that he gave the theatre good notice.Barnes worked his way around the world in June to promote Prince Caspian. He is also set to reprise his role (this time as King Caspian) in the third film in the Narnia series, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Filming is expected to begin in January 2009  with locations in Rosarito, Mexico, Prague & Australia, with a release date still listed of 7 May 2010.In Spring 2008 he finished filming the role of John Whittaker for Noël Coward's romantic comedy, Easy Virtue opposite Jessica Biel. Written and directed by Australian Stephan Elliott the film is due to premier at the Toronto Film Festivalon 8 September 2008. It's also scheduled for the Rio Film Festival and London Film Festival prior to its 7 November release world wide.As of October 2008, Barnes has just finished filming the title role in the latest version of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray for Ealing Studios directed by Oliver ParkerBarnes has stated that he'd like to play the part of Aro in the 2009 film-version of Stephenie Meyer book New Moon (novel) Filmography