Perhaps they're available on Netflix or can be rented via mail? I've been able to see a few of them via Lovefilm here in the UK. I'd be really surprised if there's not some US-based equivalent (Red box?). If you just want to see them, that might be the way to go? And if you really like them, then that might drive you to buy the Criterion editions.

Red Beard is probably my favourite Kurosawa. It's long and arguably slow, but utterly engaging. The writing and acting are great and there are some scenes in it that have stayed with me for years. I'll put my neck on the block and say that it's flawless (at this point in his career, Kurosawa had mastered the use of black and white, which he continued to use long after colour became dominant), but that's not to say that everyone will like it. For me, it's one of those movies where I become more in love with it with each viewing.

If ever a criticism could be launched at Seven Samurai, it's that the antagonists are underdeveloped - but then, they're like a force of chaos anyway. As for the samurai, I find them all to be distinctive. All things considered, only Gorobei and Shichirōji are a bit thin, but both are still given enough to do to be remembered. They're just not as 'loud' personality wise as the others. And really, 5 out of 7 isn't bad at all.

I've never seen Magnificent Seven, or at least I don't remember it, maybe I should.

There are a couple of tracks in Trevor Jones' score for Excalibur that are good - the main theme being the one most probably remember (that rousing piece that plays as the titular sword returns to the Lady of the Lake).

The soundtracks for Sunshine (John Murphy) and Alexander (Vangelis) are among my favourites. Murphy's Adagio in D Minor/Capa's jump score is phenomenal (and sends shivers up my neck too).

Oh and Last of the Mohicans was pretty great too (Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman) - one of the first albums I ever owned (along with the Top Gun soundtrack).

My earliest memories of the Internet were visiting my father's house and spending hours on end searching through sites for pictures of folks like Jackie Chan and Jet Li and pictures from their movies, and amassing a big collection of rare photographs. At this time, I intended to create a comprehensive Hong Kong Movie website and I started work on it for my IT AS level at school. When that class collapsed (the school messed it up, along with my AS art class), so too did my drive and I never did do the website.

And yes, all this searching was done using Netscape and AOL.

Of course, the other side of that coin is that I would also spend hours into the night at my dad's looking for porn as well - not videos mind you (they were virtually impossible to find/download) just pictures. At one point, my dad actually had the talk with me too as I probably forgot to delete it all.

For other distant memories (again going way back when), I distinctly remember switching to Google. I had been using Yahoo or Ask Jeeves, but on Dial-Up it was just needless time wasted as Yahoo especially had about a million things on their homepage which slowed it down considerably. In contrast, Google had one modestly sized picture and one search bar and was mercifully quick to load as a result. It wasn't an overnight success (taking years actually) but it still surprises me how fundamentally Google took over.

Her expertise with the bow does come into play - the arrow shot from atop the horse knocks the axe out of her father's hands and saves her mother.

I don't much like dogs; cats, however, are awesome and I grew up with them. I love how if they were just a bit bigger, we'd be on their menu.

My favourites this year were probably The Raid and Avengers Assembled. I also really enjoyed The Hobbit, Looper, Dark Knight Rises, Battleship, Dredd (thanks for the reminder Jimmy!) and John Carter.

I was a bad film fan this year, I didn't really see much. I watched a lot more TV in the (dis)comfort of my computer desk (or android phone) - Homeland, Walking Dead, Dexter, Clone Wars, Spartacus, West Wing (old of course) - and played quite a few time-suck computer games (Shogun Total War, Empire Total War, Skyrim, X3: Terran Conflict, Mount & Blade).

I've never seen Road to El Dorado - I should probably a) correct that mistake and b) not admit it out loud.