God, I really can't muster much enthusiasm to tell you about Speed Racer, the new one from the Wachowski brothers, except to say that for a simple, primary-coloured kids' film (parents will be bored out of their wits) it is surprisingly long and convoluted. The pulpy exploitation flick Bound and The Matrix (the original, not the dreadful sequels) are beginning to look like distant memories.

Speed Racer manages to waste an awful lot of reliable talent - not just the likes of Susan Sarandon and John Goodman and Christina Ricci, but my friend John Benfield, who plays Cruncher Block. I once had dinner at a hotel I was reviewing in Oxford with John and his wife Lil and we judged decor, food and wine on whether someone called Cruncher Block would approve. It proved a surprisingly useful critical yardstick. And if Speed Racer turns into a franchise, I might finally know someone who has their own action figure.

Watch out, though, for The Honeydripper, a small-scale and virtually all-black John Sayles film about a musician (Danny Glover) trying to keep his eponymous music bar afloat in 1950s Alabama. The script is honourable and serviceable rather than brilliant and  the performances are solid, especially Glover's, but the music is fabulous. I used to have a 1950s song called The Honeydripper on tape. Can't remember who sang it. Anyone help me out?