Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe

Randy Newman always was old before his time, but on the evidence of this memorable evening, the 68-year-old American finally seems to have reached the age he was born to be.

Meet Paul, the toast of this year's London Art Fair. He has one arm and scribbles out portraits in 20 minutes using a biro. Oh, and he's a robot.

The old adage about silence being golden was certainly true in Hollywood last night, after The Artist, a silent, black-and-white movie by a little-known French director emerged with three trophies at the 69th annual Golden Globe awards.

Hiring David Fincher to direct the American remake of The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, the first part of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, must have seemed a smart move by the producers. The gothic matter of family secrets, ritual murders, dogged sleuthing and state corruption looks an ideal fit for a film-maker who's delved deep into the psycho-horrors of Se7en and Zodiac. Yet while you can depend on Fincher's immaculate visual style as much as on his nose for moral putrefaction, it's hard to see how he has enhanced the Swedish original, or even much changed it – aside from getting rid of the subtitles that US audiences find so tricky.

Christmas books of the year

The Return of The Incredibles; Finding Nemo Again; Wall-E Strikes Back... All sequels to Pixar films that make more sense then a second spin for John Lasseter's automotive pet project.

It's not as fun as the 2008 original, but this high-kicking sequel to Jack Black's breakout CGI cartoon is a better film.

For big-budget, effects-driven properties, the studios are being increasingly cautious and, whisper it softly, sensible when it comes to committing millions of dollars to a film production.