Despite working with some of Hollywood's top directors, Zoe Saldana had never quite jumped into the big league. That changed after Avatar, she tells James Mottram

Classic

'War of the Worlds by H G Wells', Penguin Classics £8.99

Variously interpreted as a commentary on evolutionary theory, British imperialism and Victorian fears and prejudices, War of the Worlds tells the nail-biting tale of one man's struggle to track down his wife during an alien invasion. Included are some of the most vivid scenes of London in literature.

Sure don't get many intergalactic bug-eyed strangers round these parts

Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde

Sam Worthington is taking a career break.

Surrey-born Sam Worthington found fame with mega hit Avatar. He tells Kaleem Aftab that he can't wait for the two sequels

Their output to date includes the zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead and the action comedy Hot Fuzz. Here Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are pictured arriving at the world premiere of their latest film Paul with co-star Sigourney Weaver last night.

Starring: Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis

The veteran director Peter Gill makes his belated debut at the Bush with this sensitive, beautifully acted production of The Aliens, our first glimpse in Britain of work by Annie Baker, the much-lauded young US dramatist. It's a deceptively slight piece that, while it can't live up to the plaudits of the New York critics (who reached for comparisons with Chekhov and Chardin), evinces a real talent for the kind of gentle humour that illustrates how the sadness and the silliness of life are interwoven.

You wait all these years for James Cameron to make a 3D film about a peaceful tribe whose pastoral existence is threatened by greedy developers. Then, like the proverbial London bus, three come along in quick succession.

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Arnie battled with this extraterrestrial lot – invisibility-cloaked, infra-red equipped, ugly as hell – way back in 1987, and their recent duelling with Aliens suggests they're not going away.

Director James Cameron, whose blockbuster "Avatar" set off a 3D frenzy in the movie industry, today told television producers to put aside their worries about higher filming costs and embrace the technology.

Zoe Saldana played no-nonsense heroines in Star Trek and Avatar, and she's just as tough in her latest film, The Losers. The actress tells Gill Pringle why she wants to 'kick some ass'