I was scrolling through the Freeview guide on the television last night and noticed something called 'Zathura' (2005). I checked out the info text and saw that it was a sequel-of-sorts to Jumanji, except with a sci-fi theme - and that it was directed by John Favreau, as what I calculated must have been his last film before Iron Man. Yes, I thought, I'll give that a go. It had already been on for five minutes but that's OK, I thought, it can't be hard to pick up the plot. I'd missed the titles and had arrived in the middle of a scene where three teenage kids, one with an oxygen nose tube thing, were discussing the angst-ridden aspects of their lives. These were clearly the protagonists whose existence was about to be profoundly altered once they assumed the roles of avatars in the virtual reality of the game world. I kept watching, enjoying the emotional depth with which the characters had been invested. Until, after about fifteen minutes, I started wondering when they were going to find the game.
When the film finally got to the next ad break I looked at the guide again and realised I'd gone to the wrong channel and had been watching almost half an hour of The Fault In Our Stars.
