I was about to moan about the number of Saul Bass press releases-cum-articles doing the rounds when I found this voice of reason in, of all places, the Guardian. Title sequences are obviously important, but importing auteurism into this particular field is surely one beating too many for the expiring horse of classic Hollywood. Especially when Bass’ seminal sequences for Hitchcock (Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho; 1958-1959-1960) are unthinkable without Bernard Herrmann’s music. What’s worse is the r0ck1sm in statements like this: ‘Influenced by their innovations, emulators had tried too hard to impress, and the couple felt the art had been devalued: “It got to a point where it seemed that everybody got up there before the film and did a tap dance.”‘ I guess it’s a border issue, to be decided by judges more refined than me, how far a title sequences can impress before it’s ‘showing off’, but one recent example I was happy to see again was for ‘Panic Room’, the incredible 3-disc box-set of which I hope to watch as soon as I have six weeks free. The link between these thoughts being provided by the magic of interweb technology…