Back in 2010 those comparisons seemed absurd: how could the writer-director of classy-but-overthought superhero movies, as well as middling oddities such as The Prestige, be seriously thought of in the same bracket as the lambent mind behind Dr Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon?

He petered out under Pitty's savage look: Do you speak Jap? Do you understand the world from inside those bastards' slanty-eyed little head-lopping poem-writing minds?

The old-fashioned way is to use tequesquite, the naturally occurring form of sodium bicarbonate (sold in many Mexican markets). Because tamales don't contain strongly acidic ingredients, tequesquite's leavening is gentle, producing a lovely but less fluffy texture.

In this virtuous voyage of life hull not about like the ark, without the use of rudder, mast, or sail, and bound for no port.