Another year, another Edinburgh Film Festival, and Rotten Tomatoes is firmly set up in the Scottish city for another fine celebration of film. Running from today until June 28th, it's a perfect opportunity for members of the public to check out some great films well in advance of their main cinema release and it's one of the key film events in the UK.

We're proud to once again be partnering with the festival and will be providing regular updates on what's hot, what's not, and what's going on. We'll also, of course, host the much-loved Rotten Tomatoes party next week and will present our famous Critical Consensus Award, which in its inaugural outing last year went to the fantastic Let the Right One In. Stay tuned for more on that.

For now though, to tonight's opening night and the film that launched the festival, the international premiere of Sam Mendes' Away We Go. Starring John Krasinski (you'll most likely recognise him as Jim from the US version of The Office), Maya Rudolph and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Away We Go is a globetrotting comedy drama about a pregnant couple who choose to up sticks and relocate, learning tough lessons about parenthood on the way. Cut from the Juno cloth, it's a quirky and accessible tale with a soundtrack to die for.

Sam Mendes talks to journalists at the premiere of Away We Go.

Critics have been mixed on the film. After a US rollout it sits at 60% on the Tomatometer and while UK reviews weren't forthcoming at time of press -- tonight's premiere was the film's first local rollout -- their counterparts across the pond have been lukewarm on the film's charms. It's "a low-key comedy with its lead characters displaying an ambling, laid-back charm," says Moira MacDonald in the Seattle Times. Roger Ebert describes it simply as "a film for nice people to see."

Some have hailed it as one of the year's best comedies, but others still have called its quality into question. It "squanders its genuine assets and ends up not as special as it tries to be," according to Kenneth Turan in the LA Times, while A.O. Scott was particularly scathing in New York. "Does it sound as if I hate this movie? Don't be silly. But don't be fooled. This movie does not like you."

Nevertheless, a fine Edinburgh crowd gathered for one of 6 screenings of the film that happened tonight -- three for invited guests including Sir Sean Connery, Joe Wright and Alan Cumming and three for the public, this is a festival for all to visit -- and the throng made their way to a lavish afterparty at Teviot Row House in Bristo Square. By all accounts they're all still there, for the party was in full swing when RT decided to call it a night at around 1AM. Well, it wouldn't be a film festival without a few late nights, would it?

Check out our gallery of shots from the red carpet tonight - click here!

Roger Corman Retrospective by Kim Newman
Every day during the festival, Edinburgh will be showing one of B-movie legend Roger Corman's classics, leading up to a Q&A with the man himself -- hosted by our very own Kim Newman - on Wednesday 24th. In celebration, Kim will be reviewing each of the films playing as part of our coverage of the festival.

- The Fall of the House of Usher - Screening Thursday 18th at 13:00, Filmhouse 1
The first of Roger Corman's richly-coloured, engagingly overripe widescreen gothic horror films, this introduced name star Vincent Price to the works of Edgar Allan Poe and benefits from Richard Matheson's literate but knowing script. Four people gloom around the vast interior of a crumbling mansion, waiting for the last reel fire to bring the roof down on their heads, and Price brings just the right amount of camp to suffering anti hero Roderick Usher. The plot covers burial alive, incest, monomania, a family curse and sadism, and a formula was established which would serve for five years' worth of similar classics.

Tomorrow's Highlights
Keep an eye out for these films amongst those playing at the festival tomorrow, Thursday 18th May.

- High Life -- Screening at 18:30, Cineworld
Heist movie fun with Timothy Olyphant.

- A Boy Called Dad -- Screening at 20:15, Cineworld
How do you deal with fatherhood at 14? Brit drama with Ian Hart.

- The Private Lives of Pippa Lee -- Screening at 20:30, Cineworld
A star-studded drama with Robin Wright Penn, Keanu Reeves and Julianne Moore.

To book tickets for these films and more, click here. Join us again soon for more on these films and the Edinburgh Film Festival 2009.