ParaNorman, Wreck It Ralph and The Guardians

ParaNorman, Wreck It Ralph and The Guardians... if Big Brother is really checking what movie tickets I buy, he will by now have realised it's summer school holidays here in New Zealand and that I've given up on entertaining my kids in quality educational ways like making our own soap.

And so, off to the movies we went. Three times. None of the three movies were hidden gems like Kung Fu Panda, but they were all immensely watchable.

Wreck It Ralph will appeal to most parents because of its arcade-game look. Its story line is sound, the plot twists believable... if only it didn't have so many Pahntom-Menace-like races around the track!

The Guardians is prettier, if a little less original. If I had to go into stereotypes, I'd say this one is more of a girl movie than Wreck It Ralph.

ParaNorman... not for little kids. Some 8-year olds may be ok with it, some 10-year olds might cry over the ghost of the pet dog. I hesitated for a long time before taking my son to see it, read all the reviews, went yuck to the zombies. In the end, I had fun. The scary bits are all delivered with a wink and a pinch of salt, but you have to appreciate black humour to enjoy them.

Can't wait to see The Croods!

The Other Shade Of Yvonne Walus

Hi, meet Eve Summers, the other shade of Yvonne Walus. Read an interview about her (and how she once went skinny dipping) here, at A Passion For Romance.

The tragedy of life

The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.

~ Benjamin E Mays

Tom Cruise Rules!

And so, I was right. All you need to play Jack Reacher is an exceptional acting talent. Tom Cruise has that in spades. When he's on the screen, you believe he's Reacher.

I mean, yes, the fight scenes would have been more impressive with Lawrance Dallaglio. Question is, can Lawrance Dallaglio act? Tom Cruise can, to labour the point. 

Go see the movie. It's good.

Dallaglio

Happy 2013!

To quote Abba:

Happy new year

Happy new year

May we all have a vision now and then

Of a world where every neighbour is a friend

Happy new year

Happy new year

May we all have our hopes, our will to try

If we don't we might as well lay down and die

You and I

Merry Christmas!

The Hobbit - 3D High Frame - My Precious?

I'm glad I've seen The Hobbit. And I'm glad I've seen it in the much-talked-about 3D high frame rate (Mr Google assures me it's 48 frames). Visually, it's a feast of intricate images, colours and super-realistic special effects. The scene in which Bilbo and Gollum hold their riddle duel is worth suffering all the rolling heads that surround it.

Plotwise, however, I felt the run time of almost three hours could have, should have, been cut to about one-and-three-quarters. No, I'm not a Tolkien purist. I don't care about the extra material from other notes, I don't care about diversions from the way the book's written. I do care about being entertained, though, and lengthy battle scenes can only hold my interest for, oh, about thirty seconds.

World-creating-wise, I loved the Shire. Although nothing really happened there, and it took a long time for the nothing really to happen, I could have watched it over and over again. In fact, I could have happily watched three hours of The Hobbit - An Alternative To The Journey, in which Bilbo stays and home and bakes cookies.

Still, it's a must-see. To quote another reviewer: "You'll leave with a smile, even if you spent a good portion of the past three hours yawning."

And, speaking as a visitor to the lovely Welligton, correction, The Middle Of Middle Earth, I loved how the city dressed up to celebrate the premiere.

Conveyer belt at Wellington's airport