You’re too late to vote in Canada’s latest elections so comfort yourself with voting in the Bloggies…
January 26, 2006
January 21, 2006
This list will probably be outdated in the next 5 minutes
Just what you always wanted. The potted summary of who is seeing who in the world of the rich and famous.
Star couples | Top stories | Breaking News 24/7 – NEWS.com.au (19-01-2006)
January 15, 2006
Valiant
I took the kids to the movies. The selection of G movies was Cheaper By the Dozen 2 and Valiant. Valiant was on first and Hanna wanted to see the bird movie because she had seen me looking at the website. So Valiant, it was.
It’s a short movie and that is not a bad thing. Adults may find it short but I like it as the chances of making it through the movie without having to miss part of it due to unexpected toilet breaks are much greater. There are reasons why there used to be intermissions.
The idea was good. Based on the numerous carrier pigeons who were recognised during WWII for their wartime efforts, the premise was a good one. Underdog hero manages to join the military, is involved in a hopeless mission and manages to save the day using brains and courage. And there is the trusty funny sidekick, a hint of romance and if all else fails, lots of action shots.
And it had a good cast. Ewan McGregor as Valiant, Ricky Gervais, Tim Curry, John Cleese…all eminently promising. All it needed was Dame Judi Dench!
Unfortunately the movie falls flat. Its starts off in promising fashion paying homage to WWII newsreel films and propaganda which put a smile on this adults face. But there seems to be a lot of talking and less action. I would have liked to see more about the training as it was just not convincing that Squadron F would be ready for anything. The relationships between the Squadron members could have been developed more.
The role of women…well, your choices were neurotic mother, sexy but ultimately fawning nurse, and tart with a heart. Painful.
Its not a bad movie and I hope it does make a reasonable profit because there are so few G rated movies produced these days, that we really need to commend those who make the effort.
But was it worth the $29 it cost me for tickets for 2 under-fives and myself and a medium popcorn? Is the big screen worth that much?
The answer is probably not. Get it out on DVD and make your popcorn at home.
January 3, 2006
Some men are just like fine wines…
Hunk to activist | Movies | Breaking News 24/7 – NEWS.com.au (02-01-2006)
Quote of the Day:
“Yes, I’m a liberal and I’m sick of it being a bad word. I don’t know
at what time in history liberals have stood on the wrong side of social
issues. We thought that blacks should sit at the front of the bus, that
women should be allowed to vote, that maybe McCarthy was a jerk, that
Vietnam was wrong and strip-bombing Cambodia was probably stupid. We’ve
been on the right side of all these issues.” George Clooney
I love men that are more than just their pretty faces.
November 28, 2005
November 27, 2005
Whatever happened to G-rated movies?
Hanna is 4 years old and has been brought up watching virtually no commercial TV. And when she does its probably SBS. Instead she has watched the offerings of Australia’s Aunty: The Wiggles, Brum, Bob the Builder and the like. Her idea of a treat is watching animal documentaries or Strictly Dancing with Mum. Or Barbie movies *rolls eyes* if we rent something. This is the kid who I love to watch while she watches Tom and Jerry cartoons on the DVD because she absolutely delights in their antics and laughs uproariously. This is the kid who LOVED The Sound of Music.
But every now and then she would like to go to the movies. I have to be reasonably selective as she is not yet inured to the level of violence that the rest of us take for granted. When I took her to the Deckchair Cinema to watch “The Never Ending Story” she got quite scared. I had forgotten all about 1) the big scary ferocious dog/monster waiting to pounce on our hero 2) Storms with thunder and lightning 3) A horse that gets trapped in, and disappears in a swamp. It may have had a G rating but that was quite scary for the girl and I had to constantly reassure her. I haven’t dared to expose her to Snow White because I remember being scared through some of the dark forest sequences.
But I remember going to the flicks on a regular basis. Films like Paper Moon, Escape from Witch Mountain, Snow white, Peter Pan, Storm Boy were just some of the offerings I remember.
Now we missed the latest Wallace & Grommit movie thanks to me becoming literally becalmed so I owe Hanna one. That was almost a month ago. School holidays start next week so I hope that means that more will be on offer. Or should I say, something will be on offer. We have a huge number of little kids in this town as we have one of the highest fertility rates in Australia. If you haven’t got a market here, then you haven’t got a market anywhere. Between 3 movie theatres that have at least 6 theatres each, you would think that somebody could cater for preschoolers.
