19 January 2010

Arts Corner: January is film month

Now the sledging season's ended, I seem to have taken up film-watching. I've caught more films this month than I probably did in the whole of last year - I suspect that's because (a) they're quite good for keeping small folk amused at the end of a long, cold day and (b) I've been ill, and there's only so much of Radio 4's afternoon play you can listen to before becoming slightly deranged.

So far, the list includes:

Fantastic Mr Fox at the Sunday morning cinema (followed by some rather excellent buns at the Chinese bakery). It was fantastic in every way - I especially loved the design of the sets, and the opening sequence when the two foxes chase across the farm.

Ice Princess, while swathed in blankets on the sofa. Don't laugh, it was quite good, especially if you're partial to a bit of ice skating. Might watch it again with the girl at some point.

Nanny McPhee, on a freezing cold Sunday afternoon while recovering. We made popcorn, and snuggled up on the sofa. I loved this - it was brilliant at working on grown up and kid-levels. M liked the silly things - the worm sandwiches, the toad in the teapot, the dyed lambs at the wedding (and, of course, the magic). I loved the set design again (gorgeous use of colours), and the timeless nature of the story (you know it happened sometime in the past, but it doesn't really matter when). Oh, and Colin Firth's quite watchable for an hour or two, obviously.

Up in the Air, at a real, grown-up cinema (the Tyneside). Comfy seats, mocha coffee, the works. Fabulous. And a fantastic film too - funny, not-too-schmalzy (I loved how the ending was relatively downbeat instead of the usual romantic nonsense) and with some great shots out of aeroplanes. Gorgeous George was pretty good too.

I'm not sure what's next. We found Moulin Rouge and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the charity shop for 10p, and got Bolt on DVD for Christmas...I'll let you know.

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