The Lovely Bones

Almost had to turn this off in the first 30 mins. Sense of impending sadness/grief was a bit much. But after it happens and Peter Jackson gets his magic movie paint pot out it's easy to lose yourself in the story and the dreamy visuals. Liked the 70's setting and the cheeky Lord of the Rings poster in the bookshop. The ending was a bit meh though. Stanley Tucci was creepy mcCreep too.

The Taking Of Pelham 123

Me does enjoy a big, noisy Tony Scott film and this ticked all the boxes for a Sunday night DVD. Travolta's tattoo vs the Denz for a couple of hours with some flash editing. Liked the freezeframe timechecks '38 minutes to deadline'. Never get tired of this sort of film, requires nothing from the viewer at all. Pooey end though once all the main meat and potatoes had been eaten.

Up In The Air

Had a cheeky cinema double bill tonight. First on the menu was Up In The Air. Was annoyingly late and the (long) queue was making me twitch like a bastard. I am the world's most stressy cinemagoer. Joy was restored as I sat into my middle-middle seat at the moment the Paramount stars swirled on to the screen.

Instantly knew I'd love this film. What is it about some films' opening credits that set the tone so perfectly? Clooney has never been more effortlessly Clooney-esque. A thoroughly modern tale which was curiously life-affirming despite being about sacking and isolation. Really bloody good. I'd watch it again now.

Sherlock Holmes

Second up in my cinema double bubble bill was The Book Of Eli. Except that it started 40 mins after Up 'int' Air and a quick squizz at the schedules revealed that Sherlock Holmes was just starting. Decided to test my last minute cinema seat luck again and rushed off to that screen instead - despite having a ticket for the other film - well I've got an Unlimited pass after all. Oooh, the thrill of rebellious danger!

Seat secured, I settled down and tried to get into Guy Ritchie's big hollywood adventure. Except I couldn't. People were still coming in. 5 minutes, 10, 15, 20...they were still coming in. The twitch returned. It's bad enough I have to share cinemas with other people but excessive latecomers? Being shot in the chin by a sniper would be too good for them.

Then one of these freaks sat next to me. She'd missed the whole first act. And she had ice cream. She'd rather queue to fill her stupid face with overpriced frozen slush than watch the film she's paid to see. Then some faintly amusing incidents happened onscreen and the ben & jerry mentallist laughed - but not a normal laugh. A stupid loud and stupid laugh that went on stupidly longer than it should have and was about 5 seconds after other people's reactions. Then it started making mono-syllabic comments. Wow, yay, woo. I flinched and tried to focus on the film....

....which was actually fairly good. Admittedly it was RDJ that kept you watching but it all looked nice. Guy's directorial flourishes stayed just the right side of show-offy. Although the bare knuckle fight bit had me thinking of snatch. Not that I need much excuse for that. Whole film felt a bit like a prequel too. Job done though.

As I left, the ben & jerry mentallist barged right in front of me to drop her licked clean tub in the bin. I realised she'd been sent by the cinema gods to punish me. I'm sorry. I will never be late or impulsively rush into films I don't have tickets for again.

Let The Right One In

'Mum's moribund jam disclosure vacuum adventure'

Hmm, there's six words I never thought I'd put together. Here's another collection:

'Beautiful and touching Swedish vampire film'

Watched this more out of a sense of duty then anything as I wasn't really in the right mood to do DVD. Me wrong. What an amazing film. Best I've seen in many a man moon. Please see this before the remake in case it rips the shitting arse out of it.

Loved it, loved it.

Monster House

Movienight = watching film on sofa with son = bliss

Me and the boy watched Monster House yesterday. A noisy little film that was pleasantly brief. Scary but not too scary for 6 year old dude. Maggie Gyllenhaal made some voice in it. Have you seen Secretary? Cheeky!

Nasty house though - bad house, on your bed!

State Of Play

 State of Play was digested the other day. Russell Crowe has some hair eh? Unkempt journo uncovers conspiracy against Daredevil. Was actually pretty enjoyable. Helen Mirren shouted a bit. Attention was held all the way through though and nap avoided. Best with a cup of tea. Enjoyed the montage of newspaper production at the end.

The Hurt Locker

Hello. I saw Hurt Locker last week which was very satisfying. Mike from Neighbours blows off in it! A very blokey film and directed by a lady. She was married to James Cameron once. Manages to be a film about the Iraq war that doesn't bore the shit out of you. Perhaps the first since Three Kings? Hmm. Didn't Mike marry plain-Jane-superbrain? Or was that Des? BOMB!