Alec and I finished up a great day with the new Pixar movie, Ratatouille.

We’ve been hanging out to see this movie for months, and it didn’t disappoint. In fact, we both agreed it was a toss-up with The Incredibles for best Pixar movie ever. Big call!

Animation has come so far since Toy Story. The humans looked great. Not real, but a still really well done. The rats were made very human-like with big eyes and ears and cute little pink hands.

The animators have also managed to make amazing backdrops, such as the country house at the start of the film and the scenes of Paris all lit up at night.

The storyline was great – super cute and not all predictable, some unexpected villains, and a back-up cast of thousands of fluffy little rats. One of my favourite scenes has them washed and fluffed dried in bulk. I would love to get one of those machines for washing my own dogs!

Tonight marked the final Bourne Fest, with part three, The Bourne Ultimatum. I joined 10 boys to watch the movie on opening night in Chatswood. The testosterone in the theatre was overwhelming.

I loved Bourne one, hated Bourne two, and loved Bourne three. It was a return to the themes of the first movie, with many very similar scenes marking a full circle.

There were a lot of extreme close-ups of Matt Damon, which made me see things I had never noticed before, like his funny slightly-raised eyebrow, and one eye slightly larger than the other, not to mention the mole on his lip. Interesting how even gorgeous people look odd when their face is several metres tall.

Bourne, as always, was a machine. No-one else except the terminator takes such a licking and keeps on ticking.

The only down side was the excessive use of “vomit cam” as Malcolm called it. Hand-held camera work throughout the action sequences made it hard to follow what was happening and left me with a bit of a headache. Or maybe I’m just getting too old for this much excitement.

Alec and I had a double movie whammy on Sat night. I hadn’t heard of either movie beforehand, and they were both really great, thoughtful movies.

Amazing Grace
This is the story of William Wilberforce, the man who brought about the abolishion of the slave trade in the UK. The title is from the song, Amazing Grace, that was written by John Newton, a former slave owner who found God, repented, wrote the song, and became a preacher.

The movie is inspiring. It made me feel like I should be doing something more worthwhile with my life. It also filled in a big knowledge gap. I find it unbelievable that people were treated in such a way (much in the same way that live animals are exported overseas today and in similarly disgusting conditions) so the British people could have delicacies like sugar in their tea. A lot has been written about slaves in America, but I’ve heard very little about the slave trade run out of the UK. It certainly shed some light on a dark period in history and how the efforts of one man made the world a better place.

In The Land Of Women
This is Adam Brody (The O.C)‘s first big role, as a porno script writer, who is feeling lost after being dumped by his actress girlfriend, so moves in with his elderly, wacko Grandmother to find himself. Out in the burbs he meets Sarah, a mother of two teenage daughters, and forms a friendship with both her and her eldest daughter.

The film is essentially a drama, focusing on the tender relationships between people, the healing power of forgiveness and acceptance, and lesson in being kind to people because until you look through their eyes, you really can’t know what life is like for them.

A really moving film, only flawed by Meg Ryan’s recently enhanced lips. To collagen-pumped lips, Australia says no. Adam Brody however, proves himself as a future leading actor, not just a teen soap star, with his poignant performance.

I thought this movie might be something about going clubbing. I thought it would be another dodgy Aussie movie. I was wrong. Clubland is one of the best Australian movies I’ve seen in a long time. A real family drama, the movie focuses on a dysfunctional family, including the matriarch, Jean, a British once-(semi)famous comedian trying to revive her dying career in clubs, and her son, Tim, a shy young man trying to find his own life outside the shadow of his over-domineering mother.

The tense and also tender family relationships really hit a nerve. We’ve all had moments where we think our family is the nuttiest, most impossible family that ever existed. I felt like mine was quite sane after watching this movie.

One of things I love about Australian movies is that when they get it right, boy do they get it right. Just like Murial’s Wedding, Clubland is touching, uncomfortable, warm, romantic, funny, painful and finally, joyful. Everything a good movie should be.

After many months of waiting, Alec and I saw Transformers this weekend. I didn’t have very high expectations of the movie, so was happy to come out of the movie wanting to see it again as soon as possible.

The CGI was fabulous – seamlessly integrated into the live action. The storyline was better than I had expected, and the writing was great – some really funny lines as well as some tributes to the original cartoon.

“I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?” Ha ha ha 🙂 Can’t wait to see it again.

I have started to go a bit crazy with my snappy cam, taking pictures in places like the movie cinema, as seen below.

A hectic day today. An early morning climb with Mel, Vanessa’s baby shower, dropping by to see Mum and Dad, then dinner and the new Fantastic 4 movie, Rise of the Silver Surfer, with Alec.

I love superhero movies – with the exception of Spider-Man (I don’t like emo superheroes. How can they save me if they’re having a cry?). I thought the first Fantastic 4 movie was pretty average, but I really enjoyed this one. Maybe it was some much needed escapism. Whatever. I still enjoyed it immensely.

I do however have a problem with Jessica Alba having blonde hair and blue eyes. What the? If they want someone fitting that description, why don’t they hire one of the many blonde hair, blue-eyed actresses loitering around Hollywood and give them the role instead of making a dark girl blonde? So unnatural-looking.

Out of all the powers, I would like to be the human torch – getting to fly and controlling fire. In case of an apocalypse, I’d be fully sorted.

Alec and I braved Westfield’s Liverpool to see Ocean’s 13 last night. I loved the first Ocean’s movie, but wasn’t sold on the sequel. Nonetheless, in the greater (south) west, there is a shortage of good movies on, so Ocean’s 13 it was.

It was actually a lot of fun. I do love Brad Pitt (the holder he gets, the hotter he is. How does that work?) and I find George Clooney charming. I was pleasantly surprised by Matt Damon as well – he has a few scenes with a fabulous fake nose that is hysterical.

A very pleasant way to spend a few hours on a rainy day. I’d just advise not seeing it in Liverpool!

Alec and I saw Shrek 3 today at Liverpool, where they have recently started to have allocated seats. Usually I would ignore the allocation and sit wherever I pleased, but the cinema was looking like it was going to fill, so I obliged. I need to say right now that I am not a fan of allocated movie seats.

Anyway, on to the movie. I love the Shrek films, and number three didn’t disappoint me. It had the same fun characters from the previous films, with some added bonuses – all of the famous princesses were in attendance as seen in the pic. Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and Beauty.

I love the mashing together of multiple fairytales and legends, such as the new characters from the King Arther legend, as well as the way they turned typical fairytales upside down. For example, the princesses save themselves instead of waiting to be saved. Girl power, fairytale-style.

Cutest new characters: The baby dragon x donkeys (disturbing but so cute I want one).
Funniest moment: The three little pigs doing sausage rolls.

Alec and I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End last night at Chatswood. I read some terrible reviews of this movie before we went in, so I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it. The enjoyment of a person who is expecting the worst. Interesting.

The movie picked up where the terrible filler-middle film left off. I’d forgotten what had happened so was a bit lost for a while. Whose heart is that? Why is in a box? You get the drift.

I would have liked to have seen more of Johnny Depp’s character, but I was happy to see the return of Geoffrey Rush. Less Keira Knight would have made me a very happy girl indeed. Her journey from prim lady to pirate king was quite an adventure.

Orlando Bloom spent a great deal of the film as Keira’s arm candy or as a possible traitor. Not sure how I felt about this – but considering he isn’t up to scratch as a leading man, I guess the director wasn’t sure what to do with him.

Still, the monkey was awfully cute.

Best things:
There was no giant hamster wheel.
Keira Knight didn’t spend an overly-long scene pretending to faint.

Worst:
There wasn’t a happy Disney wedding.
The pirates’ teeth. Why does piracy equal gum disease and slimy enamel?