moving pictures (spoilers!!)

one of the joys of going to Bowness-on-Windermere is the independent cinema which was just round the corner from our holiday cottage .The Royalty cinema is everything a film buff could want: all the latest films, cheaper than UCI etc, comfortable seats and better popcorn ( also dandelion & burdock and Bass shandy available for people who don't particularly like coke ( i.e. me!)
First up we saw Prince Caspian which was a great follow on from The Lion , the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was pretty faithful to the book except for the brief appearance of the White Witch, but then I'm always happy to see Tilda Swinton in action.

Next up was KungFu Panda. I was expecting this to be a one joke movie like Shark Tale, and I was happy to be proved wrong. It was tremendously funny, beautifully made and definitely one to watch several times.

Off next to see Will Smith in Hancock. its a sign of my age that I was doubtful whether even Smith could pull off the role of the grumpy middle-aged man in East Cheam, complaining about giving blood ""I don't mind giving a reasonable amount, but a pint! That's very nearly an armful!" However, he managed it quite well, and the plot was clever enough for me not to be able to predict what was going to happen next. The best moment was Ray finding his inner rage and severing the bad guys hand. I hadn't realised that the name John Hancock was an everyman name like Joe Bloggs. Joe Bloggs would be a great superhero name!!

When the inlaws joined us for a couple of days we all went to see "Mamma Mia". They'd seen the stage show a couple of years ago and loved it, and we all enjoyed the mass dance scenes for Dancing Queen. Great film, it must be fab as a live show. Christine Baranski as Tanya made it for me, and I've spent ages wondering which US shows I've seen her in. I could remember Frasier, but I'm astounded by her cv! A very talented, hard working lady!

The lastly, but not least was WALL.E which was great. I loved the story, it was beautifully done. I'd read that some hardnosed critics had cried when they watched it, it didn't make me cry (Panda got closer than that) but it was very moving and hopeful. Of course the irony is that this crticism of the global economy was made by one of the world's biggest brands, and the attack on a wasteful consumer age will produce a slew of tie-ins. Wonder if Disney corp ever collectively thought " Let's not make the toys? Let's just tell the story?". That would move me to tears!

So, some great films, some good laughs with my kids in one of my favourite cinemas, and thats to Terry Pratchett for the title!