Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Funny, at times surreal; now and again plain, old-fashioned bonkers. The cooked chicken sequence defies description.

Up

Charming. It's laugh out loud funny at times and I can't recall the last time I was at a movie when the entire audience laughed together. it's impossible not to be impressed by the people at Pixar. They create modern fairy tales (in contrast to Disney, the grand-daddy of re-telling old tales). Pixar takes risks too. Up is a very good example: it's the tale of an old man who takes to flight in a house carried by helium filled party balloons; perhaps the most charismatic character, Ellie, leaves the stage after 20 minutes; there's realistic death (last saw that in Bambi). Loved it. The short film that precedes Up, Partly Cloudy, is another Pixar gem.

Coraline

It's very sweet, gently amusing and not too terrifying. I was curiously not engaged by the movie, although I admired its style and the technical skill that clearly lay behind the production. I couldn't suspend disbelief so I watched as an exercise in 3D movie making rather than simply enjoying the story. The cat was interesting with a wonderful voice but it was underused. The Scottie dogs were, however, wonderful; the best joke in the piece by a long, long way and most definitely the scene stealers whenever they appeared. Seven out of ten maybe because this version of the story lacked heart. I'll read the book.