Movie reviews

I have been meaning to write up some comments about a few DVD's I have watched over the Christmas/New Year break but just haven't got around to it.  So here goes.

My son and I watched the new Pixar animation "Up" the other day and laughed almost non-stop.  It is about an elderly man (Carl) who is sad and lonely who meets a 8 year old boy named Russel (who wants to earn his "elderly" scout badge).  Carl, wanting to escape being moved into a nursing home,  ties balloons to his house and by accident Russel (who was hiding on the front porch) ends up going along on the adventure.  They meet talking dogs, a villain and a rare bird called Kevin (who is very cute). Even though written for children, it has been the adults that are raving about this film.  As always, Pixar has  delivered another beautiful animation.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love Jane Austen - this is the latest adaptation of her book Emma (by the BBC) and as far as I am concerned far better than than previous version with Gwyneth Paltrow  (1996) - which I didn't like at all.  This version is 4 hours long and both the location and costumes are beautiful.   I particularly like Jonny Lee Millar as Mr Knightley. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1366312/

The next movie is "The Young Victoria" which is the dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.  Once again beautifully made (not by the English this time, but written by an Englishman) and such a joy to watch.  Not knowing anything about this part of history it is hard to say how accurate it is historically - never-the-less it was a wonderful film to watch.  If correct, Victoria had a very isolating and lonely childhood with a very over bearing mother.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0962736/.

The last DVD is a documentary called "By Any Means: Australia to Tokyo" by Charly Boorman (2009). This is the 2nd part of an adventure by Boorman (the 1st doco was called "By Any Means: Ireland to Australia") where he travels from one location to another by any form of transport and sharing with the viewer all the wonderful places/people he visits. If you like learning about new places and watching travel documentaries these are great DVD's.  There are 2 other DVD's which I thoroughly enjoyed watching "Long Way Round" and "Long Way Down" (both by Boorman and his friend Ewan McGregor, the Scottish actor) - these last 2 are about motor bike trips and all the wonderful people they meet on their travels and all the accidents they have when riding on dirt roads in remote locations!

I find these documentaries very entertaining (quite funny in parts) and my sons love watching them with me.  (**warning - the language can be colourful).

Has anyone watched a movie/documentary that they would recommend?