Up

What can I say, Pixar has done it again.

Warning: I'm going to review the film in full so in case there is any plot movement that isn't meant to be known it's best not to proceed.

Up is of course the latest film by the genius that is the Pixar film studio. And it it right up there with the best, even if it has somewhat of a sombre beginning.

We meet the young Carl Fredrickson as he is captivated by the deeds of explorer Charles Muntz. After detailing Carl's life, his marriage and his wife's inability to conceive we are left with a man who is trying to deal with his wife's unfulfilled dreams. He meets an eager, if slightly misguided, boy scout called Russell and sends him on a wild goose chase to appease him.

When he is about to be shipped off to a retirement village Carl lets thousands of balloons tied to his chimney loose and the house floats off. He leaves in search of Rainbow Falls, his wife's dream adventure. Inadvertently, Russell comes along for the ride having chased something under Carl's house. It's a classic scene when he rings the doorbell as Carl is sailing along high in the sky.

When they arrive in South America the house is left in a precarious position and ever so close to Carl's dream.

While trying to drag the house to the final resting spot by the falls, Russell comes across a large rare and colourful bird he names Kevin (though we find out Kevin is in fact a girl), and a talking dog called Dug. The talking bit is quite clever and is a long running joke for the remainder of the film. Actually, the dog and his comrades are responsible for many a laugh throughout the film.

Like all the Pixar movies there is a lesson to be learned from Up. But I will leave that to you.

Despite its sad beginning, Up is a very funny and uplifting film (I saw it in 3D and it was awesome in that format). And, again like all the Pixar films, it is successful because of the characters - for me Russell and the dog Dug were the standouts.

Keep an eye out through the credits for a bit of a running gag, one that is not your usual Pixar fare to begin with.

Also, I must mention the opening short called Partly Cloudy, another absolute gem.

Up easily gets a 9 out of 10 from me and at this point is the best movie I've seen this year. Don't miss it.

The Rafters controversy

There's an uproar in the papers today about an episode of Packed To The Rafters that involved fantasies and suggestive material.

After checking my calendar I remembered we are almost into 2010 and it is not in fact the prudish times of the 50s and 60s (not that I was around then).

The controversy surrounds a couple of scenes involving, ahem, masturbation. Granted it wasn't handled quite as delicately as say Seinfeld did in the classic episode The Contest but I didn't think it was that big a deal.

And I will admit I had quite a laugh.

The episode of Packed To The Rafters centered on the character Nathan, an early 20s married guy who is having trouble dealing with his (female) boss coming onto him. So much so he has had the odd fantasy about her.

At one point his wife bursts in on him in the bathroom (why doesn't anybody lock the door in TV-land) doing ... that.

The other young guys the show are also having fantasy issues. Later there is another scene with the neighbour Carbo making a few noises while fantasising about a couple of girls.

There's also a wicked send up of the Jessica Simpson car wash scene in one of her film clips. Carbo has also been caught compromising himself once before in the show - but not a word was said then.

Look, I think people need to grow up a bit and stop pretending to be so offended by everything. The test will come next week to see if the themes continue. I tend to think they won't so much but there is a storyline running at the moment that needs to be continued.

The show is on at 8.30pm and does carry a warning about sexual references. I don't see what all the fuss is about. I would be more concerned if the show became lowbrow and resorted to Melrose Place-style antics. That would be a shame because it really is an outstanding Aussie show and one that has already proven that you don't need to be controversial to get people to watch.

CD's revisited: 1927's ...ish

I can't believe it has been 20 years since the release of ...ish, the debut album by Aussie band 1927.
It ranks very highly among the best debut albums in modern times and I remember when I bought it (on cassette!). I was in year eight in high school and I thought it was just about the best tape I owned.
1927, sadly, didn't have as long a run as they should have. Lineup changes after this album came out pretty much killed off any chance they had, despite the fact the next two albums were fairly good (particularly The Other Side).
That's When I Think Of You is the song that thrust 1927 into the limelight but it was the delicate ballad If I Could that everyone will still remember. The video clip with the small white chapel in lush surrounds, a young couple looking on as the band plays and an old woman dancing.
There are only 10 songs on ...ish but at least eight are first class and it was one of the rare albums that warranted five singles.
The opening track To Love Me is still a good song as is the third single You'll Never Know. Then there is the haunting Compulsory Hero, which is about conscription and is still my favourite song on the album.
When I was younger I loved the song Nothing In The Universe, I'm not sure that it has the same effect now.
I do this edition of Revisited (haven't done one in a while) as ...ish has just been re-released in a 20th anniversary edition and 1927 is playing a show in Sydney in November.
It would be cool to go along and see them again.

Living on Mars

You could be forgiven for thinking we're in some kind of twilight zone this morning.
Waking up and looking out the window to a sea of red is a bizarre experience. Like having a Total Recall moment.
Even now, behind the curtains, there is this eerie reddish presence.

Season 7 premiere thoughts

After last season's departure of Lucas and Peyton, the show's two central characters, I wasn't sure what season 7 of One Tree Hill would look like.
However, having now watched the new season opening I'm giving the new look OTH a tentative thumbs up.
The opening few minutes was a masterstroke, and really got me into the feel of One Tree Hill. Yes, it has a feel. Hard to describe.
I loved Haley's song and it seemed to sum everything up well (as the music always does).
The show picks up 14 months after last season and Lucas and Peyton are long in the past (though they do get the odd mention here and there). Nathan is an NBA star and his agent Clay (newcomer Robert Buckley) is working on a new contract for him.
Jamie is turning 7 and his aunt Quinn (Haley's other, not so evil, sister) arrives having, as we find out, split with her husband. Brooke and Julian are having a frustrating long distance relationship and Millicent seems to be the new Brooke, taking over a lot of the running of COB.
The best addition to the cast has been Clay, his character interested me a lot. On the surface he is a confident, womanizing guy but underneath, well we're not really sure yet. What we do find out, at the end, is that he ``doesn't believe in love''.
And then there is Dan. He can't have turned over a new leaf, that's just not him. Stay tuned there.
So far so good as far as I'm concerned. Like season 5 I think this one may take a few episodes to adjust, though I do hope the rumoured return of Lucas and Peyton (at least one off) happens.

On another, related, topic I watched the first episode of the new Melrose Place last week. In a word, meh.
Sure Sydney and Michael were in it, but like 90210 I really didn't care about the other characters. It just doesn't work.

Intermission

I'm off for a few days of R & R, very much well earned if I say so myself.
Won't be in cyberspace for a while, which isn't a bad thing, and will probably only check email once in the next little while.
Enjoy...

Realising the truth

There's a truth in my world that I have kind of ignored because I don't want to believe it.
I'm so blinded by an ideal surrounding one of my friends.
The fact has come to a head for me this week after some discussions with other friend-type people.
What I have realised, yet again, is that I'm held in nowhere near as high regard by my friend than I thought and hoped. When you find out things about people you thought you were close to third hand and long after a significant thing happened it makes you (well in this case me) wonder how good a friend you are seen as.
I've got to say that coming to this conclusion really hurts. I'd love to say I hope I am wrong but I really don't think I am.
Perhaps this is all a bit 10th grade but I don't know what to do about it.
Do I just accept it and try to move past it? That seems the obvious but hard option.
Is it something worth raising? Again it's a bit high school-ish.
Am I reading into things too much? Possibly, but there's pretty compelling evidence.
I guess it is a little like in any relationship (at least it works as an analogy), what do you do when you realise the other person doesn't like you as much as you like them, even if you are mates?

Gary Unmarried

Just when you think there are no new shows coming through that are any good (hey, they are remaking Melrose Place!) comes Gary Unmarried.
I know this comedy has been through its first season in the States, but in keeping with Australian TV trends the executives wouldn't know a good show if it bit them.
So finally, just as season 2 is about to start in the US, Gary Unmarried premiered here on Thursday - and it's awesome!
The likeable Jay Mohr plays Gary, a recently divorced painting contractor with two kids and whose ex-wife has just announced she is marrying their old marriage counsellor.
From what I hear, this show gets better as it goes on but based on the first episodes (pretty sure we got the first two in an hour-long episode) I'm coming back again. Very funny.
In other news, I had an interesting experience while trying to purchase The Simpsons Season 12 box seat.
At Big W they advertised the 3D head box set for $39 but the normal box set is apparently still $53 despite the fact that everywhere else the two are the same price. I couldn't convince them that the two packagings contained exactly the same thing and went around to JB Hi-Fi and got the one I wanted. (I'm a stickler for continuity when collecting things).
At JB they gave me a free Simpsons DVD with the season 12 box set. So there, Big W.

Mariah covers a classic

Cover versions tends to be a pet hate of mine so when my favourite artist covers one of my very favourite song what am I to think?
It can only be a good thing but you always hate a classic being butchered.
Happily, Mariah Carey's version of the legendary Foreigner song I Want To Know What Love Is is a worthy cover, though I have to have the original on top as the superior version (which is almost always the case).
The song has been stripped back a bit to a piano based track and that really works for a Mariah ballad. The emotion is there, it still sends chills up my spine, and it has been very much done in her classic ballad style, building to the high pitched whistle-style at the end.
Being a Mariah Carey song it is going to go on high rotation not to mention it being one of my top 10 all time songs.
I'm looking forward to the new Mariah album, Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel, and hoping there are more songs on there that I like than can easily skip like a couple of her recent releases.