The only way is

My lungs hurt.  This of course has absolutely nothing to do with various weekend indulgences and everything to do with the end of the world.  Not that it's the apocalypse of course, merely a highly sophisticated conspiracy between the Australian Window Washers' Union and CarLovers.  And they would have got away with it too if it weren't for those meddling kids!

Ahem.  My regular movie-going buddy has been in a foul mood of late, so late last week in an attempt to shake him from a burdensome glower and spite, we forwent our more regular combination of wild rides, explosions and cheerful brainlessness and treated ourselves to the new Pixar flick.  Up! is a rare beast: colourful, captivating and utterly unique.  Chubby, hyper-imaginative Carl and scrawney hyper-energetic Ellie dream of traveling to Paradise Falls, a forgotten valley in South America, thus emulating its discoverer, intrepid explorer Charles Muntz who vanished, never to return.

Fast forward seventy years and grouchy retiree Carl (Edward Asner), bereft after Ellie's death, shows what can be done with helium and several thousand balloons to make a final gesture of defiance towards a city whose approach to caring for the elderly is to swindle them with one hand while subjecting them to infantilising 'care' with the other, launching his hokey little house into an atmosphere noticeably free of superfine red dust and away in search of Paradise Falls.  Along for the ride is Russel (Jordan Nagai), an overtalkative eight year old 'wilderness explorer' in need of some fatherly attention, an 'assisting the elderly' badge and large quantities of ritalin.

Needless to say that they reach Paradise Falls far more quickly than their unconventional mode of transport might seem to allow.  While it is of course a foregone conclusion that Carl will eventually learn how to put up with hyperactive children, the film is far from predictable, the story unfolding in a series of delightful, often can't-stop-laughing-gasping-for-breath surprises, each new element being adroitly woven into the simple tale its the core.  Any concerns that Pixar might have become prone to Disnification (an irreversible and grotesque process whereby one develops an overwhelming thirst for cliches, cheese and cuban children) after its 2006 merger with said company should have been laid to rest after last year's brilliant WALL-E - with Up! such thoughts have been shown to be so much hot air.

Just try not to think about how much money Steve Jobs is making off of it.


Tasty treats: The Ruminant Band by the Fruit Bats; Grim Reaper Blues by The Entrance Band; ham and cheese jaffles for afternoon tea.