FILM: Monsters, Inc. (7/10)

Why did I watch it?

This was a pick by Mrs Media Worm, most likely with an ulterior motive of priming me to go and see Monsters, Inc..

What's it all about?

The monster inhabited city of Monstropolis is powered by children's screams and it's up to 'Scarers' and their assistants, like Sully and Mike, to keep the city running by scaring human children and collecting their screams. The monsters believe that children are dangerous and havoc begins when Sully accidentally releases a child into Monstropolis.   

Should you watch it?
When you stop and consider the subject matter, you realise how gifted Pixar actually are in being able to turn a story about monsters hiding in children's closets to scare them into a funny and warm children's animation. Imagine if Tim Burton has got his hands onto the story!

Monsters, Inc. looks great and tells a hugely original story, however I did find that the film largely relies heavily on slapstick jokes, for the younger audience, and lacks more subtle jokes for adult appreciation that some other children's animations do successfully integrate.

John Goodman is perfectly cast as the gentle Scarer Sully while Billy Crystal, voicing Mike, does become frustratingly annoying as the irritatingly talkative one of the pair.

BOOK: Life of Pi, Yann Martel (9/10)

Life of Pi - despite appearances not a children's book!

Why did I read it?
I was really impressed by the trailer for the upcoming Ang Lee film adaptation and realising it was based on a best-selling novel decided to borrow the book from a friend. I'm never sure which is the best way round to read book or watch adaptations but there is no going back now.

What's it all about?
Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure about an Indian teenager named Pi, who finds himself the sole survivor of a shipwreck on-board a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, a chimpanzee, a zebra and a hyena for company. It sounds surreal but the first half of the book describes a credible back story. Pi's father is a zoo-keeper and the family decide to sell the zoo and relocate to Canada, hence the voyage across the Pacific with a ship full of dangerous animals. 

Should you read it?

The upcoming film poster

The book takes its time during the first half to set the scene with the tale of Pi's upbringing at an Indian zoo, his experiences with animals and also his take on spirituality but once his ordeal starts its clear why Martel dedicates so much print to the back story.

In terms of Pi's detailed account of his practical approach to survival the story is similar to the real life survival of Aaron Ralston in 127 Hours (minus the tiger).

A word of warning, Martel doesn't hold back in graphically depicting the demise of the boat's occupants and I'm not normally affected by violence in films but when related to animals, in particular during a week when my cat was badly hurt, it was almost too much to take.

The book is a fascinating combination of religion and animal psychology and a harrowing tale of survival at all costs that I couldn't put down. I have very high hopes for the film.

FILM: Memento (9/10)

Challengingly complex thriller from Christopher Nolan about a man with short-term memory loss out to avenge the murder of his wife. With two converging sequences of events being played out in parallel, Memento both demands and warrants careful attention throughout as the audience must hunt for clues in every scene to help piece together the puzzle. Watching one half of the story unfold backwards is demanding but genuinely rewarding as earlier events in the film are explained retrospectively.
The film owes a great debt to the clever story telling technique employed by Nolan, as without this the story would actually be far less dramatic.
Guy Pearce is superb as the aggrieved husband and plays his character with a subtly sly sense of humour considering the events unfolding.