Even though my taste in films has previously been called into question, today I'm blogging about a deeply, stomach-hurtingly, tear-streamingly, loud-laugh-you-do-when-you-can't-control-it-ingly funny film we went to watch last weekend.

Last Saturday morning I recieved an sms from Simon, inviting a whole lot of the Streep brothers, friends, stroupies, and crew to go watch Pixar's latest release, 'UP'. When I'm not practicing or gigging with Streep on a Saturday, I'm often involved in church-related stuff, as well as trying to spend some decent time with my wife and little daughter. So Saturdays aren't often free. This particular Saturday however, was open, and so I met everyone at 2pm at the Blue Route cinema.

We thought Tim P Streep was going to join us, but he never showed, and since we were all in a comical mood, we all sent him a message containing the word "Grinch". We even thought of inviting other people in the cinema to do it as well. In true Tim P Streep style, he hasn't mentioned anything about the experience.

But the movie... I'm always enthusiastic about a movie that makes me laugh a lot, but even after having a few days to let the hype settle, I'm still thinking that it's the best animated movie I've ever watched. It nearly had me in tears (as in sad) in the opening scenes. But by the end I had that great tired dizzy feeling you get from laughing too hard. It has adventure, rich and entertaining characters, a great plot, amazing visuals and more. 

A large part of my enjoyment of the film has to do with Kevin, the Snipe (a kind of bird). When I watched the scenes with Vlad the Vulture in 'Horton Hears A Who', I really thought I'd found the funniest animated character ever. Nikki and I are constantly quoting Vlad lines at each other. But Kevin tops Vlad for me, and without saying a single word. I just love that thing - it looks like an ostrich-sized peacock on ecstasy. How Pixar managed to make something so funny without any dialogue is a true testimony to their skills as animators.

And then there's "Partly Cloudy". As if releasing such an amazing film isn' t enough, Pixar have to go and show off by throwing in a new short film, one that surpasses any of their previous ones. Go watch it!