ParaNorman

[canadian_turtle]

I agree with the sentiments above, so glad I made the early morning effort for this film! Fab breakfast (particularly the salmon thingies. The cakes were too sticky this time), another embaressing green screen pic for my collection (thanks as ever for the wonderful a_person for coming along with me. Though funthing29 will be my next victim, mwhahaha!), lovely company (so nice to see so many FMUK-ers and meet some new ones!) and a truly delightful film.

LOVED the Indespicable Me trailer; too funny and excellent use of 3D (it really popped out of the screen) and ParaNorman is without a doubt one of my favourite films of this year so far. Despite being a children's film I thought it was quite scary at times (I just about managed though ) and perhaps not really suitable for those under 10 years old (unless of course they're less of a scaredy-cat than I am, which, too be fair, most kids probably are) particularly because of the things that happen (angry mob, dead child, lots of dead people actually...). Having said that, it was all done with a lot of humour to lighten the mood and the gags were truly excellent (I particularly liked the car ride with the 3 in the back seat).

The film also looked absolutely stunning, it was barely noticeable that it was a stop-motion animation at all! And while there wasn't much 3D that truly popped out of the scree, the 3D did add extra depth and wasn't annoyingly dark as a result (or at least not much darker than you'd expect a spooky film to be).

10/10

[jeanelle]

Loved the film, the animation, the characters, the story.
Loved the breakfast.
Lovely to see some FMUKers.
Loved the trailer.
Loved the ParaNorman biscuits which we ate on the train going home.
Oh, did not love the lukewarm coconut drink which was handed out.

[valda]

Loved the film, the animation, the characters, the story.
Loved the breakfast.
Lovely to see some FMUKers.
Loved the trailer.
Loved the ParaNorman biscuits which we ate on the train going home.
Oh, did not love the lukewarm coconut drink which was handed out.

Oh My gosh, I'd forgotten about that coconut water What a disappointment, it didn't even taste of coconut

[Beate]

The Odeon West End is a little gem tucked away down at the bottom of Leicester Square (isn't this the one that was/is going to be knocked down for another hotel? Anyway it was clean, well maintained and best of all, the Air Con wasn't blasting away it was nice and cool but no need to bring a blanket with you LOL

Screen 1 is much much better than screen 2 so I was very happy to end up there. Similar to Cineworld Haymarket's screen 1, they have gallery seats with a solid balustrade in front, which we used to store our various drinks cups and Danish pastries on. I must have walked in and out a handful of times until I had a bit of a stash going - the fruit cups were the best.

It's good to know that kids enjoyed it too - I thought a lot of them were pretty noisy throughout and I wasn't sure whether they were happy or scared.

[Rainey]

That coconut water is grim, we politely declined this time!

It was the second time we had seen the Despicable Me 2 trailer, same cinema coincidently, just as funny second time round, daughter watches it frequently on youtube and knows it word for word.....Potatooo!

[canadian_turtle]

Loved the film, the animation, the characters, the story.
Loved the breakfast.
Lovely to see some FMUKers.
Loved the trailer.
Loved the ParaNorman biscuits which we ate on the train going home.
Oh, did not love the lukewarm coconut drink which was handed out.

Oh My gosh, I'd forgotten about that coconut water What a disappointment, it didn't even taste of coconut

I had one sip and quickly put it away, it was dire! I have a few more packages at home left over from Wimpy Kid a few weeks ago but I think I may have to just throw them out now... Unless there are any takers?

[funthing29]

I found this a rather delightful film. It was genuinely funny and touching. The character detail was incredible and I really liked the visual style, even though I don't think the 3D added much. It felt a bit too long and it seemed like the finale dragged a bit despite being only 90 minutes long.

Whilst it was entertaining and wasn't too scary, I seriously question some of the underlying themes of the film - [spoiler]death, mob mentality, and child murder[/spoiler] - which seem inappropriate in a children's film.

9/10

[Beate]

Loved the film, the animation, the characters, the story.
Loved the breakfast.
Lovely to see some FMUKers.
Loved the trailer.
Loved the ParaNorman biscuits which we ate on the train going home.
Oh, did not love the lukewarm coconut drink which was handed out.

Oh My gosh, I'd forgotten about that coconut water What a disappointment, it didn't even taste of coconut

I hate that coconut crap. Turns out OH loves it though and drank all the remaining bottles when we got home. So I guess he wouldn't mind yours, c_t!

[Beate]

Whilst it was entertaining and wasn't too scary, I seriously question some of the underlying themes of the film - [spoiler]death, mob mentality, and child murder[/spoiler] - which seem inappropriate in a children's film.

9/10

Yeah but it illustrated the fear of people who are different (people who see ghosts) and how they were treated centuries back. We are supposed to be more enlightened now but bullying of people who are different still exists. It gives the message of tolerance and also that revenge does not help anyone either. While it's heavy stuff, I think it's good to give children those messages.

[Beate]

It was the second time we had seen the Despicable Me 2 trailer, same cinema coincidently, just as funny second time round, daughter watches it frequently on youtube and knows it word for word.....Potatooo!

LOL, there are actual words in it? I thought it was just nonsense singing! I was concentrating on the minion that grew angrier by the second, it was so funny.