Spy Kids (tv)

Christmas TV was, on balance, dreadful. From the earth shattering unfunny French and Saunders to the disappointingly tired Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook, a poor showcase for the genius of Ronnie Barker displayed in the occasional Porridge repeat.

In fact the only half decent Christmas shows were Dr Who and a Morecambe & Wise I hadn't seen before, curiously appearing on Channel 5. Movies didn't fare much better with the notable exception of Spy Kids 1 & 2.

I'd been looking forward to the first since downloading the trailer years ago but never got round to acting my age and true calling by going to see it. In fact I was even put off when the film version of Thunderbirds was described as 'another Spy Kids'. Overly generous praise for Thunderbirds as it turns out and vastly underrating these Robert Rodriguez efforts.

These are gadget-gorged futuristic-fairytale mini-masterpieces with oh so silly and enjoyable storylines and superb performances from the cast (including the crucial, not at all cringe-inducing, lilliputian leads) and cameos. It's Antonio Banderas, who's recently gone up in my estimations with Shrek 2, who steals the show particularly in the first outing.

The most colourful and whimsical children's film for adults since Toys.

Most Special 2005

I realise it's been ages since I wrote here. I guess my Barry Norman streak deserted me. And why not? I've no blogging resolutions but I thought I'd kick off 2006 with some favourites from 2005.

Albums
Two clear favourites here: Hard-fi's Stars of CCTV and Coldplay's X&Y. Both are terrific albums and it's definitely Coldplay's best one so far but the award has to go to Hard-fi. Interesting, raw & very London Stars of CCTV is my driving album in a similar way that Kylie, Jagged Little Pill and (What's the story?) Morning Glory marked specific times in my life.


Films
Have to admit that I haven't been as much as some others I could mention. The two biggest films I saw were probably Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire and Sin City. As for the boy wizard it was a good, but not completely satisfying outing. Touches of teenage and public school angst were excellent but the crucial graveyard scene at the end was fluffed. Sin City was stylish and beautiful to the point of it hurting but just not enough substance to clinch the award... which goes to Lost in Translation. It doesn't matter that it wasn't released in 2005 - it's when I discovered it and will be a poignant yet sympathetic and beautiful reminder of Christmas 2004 in Japan.


Concert / Theatre / Opera / Dance
Had the good fortune to see a few things this year but more on the opera and dance side. There's only one true candidate though and that's still very clear in the mind despite all alcoholic efforts last night. The Royal Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker was the magical, wintery fairytale it should be and taking not one but two dates to it was a perfect tribute to the season of sharing, giving and receiving.


Event
This category could be a music gig or some other 'show'. Indeed two of the nominations are as 'showy' as you can get. The Lido in Paris, as you may have read on these pages, was an over-the-top camp camp camp champagne-fuelled experience. The visit to the Shezhen cultural & folk centre (okay, pushing slightly back into December 2004) culminated in a remarkable 45 minute performance of costume, pyrotechnics, music, lighting and a cast of over 50. However special each of those were, and with special people, the award has to go to a small one-woman gig in the upstairs bar of a pub in Clapham. Wendy Ip's last night of her Just Wendy tour summed up everything great about live music and why I need to see more in 2006.