Dublin Shooter

By dublinshooter

Junior art director

After last night's extraordinary experience with 127 Hours, it's hard to believe that we actually managed to follow it with something equally special this morning, but we did.

In this case it was Mary & Max, a wonderful Australian claymation feature. Carl had recorded it from a recent screening on Channel 4, and we agreed at the end that this won't be deleted any time soon, but must be shared with friends. We had no idea what to expect, and neither of us had heard anything about it beforehand, all of which helped our enjoyment. Everything about it was terrific, from the actual animation to the subtleties of the backgrounds, to the characterisations, to the voicing, to the (sometimes blissfully politically UNcorrect) script ... a joy from start to finish, with a touch of tear-jerking thrown in for good measure.

I was surprised to see Barry Humphries credited with the narration. I'm not a great fan (and especially not of his Les Patterson character), but he totally won me over: pitch-perfect all the way through. All the voicing was good, really, with the actors perfectly chosen for the characters they brought so vividly to life. A definite must-see.

I headed back home soon after (how could you follow the film anyway?), just stopping off for a bit of a wind-swept wander around Colliemore Harbour, which is where I came across this family moment. Dad actually began with both children in his sights, but the little boy ran back to give a hand and made the moment even better from my point of view.

The rest of the day was uneventful, apart from watching Darren Clarke win the British Open.

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