Meet Eleven's companion.

Karen Gillan.

Well...

She is absolutely beautiful, I'll admit that. But I just worry that combined with Matt Smith being in his mid 20s and Gillan being so young too (she's 21) the show will veer into some 'hip young world savers' angsty love crap and I've had enough of the unrequited love interest with Martha and the god awful pathetic mooning of Rose (who is a complete Mary Sue of Russell T Davies - I love you Russell but it was a bad move doing what you did with that stupid clone human Doctor.) Donna was such a step up (I'll never forgive them for fucking her over like that) and this feels like a little bit of a disappointment. I was hoping for a male companion, or at least somebody who looked older than Smith, it would have added an interesting dynamic to the pairing. Oh well, can't really complain until I see the finished product so Moffat, the ball is in your court.

Imaginarium stills.

More at FirstShowing.

So prettyful yet so sad. Reviews have been mixed at Cannes but the positive ones were very enthusiastic, with one of the Newsnight Reviewers saying it was Gilliam's masterpiece. They also said the moment Heath Ledger's character transforms from himself to Johnny Depp, it's very emotional. I'm glad Ledger's swansong will be getting a release here, hopefully in America too.

The prettiest animation of the year (so far)

Although it looks like there will be a lot of competition for that spot this year, Coraline is an amazing film and as an animation/Gaiman/French and Saunders nerd, I can't recommend it enough. If you scare easily it might not be for you and don't take the under 10s unless they're pretty tough.

Two reasons to see Star Trek...

Well, other than the general awesomeness of it, the great acting, excellent action sequences and a well done rebirth of a franchise...

Song of the day...

Julia Nunes' ukulele covers are currently my happy music. Check her out.

The Princess and the Frog trailer.

Yes, another animation post but I'm a complete fangirl for Disney animation so this was a must post.

My thoughts?
I can't describe how excited I was to see 2D back in town for Disney. It looks stunning and the princesss is just adorable. It feels a bit forced but that's probably just the way the trailer's been put together (Disney are great but they don't do modesty.) Regardless of all that I really want the film to do well because Disney don't have any more 2D films lined up until 2012 so there's a lot riding on the success of this. I trust Musker and Clements. After all, they were the kings of the Disney Renaissance. Hopefully the controversy surrounding the first black princess won't overshadow the film. Go Disney!

Pixar are amazing - fact.

In anticipation for Up, I have been watching some of the Pixar shorts I hadn't seen before and found One Man Band. Michael Giacchino's music is fantastic and the comic timing is right on as usual.

Ponyo poster.

Blanchett! Jonas? Fey! Cyrus? Everyone else! This is certainly the most star studded of Ghibli's English dubs (although Howl's Moving Castle's one was very impressive too) and from what I've seen of the film's stills (available on the Japanese website) it looks typically stunning for a Miyizaki film. The story is certainly sweeter and lighter than his most recent efforts and has an almost Disney-like fairytale aspect to it. My sister is a Ghibli nut so we await this with much anticipation.