seen-it: Outnumbered (Series 1)

What a great find this program was (though a referral more than a find to be honest). And it's a great present to have received on my birthday! We were very disciplined at only watching one episode a week rather than having a gluttonous "Outnumbered" fest!

Having seen series 2 first didn't spoil anything. And one of the great things about the program is how well each episode stands alone.

Plenty of laugh out louds - the particular outstanding favourite has got to be the family day out to the farm! The correspondence between the mini-me's and the characters is almost uncanny - but shows what a good job the writes have done with getting the empathy level spot on.

Don't feel it was quite as good as series 2, but it's marginal. And it's a bit of a shame it tried to be quite so poignant at the end ... bit like when boy bands go for their ballad stage!

Not sure it's destined to be get as many repeat showings as "Alan Partridge" & "Fawlty Towers" but it's definitely not a single watch series either.

seen-it: West Wing (Season 2)

There were some pretty weak episodes near the beginning with some pretty implausible & out of character stories, plus a few highly contrived events. But things get redeemed again - including the unlikely Ainsley Hayes character.

Danny - the reporter, and the annoying political consultant whose name escapes me, both disappear without a trace!

Think I'm getting to recognise which writers do the best episodes and seems they let some fresh blood have a go at writing some. But Aaron Sorkin seems to be the key name to look for. The best episodes are definitely those revolving around political drama rather than personal interest storylines.

It was great to see the 4 episodes we must have missed out when we rented it last year - made lots of the later storylines make much more sense. Which serves to highlight how hard it is to 'dip into' ... it would be almost impossible to start watching WW mid-series or mid-season.

The climax is good though nowhere near as dramatic as the first season's. And it'll be interesting to see how they write themselves out of the kind of plot 'black hole' they seem to have concluded themselves with [who is possibly going to vote for him now?!]

seen-it: West Wing (Season 1)

Definitely made more sense 2nd time around! A very good choice of Christmas present by me I think.

The characters get really well established and the storylines are all pretty much top class. Sam & the call girl is the one that always seems the most implausible. And the end of season climax was just as gripping 2nd time around which says something.

It's definitely worth all the accolades it. Good, thought provoking, adult drama. What TV was meant for really. It's only weakness is that the characterisations are so strong and the storylines so interwoven that I can understand why I was turned off by it when I did see some of it on TV - unless you watch it all, it's hard to watch each episode as a stand alone (it can be hard enough when you have watched them all!).

There's still quite a few episodes where chunks of dialogue make no sense to us either - coz of jargon or US specific politics.

seen-it: Monsters Inc

This is one from our Pixar boxset which gets a regular viewing - the latest just the other week for film night.

That says it all really - brood and MA & me still not tired of it yet. And still keep noticing lots of subtle background details. EJ also puts it on fairly regular during the daytime so there's a draw for even the littlest.

And the 'laughter greater than fear' message is pitched well enough not to have become wearisome - and is actually worth reminding myself of to!

seen-it: Kung Fu Panda

Originally saw it at the iMax with responsibility for about 30 kids so was familiar with it. But my overall memory was of trying to keep one of our more 'special' children quiet & entertained! Watching it again in the more relaxed setting and greatly reduced screen size was far more pleasurable.

A great film, enjoyed by both me & MA. All the brood enjoyed it on an action level but not entirely convinced that they got any of the nuances beyond "they're the goodies, he's the baddy". But even enjoying it simply on an action level gave plenty of interest. And quite a few laughs for brood and parents. Jack Black is the perfect casting for the main character.

Animation is superb - and watching the "making of" on the extras gives an incredible insight into the high production standards of these animations (can't say I'd even noticed the length of the Panda's fur!). The technical benchmark for these big release animations is now incredibly high.

The "you can be a hero if you believe you can be" message is not laid on too thick and so is quite palatable.

JE tried the wushu finger hold on me the other day - so it's made an impression on him! There's not be any demands for a re-screening yet - though I wouldn't mind if there were.

seen-it: The Grinch

Bad memories! Saw this originally at the cinema with MA and another couple. None of us were parents at the time. Think the choice was this or "Unbreakable" or something similar. MA persuaded us all to see this and then felt terribly guilty afterwards! If I recall correctly both males fell asleep whilst females nattered!

Thought it would be interesting to see if 8 years, 4 children & lots of Dr Seuss books later would change perspectives!

Thankfully it did.

Firstly, don't think the children appreciated it that much. The Grinch himself is probably a little to menacing for our sensitive brood. JE had lots of questions about the plot and the incredibly well-done cartoonesque sets & costumes were obviously a fascination. All-in-all though, the Grinch himself was just too effective at being repellent and the plot just a little too incomprehensible for it to be appreciated by the brood.

Re-watching it with my new perspective gave me a much greater appreciation though. Jim Carey is superb doing all the things he does so well! And the set design, costumes & props are incredibly well done. It's hard to imagine how you could bring the worlds of Dr Seuss to the screen - but this is exactly how it would look & sound to my mind.

There are lots of nice touches (but can't remember them now several weeks later!) and quite a few bits that made us laugh out loud - mainly thanks to the talent of Mr Carey.

Not a superb film. Too cheesey a plot for us adults. Too convoluted for the little ones. But very well done cheese. And wouldn't even mind seeing again in a few Christmasses down the line.

seen-it: WALL-E

Got mixed reviews from people I know so didn't really have much in the way of expectations. I was left disappointed by "Cars" so was keen to see what they did with this.

Anyhow, turns out to be a real crowd pleaser in our household - JE & AJ are re-watching it pretty regularly. And even I wouldn't mind watching it again. Which is always a sign of success for a family film.

The graphics are as astounding as ever but don't get the feeling they've put in lots of superfluous scenes simply to showcase the graphics (ala "Cars"). The environmental message is overt but not overly patronising or nauseating. Lots of great little subtleties for us grown-ups.

It was interesting too how they built up the story. When you've got almost no dialogue, to keep the attention for 100mins is quite a tall order, but they got it just right - introducing a new layers & scenarios at regular intervals. The 100 mins whizzed by, whereas Cars 118 mins felt much longer. Another Pixar household hit!