Is it just me, or was Van Helsing a long movie? At least I'll know what to wear next Talk Like a Pirate day: thankyou Ms Beckinsale. Maybe using Morpheus in Assault on Precinct 13 caused a slowdown in the Matrix this evening. And, c'mon: Brian Dennehey is *always* the baddy.

Would someone feed Ethan Hawke a beef burger, for the love of Pete.

So tonight was fish'n'chips and DVDs. Though my mind did a lot of wandering because watching DVD movies at home is just not the same as seeing movies at the Cinema. (well DUH michelle) I'm gonna miss the cinema when it finally goes. Oh, yes: it's going. It bounced back from VHS but it's not going to survive Video on Demand and Home Theatre - not at the prices it charges and the level of service theatres offer. It's just not on. But, I'll miss it when it goes.

A movie that is showing at the moment and is actually worth the price of $14.50 admission (even to Botany with it's messy too-small-bathrooms and it's slow icecream scoopers) is (the icecream scoopers aren't in the bathroom by the way - those are two complaints that are not physically close to one another) Wallace and Gromit - Curse of the Were Rabbit. (I didn't see this movie at Berkley's Botany theatre btw, I went to Village at Highland Park. Yes I know the carpet smells of - actually I don't know what it smells of and probably shouldn't try'n figure it out - but the bathrooms are bigger, cleaner, and the icecreams are ready-to-go. That's the end of the bracketed interruptions). The feature length movie losing none of the Aardman/Nick Park charm of their shorter adventures. (PS Last Bracket Interruption: Yes I do know that Chicken Run was a feature length Aardman outing and was charming too but this is Wallace and Gromit. _wallace_and_gromit_ have *real* charm. and it was preserved from A Grand Day Out and The Wrong Trousers) You've probably read by now about being able to see finger prints in the soft surface of the plastercine, especially noticable on Gromit's eyebrows. I found a real comfort and deep fondness in seeing the bits of fluff and specs of stuff in Gromit's surface.

Meanwhile, back on the couch not paying attention to Van Helsing, I was imagining how my future home theatre might be to compensate for the demise of large centrally located cinema. It would have to be a dedicated room, with a bunch of comfy "found" couches - or at least very expensive couches made to look like found couches. I've heard the theatre on Waiheke Island is like that but considering my dislike for that Island, I'll probably never know. Not too large a room; serious consideration would be made to scale and personal space.

It would need to have wireless laptops in case anyone needed to Google information. Information such as finding out Gabriel Byrne was actually never The Devil, though he looks like they could be brothers. And no phones at all in the room. (well.. okay.. in case I want to talk to my sister Jo while watching Miss Universe, there might be a cordless phone - for such pagent emergencies "did she *use* the dressing room mirror at *any* time before walking out on stage??")

I've always fancied lying on the floor and being able to watch the movie on the ceiling, so some sort of gravitational device would be needed - so I could make the back wall "sticky" and feel like a floor. Not being one to particularly like carpet on walls (before the Grav. device was turned on the the wall then becoming a floor - I'm all for soft floor coverings) I'd have to be able to set the false gravitation on "easy" so I'd just float above the flat hard wall (floor) - it has some real usability issues that need to be sorted. Failing that technology: a screen on the roof and a matress on the floor'd do I guess.

I'm all about having a Plan B.