Sweet Nothings

We considered other options for our combined 10th anniversary-slash-Becky's birthday trip, we really did. Cities we've loved like NYC or Vegas, or maybe someplace new and exciting! But we wanted, nay deserved, a proper large holiday, and would've felt guilty about abandoning our daughter for that long. Given those criteria, Disney was the only viable option. Almost certainly... All Star Movies We chose another cruise/parks combo like last August, this time starting on the boat. That meant a safety-first buffer day at this value resort, a new one for us. The three All Stars (there's also Music and Sport) are the cheapest Disney-owned hotels, with basically the same layout as our beloved Pop Century but minus the game-changing Skyliner.  The case for these value resorts is obvious. Yes, the facilities are cheap and basic, but the bold, sledgehammer theming is great for kids and leaves you in no doubt that you're in the Disney bubble. The comparative subtlety of modera...

A couple of years back, the FX channel showed an Australian drama called Underbelly . It was a pretty graphic portrayal of Melbourne's real-life gangland wars, events which were indeed so recent as to render the show unbroadcastable in the state of Victoria for fear of it prejudicing trials which were still taking place. Gruesome as some of the events it covered were, the tone of Underbelly  was rather odd - light and comical in places, and shot in bright, welcoming colours. Pretty much  Neighbours with guns and swearing, as the Guardian noted at the time. The effect, intentional or not, was to make these true events seem somewhat fantastical. Animal Kingdom  does not have this problem. David Michod's film (his name has an accent in it which I don't know how to add in Blogger - apols, mate) is a fictional but extremely down-and-dirty portrayal of the same Melbourne netherworld. It also differs from Underbelly by focussing on one family rather than dealing with an e...