Self-professed inventor Flint Lockwood (Hader) has been living in the small island town of Swallow Falls all his life. From Spray-On Shoes to Rat-Birds, every invention of Flint’s has been an unmitigated disaster – much to the chagrin of the townspeople and especially his unsupportive, technophobe father (Caan, in a downright hilarious role). Seeking to help his hometown solve an escalating food problem, he creates the Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator (or FLDSMDFR, as it’s more commonly known), a machine that converts water molecules into food.

After a freak accident, his machine is sent off like a rocket into the stratosphere and soon begins raining food from the sky. Flint becomes the town’s hero and is quickly inundated with requests from everyone with orders for new and increasingly ambitious dishes. His newfound fame going to his head, Flint ignores the science he has grown up worshipping and realises only a little too late when the machine begins to overload and the portions give new meaning to ‘up size’.

Visually inventive with a story that will appeal to children and adults alike, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is a fun, frenetic (and appetising) example of an animated film done well. That said, it’s still no Pixar film, but its focus on endearing characters and solid slapstick humour – as opposed to an over-reliance on pop-culture references – makes it a thoroughly entertaining flick well worth seeing.

Just remember to lower your expectations for dinner afterwards.

There is an ancient Mayan prophecy that the world will end in the year 2012, and here it is. The sun is misbehaving causing the Earth’s core to heat up and the world as we know it is going to end. Yada, yada, yada. Just give me the destruction already!

I am a sucker for disaster movies; so much so that I even watch the crappy made-for-TV disaster movies and mini-series. If absolute destruction is what you want to see then 2012 is the best of the lot. But to really enjoy it you MUST see it on the big screen – there is simply so much destruction to be seen. I have to see it again just because I wasn’t able to take it all in the first time.

2012 is brought to us by director Roland Emmerich, the man responsible for Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and Godzilla. He has certainly got destroying things – famous landmarks, in particular – down to a fine art. There are some rather lame attempts throughout 2012 to humanise the unthinkable events heading our way, but believe me, you won’t be remembering John Cusack as a struggling writer re-bonding with his estranged wife and kids. Or Danny Glover as (possibly) the last US President of them all (and worst actor of them all). Or Woody Harrelson as the wacko enviro-conspiracy theorist who was (possibly) right all along. Just enjoy the ride.