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Article by Cameron Spink

The idea of Disney doing another princess movie should be getting quite cliché by now. However, in Tangled, Disney has brought together a formula that is both fun and heart-warming. Perhaps it is their best princess movie ever, but I should not be the judge of this as the earlier ones were never catered for a male at my age.

Tangled takes, at a very basic level, the Grimms Brother's story of Rapunzel, the lass with undefinably long hair, and yanks it into the 21^st century. You'd think that this would be in bad taste but it manages to avoid any sort of squeamish pop-culture references which would make this movie age very quickly indeed. Instead, Tangled sticks to Disney's tried-and-true method of musical animations. And this is to great effect. While the songs are not as brilliant as those in the company's history they do compliment the storyline, perhaps as good as any animation movie that I can recall.

Article by Cameron Spink

"I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world itself is vexing enough"

This movie lives up to its name; it is a truly gritty movie. Right from the start this western re-make holds no Hollywood glamour. With Joel and Ethan Coen directing, producing and writing the screenplay for it this is no surprise.

Mattie Ross (played superbly by first-timer Hailee Steinfeld) is forced to sort out her families affairs after her father is killed by one of his hired hands Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). To avenge her father she hires Deputy US Marshall Rooster Cogburn (award-winning Jeff Bridges) who knows the terrain which Chaney has fled to. They are joined along the trail by Texas Ranger LaBeoeuf (surprisingly strong performance from Matt Damon) who has been tracking Chaney for crimes he did in a past life.

Article by Cameron Spink

Kevin Rudd has told us today that he is overwhelming impressed by Generation Y young adults and how they have rallied to help in the wake of the disasters of Brisbane.

Rudd's tone sounds surprised as he cites his Gen Y stereotype as "locked up in their bedrooms, on Facebook 24 hours a day, playing computer games, comfortable in the world of anonymity". This is a ridiculous concept that speculates that those of you who are in your twenties do not know what is going on in this world and do not care.

Article by Cameron Spink

There is something really epic watching two individuals battling it out, fighting for survival. Yesterday I was lucky enough to see Svetlana Kuznetsova and Francesca Schiavone tussle for over four and a half hours. I couldn't help but admire the stamina and the fortitude of these two women as they pushed passed their pain barriers again and again.

I could imagine commentators as describing these combatants as having great character. Indeed, I was inclined to agree that these players had tremendous resolve. However, this made me wonder whether they fit the definition of the Jacob's Creek advertisement slogan, that is "true character".

Article by Cameron Spink

It is not often when the President of the United States feels out of his weight division but right now US President Barack Obama is facing off with Chinese President Hu Jintao about several important issues and he is clearly outmatched.

First, Obama encouraged President Hu to reconsider China's policy on human rights. Hu lent him an ear but will not be inclined to take any further action. And now Obama has "warned" China to put pressure upon North Korea to stop their east-Asian antics. While China certainly does not approve of North Korea's aggressive actions against the South there is no reason to think they will condemn them.

Article by Cameron Spink

The term "modern family" has risen to prominence partly on the back of the popular television show and partly because it is the progressive's triumphant sneer at the ideals of the conservative.

While the conservative in me does not really care about such an attempt to incite a response the Christian part of me mourns for the principles of a "traditional family".