Thanks to a kind gift, Jane and I recently got some vouchers that will allow us to go to a couple of cinema shows. Today we saw Paddington, which I would happily classify under amazing. I think there was a TV series of Michael Bond’s stories on when I was growing up but the tale of the bear from Darkest Peru arriving in London and joining the Brown family was certainly part of my cultural heritage. Paul King’s adaptation could have been twee, childish or any number of derogatory adjectives but I came away deeply impressed.

It is humourous: “Mr Brown, are you putting those earbrushes in your mouth? That’s disgusting!” says Paddington after a a disagreement from the night before. It is beautiful: Paddington sees a black and white film of his relatives in Peru and is transported into a technicolour moment of memory of halcyon days. It also manages to be surprisingly profound; I can’t imagine that the pro-immigration message puts it on UKIP’s list of top family DVDs from 2014 but, given that everything we watch influences our views, I think this is one to see.

I’m still in two minds about whether the big screen cinema experience has  a future when home entertainment has evolved so much but would have no qualms about recommending this excellent film for your viewing at the earliest possible opportunity.