An afternoon of family entertainment at Birr Theatre

Looking past Christmas, Birr Theatre and Arts Centre has planned exactly the family entertainment you might be glad of on January 3. Films "Up" and "Avatar" will both be screened at the theatre on the Tuesday afternoon. Children's film "Up" will be shown at 2pm. The film tells the story of a lonely, curmudgeonly old widower called Carl Fredricksen. Fredricksen lives all by himself in a house built on land unscrupulous property developers want to buy. Backed into a corner by the bullies, Carl decides to tie thousands and thousands of balloons to his house so it can fly away and he can visit the legendary Paradise Falls in Venezuela. To his annoyance however, Carl discovers that he has a stowaway in his airborne house: a feisty boy scout called Russell. This Pixar-Disney animation from director Pete Docter is a lovely, charming and visually stunning family comedy which can leave no heart unwarmed. Tickets for the January 3 performance cost €5/3, or €10 for one adult with two children. "Up" will be followed by family film "Avatar" at 4.15pm. In the film paraplegic Marine Jake Sully is offered the opportunity to travel to distant planet Pandora, where humans are mining for precious minerals. Once there Jake is told the plan is to relocate the local indigenous population, and his mission is to infiltrate the group by having his conscious projected into an Avatar. If he completes the mission, the scientists promise to give him back his legs. Tickets for this screening cost €5/3, with admission for one adult with two children €10. Birr Theatre box office opens from 1pm to 5.30pm Monday to Friday. More information is available from 057 9122911 or by logging on to www.birrtheatre.com.