Boy reporter battles horses and a penguin

FILMGOERS yesterday flocked to cinema's annual Boxing Day smorgasbord.

STEVEN Spielberg faced off against himself, a boy reporter took on a band of horses and a dancing penguin tapped his way back into multiplexes as filmgoers yesterday flocked to cinema's annual Boxing Day smorgasbord.

Spielberg's World War I epic War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin led the national line-up, which also included George Miller's animated penguin tale Happy Feet Two, Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I live In and the Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep.

Lori Flekser, head of the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia, said the Boxing Day line-up was a strong one.

"It's a very diverse array of films this year," she said.

"I'm not sure two Spielberg films have ever gone up against each other before. They're certainly two very different films.

"It's too early to say, but with the strength of the year-end line-up, it's looking as if the year-end total will end up very close to last year's total."

The prospect of matching the record $1.128 billion taken in 2010 was given an extra boost yesterday by the less than ideal weather conditions in the eastern states.

"The weather is pretty good for going to the movies," Ms Flekser said.

She said Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin, an adaptation of Herge's classic cartoon, to which the director bought the rights in 1983, and Miller's Happy Feet Two, were typical of a recent trend.

"Animated films are increasingly not just for children," she said. "If you look at the top 10 films for the past few years, a good percentage of those have been animated films."

At Sydney's George Street Event cinemas yesterday, War Horse seemed a popular choice. But moviegoers were also flocking to catch up on earlier releases, such as Mission Impossible 4: The Ghost Protocol and Melancholia.

Claudia Rodriguez, 25, and Anthony Bruce, 31, from Cremorne on Sydney's lower north shore, were there to see Tom Cruise in action in Mission Impossible 4.

"This is our first Boxing Day together, so we are trying to have some down time," Mr Bruce said.

He said it was an opportunity for the pair -- and many others -- to take a break from the crowded Boxing Day sales. If only briefly.