Movie of the Year
I can't pick out a movie of the year that was better than all the others. I was impressed by parts of Wall-E, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, El Orfanato (The Orphanage), and The Dark Knight. Forcing myself to pick one film out of thin air to be number 1, I'll pick The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. They stretched a pretty uninteresting Fitzgerald novella, and mixed in the script of Forrest Gump (not a film I thought much of); then used the most startlingly surprising special effects I can remember seeing since Jurassic Park in 1993 or Gollum in the LOTR films. And somehow they drew me in, and in one particular scene towards the end left me quite breathless. Most of the other 2009 films gave me more or less what I'd expected from them, while Benjamin proved a surprise.
Most Financially Successful New Hollywood 'Idea'
Chick flicks - since the 90's ended, Hollywood chick flicks have generally been progressively stale romantic comedies. The Devil Wears Prada was a bit of an improvement a year ago, and this year we got Mamma Mia & Sex and the City. Maybe it helped that they originated from the WestEnd and the TV industry, rather than the film studios. And that the source material was written by women. Mamma Mia was directed by a female Brit, and SATC by a tv director. Even Twilight, a film which I didn't enjoy quite so much, but at least had an attractive style to it, and was a huge hit, was written and directed by women.
All three films benefited from attractive characters and actors, and plots that didn't simply revolve around two people falling in and out of love, and then in love again in time for the happy ending (I saw What Happens In Vegas this year and it proved how low the genre has fallen).
All films made big $'s. Mamma Mia wasn't particularly expensive by Hollywood standards, but went on to make US$590m worldwide.
Fun & Dumb
They weren't classics, but I had fun with Indiana Jones 4, Mamma Mia, and Sex and the City.
Tropic Thunder was sometimes fun (Robert Downey Jr, the fake previews at the start) and sometimes dumb (Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey).
Wall-E was FUN and not dumb in the slightest.
Biggest Miscalculation
Star Wars - Clone Wars was so plain ordinary. A not very interesting a Saturday morning cartoon serial, with no excitement or dramatic trajectory. I was grateful for the 3 Star Wars prequels, even though they didn't equal the original films. But this latest animated film was a plain waste of effort.
Biggest Piece of Crap
I avoid most 'romantic comedies' these days - because they star people like Kate Hudson and Adam Sandler, who never make good films. But I accidentally saw What Happens in Vegas, and can't believe it made over US$200m worldwide. It wasn't romantic OR funny, the characters were unlikeable wangs, and the tacked on 'romantic' ending laughably bad - so what did people see in it then? I've seen worse films in previous years (I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry; Date Movie; Battlefield Earth), but there was no reason for this film's existence.
10,000 BC was stupid, dull and un-fun too.
Most Annoying Remakes
Why was Hulk remade as The Incredible Hulk? They made a big fuss over the new film taking on a more action-packed feel, but the end result was the usual sequel that's just a copy of the original, but a bit less good.
I Am Legend annoyed me. The empty New York streets were great, really convincing. Will Smith alone with his dog interesting enough. But then crap CGI nasties, and a couple of pointless survivors turn up to make everything obvious and stupid. Half a good film.
Best Non-Hollywood Films
The spooky Spanish drama The Orphanage
The Brit/Indian mix of Slumdog Millionaire
Werner Herzog's intriguing doco on the people who inhabit Antartica - Encounters at the End of the World
And the highly entertaining doco on the cheap and nasty Aussie film industry in the 70's & 80's - Not Quite Hollywood
Worst Performances (or 'miscasting' if you're being kind)
Peirce Brosnan in Mamma Mia - such singing! So bad one risks feeling warmly towards him out of sympathy.
Cameron Diaz & Ashton Kutcher supposedly hating each other then suddenly loving each other (in time for the credits) in What Happens In Vegas. And I used to like Cameron :-(
Memorable Performances
Heath Ledger - Dark Knight
Brandon Walters - so charismatic in Australia
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - a cliched tempestuous Spanish artist role, but she was hilarious and sexy as (as she always is in films when they're not set in the US)
Brad Pitt - Benjamin Button - half the credit goes to the special effects artists, but I can't think of anyone else being better in the role. Having been a famously pretty young man who we've all seen grow up over the past decade and a half, seeing him convincingly age backwards added an extra sense of surprise to it that it wouldn't have had with almost anyone else.
Harrison Ford - Indiana Jones - old fashioned star power still at work
Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder
Wall-E - Wall-E
Best Use Of Nudity
Jason Segel - Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Cate Blanchett's 'older person' underwear scene - Benjamin Button
Gilles Marini, the neighbour who likes to shower outdoors - Sex and the City
Most Excessive Overuse of Designer Names
Sex and the City, watching girls squealing over brand names is bearable in very short doses, but not when they go shopping every 17 minutes. As much fun as when I used to find myself sitting on a chair in the lady's section at DJ's, staring at passers-by while mum had four outfits to try on in the change rooms. And while we're at it, when Mr Big knocked down the neighbour's apartment to build Carrie that ridiculously big walk in wardrobe - I was not liking them so much anymore.
Good Spookiness
The Mist - a monsters in the mist movie with extra bite
The Orphanage - stylish Spanish chills, sad and touching, like Pan's Labyrinth crossed with The Others
Best Recreated Cities
Darwin - Australia
Shanghai - Lust, Caution
Best Landscapes
China - The Painted Veil
India - Slumdog Millionaire
Better Than They Should Have Been
Harrison Ford as Indiana in his mid 60's - the film wasn't perfect, but Harrison was
Meryl Streep singing ABBA in Mamma Mia - strange to think it actually worked
Best Olds
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones - neither hiding his age, or giving in to it
Jack Thompson & David Gulpilil in Australia - it was great seeing both guys in reasonably substantial roles
Best Dressed
Nicole Kidman - Australia
Best New Faces
Forgetting Sarah Marshall, with both the Brit Russell Brand, and Mila Kunis (the voice of Meg from Family Guy). She's gorgeous and needs to be allowed to appear in other than cartoon form more often.
And the charismatic Brandon Walters in Australia of course.
Best Sexiness
Lust, Caution - steamy
Worst CGI
Some of the CGI effects in Indiana Jones 4, Australia, and I Am Legend were clearly dodgy.
Speed Racer and 10,000 BC had some impressive effects (I'm a big fan of mammoths), but put effects ahead of story. Boring.
Best Special Effects
Benjamin Button's effects blew me away with their realism and dramatic impact.
Wall-E had some beautifully designed scenes, and The Dark Knight deserves respect for not going down the route of too much CGI.
Underdogs
Australia & Nicole Kidman - got lots of criticism in the Australian press because the film had faults, was a little odd or lazy in parts, and it didn't do well in the USA. But it had a lot more going for it than most films released in Australia in the last decade, and ended up being the second most successful film in Oz last year (after The Dark Knight), and made approx US$200m worldwide. Some credit is due.
Harrison Ford as Indy - he was great!
The Happening - not the scary film it was promoted as, but a quirky 60's-style paranoid b-movie (mild) chiller.
For Scenes of Emotional Impact (for arm-rest gripping and/or "no, I'm not crying, I've just got something in my eye" scenes)
Milk
The Orphanage
Sex and the City - I'll admit to finding the emotional mood of one scene dramatic and touching
Beyond Our Ken - doco on the Australian cult Kenja and it's leader Ken Dyer, with a disturbing real-life ending
Wall-E
Mamma Mia
Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, September 25, 2008
iPod Memmmmmories...
I'm committed to my iPod. iPods. I rushed to get one when they were first released in Australia. Then in 2006 I upgraded to one with a larger memory - 60GB. And a month ago I did it again, swapping that one for a glorious new 160GB iPod (before Apple discontinued them and cut back to iPods with no more than 120GB).
So I'm up to number 3, but before I passed my 2nd one on (to a deserving ebayer), I had to pause and take a little look into it's past. Such as noting that the first song I'd uploaded onto it was Jack Johnson's Staple It Together, loaded up back on 8 April 2006.
And then there were the most listened to tracks.
For my 1st iPod, I think the most listened to song was Madonna's Hung Up (catchy track that one).
Now, here's what got played most on iPod number 2, no matter how embarrassing. It's a pretty gay list, in both senses of the word. I obviously like to get a bit of an aural sugar rush when listening to music on the way to work.
I was pleased to see a number of Australian & NZ artists made it on there (Crowded House, Cut Copy, The Whitlams, Maria Dallas, The Sleepy Jackson, some woman named Kylie), which is very patriotic of me.
A couple of artists got multiple songs on this list, which says something about my general fondness for them - Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone, Belle & Sebastian, and Scissor Sisters.
I'm only embarrassed by one track here, and I defend that song by saying the video clip featured Christina Applegate at a roller disco, which is enough justification for almost anything:
22 plays: George Michael - An Easier Affair
18 plays: Welcome to the 60's, from Hairspray
16 plays: Keane - Crystal Ball
15 plays: Gloria Gaynor - If You Want It Do It Yourself; & Pet Shop Boys - Minimal
14 plays: Amy Winehouse - Back To Black; & Robbie Williams - Lovelight
13 plays: Coco Freeman w. U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For; Jessica Simpson - A Public Affair (it had Christina Applegate at a roller disco, so shut up); The Killers - Bones; Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
12 plays: Nina Simone - O-O-Oh Child (Nickodemus Remix)
11 plays: ABBA - If It Wasn't For The Night; Basement Jaxx - Hush Boy; Crowded House - Even A Child; Cut Copy - Hears On Fire; Duffy - Stepping Stone; Jamiroquai - Runaway; Sugababes - Red Dress
10 plays: Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own; Belle & Sebastian - The Blues Are Still Blue; Honey Cone - One Monkey Don't Stop No Show; Maria Dallas - Ambush; Razorlight - America; Scissor Sisters - Paul McCartney; Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?
9 plays: Amy Winehouse - Love is a Losing Game; Bananarama - Look On The Floor/Hypnotic Tango; Belle & Sebastian - We Are The Sleepyheads; Belle & Sebastian - To Be Myself Completely; Beyonce - Irreplaceable; Diana Ross & The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love (Readymade Re-Edit); Electronic - Getting Away With It; Kylie Minogue - In My Arms; Madonna - Dance 2night; Matthew Sweet - Sick Of Myself; Nina Simone - Ain't Got No/I Got Life (Groovefinder Remix); Robyn - Be Mine!; Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin' (Linus Loves Vocal Edit); Scissor Sisters - The Other Side; The Sleepy Jackson - God Lead Your Soul; The Whitlams - Keep The Light On
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Ultimate SoulParty playlist
Two months ago I helped with a social club function at work and got to make pizza and hook my iPod up to the soundsystem with a specially chosen 'Soul Party' playlist. I was very happy with it, so want to keep the list for posterity:
Al Green - Gotta Be More (Take Me Higher)
Al Green - I Want To Hold Your Hand
Al Wilson - The Snake
Ann Peebles - I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down
Aretha Franklin - The House That Jack Built
Barry White - Never, Never, Gonna Give You Up
Benny Spellman - Fortune Teller
Betty Wright - Is It You Girl?
Betty Wright - Shoorah! Shoorah!
Bill Withers - Lean On Me
Black Ivory - Mainline
Bobby Humphrey - Baby Don't You Know
Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street
Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street (demo version)
Bobby Womack - Daylight
Bobby Womack -What You Gonna Do (When Your Love Is Gone)
Brown Sugar - Don't Tie Me Down
Carla Thomas - B-A-B-Y
Chairman of the Board - Give Me Just A Little More Time
Chanson - Don't Hold Back
Curtis Mayfield - Freddy's Dead
David Porter - Help
Diana Ross & The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love (Readymade Re-Edit)
Eloise Laws - Love Factory
Etta James - In The Basement, Part One
Fontella Bass - Hold On This Time
Fontella Bass - Oh, No, Not My Baby
Fontella Bass - Rescue Me
Gladys Knight & The Pips - Since I've Lost You
Glass House - Giving Up The Ring
Gloria Gaynor - (If You Want It) Do It Yourself
Honey Cone - One Monkey Don't Stop No Show
Honey Cone - The Day I Found Myself
Honey Cone - Want Ads
The Hypnotics - Beware of the Stranger
Irma Thomas - Lady Marmalade
Isaac Hayes - Walk On By
The Jones Girls - If You Don't Start Nothing
Lee McDonald - We've Only Just Begun
Linda Clifford - Don't Give Up
Little Milton - Grits Ain't Groceries
Martha Reeves - Second Chance
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - (Love Is Like A) Heatwave
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Nowhere To Run
Marvin Gaye - Keep Gettin' It On
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On (Paul Simpson & Miles Dalto MPG Groove Mix)
Marvin Gaye - The World Is Rated X
Maxine Nightingale - Love Hit Me
McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now
Michael Jackson with the Jackson Five - I Want You Back (Z Trip Remix)
Millie Jackson - My Heart Took A Licking (But It Kept On Ticking)
Nina Simone - The Look Of Love (Madison Park vs Lenny B Remix)
Odyssey - Going Back To My Roots
Odyssey - Inside Out
The O'Jays - Back Stabbers
The O'Jays - For The Love Of Money
Otis Redding - Satisfaction
Pat Lundy - Party Music
Pat Lundy - Work Song
Randy Crawford - Street Life
Rose Royce - I'm Going Down
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?
Solomon Burke - What'd I Say
The Soul Children - Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Speedometer - Work It Out
The Staple Singers - Let's Do It Again
Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours (DJ Smash Essential Funk Mix)
Sylvia Striplin - Give Me Your Love
Tamiko Jones - Touch Me Baby
Teddy Pendergrass - Get Up, Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose
The Temptations - Ball Of Confusion
The Three Sounds - As
The Whispers - It's A Love Thing
Womack & Womack - Teardrops
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Oscar 2008
The Oscars this year were a classy show, with awards spread across 11 deserving films, some very low budget (Juno cost only a few million, and the tiny Irish film Once cost way under $1million). All four acting awards went to non-Americans - first time it's happened since 1964 (when Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, Peter Ustinov and Lila Kedrova won). Marion Cotillard winning a Best Actress award made her the first French performer to receive one since Simone Signoret back in 1960. And Jon Stewart (whom I have a definite soft spot for) did a pretty good job as host.
Unfortunately all this class meant the show got some of the show's lowest ratings ever in the USA (possibly THE lowest ever - they're still checking). So if the producers get desperate next year and give a showfull of tacky stunts (nominated songs performed by Paris Hilton duetting with Michael Jackson, with awards announced by that gay guy off the internet who screams and cries about Britney Spears) then we'll know why.
* Channel 9 didn't start the broadcast till 8:30pm. As there was no red-carpet special at 7:30, I thought we were safe from Richard Wilkins, but sadly not so. My way of coping with him is to have the sound turned off, so you can still watch the stars (as they try to work out whether he's got anything meaningful to ask them, then try to remove themselves from his presence as quickly as possible without appearing too rude). It's also important to stay away from the pre-recorded interviews with the stylists and trainers and hairdressers to the stars, especially that Australian git Napoleon who keeps popping up unpleasantly in all kinds of places. With no sound from the tv for half an hour, I thought some film music might fill the silence. 30 minutes of the soundtrack from Xanadu was the result, and I blame the choosing of this particular cd on the sugar rush from the packet of raspberry-filled Tim Tams I'd started to consume.
* Poor Johnny Depp, nominated for the third time, and lost again. As Cade says, maybe the fact that he never wins will help him keep his 'Hollywood outsider' edge. But if taking on the Sweeney Todd role, with all that singing and that truly terrific hair didn't work for him, I'm not sure what it'd take for him to get a little gold man.
* Not that it wasn't good to see Daniel Day Lewis win. There Will Be Blood had lots of showy 'acting' scenes, and he obviously threw himself deeply into the role. So good for him.
* Having so many non-americans winning awards made for lower star-wattage, but more variety in the acceptances. Javier Bardem wanted to say something to his mum in Spanish. Tilda Swinton thanked her co-star George Clooneyand commented on his days as a caped crusader in a nippled Batman suit. And Marion Cotillard appeared quite over the moon.
* It was a treat to see a French actress win for once. I didn't think the voters would do it. Marion was great in La Vie En Rose, but unfortunately it does continue the trend of handing out Oscars to actors playing famous folks (Jamie Foxx in Ray, Reese Witherspoon in Walk The Line, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote, Cate Blanchett in The Aviator, Helen Mirren in The Queen). Maybe it's just a sign that complex fictional roles are hardto come by these days?
* The Coen's won the directing and Best Picture awards, but they seemed as unsurprised by it as everyone else. Still, they seem nice boys.
* Diablo Cody won a Screenplay award for her first film Juno. She looked all sparkled up for an awards night, and was said to have borrowed a pair of $1million shoes to wear walking down the red carpet. So she looked the part, and seemed to have travelled the road from being an 'exotic dancer' to 'academy award winner' with ease. But she became very emotional during her acceptance speech. She said a line that's often used - "I especially want to thank my fellow nominees because I worship you guys and I'm learning from you every day" but said it with passion and seemed to mean it 100%. She was struggling by the time she got to the end of her speech, and rushed out this - "And most of all, I want to thank my family for loving me exactly the way I am." before starting to break up and having to leave the stage in a rush. I couldn't tell from her face whether she was furious with herself or just trying not to break down in tears, but she was highly wrought up. Was the most moving moment of the night.
* Every year they have a number of montages, usually showing scenes from famous films. One of the nice moments of the night was when Jon Stewart gave some examples of what things might look like if the whole show was made up of montages - which included a short montage entitled 'Bad Dreams -The Oscars Salute!", a montage of scenes from famous films where people wake up in bed, frightened after a bad dream. Ahhh! Argh! Oh!
* The songs! A sweet, fairly simple number from Once won, but not before performances of 3 nominated songs from the Disney film Ella Enchanted, allof which might have been fine in the film but were deadly on stage. They were the kind of cheesy Disney-pastiche songs that might accompany a lunchtime parade at Disneyland, but without the fun of actually being there. Why don't they write decent songs for movies anymore?
* It felt like the oldies were a little ignored. Harrison Ford, Jack Nicholson, and Helen Mirren, were among the few older stars to get a showing on stage, while some others spent the night sitting in the audience (Julie Christie, Dennis Hopper, Faye Dunaway, Sissy Spacek, Jane Russell...). Being the 80th Oscars, I'd thought they would have made more of a thing of past winners. Till the writer's strike was sorted out a few weeks ago, there was always a chance the show wasn't going to go on, so maybe the organising of the show was a little rushed? I'll stick with that idea, because otherwise I'll have to be offended on behalf of everyone wrinkly in Hollywood!
* The Last award, the big Best Picture, was accepted by the Coen brothers, and big-time producer Scott Rudin. His final words were to "my partner, John Barlow. Without you, honey, this is just hardware". In previous years, that kind of gay abandon would only have been expected from the out-of-towners. So presumably, from now on in, following Jodie Foster's lead perhaps, LA gay folk are going to gush about their partners as much as the straighties at these things.
* Couldn't see Carrie Fisher's name amongst the show's writing credits thisyear :-( I hope it's just that she had something else on. I wouldn't want to think The Academy has dumped Princess Leia!
* Cate Blanchett beat Nicole Kidman at being the most pregnant Australian, though both tummies seem to be coming along nicely.
* Everyone looked pretty, like anyone could care less. Only bad dress I saw on stage was sitting on Jennifer Hudson. Maybe they should bring some 'reality tv' style competition into it next year by obliging all actresses to dress themselves for under $30. That would be something to see.
Unfortunately all this class meant the show got some of the show's lowest ratings ever in the USA (possibly THE lowest ever - they're still checking). So if the producers get desperate next year and give a showfull of tacky stunts (nominated songs performed by Paris Hilton duetting with Michael Jackson, with awards announced by that gay guy off the internet who screams and cries about Britney Spears) then we'll know why.
* Channel 9 didn't start the broadcast till 8:30pm. As there was no red-carpet special at 7:30, I thought we were safe from Richard Wilkins, but sadly not so. My way of coping with him is to have the sound turned off, so you can still watch the stars (as they try to work out whether he's got anything meaningful to ask them, then try to remove themselves from his presence as quickly as possible without appearing too rude). It's also important to stay away from the pre-recorded interviews with the stylists and trainers and hairdressers to the stars, especially that Australian git Napoleon who keeps popping up unpleasantly in all kinds of places. With no sound from the tv for half an hour, I thought some film music might fill the silence. 30 minutes of the soundtrack from Xanadu was the result, and I blame the choosing of this particular cd on the sugar rush from the packet of raspberry-filled Tim Tams I'd started to consume.
* Poor Johnny Depp, nominated for the third time, and lost again. As Cade says, maybe the fact that he never wins will help him keep his 'Hollywood outsider' edge. But if taking on the Sweeney Todd role, with all that singing and that truly terrific hair didn't work for him, I'm not sure what it'd take for him to get a little gold man.
* Not that it wasn't good to see Daniel Day Lewis win. There Will Be Blood had lots of showy 'acting' scenes, and he obviously threw himself deeply into the role. So good for him.
* Having so many non-americans winning awards made for lower star-wattage, but more variety in the acceptances. Javier Bardem wanted to say something to his mum in Spanish. Tilda Swinton thanked her co-star George Clooneyand commented on his days as a caped crusader in a nippled Batman suit. And Marion Cotillard appeared quite over the moon.
* It was a treat to see a French actress win for once. I didn't think the voters would do it. Marion was great in La Vie En Rose, but unfortunately it does continue the trend of handing out Oscars to actors playing famous folks (Jamie Foxx in Ray, Reese Witherspoon in Walk The Line, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote, Cate Blanchett in The Aviator, Helen Mirren in The Queen). Maybe it's just a sign that complex fictional roles are hardto come by these days?
* The Coen's won the directing and Best Picture awards, but they seemed as unsurprised by it as everyone else. Still, they seem nice boys.
* Diablo Cody won a Screenplay award for her first film Juno. She looked all sparkled up for an awards night, and was said to have borrowed a pair of $1million shoes to wear walking down the red carpet. So she looked the part, and seemed to have travelled the road from being an 'exotic dancer' to 'academy award winner' with ease. But she became very emotional during her acceptance speech. She said a line that's often used - "I especially want to thank my fellow nominees because I worship you guys and I'm learning from you every day" but said it with passion and seemed to mean it 100%. She was struggling by the time she got to the end of her speech, and rushed out this - "And most of all, I want to thank my family for loving me exactly the way I am." before starting to break up and having to leave the stage in a rush. I couldn't tell from her face whether she was furious with herself or just trying not to break down in tears, but she was highly wrought up. Was the most moving moment of the night.
* Every year they have a number of montages, usually showing scenes from famous films. One of the nice moments of the night was when Jon Stewart gave some examples of what things might look like if the whole show was made up of montages - which included a short montage entitled 'Bad Dreams -The Oscars Salute!", a montage of scenes from famous films where people wake up in bed, frightened after a bad dream. Ahhh! Argh! Oh!
* The songs! A sweet, fairly simple number from Once won, but not before performances of 3 nominated songs from the Disney film Ella Enchanted, allof which might have been fine in the film but were deadly on stage. They were the kind of cheesy Disney-pastiche songs that might accompany a lunchtime parade at Disneyland, but without the fun of actually being there. Why don't they write decent songs for movies anymore?
* It felt like the oldies were a little ignored. Harrison Ford, Jack Nicholson, and Helen Mirren, were among the few older stars to get a showing on stage, while some others spent the night sitting in the audience (Julie Christie, Dennis Hopper, Faye Dunaway, Sissy Spacek, Jane Russell...). Being the 80th Oscars, I'd thought they would have made more of a thing of past winners. Till the writer's strike was sorted out a few weeks ago, there was always a chance the show wasn't going to go on, so maybe the organising of the show was a little rushed? I'll stick with that idea, because otherwise I'll have to be offended on behalf of everyone wrinkly in Hollywood!
* The Last award, the big Best Picture, was accepted by the Coen brothers, and big-time producer Scott Rudin. His final words were to "my partner, John Barlow. Without you, honey, this is just hardware". In previous years, that kind of gay abandon would only have been expected from the out-of-towners. So presumably, from now on in, following Jodie Foster's lead perhaps, LA gay folk are going to gush about their partners as much as the straighties at these things.
* Couldn't see Carrie Fisher's name amongst the show's writing credits thisyear :-( I hope it's just that she had something else on. I wouldn't want to think The Academy has dumped Princess Leia!
* Cate Blanchett beat Nicole Kidman at being the most pregnant Australian, though both tummies seem to be coming along nicely.
* Everyone looked pretty, like anyone could care less. Only bad dress I saw on stage was sitting on Jennifer Hudson. Maybe they should bring some 'reality tv' style competition into it next year by obliging all actresses to dress themselves for under $30. That would be something to see.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Matthew's 2007 Film Awards
Before the Oscars are handed out tomorrow, I need to announce some of my own awards, for the films of 2007. The Academy are said to be favouring No Country For Old Men, which I haven't seen yet. And I know there are plenty of other fine films I missed out on, but that's not a significant enough fact to stop ME giving MY opinion. Not at all. So I'll start with -
My Movie of the Year
Last year it was Pan's Labyrinth, the year before, Brokeback Mountain. This time I just can't decide. Too many good films (Zodiac, Atonement, Hairspray, Control, The Darjeeling Limited, Hot Fuzz...), but no single one that stands above all else. If I force myself to pick, I might as well go with a couple of my heroes, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, who made me a personal treat in Sweeney Todd. Blood, songs, cannibalism (something a vegetarian always appreciates in a film), some really nice hair-dos. How could I say no! And thank you very much to my three pals (you know who you are) who saw it with me, as I would have been too terrified of all the throat-slashing to see it on my own!
Regrettable Hollywood Trend
There was a barrage of so-so sequels. The latest Harry Potter & Shrek films were less than their predecessors. Once again the cast in the Ocean's 13 film seemed to be having all the fun, instead of putting it in the movie. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 was a bore apart from some nice scenes with Johnny D. And Spider-man 3 went on and on and on.
Most Financially Successful New Hollywood 'Idea'
The pregnancy film designed to be equally appealing to males.Last time it was tried was when Arnie got up the duff in Junior. I don't think that really worked.Then someone thought of writing about a chick who gets preggers after a bit of meaningless sex; decides to go through with the pregnancy despite not really wanting it, and the fact it'll stuff up their life for a while; and doesn't make any demands on the ill-prepared father (though of course he's a sweetie who'll do the 'right thing' by the end). And then there's a secondary male character, who feels threatened by all the domesticity, voicing all the concerns of the young blokes in the audience who might be feeling a little queasy at all the baby-talk on screen. Mess it all around a little, adding gross-out jokes (Knocked Up), or a teen mom and an adoption sub-plot (Juno), and you have a hit!Hollywood has worked out that as long as the female lead doesn't really want the baby all that much, and doesn't go all 'gooey', the blokes in the audience won't run screaming. It's kind of like the previous 15 year run of romantic comedies with 'Wedding' in the title, which almost always followed the golden rule of not allowing the two leads to actually marry within the film, and which usually resulted in mega $ at the box-office.
Most Fun In The Cinema
I'm always a softy for musicals when they're good. Sweeney Todd was mesmerising. And though Hairspray was less ambitious, it was a pretty good time had by all. Hot Fuzz was also a lot of fun. And The Simpsons Movie did feature one great new character, in the 'Spider-Pig'.
Biggest Miscalculations
I can think of a couple - Across The Universe, the musical based on Beatles songs. It wasn't completely without merit, but should have been either grittier, or cuter, rather than sitting limply somewhere in-between. Sunshine was a great sci-fi thriller, till a crazed killer 'sun man' turned up and silly-fied everything. Beowulf had some awesome 3D effects (easily winning the Best Dragon Of The Year award), but hollow-eyed animated humans are CREEPY. And I was quite taken with The Golden Compass, which had some great ideas for what on the surface seems a kids film, till it ended. It was designed as Part 1 of a trilogy, but the studio hasn't guaranteed the next parts will actually be made, so leaving almost ALL the plotlines up in the air, and hardly evenhinting where the story was likely to go from here, made for a frustrating ending.
Biggest Piece of Crap
According to the Golden Raspberry Awards, the worst films of the year featured performances by Eddie Murphy (Norbit) and Lindsay Lohan (I Know Who Killed Me). I didn't see them. Hopefully you didn't either, and we can all sleep better at night for that.
Most Annoying Remake
Disturbia ripped off Rear Window (which if you still aren't aware, is THE BEST FILM EVER), and left out most of the stuff that made that film great, dumbifying everything. Shia LeBouf is an appealing actor, and the whole thing was over quickly, but shame on them. Shame.
Most Inappropriate Use of Music
The young lead in Juno shows that she's not a cutesy girlie-girl by constantly discussing super cool rock bands, yet the soundtrack is full of tinkly-tankly acoustic songs, just dripping in adorable cuteness. What IS with that?
Best Non-Hollywood Films
The film La Vie En Rose, and Marion Cotillard's performance as Edith Piaf, was up there with Walk The Line, and superior to Ray, in the current spate of glossy musical biographies, even with it's messy non-linear structure. Control showed how to do the musical bio on a mini-budget, which suited Ian Curtis' rather depressing short life. The technicolour superstar life would never have suited him.
Best Blood-letting
Tim Burton did head-lopping (repeatedly) in Sleepy Hollow. Took ray guns to Hollywood's biggest stars in Mars Attacks! And this year sliced the tender vulnerable necks of men, good and evil, in Sweeney Todd. So much icky, nasty, blood. Naughty Tim! But thanks Tim.
Most Disturbing Killer
Zodiac was brilliantly complex, and thankfully not overly sensationalised. And the fact that the real killer was never brought to trial, well, let's say it's not a good film to watch alone and in the dark.
Showiest Nudity
RayWinstone's buff 3D animated bod in Beowulf. Body hair and beads of sweat animated to perfection as he battles beasts in the nude, as you do.The censors were pleased that appropriately phallic-shaped objects got in the way whenever too much was about to go on display. Angelina Jolie, as Grendel's mum, also nudded it up. But then her designers decided she didn't need nipples. Odd. And very silly. But attention grabbing.
Sweetest Moments
John Travolta and Christopher Walken were a pretty neat couple in Hairspray.
And the brotherly love in The Darjeeling Limited was easy to get caught up in.
Special Award In Comedy
Goes to Knocked Up, for having the guts to actually show where babies really DO come from.
Worst Performances (or miscasting if you're being kind)
The entire cast of 300
David Morse, as an unbelievable and thoroughly incompetent serial killer in Disturbia, though it wasn't his fault that the role was so badly written.
Best Lyrics
"Spiderpig, Spiderpig,Does whatever a Spiderpig doesCan he swing, from a web?No he can't, he's a pigLookout, here comes the Spiderpig"
Memorable Performances
Daniel Day-Lewis, doing a John Huston drawl in There Will Be Blood. A great performance, even though his character became less believable as the film wore on (did I mention previously that There Will Be Blood was quite good but also won the Most Tediously Pretentious Film Of The Year award?).
Ellen Page in Juno, a bit too smart-mouthed to be a convincing teen, but charismatic all the way.
Shia LeBouf, was the only good thing in Disturbia, and brought a bit of charm to the CGI-fest that was Transformers.
Sam Riley, as Ian Curtis (lead singer of Joy Division), in Control.
Johnny Depp (singing!), and Sacha Baron Cohen for putting his hand up for a quite confronting and most definitely unfunny death scene (gosh, he can really bleed, can't he), both in Sweeney Todd
Worst Dialogue
Spartan army: "Ha-OOH! Ha-OOH! Ha-OOH!" (300)
My Movie of the Year
Last year it was Pan's Labyrinth, the year before, Brokeback Mountain. This time I just can't decide. Too many good films (Zodiac, Atonement, Hairspray, Control, The Darjeeling Limited, Hot Fuzz...), but no single one that stands above all else. If I force myself to pick, I might as well go with a couple of my heroes, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, who made me a personal treat in Sweeney Todd. Blood, songs, cannibalism (something a vegetarian always appreciates in a film), some really nice hair-dos. How could I say no! And thank you very much to my three pals (you know who you are) who saw it with me, as I would have been too terrified of all the throat-slashing to see it on my own!
Regrettable Hollywood Trend
There was a barrage of so-so sequels. The latest Harry Potter & Shrek films were less than their predecessors. Once again the cast in the Ocean's 13 film seemed to be having all the fun, instead of putting it in the movie. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 was a bore apart from some nice scenes with Johnny D. And Spider-man 3 went on and on and on.
Most Financially Successful New Hollywood 'Idea'
The pregnancy film designed to be equally appealing to males.Last time it was tried was when Arnie got up the duff in Junior. I don't think that really worked.Then someone thought of writing about a chick who gets preggers after a bit of meaningless sex; decides to go through with the pregnancy despite not really wanting it, and the fact it'll stuff up their life for a while; and doesn't make any demands on the ill-prepared father (though of course he's a sweetie who'll do the 'right thing' by the end). And then there's a secondary male character, who feels threatened by all the domesticity, voicing all the concerns of the young blokes in the audience who might be feeling a little queasy at all the baby-talk on screen. Mess it all around a little, adding gross-out jokes (Knocked Up), or a teen mom and an adoption sub-plot (Juno), and you have a hit!Hollywood has worked out that as long as the female lead doesn't really want the baby all that much, and doesn't go all 'gooey', the blokes in the audience won't run screaming. It's kind of like the previous 15 year run of romantic comedies with 'Wedding' in the title, which almost always followed the golden rule of not allowing the two leads to actually marry within the film, and which usually resulted in mega $ at the box-office.
Most Fun In The Cinema
I'm always a softy for musicals when they're good. Sweeney Todd was mesmerising. And though Hairspray was less ambitious, it was a pretty good time had by all. Hot Fuzz was also a lot of fun. And The Simpsons Movie did feature one great new character, in the 'Spider-Pig'.
Biggest Miscalculations
I can think of a couple - Across The Universe, the musical based on Beatles songs. It wasn't completely without merit, but should have been either grittier, or cuter, rather than sitting limply somewhere in-between. Sunshine was a great sci-fi thriller, till a crazed killer 'sun man' turned up and silly-fied everything. Beowulf had some awesome 3D effects (easily winning the Best Dragon Of The Year award), but hollow-eyed animated humans are CREEPY. And I was quite taken with The Golden Compass, which had some great ideas for what on the surface seems a kids film, till it ended. It was designed as Part 1 of a trilogy, but the studio hasn't guaranteed the next parts will actually be made, so leaving almost ALL the plotlines up in the air, and hardly evenhinting where the story was likely to go from here, made for a frustrating ending.
Biggest Piece of Crap
According to the Golden Raspberry Awards, the worst films of the year featured performances by Eddie Murphy (Norbit) and Lindsay Lohan (I Know Who Killed Me). I didn't see them. Hopefully you didn't either, and we can all sleep better at night for that.
Most Annoying Remake
Disturbia ripped off Rear Window (which if you still aren't aware, is THE BEST FILM EVER), and left out most of the stuff that made that film great, dumbifying everything. Shia LeBouf is an appealing actor, and the whole thing was over quickly, but shame on them. Shame.
Most Inappropriate Use of Music
The young lead in Juno shows that she's not a cutesy girlie-girl by constantly discussing super cool rock bands, yet the soundtrack is full of tinkly-tankly acoustic songs, just dripping in adorable cuteness. What IS with that?
Best Non-Hollywood Films
The film La Vie En Rose, and Marion Cotillard's performance as Edith Piaf, was up there with Walk The Line, and superior to Ray, in the current spate of glossy musical biographies, even with it's messy non-linear structure. Control showed how to do the musical bio on a mini-budget, which suited Ian Curtis' rather depressing short life. The technicolour superstar life would never have suited him.
Best Blood-letting
Tim Burton did head-lopping (repeatedly) in Sleepy Hollow. Took ray guns to Hollywood's biggest stars in Mars Attacks! And this year sliced the tender vulnerable necks of men, good and evil, in Sweeney Todd. So much icky, nasty, blood. Naughty Tim! But thanks Tim.
Most Disturbing Killer
Zodiac was brilliantly complex, and thankfully not overly sensationalised. And the fact that the real killer was never brought to trial, well, let's say it's not a good film to watch alone and in the dark.
Showiest Nudity
RayWinstone's buff 3D animated bod in Beowulf. Body hair and beads of sweat animated to perfection as he battles beasts in the nude, as you do.The censors were pleased that appropriately phallic-shaped objects got in the way whenever too much was about to go on display. Angelina Jolie, as Grendel's mum, also nudded it up. But then her designers decided she didn't need nipples. Odd. And very silly. But attention grabbing.
Sweetest Moments
John Travolta and Christopher Walken were a pretty neat couple in Hairspray.
And the brotherly love in The Darjeeling Limited was easy to get caught up in.
Special Award In Comedy
Goes to Knocked Up, for having the guts to actually show where babies really DO come from.
Worst Performances (or miscasting if you're being kind)
The entire cast of 300
David Morse, as an unbelievable and thoroughly incompetent serial killer in Disturbia, though it wasn't his fault that the role was so badly written.
Best Lyrics
"Spiderpig, Spiderpig,Does whatever a Spiderpig doesCan he swing, from a web?No he can't, he's a pigLookout, here comes the Spiderpig"
Memorable Performances
Daniel Day-Lewis, doing a John Huston drawl in There Will Be Blood. A great performance, even though his character became less believable as the film wore on (did I mention previously that There Will Be Blood was quite good but also won the Most Tediously Pretentious Film Of The Year award?).
Ellen Page in Juno, a bit too smart-mouthed to be a convincing teen, but charismatic all the way.
Shia LeBouf, was the only good thing in Disturbia, and brought a bit of charm to the CGI-fest that was Transformers.
Sam Riley, as Ian Curtis (lead singer of Joy Division), in Control.
Johnny Depp (singing!), and Sacha Baron Cohen for putting his hand up for a quite confronting and most definitely unfunny death scene (gosh, he can really bleed, can't he), both in Sweeney Todd
Worst Dialogue
Spartan army: "Ha-OOH! Ha-OOH! Ha-OOH!" (300)
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Music - Bob Dylan
Saw Bob Dylan's concert at the Entertainment Centre last wednesday night. It was a last minute thing. A friend desperately wanted to go, and didn't want to go alone. The tickets were too pricey for me, but she offered to pay for some of mine. So I couldn't say no.
He was great. I couldn't understand what he was singing half the time, but it didn't matter much. The guy looks OLD, and frail as. But like I said, he and his band sounded good. Many of the songs were unfamiliar to me. Out of the few I knew, the only famous 60's song he sang was Blowin' In The Wind, which he sang in a gently rocking style - sounded beautiful.
The whole band (bar one) wore hats. Bob's was a little amish looking - like Harrison Ford's in Witness.
He was great. I couldn't understand what he was singing half the time, but it didn't matter much. The guy looks OLD, and frail as. But like I said, he and his band sounded good. Many of the songs were unfamiliar to me. Out of the few I knew, the only famous 60's song he sang was Blowin' In The Wind, which he sang in a gently rocking style - sounded beautiful.
The whole band (bar one) wore hats. Bob's was a little amish looking - like Harrison Ford's in Witness.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Kimba the White Lion - influencial vegetarian
I bought a dvd of the old Kimba The White Lion cartoon a while ago, and watched the first episode last weekend. I was a little surprised at just how much I still enjoyed it. The animation was always quite inventive (especially compared to the cheap children's cartoons that came out in the 80's like He-Man). And Kimba was one of THE cutest characters ever.
And I also remembered loving the idea of all the animals living peacefully together and Kimba being brave and protective even though he was so small (of course it's wasn't particularly realistic - in real life a small white lion wouldn't have much chance of convincing the other jungle carnivores to give up meat). But in fact, I actually think Kimba was one of the influences behind my becoming vegetarian when I was a kid. I'd never considered it before, but I'm certain now that Kimba was a definite influence.
So three cheers for Kimba - turning small children into vegetarians!
The kids of 1971
On good old Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) you can search for the year you were born, then choose 'Births', and it will show you all those people (though mainly american ones) who have become famous inthe same number of years it's taken you to get where you are now.
I like my slacker crowd (of 1971).
*** There's the SexySuper '71 Boys: Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G/Borat), Ewan McGregor, Mark Wahlberg, David Tennant (the current Dr Who), Sean Astin, Johnny Knoxville, Luke Wilson, Snoop Dogg, Ricky Martin (maybe I'll have to sneer alittle less at him now I know he's a '71 boy), Jared Leto, Richard Ashcroft (The Verve), Matt Stone (South Park)
*** And the SuperSexy '71 Gals: Winona Ryder, Erykah Badu, Sofia Coppolla, Dido, Christina Applegate, Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries)
And assorted other '71ers - Mary J Blige, Denise Richards, Shannen Doherty, Tupac Shakur, MissyElliott, Stella McCartney, Dannii Minogue, and Tiffany.
I like my slacker crowd (of 1971).
*** There's the SexySuper '71 Boys: Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G/Borat), Ewan McGregor, Mark Wahlberg, David Tennant (the current Dr Who), Sean Astin, Johnny Knoxville, Luke Wilson, Snoop Dogg, Ricky Martin (maybe I'll have to sneer alittle less at him now I know he's a '71 boy), Jared Leto, Richard Ashcroft (The Verve), Matt Stone (South Park)
*** And the SuperSexy '71 Gals: Winona Ryder, Erykah Badu, Sofia Coppolla, Dido, Christina Applegate, Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries)
And assorted other '71ers - Mary J Blige, Denise Richards, Shannen Doherty, Tupac Shakur, MissyElliott, Stella McCartney, Dannii Minogue, and Tiffany.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Live Earth - music, mixed messages, and whingeing critics
A number of Foxtel channels showed almost 24 hours of the Live Earth concerts on the weekend. It was highly watchable if you did as I did - digitally recording it and then fast forwarding through the constant ads for various Foxtel programs, and zipping past a couple of dud artists.
Biggest and brightest show was in London, while Beijing's was rather awful - icky music and with a tiny audience. A fairly token effort.
Crowded House, Foo Fighters and Madonna all seemed to go off (apart from Madonna's dreary charity single). And one artist who surprised me was Alicia Keyes, who came out with some solid soul covers. Much better than the mush that made her famous.
With simultaneous concerts, there were a couple of interesting doubling ups. James Blunt sang a Cat Stevens song in London (did an okay job of it I thought), and a little while later Yusuf (the ex Cat himself) turned up in Hamburg to sing some more of his own stuff. While Marvin Gaye's Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) was covered by Corrinne Bailey Rae and John Legend in London, then again a while later by Alicia Keyes in New York. I read somewhere that What A Wonderful World and Gimme Shelter also turned up twice.
Liked lots of other artists, and wished I'd been there to see them live - Keane, Snow Patrol, Macy Gray, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Baaba Maal, Joss Stone, Jack Johnson...
There have been plenty of critics pointing out the obvious irony of listening to enviro-messages coming out of the mouths of far from carbon-neutral cashed-up pop stars. But the world's media has spent years demonising greenies and turning collective deaf ears to environmental scientists (their warnings are ignored or at best put off as something for us all to face some day down the track, but not right now while doing something about it might cost us a buck or two). Big media rarely listens to anyone who's not rich and/or powerful anyway. If you're a hippie with a message about living sustainably in a beach shack with a veggie patch, nobody's going to give you air time. So getting big names to go even partially green and giving the message a new platform, how can that hurt? And, well, mega-concerts can be a lot of fun.
Pop stars aren't likely to change the world a whole lot, but a concert for a good cause is usually preferable to one that's solely for their bank balances.
Of course what would be really nice would be if people were willing to vote for politicians who didn't always put short-term $ before the future of our planet. End of transmission!
Biggest and brightest show was in London, while Beijing's was rather awful - icky music and with a tiny audience. A fairly token effort.
Crowded House, Foo Fighters and Madonna all seemed to go off (apart from Madonna's dreary charity single). And one artist who surprised me was Alicia Keyes, who came out with some solid soul covers. Much better than the mush that made her famous.
With simultaneous concerts, there were a couple of interesting doubling ups. James Blunt sang a Cat Stevens song in London (did an okay job of it I thought), and a little while later Yusuf (the ex Cat himself) turned up in Hamburg to sing some more of his own stuff. While Marvin Gaye's Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) was covered by Corrinne Bailey Rae and John Legend in London, then again a while later by Alicia Keyes in New York. I read somewhere that What A Wonderful World and Gimme Shelter also turned up twice.
Liked lots of other artists, and wished I'd been there to see them live - Keane, Snow Patrol, Macy Gray, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Baaba Maal, Joss Stone, Jack Johnson...
There have been plenty of critics pointing out the obvious irony of listening to enviro-messages coming out of the mouths of far from carbon-neutral cashed-up pop stars. But the world's media has spent years demonising greenies and turning collective deaf ears to environmental scientists (their warnings are ignored or at best put off as something for us all to face some day down the track, but not right now while doing something about it might cost us a buck or two). Big media rarely listens to anyone who's not rich and/or powerful anyway. If you're a hippie with a message about living sustainably in a beach shack with a veggie patch, nobody's going to give you air time. So getting big names to go even partially green and giving the message a new platform, how can that hurt? And, well, mega-concerts can be a lot of fun.
Pop stars aren't likely to change the world a whole lot, but a concert for a good cause is usually preferable to one that's solely for their bank balances.
Of course what would be really nice would be if people were willing to vote for politicians who didn't always put short-term $ before the future of our planet. End of transmission!
Monday, June 25, 2007
2007 Sydney Film Festival
This is a grumble post.
This was probably the most disappointing Sydney Film Festival I've known. There's a new woman in charge of picking films, and she didn't do a terrible job - the films weren't awful - it's just that none of them were great. Especially the films shown at the delicious State Theatre. Film after film of art-house-lite. Decent enough for passing the time of retired public servant types, looking for a way to pass some hours with something neither too dumb or too challenging. Unexceptional low-key dramas, and unambitious docos. 2 weeks of them.
Got me wondering whether the woman in charge can truly be a lover of films? Maybe she just 'likes' them. Would partly explain her taste for worthy brown-bread PC-fare, with little emphasis on anything truly outstanding.
For the first time I've known, there was NO silent film. So sad.
There seemed to be almost nothing american on the menu. I wonder if this was intentional? (last year the US gave us some of the best festival films - like United 93, An Inconvenient Truth, and Little Miss Sunshine).
And the couple of more 'colourful' films I could see on the program were in the smaller theatres on George St, where they quickly sold out (too quickly for me to see them).
Also, the new 'ideas' seemed to have ideological rather than artistic purpose - lame kids films, a group of films specifically dealing with people with disabilities, and supposedly feel-good music docos (such as a reportedly unimpressive hula film being followed by hula dancing lessons).
So that's my whinge.
I'd like her to go.
But as far as I could tell people still turned up, so if their box-office takings were okay she'll probably return next year.
The only positive things I could say are that I'm pleased they showed some old John Huston films (saw The Dead, The Misfits, and The Man Who Would Be King on the big screen), and that maybe some of the films I missed might have changed my opinion. But what I saw was nothing to blog about.
This was probably the most disappointing Sydney Film Festival I've known. There's a new woman in charge of picking films, and she didn't do a terrible job - the films weren't awful - it's just that none of them were great. Especially the films shown at the delicious State Theatre. Film after film of art-house-lite. Decent enough for passing the time of retired public servant types, looking for a way to pass some hours with something neither too dumb or too challenging. Unexceptional low-key dramas, and unambitious docos. 2 weeks of them.
Got me wondering whether the woman in charge can truly be a lover of films? Maybe she just 'likes' them. Would partly explain her taste for worthy brown-bread PC-fare, with little emphasis on anything truly outstanding.
For the first time I've known, there was NO silent film. So sad.
There seemed to be almost nothing american on the menu. I wonder if this was intentional? (last year the US gave us some of the best festival films - like United 93, An Inconvenient Truth, and Little Miss Sunshine).
And the couple of more 'colourful' films I could see on the program were in the smaller theatres on George St, where they quickly sold out (too quickly for me to see them).
Also, the new 'ideas' seemed to have ideological rather than artistic purpose - lame kids films, a group of films specifically dealing with people with disabilities, and supposedly feel-good music docos (such as a reportedly unimpressive hula film being followed by hula dancing lessons).
So that's my whinge.
I'd like her to go.
But as far as I could tell people still turned up, so if their box-office takings were okay she'll probably return next year.
The only positive things I could say are that I'm pleased they showed some old John Huston films (saw The Dead, The Misfits, and The Man Who Would Be King on the big screen), and that maybe some of the films I missed might have changed my opinion. But what I saw was nothing to blog about.
Packer Wedding - Close the borders!
James Packer and Erica Baxter are married.
Now is surely the time to close the Australian borders and cancel the passports of the entire wedding party, before any of them return. We'd be rid of the Packers, Alan Jones, Eddie Maguire, The Warnes, and most of the Murdochs. What an awful pack of people. They even invited the Cruises, just to make things extra creepy. Ick.
Now is surely the time to close the Australian borders and cancel the passports of the entire wedding party, before any of them return. We'd be rid of the Packers, Alan Jones, Eddie Maguire, The Warnes, and most of the Murdochs. What an awful pack of people. They even invited the Cruises, just to make things extra creepy. Ick.
Monday, April 30, 2007
MTV Music Awards 2007
We were out at the MTV music awards yesterday, wearing t-shirts with CREW written on the back of them (well Cade went without as they didn't have exactly enough to go around, which left him a bit miffed), assisting with siphoning disorderly teenagers into the mosh pit, where we got to join them once the show started.
This was the second time we'd been to these awards. They're a bit odd, as the presenters do their presenting to the cameras, not the audience, and everything goes dead when it's ad-break time. Definitely best to be in the mosh pit where you can get up close to the performers, but it does mean standing back a bit from the screaming teens at the front.
The bands were all decent, including Eskimo Joe, as well as some of the others that I'm not personally keen on (like Good Charlotte, and Damien Leith). The 'flossy flossy' Fergie was the host, though the song she sang was just okay.
* The HIGHS - Pink is truly cute, even though she wants to be 'tough', but that just makes her cuter. As well as singing she twirled a couple of metres above the stage and audience from drapes hanging from the ceiling. Nifty. Sneaky Sound System rocked, just like they did when I saw them as the opening band for Scissor Sisters a few months ago. It's unusual to see dance musos who sound so good live. Would be good to see them get some exposure internationally. And I got to see silverchair for the first time ever. This really got the mosh pit kids off, and water bottles were sent flying. They were so satisfying that we decided to leave for home even though there was about 20 minutes of show to go. No point sticking around for 30 Seconds To Mars (Jared Leto) who would only have been an anti-climax (and the word from backstage was that Jared Leto and his boys weren't the nicest of people).
* The LOWS - Like the Logies, there's obviously plenty of dodgy voting, because there's no other believable explanation for Guy Sebastian winning for best pop clip or Evanescence winning best album. Few people got a less excited response from the crowd than Guy, but at least he didn't sing. I've never been a fan of ex-soapie stars like Stephanie Macintosh trying to become pop stars, but it was a bit hard watching (and hearing) her flail all over the place, especially when the music stopped for a few seconds so we could hear the full awfullness of her singing. I can't decide if her performance was as bad as Russell Crowe's at last year's show, or whether Russell wins that one. There seemed no point to Nicole Ritchie being there, until she announced a winner as shah-Non Noll, and gave us all a laugh.
*** UPDATE - The awards were shown live on MTV. As we were at the awards we couldn't watch them on tv until they were repeated - by which time Stephanie Macintosh's performance had been cut! Was this MTV trimming the dud bits to make a more entertaining show? Or was it done to protect a singer who can't sing while the record company is still trying to flog her music to the pop-star loving kids of the world???
This was the second time we'd been to these awards. They're a bit odd, as the presenters do their presenting to the cameras, not the audience, and everything goes dead when it's ad-break time. Definitely best to be in the mosh pit where you can get up close to the performers, but it does mean standing back a bit from the screaming teens at the front.
The bands were all decent, including Eskimo Joe, as well as some of the others that I'm not personally keen on (like Good Charlotte, and Damien Leith). The 'flossy flossy' Fergie was the host, though the song she sang was just okay.
* The HIGHS - Pink is truly cute, even though she wants to be 'tough', but that just makes her cuter. As well as singing she twirled a couple of metres above the stage and audience from drapes hanging from the ceiling. Nifty. Sneaky Sound System rocked, just like they did when I saw them as the opening band for Scissor Sisters a few months ago. It's unusual to see dance musos who sound so good live. Would be good to see them get some exposure internationally. And I got to see silverchair for the first time ever. This really got the mosh pit kids off, and water bottles were sent flying. They were so satisfying that we decided to leave for home even though there was about 20 minutes of show to go. No point sticking around for 30 Seconds To Mars (Jared Leto) who would only have been an anti-climax (and the word from backstage was that Jared Leto and his boys weren't the nicest of people).
* The LOWS - Like the Logies, there's obviously plenty of dodgy voting, because there's no other believable explanation for Guy Sebastian winning for best pop clip or Evanescence winning best album. Few people got a less excited response from the crowd than Guy, but at least he didn't sing. I've never been a fan of ex-soapie stars like Stephanie Macintosh trying to become pop stars, but it was a bit hard watching (and hearing) her flail all over the place, especially when the music stopped for a few seconds so we could hear the full awfullness of her singing. I can't decide if her performance was as bad as Russell Crowe's at last year's show, or whether Russell wins that one. There seemed no point to Nicole Ritchie being there, until she announced a winner as shah-Non Noll, and gave us all a laugh.
*** UPDATE - The awards were shown live on MTV. As we were at the awards we couldn't watch them on tv until they were repeated - by which time Stephanie Macintosh's performance had been cut! Was this MTV trimming the dud bits to make a more entertaining show? Or was it done to protect a singer who can't sing while the record company is still trying to flog her music to the pop-star loving kids of the world???
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Film - Ten Empty
A number of weeks ago I got to attend a screening of a unfinished new Australian film Ten Empty, two-thirds of the way into it's editing period. It's set in Adelaide, stars mostly unfamiliar actors (Jack Thompson has a supporting role), and cost around $1million. It's a small-scale drama, and fairly interesting, though unfortunately it's yet another Australian film where ugly Australians hang out in their crappy loungerooms getting drunk/yelling at each other/whining about how hard their lives are etc. At least this film doesn't end up with a failed bank robbery/drug deal (Little Fish, Idiot Box, The Boys and every second Aussie film from the last 5 years). And despite the editing being unfinished, it kept me involved.
It was an unusual experience as there seemed to be a lot of major editing work needed. The story was all there, but nobody in the film was particularly likeable or sympathetic, and the motivations of the characters frequently made no sense at all - for example you were left wondering why one person was still in a crummy relationship with another when in real life you'd imagine they'd have left years ago.
The fun part was talking about the film afterwards. The producer wanted to chat - firstly to make sure that everything made sense (all the practical points of the plot did, but emotionally it didn't), and secondly whether we liked and/or enjoyed it. Being a film that seemed to have potential but didn't currently work at all, it was interesting to consider all the options they'd have to consider for making changes.
I felt very sorry for the first-time director. Unfortunately he doesn't have one of those films that just get shot and then stitched together easily - the editors had a lot of major work left to do on it. Good luck to them.
It was an unusual experience as there seemed to be a lot of major editing work needed. The story was all there, but nobody in the film was particularly likeable or sympathetic, and the motivations of the characters frequently made no sense at all - for example you were left wondering why one person was still in a crummy relationship with another when in real life you'd imagine they'd have left years ago.
The fun part was talking about the film afterwards. The producer wanted to chat - firstly to make sure that everything made sense (all the practical points of the plot did, but emotionally it didn't), and secondly whether we liked and/or enjoyed it. Being a film that seemed to have potential but didn't currently work at all, it was interesting to consider all the options they'd have to consider for making changes.
I felt very sorry for the first-time director. Unfortunately he doesn't have one of those films that just get shot and then stitched together easily - the editors had a lot of major work left to do on it. Good luck to them.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Oscar 2007
The Oscars this year were very international, and most of the presenters were youngsters. I think they're holding back on the oldies for next year (the 80th oscars).
* Was good to see Alan Arkin win for best supporting actor in Little Miss Sunshine. The guy's in his 70's now, and he's been giving good acting for years. Eddie Murphy had been the favourite (for no good reason), and he didn't take losing well. He left shortly afterwards and so wasn't there when Jennifer Hudson won an award for the same film. Not very classy of Eddie, but at least it was an honest emotional response, which always makes for a nice change in Hollywood.
* Why did they have to do the obvious thing and give Jennifer Hudson an award? Aside from the singing scenes, there was nothing special about her in Dreamgirls. Is she going to be like a lot of other youngsters who get given oscars early in their careers for one showy role, sometimes in their first or second film, and then never give another above-average performance (Marisa Tomei, Mira Sorvino, Cuba Gooding Jnr...)? Sometimes they choose wisely (Hilary Swank proved to be more than a one-hit wonder), but why do Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie have oscars, while Kate Winslet, Johnny Depp, Judy Davis and Naomi Watts have none??
* Nobody warned me Celine Dion would be singing. I thought she was safely locked away in Las Vegas?
* Martin Scorcese was teary-eyed when his long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker won. And it was good to see Martin win best director. Over the years, 20 performances in his films have been nominated for oscars, so even though I think the guy's a bit over-rated, it was about time he got his own. Martin always seems very humble at these events, though I can't imagine him being too humble on a film set. Myself, I think the director of United 93 deserved to win, but that wasn't going to happen. And wasn't it a bit unkind to have Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Francis F Coppolla announce the winner? The other nominees would have known Hollywood had no interest in them winning when that trio walked out on stage. They were there for Marty.
* I read that Melissa Etheridge thanked her 'wife' when she picked up her best song award. I missed that bit. As is usual with oscar-winning songs these days, it wasn't that great.
* Naomi Watts showed off her pregnant tummy for the first time. Good for her.
* I always stay watching for the credits, to check if Princess Leia is still employed as one of the show's joke writers. She is.
* After The Departed, the brilliant Spanish film Pan's Labyrinth won the most awards (3), but it didn't win best foreign language film! Pathetic. The voters have such bad taste in foreign films, always have - or maybe it's just that they let politics get in the way.
* This is the second year in a row that the top 2 acting awards went to people playing real life personalities. And as well as those four, biographical roles also worked in the last few years for Jamie Foxx (Ray Charles), Cate Blanchett (Katherine Hepburn), Charlize Theron (the Monster woman) and Nicole Kidman (Virginia Woolf). Obviously this is now the easiest way for an actor to win an oscar.
* And poor Peter O'Toole. Nominated 8 times, and no prize. They should have given him one for Lawrence of Arabia when they had the chance all those years ago! Peter should have stormed out with Eddie, AND thrown his chair at Forest Whitaker (even though I was happy for Forest to win - he's always good and has been around so long - remember him way back in The Crying Game?).
* The media went on about what people wore, but as usual it was boring. Cate Blanchett did look cool though - like a glamorous female Sir Lancelot. And Nicky Kidman was her usual glam red-carpet self. I never got to see how she managed to sit down in that dress. Looked like it would be difficult.
* Was good to see Alan Arkin win for best supporting actor in Little Miss Sunshine. The guy's in his 70's now, and he's been giving good acting for years. Eddie Murphy had been the favourite (for no good reason), and he didn't take losing well. He left shortly afterwards and so wasn't there when Jennifer Hudson won an award for the same film. Not very classy of Eddie, but at least it was an honest emotional response, which always makes for a nice change in Hollywood.
* Why did they have to do the obvious thing and give Jennifer Hudson an award? Aside from the singing scenes, there was nothing special about her in Dreamgirls. Is she going to be like a lot of other youngsters who get given oscars early in their careers for one showy role, sometimes in their first or second film, and then never give another above-average performance (Marisa Tomei, Mira Sorvino, Cuba Gooding Jnr...)? Sometimes they choose wisely (Hilary Swank proved to be more than a one-hit wonder), but why do Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie have oscars, while Kate Winslet, Johnny Depp, Judy Davis and Naomi Watts have none??
* Nobody warned me Celine Dion would be singing. I thought she was safely locked away in Las Vegas?
* Martin Scorcese was teary-eyed when his long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker won. And it was good to see Martin win best director. Over the years, 20 performances in his films have been nominated for oscars, so even though I think the guy's a bit over-rated, it was about time he got his own. Martin always seems very humble at these events, though I can't imagine him being too humble on a film set. Myself, I think the director of United 93 deserved to win, but that wasn't going to happen. And wasn't it a bit unkind to have Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Francis F Coppolla announce the winner? The other nominees would have known Hollywood had no interest in them winning when that trio walked out on stage. They were there for Marty.
* I read that Melissa Etheridge thanked her 'wife' when she picked up her best song award. I missed that bit. As is usual with oscar-winning songs these days, it wasn't that great.
* Naomi Watts showed off her pregnant tummy for the first time. Good for her.
* I always stay watching for the credits, to check if Princess Leia is still employed as one of the show's joke writers. She is.
* After The Departed, the brilliant Spanish film Pan's Labyrinth won the most awards (3), but it didn't win best foreign language film! Pathetic. The voters have such bad taste in foreign films, always have - or maybe it's just that they let politics get in the way.
* This is the second year in a row that the top 2 acting awards went to people playing real life personalities. And as well as those four, biographical roles also worked in the last few years for Jamie Foxx (Ray Charles), Cate Blanchett (Katherine Hepburn), Charlize Theron (the Monster woman) and Nicole Kidman (Virginia Woolf). Obviously this is now the easiest way for an actor to win an oscar.
* And poor Peter O'Toole. Nominated 8 times, and no prize. They should have given him one for Lawrence of Arabia when they had the chance all those years ago! Peter should have stormed out with Eddie, AND thrown his chair at Forest Whitaker (even though I was happy for Forest to win - he's always good and has been around so long - remember him way back in The Crying Game?).
* The media went on about what people wore, but as usual it was boring. Cate Blanchett did look cool though - like a glamorous female Sir Lancelot. And Nicky Kidman was her usual glam red-carpet self. I never got to see how she managed to sit down in that dress. Looked like it would be difficult.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Kangaroo Valley wombats
We recently spent an extended weekend at Kangaroo Valley, in a group of holiday cabins up in the isolated hills.
Besides being beautifully peaceful, and having a very handy pool (it was one of the hottest weekends of the summer), the most lovely thing about the place was the animals.
There were the domestics - 2 donkeys, ducks, 4 chooks, 2 rabbits, and Miss Millie the pig (so cute! such an enthusiastic eater!).
And there was the wild. We saw one kangaroo, as well as a goana. And at night there were wombats all over. Two were munching grass outside our cabin one night. And driving down to the valley's main street at night, we had to stop more than half a dozen times for these rather large animals (somehow managing to move both more slowy and faster than you'd expect).
A local said that years ago there were no wombats in KV. But as housing estates and high speed roads take over the region, huge numbers of the creatures have found their safe haven in the valley.
2006 is kaput
2006 is gone! Time for some thoughts on it from the position of middle-brow cultural consumerism.
Movies - There was a lot of good alternative stuff coming out of the US for a change, a little challenging, a little wacky - Borat, Little Miss Sunshine, United 93, An Inconvenient Truth, Shortbus, The Aristocrats. The Devil Wears Prada & Casino Royale were solid popcorn fun.
Only saw one Australian film, and it was worthy - Ten Canoes.
Mission Impossible 3 was the worst film I saw at the movies (why won't Tom Cruise's character just die!!!), while Date Movie was the worst new film I saw on dvd. Burn the copies. All of them!
Music - most enjoyable aspect this year for me was getting to know some tuneful man bands better - Keane, Belle & Sebastian, Matthew Sweet and The Sleepy Jackson come to mind.
And of course, there was the memorable 2 seconds during which Chris Isaak shook my hand.
Books - I'm rarely as grateful for the new release of a book as I was for Chris Masters' much-needed Jonestown. And after all the subtle threats before publication, no lawsuit from Jonesy? Pity the pathetic ABC management had to behave so foolishly about the whole thing.
The most powerful novel I read all year was The Leopard, by Guiseppe De Lampdesua, while the most powerful short story I've EVER read turned out to be Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx.
Media - With the publication of Jonestown, Noami Robson leaving Today Tonight, and the improving fortunes of crikey.com and The Monthly, is the Australian Media a safer saner place? Even Murdoch's papers have changed their tune (at master's orders) over global warming & climate change. Still, channel 9 has Eddie Maguire, and Shane Warne & wifey are poised to be the new over-exposed tv celebrities of '07, so all isn't completely safe.
Movies - There was a lot of good alternative stuff coming out of the US for a change, a little challenging, a little wacky - Borat, Little Miss Sunshine, United 93, An Inconvenient Truth, Shortbus, The Aristocrats. The Devil Wears Prada & Casino Royale were solid popcorn fun.
Only saw one Australian film, and it was worthy - Ten Canoes.
Mission Impossible 3 was the worst film I saw at the movies (why won't Tom Cruise's character just die!!!), while Date Movie was the worst new film I saw on dvd. Burn the copies. All of them!
Music - most enjoyable aspect this year for me was getting to know some tuneful man bands better - Keane, Belle & Sebastian, Matthew Sweet and The Sleepy Jackson come to mind.
And of course, there was the memorable 2 seconds during which Chris Isaak shook my hand.
Books - I'm rarely as grateful for the new release of a book as I was for Chris Masters' much-needed Jonestown. And after all the subtle threats before publication, no lawsuit from Jonesy? Pity the pathetic ABC management had to behave so foolishly about the whole thing.
The most powerful novel I read all year was The Leopard, by Guiseppe De Lampdesua, while the most powerful short story I've EVER read turned out to be Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx.
Media - With the publication of Jonestown, Noami Robson leaving Today Tonight, and the improving fortunes of crikey.com and The Monthly, is the Australian Media a safer saner place? Even Murdoch's papers have changed their tune (at master's orders) over global warming & climate change. Still, channel 9 has Eddie Maguire, and Shane Warne & wifey are poised to be the new over-exposed tv celebrities of '07, so all isn't completely safe.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Front Porch Cat
A few months ago I bought a chair to go on the front porch.
Many afternoons I sit out there, reading a book as the sun goes down.
Now, a local cat (collar-less), has taken to spending half the day on it. From a safe distance, she (I think it's a she) can comfortably watch everyone passing on the street.
She's very friendly, likes a pat, and will chat if you talk to her.
It doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest to hear dogs running around inside the house. Of course, they're totally ignorant of the fact that she's out there.
Part of me's always wanted a cat, and this one doesn't even expect us to feed her, so lucky me. I'm quite chuffed she's chosen our porch actually.
And feel free to give her a pat if you're ever visiting here.
Many afternoons I sit out there, reading a book as the sun goes down.
Now, a local cat (collar-less), has taken to spending half the day on it. From a safe distance, she (I think it's a she) can comfortably watch everyone passing on the street.
She's very friendly, likes a pat, and will chat if you talk to her.
It doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest to hear dogs running around inside the house. Of course, they're totally ignorant of the fact that she's out there.
Part of me's always wanted a cat, and this one doesn't even expect us to feed her, so lucky me. I'm quite chuffed she's chosen our porch actually.
And feel free to give her a pat if you're ever visiting here.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Music - Chris Isaak - The Best Of Tour 2006
Last thursday was lucky to FINALLY catch the great Chris Isaak playing at the Capitol Theatre. Last time he toured here I was out of Sydney, and the two times before that he sold out too fast. But this time I snagged a seat, exactly in the middle of the very last row.
Chris was as smooth and charming as you'd imagine him to be.
He was quite dressed up - a hot pink suit to start with, then a many-mirrored one to finish (I'd never previously imagined Chris as a mirrorball, but the suit suited him). The colourful duds went well with a night of songs that were more emotional and romantic than we'd get from most modern singers. A mix of Nashville, and lazy Californian beaches. Some of his female fans definitely approved. One ran onstage in the middle of a song (a dozen others were asked up towards the end of the night), and I noticed a couple of women in the audience who jumped out of their seats to scream and dance about at the slightest provocation.
He sang most of his well known songs - Blue Hotel; Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing; Somebody's Crying; Please Let Me Down Easy; Speak of the Devil.
There were some old rockin' numbers - Blue Moon; Don't Be Cruel; and Only The Lonely (hearing him live for the first time I realised how much he owes to Roy Orbinson).
He sang Return To Me while walking all over the auditorium, including visiting us plebs up the back, and there were two songs from other guys in the band (one with an Aussie influence - I definitely heard the lyrics 'yeast extract').
One song of his I wish he hadn't left out was Dancin'.
And even though he'd have a right to be a bit bored with it by now, he sang Wicked Game with all the moody passion it deserves - my favourite musical moment of the night.
But the huge highlight for this little fan was to discover that after the show he was available for autographs in the foyer. I was probably the 500th person in the line, but he obviously has plenty of stamina for this kind of thing (by the looks of him he's a very healthy fellow). I got a smile and a handshake, and he signed a photo for me. For the guy before me he added a halo above his head. I got devil horns.
He also said something to me, but I wouldn't be able to tell you what - I only remember how much cooler his voice was than mine! Smooth as.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Advice on Chopsticks and When to Bring Your Own
I've grown accustomed to visiting the flash sushi train downstairs for lunch 2 or 3 times a week now. I didn't like using their disposable chopsticks, as it's needlessly wasteful.
Today I brought along my own pair for the first time (a handsome pair in a box which I bought when I lived in Japan). When I whipped them out there was giggly surprise from some of the staff. I think it's usually only nerds and fussy old people who carry their own. Younger/Cooler folks are expected to walk around with only small electronic devices and a wallet full of cash in their pockets.
One young woman working there said her parents bought her a pair last year, as there were stories in the news describing some of the nasty chemicals used in making the disposable kind. But she's too embarrassed to take them anywhere, so they sit unused at home, making her feel guilty.
All up, it was a good move. I got fussed over, with a pat on the shoulder from the owner, and another person there rushed to get me a bowl of my favourite Korean salad before I'd even asked.
So my advice re chopsticks is, fear not embarrassment, take your own.
Today I brought along my own pair for the first time (a handsome pair in a box which I bought when I lived in Japan). When I whipped them out there was giggly surprise from some of the staff. I think it's usually only nerds and fussy old people who carry their own. Younger/Cooler folks are expected to walk around with only small electronic devices and a wallet full of cash in their pockets.
One young woman working there said her parents bought her a pair last year, as there were stories in the news describing some of the nasty chemicals used in making the disposable kind. But she's too embarrassed to take them anywhere, so they sit unused at home, making her feel guilty.
All up, it was a good move. I got fussed over, with a pat on the shoulder from the owner, and another person there rushed to get me a bowl of my favourite Korean salad before I'd even asked.
So my advice re chopsticks is, fear not embarrassment, take your own.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
A week & a half ago saw iOTA playing Hedwig (with his Angry Inch) at the Newtown RSL. We sat directly behind Tim Friedman (of The Whitlams) and his date. iOTA's performance (a bit Frankenfurter a bit 70's David Bowie) was very strong - an hour and a half of rockin' songs and monologues. Would be nice to see it get extended or even bumped up to a better theatre.
Favourite songs - The Origin Of Love and Wig in a Box.
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