Guess What?
I’m now on the radio! On Tuesday mornings I will be doing a segment with LIA over @ 2ser breakfast about the internets. Tune in tomoz from 6am to catch the show. Lia also has great taste in music and a lovely voice to wake up to.
xx
I am so so excited for a female to be up there for Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker - image above). After reading this over at The Guardian, it made me think about how few women (aside from actresses obviously) have gone home with a golden statue. I know The Academy Awards are not the be all and end of film but for mainstream viewers, they hold a lot of sway.
I am a really disappointed that Samson and Delilah didn’t get the nod for Best Foreign Language film, as a win would go a long way in gaining international exposure for that film, and its brutal yet beautiful storytelling.
And props to District 9 for its best film nom, I re-watched it last week and still thought it was rad. Although the same can be said for it’s fellow nominee, Inglourious Basterds. I am pumped to see Precious, if only to see Mariah without make up. And how awesome that the horrible theme song from Avatar was rejected for Best Original Song (possibly as it was not that original, just a reworking of My Heart Will Go On).
As I am an editor myself, I am going to put money on District 9 for Best Editing - as I think that it really helped the low budget film go to that next level.
Ok, enough nerding out. What do you guys think of the nominations?
xx
Comedy duo Aamer Rahman and Nazeem Hussain perform under the banner Fear of a Brown Planet. A poke at modern Australia’s fears combined with a healthy dose of racial realism, their comedy is a unique, no hold back take on the issues. Taking the piss out of everyone, including themselves, can be seriously funny.
But what I really wanted to tell you was they are booked for Adelaide Fringe Festival (tix here) and The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (tix here), and they have a brand new fancy/cool website which includes video of their shows.
It’s funny.
The End
Have you seen Avatar? Of course you have. The whole world has probably seen Avatar by now. It’s the most gigantic film ever made. Ever. The WHOLE MOVIE IS IN 3D! Amazeballs.
But what have the critics been saying? There are many readings of James Cameron’s masterpiece that have sprung up in print and online, and I’d like to cover just a few:
1. The Divine Doctrine
Ah, Miranda Divine. Beloved SMH columnist with a knack for making mountains out of molehills when it comes to defending right leaning ideology. Her review of Avatar was true to form, from her description of the Na’vi ‘running rampant around Pandora, raping fauna with their ponytails’, to her declaration that ‘ The snarling vipers of left-wing Hollywood have been let off the leash in a way previously unmatched in a high-priced blockbuster.’
Snarling Vipers? Harsh words even for you, Miranda. McCarthy would be itching from the grave to have a go at Cameron, right?
2. The White Gulit Fantasy Reading.
Annalee Newitz wrote an interesting piece over at i09. Describing the film as ‘emphatically a fantasy about race’, Newitz continues with a tirad against Jake Sully’s development from white, disabled marine to the ‘most awesome member’ of the Na’vi race. She sites other films such as Dances With Wolves and Dune, which depict hero journey’s that end in a white dude saving an otherwise helpless race , often from his own race of baddies from which he has deflected.
She also mentions Distict 9 as a very different lesson, in which Wikus becomes an Alien and can’t change back. ‘He has no other choice but to live in slums and eat cat food. And guess what? He really hates it.’ Continuing on to state ‘it’s only fun if they [The protagonist] can blithely ignore the fundamental experience of being an oppressed racial group.’
3. The Jimmy Cameron Reading.
But what does the man himself think of the themes and ideas that are put forward in Avatar? It is no doubt that Cameron sees the film as an analogy for the war in Iraq (centering on resources and featuring mechanised warfare). It may also be a comment on our relationship, as humans, with our planet. He states that ‘We know what it feels like to launch the missiles, we don’t know what it is like for them to land on out home soil, not in America. I think there is a moral responsibility to understand that.’ Putting a human face on the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, so to speak. He’s also very general in stating ‘that maybe in the enjoying of it makes you think a little bit about the way you interact with nature and your fellow man.’
4. The ‘Who Cares. It’s Entertainment’ view point.
A lot of people just wana watch a god damn film and enjoy it, without this or that ideology being rammed down their throats. These people, justifiably, focus on the sheer awesomeness of the special effects and gigantic effort that Cameron has gone to create the world of Pandora. Including, but not limited to, inventing a language and song culture for the Na’vi and new technology in the form of motion-capture and 3d cameras. The filming of Avatar was so innovative that big shot directors such as Spielberg, Lucas and Peter Jackson were invited on set and allowed to play with these new tech toys. Nice.
And me? Well, I can’t get past the moral message of the film being very anti-war, anti-capitalist and pro-earth. But I think that is a nice change, considering the amount of war-glorifying dribble that Hollywood produced during the Bush years. As for the 3D?It was like FernGully on crack. Read: Awesome.
I saw the film @ George St. in Sydney, in their fancy V-Max Theater, it was so cool. Even our 3D glasses were kinda hipster. Also, Sam Worthington is a bit of a babe, no?
xx
There are so many vamps and wolves and whatever else lurking around our TV sets lately. It’s hard to keep up with who’s who, or in this case - who’s eating who. Well fear not, lovegeek has come to your rescue with the timely VAMPIRE TV RUNDOWN! Read on…
Plot: Girl is Vampire Slayer in small American town. Girl meets Vampire. Girl tries to kill Vampire. Girl falls in love with Vampire. Girl and Vampire have sex, Vampire loses his soul. Hellmouth. Angst. Repeat.
Characteristics: Witty one liners that gave the series cult status among nerds and teens alike.
Pros: Buffy epitomises the 90’s GIRL POWER heroine. She literally kicks ass and gets laid while doing it (none of that virgin stuff here). Superb supporting cast that can occasionally sing and dance. Awesome fan art (see above).
Cons: It ended after 7 seasons.
Overview: Buffy broke away from the movie into a Joss Whedon orchestrated phenomenon. With Firefly and Dollhouse not filling the gap that the series left, there is room left in TV land for some more hard hitting vamp romps. Enter:
True Blood
Plot: Girl wears short shorts and works in a diner in small American town. Girl meets Vampire Bill. Girl falls for Vampire Bill. Girl drinks Vampire Eric’s blood. Girl has sexy dreams about Vampire Eric. Satanic rituals. Maenads. The saga continues.
Characteristics: Short shorts, country music, “Sookeh” and sex. I wana do bad things with you. Jason Stackhouse’s abs.
Pros: Damn this series is hotter than Brandon Walsh in a hot tub when I was 14 years old. While the plot may be sex, sex and more sex, the sub plot hits on some good old Civil Rights Movement issues, all with a southern twang.
Cons: We all know Stackhouse was Vinnie in Home and Away. Sookeh is annoying, and yet the main character.
Overview: Is True Blood riding on the coat tails of The Twilight Saga? NOPE. As Vampire Bill famously said - Edward Cullen is the Diet Coke of Vampires, which is more than I can say for:
The Vampire Diaries
Plot: Girl lives in small American Town. Girl meets Vampire. Girl looks strikingly similar to Vampire’s ex from 100 years ago. People die of animal attacks. Girl and Vamp hook up (and then break up, and then really hook up). Angst.
Characteristics: Pouting. Obsessive diary writing played out with voice over. Good V’s Evil represented by two Vampire brothers after the heart of the same girl.
Pros: The cast are fairly nice to look at. SPOILER! When Viki Donavan turns into a vamp she kinda rules.
Cons: The plot is repetitive. Stefan channels far too much Edward Cullen for my liking.
Overview: It will never be the cult classic that Buffy is and that True Blood is sure to become. The writing is just not up to scratch, lacks depth and well, the story is now getting old.
As for the cause of this Vampire revival - The Twilight Saga - it appears to be smashing all box office records with it’s second installment, New Moon.
Watch out for Jacob Black’s Abs, as they are the biggest star in this film and are sure to making a comeback in the third film, Eclipse. Poor Robert Pattinson had to have his abs painted on in the final scenes, and yes - you can tell! (Twilight fan art is also of the highest caliber - see above). The most interesting tidbit that came out from the opening weekend was that 50% of Twihards are actually over 21…I don’t think this trend is going to die down anytime soon, no pun intended.
xx