A firewish is the employment cousin of the deathwish. The term expresses an innate desire to be fired. In enacting this desire, the firewish victim (victim?) may demonstrate behaviour that coerces others to feed their desire, either by harvesting negative thoughts about work or pushing boundaries in their employment to see how far they can go before they are reprimanded or actually fired.
Unlike its fatal counterpart, however, a firewish also has a life-affirming aspect, for 'firewish' also represents a desire for ignition, a desire to feel passionate about something. Most commonly it relates to the desire to feel passionate about what they do for a living, the very dearth of which brings on the firewish in the first place.
I have a firewish.
Which comes first, the carrot or the sack?
27 June, 2007
24 June, 2007
Sydney Film Festival 2007 - Foreign-language films
Poison Friends
(18th June - State Theatre)
A brilliant but manipulative student guides and cajoles his friends into writing for a purpose. Ultimately, though, he becomes the victim of his own arrogance when their success throws his failure into sharp relief.
I disagree with the program's claim that this film is "so unrepentantly French" because I actually found it to be almost a cross between a British boys club mentality and a serious American college thinkpiece, ie not as French as I expected. Maybe History Boys meets Wonder Boys but not as good or thoughtful or funny as either of those movies.
There were a couple of interesting comments on friendship and writing but ultimately the movie was pretty boring and aimless, flitting from friend to friend without developing much pathos for any of the characters. I think the film said the most about the hero mentality in some people - how some people have a compulsion to 'help' others but ignore their own apparent problems.
Film rating: 5/10
Enjoyment rating: 5/10
The Heavenly Kings
(22nd June - Greater Union #2)
It is only at the end of the film that the audience actually understands the extent to which this mockumentary was 'mock'. Director Daniel Wu, a well-known Hong Kong actor, cobbles together some famous Hong Kong celebrities to form a pop band called Alive. The band do well despite having only one member who can sing. Hilarity ensues.
The clincher is that Daniel Wu really did cobble together some famous Hong Kong celebrities to form a pop band called Alive, for the purposes of making a film about the dying art of real music. The group says that they all wanted to make a film about a boy band but they decided to go one step further and pretend that they were a boy band. Hence all the scenes with the boys' onstage performances is actual concert footage with fans none the wiser to the ruse - until now.
Heavenly Kings is a well-paced mockumentary with a serious message about the state of music in today's culture. The blend of real doco footage and scripted moco footage gave the film a sense of authenticity without losing its humorous edge. Some parts were hilarious (cue the stylist!) and the scattered animation added an unusual touch. On the narrative side, the story arc was too contrived and too neatly resolved but some of the media stunts and offhand comments were gold.
Film rating: 7/10
Enjoyment rating: 7/10
(18th June - State Theatre)
A brilliant but manipulative student guides and cajoles his friends into writing for a purpose. Ultimately, though, he becomes the victim of his own arrogance when their success throws his failure into sharp relief.
I disagree with the program's claim that this film is "so unrepentantly French" because I actually found it to be almost a cross between a British boys club mentality and a serious American college thinkpiece, ie not as French as I expected. Maybe History Boys meets Wonder Boys but not as good or thoughtful or funny as either of those movies.
There were a couple of interesting comments on friendship and writing but ultimately the movie was pretty boring and aimless, flitting from friend to friend without developing much pathos for any of the characters. I think the film said the most about the hero mentality in some people - how some people have a compulsion to 'help' others but ignore their own apparent problems.
Film rating: 5/10
Enjoyment rating: 5/10
The Heavenly Kings
(22nd June - Greater Union #2)
It is only at the end of the film that the audience actually understands the extent to which this mockumentary was 'mock'. Director Daniel Wu, a well-known Hong Kong actor, cobbles together some famous Hong Kong celebrities to form a pop band called Alive. The band do well despite having only one member who can sing. Hilarity ensues.
The clincher is that Daniel Wu really did cobble together some famous Hong Kong celebrities to form a pop band called Alive, for the purposes of making a film about the dying art of real music. The group says that they all wanted to make a film about a boy band but they decided to go one step further and pretend that they were a boy band. Hence all the scenes with the boys' onstage performances is actual concert footage with fans none the wiser to the ruse - until now.
Heavenly Kings is a well-paced mockumentary with a serious message about the state of music in today's culture. The blend of real doco footage and scripted moco footage gave the film a sense of authenticity without losing its humorous edge. Some parts were hilarious (cue the stylist!) and the scattered animation added an unusual touch. On the narrative side, the story arc was too contrived and too neatly resolved but some of the media stunts and offhand comments were gold.
Film rating: 7/10
Enjoyment rating: 7/10
Sydney Film Festival 2007 - English-language films
Death at a Funeral
(15th June - State Theatre)
What happens when a patriarch dies and the funeral goes to pieces? Daniel is the deceased's eldest son trying to conduct a dignified funeral for his late father. He is overshadowed, however, by his younger brother Robert, a successful writer who has just flown in from New York. As he rehearses his father's eulogy to idle chatter about his brother being a better writer, he finds that he has far greater things to contend with including his cousin's hallucinating fiance and a mysterious midget who wants a cut of the will.
Death at a Funeral is a very British film with very British humour involving a blend of physical humour with wry one-liners. I say 'very British' to mean that the whole script is outlandish but somehow understated. Well-cast characters make this a worthwhile indie film and a definite affection for the characters was the film's overall strength.
As with most British comedies, it all goes to hell before it comes back again. The film is well-played by all with an excellent sense of timing. The slapstick threatens to go a bit far, but director Frank Oz reins it in with a deft hand and the story arcs finish with satisfactory, though far from neat, closure.
Film rating: 8/10
Enjoyment rating: 8/10
Teeth
(17th June - State Theatre)
Dawn is an attractive teenage girl who has pledged to abstain from sex until marriage. When a new boy, Tobey, captures her heart, resistance becomes more and more difficult until Dawn discovers a secret weapon. Teeth. But not in her mouth. When sex meets nuclear mutation, the results can be bloody for some.
Teeth is exceptionally well-made and well-edited. Every moment serves an ultimate purpose and no thread is wasted in the tight 87-minute frame. The most admirable part is writer/director Mitchell Lichtenstein's perfect balance between the comedy and horror genres - difficult to achieve but he makes it look easy in this film.
The horror initially comes from Dawn's gruesome discovery of her secret weapon, which involves a fair amount of blood and a lot of screaming. Thereafter, however, the audience develops that uncomfortable foreknowledge of what could happen scene by scene in each subsequent encounter. This impending discomfort is exactly the kind of feeling for which this genre should aim.
The comedy is pitch black. Lichtenstein has a go at the cultish abstinence group, the inadequate sex education at school, oversexed teenagers and Dawn's weird stepbrother Brad. It's absolutely awesome that you can have a hearty laugh at the expense of all these groups when there's blood everywhere else and a lot of squirming men. I highly recommend this film if you want to see a well-balanced horror/comedy.
Film rating: 9/10
Enjoyment rating: 9/10
(15th June - State Theatre)
What happens when a patriarch dies and the funeral goes to pieces? Daniel is the deceased's eldest son trying to conduct a dignified funeral for his late father. He is overshadowed, however, by his younger brother Robert, a successful writer who has just flown in from New York. As he rehearses his father's eulogy to idle chatter about his brother being a better writer, he finds that he has far greater things to contend with including his cousin's hallucinating fiance and a mysterious midget who wants a cut of the will.
Death at a Funeral is a very British film with very British humour involving a blend of physical humour with wry one-liners. I say 'very British' to mean that the whole script is outlandish but somehow understated. Well-cast characters make this a worthwhile indie film and a definite affection for the characters was the film's overall strength.
As with most British comedies, it all goes to hell before it comes back again. The film is well-played by all with an excellent sense of timing. The slapstick threatens to go a bit far, but director Frank Oz reins it in with a deft hand and the story arcs finish with satisfactory, though far from neat, closure.
Film rating: 8/10
Enjoyment rating: 8/10
Teeth
(17th June - State Theatre)
Dawn is an attractive teenage girl who has pledged to abstain from sex until marriage. When a new boy, Tobey, captures her heart, resistance becomes more and more difficult until Dawn discovers a secret weapon. Teeth. But not in her mouth. When sex meets nuclear mutation, the results can be bloody for some.
Teeth is exceptionally well-made and well-edited. Every moment serves an ultimate purpose and no thread is wasted in the tight 87-minute frame. The most admirable part is writer/director Mitchell Lichtenstein's perfect balance between the comedy and horror genres - difficult to achieve but he makes it look easy in this film.
The horror initially comes from Dawn's gruesome discovery of her secret weapon, which involves a fair amount of blood and a lot of screaming. Thereafter, however, the audience develops that uncomfortable foreknowledge of what could happen scene by scene in each subsequent encounter. This impending discomfort is exactly the kind of feeling for which this genre should aim.
The comedy is pitch black. Lichtenstein has a go at the cultish abstinence group, the inadequate sex education at school, oversexed teenagers and Dawn's weird stepbrother Brad. It's absolutely awesome that you can have a hearty laugh at the expense of all these groups when there's blood everywhere else and a lot of squirming men. I highly recommend this film if you want to see a well-balanced horror/comedy.
Film rating: 9/10
Enjoyment rating: 9/10
Sydney Film Festival 2007 - documentaries
All in this Tea
(13th June - State Theatre)
Very early on in the film, doco-maker Les Blank captures tea pioneer David Lee Hoffman and director Werner Herzog in conversation over a cup of tea. One of them says something like "a walk through the meadow, early morning mist in the forest, fresh air on a mountain - it's all in this tea", giving the doco its name. It's an apt comment, for the film itself is a compelling look at tea culture through Hoffman's 1990 journey to China to find good leaf.
Frustrated with poor quality tea bags and the growing propensity for factory rolled leaves, Hoffman forges his way through the Chinese countryside to try and convince the tea brokers to let him buy straight from the farmers who produce the best tea. Along the way the audience learns more about tea culture, tea growing, tea rolling and tea making. It's easy to like Hoffman, despite his brashness - he knows his stuff and he essentially pioneers fair trade before the term was coined.
Les Blank took Q&A at the end and had some interesting anecdotes. He spoke of being on the road with Hoffman when the authorities became suspicious about filmmakers hanging around farmers. One official asked to see some footage - Blank was a bit nervous because he knew that there was footage of children in the fields and he knew that the authorities didn't like that because Westerners were wont to show evidence of child labour and exploitation. He handed the guy a random tape and it turned out to be one of Hoffman sniffing lots of different bushels of tea. "He was fascinated," said Blank, "he just watched the reel of David sniffing all this tea until my camera battery ran out."
By the end of this I was inspired to learn as much as I could about good tea so I could get some for myself.
Film rating: 7/10
Enjoyment rating: 8/10
Forever
(16th June - State Theatre)
It's hard to know what this doco really says. Is it a sort of 'day in the life of' the Pere-Lachaise cemetery? A comment about death? A comment about art surviving death? Doco-maker Heddy Honigmann makes it all of these things using a good nose for talent. Much of the film is serendipity as Honigmann scours the cemetery for interesting people who may have insights to the graves that they visit.
Along the way we see the headstones of such artists as musician Jim Morrison, philosopher Marcel Proust, composer Frederic Chopin, Iranian writer Hedayat, actress Simone Signoret, and other unfamous but unforgotten people through the eyes of volunteer grave carers, who look after the headstones, fans of the artists and cemetery workers. The carers are usually widows who spend a day a week looking after their lost beloved's headstone - brushing away dirt, giving it new flowers - before looking after other headstones in disrepair. All of them display an acceptance of death but also demonstrate a resilient type of love.
The fans have been chosen well. Honigmann goes into depth with just a few such as a Japanese pianist who she finds praying at the grave of Chopin. The girl explains that her late father loved Chopin and that Chopin's music speaks to her - and yet it is clear that this is an inadequate description of what cannot be said. Honigmann also finds an Iranian taxi driver at the grave of Hedayat. He carries a book of poems around with him everywhere. He also sings. Refusing to perform at first, he then obliges, the a capella a nice reminder of the power of the voice enduring over mortality.
Honigmann's most interesting find is a couple of men who happen to have a very strong connection to the cemetery. One is a tour guide, he speaks of the different graves he tells tourists about, including the crumbling grave of a young woman whose poetry can still (barely) be read inscribed on her tomb. Another interviewee is a mortician who when asked if he ever cries for the dead says "no" and then after a pause admits that he actually can't physically cry because he has no tear ducts.
All have varying and fascinating views on death, making for a surprisingly uplifting doco.
Film rating: 7/10
Enjoyment rating: 7/10
(13th June - State Theatre)
Very early on in the film, doco-maker Les Blank captures tea pioneer David Lee Hoffman and director Werner Herzog in conversation over a cup of tea. One of them says something like "a walk through the meadow, early morning mist in the forest, fresh air on a mountain - it's all in this tea", giving the doco its name. It's an apt comment, for the film itself is a compelling look at tea culture through Hoffman's 1990 journey to China to find good leaf.
Frustrated with poor quality tea bags and the growing propensity for factory rolled leaves, Hoffman forges his way through the Chinese countryside to try and convince the tea brokers to let him buy straight from the farmers who produce the best tea. Along the way the audience learns more about tea culture, tea growing, tea rolling and tea making. It's easy to like Hoffman, despite his brashness - he knows his stuff and he essentially pioneers fair trade before the term was coined.
Les Blank took Q&A at the end and had some interesting anecdotes. He spoke of being on the road with Hoffman when the authorities became suspicious about filmmakers hanging around farmers. One official asked to see some footage - Blank was a bit nervous because he knew that there was footage of children in the fields and he knew that the authorities didn't like that because Westerners were wont to show evidence of child labour and exploitation. He handed the guy a random tape and it turned out to be one of Hoffman sniffing lots of different bushels of tea. "He was fascinated," said Blank, "he just watched the reel of David sniffing all this tea until my camera battery ran out."
By the end of this I was inspired to learn as much as I could about good tea so I could get some for myself.
Film rating: 7/10
Enjoyment rating: 8/10
Forever
(16th June - State Theatre)
It's hard to know what this doco really says. Is it a sort of 'day in the life of' the Pere-Lachaise cemetery? A comment about death? A comment about art surviving death? Doco-maker Heddy Honigmann makes it all of these things using a good nose for talent. Much of the film is serendipity as Honigmann scours the cemetery for interesting people who may have insights to the graves that they visit.
Along the way we see the headstones of such artists as musician Jim Morrison, philosopher Marcel Proust, composer Frederic Chopin, Iranian writer Hedayat, actress Simone Signoret, and other unfamous but unforgotten people through the eyes of volunteer grave carers, who look after the headstones, fans of the artists and cemetery workers. The carers are usually widows who spend a day a week looking after their lost beloved's headstone - brushing away dirt, giving it new flowers - before looking after other headstones in disrepair. All of them display an acceptance of death but also demonstrate a resilient type of love.
The fans have been chosen well. Honigmann goes into depth with just a few such as a Japanese pianist who she finds praying at the grave of Chopin. The girl explains that her late father loved Chopin and that Chopin's music speaks to her - and yet it is clear that this is an inadequate description of what cannot be said. Honigmann also finds an Iranian taxi driver at the grave of Hedayat. He carries a book of poems around with him everywhere. He also sings. Refusing to perform at first, he then obliges, the a capella a nice reminder of the power of the voice enduring over mortality.
Honigmann's most interesting find is a couple of men who happen to have a very strong connection to the cemetery. One is a tour guide, he speaks of the different graves he tells tourists about, including the crumbling grave of a young woman whose poetry can still (barely) be read inscribed on her tomb. Another interviewee is a mortician who when asked if he ever cries for the dead says "no" and then after a pause admits that he actually can't physically cry because he has no tear ducts.
All have varying and fascinating views on death, making for a surprisingly uplifting doco.
Film rating: 7/10
Enjoyment rating: 7/10
16 June, 2007
Sydney Film Festival 2007 - compilations
Digital Projections
(12th June - Greater Union #2)
A nice mix of shorts, some more memorable than others. On the funny side was a trio of films; 'Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006' (a 2D 'video game' with hilarious parodies of game violence - decapitating zombie babies anyone? - and random superpowers... a bus?), 'MTV Happymart' (an ultra-short film about a quirky Asian supermarket where shoppers feel compelled to dance whenever the store manager turns his focus to a sexed-up MTV clip) and 'The Lecture' (a nicely reflexive animated piece about two animation teachers bitching about their students).
I particularly liked the idea of 'Pirate Baby', but I felt that it went on for a bit longer than necessary. For such a short short (90 secs), 'MTV Happymart' had an noticeably outstanding colour palette, was well cast with great costuming. 'The Lecture' featured some interesting animation, great visual jokes and a succinct punchline.
Other films had a beautiful fragility, such as the opening number 'Explain', a video clip for Sarah Blasko, short film 'On the Other Ocean' and stop-motion piece 'The Luminary'. Blasko's music, lyrics and vocals for 'Explain' gave it particular appeal, though the environmental interpretation and illustrative animation did a lot to enhance the emotion of the song.
'On the Other Ocean', a narrative about a family excursion that ends in tragedy, was beautifully shot and beautifully told. Generally I don't like films that indulge in lots of stills and slow pans, but in this case it was really well done and entirely appropriate. However, the soundtrack of disturbing noise was quite difficult to listen to and grated on the ears throughout. Silence might have achieved the same effect.
As a stop-motion piece, 'The Luminary' already had a painstakingly fragile look and feel about it, but the focus on the minutae of the character's life created a wonderful picture of a lonely life. This led to a punchline that I didn't expect, hence making the film much funnier than the beginning half suggests.
Contents:
Explain [Sarah Blasko video clip]
On the Other Ocean
Hearts A Mess [Gotye video clip]
Life Begins [The Energies video clip]
The Reality Project
Under the Cherry Tree [Telemetry Orchestra video clip]
Peephole
Choking on a Wishbone [Architecture in Helsinki video clip]
Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006
MTV Happymart
The Lecture
Black Hole Blues [Jack Ladder video clip]
The Luminary
My Old Ways [Dr Dog video clip]
Comedy Shorts
(14th June - Greater Union #1)
I had high hopes for the Comedy Shorts. I'd had a crappy day and was especially looking forward to laughs, thus it was rather disappointing that this compilation eased into the laughs with the first few films but then just fell away. Don't get me wrong, the films in this lot weren't bad at all, they just rarely moved past 'mildly amusing'.
'The Guitar Lesson', for example, was about a middle-aged guy attending guitar lessons at a younger man's flat. He learns to play Serge Gainsbourg's 'Letitia'. Eighteen minutes later... The End. NOT FUNNY. NOT INTERESTING.
Most of the films had a chuckle in it, but rarely did they inspire the kind of laugh that the audience struggled to contain lest they miss the next part of the film, which I was expecting. (And I don't think that's an unreasonable ask considering that Digital Projections delivered such moments and never advertised itself as comedy).
The pick of the lot was probably 'The Japanese Tradition: Apologies' for laughs and the claymation offering 'Professor Pebbles' for amusing story. 'Apologies' was a compound joke that exploited the Japanese culture of apology to attain the laughs, thus the translations were particularly important in this case. 'Professor Pebbles' was a story about a 500 year old devil who sets out to prove that he is evil enough despite everyone else's opinion in the underworld. Some great one-liners and visual jokes with the claymation giving the storytelling an automatic cute factor.
Still, I can't contain my disappointment about this compilation, I consider it the single weakness of my SFF viewing.
Contents:
For a Few Marbles More
The Japanese Tradition: Apologies
Pick Up
The Night Before Christmas
The Technical Hitch
Christmas in Huddersfield
Fetch
The Guitar Lesson
Hold Up
Stuff
Professor Pebbles
Menged
(12th June - Greater Union #2)
A nice mix of shorts, some more memorable than others. On the funny side was a trio of films; 'Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006' (a 2D 'video game' with hilarious parodies of game violence - decapitating zombie babies anyone? - and random superpowers... a bus?), 'MTV Happymart' (an ultra-short film about a quirky Asian supermarket where shoppers feel compelled to dance whenever the store manager turns his focus to a sexed-up MTV clip) and 'The Lecture' (a nicely reflexive animated piece about two animation teachers bitching about their students).
I particularly liked the idea of 'Pirate Baby', but I felt that it went on for a bit longer than necessary. For such a short short (90 secs), 'MTV Happymart' had an noticeably outstanding colour palette, was well cast with great costuming. 'The Lecture' featured some interesting animation, great visual jokes and a succinct punchline.
Other films had a beautiful fragility, such as the opening number 'Explain', a video clip for Sarah Blasko, short film 'On the Other Ocean' and stop-motion piece 'The Luminary'. Blasko's music, lyrics and vocals for 'Explain' gave it particular appeal, though the environmental interpretation and illustrative animation did a lot to enhance the emotion of the song.
'On the Other Ocean', a narrative about a family excursion that ends in tragedy, was beautifully shot and beautifully told. Generally I don't like films that indulge in lots of stills and slow pans, but in this case it was really well done and entirely appropriate. However, the soundtrack of disturbing noise was quite difficult to listen to and grated on the ears throughout. Silence might have achieved the same effect.
As a stop-motion piece, 'The Luminary' already had a painstakingly fragile look and feel about it, but the focus on the minutae of the character's life created a wonderful picture of a lonely life. This led to a punchline that I didn't expect, hence making the film much funnier than the beginning half suggests.
Contents:
Explain [Sarah Blasko video clip]
On the Other Ocean
Hearts A Mess [Gotye video clip]
Life Begins [The Energies video clip]
The Reality Project
Under the Cherry Tree [Telemetry Orchestra video clip]
Peephole
Choking on a Wishbone [Architecture in Helsinki video clip]
Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006
MTV Happymart
The Lecture
Black Hole Blues [Jack Ladder video clip]
The Luminary
My Old Ways [Dr Dog video clip]
Comedy Shorts
(14th June - Greater Union #1)
I had high hopes for the Comedy Shorts. I'd had a crappy day and was especially looking forward to laughs, thus it was rather disappointing that this compilation eased into the laughs with the first few films but then just fell away. Don't get me wrong, the films in this lot weren't bad at all, they just rarely moved past 'mildly amusing'.
'The Guitar Lesson', for example, was about a middle-aged guy attending guitar lessons at a younger man's flat. He learns to play Serge Gainsbourg's 'Letitia'. Eighteen minutes later... The End. NOT FUNNY. NOT INTERESTING.
Most of the films had a chuckle in it, but rarely did they inspire the kind of laugh that the audience struggled to contain lest they miss the next part of the film, which I was expecting. (And I don't think that's an unreasonable ask considering that Digital Projections delivered such moments and never advertised itself as comedy).
The pick of the lot was probably 'The Japanese Tradition: Apologies' for laughs and the claymation offering 'Professor Pebbles' for amusing story. 'Apologies' was a compound joke that exploited the Japanese culture of apology to attain the laughs, thus the translations were particularly important in this case. 'Professor Pebbles' was a story about a 500 year old devil who sets out to prove that he is evil enough despite everyone else's opinion in the underworld. Some great one-liners and visual jokes with the claymation giving the storytelling an automatic cute factor.
Still, I can't contain my disappointment about this compilation, I consider it the single weakness of my SFF viewing.
Contents:
For a Few Marbles More
The Japanese Tradition: Apologies
Pick Up
The Night Before Christmas
The Technical Hitch
Christmas in Huddersfield
Fetch
The Guitar Lesson
Hold Up
Stuff
Professor Pebbles
Menged
11 June, 2007
The Page Turner (film)
La Tourneuse de Pages is a much sexier title than The Page Turner, but that the French effect for you. I missed this movie at the French Film Festival earlier this year so decided to hike out to Paddington to catch it at the Chauvel.
The Page Turner is the course of a young girl's slow-burning revenge. As a child, Mélanie fails a piano exam due to a careless act by one of the examiners, a famous pianist by the name of Ariane Fouchécourt. Several years later, Mélanie has a chance to exact her revenge for never making it into the conservatorium when she takes an internship at a law firm. Her boss, Jean, happens to be Ariane's husband.
When Mélanie's internship ends, she offers to look after Jean's son while Jean is abroad and Ariane practices for a major concert with her trio. Patiently, Mélanie embeds herself into Ariane's life over the space of a few weeks until she is Ariane's page turner for the concert, followed by an important audition for an international agent.
It's not hard to guess what happens as the plot moves along. The story is quite fluid, moving from incident to incident without trouble, but even an original storyline like this is plagued by predictability. The direction reveals too much too soon and there are no subplots to feed the main arc, so the movie turns out to be too obvious and single-minded to be special.
There are glorious moments, though, where the film does get it right. The first is young Mélanie's restrained anger as she leaves the exam room, silent tears staining her face. She enters the practice room to fetch her coat and attempts to sabotage another girl's shot at entering the conservatorium by flinging the lid of the piano down on fingers that barely escape the crunch. That's the only discord we see; at home, she quietly packs her music away, never to play again.
Déborah François, as the older Mélanie, does a fantastic job as the silent but deadly avenger. Although no one dies, you can be sure that beyond the end of the film, the characters will remember her the same way that young Mélanie had Ariane at the forefront of her failure. This is where the second glorious moment comes into play. Laurent, the cellist in Ariane's trio, makes some unwelcome advances towards Mélanie only to find his cello spike embedded in his foot. It's nice and bloody payment from the quiet one.
Yes, Mélanie has her revenge, but for me it was not satisfying. She leaves much more destruction than you would think her unrealised pianist dreams would manifest, and the circumstances are too perfect, too contrived for its execution, making it too easy for her to achieve her goal. The warning is, though, watch out for the quiet ones.
Film rating: 5/10
Enjoyment rating: 6/10
The Page Turner is the course of a young girl's slow-burning revenge. As a child, Mélanie fails a piano exam due to a careless act by one of the examiners, a famous pianist by the name of Ariane Fouchécourt. Several years later, Mélanie has a chance to exact her revenge for never making it into the conservatorium when she takes an internship at a law firm. Her boss, Jean, happens to be Ariane's husband.
When Mélanie's internship ends, she offers to look after Jean's son while Jean is abroad and Ariane practices for a major concert with her trio. Patiently, Mélanie embeds herself into Ariane's life over the space of a few weeks until she is Ariane's page turner for the concert, followed by an important audition for an international agent.
It's not hard to guess what happens as the plot moves along. The story is quite fluid, moving from incident to incident without trouble, but even an original storyline like this is plagued by predictability. The direction reveals too much too soon and there are no subplots to feed the main arc, so the movie turns out to be too obvious and single-minded to be special.
There are glorious moments, though, where the film does get it right. The first is young Mélanie's restrained anger as she leaves the exam room, silent tears staining her face. She enters the practice room to fetch her coat and attempts to sabotage another girl's shot at entering the conservatorium by flinging the lid of the piano down on fingers that barely escape the crunch. That's the only discord we see; at home, she quietly packs her music away, never to play again.
Déborah François, as the older Mélanie, does a fantastic job as the silent but deadly avenger. Although no one dies, you can be sure that beyond the end of the film, the characters will remember her the same way that young Mélanie had Ariane at the forefront of her failure. This is where the second glorious moment comes into play. Laurent, the cellist in Ariane's trio, makes some unwelcome advances towards Mélanie only to find his cello spike embedded in his foot. It's nice and bloody payment from the quiet one.
Yes, Mélanie has her revenge, but for me it was not satisfying. She leaves much more destruction than you would think her unrealised pianist dreams would manifest, and the circumstances are too perfect, too contrived for its execution, making it too easy for her to achieve her goal. The warning is, though, watch out for the quiet ones.
Film rating: 5/10
Enjoyment rating: 6/10
Zodiac (film)
David Fincher is the master of menace. While the horror genre has devolved into something akin to the exploitation of body parts, Fincher holds the fort for a good suspenseful film with Zodiac, a true story that stays true for the whole course of the movie.
The true story is about the 1960s Californian serial killer who gave himself the codename 'Zodiac'. There's a wiki here if you want to read more about it. In short, though, Zodiac taunts the police and the media with letters and codes that supposedly reveal his identity. The film is less about the killer, however, than the effect he has on the main players in the investigation; Paul Avery, a crime reporter, Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist (and former boy scout), David Toschi and William Armstrong, both police inspectors on the case.
The cast is exceptional. Robert Downey Jr's Avery is played perfectly borderline, a provocative reporter but somewhat of a nutcase echoing at least two memorable Downey Jr roles in Natural Born Killers and A Scanner Darkly. His involvement is hot for the first half, but as the identity of Zodiac eludes the city, he collapses into a state of despondency and alcoholism. When Graysmith visits Avery some years later, it is clear that for Avery, covering Zodiac was a dead end of a different sort.
Both Toschi and Armstrong become jaded by the killer's baiting. As the case cools, the inconclusive nature of Zodiac's identity seems to weary them. They deal with other homicides, life goes on. Armstrong gets a transfer off the beat and Toschi is stuck with the eager boy scout enthusiasm of Graysmith, offering tidbits to the cartoonist.
Their relationship is the most interesting; while Avery was mostly dismissive of Graysmith's enthusiasm, Graysmith reignites something in Toschi. Mark Ruffalo's Toschi is nicely balanced, demonstrating both a careworn but controlled interest in solving crime. While Toschi shows a dignified restraint, it is clear that the Zodiac case has taken its toll and he is happy to let Graysmith do the legwork.
Graysmith is the constant in the film. Jake Gyllenhaal does an admirable job in a difficult role, but personally I found his youthful looks affected his credibility as Graysmith. He's a fine actor but like Leonardo di Caprio, may suffer from being too cute. (I also refer to Katie Holmes, who was too cute to be a District Attorney in Batman Begins, though I don't think she is as good an actor as Gyllenhaal).
Gyllenhaal's Graysmith is excellent in the first half; he places himself as a sort of puppyish minion to Avery, which suits him. As the case wear on, however, and the other men are giving up or relocating, Graysmith shows none of the internal angst that the others show despite his haggard looks and evidence of his family relationships and life crumbling around him. Yes, he is supposed to be a man obsessed but it seems that his spirits come from too high a platform for us, as an audience, to care as much as we should when he pieces together several key findings.
My main criticism of the film is its length. As an unsolved case, I understand the need for investigations to drag out but I believe there was a bit too much of that to be effective. On the plus side, though, Fincher's direction makes Zodiac compelling viewing so those long stints are rewarded by some great material.
As I began, Fincher is a master of menace. For a film about a serial killer, there's less active killing than there is hold-your-breath 'is-he-or-isn't-he' moments. Most of the time Fincher paces these well, but occasionally he slips and lets the lull go for too long, which is where good editing should trim. So if you like bloodiness, don't watch Zodiac, but if you're after a thoughtful drama/suspense film you should like this.
Film rating: 9/10
Enjoyment rating: 8/10
The true story is about the 1960s Californian serial killer who gave himself the codename 'Zodiac'. There's a wiki here if you want to read more about it. In short, though, Zodiac taunts the police and the media with letters and codes that supposedly reveal his identity. The film is less about the killer, however, than the effect he has on the main players in the investigation; Paul Avery, a crime reporter, Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist (and former boy scout), David Toschi and William Armstrong, both police inspectors on the case.
The cast is exceptional. Robert Downey Jr's Avery is played perfectly borderline, a provocative reporter but somewhat of a nutcase echoing at least two memorable Downey Jr roles in Natural Born Killers and A Scanner Darkly. His involvement is hot for the first half, but as the identity of Zodiac eludes the city, he collapses into a state of despondency and alcoholism. When Graysmith visits Avery some years later, it is clear that for Avery, covering Zodiac was a dead end of a different sort.
Both Toschi and Armstrong become jaded by the killer's baiting. As the case cools, the inconclusive nature of Zodiac's identity seems to weary them. They deal with other homicides, life goes on. Armstrong gets a transfer off the beat and Toschi is stuck with the eager boy scout enthusiasm of Graysmith, offering tidbits to the cartoonist.
Their relationship is the most interesting; while Avery was mostly dismissive of Graysmith's enthusiasm, Graysmith reignites something in Toschi. Mark Ruffalo's Toschi is nicely balanced, demonstrating both a careworn but controlled interest in solving crime. While Toschi shows a dignified restraint, it is clear that the Zodiac case has taken its toll and he is happy to let Graysmith do the legwork.
Graysmith is the constant in the film. Jake Gyllenhaal does an admirable job in a difficult role, but personally I found his youthful looks affected his credibility as Graysmith. He's a fine actor but like Leonardo di Caprio, may suffer from being too cute. (I also refer to Katie Holmes, who was too cute to be a District Attorney in Batman Begins, though I don't think she is as good an actor as Gyllenhaal).
Gyllenhaal's Graysmith is excellent in the first half; he places himself as a sort of puppyish minion to Avery, which suits him. As the case wear on, however, and the other men are giving up or relocating, Graysmith shows none of the internal angst that the others show despite his haggard looks and evidence of his family relationships and life crumbling around him. Yes, he is supposed to be a man obsessed but it seems that his spirits come from too high a platform for us, as an audience, to care as much as we should when he pieces together several key findings.
My main criticism of the film is its length. As an unsolved case, I understand the need for investigations to drag out but I believe there was a bit too much of that to be effective. On the plus side, though, Fincher's direction makes Zodiac compelling viewing so those long stints are rewarded by some great material.
As I began, Fincher is a master of menace. For a film about a serial killer, there's less active killing than there is hold-your-breath 'is-he-or-isn't-he' moments. Most of the time Fincher paces these well, but occasionally he slips and lets the lull go for too long, which is where good editing should trim. So if you like bloodiness, don't watch Zodiac, but if you're after a thoughtful drama/suspense film you should like this.
Film rating: 9/10
Enjoyment rating: 8/10
08 June, 2007
Creative ZEN Nano Plus (product - digital music player)
I don't generally do product reviews, not when I have two film reviews still waiting in my head, but I just had to say something about the Creative ZEN Nano Plus (512MB).I bought this little unit from Dick Smith Powerhouse for $69.95. It even came with a $5 RipIt voucher (which I couldn't use no thanks to the Mac-unfriendly world out there, but moving right along...). You can get a similar unit on eBay for around the same price, including postage, give or take a bit according to the capacity, whether it's used etc. Anyway, it was a good price considering what I wanted in an mp3 player:
- 512MB+
- Recording capability + mic
- Line-in
- Mac compatible
- Smaller than palm-sized
- Under $100
I'd been having a bit of a problem getting all of these features, particularly the 'line-in', 'Mac compatible' and the 'under $100' bits, as most products that I looked at were usually two of those three.
Basically, I was looking for a simple unit for the main purpose of recording. I wasn't too fussed about the quality of the sound, just the ease in transferring files. In short, I wanted a dictaphone that didn't have all the unnecessary features that digital recorders have nowadays (with the unnecessarily large price tag of $300+ - like, WTF?!?).
I had a good chat to a sales assistant at the Powerhouse about the ZEN Nano Plus, however, and he was very helpful in answering my questions about using the ZEN with a Mac. To tell you the truth, there were a couple of other units that I might have bought except this one was 1) cheaper and 2) better looking.
The short of it is that even though the box states that the unit requires Windows, it doesn't. It's all lies. You can run it perfectly on a Mac. The only reason you would need Windows is if you wanted to install the accompanying software and the only reason you would want the software is if you were to play digital rights managed (DRM) WMA files. Which Mac users wouldn't be able to download anyway. And if they were, they'd be running Mac Boot Camp, in which case they could run the software. Kapeesh?
So... how does one play mp3s on a 'Windows-only' mp3 player? Just plug in the player via USB and transfer the files onto the ZEN drive. Done. It works the other way too - recorded material is saved into a folder on the ZEN drive as mp3 files and you can just transfer it onto your Mac.
The functions are quite instinctively designed so I didn't need the instructions to operate the unit except for figuring out how to record via line-in. The line-in is probably the most awesome part about the ZEN; you can convert all sorts of tracks to mp3 - like cassettes (remember those?!?) and DRM music that Apple won't let you play on any other sound device other than the iPod you don't have much to your chagrin (not bringing up anyone's particular experience...) - from any line-out, like a headphone slot.
Look, the Creative ZEN Nano Plus isn't going to rock the hardcore music lovers, the techies who love their video features and high capacity hard drives nor the fashionistas who want colour inside and outside their unit, but I have to give it full marks for ticking all of my boxes.
***** - Yeah, I like it a lot.
P.S: I gave the RipIt voucher to my flatmate, who is on PC, so all was not lost. I gained Brownie points in return. I may get Boot Camp soon... then again, I may not.
Frigidaire
It is cold, wet and windy today. Did I mention cold? And wet?
The words "cup of tea" come to mind, followed by "long hot bath".
I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do at the moment. I don't feel like reading (as I monitor my recording of Apolcalyptica's 'Cult', which I bought off iTunes but which iTunes won't let me play in any other capacity so I've bought an mp3 player with a line-in and am currently recording it via the analogue hole). I don't feel like writing. I just feel like sitting here and waiting for something to happen.
I just saw the new MacBooks Pro. I think that's how you would use the plural, like 'mothers-in-law' (not 'mother-in-laws'). They are very nice. They are also very expensive. For some absurd reason if you convert the USD price to AUD, the 15-inch is only $2950 but to actually buy it in Australia it costs $3599. Like, EXCUSE ME, what makes Apple think that Australians are richer than USAians? $600 is a lot of money, especially when one is writing things like 'Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium' in one's shopping list (this is a mere USD $1699).
Okay, Cult has finished recording and I now have an mp3 CD. Plug THAT analogue hole, iTunes. Over and out.
The words "cup of tea" come to mind, followed by "long hot bath".
I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do at the moment. I don't feel like reading (as I monitor my recording of Apolcalyptica's 'Cult', which I bought off iTunes but which iTunes won't let me play in any other capacity so I've bought an mp3 player with a line-in and am currently recording it via the analogue hole). I don't feel like writing. I just feel like sitting here and waiting for something to happen.
I just saw the new MacBooks Pro. I think that's how you would use the plural, like 'mothers-in-law' (not 'mother-in-laws'). They are very nice. They are also very expensive. For some absurd reason if you convert the USD price to AUD, the 15-inch is only $2950 but to actually buy it in Australia it costs $3599. Like, EXCUSE ME, what makes Apple think that Australians are richer than USAians? $600 is a lot of money, especially when one is writing things like 'Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium' in one's shopping list (this is a mere USD $1699).
Okay, Cult has finished recording and I now have an mp3 CD. Plug THAT analogue hole, iTunes. Over and out.
04 June, 2007
Sydney Writers' Festival
SAT 1216: I'm supposed to be supporting my fellow writers at the zine fair but my arse is still on a train to Wynyard because I decided to sleep in. Surprisingly, the journey to Walsh Bay (train + walk) takes less than half an hour so I'm soaking up the sun on Pier 4 in no time.SAT 1244:As I approach the Sydney Theatre I notice that the Info Booth is dirty. 'Would have thought they'd scrub it up for the festival,' I thought. On closer inspection, however, I realise that the booth is unoccupied and has been cordoned off by the police. The 'dirt' turns out to be scorch marks. Apparently someone torched the info booth overnight and the heat blew in the glass doors of the Sydney Theatre. Luckily, the Sydney Theatre sessions are still going ahead.
I catch Gail and her friends Ashley and Nigel with a coffee at the kiosk just past the theatre. I haven't seen Gail since the Sydney Festival last year and even then it was only fleeting. I still have gifts for her from Scotland, that's how long it has been. We pledge to catch up soon but I feel it won't happen like that.
SAT 1255: I meet with the new vollie co-ordinator, Stephen, for the first time. I missed the briefing last week because I was in Canberra with the FBHQ crew and he was very understanding. I pick up my bits (t-shirt, lanyard etc) for my 5pm shift. He's very organised but I think I loved Anna K too much to believe he could fill her shoes.
SAT 1300: I've just discovered that the line to see the Emerging Writers session is rather long even though there's a good half hour to go til it starts. I end up joining the queue and chatting to a couple of fellow writers, one lady from Bali and a freckled girl about my age who's a poet of some description. She has Dorothy Porter's new book El Dorado and I'm jealous.
SAT 1332: The session begins. It's interesting on many levels and comforting to know that there is no set way to get published. The only prerequisite, it seems, is to write well. Easier said than done.
SAT 1508: Pier 3 is rippling with youth, for this sunny strip is home to Sydney zinesters, which is definitively 'young'. I greet fellow Ink Wellian LT, but she isn't free to talk, so I start at the top of the pier and work down. There's plenty of good stuff and I'm happy to part with my money for most of it. Reassuringly, there are also a couple of familiar faces from the Newcastle Young Writers' Festival, like the sci-fi zinester who wears a bowler hat.
There's a tempting t-shirt by Brown Paper Tiger (the Raven of Wretchedness, if you want to know) but I resist in favour of the Interface anthology and a 'ShityRail' sticker as well as LT's two new zines and a new edition of my fave zine Long Story Short. I also purchase a present for Mae Mae but I won't say what it is in case she reads this before I give it to her on her graduation day.
SAT 1542: I've exhausted the zine fair so I'm making my way to Circular Quay Station for my 5pm shift manning the doors for the Lionel Shriver session at Paddington Town Hall. I set myself down for a minute outside the Sebel to readjust my load when I see the matriarchal Anne Mac wander past. I haven't seen her since the last festival. We chat for a good ten minutes but we both have to skedaddle in opposite directions. I continue my journey to the quay. And yes, I stop at The Baker's Oven Cafe and buy myself a chocolate fudge slice to sustain me until I get to the east. What did I say about the east?
SAT 1605: Sitting at a table Anastasia's, Paddington, eating chicken katsu don. Their menu is very broad, I must say - their special is the 'real' Italian hot chocolate. Unfortunately the don has way too much onion in it, so it looks like I've left a third of the meal on my plate.
SAT 1652: I arrive at the Hall early but the other volunteers are already there. I introduce myself but it turns out I don't need to because Annette, head of operations, recognises me from last year. It takes me a moment to reciprocate the recognition.
SAT 2040: Hiking down Oxford Street to the promise of some rest. The session went well except for one man's angst. I went to see if the ushers upstairs needed any help as the line started snaking down the stairwell. I was only a few steps up when a man started barging towards me with his arms outspread so that I couldn't pass. "Why won't they open the doors?" he demanded. (Well CLEARLY I don't know seeing as I am at the bottom of the stairwell and you're not letting me up to check...). It turned out they were still doing a sound check. Some people need an attitude lobotomy.
SUN 1242: I'm supposed to meet with someone called Lyn at the Vollie Base but no one seems to know what she looks like. I hang around aimlessly watching the outdoor audience listening to the broadcast of the session in SDC 2/3 which, presumably, is full. I wonder if they get a good view into the vollie room...
SUN 1306: Lyn has found me and soon we are dodging tourists and Italian Festival attendees and MS Fun Run participants on our way to the Hotel Intercontinental. The Afternoon Tea Readings start at 1430 and although we arrive just shy of 1330, there are half a dozen people already loitering outside the ballroom.
SUN 1450: A lovely waitress has just handed us all a glass of iced water. I almost tip it over my head but decide I'm thirsty just in time to avoid a scene. The shift has been most of a nightmare from start to finish. Here I was thinking that little harm could be done in a two-hour shift at a civilised session such as the Afternoon Tea Readings but that was an erroneous assumption. You wanna hear it? Too bad, here goes:
- the tix are seated and everyone has been allocated a table
- it appears that none of the ticket holders knew about the allocations
- hence everyone who wants to sit with their friends but booked separately pesters me or my fellow registering vollie to swap tables
- this is akin to 3D Spider Solitaire armed with only a list rather than a spatial understanding of the tables
- there are almost 200 people trying to wait in a 5m x 5m space
- the doors open, temporary relief
- it appears that instead of platters on each table as instructed by SWF, the Intercontinental has decided to host a buffet. For 200 people. All coming in at the same time. For book readings. The grey panthers go wild as they are wont to do
- it appears that some people don't think that their table has a good enough view of the writers' table and have moved without telling us, thus confusing people who have been allocated to that table
- it appears that when one lady and her friend returned from visiting the buffet, their seats had been taken by someone who refused to move (THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE'S A BUFFET INSTEAD OF A TABLE PLATTER)
- a line forms for people who don't have tickets but are hoping that there are places left over
- another line forms for people who bought tickets but seem to be missing from the master list of table allocations
- yet another line forms for people who told the Intercontinental that they had dietary requirements (no dairy, no sugar - what do you eat at an afternoon tea? really?) but don't appear to have booked
- we have one walkout within 15 minutes of the food frenzy
- the doors close. I hotfoot out of there ASAP.
SUN 1516: Back at vollie base. Penny, one of the production honchos, sits at the table stabbing at some pasta. It's what appears to be a 5-minute break before shit happens again. I tell her about Intercontinental and she empathises. She asks me why I'm not in the Green Room this year. I don't have an answer, I mean, it was Stephen's call and Stephen isn't Anna K so I can't ask him why. She rushes off when a warning comes through about a man breaking ranks down the SDC corridors. They run a tight ship, these production honchos.
I ask the other vollies hanging around - a paramedic and a pale girl who seems bored out of her brain - whether there are any good dessert foods around. On their recommendation I buy a chocolate mud cupcake and inhale it on my way over to the Sydney Theatre to change into my pleb gear. I SMS my flatmate to buy me a caramel slice from The Baker's Oven Cafe if she passes by there on her way over.
SUN 1550: I'm sitting outside between pier 7 and 8 reading the paper trying valiantly to catch the last rays of the sun. My back starts to buckle and I end up propping myself against a wooden bench thing watching diners at the Firefly and an artist appraise his work (pictured above). It's a young person's thing to sit on the ground but I feel old because I know why I'm doing it.
SUN 1643: Waiting for my flatmate outside the Sydney Theatre. A crowd builds inside and out. I spot Julian Morrow from The Chaser sidle in with his partner. Makes sense - we are about to see Laugh Out Loud, which stars The Chaser's Charles Firth (pictured left signing my flatmate's copy of American Hoax) with other comedic writers like satirist Max Barry, international author Nury Vittachi and the everywhere comedian, Wil Anderson.She didn't hear my SMS, thus no caramel slice. Boo...
The session is good, there are plenty of laughs and the pain of the weekend limps to a back seat. We head up to the signing room so that my flatmate can get her book signed by Charles. The funny thing about the book is that it is actually already signed - I bought it from Kinokuniya last Christmas for the sole reason that the sticker on the cover reads 'Signed by (not) the author'. Inside, various other members of The Chaser have left their signatures.
Charles takes up the book and there is a moment of confusion before he laughs, signs the book and draws arrows to the other signatures to label them 'IMPOSTORS'. Sweet. I snap a photo and it's all over; a midget SWF for me but enough to blog about.
P.S: We stop buy the Walsh Bay supermarket on the way to Wynyard and I get my caramel slice. It's so good that I do a large salad penance when I get home.
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