09 December, 2011

The Lowly Journo

A dose of reality and a touch of self-hate
Journalists are the lowest of the low. Aren't they? We are observers of the world when we are working, not participants. Expertise is deferred to the experts, the talking heads, the change-makers and journalists record, synthesise, regurgitate.

Occasionally there's room for opinion, which bends journalism from its original path, the subjective lens presenting the facts. Occasionally there's room for analysis. Those long in the game, or at least with the maturity to understand news history, can give depth to an issue, offer insights that provide context, clarity and a new perspective.

I have never been a news journalist. Somehow I managed to scrape a credit in my final-year News & Current Affairs subject at university but there was no love or passion there—it was pure diligence and a certain desperation to get out of there and get writing. I admire those in the job who feed off the events that occur every day and present them to me, a passive news consumer, in its various forms.

I used to buy the Sydney Morning Herald every Saturday and read the main news and the News Review cover to cover. I figured that if the week's news was sufficiently important it would make it into the Saturday edition. Today, I receive my news via Twitter, following hundreds of media types on my prjournolove list and wait for a weekly wrap-up via my subscription to The Week. I've never considered news 'boring but important' (no thanks, mX) but rather the ink that gives feature writing its shape.

At university I had the pleasure of having media course convenor Willa McDonald as my tutor. She introduced us to the art of creative non-fiction. Until then I'd been disillusioned with my choice of course. One year in, I'd decided not to become a journalist and thought a career as a cultural studies academic looked like the most likely path. Creative non-fiction changed that. It made me believe I could write stories that were not embedded in news, that were instead following a narrative of which fact played only a fleeting role. A career path was saved.

Dealing with rejection
Since then I have been an editorial assistant, copywriter, features writer, and editor of magazines on topics as diverse as cars, shopping, art, design and architecture, travel, business, gifts and homewares, and project management.

My strength is writing about complex, sometimes banal, topics in a clear and engaging manner. I often weave background information with expert comment and have a habit of pursuing the juicy details about challenges. I've interviewed politicians, government officials, CEOs, managing directors, economists, subject matter experts, academics and practitioners as well as celebrities and the general public.

However, I have been to launches for hair products, cosmetics and fashion lines where the glamour girls of the glossy mags snubbed me for not wearing the right clothes or any makeup at all.

I have been to tech launches where IT journos used to look at female attendees with barely disguised disdain (for what would she know?).

I have been to business forums where journalists from the dailies puzzled at my age and dismissed my publication. Once, after being brave and introducing myself to a nearby Fairfax representative, she literally turned her back on me when she discovered where I was from i.e. nowhere of use to her. I was 21 or 22 at the time.

Almost 10 years later still feel the crush of rejection from these people who are supposed to be my peers. What's a girl to do? Do I stop calling myself a journalist and just use the generic term 'writer'? Do I get nasty the next time someone brings out their barely concealed sneer?

I have spent a large part of my career in custom magazines, which appears to be the lowest of the low (or maybe above custom newsletters). I may never score a scoop or win a Walkley, but I have learnt so much about the politics of committees and managing stakeholders it would turn your eyelids inside out.

I have spent the other part of my career freelancing. Titles that have published my work have been as diverse as body+soul, Australian Traveller, and YEN. I'm now the Sydney correspondent for Australian Security Magazine and provide ghostwriting services for a number of PR clients which sees my work in Smart Company, The Daily Telegraph, and Yahoo!7 Business. Apparently there's some discrimination here too. Freelancing isn't a 'real job', so the cliche goes.

Fortunately through the work of some high profile freelancers, this lifestyle choice has gained acceptance in recent years but you can still see it in some journalists' eyes when you speak to them: 'couldn't you get a round in a newspaper?' A news round on a daily newspaper isn't the only fruit on the journalism tree. Can I have a little respect for what I do?

10 August, 2011

You never lose it

A long time ago in another life I was a finalist for a fairly prestigious writing award, the Sydney Morning Herald Young Writer of the Year. It was 1997 and I had already had a good year, having come second in a Baulkham Hills Shire poetry competition.

Fancying myself a wordsmith, I had entered the SMH comp before but that year was determined to try for an encouragement award (one step up from a 'participation' award, I was assured). I submitted a piece I had written for class, though I'd worked on it a little more to refine it and promptly forgot about it in the buzz of year 11 exams.

I don't remember how I was notified, exactly. I'm assuming my diary at the time captured the moment, but suddenly I was one of 15 finalists in the state invited to lunch for the announcement of the award. You would have figured out by now that I didn't win but it truly didn't matter as I had already overshot my objective to achieve an encouragement award.

(Incidentally, I met the winner Mark Bolotin several years later at a private creative open mic night called Magical Theatre held in a garage in Glebe, in Sydney's inner west. It was the same platform that launched the indie band Richard in Your Mind. The world works in mysterious ways.)

Later that year I also took out my school's inaugural senior creative writing award and the next year, won the senior poetry competition.

It was a couple of years later, in second year uni, when I realised that I hadn't finished anything of quality for some time. I had a conversation with my friend, a fellow student called Justin Green (who I thought I was in love with at the time and who was the subject of much average poetry). He knew how I felt - he had been a finalist for the SMH comp in the year before I'd been - but he told me something important: "You never lose it."

I had my annual review at work today. Four years I've been employed at this company. Four years in which I haven't finished anything of quality. But I went to writing group this evening armed with a few hundred words that I'd bashed out between 5.30 and 6pm and those words were accepted. They could be worked, they could be teased into shape, according to my fellow writers (one is a Varuna scholar, she would know!). So I have faith that I will never lose it, but it's almost like I have to set it free, let it run rampant.

On the way home I considered how many words I have typed, how many words I have had published in the years since 1997. I'm a decent magazine journo and freelancer and I've carved a small niche for myself in the business and project management space. All this serves someone else.

I blog and I tweet (and every night I write a longhand debrief of my day). All this has taught me is to become accustomed to writing what I feel. I want to stop this. I want to stop writing what I feel and restart writing what I imagine. Only then will I know that I haven't lost it.

(P.S: I wrote this blog post instead of working on the second draft of my novel or the new 3,000 short story I have in the works. I do recognise the irony.)

01 August, 2011

Memento: Study desk

I don't recall when I got this desk, but I must have had it when I stopped sharing a room with my sister for the second time, after my brother left home. This makes it about 14 years old.

It replaced a wood laminate one I inherited off my uncle (RIP Eric) that had an increasingly outdated map of the world printed on it. On that desk I learnt how countries could change their names: USSR, Malagasy, Burma.

This desk, this desk was cheap and nasty with a chipboard frame, plastic runners and cardboard drawers. On it, I studied for my HSC, researched uni assignments and wrote the first draft of my novel. My first, second and third laptops got to know it well.

The top drawer was always for greeting cards and letter stationery and envelopes. The second drawer came to be a dumping ground for receipts and invoices to be filed. The third drawer was always for financial documents and tax stuff and the bottom drawer, by the end of its life, had turned a museum of electronic odds and ends: cables that no longer connected anything to anything else, random charging units, wires with double heads.

The cupboard housed everything from my collection of postcards and my handwritten short stories, poems, novels and ideas, to old daybooks with fading appointments and a scrapbook of newspaper and magazine clippings of articles and pictures I liked.

The desk moved with me from West Pennant Hills to Waverton to Artarmon. Then, as a freelancer for the second time, I got busy. I needed more space. I bought a former office desk secondhand that now takes up an entire corner of my downstairs living area.

The desk was picked up this evening after I listed it for free on Gumtree and Freecycle. I hope it went to a good home.

Memento: Alien toy

Received from: a former colleague
Occasion: My birthday, 2008

I work in the media/publishing industry so as you can imagine there's a fair turnover of colleagues. In 2007, I started at my current workplace sitting next to a junior staff writer who gave me this bizarre alien toy for my birthday in 2008. Not long after, she was made redundant.

I never really liked it; I suppose it was meant to be cute or something, but I always found its lack of eyes a bit creepy. We weren't that close but since I have this weird colleague magic that means I get on with anyone I sit next to I felt obliged to hang onto it, even just for show. When she left it was an opportunity to get rid of it, but I kept it because I felt bad about her.

The toy sat on a shelf above my desk. For the most part it was stuffed in a 1-litre Lowenbrau beer stein, which I inherited off a former editor who'd received it as some sort of PR gimmick gift. I've moved desks a few times since then and have kept it in the stein until this last move where I lost a fair bit of space and decided to take a lot of my non-work stuff home.

Due to a severe lack of space at home, alien toy has been donated to my local Vinnies, at which I volunteer once a fortnight. I hope it finds a loving home.

The beer stein, on the other hand, has become the only way I can safely put cut flowers in water...

20 July, 2011

Memento: Lava Lamp

I'm starting a new series whereby I go through a whole bunch of my sentimental junk and chronicle my memories in photo and blog form so I can get rid of stuff without guilt. Basically what I want to say is: I value this item for its memories but no longer have use for it. Besides which, it's getting crowded in my small house.

First up is my lava lamp. This is not just any other lava lamp but a genuine original authentic Mathmos 'Astrobaby' Lava Lamp.

Received from: My brother Damian
Occasion: My birthday (16th or 17th? Can't remember)

I wanted a lava lamp so bad. I can't even tell you why. Maybe I thought it would inspire me. No, I wasn't going through a 60s phase, but it was going to be mesmeric thinking vehicle the same way a Newton's cradle tends to transfix people, but a hippie version if you will.

My brother, being fairly clueless about gifts in general, underwent the tried and true method of discovering what I wanted by asking me. I found out somehow that it cost $65 (quite possibly he'd left the price tag on) and remember thinking that was an awful lot of money. I'm going to hazard a guess that it was for my 16th birthday because that seems appropriately special for an expensive (and let's face it, useless) item like this.

The perennial question was: Why do you want a lava lamp? The perennial answer was: Why do I like the colour blue? I just do!

The lamp originally had blue water with purple wax; due to fading, it's now clear water with red/orange wax and, as of this evening, still works fine.

I've listed it on Freecycle because I know that way it will go to a good home. It also means I will no longer be surprised to find it hanging around on side tables, ready to topple.

17 July, 2011

Hey sexy

Some of the funniest things happen to me by accident via my mobile phone because my name is Adeline and I'm often at the top of people's call list. I'd like to hear from Aarons who may experience the same thing.

A former boss once called me by accident at 4am in the morning with what sounded like vigorous er, activity going on in the background. I asked his PA to delete me the next day. I also don't keep my boss' phone number on my phone in case the reverse accident happens.

An acquaintance also accidentally left me a voicemail that consisted of her having a blazing row with her husband. I've never told her about it.

Anyway, my latest anecdote comes outside of my own network: either a case of someone giving the wrong number or the sender mistyping the number given.

Last week I started to get some strange messages from an unknown number:
Hey sexy r we still on for tonight

I ignored this, thinking it might be a prank or a case of mistaken sending that the sender would soon realise, feel embarrassed about and then resend to the right person. But that evening another message came:
Hey so is tonight when we finally do it doggy style babe

Thinking that perhaps this person hadn't realised his/her mistake I sent:
I think you have the wrong number. I have no idea who this is.

The reply:
Is this nathan who i met last night at kens karate klub

Now, the previous night I spent having dinner with my boyfriend, his mother and his mother's friend in Wahroonga and I don't think you'd call it a karate club. I actually didn't know anything about Kens Karate Klub, so I Googled it and it turns out it's a gay sauna. So the answer was 'no':
Sorry mate, you've been given a dud number.

He was flippant about it, though:
Bummer thanks anyways

Bummer—or no bummer for him, actually—indeed.

#30: Five films that mean a lot to you

Love it when a 30-day meme takes almost two months.

This list does not include my favourite film of all time because I think it'd be too difficult to name just one from a list of about 20 films I really, really like and would be happy to watch over and over again.

But here's a shortlist of films that mean a lot to me and why.

Inception
Well, it was directed by Christopher Nolan, what's not to like? But beyond that, Inception is a cerebral blockbuster, the difficult balance between critical and commercial success. If you didn't think about it, you could still enjoy it. If you did think about, you'd enjoy it more. Who would've expected a speculative heist movie to earn so much at the box office?

True, Nolan was not nominated for an Oscar for his direction, but I think he was robbed (of a nomination—I don't think he should've won) because Inception is a difficult story to convey and the direction in it was spot on.

Add the fact that Inception was designed specifically for the medium, an original story, and not part of a franchise and you have an acclaimed filmgoer's film.

Teeth
This is a B-grade horror film (the humour is also so very black) that was screened at the Sydney Film Festival a few years ago. I liked it so much I later acquired it on DVD as an example of a horror film that I could actually watch again.

Teeth means a lot to me because it's a prime example of a film that's very firmly B-grade not aspiring to be anything else, yet with an excellent cast and well directed. It's money well spent in other words, and gives me faith that the industry isn't completely full of people who earn too much for bad movies.

The Graduate
This was the first old movie I liked. It is also a film that stands the test of time: I feel it covers the universal theme of a disaffected youth trying to find himself, his confusion about love and sex, and the point at which he grounds himself and chooses life.

Speaking of choosing life, what's not to like about a film that gets sampled in a George Michael video clip? "Do you want me to seduce you? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" Too funky, Mr Graduate.

Kundun
The scene of the massacre. Unforgettable.

Into the Wild
It's a romance about a young man's relationship with the world and it's based on true events. Let's call this a vicarious pick.

Read the entire 30-day movie meme.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

16 July, 2011

#29: Last film you watched

I thought 'hang on a minute—isn't this Day #12?' But yes, it differentiates between films seen in the cinema compared with films I've watched in general.

Well, the last film I watched was at the cinema, Sleeping Beauty. I had these Dendy vouchers I wanted to use up so organised to meet my boyfriend at Dendy Newtown to see The Tree of Life. Unfortunately, due to train dramas we missed the start of The Tree of Life so we decided we'd try and catch the later session.

WELL, the later session was at 9.20pm and for a two-and-a-half hour movie, that would've made it incredibly difficult for me to get home. I saw Sleeping Beauty was also playing—I missed it at the Sydney Film Festival—and that the next session was at 9.10pm and at a respectable one-and-a-half hour running time.

So thanks to Cityrail, two more people saw Sleeping Beauty than would have ordinarily.

I liked it more than my boyfriend did. It was aesthetically quite cool and distant, which corresponded with the main character's (Emily Browning) encounters as she drifts from day to day, never really engaging with anyone or anything with any warmth.

Unfortunately, this meant that it lacked was audience empathy. I would say that about half of the audience in the cinema didn't care about her, or what happened to her. There were also lots of nipples.

However, there was the compulsion to want to know what was behind the things that happened—the creepy lingerie waitressing gig and the nude sleeping gig—which intrigued until the end. This was not climactic enough to make it a good film, I'm sorry to say, but I still thought of it as an interesting piece that was worth watching.

Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

05 July, 2011

#28: Last film you bought

I... don't recall. The last film I acquired was The Hulk (starring Edward Norton), which was in a leftover promo pack and attained as a gift from a neighbouring publishing house.

The last DVD I bought was Leonard Cohen Live in London.

The last film on DVD I bought would've been during the Borders closing down sale and I think it was an enviro doco. Ah yes, it was Garbage Warrior, which I haven't seen yet. Unfortunately I missed this one at the Sydney Film Festival a couple of years ago, hence the purchase.

Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

03 July, 2011

#27: Total number of films you own on DVD/video

Another difficult one to answer considering I've packed most of my DVDs, which was a preventative measure from when I had a thieving, lying, no good very bad housemate. That time has since led into a period of vague renovation and a furniture shuffle so in short, my parents still have the core DVDs from my collection.

BTW, I no longer have videos because I no longer have a video player, but my 'collection' consisted of Disney's Aladdin and its sequel, The Return of Jafar (which someone bought me as a birthday present because they saw I liked Aladdin). The rest were all part of the 'family' collection, which included The Sound of Music (taped from TV), 101 Dalmatians (pirated), The Last Unicorn (pirated) and a couple of Chinese ghost movies (taped from TV).

My current DVD collection consists of movies that I want to watch again and again. Strangely enough, it does not contain all my favourite films. As a guesstimate, I'd say there are probably 30 films there all up, and then another 30 DVDs of TV shows and music. It's reasonably complete, which is to say I'm not desperate to buy anything at this point in time.

I'm a little concerned that because the price of films has come down (I mean, videos used to be like RRP $30 and now you can get DVDs of fairly recent movies for $12.95 or even less at JB Hi-Fi) people just buy them without having seen the film before. I think I'm a little more discerning because while DVDs are cheap, real estate is expensive and I just don't have the room. I will always watch the film before buying the DVD and will only buy the DVD if I know I will want to watch the film at least a few more times.

I used to live with a friend who had more than 400 DVDs, so I just borrowed discs from her. Now I have a Quickflix account so I watch films that I miss at the cinema and also try out TV shows that I think I might like.

Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

01 July, 2011

#26: Popcorn?

Er no, I shouldn't. I don't mind popcorn, but if I weigh things up correctly, in the big chain cinemas I'd pay something in the vicinity of $9.90 for a small combo (drink + popcorn) presented in receptacles roughly the size of my head.

If I finish the combo, I would have consumed enough sugar, salt and butter to power a small nation and therefore feel guilty. If I don't finish the combo, then I feel like I've wasted money and food and therefore feel guilty.

I'd rather pay less money for less popcorn, but they don't really give you that option unless you're at one of the smaller theatres. However, the smaller theatres I go to are usually licensed, in which case I generally purchase booze with the bill still only coming to $7.

Generally I don't like to eat in a movie because there's no real way to do it quietly. I was running late once and when I got into the cinema I realised I was starving but only had an apple in my bag. I ate it during the ads and trailers and the woman in front of me turned around to glare at me. I wanted to say, "lady, I'm not stupid or inconsiderate enough to eat this during the film" but instead I just smiled at her and took a large bite, daring her to say something.

My usual movie treat is an EasyWay, if convenient (the reason I go to Event Macquarie and Event George St) but I'll occasionally get a frozen Coke. Which reminds me—what the hell happened to the frozen grape Hoyts Mandarin had so very briefly and then took away?

Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

29 June, 2011

"Census"

Received this email today:

Friends

I have just been made aware of a 'census' coming in August.

I am NOT in the habit of forwarding emails, but this is of consideral importance to myself & the country I was born & choose to live in.

I will be ticking CHRISTIAN.

Blessings
Leith

Forwarded Message
From: Michelle


IMPORTANT
AUSTRALIA WILL BE HOLDING A CENSUS IN AUGUST
DO NOT LEAVE THE “RELIGION” SECTION BLANK. BE SURE TO AT LEAST TICK CHRISTIAN (OR YOUR UPBRINGING FAITH).
1,000,000 MUSLIMS WILL TICK THEIR BOX.
10,000,000 AUSTRALIANS WILL LEAVE IT BLANK THEN WONDER WHY A MOSQUE IS BUILT IN THEIR NEIGHBOURHOOD!!!
PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.


***

To that I say FUCK YOU.

What kind of intolerance in this world tries to prevent people in a neighbourhood from practising their faith? If people are apathetic about religion (read: don't go to a place of worship on a regular basis) then why does it matter if other people are not, as long as they don't try and impose their views on the rest of us?

Besides which, would this email have dared raged about a synagogue in the neighbourhood? A Buddhist temple?

I happen to live around the corner from the Muslim prayer hall in Artarmon and I have never had anything but polite dealings with its visitors. (Besides which, it means you can usually find a taxi close by).

It's arsewipes who use taxpayers' money to fund chaplains in schools that are the problem.

It's the backward politicians that don't recognise gay marriage because of some distant religious tradition that should be forced to see the world with 2011 eyes.

YES I AM REALLY ANGRY.

(I was going to write "I don't even know who this is!" but then I realised it's this horrible lady I met through my former Meetup group—the one that got me a boyfriend—that I never want to see again.)

My reply:

I'm happy with having a mosque in my neighbourhood. It's too many churches that spoil things.

A

#25: Favourite movie franchise/series?

Hmm! This is a hard one because the only ones I don't like are the horror ones.

I've had a lot of people diss later movies in franchises/series that 'lose their way' and while I think that's a valid argument, I feel that as long as the movie itself has something to offer, consistency with other movies is kind of secondary. I mean to say that if the film is reasonable on its own merits, then why should we worry that it's not as good as another in the franchise? After all, there are always going to be movies you think are weak or movies you don't like and that's generally subjective.

I like the X-Men franchise and, as you may have guessed from yesterday's entry, I love the Three Colours trilogy. Christopher Nolan's Batman series is shaping up to be good—better than X-Men, despite the delightful X-Men: First Class. I'll eat my hat if the third film isn't brilliant.

Another series looking to be huge is the Marvel franchise, right now a disparate bunch of films about the origins of certain heroes—Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America—which will culminate in The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon. I already know this will be good, but just how good? We'll have to wait until next year.

Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

28 June, 2011

#24: Favourite sequel?

A good sequel should carry the story of the original film but not rely on it. If a moviegoer has not seen the first film, he or she should be able to understand what's happening in the second all the same.

At the same time, people who have seen the original film need to benefit either with a few in-jokes, or having something happen in the sequel that throws light on events or characters in the first. It's a fine line to tread and I'm sure you all know it.

I don't generally like sequels but I'm one of those suckers who will go and see the second film just to know for sure that it's worse than the first and they never should have made it. I have been pleasantly surprised more often than I care to admit.

The best sequel I've ever seen is The Dark Knight, the second of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. In many ways it actually surpasses the original. I think the villains get a good workout, for starters, and share the spotlight with party boy/psychopath vigilante Bruce Wayne.

But my favourite sequel (if you could call it that) is Three Colours White, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. How to describe it? It's about an award-winning Polish barber whose wife wants to divorce him because he can't satisfy her in bed. The barber leaves France and goes back to Poland in a suitcase... I won't say more but it's funny and touching.

I'm not sure you can call it a sequel, though because there are only cameos of characters from Three Colours Blue (the first movie) in it, rather than it being a continuation of a narrative but I'm going to nominate it all the same because this is my blog.

Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

26 June, 2011

#23: Favourite director?

This used to be an easy question. I took a look at all my favourite movies and shortlisted the ones where I thought the direction was exceptional. Then I tallied up which director had the most movies in the shortlist and the answer was Christopher Nolan.

Before Inception (yes, I am one of the many who believe Nolan was robbed of a Best Director Oscar), which is the only heist movie I've ever liked, there was The Dark Knight and Batman Begins. But before *those* were The Prestige and Memento. Not only does Nolan pick interesting movies, he directs them well, and that combination is the winning one.

Now I said this used to be easy because I've come to realise that there are a number of films I really, really like that I don't necessarily own or name on my top films list that have amazing direction.

Among them:
Danny Boyle, for 127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire, Sunshine, 28 Days Later and The Beach.
Guillermo del Toro, for Pan's Labyrinth.
Spike Jonze, for Where the Wild Things Are, Adaptation, and Being John Malkovich.

I also don't mind a bit of Quentin Tarantino—and I think Duncan Jones is one to watch.

Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

#22: Favourite documentary?

Ah, how to describe a documentary? Filming real life? Is a tortoise eating its vegies a documentary? I think Baraka is one of the most stunning pieces of non-fiction film you may ever behold, but I don't think you could call it a documentary.

According to Wikipedia, "documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record" [my italics].

Very well then, I nominate Paris is Burning. I saw this film as part of my cultural studies class 'Reading the Body'. It had so much in it—race, gender, underground culture—and it was such an eye-opening doco that I watched it three or four times even though I only needed to see it once (or twice if I were particularly studious).

The most fascinating aspect was not the queer and transvestite culture depicted, although that was the most fun to watch, but the individual lives that this culture touched. The spectre of the AIDS era and the ever-present danger of being found out in a straight world added a dark reality to what is otherwise a colourful, often garish film.

See IMDb and Wikipedia entries.

Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

23 June, 2011

#21: Favourite movie quote?

It's the whole Latin lesson scene from Life of Brian.

Centurion: What's this thing? "ROMANES EUNT DOMUS"? "People called Romanes they go the house?"
Brian: It... it says "Romans go home".
Centurion: No it doesn't. What's Latin for "Roman"?

[Brian hesitates]

Centurion: Come on, come on!
Brian: (uncertain) "ROMANUS".
Centurion: Goes like?
Brian: "-ANUS".
Centurion: Vocative plural of "-ANUS" is?
Brian: "-ANI".
Centurion: [takes paintbrush from Brian and paints over] "RO-MA-NI". "EUNT"? What is "EUNT"?
Brian: "Go".
Centurion: Conjugate the verb "to go"!
Brian: "IRE"; "EO", "IS", "IT", "IMUS", "ITIS", "EUNT".
Centurion: So "EUNT" is ...?
Brian: Third person plural present indicative, "they go".
Centurion: But "Romans, go home!" is an order, so you must use the ...?

[He lifts Brian by his short hairs]

Brian: The ... imperative.
Centurion: Which is?
Brian: Um, oh, oh, "I", "I"!
Centurion: How many Romans? [pulls harder]
Brian: Plural, plural! "ITE".

[Centurion strikes over "EUNT" and paints "ITE" on the wall]

Centurion: "I-TE". "DOMUS"? Nominative? "Go home", this is motion towards, isn't it, boy?
Brian: (very anxious) Dative?

[Centurion draws his sword and holds it to Brian's throat]

Brian: Ahh! No, ablative, ablative, sir. No, the, accusative, accusative, ah, DOMUM, sir.
Centurion: Except that "DOMUS" takes the ...?
Brian: ... the locative, sir!
Centurion: Which is?
Brian: "DOMUM".
Centurion: (satisfied) "DOMUM"...

[He strikes out "DOMUS" and writes "DOMUM"]

Centurian: ..."-MUM". Understand?
Brian: Yes sir.
Centurion: Now write it down a hundred times.
Brian: Yes sir, thank you sir, hail Caesar, sir.
Centurion: [saluting] Hail Caesar. If it's not done by sunrise, I'll cut your balls off.
Brian: (very relieved) Oh thank you sir, thank you sir, hail Caesar and everything, sir!

(Thanks http://www.epicure.demon.co.uk/latinlesson.html)

Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

21 June, 2011

#20: Favourite movie adaptation

(from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)

A good adaptation is not necessarily one that is faithful to the events in the original text, but one that is faithful to its concepts, characters and consequences while also using the advantages of, and understanding and finding solutions to the limitations of, the silver screen.

As I mentioned on Day 10 I like Danny Boyle's take on Alex Garland's novel The Beach. What was marketed as quite a mainstream movie turned out to be edgy and profound in many ways. Unfortunately, a lot of people didn't like it and it received quite bad critical reviews. I'm not sure whether good old expectations had something to do with that.

I also like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which remains by far the best of all the Harry Potter adaptations. (I haven't seen HP7 Part II but seeing as it is a continuation of Part I I'm not expecting it to be any better than the book).

Alfonso Cuaron's direction on Prisoner of Azkaban is tight, horrifying in all the right places, and he gets the best from the cast. I emphasise 'tight' because the others tended to have a scene-by-scene deference to the book, which made the narrative choppy. Cuaron cuts all the right parts without sacrificing much in the way of plot, and best of all he deftly handles the time travel elements, making it seamless and easy to understand.

I'll add Watchmen and Sin City because I really like the films, although I haven't read the respective graphic novels from which they come.

Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

20 June, 2011

#19: Favourite movie villain?

Dr Evil! "I didn't go to evil medical school for six years just to be called MISTER, thank you very much!"

There's so much I love about Dr Evil. His incompetence. The fact that he is a collage of so many other villains from spy movies but created to show how absurd they are. Read the following:

Dr Evil reveals his strange background. All villains must be strange and unloved. Most often foreign, too.

The details of my life are quite inconsequential... very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanise, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds—pretty standard really. At the age of 12 I received my first scribe. At the age of 14 a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum... it's breathtaking—I highly suggest you try it.


Here are a few quotes that show the stupidity of the villain's interaction with the hero, particularly with regard to killing him.

Dr Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?
Number Two: Sea Bass.
Dr Evil: [pause] Right.
Number Two: They're mutated sea bass.
Dr Evil: Are they ill tempered?
Number Two: Absolutely.
Dr Evil: Oh well, that's a start.

Dr Evil: Scott, I want you to meet daddy's nemesis, Austin Powers.
Scott Evil: What? Are you feeding him? Why don't you just kill him?
Dr Evil: I have an even better idea. I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death.

Dr Evil: All right guard, begin the unnecessarily slow-moving dipping mechanism.
[guard starts dipping mechanism]
Dr Evil: Close the tank!
Scott Evil: Wait, aren't you even going to watch them? They could get away!
Dr Evil: No no no, I'm going to leave them alone and not actually witness them dying, I'm just gonna assume it all went to plan. What?

Now I'm killing myself laughing here.

All right, you want a real villain? Bill from Kill Bill. How could he do that to her? Bastard!

And You-Know-Who. Voldy from the Harry Potter series. Ralph Fiennes plays him well. Actually in some ways I think Dolores Umbridge (played by Imelda Staunton) is more evil because she's known a better life and had a better upbringing and yet is fully behind Voldy's evil plan for domination. She's so *shudder* spiteful. Voldy, when he was Tom, was brought up an orphan and never knew love. Sad, ain't it?

Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

15 June, 2011

#18: Favourite movie hero?

Dude, this is hard. I like the new Batman (Christian Bale) because he is a psychopath and there's not very much that separates him from the villains in the films. I mean, Superman and Spiderman are basically goody-goodies who have powers—Batman is a guy with serious mental issues who uses his wealth to build gear that allows him to track and kill people. There's something cool about that.

At the same time, I quite enjoy the softies like Scott Pilgrim and Griff the Invisible, who you might argue are not really heroes at all but protagonists who stumble their way through their respective films.

Then there's Wolverine, who is a violent misanthrope, an anti-hero, and yet like Batman happens to be working on the 'right' side. Heroes are so complicated nowadays.

Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

14 June, 2011

#17: If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?

Mmmphmm. I'm not the sort of person who wants to be characters. When I was five I wanted to be Zia from The Mysterious Cities of Gold (TV series), but since then I don't think I've had a burning desire to be a character.

Every movie character I can think of comes from a book so I'm trying to think of a movie-only character. Maybe The Bride from Kill Bill? Besides Uma Thurman looking hot in yellow, she has the moves to match. And the sword. Don't forget the sword.

Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

13 June, 2011

#16: What is the scariest film you’ve seen?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I scare really easily so this question should probably be answered by saying 'any horror movie I've ever seen (except Scary Movie 4)'.

But really, there are two that stick out in my mind and both are connected to Guillermo del Toro. The first is Pan's Labyrinth, directed by del Toro, which scared me because the 'reality' scenes were so brutal and the 'fantasy' scenes just had some freaky shit in it, particularly the bit where she has to get the dagger from the dining table without disturbing the creature. You know the one.

The other is El Orfanato (The Orphanage), which del Toro produced. There's something about creepy children, creepy orphan children, that really gets me. And occult and supernatural type stuff freaks me out. Characters seeing shit is bad enough, but when shit gets real and there's a sort of poltergeist type reckoning, I don't like it.

I should probably mention right now that because horror is not my favoured genre, I've never seen any of the classics like The Shining, The Exorcist, The Omen or even films like Pet Sematary, so this post is really about the most scary drama films I've ever seen.

Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

12 June, 2011

#15: What film do you wish you had never seen?

I'm not entirely sure how to answer this: never seen because it was really bad? A waste of time? Scared the bejesus out of me?

Hmm, I'd probably say Cabin Fever for a bit of all of those reasons. I'm not a horror fan at all, at all, so the way I came to see this film was a (now ex) friend of mine had won free tickets through some sort of competition.

I found it a bit schlocky and seeing as I didn't really want to see it in the first place, I considered it a waste of time. And yes, it did scare the bejesus out of me, because I scare really easily and I have a great fear of disease, especially diseases that involve spraying around a lot of blood (can't withstand zombie films, for example...).

If you've seen Black Swan, you may remember a scene near the beginning when Nina goes to the bathroom and she picks at a bit of skin next to her nail and rips it back but then it turns out she didn't actually do it? Well, I found that the most terrifying part of the movie because this is something I do quite often (not tear off my finger, mind, just rip small slips of skin off so it bleeds because I'm careless). Let's forget the sprouting black feathers and stabbing people with glass; the fingernail scene is scary.

Anyway, Cabin Fever has a similar scene in it where one of the girls, who doesn't know she has this flesh-eating disease yet, starts to shave a leg and the skin of her leg falls away. Ever since that I've made an effort to depilate with Silkymit over a razor. For this alone I wish I'd never seen Cabin Fever.

Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

10 June, 2011

#14: What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?

I accidentally already answered this on Day 11: it was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. Oh the shame. The shame.

Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

#13: What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?

Er. I guess the best way to describe the films I like to watch would be philosophical/reflective fringe-of-mainstream drama.

This genre is probably best exemplified by films like Richard Linklater's Waking Life, dramaticised biopic Into the Wild, cult hit Donnie Darko and pretty much anything written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation et al).

So I'm not all the way indie/underground/cult, but I'm definitely not frat boy comedy, blockbuster action or arthouse noir.

Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

07 June, 2011

#12: What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?

X-Men: First Class.

Really enjoyed it. It was everything a good comic book adaptation should be, which is to say it should have a compelling story, strong characters and not get overwhelmed by action sequences. Stylish substance over just style, if you will.

I thought the ensemble was terrific; kudos to James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender for doing a great job of complementing Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen's seminal roles in the original films without stepping into their shoes and trying to emulate them. This is a different film, a prequel, and the relationship between them is different, which was expressed well.

Also, Rose Byrne! (Australia represent) Tony from Skins! (Nicholas Hoult aka Hank)

I don't read comics, so really the films are all I have to go on, and I've liked all of the X-Men films in the franchise—some more than others, of course. This is a particularly good prequel. There is not much you need to know about X-Men to enjoy this film, but if you have seen other X-Men films it shows where a lot of the character drives come from in later periods.

Interestingly, it reveals Xavier to be more flawed than you would at first think in the other films. His mistakes feed the dramatic tension of the later 'episodes' and make Magneto an excellent foil, much better than at first realised.

There were maybe too many digs at Professor X's hair for comedic purposes, but I'll forgive it.

P.S: LOVED the Wolverine cameo.

P.P.S: After I wrote this I went to a Sydney Film Festival event where they showed some trailers for 'green' films. Then my boyfriend and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides, which I enjoyed despite the romp getting a little obscure at times. "I'm still bent. Hellishly so." - Jack Sparrow

Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

06 June, 2011

#11: How often do you go to the cinema?

(as opposed to renting films out or watching them at home)

I didn't really go to the cinema as a kid. My parents weren't those kinds of parents. The first movie I saw in an actual proper cinema (as opposed to a cabaret set-up in an RSL) was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. It was for a friend's brother's birthday (hi Beq! Hi Benny!) and I was 12 at the time.

In my teenage years, cinema-going was still rather sporadic; it was not until uni that I started going to the cinema at Macquarie Centre during long breaks between classes (I went to Macquarie Uni). Student ticket prices helped.

The past few years has seen my cinema consumption go up from about once a fortnight to 3-4 times a month despite the fact that I consider movie ticket prices exorbitant. I rarely pay full price anyway, it's just nice to bitch about it sometimes.

A lot of this comes from film festivals where I'll see anything from 5-10 movies in the season. I also like to enter competitions that have movie tickets as prizes, as well as bid for a place at free preview screenings.

Compared to my DVD/home consumption, this is high. I don't own a lot of DVDs—maybe 20 movies and 20 TV shows/music DVDs—and I don't watch movies on TV. I do have a Quickflix account, which gives me four rentals a month, but they tend to be for hard-to-get TV series or docos rather than films I miss at the cinema.

If I want to see a film I'll see it at the cinema, I guess. Or sometimes on a plane.

Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

Roam if you want to

Following on from last week's RTS saga, I received a call this morning (waking me up) from a Roam representative who told me that they did not handle the change of address function.

Now, I'm starting to think that no one reads what I actually write (which, as a writer, is a career killing trait) because not only did I indicate that I preferred to be contacted via email, the following conversation took place:

Me: "What can I do?"
She: "I suggest you send the mail back return to sender."
Me: "I already did. Seventy-eight times. That's why I've contacted you."

Anyway, it turns out that Roam deals in numberplates and the RTA is the one who gives them the address. So I have to go through the RTA system to try and get them to disengage my address from Peter's numberplates.

My email to the RTA:
My suggestion is that you should keep your contact database up to date. I have received 83 letters this year addressed to Peter [surname], who has not lived at [address] since March 2010. I have sent ALL these back (and several in 2010) returned to sender but they keep coming.

I contacted Roam about it and they said they received address info from the RTA. So... find out where he lives now and update your database. I'm so tired of this.


And so it goes.

05 June, 2011

#10: Name a film that you liked that everyone hated

There are two I like to trundle out when this topic gets mentioned.

The first is Australia, Baz Luhrmann's oft-maligned antipodean epic. I can only say poor Baz was the victim of some incredibly near-sighted tall poppy syndrome style attack for:
a) daring to make an Australian blockbuster;
b) striving for global success with said film; and
c) naming his film after an entire country as if representative of it.

So when I went into the cinema, to sate curiosity as much as for business purposes (I was then the editor of an export magazine and since Baz had stitched up a deal with Tourism Australia it seemed relevant), I was expecting drivel.

Well. There's a lot to be said about exceeding low expectations, but leaving aside that factor, I found Australia to be entertaining, well cast, suitably action-packed, dramatic and, above all, beautifully shot. I even liked Nicole Kidman's performance, which says a lot.
[Nullah's mother has just died]
Lady Sarah Ashley: Nullah, I wanted to extend my condolences...
Nullah: Go away.

The press went for the jugular and all I heard was disparaging comments about it. I believe even Kidman said she was "embarassed" by it. And yet... every time I talk to someone who has seen it, there's applause in their response. So it seems most of the negativity came from people who didn't even see it. This may be a case of 'leave your prejudice at the door'; if you actually saw the film, you'd probably like it.

I should probably note at this point that yes, Baz does go over the top. That's what he does. Expecting a subdued thinkpiece from Baz Luhrmann is like waiting for Richard Wilkins to say something sensible—if it happens it'll be a complete surprise, but don't hold your breath. But Australia is much deserving of the Baz OTT treatment: after all, it's about Indigenous relations, the droving lifestyle over big country, death, war and love—who'd want to belittle any of those themes?

The other movie I'll represent is The Beach, based on the Alex Garland novel of the same name. Not only is the film a great interpretation of the book, despite two main characters changing nationality from English to American and American to English, it is also well cast and beautifully shot.

Leaving aside any negative impact the film reportedly had on Thailand's beaches, where it was shot, Danny Boyle (before I really knew who he was—I admit I didn't really care for Trainspotting) did a fine job of treading the line between paradise and dystopia that Garland so carefully crafted in his novel.

The result was an accessible movie with some pretty dark themes. I can only say a lot of people hated it because Leo DiCaprio played a naive yet confident backpacker who had more gritty determination in him than even he knew, rather than another Jack from Titanic. Maybe it was marketed wrong. I'm not sure. Anyway, it's bloody good.

Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

03 June, 2011

#9: Name a film that made you cry in the cinema

I find it funny that this meme topic specified in the cinema, as if to say it didn't care about what you did at home with your DVDs.

Well, the earliest film I remember crying at was All Dogs Go to Heaven. I was seven at the time. I pretended to my mum that I had something in my eye, which was just lame-o.

Now I'm quite unashamed of showing emotion. The one thing that will generally set me off is when a character tries really hard to do something, get somewhere, achieve something and s/he fails. But then I also cry with joy when they succeed.

I also get weepy at plot points that involve a great sacrifice (not a physical one, generally an emotional one, and especially one that is made altruistically without other characters knowing about it).

So I'm surprisingly weepy. The last few films that set me off were: Griff the Invisible, Boy, and Departures.

Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

02 June, 2011

#8: Ever walked out of a film?

No. I'm more likely to sleep instead. I'm not going to waste a dark room and a cosy chair, considering the exorbitant cost of movie tickets nowadays.

Having said that, I don't think I've ever slept either (unless you count microsleeping at the end of LOTR: Return of the King when I did the trilogy marathon—yeah, 10 hours later at 6 in the morning, who isn't going to be sleepy?).

I tend to do a fair bit of research before I decide to see a film. When I say 'research', I usually mean seeing the trailer, reading the blurb, checking out who is in it and talking to my movie friend. I don't heed a lot of reviews, though I sometimes read Empire magazine or Filmink. The only reviewer I really pay any attention to is Sam Clark from FBi Radio because I can always tell whether I'll enjoy a film by what he says, and not always because I agree.

So all of that adds up to: I'm unlikely to see a film I'm going to walk out of, and even if it was bad, I'd be more likely to take a nap instead of walk out.

Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

01 June, 2011

#7: Name a film that you would recommend everyone see

Well, what kind of stupid movie meme topic is this? A film I'd recommend *everyone* see? That's unpossible! All my recommendations are carefully tailored to individual tastes.

For the action-oriented, I'd put forward Inception. For the biopic lover Elizabeth is awesome. For a comedic turn, I'd nominate Zoolander for the dumber humour, and Life of Brian for the sharper tools in the shed.

Actually, I change my mind. Everyone should see Griff the Invisible. It isn't the film you think it is. It would benefit from your eyeballs actually absorbing what it has to offer. It's sweet, funny, dramatic and quirky. It involves a chick trying to walk through walls and a guy who makes an invisible suit. It is more awesome than you could ever know by not watching it.

Day 08 - Ever walked out of a film?
Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

RTS rant

I have been diligent all my life. It has taken me to the age of 30 to realise that this does not mean everything results in success. Case in point: RTS mail.

I bought my house in March 2009 and let the existing tenants stay. I then moved in last year. Of course I realised I would be returning a whole bunch of mail. I did the right thing and wrote 'RTS no longer at this address' on everything that wasn't mine. Most senders took the hint, but there was one persistent correspondent, only known by its return address (Locked Bag 5004, Parramatta NSW 2124).

At the beginning of this year I began to record when I received these letters and the number. Today I reached 78 for the year and something in me snapped. For some reason it hadn't previously occurred to me to Google the address to see who the sender was. This evening I discovered it was Roam, the people who manage the road toll accounts.

FFS, I don't even own a car.

Here is my email to them:

Hello, my name is Adeline Teoh. You won't have a record of me because I don't own a car. I do, however, own a house at [address given].

One of its previous tenants was a guy called Peter W. He has not lived at this address for more than 14 months. I'm guessing he had a car and didn't pay the toll because letters and letters and letters from you keep turning up at my house.

I have done the right thing. I have returned every one of them notifying you that he no longer lives here. This year, I started numbering and dating the returns. I can tell you when each and every one of the 78 letters you've sent in 2011 arrived.

Please, for the love of god, find another way to contact him because he doesn't live here any more and I'm just tired, so very tired, of sending back his mail. Why don't you update your records? WHY?


http://twitpic.com/55e9um

I will keep you posted on what happens.

31 May, 2011

#6: Name a film musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs

Well, after you see a movie more than 10 times I think you get to know it pretty well, so I'd have to say Sound of Music. But I may have mentioned before that I'm really terrible at remembering lyrics so 'all of the lyrics to all of the songs' would yield 0 movie musicals. That's why there's 'Sing-A-Long-A Sound of Music' to help you do it karaoke style.

Another one that comes close is The Phantom of the Opera. I used to listen to the London cast recording on repeat so I'm fairly certain of most of the lyrics. I'm not sure if there were any lyric/song changes in the film version, though, because only saw it once. I found it quite vapid.

Day 07 - Name a film that you would recommend everyone see.
Day 08 - Ever walked out of a film?
Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

29 May, 2011

#5: Name a film that you can and do quote from

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. It has so many quotable lines in it. My friends and I do the Swedish penis enlarger sketch where Austin has been reanimated and is collecting his belongings: "Honestly, it's not mine" / "One book by Austin Powers: 'The Swedish penis enlarger and me: This sort of thing is my bag baby'."

I also have a mug with the Dr Evil auotobiographical monologue: "He used to accuse chestnuts of being lazy..." and I love "DOCTOR Evil—I didn't go to evil medical school for six years just to be called mister, thank you very much" and "You're the Diet Coke of evil. Just one calorie, not evil enough."

"My name is Richie Cunningham and this is my wife Oprah."

"One million dollars!"

"All I've ever wanted was to have sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads. So what do we have?" / "Sea bass." / "Sea bass?" / "They are mutated, sir." / "Are they ill tempered?"

I'm actually really bad at direct quotes (which is why, as a journo, I record my interviews and transcribe them word for word) but the best thing about quoting from movies is you only have to get the voice and the words approximately right to get a laugh.

Another movie my friends and I do is Zoolander. Zoolander quotes work best when any of us bring them out when the others least expect it.

Oft-repeated quotes:

Derek comes back from being brainwashed and he's asked where he's been for several days. "I've only been away for one day. At a DAY spa. D-A-I-Y-E."

"Eugoogly."

In answer to any question in which one does not know the answer: "Mugatu?"

The saddest thing about these movies is that there are kids now in high school who were born after they were made, which just makes me feel old.

Oh, and I should mention Life of Brian too: "What have the Romans ever done for us?" etc...

Day 06 - Name a film musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.
Day 07 - Name a film that you would recommend everyone see.
Day 08 - Ever walked out of a film?
Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

27 May, 2011

#4: Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a film

'Less likely' is a wonderful qualifier. I wouldn't completely ignore films with the following actors in it, but if the premise of the film was 50-50 and the movie contained one of these people on the billing, I'm afraid the cinema has lost a patron because of:

Will Ferrell: I admit that he's been good in a few films. I liked Zoolander and Anchorman and Stranger than Fiction. But I find him odd and unsettling. He acts like he isn't supposed to be there and this displacement makes me confused and repulsed by him.
Adam Sandler: He's not funny. At all. The brattish behaviour just doesn't do it for me, I'm afraid.
Chuck Norris: *shudder*
Mariah Carey: Okay, so I liked Precious (where she played a fairly minor part), but I've also heard Glitter was the "biggest waste of time and brain power ever experienced" by several friends.

Day 05 - Name a film that you can and do quote from.
Day 06 - Name a film musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.
Day 07 - Name a film that you would recommend everyone see.
Day 08 - Ever walked out of a film?
Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

25 May, 2011

#3: Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a film

Well, I'm glad today's meme used the term 'more inclined' because I certainly haven't hunted down the filmography of each of the actors I'm about to name.

What I will say is, if the movie sounds okay and then I learn that any of these people are in it, I will more than likely end up seeing it. If the movie sounds shite, no amount of actor magnetism will lure me.

So here goes...
Maggie Gyllenhaal: She's cool, and I like her indie films. Didn't like her in The Dark Knight, though.
Cate Blanchett: A wonderful actor is always interesting to watch, no matter what the role. Totally robbed of an Oscar for Best Actress in Elizabeth. Gwyneth Paltrow knows it too.
John Cusack: He still had that cynical Gen X thing going that makes him quite alluring despite the fact that I think he's past his prime. Enjoyed High Fidelity and Hot Tub Time Machine much more than I should have.
Hugh Jackman: Incredibly watchable. Don't mind if he takes his shirt off. Cue movies like X-Men and Australia.
Kenneth Branagh: Has branched out from Shakespeare into some interesting projects. Unfortunately spends more time behind the camera than in front of it nowadays, but I will still heed his name on the billing. Liked his Hamlet better than Laurence Olivier's (that ham!) and enjoyed him in some of his smaller films like Peter's Friends and Dead Again.

Day 04 - Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a film.
Day 05 - Name a film that you can and do quote from.
Day 06 - Name a film musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.
Day 07 - Name a film that you would recommend everyone see.
Day 08 - Ever walked out of a film?
Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.

23 May, 2011

#2: Name a film that you’ve seen multiple times in the cinema

I don't think I've ever seen a film more than twice at the cinema so the word 'multiple' sort of rules everything out.

Actually, I have seen something three times: it was a short called The Adjustable Cosmos, which screened ahead of two films I saw at last year's Sydney Film Festival. I then saw it again in a collection of animated shorts for the Fantastic Planet film festival. It's a funny film that kept the laughs through multiple viewings and I became quite fond of it.

Some films I've see twice at the cinema:

  • American Pie: The first time it'd screened as a 'mystery film', the second time I went with friends who'd missed out. Should I be admitting this?

  • American Beauty: I was a bit WTF? the first time so I thought I'd see it in a break between uni classes back when cheap Tuesday tickets were actually cheap.

  • The Dark Knight and Sherlock Holmes: These films screened after Clash of the Titans at a movie marathon. Although my movie friend and I had already seen both of them, we'd decided they were good enough to see again, particularly on the big screen. Just as well, because Clash of the Titans was shithouse, so we needed two decent movies to wash our eyes out.

  • Inception: Saw this with my movie friend, a much anticipated film. Then it featured as part of my first date with my current boyfriend because I recommended it and I wanted to see if I could pick up anything further upon second viewing.

  • Boy: Saw this at last year's Sydney Film Festival and *loved* it. I later went to see my sister in Canberra and she doesn't often get time to see movies (despite being a Dendy Club member) so I recommended it. There are so few cinema complexes in Canberra, and so few screens in each complex, that this ended up being the only decent thing showing. Just as well it was a top film. The most interesting thing about it is the first time I saw it I remember laughing so hard I cried. The second time I saw it, I cried so much I had to laugh.


I'm a fan of going to the cinema for the big screen experience. My tiny townhouse will not fit a big screen and sound system (well, the wall will fit a big screen but I just don't have the space to have my couch as far back as it needs to be, a la Roy's place in The IT Crowd episode 'Moss and the German'). A film's run also forces me to watch it in a set time, which is more than I can say for my DVD queue at Quickflix.

I will try and see a film at the cinema more than once if I think it warrants the big screen experience but in general, with movie ticket prices being what they are, I like to see something new each time.

Day 03 - Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a film.
Day 04 - Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a film.
Day 05 - Name a film that you can and do quote from.
Day 06 - Name a film musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.
Day 07 - Name a film that you would recommend everyone see.
Day 08 - Ever walked out of a film?
Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.

Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.