Saturday, September 29, 2012

Swans fly high with no touch of evil

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

Merry Grand Final Day!

Australia was on the edge of their seats today as the Swans and Hawks battled it out in today's AFL Grand Final. What a game it turned out to be - it looked like Sydney were going to make it a blowout in the second quarter, a stunning six straight goals to hold Hawthorn to a single point.

It was a real slog by the final term and I at one point actually hoped for a draw so they could do it all again next week. They were lucky the rain held off though, and with Sydney winners I was still happy. I love Adam Goodes, and seeing his efforts today among everyone elses was special because of the immense contribution he has given to his team.

Parting Shots

Although I still believe the Crows should've been there and I should've been at the game watching, we had a win for the day. Go Patty Dangerfield, winning the Grand Final Sprint back-to-back!


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To the regular Saturday segment, and tonight is exclusively a classic film. Man, Orson Welles knew how to make films. His edgy filmmaking style is wonderful in Touch of Evil, and he had the ability to make you squirm as an actor. Especially here.

Touch of Evil (1958) 

THE IMAGINED cut of this film by director Orson Welles was not shown to audiences until 13 years after his death. A 58-page memo detailing how he had envisioned it was thought to be lost until found in star Charlton Heston’s possession. When the director’s cut was released in 1998, critics and fans worldwide revered one of his greatest works, and it now stands as the primarily seen version.

Casting Heston as Mexican narcotics agent Mike Vargas was an interesting choice, but in this story across the Mexican-American border the screen legend carries his role extremely well. Vargas is a witness to an explosion that kills a man while on his honeymoon with wife Susie (Janet Leigh) in Mexico. American police captain Hank Quinlan (Welles) and Sergeant Pete Menzies (Joseph Calleia) step in to investigate the murder case before Vargas finds himself involved, all the while fighting a rivalry with Quinlan.

Not originally a success in the US, Welles’ film is not for everyone. Mexican drug culture is alluded to with the sub-plot including drug criminal Uncle Joe Grandi (Akim Tamiroff), while Welles’ portrayal of Quinlan is unsettling with his added kilos and mean, raspy tone. For those appreciative of film noir, it is at its finest here with excellent camerawork, wonderful use of black and white film and effective effort of raising questions of corruption and deceit.

Welles knew how to get the best out of his cast and does so here, particularly with a smouldering Marlene Dietrich as gypsy Tanya. His creativity knew no bounds and with the freedom given to him (at the time of shooting at least) the perfectionist was able to produce what he would accept as a complete work. Forty years later, audiences were, at last, truly able to appreciate that.

*Published in the Mailbox Shopper (Dubbo) from Wednesday 26/9/2012

MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of Withnail and I.

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Oh no...

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

And last week went so well.

 
 
This is one of the most horrible shoes I've ever seen in my life. Even in the scheme of the calendar, this is down there. Good for a costume MAYBE, but I don't think that's their intention, which is somewhat scary. Oh dear.
 
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On a happier note, I'm just about home from my trip so you'll hear about the rest of it in due course! But the AFL Grand Final's on tomorrow so not then :)

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Saturday, September 22, 2012

An English gem

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

No major review tonight, but this was always popping up on various 'must watch' lists so I'm finally glad I can share my opinion on this one. So very English this film is.

 
Withnail and I (1987)

SOME of Britain's best-known films are those surrounding excess drug and alcohol consumption from past to present. The swinging 60s were at their strongest in places like London, where we find two men at rock bottom in the heart of Camden Town in 1969 with no money, no work and only the booze to keep them occupied.

Withnail (Richard E Grant) and Marwood (Paul Gann, the 'and I') are at a loss with how they’ll continue to survive until they regain touch with Withnail's uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths). He lends the duo his cottage in the countryside, and they go to escape the winter in a more idyllic location.

Homosexuality has a role to play here, explored through Monty's perception of the duo and his own desires for Marwood. Their drunken ramblings add fuel to the fire, and ultimately for us make for entertaining watching. Marwood as the less wasted of the two has his own musings on life that fit with thinking of the era and reveal their underlying intelligence.

The autobiographical story from director Bruce Robinson is still questioned by fans and critics as to what is real and what is not. His direction is mismatched from scene to scene but the characters remain likable even in their miserable moods amid the miserable English winter. Richard E Grant is a standout in his breakthrough role.
 
*Published in the Mailbox Shopper (Dubbo) from Wednesday 19/9/2012

MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of The Watch.

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Friday, September 21, 2012

How 50s!

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

I've gone on a driveabout this last week to land myself back in Adelaide (you will read about that in the coming days should you choose to accept that challenge), but I still thought it was worth a sneak peek at what my calendar had to offer at this fine time of the year.

 
 
Bar my poor choice of lighting, how 50s are these? Embracing the gingham! I actually think they're adorable and would wear these with a really nice white dress, or black skinnies and a white tie-up top. The calendar has pulled out all stops this week. Cute.

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Saturday, September 15, 2012

Review of the Week: The Watch

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

My Shopper review didn't get used this week because of space restraints (ah, life is fickle), so you'll see it next Saturday.

Along with learning life skills, I wrote six reviews this week. Four of those were on Thursday (two like the one below and two shorter ones). I was a machine. The other Liberal review is for upcoming Aussie film Mental, but an embargo prevents me from expressing my opinion for another week. I'll put that up when I can. For now, I avoided Madagascar 3 because I haven't seen number two and I want to beforehand. I can't wait to see Afro Circus although I've seen the trailer countless times. And yes, I've done the 10-minute survival on YouTube.

The Watch (MA15+)
ALIENS exist. Deal with it. They want to destroy Earth and there’s no getting around it. That is the overwhelming conclusion cinema has given us over time and 2012 has done nothing to dispel the theory. Not even when some of Hollywood’s crudest names give us a comedy of orgies and boys clubs amidst a picture of perfect American suburbia.
Glenview, Ohio is named by Evan (Ben Stiller) as the best town in the best country on the best planet. He really loves the place, creating numerous clubs and striving to be the best he can as senior manager at a Costco warehouse. Like all things in life and at the movies though, things starts to unravel. Evan’s store’s security guard is murdered and he is inspired to create a neighbourhood watch group to catch the criminal responsible and do more effective work than local cop Sgt. Bressman (Will Forte) can manage.
What starts to be serious intent from Evan turns into something different as he befriends Bob (Vince Vaughn), Franklin (Jonah Hill) and Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade). They each have their own issues; Bob wants to control his teenage daughter, Franklin is bitter about his rejection from the police force and Jamarcus just wants to integrate into the community. It very quickly turns into a boys club best at drinking beer and creating more trouble in the neighbourhood than there was to start with.
 
Causing trouble is what we have come to know from this bunch in their previous works. That and making jokes focused on the lower regions, which there’s plenty of here as we find out it’s all in relation to the aliens hanging around town that turn out to be the primary villains. Explicit language is a must, but gratuitous sex scenes are thankfully minimal.
Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer, in his second feature as director, is comfortable with the vulgar tone of the film. His cast are as well, particularly Vaughn who shouts half his lines in excitement as many have come to know and some have grown to love. Stiller as a serious man is at times still surprising, and his ability to make something comic seemingly out of nowhere is top range.
The men all play their roles with an awkward twist to them and it makes for some good humour. Supporting cast, including an uncredited Billy Crudup as Evan’s creepy neighbour, help push this momentum along. As “The Watch” becomes increasingly doubtful about who it can trust, and as Evan starts letting up just a little bit, the overall seriousness of the story lightens and the gang have a bit of fun with what they manage to find in their investigation.
The story covers a lot about family as they solve the town mystery, particularly the angle of being truthful and looking out for those around you. Forming the group becomes a symbol of that for these guys; Neighbourhood Watch as we knew it may be well gone with the advent of networks like Facebook but they want to stick to the old skool way of thought. From all accounts they don’t look to be having a bad time with that, catching extra-terrestrial bad guys and all.
Rating: 3/5
*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 15/9/2012 
MISSED THE LAST REVIEWS? See what I thought of Kath and Kimderella and Tootsie.

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Friday, September 14, 2012

When it is best not to wear heels

0 comments Posted by Katina at 10:02 PM

That title was me trying to link my main part of this post to the shoe of the week.

Anyhoo, I did something on the weekend that I've always felt I should do, something I needed to learn - especially for my big road trip home that starts tomorrow.

I learned how to change a tyre. How exciting!


 
My dad had shown me once on my old car but I never got the chance even on that day to put it into practice. This time I was armed with my NRMA information and had help from workmate Michael, and I took the time to do it all properly.
 
And this stuff doesn't scare me anymore!

 
It was hard though... tyres are freakin' HEAVY. And it takes FOREVER. I wore flats and jeans but that was still hard. It was OK though, I felt pretty good about myself at the end of it. Just definitely an advantage if you're wearing sturdy shoes.
 
And on that note... Shoe of the Week time!
 
 
This design was inventive, but the fact it looks like it's a peeptoe ruins it completely. Not much more I can say about this, except that I like the line "scattered like stars across the heavens". I hope to see the stars more clearly than I ever have in my life tomorrow night.

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Monday, September 10, 2012

Living with democracy

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:14 PM

On Saturday I was faced with having my say in a democratic vote, a foundation of Western society.

Voting for people in local government is often not as interesting as state or federal - if you don't live in Dubbo.

The last few weeks in this place have been a madhouse - there were all kinds of scandals from election posters bought on the coast (not locally), to numerous threats and hollow promises.


One promises to embrace the arrival of major chains like Kmart, JB HiFi and Aldi (who have specifically said they can't open in Dubbo becasue the distance required to bring all their stock is too far), another wants to continue playing their role in the same successful way. All play their part in the games that are seemingly designed to confuse voters.

Walking in past all the volunteers with their vote 1 papers was freakin' daunting. They're just so in-your-face that all I could do was say, "Yeah I'll take them, give you all a job to do".

I had an idea who I was voting for before I went so I got in, did my bit and went out to enjoy the rest of the day.
 
Do you feel intimidated when you go to vote? I'd love some opinions :D

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Sunday, September 09, 2012

Shorthand, food and more food

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:39 PM

Tonight I just wanted to quickly reflect on the awesome week I had away last week where I was one of 22 cadet journalists at the latest Fairfax Regional cadet induction - aka cadet camp (they have them twice a year).


I prepared myself for what to expect last week, and it was just that. A rehash of the uni degree with LOTS of shorthand (which I've since neglected with getting back and then preparing to go away again - another story). There was karaoke, a night out, but more than anything else there was FOOD.




Wow. Words cannot describe how amazingly fed we were by the end of that week. Morning teas, afternoon teas, 2-course dinners... We all likely gained a few kilos and all definitely went back with expectations of tea and cake at 10.30am. Some of us ended up improvising. Cake at work is king.

***

What I really got from it was meeting people my age from all over the place, and more importantly knowing they were all there for the same reason I was. It helps to know there are others finding their way. Five days together in our own journalistic bubble was never going to be enough. Good times.

After all this though I still had three days in Sydney as I'd originally planned, to go to a concert and see friends. Even this felt like a real holiday - I saw everyone I'd hoped to and more. I made a new friend, and although I already missed the Fairfax gang the idea of meeting people and hearing their stories continued.

Needless to say Tuesday morning didn't go down so well.

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Saturday, September 08, 2012

Review of the Week: Kath and Kimderella

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

A noice duo this week, with Aussie hornbags Kath and Kim back and bigger than... well, the small screen, and a man finding himself through femininity. Share if you like :)

Kath and Kimderella (PG)

ONCE upon a time in the faraway land of Fountain Lakes, there lived two hornbags in their own little bubble... only for it to be burst big time. Modern Aussie icons Kath and Kim finally get the big screen treatment five years after the completion of their show. It was only a matter of a decade before Kim found herself international stardom, but for Kath the experience proves quite the surprise.

The foxy mother (Jane Turner) takes daughter Kim (Gina Riley) and Kim’s second best friend Sharon (Magda Szubanski) to the fictional Italian city of Papilloma on a trip won at a pharmacy. They get there to find it abandoned by its ruler King Javier (Rob Sitch), who still lives comfortably in his castle with page Alain (Richard E Grant) and masked son Juleo (Erin Mullally). As the king makes his moves on Kath and Kim is living her dream as a temporary princess, husbands Kel (Glenn Robbins) and Brett (Peter Rowsthorne) sit at home wondering who will win the latest Masterchef challenge.

No expense has been spared in bringing the foxy morons to the big screen, much in the same way The Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos tried to recapture the success of its predecessor. The move to Mediterranean Europe away from suburban life is a parallel, as well as the introduction of new ballplayers. However, Riley and Turner’s biggest challenge was successfully pulling off a story three times the show’s normal length.


The story throws pop culture at you like you’re watching 3D, only you’re not and it bounces back to them for more material. Riley and Turner, extensively involved in the creative process as with the show, are still inventive, and find some of their best dialogue in the banter irrelevant to the movement of the plot. Their chemistry is still second to none, and the duo is just as good bouncing off one another as posh and snide alter-egos Prue and Trude - whose own trip to Italy is much more straightforward as an escape from the droll they see as Australian life.

Constant allusions to Sharon’s sexuality are more pertinent given Szubanski’s choice to come out earlier this year, but all of the relationships are questioned and tested. The Fountain Lakes posse don’t like change, but Kath’s attitude takes them a long way. Turner steals the show as the can-do mum, confident in her stuck-in-1983 look and melodramatic on cue. She takes Kath to a new place and comes off the better for it, proving she’s still at the top of her game as one of Australia’s best comedians.

Director Ted Emery is back on board, but while a sometimes frenetic feel was well suited to their crazy suburbia, his feature version is amplified by a thousand and makes the film look cheap. Likely intentional bad effects while Kath finds herself on the road are ultimately too much and the subsequently intended nostalgic feel makes way for an all-audience cringe. Shot in just two weeks, it’s not difficult to draw that conclusion.

It’s C-grade at best, but from that it’s the best of them. One of Australian film’s greatest cameos emerges from Frank Woodley, and they clearly had a ball. We must accept that these ladies, as much as they think they’re the bee’s knees, will always keep their protective bubble close at hand. It’s a little bit uneyewsuel.

Rating: 2.5/5
Now screening at Reading Cinemas

*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 8/9/2012

***

Tootsie (1982)

AFTER the success of Kramer vs. Kramer, Dustin Hoffman was a wanted man. His first Oscar win established what Hollywood knew; his talent was second to none (and still is). His next choice was to take on a male/female role, a great challenge that he pulled off to help define one of cinema’s great modern comedies.
Michael Dorsey (Hoffman) is an actor unable to find work because of his perfectionist nature, and is fed up with agent George Fields (Sydney Pollack). He takes auditioning one step further, getting the role of a hospital administrator on a daytime soap – that female friend Sandy (Teri Garr) missed out on. He wins the role as new alter ego Dorothy Michaels.
Hoffman pulls Dorothy off immediately with her Southern accent, great dress sense and kind nature. The film becomes even funnier as he continues the charade, but also sad as his relationship with Julie (Jessica Lange) evolves, and then awkward with that of Julie’s father Les (Charles Durning).
Tootsie has some of modern comedy’s best dialogue, much of it improvisation from Bill Murray as friend Jeff. Also Geena Davis’ film debut, it didn’t go without its off-camera issues – a difficult relationship between Pollack and Hoffman didn’t help while filming. All that aside, the result is an absolute delight as it plays on the differences between masculinity and femininity without taking itself too seriously.

 *Published in the Mailbox Shopper (Dubbo) from Wednesday 5/9/2012

 MISSED THE LAST REVIEWS? See what I thought of Total Recall and Don't Look Now.

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Friday, September 07, 2012

Mental shoes

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:00 PM

In line with the theme of Mental, being tonight's opening film of the first Inland NSW Film Festival (first premiere in a while, excited!) and the basis of my interview with P.J. Hogan, my shoe of the week choice was inspired by the crazy woman that is Shaz.


Toni Collette could totally pull these off right? I'm thinking as one of the egos in United States of Tara. Gosh, really though, who wears backless boots?...

Shoe of the month was another Collette inspiration. And possibly chosen after the influence of perusing items in Newtown's many burlesque shops (they make me think of pole dancing more than anything else though).



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Thursday, September 06, 2012

A promised review

0 comments Posted by Katina at 11:21 PM

Long time coming, but here's the extra Shopper review I promised of a Cary Grant classic.

In other film news, I interviewed Aussie director P.J. Hogan ahead of his visit to Dubbo tomorrow to open the inaugural Inland NSW Film Festival - I'll put up a link in tomorrow night's post. For now, enjoy this review. It feels like so long ago that I wrote this, my week away was ker-razy. More on that another time.

 
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His Girl Friday (1940)

IF this film is to be believed, print journalism was as fast-paced 70 years ago as it is now. Only back then it was because it was the primary way of accessing the news, whereas now it’s all about getting the detail and rather than pushing out immediate papers publishing breaking news online. But either way, there is still room for it in the hearts of many passionate journalists.

Walter Burns (Cary Grant) runs a newspaper and is shocked to discover ex-wife Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) is quitting her job as his editor and marrying Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy) the next day. He’s outraged with the idea and proceeds to undermine Bruce in every possible way, resorting to situations of petty theft, in the meantime attempting to lure Hildy back for one more story.

Howard Hawks films were goldmines around the turn of the decade. He would continue to provide great comedy with films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and he strikes big here, with Grant and Russell’s banter wonderful and Bellamy great as the third wheel.

There was a lot of improvisation with the script throughout the film that comes across so natural on screen, in-jokes about the actors themselves and extra lines from Russell to make her as funny as Grant. Pulling from real-life situations also makes the events of the film just that little more interesting as you watch. A classic production that sparkles with a well-gelled cast, this is a Hawks must-see.
 
*Published in the Mailbox Shopper (Dubbo) from Wednesday 29/8/2012

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Saturday, September 01, 2012

Review of the Week just like me

0 comments Posted by Katina at 8:15 PM

As I'm AWOL this week, there's no major review. I am sad to know I'm missing out on The Expendables 2 even though I'm yet to see the first one, but I'll make the effort on coming back.

I still got a Shopper review in. And this film was a cracker. Cary Grant at some of his charming best in newspaper journalism comedy His Girl Friday.

Unfortunately, it failed to find my way onto my USB, so slightly devastated I can't put it up just yet. Luckily for you that means you'll get it sometime during the week.

***

To keep in the spirit of cinema, I'm posting a meme I found back when The Amazing Spider-Man came out and kept forgetting to post.

Credit to ivismynumber.tumblr.com

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