When the Cheshire emerges...

One thing I promised I would do when moving to Dubbo was make more time to relax and do things I wouldn't normally give myself time to do. Like lazing around for an entire day. Safe to say I don't feel AS bad about doing that now...

Also gives me a chance to start seeing some of the films on my 'I need to really get onto that' list.

So this week I rented The Godfather and Animal Kingdom. Finally, I know.

Watching The Godfather made me draw immediate comparisons to Luchino Visconti's epic Il Gattopardo (The Leopard). Now, I know some of my readers will have never heard of that film - basically the Cannes winner is perhaps one of Italy's most significant films, a three-hour-plus epic about Sicilian nobles in the aftermath of the Risorgimento movement in the 1860.

That film is amazing and Coppola no doubt drew from Visconti's grandeur, particularly in the scenes where Michael (Al Pacino) hides out in Italy. Stunning.

As good as The Godfather is (and I do understand why a lot of the world loves it so much, it's crafted very well), half the time my mind wandered because I just couldn't help but marvel at how good-looking Pacino was in his early years. Don't judge me! But he really was good in this film. They all were.

Animal Kingdom also deserved every accolade it got. That film was frickin' intense. Gutsy, gritty and just magnificent. Go Australian cinema!

I was on the edge of my seat for a large part of this, not knowing where it was heading and enjoying the freaky ride. Ben Mendelsohn was incredibly creepy, but all were brilliant. Wondered exactly how the Academy considered Jacki Weaver's role to be so special for a nomination - then with what, 20 minutes of the film to go, I got it. What a star turn. Wow.

Two 'about time' films off the list, one a classic and the other with potential to be so, at least within Australian cinema history. Good to have made progress in this department.