When the Cheshire emerges...

While I had quite the good day today, I hadn't had as bad a day for a very long time as I did yesterday.

You know when you wake up in the morning and something just doesn't feel right? Either physically, or mentally... you just know that you shouldn't leave the house because it's going to be an absolute shitfight until you get back past the safety of that door.

Yesterday was one of those days.

And then Robin Williams goes and dies.

I'm affected enough when I hear about celebrity deaths. This one didn't feel real though. Not only because SO many other things had already gone wrong with my life in general and at work that I couldn't quite believe it (I really did think it was a hoax, took a while to actually acknowledge what I was seeing on TV), but also because we now know that such a FUNNY man died by his own doing in the most not funny of ways.

Hearing about depression leading to suicides is something that deeply saddens me. For him to have felt the pressures of life so much among a supportive family and friendship network is heartbreaking. So too has been the outpouring of grief. You all saw The Academy's tweet I take it.

Genie, you're free. pic.twitter.com/WjA9QuuldD
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) August 12, 2014

The words of my friends and celebrities have been some of the most heartfelt I've ever read. I'm not quite sure why I don't feel I've had to say a lot. I honestly just think it's the most horrible of losses. Drug addiction and overdosing is one thing... hanging is just something else altogether.

And a day later we've lost Lauren Bacall, who lived a long life but whose loss is still big considering the golden days of Hollywood drift further away from reality. Two big heavyweights just gone. Two people who truly had an effect on people with their talents. I made a note today that these things usually come in threes, and I would hate to think we'll hear of another death. I just hope they're resting in a good place now. Vale.

Happy Australia Day!

This week's movie has a slight Australian connection with a cameo by our country's most memorable villain John Jarratt... that's all I got. Oh, and got distracted by the Australian Open women's final so that's why it's late. What a game that turned out to be.

And PS: I couldn't get over how much I loved the coat Christoph Waltz is wearing in the pic. Spent a decent part of the movie with it on my mind - I want a cool coat like that! It's amazing!

QUENTIN Tarantino can’t help but get his hands dirty, and throughout his career the thought that a little blood can’t hurt anyone has largely worked in his favour. As the years go on his filmmaking has outlandishly caught critics and fans off guard but managed to remain somewhat mindful. Tarantino’s not one to lay it all out for his audience, as keeping viewers guessing is, for most directors, their ultimate goal.

Christoph Waltz is excellent as the schmoozer from afar, Tarantino getting the best out of him once again after his Oscar-winning turn in Inglourious Basterds. Schultz oozes confidence when getting out of sticky situations, an impressive free man in a world of slaves, and Waltz is effortless in his portrayal as a friend and mentor. It should come as no surprise that Tarantino is so accommodating of the man.

Not so accommodating for some will be the language. Tarantino refused to let down on his use of the n-word and true to the violent nature of the film, it sticks around unrelentingly. But in a setting two years before the Civil War, you can’t question its accuracy.

Tarantino succeeds stylistically as with his previous films, with flashbacks representing the low-budget quality of the films of his inspiration and engrossing montages to a varied soundtrack.
The ending is the letdown if any, which seems to peter out into something Australians in particular will render bizarre. With Tarantino though, it would be a crime to not expect the unexpected.

Rating: 4/5

*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 26/1/2013

***

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

THE WAR nobody won is still a touchy subject in the scheme of global issues, devastating a world superpower as well as millions of innocent Vietnamese. It’s perhaps been the conflict most documented in terms of the relief brought to troops at the time, with The Sapphires most recently.
 

Most memorable to international audiences would undoubtedly be this film, where Robin Williams was pushed past his role on TV’s Mork and Mindy to an Oscar nomination and audiences received a heartfelt story about the pressures of wartime Saigon.
 

Loosely based on radio DJ Adrian Cronauer’s real story, Williams plays the man sent to Saigon to relieve the soldiers of their woes through a segment on Armed Forces radio. On discovering the extreme control over what’s broadcast, Cronauer begins to make his own rules and creates a noticeable difference to the soldiers’ morale.
 

Barry Levinson’s look at the Vietnam War is a juxtaposition of poignancy and comedy, Williams’ improvised on-air rambles next to his affection for Trinh (Chintara Sukapatana) and friendship with her brother Tuan (Tung Thanh Tran). The story of the man who too often crosses the line of authority is immersive for likeable characters and flowing imagery.

 

*Published in the Mailbox Shopper (Dubbo) on Wednesday 23/1/2013.

MISSED LAST WEEK'S CLASSIC REVIEW? See what I thought of Raising Arizona.