Monday, January 30, 2012

Australian Open 2012: the final and everything else

3 comments Posted by Katina at 7:54 PM

Like 2.3 million other Australians plus a lot more people worldwide, I watched last night's Australian Open mens final.  My lowdown concerns a number of factors encompassing the game, players and personal experience.

1. The hype

The Australian Open seriously delivered in 2012. Sam Stosur failed to live up to expectation as a top 10 player, but Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt tried their absolute hardest for the Aussies. And our number one seed in the boys juniors took out the title which is promising.

Hewitt's set off Djokovic had Australia on the edge of their seats. I've never really been a Hewitt hater, so I was happy to see him do so well before ultimately bowing out. I really felt for him on seeing the emotion on his face. And then since, I really enjoyed his commentary, he speaks well.

2. The WAGs

See my previous blog on the WAGs of the Australian Open. 'Nuff said.

3. The grunting

I managed to watch the womens final after my mind had decided that the tennis balls sound like that on impact. More opinion on that here. But in the mens final(s) I noticed that they are just as bad but on a lower octave (if that's the correct term).

4. The finals

The top four men made the semi's. That's something to say for the strength of The Untouchables isn't it? The skill shown by all four was incredible... the Sydney Morning Herald was succinct in saying Roger Federer can't get up to Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal, while Andy Murray can't get there yet - but Federer's still got the brilliance. And this is from someone who has never really gone out of their way to watch him play.

5. Changing tastes

And here's where my personal view comes into it. I went into this Open obviously hoping the Aussies would do well, and looked forward to seeing the Roddicks and Baghdatis's of the circuit. The exciting personalities. But both of those exited early, and then after my WAG discovery, the last remaining Djoker started to get on my nerves a bit. I found myself going for Murray in the semi, while also going for Federer against Nadal.

And then in the final I found myself going for Nadal. Which has never happened before.

And so to...

6. THE FINAL.

I'll try and be brief. As we all know, it was AMAZING. The tennis was incredible from the outset, and some of the rallies five-and-a-half hours in were just miraculous. Being about 1am I was starting to doze off before they came back with those to blow me away and wanting more when Djokovic finally dropped to the ground victorious.

But there WERE things that irritated me. I've turned a bit on Djokovic yes, and last night didn't help his case. Now, I'm Orthodox too and respect the whole religion thing, but bringing the prayers onto the court is so unnecessary.

Then there was the Hulk moment. Sure, I get it. But really, it was like watching the cringy moment in Star Wars Episode III when Hayden Christensen's Darth Vader cries 'nooooooo' at finding out Luke's his son. Painful to watch.


To be fair, he IS the world's best. Either would have been worthy winners. But I was cheering for Nadal, and really sad at seeing his disappointment. Like, really sad. Looking forward to jumping on his bandwagon in 2012 to see if he can crack Djokovic. It was a game for the ages, fitting for the 100th anniversary of the mens final. So fitting.

7. Twitter

My viewing was accompanied by fierce Tweeting throughout, and managing to be mentioned by @AustralianOpen twice as well as making a solid Twitter BFF from Portland, Oregon, USA, it was a definite highlight alongside the wonderful play unfolding. Twitter on events like this is amazing. My new motto is #sleepisfortheweak, I am inspired by the people of the world.

8. Over for another year

Came home tonight to see TBA on the TV guide... how depressing. Over for another year already. This year has told me more than ever that I need to go, so I WILL be at Melbourne Park in 2013.

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Review of the week: A Few Best Men

0 comments Posted by Katina at 6:00 PM

After joining as a university student and being lucky enough to represent them for part of Festival de Cannes 2011, my time as a senior contributor for Cut Print Review has come to an end after three years.

A large part of that comes down to my move and a new role that emerged as part of it.

The opportunity that came up some seven or so weeks ago to be the Daily Liberal's film reviewer, and since I've returned to a favourable routine of a film a week.

I've decided to let everyone in on my reviews as they're published in print so you can expect my new release look-in every Saturday, just in time for any pending decision on a weekend movie.

Read on, and please feel free to return the favour with your opinion!

A Few Best Men (MA)


Australian comedy in cinema hasn’t been overly memorable in recent years, something that doesn’t reflect our country’s light-hearted nature. What we’re about seems to be a difficult thing to capture because of our unique, laidback perspective on things.

This film has gone in a totally different direction to tackle that issue, which somehow makes perfect sense. Many are fans of the wry humour of the Brits and with our colonial connection it seems interesting that we haven’t really gone down this road before.

And what better way to do it than going straight to the top? The writer of both the English and American Death at a Funeral films has teamed up with the director of The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert to bring an Australian-English mix of, well, everything.

It seems like the ideal combination, both Dean Craig and Stephan Elliott respectively having been hugely successful with those particular efforts. They certainly have not held back in this instance, pouring every comical subplot possible into the space of 96 minutes.

English David (Xavier Samuel) meets Australian Mia (Laura Brent) on holiday and falling completely in love, decides to marry her. With his three best mates he makes the trip from London to NSW’s Blue Mountains for his big day, which in the space of 24 hours goes from bad to worse, and then some.

David finds surprises from the moment he steps off the plane, with best men Graham (Kevin Bishop), Tom (Kris Marshall) and Luke (Tim Draxl) finding trouble very easily and not knowing how to handle it. But it’s not restricted to one particular party.

The family are also something to handle, a powerful unit that perhaps provides a good satirical look at those who are considered to be elitists in this country. For David, it’s a case of everything that goes wrong does, one thing after another. What happens on the buck’s night definitely does not stay there, as a touch of influence from films like The Hangover sets the course for what David’s friends make of the big event.

It comes across as a blend of a few sub-genres seen in cinema over the last five years, taking from the aforementioned film as well as Craig’s Funeral, and reminiscent of producer Judd Apatow’s fare (think Pineapple Express). It holds onto the recently popular buddy theme, while chucking in a bit of ‘bromance’ which is a particularly entertaining element between Graham and drug dealer Ray (Steve Le Marquand).

Enjoyable for the masses, this is a decent effort to bring a mix of Australian and English comedy together. While odd that Adelaide’s Twilight star Samuel plays the lead Englishman, he does an understated job of it. Marshall, so lovable in Love Actually, reprises some of his role from that film as Tom, but Bishop as Graham has the most interesting character to work with as the butt of the gang’s jokes. 

It’s on the Australian side where the expectation doesn’t necessarily hold up. The cast is noteworthy - Le Marquand and Rebel Wilson as Mia’s sister Daphne easily deserving more screen time than they get, but Olivia Newton-John is over the top as mother-in-law Barbara, and not necessarily in a good way. 

While only with a few key plot points, there’s so much drama around them that it’s hard to believe they could possibly endure any more. It’s a surprise Mia is still there halfway through the film (and that’s not giving anything away) because you wouldn’t blame her if she did a runner.

There are crude moments, but not in the vein of the graphic scenes audiences are becoming used to, and there are definitely laughs. Although lacklustre in its ending with said laughs wearing thin, it’s a good effort on the path of reshaping Australian comedy for the early part of this century.

Rating: 3/5

*As published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 28/1/2012

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