Australia Day

So its Australia Day again, and there's the usual bits and pieces, tennis in Melbourne, a cricket game in Adelaide, talk about a new flag and moving Australia Day - and perhaps one surprise, the Australian of the Year was not a sportsman or women. (Maybe its partly because 2010 wasn't a great year). Aussie cricket fans will be relieved to hear that they have the Ashes back ... the women regained them in Bankstown yesterday.

Was also nice to see that The King's Speech did well in the Oscar nominations (I quite enjoyed the film). I'm hoping to see Black Swan next.

turning the page

We visited the library last weekend, and a got a few books to keep me going. I borrowed Nice Work by Jana Wendt.  For the book Jana interviewed a series of people about the work they do, including a Catholic Priest, a boxer, a forensic scientist, the CEO of a major cruise company, volunteers (at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum), and a few others. Its a fascinating account of how people think about the work they do. [read more], next in the list is another of Malcolm Gladwell's books The Outliers, which sounds fascinating.

While we were in library I placed holds on Half the Sky (read more here), and Committed, (the sequel to Eat, Pray, Love) -  , which also sounds quite interesting.  Speaking about Eat, Pray, Love, I saw the film last weekend, it was beautifully shot (in Italy, India, and Indonesia). It was quite an enjoyable film, and at the same time it did have a message in it too. 

Hope to go and see The Social Network next... 

Newsprint...

A few random bits a pieces, from the newspapers for 2010...

Tweeting... an interesting (and negative) take on twitter...

Kindle... I'm old fashioned, clearly...  it doesn't really matter how good the screen is, how many books you can get on it and how cheap it gets, I'm just not so keen on the kindle. I was tyrying to read something off my screen the other night, and realised I just wanted to print it out and read off the paper.

Avatar.. (though to me I can't be sure its not true for alot of movies.. like Star Wars, maybe even Lord of the Rings...). Still haven't seen the film, seems to get some mixed reviews. Will write more if/when I see it.

(and acting... - and the 'harder' roles).

"I give up on the movies.. I'd much rather TV"

Zoe Williams [from The Guardian] wrote an interesting piece on why she is giving up on movies because even
"a half-hour episode of The Simpson's has more reference, emotional complexity and political texture than probably the last decade of Eastwood's career. Nobody needs a lecture on how good The Wire is, or how hard you have to concentrate to watch The West Wing". Not only that but "even the worst of big-hitting US telly - Brothers and Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City - has a maturity, a degree of courage, an iconoclasm, that equivalently mainstream [American] cinema would balk at."

I thought that this was an interesting point, I have felt that some TV shows often deal with issues more deeply and effectively than movies. For example I found The X Files and Simpsons' episodes on TV were richer and tighter than the movies.

Oscars

So the Academy Awards are over for another year. Saw this piece 'Critics and the Crowd', which I think gets paraded out every year, that the films that win oscars are usually not the highest grossing films [US], unless its the catergories of sound editing or special effects. Looking at the winners this year, I think its held true again. (Heath Ledger may be an exception).

40 Inspirational Speeches from Hollywood...

This is great ..

Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I'm not going home. We've come too far! And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I'm not saying it's going to be easy. You're going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That's how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you've got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You're like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death... that's the Chicago Way! Who's with me? Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let's fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our Independence Day! ::

Collection

So, am in Wollongong for the long weekend, and I have been training to tidy up my blog a little (adding titles and tags), its been fun re-reading some of my posts. I might take some time soon to re-post some of my favourite posts.

But today, I wanted to say, after loading the new i-tunes software, and activating the 'Genius' component, I'm not so taken with their Genius. Their genius does not recognise a lot of the music which I quite like ... The Swell Season, Andy Osenga, Colm Mac Con Iomaire to name a few.

And, here's the top 50 Animated films via Rotten Tomatoes.

Couple of shorts..

:: Here's some of the speeches from the Convention last week. [via NPR]

:: Found this piece about the athletes behind the salute in 1968 quite interesting; I am keen to see the film Salute, which was released recently. [via NYT]

:: A review of Sunday mornings, Staying home -how American evangelicals are quitting churches...

She reports, among other things: a lack of a feeling of community among church members, inducing loneliness and boredom; church teaching that fails to go beyond the basics of the faith or to reach members grappling with suffering or unanswered prayer; pastors who are either out of touch with their parishioners or themselves unhappy, or who fail to shepherd their flocks, or who are caught up in scandal, or who try to control the lives of church members in a high-handed way. She claims that many churches have "inefficient leadership models" and that many, preoccupied with the care of families, neglect single people. [via Wall Street Journal]

I also thought this quote, made a great point -- should we really be concerned with numbers anyway?

From a theological perspective, there is no guarantee that churches will prosper as they attempt to make disciples -- if we judge prosperity by church membership alone. A church might conscientiously carry out its biblical tasks and yet, by measures of popularity, do poorly in this world. Such a church would not be doing right if it adjusted its mission for the sake of higher attendance records. Note that by the end of his ministry the number of disciples with Jesus was down to 12. Now there was a decent church, one might say, if a small one.

:: An interesting piece on young American evangelicals and purity. [via The Chicago Tribune]

:: There's a the "gene's made me do it" excuse for everything... "a genetic variation may be responsible for weakening some men's ability to be monogamous" via NPR.

On Villains

There was a great piece in the Herald over the weekend about why villains are so crucial to a film's success.

And the reason we tend to relate to the baddies or the villains is that really we're not watching anything that's outside of anything that we know.

In fact, there's a subconscious connection with them because the things that they're doing tend to be things that we understand anyway. We have our own moral structures and society has helped construct us in a way that we tend not to do those things. But we're certainly capable of understanding the actions themselves - up to a certain point [...] We love villains because they tend to be the only person in the story who knows what's going on. They're the ones, he explains, making everything happen, they're proactive and the protagonists are reactive - at least up to about two-thirds of the way through the movie. "If they don't make a move, nothing happens. They're the engine of the story ... and, remember, movie villains tend to be in the movie maybe 10 per cent of the time. There are long stretches where they're nowhere to be seen. The protagonist is mostly wandering through a fog looking for clues and somewhere in the background is this entity who knows everything.

~~~~

Movies: Boxing Day...

One of our Christmas traditions (since 2002 - when the first Lord of the Rings film came out) is to go as a family and see a film on boxing day. It was quite easy at first, we saw the three Lord of the Rings films, then Phantom of the Opera (2005), in 2006, we saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. After having a look at the films this year: Atonement, The Golden Compass, Enchanted, Alien vs Predator: Requiem and Two Days in Paris. Though some of them won't work Alien vs Predator (yuck~!), and we thought that Atonement might be a little bit serious for Boxing Day, so we decided to have an Enchanted afternoon, which should be great fun.

~~~~

I'm looking forward to see how 2008 shapes up; 2007 was the year of the "sequel". The Spiderman, Shrek, PotC, and Ocean's franchises had version 3.0 released, and were mostly disappointing (as for me, was The Simpsons'.

Though I think I've seen more films this year, the standouts were: As it is in Heaven, Once and Amazing Grace.

~~~~

On a completely different topic, there's a fascinating article describing how Australian's use their annual leave in today's Herald, and it certainly rings true for me. I certainly haven't taken my four weeks leave this year, and the barriers described are not alien to me. There is certainly a need to "work hard" at resting.

The Metro's [SMH] 25th Birthday

The votes have been cast, and the results are in: SMH readers voted: Return of the Jedi as the best film, and Nirvana's Nevermind as the best album of the last 25 years. .
Most popular album overall
Nirvana's Nevermind (6210 votes); R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People (6199 votes).

Bernard Zuel's [SMH music critic] selections.

Most popular films
Return of the Jedi (5661 votes); Dead Poet's Society (5216 votes)

Garry Maddox's (a SMH Film critic) selections.

~~~

The way the survey worked, is each year you nominated a film (or effective you could select "I have no preference". The contenders for each year, unfortunately are no longer available on the SMH Website. For me, I would go with either OK Computer, or Kid A, and for film, its a little tougher, I'd lean toward either Paris, Texas; Whale-Rider, or The Two Towers, but ask me tomorrow, and I'd probably have a different film and album.

NZ Top 50 DVDs

While I was NZ, I was picked up Whitcoulls list of the Top 50 DVDs (incl. Franchises), as voted by the public. No prizes for guessing what was number 1. (I suspect that Australia's wouldn't be much different).

+++ +++ +++

50. The Usual Suspects 49. Gladitor 48. The Queen 47. Gandhi 46. The Fifth Element
45. Out of Africa 44. King Kong 43. Amelie 42. Goodbye Pork Pie 41. Schindler's List

40. Blade Runner 39. Saving Private Ryan 38. Crash 37. Blood Diamond 36. Casablanca
35. Fight Club 34. The Labyrinth 33. The Castle 32. Borat 31. Finding Nemo

30. Serenity 29. Gone With the End 28. Cars 27. Whale Rider 26. The Green Mile
25. Forrest Gump 24. Notting Hill 23. Top Gun 22. Titanic 21. Braveheart

20. Star Wars (Fr.) 19. Grease 18. The Sound of Music 17. Pulp Fiction 16. Pretty Women
15. The Matrix 14. Bridget Jones Diary 13. The Departed 12. Little Miss Sunshine 11. Happy Feet

+++ +++ +++

10. Casino Royale
9. The World's Fastest Indian
8. Pirates of the Carribbean (Franchise)
7. The Notebook
6. Harry Potter (Franchise)
5. Pride and Prejudice (BBC)
4. Shrek (Franchise)
3. Love Actually
2. The Shawshank Redemption

1. The Lord of the Rings (Franchise)

+++ +++ +++

While I think I've seen just over half of the top 50 (bolded), only a few would be on my Top 10. (Lord of the Rings, Whale Rider and maybe Amelie). Here's an approximation of my top 10 (films), yes there's 11 there. ;-)

Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers) // Wings of Desire // Whale Rider // Goodbye Lenin // The Shawshank Redemption // Paris, Texas // As it is in Heaven //Mr. Holland's Opus // Turtles Can Fly // Hotel Rwanda // Pan's Labyrinth.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

The Devil Came on Horseback

I have been writing a little bit about what has been happening in the Sudan and to add to that there is a new film coming out; The Devil Came on Horseback, which centres on the story of a former Marine captain (Brian Steidle), who spent 6 months as an unarmed monitor in Darfur. Its one of the films on my (must-see) list to see this year, it might be a hard one to sit through, but it is also an important one.

New York Times Review; Rotten Tomatoes; IMDB.

+ + +

Through following a couple of links [to Laura]; I saw the website of Nadus Films, whose purpose is

to document the story of the Sudanese, and share it with the world. Treading gently as servants, we seek to touch the lives and hearts of the war torn nation of Sudan, by bringing them hope for a peaceful future.

I've also found a growing number of websites which are quite helpful in suggest what we can do and not only in Darfur.(Not on Our Watch; and Committee on Conscience) are a couple.

Lots of little randomness

It has been a long time between posts, maybe too long. There’s a lot to catch up on, but I think both you and I would be thankful that it is not my desire to recap the last six weeks or so in full and send you all to sleep but just bullet a few things.

Today Fi, LJ and I were to be at U2’s second Sydney show, though I can understand why they've postponed. April is a good month for concerts with Sigur Ros and James Blunt to look forward to (and further off is Belle and Sebastian). Fi bought me B&S’s The Life Pursuit, and I’ve been listening to that and The Whitlam’s Little Cloud (with The Apple's Eye), and enjoying them both.

It is great to say that I am settling into Barneys. Fi and I are attending a bible study on Wednesday nights; one that is surprisingly close to Kensington/Kingsford given that church is in Broadway. We both feel that we are getting to know people, and I find the preaching challenging faithful, and the service familiar. It will be great to be going to what feels like our church on Good Friday.

This feels like its turning to into quite list of blessings – but I enjoyed catching up with Guan and Karen at Matthias Media on Monday, and last night I was able to see my brothers and sisters from St Augustines who I hadn’t seen for a too long, and and I’m looking forward to catching up with Joe and Carly this week.

The list of movies to see continues to grow, I'm really looking forward to seeing March of the Penguins and V for Vendetta.

The AFL season started this weekend, and I'll be interested to see how the Swans go.

Interesting facts about this years Oscar Nominations

(Courtesy of The Australian)

The combined takings of all five best-picture contenders are so far less than the $US114million ($152 million).

The 10 most watched films in the US last year received only 10 nominations between them, and most of those were in craft categories.

Munich, which cost $US68 million to make, could have paid for Brokeback Mountain $US13.9 million. Good Night, and Good Luck (US$7.5million), Crash ($US6.5million) and Capote ($US6.7million).

For those interested: Here is a list of full nominations, and the SMH's take on the contenders.

Drawn From Still Waters Favourite Films for 2005

Honorable Mentions: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

10: In Her Shoes (just a lovely story)
9: Shopgirl (quite liked the story, about how people change, and change each other. Danes was great)
8: Goodnight and Goodluck (set in the period of McCarthy, and sheds a very interesting light on the events of the past three years)
7: Little Fish (The best Australian film for years).
6: Howl’s Moving Castle (stunning visuals, and a great story).

5: Turtles Can Fly

Set in a refugee camp in the north Iraq, the film is a story of four kids in the refugee camp, and the impact and legacy of war on children. The film is a provoking and somewhat distressing film reminding us of the innocent victims of wars.

4: The Motorcycle Diaries

As I wrote earlier in the year, I don’t actually know a lot of about Che Guerava, and this film gives you an insight into his nature has he grew up. The visuals were particularly fantastic.

3: Crash

The film looks at the issue of race in LA, perhaps a film that we should all look at now in Sydney. Fantastic script, the stories and characters intersect beautifully. For this reason alone it is worth having a look at.

2: Downfall

Pages of history, transported to the screen. It enabled you to see both the downfall of the Third Reich and the mental collapse of Hitler. In some ways was distressing to watch as you saw the extent to which some followers took there devotion to Nazism.

1: Hotel Rwanda

"If people see this footage they'll say, 'Oh my God, that's terrible,' and they'll go on eating their dinners.

Hands down the most powerful and confronting film I have seen this year. It is a much needed stern rebuke to me, and to the West. Never again, we said after the Holocaust, never again we said after Bosnia. Yet the West betrayed these claims as they sat idly by while this occurred in Rwanda – and still sits idly by while similar events take place in Sudan. Hotel Rwanda was the must-see film of 2005.

We are witnesses, take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen. [Deut 4:9, perhaps a little (re)interpreted]

To see: Memoirs of a Geisha, Joyueax Noel, and The New World.

Cultural Psychology

Found this interesting piece that builds off the article I referenced on Saturday. It talks about the movies as the dreams of society, and Psychiatrists have been “reading” modern films such as Mystic River, The Life and Times of Peter Sellars, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars.

I thought the reading of Mystic River was interesting. I saw the film earlier in the year, it was quite a disturbing film, and echoing in part the article I thought it detailed the responses of four characters to trauma, and the cycle of trauma. And that is the beauty of the median, you can speak to your audience on many levels, be it that people can enjoy the film, as entertainment, or read it as a text reflecting on the society which created it.

But to a degree as well each of these psychologists in the article are coming to the film with a particular mindset and are likely to read into the film their schemas for seeing the world. It perhaps is also worth noting that film, like music, because of the range or emotional experiences they deal with, are of benefit to therapists and practitioners – though I do wonder how the professionals view the way they are shown in the films.

In spite of perhaps these adventurous readings of some films, I found the article make some interesting points about film, and its role in society, perhaps as an expression of the dreams of society. I would say they definitely reveal points about the society in which we left, but how much exactly I’m not really sure of. I found the point about Germany seeking to deal with its past through the arts quite interesting.

As Kathleen commented, is the absent father in more prevalent in films now than it was previously? I don’t think I remember many films dealing with this topic – which I why I think I was struck by Finding Nemo. However after thinking about this – over the past little while films that I remember dealing with Fathers – Father’s Day / Liar Liar / Sleepless in Seattle and further back Kramer vs Kramer. But do any of these really centre on fatherhood? Of these I think the one that speaks mostly about fatherhood is Finding Nemo. (Are there are other recent films in which the leading character is told what it means to be a father?)

Anyway, sounds like worthwhile stream at the conference. Would have been worth hearing a little bit more about what they said.

+++

Frustrating watching my Swans play on the weekend. Not only did they get thumped on the scoreboard, but they go a mouthful during the call and in the press. I’m desperately hoping that they would win over the weekend – its Carlton, in Melbourne, but given the way Sydney has been playing a win is no guarantee.

Here’s wishing my dear brother and sister in Christ; Guan and M, a fantastic relaxing and God-filled time away in the US. I'm looking forward to catching up with Guan for lunch tomorrow, and hearing all about his trip when he returns.

Another unrelated point, I emailed the four members about the immigration bill, all of whom responded. Found out via the news today that the issue was debated today, and they resolved to debate it again in the next few weeks, while not the resolution I was hoping for, it is a start.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Highlight of the Night: The athmosphere - seeing B's R2D2 costume so well received , Y's Darth Maul effort, in winning one of the major prizes for the night(?), and an Ewok, who was also quite simply, brillant.

[Aside] A few short hours before we began our wanderings through the book of Exodus. (with Joe, as our guide, and map-maker). Great study, and discussion was had (thanks Joe) and I hope to post more thoughts from here over the weekend.

Spoiler free, Short Review: Inspite of several good moments, and a Williams score of the usual standard, it failed to live up to potential. Minor continuinity issues. Dissappointed I was.
Long Play review to come.

Though some, spoiler containing comments below, you will find.

AMS Review.

Another few related pieces grabbed me. From the Sydney Morning Herald and New York Times.

Cinema-inspired Religion [SMH]

+++

And in news just to hand Then Again, has won again. For the many shaking your heads as you read the last sentence, my Netball won a tense tight affair on Court Four at Moore Park. Well played team :)

+++

It's been a while ...

Star Wars – Revenge of the Sith

It’s now very close; the last of the Star Wars movies is out tonight, or tomorrow morning, following our bible studies wandering the wilderness of Exodus we will (minus a few members) head to the Ritz to be among the first to see Revenge of the Sith. I recalled there were murmurings of an outcry that the new Star Wars film will get a M15+ rating (For the record it got a M13+ in the US), leading some to complain, that "my kids love these films, why are you making one they can’t see". I’ll hold my verdict, suffice to say, that I commend Lucas of holding to the spirit of the film, or as he is quoted as saying:

I have to tell a story. I'm not making these, oddly enough, to be giant, successful blockbusters. I'm making them because I'm telling a story, and I have to tell the story I intended.

In terms of the film I’m apprehensively nervous, as the arc of the story is one that holds immense appeal for me, and runs counter to the plot-lines of most films. And for this reason the film is needs to be dark; darker than the Empire Strikes Back (which is the best of the franchise).

Anyway, this film could be a work of art, or sadly like TPM or AOTC, it could be terrible (in dialogue and action), In spite of the nervous apprehension I am viewing the film with, it will be a great night, largely due to the athmosphere. (The only film that could rival Star Wars for audience interaction, in a cinema was the Lord of The Rings trilogy, especially Fellowship of the Ring, and Return of the King – but even then, no-one dressed up for them).

Anyway, expect a review later this month.

A few other updates about what has been happening follow:

Last week we had a bible study dinner and in honour of our bible studies link missionaries we ate Slovenian cuisine. (Courtesy of this website)

It's also coming up to ten days that my parents have been away. They are heading away to see parts of Itay, the UK, and spend quality time with their daughter (and my sister) And, it does seem strange to say, but the next time I see my parents, we'll be in New Zealand (celebrating my Gran's 90th Birthday with family).

Its been a while since I've mentioned my beloved Swans whose last two starts amounted to two wins. :) (It would help if they kicked straighter - less nailbiting action ;) This week puts them in a peculiar away game at home against the Western Bulldogs, and their former mentor, coach Rodney Eade, so it should be quite an interesting game.

Haoran's post on storytelling reminded me of a few clippings I've cut, talking about storytelling, and Star Wars, I'll try and post some excerpts in the next little while.

I want to add that Karen's post about a writers retreat sounds like a great idea. :)

Last weekend I spent at my new churches House Party. It was great to get away (in spite of initial reluctance), and spend a weekend getting to know my brothers and sisters at my new church better.

Have I Been Awake –It’s Almost April.

Good news on the work front. One of my colleagues returns from maternity leave on Tuesday. I have to say that its great to have her back. And this perhaps will make this week a slightly tougher one as she settles back in … but perhaps there is light, at the end of the tunnel.

Along with work there’s bunches of other excitement this week.

Wednesday night
Bible Study. With B, as our intrepid guide [and the Grandmaster of Choc-Chip Cookies] we will continue our intriguing journey through Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia.

Thursday and Friday:
I’ll be going to see one of my favourite bands of all time R.E.M.; and with Bright Eyes playing support it is even better. I’m Wide Awake Its Morning is a brilliant CD, and would be a shoe-in for album of the year to date. I’m going to the Thursday night concert on my own, and the Friday gig with J. (a school friend), and F. (from my bible study).

Over the weekend, it’s a party; celebrating my Dad’s sixtieth birthday with family, and friends in Wollongong which will be great.

This weekend has been great to catch up on some films that I’ve missed here are some comments in brief.

Big Fish: Quite a good film, about stories, story-telling. Seemed slow in parts, but all things considered worth a go.

The Day After Tomorrow: Not sure about the science, but a typically special effects driven, “light” plot Hollywood film. Did anyone think that the Ice shelf sequence at the beginning just screamed CGI? (The camera work for this sequence was great).

Shrek 2: Puss in Boots [Antonio Banderas], and Far Far Away Idol, alone almost makes the DVD worthwhile. Not sure how many will agree here, but this is better than the original.

Miss Congenitally Two: I feared that this would be the typical sequel. It had a few groan moments, and a few good moments, overall, not too bad.

The Italian Job: Quite a fun heist film, it isn’t really the type of film I’m usually in for, but found this more appealing than Oceans 11, or Oceans 12, and an easy view.

The Bourne Identity: I did read the book when I was 14, so I’m not quite able to compare the book with the film. Much better that the original movie which I found long, boring, and tedious. (cf over 2.5 hrs, with 106 minutes).

The “to see” list:
[Movie]: Enduring Love / Hotel Rwanda / Being Julia / My House in Umbria