When galaxies collide, coming to the night sky in four billion years

4 June 2012

Several billion years hence our galaxy, the Milky Way, will collide with galactic neighbour Andromeda, and form a new entity some are calling Milkomeda. This NASA image depicts key steps in the process, and if nothing else will transform the night sky into a visual spectacle.

Not that anyone will probably be around to think about it anyway, but the night sky will have far less appeal once the merger is complete. The bright white haze (in the last frame) that will eventually take the place of the Milky Way (first frame) looks a little bland to me.

Via NASA Science.

Originally published Monday 4 June 2012.

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astronomy, legacy, milkomeda

French illustrator Mega’s new take on the alphabet

14 May 2012

From I Just Murdered The Alphabet, by Mega

Image courtesy of Mega.

Paris based illustrator and street artist Mega, whose work I’ve mentioned before, recently launched I Just Murdered The Alphabet, a new project that will see him create a new illustration each day for five months.

Inspired variously by graffiti, sign painting, and psychedelic art, Mega’s new series of works are a tribute to hip-hop culture, and also an introduction to an intriguing, though imaginary, tribe that seeks to set itself apart from mainstream society.

Originally published Monday 14 May 2012.

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art, illustration, legacy

The Way, a film by Emilio Estevez, with Martin Sheen, James Nesbitt

23 April 2012

The Way, a film by Emilio Estevez, film still

Still from The Way, directed by Emilio Estevez.

People have been walking the Camino de Santiago, or Camino, an 800 kilometre long track from the Pyrenees in France, to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in the Spanish town Galicia, for over a thousand years. Many are Christian pilgrims on spiritual retreats, while others walk the scenic pathway purely for leisure.

American eye doctor Tom Avery (Martin Sheen) finds himself on the historic trail for other reasons however, in The Way (trailer), the latest feature of American filmmaker Emilio Estevez (The War at Home, Bobby). Estevez also plays Tom’s adult son, the free-spirited Daniel, who dies during a storm soon after embarking on the long trek.

Intent on walking the path alone in remembrance of Daniel, Tom isn’t exactly overjoyed to run into the same people repeatedly. They include Joost (Yorick van Wageningen), a Dutchman trying to lose weight, Sarah (Deborah Kara Unger), a Canadian escaping from an abusive marriage, and Jack (James Nesbitt), a struggling Irish writer.

The four eventually end up walking as a group, and in their own ways are able to be of help to each other. Tom however remains the most aloof of the quartet, and the most prone to bad tempered outbursts, as he struggles to come to terms with his grief, while harbouring a lingering ambivalence towards his trekking companions.

On one hand The Way is a warming portrayal the ancient Camino, and the people who travel along it, and their quest for whatever it is that they are seeking. Many of the situations that Tom and his co-walkers find themselves in will doubtless be familiar to anyone who has spent time backpacking, regardless of where they’ve been.

Yet it’s as if the grimness of Tom’s trudge, and the varying despair of those accompanying him, wasn’t quite enough for the screenwriters, who seemed to decide the story was want of a little more tension. The solution however, mainly in the form of Tom’s frequent meltdowns, comes across as contrived, and at odds with the consoling calm of the Camino.

Originally posted Monday 23 April 2012.

Burning Man, a film by Jonathan Teplitzky, with Matthew Goode, Bojana Novakovic

21 November 2011

Burning Man, trailer, a comedy drama, is the third feature of Sydney based Australian film director Jonathan Teplitzky (Better Than Sex, Gettin’ Square). Set in present day Sydney, Burning Man is partly autobiographical, based on Teplitzky’s own experiences, and explores personal loss and grief.

Tom (Matthew Goode) is a man who seems to have it all. He is a successful chef who owns a highly regarded restaurant at the iconic Bondi Beach. He is married to the beautiful Sarah (Bojana Novakovic), and lives in a cottage in a leafy city fringe suburb, which the couple share with their eight year old son, Oscar (Jack Heanly).

Tom leads a leads a tightly scheduled, chaotic, life. He’s impatient, impulsive, hot-headed, and often obnoxious. But after tragedy strikes, Tom’s life veers off the rails spectacularly, leaving him trying to put the pieces back together, and come to terms with what has happened.

In his heartbreak he seeks solace through a succession of liaisons with sex workers, women he meets randomly, and even mothers of Oscar’s friends, if he can manage it. And while friends and family including Karen (Essie Davis), and Brian (Anthony Hayes), try to help, Tom remains inconsolable.

Tom becomes ever more self-absorbed as he recalls earlier and happier days. His puzzled son, meanwhile, wonders why they live in motels instead of at home, which Tom quite abruptly sold. Not helping are unsettling illusions of fire and flame that Tom sees with disturbing regularity.

Burning Man throws audiences in the deep end with a racing opening sequence that stitches together various of the film’s key scenes. While I have no problem with non-linear narratives, L’appartement and Mulholland Drive, for instance, are great instances of the form, here the result is confusing and disorientating.

While Burning Man disparate threads eventually find a place, and even if there is a certain intrigue in trying to work out their significance, it’s at the cost of what could have been an effecting exposé into an almost destructive trauma. Solid performances, and striking camera work, especially a time-lapse like car crash scene, are however pluses.

Originally published on Monday 21 November 2011.

Something that really cooks: Michael J Fox replays Johnny B Goode

17 November 2011

Michael J. Fox who played Marty McFly in Back To The Future, recently re-performed Chuck Berry’s 1958 hit Johnny B. Goode at A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson, an annual event staged by his foundation that supports research into Parkinson’s disease.

Fox’s, or rather McFly’s, rendition of Johnny B. Goode at the Enchantment under the sea dance in 1955, is one of the (fictitious) historical events I’d like to witness. It’d also be an opportunity to be a dance floor innovator/early adopter, by showing 1950’s dance-goers a whole new way to trip the light fantastic.

Originally published Thursday 17 November 2011

Caught Inside, a film by Adam Blaiklock, with Ben Oxenbould, Daisy Betts

10 October 2011

Still from Caught Inside, a film by Adam Blaiklock.

Caught Inside, trailer, a psychological thriller, is the debut feature of Australian film director Adam Blaiklock, who co-wrote the screenplay with Matt Tomaszewski and Joe Velikovsky. The film, which won the Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival in 2010, is presently screening in limited release in Australian cinemas.

Set in Bali, and the seas off Indonesia, Caught Inside follows a group of long-time friends who sail to a remote island for twelve days. Drinking and fishing are on the agenda, along with surfing at a little known location called “the butchery”, named for the spectacular surfing waves in the vicinity.

While usually a boys only getaway, Toobs (Simon Lyndon) contravenes the long standing no girls tradition by bring girlfriend Alex (Leeanna Walsman), and her friend Sam (Daisy Betts), along. While the girls don’t much bother Bobby (Sam Lyndon), and youngster Grom (Harry Cook), Bull (Ben Oxenbould), does not feel the same way.

Nonetheless the group sets sail with Skipper Joe (Peter Phelps) at the helm, and after a night of partying Bull begins to warm to the girls, particularly the single Sam. A story about a certain video featuring her that went viral online further piques Bull’s interest, but his efforts to win her attention are thwarted by Bobby, who has caught Sam’s eye.

Upon reaching the supposedly secret surfing spot, the group is surprised to find a lone European surfer residing on the nearby secluded island, who worse still, appears to have claimed “the butchery” as his. This act of “trespass” enrages Bull, who is also becoming increasingly agitated by the amount of time Bobby and Sam are spending together.

After Bull boils over, Skipper Joe leaves him on the island alone overnight to cool down. Bull, convinced Sam likes him over Bobby, returns to the yacht in the darkness, which is moored some distance off shore, and is determined that nothing, or no one, will stand between the two of them.

At first glance, Caught Inside seems to tread familiar ground, whereby a group of people, cut off somehow from the outside world, find themselves contending with a violent psychopath. But Caught Inside sets itself apart from similar stories, by not quite going the way that might be expected.

Indeed Caught Inside pushes against the weight of its run-of-the-mill expectations to advantage, generating an unsettling foreboding and suspense. Solid performances, especially from Ben Oxenbould, and striking cinematography, which includes some impressive, if disquieting, underwater shots, further buoy the story.

Originally published Monday 10 October 2011

Trigger, a film by Bruce McDonald, with Tracy Wright, Molly Parker

16 August 2011

Trigger (trailer), a comedy drama, is the latest feature of Canadian film director Bruce McDonald (The Tracey Fragments, Pontypool). The story traces the reunion of two indie-rockers, Kat (Molly Parker), a bass player and vocalist, and Vic (the late Tracy Wright), who once performed together in a two-piece band called Trigger.

Trigger, which premiered in Australia at the Canadian Film Festival in Sydney on Wednesday, 10 August, 2011, picks up the story of the two band members ten years after their acrimonious on-stage split. They have accepted an invitation to perform at a Women in Rock tribute show taking place in Toronto, their hometown.

Kat has since relocated to Los Angeles where she works in marketing, but often travels to Toronto for work. The two have arranged to meet for dinner in the restaurant of the five-star hotel where Kat is staying. Vic however is less than impressed with the extravagant setting of their first face-to-face meeting since the band broke up.

While past tensions quickly surface, it isn’t long before some traces of their earlier, close if turbulent, friendship comes to light. While Vic is happy to go along to the tribute show, she is not so willing to perform, even though Kat promised organisers they would. The show however soon rouses happy memories of their on-stage hey-day.

While reacquainting themselves with former associates, both come to the doleful realisation that they cannot reclaim their old lives. This is brought home by the fact friends have moved on, become older, more conservative, and are even driving hybrid vehicles, surely a contravention of the hard living, hard playing, rock ethos.

Despite having been apart Kat and Vic learn they have had a number of similar experiences, including having dealt with substance abuse issues, which both seem to have overcome. But just as the two are beginning to warm to each other again, Vic then learns that there is just a little more to the tribute show than meets the eye…

Trigger is a slice-of-life drama featuring just two central characters, and covers a only small period of time, in much the same way as Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset and Before Sunrise films, and plays out over the course of a single night. This however gives Kat and Vic plenty of time to try and make sense of their post-band lives.

Trigger isn’t all introspection though, and features a stirring performance reminiscent of the band during its peak, plus flashback glimpses of the friendship of Kat and Vic in earlier days. This is a story that anyone who has had the dream, or once lived the dream, and now finds life to be a little quieter, will be all too familiar with.

Originally published Tuesday 16 August 2011.

Jaloux, a film by Patrick Demers with Sophie Cadieux, Maxime Denommee

11 August 2011

Jaloux, trailer (French language), a drama thriller, is the debut feature of Montreal director Patrick Demers, who wrote the screenplay, which was largely improvised during filming, in conjunction with its three stars, Sophie Cadieux who plays Marianne, Maxime Denommée as Thomas, and Benoît Gouin as the neighbour of Thomas’ uncle.

Marianne and Thomas have been together eight years but boredom has begun to stifle their relationship. Thomas believes a weekend away at his uncle’s remote forest cabin, near Mandeville, in Quebec, will help them rediscover each other. Jaloux premiered in Australia at the 6th Canadian Film Festival in Sydney on Tuesday, 9 August, 2011.

To say Marianne and Thomas’ relationship is in strife would be an understatement. A fierce argument, which turns into a tussle, as they approach his uncle Michel’s (Daniel Gadouas) cabin, results in their car running off the gravel road into a ditch. Neither is hurt however, and they complete the trip to the nearby cabin on foot.

On reaching the cabin they are surprised to find Michel’s neighbour, Ben, has prepared a meal for them. Ben had however been expecting Michel and his girlfriend Helene (Marie-France Lambert), but after learning that Thomas is his nephew, and having taken a shine to Marianne, instead invites the couple to share the meal with him.

After a night’s heavy drinking Marianne and Thomas wake the next morning, having slept in separate parts of the house, with little memory of the evening before. Deciding a swim will help clear their heads, they wander down to the nearby lake, only to meet Ben again, much to Thomas’ annoyance, who happens to be out rowing his boat.

Not happy with the way Marianne is taking to Ben, Thomas instead decides to find a mechanic to repair their car. On his way into the local town though he, by chance, meets a cousin who he hasn’t seen in years. It is only then that Thomas comes to realise that the man claiming to be his uncle’s neighbour is in fact someone else altogether…

Jaloux is a slow burning thriller that is underscored by a simmering unease that threatens to boil over at any minute. This tension is accentuated by flashbacks and memories that may be from the night before, the week before, or possibly even months or years earlier.

But what here is real, imagined, or fantasy? While the storyline is relatively simple, what Jaloux lacks in narrative it makes up for in drama and suspense, as jealousy, lies, deceit, and guilt compound. Clichés bountiful in a story of this nature are refreshingly absent, leaving the viewer uncertain as to what exactly will happen next.

Originally published Thursday 11 August 2011.

Fade to grey: as we get older we stop dreaming in technicolour

12 July 2011

We tend to stop dreaming in colour as we age, according to a study which surveyed a group of people in 1993, and then again in 2009.

In both surveys, approximately 80% of subjects younger than 30 years of age experienced color in their dreams, but the percentage decreased with age and fell to approximately 20% by the age of 60. The frequency of dreaming in color increased from 1993 to 2009 only for respondents in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. We speculate that color TV may play a role in the generational difference observed.

Originally published Tuesday 12 July 2011.

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legacy, psychology

Get Low, a film by Aaron Schneider, with Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek

3 June 2011

Get Low, trailer, a comedy drama, is the debut feature of American cinematographer turned film director Aaron Schneider. Collaborating with Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell, who wrote the screenplay, Get Low explores the intriguing notion of attending your own funeral, as a living, rather than dead, participant.

Set in the late 1930’s, Get Low is based in part on the life of Felix Breazeale, or Uncle Bush as some called him, a man living in Tennessee. In 1938 Breazeale arranged a funeral party for himself — while still alive — to which eight to twelve thousand people attended.

Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) has lived alone in a cabin he built deep in the woods of Tennessee for most of his adult life. His self-imposed exile is the result of an unfortunate incident some forty years earlier. He is also the subject of all sorts of gossip, and his few visits to a nearby town, by horse drawn cart no less, attract plenty of, usually unwelcome, attention.

He never married, and has no family, but after hearing that an old acquaintance died, begins to reassess his guilt ridden past. He realises the only way to obtain redemption for his part in a long past transgression is to seek forgiveness before he eventually dies. Forgiveness of the divine kind however won’t cut it, he needs it from elsewhere.

He soon decides a funeral party, with him in attendance while still alive, is the best way to make this happen, and enlists the services of local undertaker, shifty Frank Quinn (Bill Murray), and his assistant Buddy (Lucas Black). While an unusual request, Frank is happy to accommodate Felix, given business has been on the quiet side recently.

In the course of preparations for the party, which include a radio interview, Felix is reunited with Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek), an old flame, who has returned to the area following the death of her husband. As Mattie learns more about Felix, and his bizarre funeral party, she realises she is linked to the event from which Felix desperately seeks absolution.

Get Low has the feel of a whodunit, as the story of what has been bothering Felix for so long slowly unfurls. It also features top notch portrayals by a host of veteran actors, especially Duval and Spacek. Murray meanwhile puts in his best performance in a long time, one with a little life, rather than his more usual dead-pan style.

A few people have been critical of the film’s ending. They feel it lacks punch or resolution. While the conclusion may be a touch otherworldly, perhaps they are not happy with the way the story unfolds gradually, reserving Felix’s confession until the finale, and the big reveal. What’s wrong with that?

Originally published Friday 3 June 2011.

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