Liberal Arts, a film by Josh Radnor, with Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Jenkins

10 December 2012

Say what you will about Liberal Arts degrees, ridiculed by some as glorified courses in general knowledge that effectively leave students without a real education, but like it or not, life, or the university of hard knocks, eventually makes degree holders out of us all. Even if our alma mater is one we never really graduate from.

This is something Jesse (Josh Radnor), discovers in Liberal Arts, trailer, also Radnor’s second directing effort following 2010’s Happythankyoumoreplease, when he returns to his former college for the retirement dinner of Peter Hoberg (Richard Jenkins), a professor he greatly respected during his days as an under-graduate.

Now 35, trapped in a job in New York that offers no fulfilment, and single again after another woman walked out on him, Jesse is delighted to be back on his leafy old stomping ground, at Ohio’s Kenyon College, once more. While dining later with friends of Peter’s, Jesse meets Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen), a 19 year old sophomore at the university.

In the days and weeks that follow, Jesse and Zibby discover, despite their age difference, that they have numerous shared interests through the hand written letters they exchange after Jesse returns to New York. And while both realise that a romantic attraction is forming, Jesse is reluctant to be any more than a friend to Zibby.

It is the reticence to see Jesse and Zibby, who, when in her element, appears to be wiser to the world than her older would-be beau, form a serious relationship, that takes away much of the substance Liberal Arts could have had. The question is though, was this out of a fear of offending certain viewer sensibilities, or not?

Otherwise Radnor’s second feature, even if it gets a little muddled along the way, bestows something of a general knowledge education in itself, and of course more, even if it regards so-called May to December romances as unheard of. But you haven’t lived, or languished, unless you’ve studied the Liberal Arts, and dated beyond your years, and that much it gets right.

Originally published Monday 10 December 2012, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.

Face to Face, a film by Michael Rymer, with Matthew Newton and Luke Ford

12 September 2012

Face to Face, a film by Michael Rymer, movie poster

Face to Face (trailer), a drama, is the latest feature of Australian film director Michael Rymer (Perfume, Queen of the Damned), who also produced the Battlestar Galactica TV shows from 2003 to 2009. Face to Face is Rymer’s film adaptation of the play of the same name, written by Queensland based playwright David Williamson, in 2000.

Face to Face traces the proceedings of a community conference, a trial scheme that takes minor matters out of the court system, and brings together all who are party to a dispute. The process allows everyone to tell their side of the story, under the auspices of a moderator, who later drafts a resolution that binds on all involved.

Wayne (Luke Ford), a former employee of a Melbourne scaffolding company, is a hot headed young man who lost his job as result of violent outbursts and inappropriate conduct in the workplace. Luke finds himself before a community conference after ramming his ute into the car of ex-boss, Greg Baldoni (Vince Colosimo).

Wayne is supported by his mother Maureen (Lauren Clair), and best friend Barry (Josh Saks). Meanwhile Greg’s wife Claire (Sigrid Thornton), Julie (Laura Gordon) his secretary, Therese (Ra Chapman) the accountant, Richard (Chris Connelly) the foreman, and Hakim (Robert Rabiah) a worker, turn out for the company.

As the conference progresses though, Jack (Matthew Newton) who is moderating, often struggles to control tensions in the room. As the complicated series of events that led to Wayne’s outbursts work their way to the surface, tempers fray and emotions erupt, but it becomes clear there is far more to his actions than meet the eye.

For a drama that for the most part features ten people sitting in just one room for almost ninety minutes, Face to Face is utterly compelling. The key to this intrigue lies in both its strong characters, the ceaseless allure of gossip, together with the voyeuristic pleasure of witnessing people’s dirty laundry being aired in public.

In opening a can of worms that leaves just about everyone present embarrassed to a greater or lesser degree, Face to Face is a reminder that there are always two sides, maybe more, to every story. Robust performances, solid scripting, together with a deprecating humour, combine to create intense, gripping, fly on the wall style drama.

Originally published Wednesday 12 September 2012.

Takeaway coffee cups that let you have your cake and eat it

30 July 2012

I’m all for reusable takeaway coffee cups, or keep cups, in principle, after all we should be trying to conserve resources whenever possible. Thing is I’m not always carrying mine — if I can even find it some days — so the question remains, how not to be too wasteful while still ordering take out coffee, or your beverage of choice?

Edible coffee cups however, as designed by Enrique Luis Sardi, and made from biscuit, or cookie mix, with a sugar icing lining that stops the coffee steeping away, may be the solution.

If these cups could also be made with other food stuffs, such as say banana or raisin bread, then we might be able to significantly cut back on single-use disposable cups.

Originally published Monday 30 July 2012.

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The billboard artworks of Robert Montgomery

8 June 2012

London based artist Robert Montgomery takes billboards, both in use and disused, and turns them into oversize canvases to make a variety of observations on day to day life.

Originally published Friday 8 June 2012.

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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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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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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

Fighting Fear, a documentary by Macario De Souza, with Mark Mathews, Richie Vaculik

11 November 2011

Fighting Fear, trailer, a documentary, is the second feature of Sydney based Australian film director Macario De Souza, and follows his 2007 debut Bra Boys, which he co-directed with Sunny Abberton.

Here De Souza focuses on the story of two members of the Bra Boys surf gang, which is based at Sydney’s Maroubra beach. Narrated by Australian actor Joel Edgerton, Fighting Fear profiles Mark Mathews, a big wave pro-surfer, and Richie “Vas” Vaculik, also a surfer and mixed martial arts fighter, who have been friends since meeting as boys at Maroubra in the early 1990’s.

Both also appeared briefly in De Souza’s earlier Bra Boys feature.

While working as a carpet layer to fund his surfing escapades, Mathews would closely monitor Australian swell forecasts. The instant he spotted conditions conducive to the formation of big waves, such as at Shipstern Bluff, on the southeast coast of Tasmania, Matthews would, along with Vaculik, travel there as quickly as possible.

On top of his passion for surfing though, Vaculik began to develop an interest in mixed martial arts and cage fighting, where he quickly acquired a formidable reputation after a string of victories. While both worked hard, they also loved to party with the same fervour, and sometimes found themselves at odds with the law as a result.

With Vaculik facing serious assault charges, and Mathews recovering after a surfing mishap at Shipstern Bluff, incidents that presented threats to their sporting ambitions, both found themselves struggling to save their respective careers. But the pair were able to draw on their long-standing friendship to help each other through.

Fighting Fear blends interviews, archival news and video clips, reenactments, plus some spectacular surfing footage. Appearances by Kelly Slater, Steph Gilmore, Mick Fanning, and Bruce Irons among others, flesh out the story of Mathews and Vaculik, as they overcome various fears in order to reach their potential.

While soul baring and compelling, Fighting Fear isn’t quite as absorbing as Bra Boys, which I thought told more of a story. There are also references to the Bra Boys, but a lack of context might confuse audiences outside of Sydney, or those unfamiliar with the surf gang. The film is bound together by an animated soundtrack, including music by De Souza in his Kid Mac persona.

Originally published Friday 11 November 2011, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.

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