Let Me In, a film by Matt Reeves, with Chloe Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee

Showing all posts tagged: legacy

Let Me In, a film by Matt Reeves, with Chloe Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee

15 October 2010

Let Me In, trailer, is American director Matt Reeves’ take of the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in), about a lonely twelve year old boy who befriends a vampire girl of apparently the same age, after she moves in next door.

Let Me In is the latest in a line of Hollywood remakes of European films. It follows on from the likes of this year’s Neil LaBute version of the 2007 British made Death at a Funeral, or David Fincher’s upcoming interpretation of The Millennium Trilogy book series. This includes a re-rendering of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is slated for release in late 2011.

Twelve year old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) lives with his separated mother (Cara Buono) in the New Mexico town of Los Alamos, but has few friends. Life at school isn’t much fun either, he is often the target of taunts and assaults from a group of older bullies. But Owen finds some solace playing puzzle games, or drifting in and out of an imaginary world in his mind.

He is intrigued by the arrival of a girl, Abby (Chloe Moretz), who seems to be his age, and a man who appears to be her father (Richard Jenkins), in the apartment next door. But Abby has a few quirks Owen can’t make sense of, such as walking around barefoot in the snow. Or the ability to quietly appear, without warning, where ever he is.

While Abby tells Owen on their first meeting they cannot be friends, they nonetheless become close. Meanwhile the town is the grip of a macabre series of murders, which has local police detective (Elias Koteas) thinking a satanic ritual killer is on the loose.

As the murders become more frequent, and begin occurring ever closer to his home though, Owen begins to realise Abby is no normal twelve year old girl. In fact he begins to suspect she might be involved. But does he report her, the only friend he has ever had, or does he instead help her?

The prospect of a remake of any reasonably highly regarded film is enough to strike dread into the minds of many film-goers, something Reeves was acutely aware of, but here, in the director of Cloverfield, is a safe pair of hands. While I haven’t seen the Swedish original, there’s little to fault.

Perhaps there have been a few teen vampire romance films too many recently, but Reeves strikes the right balance between suspense and action, horror and romance/friendship. There are plenty of moments that make Let Me In feel like another sort of story all together.

Originally published Friday 15 October 2010.

Disgrace, a film by Steve Jacobs, with John Malkovich, Jessica Haines

15 September 2010

Disgrace, trailer, is the second feature of filmmaker Steve Jacobs, who collaborated with his wife, Anna Maria Monticelli — who wrote the screenplay — to adapt Australian and South African author J.M. Coetzee’s 1999 novel of the same name.

Set in present day South Africa, mostly in Cape Town, and a remote farm on the Eastern Cape, Disgrace is — at times — a disturbing and confronting insight to the changing political and social dynamics of post-apartheid South Africa.

David Lurie (John Malkovich) is a middle-aged divorced white South African professor, who tutors poetry to less than enthused students at a Cape Town university. He is a self-indulgent, often blasé man, who seems to have no social life, and whose only friend is Soraya (Natalie Becker), a prostitute he sees regularly.

A chance encounter with one of his students, Melanie (Antoinette Engel), elsewhere on the campus, leads to an affair after he invites her out for a drink. The relationship however raises the ire of another student, Sidney (Antonio Fisher), and is soon brought to the attention of the university’s administrators, who duly dismiss David.

Yet it all seems like water off a duck’s back to David. Leaving Cape Town, he travels to his daughter, Lucy’s (Jessica Haines) isolated farm. He is surprised to learn she has split from her partner, another woman, and aside from Petrus (Eriq Ebouaney), a nearby neighbour, now lives alone.

After returning from a walk one afternoon David and Lucy are brutally attacked outside her house. David suffers burns after being dowsed with methylated spirits and set alight, while Lucy is raped. But it is the aftermath of the attack that leaves David especially displaced.

Petrus for instance, while concerned and sympathetic, otherwise seems little perturbed, and even Lucy, despite her ordeal, refuses to press charges even after learning who the attackers are. It seems she would much rather keep the peace than risk upsetting her neighbours.

Disgrace is a glimpse into many of the changes currently taking place in South Africa. For example we see ownership of Lucy’s farm transition from her control, to that of Petrus and his family. In a reversal of roles, Lucy ends up as his tenant, having previously been the land owner.

Disgrace is also the story of David coming to terms with, and taking responsibility for, the wrong doing he has caused. For a time he is adamant that those who attacked him and his daughter be brought to justice, despite – at first – having no interest in making amends for his transgressions.

Originally published Wednesday 15 September 2010.

The Kids are All Right, a film by Lisa Cholodenko, with Julianne Moore, Annette Bening

30 August 2010

The Kids are All Right, trailer, sees director Lisa Cholodenko take a leaf from her own life. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son by a sperm donor several years ago, in this story of a family with two mothers but no father, living in Los Angeles.

Same sex couple Nic (Annette Bening), and Jules (Julianne Moore), have both had a child each, through artificial insemination, with sperm from the same donor. Nic had a daughter Joni (Mia Wasikowska), now eighteen, while Jules had a son, Laser (Josh Hutcherson), now fifteen.

Laser has wanted to find his biological father for some time — but being too young — cannot do so himself. Instead he asks Joni, who is preparing for college, to call the sperm bank as a final favour before leaving home. While fearful of hurting her mothers’ feelings, Joni reluctantly agrees.

This eventually leads to a meeting with their “father”, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). Although in his late thirties, Paul remains something of a larrikin. He owns a restaurant and market garden, but has drifted from job to job, and seems to have a preference for dating women in their mid-twenties.

Despite an awkward initial meeting, the three nonetheless establish a connection and decide to stay in touch. Paul soon meets Nic and Jules, and gradually becomes more involved with the family. At first he offers a counterbalance to the highly controlling Nic, and the sometimes aimless Jules.

While Paul is mostly well intentioned, he spends ever more time with Joni and Laser, and later Jules, as he sees an opportunity to become part of the family he never had. But his constant presence soon gives rise to tensions within the family, that at one point threatens to tear it apart.

The Kids are All Right is perfectly balanced comedy drama, something Bening and Moore — who wear their roles like gloves — can largely take credit for. The fact this family is headed up by two women, two mothers, lesbians at that, barely seems to make a difference.

So — for want of a better term — family-like do they appear, that nothing looks or feels the least bit out of place here, they have the same arguments and foibles as any other family. But The Kids are All Right does not seek to make commentary on gay marriages or partnerships.

Instead what is on display is a family experiencing a series of upheavals as a result of the children not only growing towards adulthood and independence, but also meeting their biological father, and the changes in family and personal dynamics those events occasion.

Originally published Monday 30 August 2010.

The Nothing Men, a film by Mark Fitzpatrick, with Colin Friels, David Field

13 August 2010

The Nothing Men, trailer, (NSFW: profanities) is the first feature of Australian director and screenwriter Mark Fitzpatrick. Set mainly on the floor of a Sydney factory that is about to close, six bored men bide their time, as they are forced to wait two weeks for their redundancy payments.

Despite the fact there is no actual work to do, and the men have started to become a tad irritated with each other, their final weeks of literally sitting around haven’t been too bad. After all, very few companies effectively pay their staff to spend the day drinking and playing cards.

News that a worker, David Field (David Snedden), from head office is to join them for their final fortnight however unsettles the foreman, Jack Simpson (Colin Friels). David spent the week prior at another company site where a dozen workers were abruptly sacked, losing their severance payments in the process. Jack thinks he smells a rat.

David, who on first acquaintance seems normal enough, is though, as a draftsman, an odd placement for a factory workshop. When he starts making what he claims are private phone calls behind closed doors in the office, and seemingly going home during the day for personal reasons, everyone soon becomes unsettled.

The men fear David is a spy sent from head office to find excuses to sack them, so the company won’t have to pay out their redundancy money. Accordingly, they reluctantly agree to dispense with the beer and card games, and sit tight for the duration, while also keeping their distance from him.

David does manage to befriend Wesley Timms (Martin Dingle-Wall), the quieter, more studious, of the six, who is also a fellow chess player, and invites him back to his place for a game one evening. While there, Wesley makes a disturbing discovery, and also learns, unbeknownst to David, that they are linked by a past tragedy.

Anyone who has been in a situation similar to that facing the soon to be retrenched men, will understand how uncertainty, innuendo, and gossip, can combine to create fear and mistrust.

Compound that with the prospect that much anticipated redundancy payments are at risk, and the situation can quickly become insufferable. Are the fears of the factory workers justified though, or are they perhaps over reacting? The Nothing Men shows just how suddenly the seed of an idea — whether based in fact, or not — can get out of hand.

While equal parts drama and thriller, The Nothing Men is let down by several plot inconsistencies. There are also a number of red-herrings, intended to build up mystery around David that are just a tad too contrived, and at odds with the rest of the story. Still, the audience is left guessing as to what will happen, right up to the final frame.

Originally published Friday 13 August 2010.

Flip from left to right when driving from Hong Kong to China

16 June 2010

A proposal by Dutch designers, NL architects, could result in the construction of a far from ordinary bridge roadway connecting Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland, which would include artificial islands serving as car parks and bus stations.

Under the proposal, a “flipper” would be incorporated along the connecting roadway, allowing Hong Kong motorists – who drive on the left – to switch safely and effortlessly to the right, the side Chinese drivers use, and vice versa.

Originally published Wednesday 16 June 2010.

An online revenue model for independent content producers

12 April 2010

Independent online publishers, content producers, and bloggers, who are looking for a way to earn an income, or make money online, could do worse than take a few cues from Daring Fireball, the website of John Gruber, who lives and breathes all things Apple.

Daring Fireball serves over two million page views, and generates an estimated revenue of US$15-20,000 each month, making Gruber’s methods well worth scrutinising. Let’s find out how we, as independent content producers, can do likewise.

Become a member of a private advertising network

Daring Fireball is part of The Deck, a private ad network created by Jim Coudal. Collectively, member websites have a very large audience made up mainly of creative, web and design professionals.

Members, who are admitted by invitation only, are required to display an image 120 by 90 pixels in size, and cannot carry any other forms of advertising on their website.

When you consider that 26 advertisers pay US$7900 per month, to advertise across 43 member sites though, the return, even allowing for The Deck’s cut, is going be very worthwhile.

Sell weekly sponsorship slots on your RSS feed

Gruber estimates that in excess of 150,000 readers (though the actual number is probably far higher) subscribe to Daring Fireball’s RSS feed, and this level of interest has allowed him to offer exclusive weekly sponsorship at US$3,500 a slot.

Do the maths there, that’s an income of US14,000 every four weeks, not bad at all for a one person operation.

A number of other high profile bloggers have attempted to monetise their RSS feeds, many of whom incidentally are members of “The Deck”, though very few have emulated Daring Fireball’s success.

A recent discussion with Jason Kottke on The Pipeline, Dan Benjamin’s online radio show, both conceded that Gruber is one the few people to make RSS feed sponsorship work.

Sell merchandise and website memberships

Daring Fireball offers readers the chance to become members for a cost of US$19 annually.

While membership isn’t worth much in itself though, aside from gaining access to a separate RSS feed which apparently includes a few extra items not published to the main feed, it is really a way for supporters of the site to make a contribution should they wish to.

T-shirts are also sold, they are usually made available once a year, and with a purchase comes an automatic one year membership.

The income from t-shirt sales and memberships, while handy, would be far less than that generated by “The Deck” membership and RSS sponsorships though.

Leverage your online profile to earn income offline

Someone with the high profile of John Gruber could probably do well on the speaking and appearance circuit, so there are definitely opportunities in that regard.

Don’t charge your readers a cent to access your website

Despite publishing one of the most highly regarded news and information resources of all things Apple and Mac, Daring Fireball does not charge the casual reader anything to visit the site.

Sure, the super-motivated can take out a US$19 annual membership, or buy a t-shirt, but there is no compulsion whatsoever to do so.

I want a piece of the action, what do I do next?

Who wouldn’t want to be an independent online content producer earning in the region of $20,000 a month? I’d happily settle for a quarter of that amount.

Without telling you how to go about it, I can say that there are two important things you need to do, and that both require inordinate amounts of time and effort.

One is always to work on boosting your profile (marketing and promotion), the other is producing quality, useful, content.

While nowhere near the traffic levels of Daring Fireball, it’s my thought that an independent online publisher could make a reasonable, self supporting, income from around 30,000 unique visitors a day.

At least it’s a nice round number to aim for.

Originally published Monday 12 April 2010.

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Classical recital etiquette protocols? Thought you’d never ask

22 February 2010

Classical, or chamber, music recitals were not events I went along to a whole lot until I was introduced to the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) last year.

Going to see a band, either in concert or at the local pub, seems — to me — like something that requires no thought it’s so natural, but what about a classical music performance, isn’t that, you know, different?

Aren’t there dress codes (top hat and tails?) and other protocols to be observed? Or, you’ve been asked to go along to a show with the company’s CEO, have no idea what happens, and are keen not to distinguish yourself for the wrong reasons?

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person to have ever wondered about such things, so here we go, a guide and some tips to the etiquette and protocols of attending classical music recitals.

What’s the dress code, what should I wear?

This seems to be the main concern of many first time recital-goers, and I’m pleased to report that top hat and tails are generally not necessary.

For me though, someone who only wears a suit once in a Blue Moon, dressing up is part of the fun of going along to a recital. I don’t usually bother with a tie though, I only wear those once every couple of Blue Moons, but at the very least think “smart casual” if wondering what to wear.

Be punctual, there’s nothing worse than being shut out

The best idea is to plan to arrive early.

There’s an important difference between going to a movie and being late, and a recital and being late, the recital is a live performance.

Unlike their big screen counterparts, live performers find it a lot harder to ignore the distraction of latecomers trying to find their seat, which is invariably at the front of the house.

Then there’s the matter of trampling on the toes of audience members sharing your row, and blocking the view of others behind.

In all likelihood though, if you are late, you’ll be barred from entering the auditorium, until there is a significant break in the music, or at intermission.

So, arrive early, have a drink at the bar, and acquaint yourself with the show program, while you wait for curtain up.

Applause, when do I clap?

While pauses during a song or composition are common to all musical genres, classical music is replete with silences and breaks. This can often confuse those unfamiliar with the music being performed, who often think it is complete, and start clapping.

You don’t want to be that person. Unless you are well acquainted with the music, wait until everyone else is applauding before you join in.

Also watch the performers for end-of-play cues, members of the ACO for example usually raise their violin or cello bows above their heads at the conclusion of a piece.

Photos, recording, and mobile phones

Taking photos and video recording during a recital are generally a big no no. A few snaps of the concert hall, and empty stage, before the performance may be ok though, but the check show program, or ask someone, before you pull your camera out.

Needless to say mobile phones should be switched off or set to silent mode.

Take some time out at intermission

Most recitals have an intermission break after about 45 minutes, which tend to last for about 20 minutes. If you need to go to the bathroom, or return an urgent call from the boss, intermission is the time.

It’s also a good idea to get up and stretch your legs, the show will be a little more enjoyable if you don’t feel restless.

How long does the show usually last?

While it depends on the pieces being performed, recitals tend to run for about 90 minutes with a 20 minute intermission about half way through, so all up, about two hours. The show program should have the exact times of the performances.

Read the show program

I’ve mentioned the show program a few times, and trust me, it’s a good idea to read through it, especially if you are not a regular recital goer. They usually include details of recital and intermission times, and of course information about the music being played.

There’s nothing like looking as if you know what you are doing.

Originally published Monday 22 February 2010.

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How does the Oscar nomination and voting process work?

16 February 2010

NOTE: this is a legacy article published in 2010. Much of the information presented is likely now out of date.

While the movie buff in me takes an avid interest in who wins what in the Academy Awards each year, I’ve never given much thought to how a film reaches the winning list, aside from the fact it must be good — or reasonably good — and was favoured by members of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), who preside over the venerable award.

And as it turns out, after doing a little research into the process, garnering an AMPAS member’s favour is the very first thing a film must do, if it is to set itself along the Oscar winning pathway.

Favour, choices, AMPAS branches, and nominations

The nomination process commences when each of the 5,777 members of AMPAS, or the Academy, are asked to select their favourite eligible ¹ films — usually five — from the preceding year.

The Academy is split into 15 branches, which represent the various aspects of the film production process, and include actors, directors, writers, producers, and visual effects branches, to name a few.

Branch members are only able to nominate “in-house” however. For instance members of the Writers Branch can only nominate film writers for an award, they cannot, for example, choose actors or directors.

Member numbers can vary across branches, and the Academy as a whole, from year to year, and this can have an effect on the overall process, but more on that shortly.

Preferential voting and magic numbers

The choices made by branch members, which are ranked preferentially from one to five, are sent to accounting and auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), who then count the selections — manually — and after much sifting of paper, eventually determine the top five choices — or nominations — in each Oscar category.

To be in the running a film must receive at least one number one ranking from a member, or it is eliminated from the count. PwC go through all the votes, or selections, short-listing the top five number one ranked films in each category.

Taking the Animated Feature Film category as an example, here’s how the nomination selection process might work. This year the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch of the AMPAS has 340 members.

PwC divides this number by 6 ², which equals about 56. To make the grade therefore, a film must secure at least 56 number one votes from members of this branch.

For example 63 members might have selected “Coraline” as their first choice. Another 62 might have chosen “Fantastic Mr. Fox” as their first choice, another 61 “The Princess and the Frog”, 60 “The Secret of Kells”, and finally 57 “Up” ³.

Any other animated features that may have been voted as a top choice by members of the branch are now eliminated, as they did not receive enough votes to make the top five in the category.

It gets complicated — sometimes very complicated — however if five movies do not reach the minimum vote threshold, and this is where the preferential voting system comes into play.

They [the PwC team] then look at the piles still left on the table and get rid of the one with the smallest amount of votes, redistributing them to other piles ranked on the 2nd favourite film on the ballots. If the number 2 choice has already been eliminated then they go to the 3rd choice and so on. Once that’s taken place they count again, if a film hits the magic number it’s taken off the table and is a nominee.

Changes to the number of Best Picture nominations

This year, for the first time since 1943, there are ten movies competing for the Best Picture gong, rather than the usual five, meaning the PwC team would have short-listed the top ten, rather than top five, number one voted films for this category.

The Visual Effects and Make Up categories are the only other exceptions to the five nominations per category rule this year, each sporting three contenders.

Voting and electing the winners

The final voting process is relatively similar to the nomination process.

Once nominations have been finalised, Academy members are sent ballot papers, and again using a preferential voting system, make their selections.

At this stage though, just two people at PwC are involved in counting the votes, and they remain the only ones to know the final results, until the winners are announced on Oscars night.

Controversy in Best Picture decisions

For all its mathematical precision, there is still no guarantee that the best film will be accorded the Best Picture award. 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, a superbly made movie in my opinion, could be considered a case in point.

Despite winning a slew of other film awards, and five Oscar nominations, it nevertheless missed the Best Picture award. It was suggested the Academy shunned the movie in the final round of voting as members were uncomfortable with a gay love story.

After “Brokeback Mountain” won an unprecedented number of precursor awards for best picture — 26 — it entered the Oscars with the most nominations and was considered a shoo-in to win best picture. That is, until the majority of its members — straight, ole, self-absorbed, guy geezers, as legend has it — refused to embrace the gay movie and so they gave their top prize to “Crash.”

That said, “Crash” was still a very good film.

And, to date, no science fiction or animated films, have received a Best Picture award, suggesting the Academy prefers only certain film genres.

Other factors influencing Oscar nominations

While nominations ultimately boil down to the individual tastes of the Academy’s 5,777 members, certain factors may sway their decision.

For example in 2008 sociologists from Harvard University, and the University of California, found female actors appearing in dramas, rather than comedies, were more likely than their contemporaries to score an Oscar nomination.

Academy Award nominations tend to go to performers in dramas, who are female, who have been nominated in the past and who command a high rank in the movie-credit pecking order.

And finally if I were a member of the Academy…

My ten choices — for Best Picture — this year would be:

An Education
Up
The Road
Up in the Air
Watchmen
Star Trek (a long shot, but…)
Looking For Eric
(500) Days of Summer
Beautiful Kate
Is Anybody There?

These are not, unfortunately, ranked preferentially (though “An Education” would still be very near the top), plus I’m not 100 per-cent sure that all titles are eligible for this year’s awards.

And just so you know, this year’s Oscar awards take place on Sunday, 7 March, 2010, or Monday afternoon, 8 March, as it will be in this part of the world.

(Sources: Wikipedia, Radio 1 Movies Blog, Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Live Science, Gold Derby.)

1. To qualify for an Oscar nomination, a film must open in the previous calendar year, from midnight of 1 January to midnight at the end of 31 December, in Los Angeles County, California. ↩
2. Dividing the total branch membership by six ensures there will be at least five nominees. If it were divided by five the qualifying vote threshold, or “magic number” may be too high, which could result in only four films making the grade. ↩
3. The numbers I have used here are of course fictitious. ↩

Originally published Tuesday 16 February 2010.

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Book launch: Futuretainment by Mike Walsh, Sydney, 1 December 2009

2 December 2009

Last night Mike Walsh launched his new book Futuretainment – which looks at the future of media and marketing – at the Hotel CBD in Sydney. He spoke with technology journalist Brad Howarth, and offered a few of his insights into advertising and marketing, particularly in Asia, together with a couple of trend predictions for 2010.

People born after 1994 are digital “naturals”. They have never lived in a world without web browsers.
“Naturals” have never known a time when they cannot access decent content somewhere online.
Content producers and creators (copy-righters) such as musicians are effectively marketers.
Musicians, for example, encourage “content theft”… they don\’t make revenue from recorded music, that comes from sales of merchandise, live performances, etc.
Social networks drive TV programming. People increasingly watch what is forwarded to them (videos, links to videos).
Viewers are deciding what they will watch, not the TV networks.
How will content producers make money? Become a celebrity… cue Ashton Kutcher and his declaration to become “the next new-media mogul“.
Japan excels at producing content for mobile phones.
The Chinese know how to make money with social networks. QQ, a Chinese variation of Facebook, made US$1 billion last year.
In Korea people watch more TV shows on mobile phones than a television.
Digital consumers in Asia are generally very tech savvy, have access to unlimited bandwidth, and have little regard for copyright.
Ninety per cent of Chinese internet users have broadband, which is considerably faster than that available in Australia.
Augmented reality will put consumers in control by way of real time product and service reviews and critiques.