Wednesday, July 29, 2009

alters are winners

Just saw the first episode of United States of Tara on the ABC. What a terrific program! Toni Collette was fantastic in all of her (three) roles in this episode; in fact, all of the cast was great. The story was captivating, the characters fascinating and well-rounded, the script smart and entertaining... can't wait for next week's episode.

I only wish that Collette could use her 'real' voice instead of having to put on the American accents... but that's a small price to pay for such wonderful, inventive television.

whom the gods would destroy...

"...they first make mad."

My head's full of cool old sayings that I picked up over the years and have NO idea of who said them. But when I think of them, I often marvel at how true they are and think how wise the people who first thought of them were.

I walked past Lonsdale House today, to take a last look, and a photo, in case it's not there the next time I go back. It's not the greatest example of deco left around Melbourne, but it's real and it's valuable, and it's about to be wiped out in order to widen a laneway to service even more new shops.

The owners have allowed it become dilapidated... the ground floor shopfronts are empty and blacked out, and ugly grafitti fills some of the windows... no doubt, to underscore their claim that the building is old and worthless.

The State Planning Minister has become a puppet of greedy developers. Nobody who takes that role seriously could have approved this destruction to happen. It's sad. And it looks like the Windsor will be the next piece of heritage architecture that he abandons. What a loss.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

forever

Weddings don't have to suck.

Chris Brown should give these guys a commission.... you can't buy publicity like this!

Monday, July 27, 2009

super-google!

art wrecko

I'm outraged by the news today that the State Government has approved the demolition of another of Melbourne CBD's surviving art deco buildings to make way for... a wider access lane to a new shopping complex.

Despite a heritage overlay which was supposed to protect Lonsdale House, the State Govt has agreed to its demolition, and the Melbourne City Council has declined to intervene (the Age).

And so another piece of the city's history will be wiped out to make way for a new shop. I thought we outgrew this sort of vandalism 40 years ago. What a disgrace.

... follow-up opinion piece from the Age on 29 July.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

mes amis au ciné

Best place to be on a cold, wet and windy July day in Melbourne? Lounging in a warm, cosy cinema to watch a new release movie. On today's program: a newly-released French comedy-drama Mes Amis, Mes Amours (or My Friends, My Loves) (apparently from 2007), based on the novel of the same name, at the Brighton Bay.

Well, it was a bit of a contrast to Bruno, but Mes Amis, Mes Amours was entertaining in its own way, with some nice, inoffensive comedic moments and pleasant performances all around, including the two most agreeable child-characters I can ever recall seeing in a movie. I'm not a fan of kids on film, but these two really contributed to the story, without being unbearably sweet or distracting.

I was familiar with both Pascal Elbé and Virginie Ledoyen from several other films, and enjoyed seeing them again, along with 'new' actors in the other roles. Not a classic movie by any means, but rather, an enjoyable and entertaining riff on the old 'odd couple' theme. Interestingly, there was a strong gay sub-text to the main plot of two divorced fathers moving in together, but in typical French style, the script went out of its way to make it clear that, despite the appearance of their relationship, they were strictly straight! A pleasant film for an arvo at the theatre. 3 & 1/2 stars.

Friday, July 10, 2009

a night on the town

Took some great photos around town last night after leaving the Night in Pompeii at the Museum. We walked down Nicholson Street from the Museum, past the Princess Theatre and Parliament House, caught a tram down Bourke Street, then walked via Flinders St Station to Southbank.

Since it was a lovely clear night, we decided to take in the night view from the 88th floor of the Eureka Tower... spectacular! Though I think I enjoyed my first visit, in daytime, more, because it was easier to identify all the places that you can see.

After leaving Eureka, we stopped for a quick snack at Southgate, then caught the 64 home from the Arts Centre. Who needs to travel to go sightseeing?

bussed

I know I get very critical about Melbourne's public transport system, but credit where due... I love the 220 bus service! Every 15 minutes, 6 days a week until 11pm-ish... the one form of public transport in this city that you can (usually) count on!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

a night in Pompeii... at last!

Maybe it's just that I'm getting used to the Winter cold, but it felt quite pleasant out tonight, and a perfect evening to get along to the Night in Pompeii exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. This is the same show that we *didn't* make it to several days ago, when we arrived mid-morning to find monstrous queues waiting to buy tickets.

Today, we rolled up at around 4:45pm and found ourselves in a ticket queue of only around 6 or 7 people... which was just as well, because it still took almost 20 minutes for us to actually get to the head of the line and purchase our tickets!!! Don't ask me; *every* bastard in the queue ahead of us seemed to need some special attention beyond just buying their ticket.

Anyway, after what seemed like 1,930 years, we eventually reached the entrance to exhibition. I was disappointed to find that photography was not allowed (which I'm sure isn't the case in the rest of the Museum).

The Exhibition itself was comprehensive and well-presented, and included plenty of background, analysis, artifacts and multimedia displays (like a 3D presentation of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in August 79AD)... I just wish I could have taken a few pics of some of the wonderful frescoes, pottery and armour. It's astonishing to think that those items are some 2,000 years old, and fascinating to imagine what life would have been like at that time. The information on the archaeological history of Pompeii was also informative, and it's saddening to think of what other treasures were lost to looting and mismanagement before the current controls were introduced over the site.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

everything old is new again

Well, it's not exactly comics as I remember them, but DC's new 12-part weekly Wednesday Comics launched today, and it's an impressive, if unusual collection.

15 series in 16 tabloid-size pages; one page per serial installment, featuring a range of characters and creators that make it hard to pass up (even at over $7 an issue!) The series is designed to hark back to the days when comics appeared in Sunday newspaper supplements (hence Wednesday Comics, as that's the day of the week that new comics are now published each week), and is printed on news stock, or something similar to it. It's an interesting experiment, and I'll likely check out at least the next issue or two.

outrageous, offensive und zo hot!

Outrageous, SO offensive and... the funniest movie I've seen in longer than I can remember!

Brűno had me in stitches from beginning to end, with the sharpest humour, stunts so outrageous they make you gasp, and some shock-value elements that make me wonder how it got away without an 'R' rating.

Highlights, among the many hilarious capers in the film: Brűno collecting OJ at the airport, Straight Dave, the audience reaction segment, chained up with Lűtz, the velcro jumpsuit, avoiding the paparazzi at the airport, army reserve training... too funny! 4&1/2 stars, and well worth a second viewing some time soon.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

more queues from hell

ummm... did I say the Museum had the queue from hell yesterday??

Today's ordeal arose as part of a visit to friends in the outer 'burbs, including a promise of a trip to the cinema for the kids, to allow the adults to enjoy a quiet coffee and chat. That was the plan, anyway.

We arrived at the cinema in a (we thought) timely fashion at 11:30, to buy tickets for the 11:50 show, only to find ourselves at the tail end of a queue that stretched well beyond the cinema entrance! As 11:50 approached and we couldn't see the box office, the kids were advised that they would be seeing a different movie, starting at midday, instead of the one planned.

As midday approached, and the box office was still a distant point on the horizon of the queue, plans were hastily changed again... another movie, starting at 12:20, looked the most likely candidate.

Finally at just after 12:15, some 45 minutes of queueing later, we made it to the ticket counter, just in time for the kids to run to the cinema to catch the start of the movie!

Thanks for nothing, Village cinemas... you would think they would have made an effort to staff more of the registers to try to reduce the queue a little. 45 minutes is not what I would call a reasonable wait for tickets for a movie. We'll think twice before ever going back there again.

Monday, July 6, 2009

the queue from hell

Next on the list of must-see Winter Masterpieces is the Melbourne Museum's Day in Pompeii exhibition, which opened a week or so back.

Today was another cold, wet Wintry Monday, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to visit the new show. A quick trip into the city on the No.5, and a quick change to the 86, and we're outside the Museum. The building itself has been decorated in posters and designs to promote the exhibition, so the anticipation was really building as we walked through the doors and saw... the longest snaking queue in history! Prams, groups of youngsters running around, harried parents shepherding groups of 6 or 8 kids, boggle-eyed grandparents... and that was just the line to buy the tickets!

We stopped, took in the scene... and promptly decided that the we could wait to see the show. We left the Museum post haste and retreated to Lygon Street for a *quiet* coffee and lunch, and planned to take in Pompeii another time.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

liquid desire

Wednesday night was cold and windy, and night fell early... a perfect time to get along to 'Art after Dark' at the NGV to visit this year's Winter Masterpieces exhibition: Liquid Desire, featuring the art of Salvador Dali!

This was one of the best Masterpieces exhibitions I've seen! Dali was a genius, but I hadn't been aware of the breadth of his creativity until I saw this exhibition. Not just fabulously outlandish and stylish paintings, but drawings, fashion, jewellery, television, cinema and photography all feature strongly. I especially loved his Soft Self-portrait and Persistence of Memory, and also Atomic Dali, an amazing black-and-white photo of the artist in mid-air with cats and water!, plus a screening of his Walt Disney co-production, Destino.

There was too much to take in, in a single visit, so I hope to get back again and immerse myself in more of Dali's genius in another month or so.