February 2009 Archives (14 posts)
The Godfather Wars
The March 2009 issue of Vanity Fair has an interesting article about the making of The Godfather. You can read The Godfather Wars on their website.
Posted in Movies at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
In Her Skin
In Her Skin (2009). Written and directed by Simone North.
Rachel Barber (Kate Bell) is a 15-year-old student that appears to have everything. She’s a beautiful and talented dancer, has a steady boyfriend and enjoys a great relationship with her parents. 20-year-old Caroline Reid (Ruth Bradley) is Rachel’s former baby-sitter and neighbour from across the street. She is overweight, has bad skin, suffers from depression and has a strained relationship with her parents.
Caroline hates herself and wishes that she could be more like Rachel. She desperately wants to become a new person and devises an elaborate plan that will take Rachel’s life.
When Rachel disappears, her parents Mike (Guy Pearce) and Elizabeth (Miranda Otto) worry about her safety and notify the police. The police are uncooperative and suspect that Rachel is just another teenage runaway.
The film is based on the true story of Melbourne teenager Rachel Barber who was murdered in 1999 by Caroline Reed Robertson. I knew this going into the film and surprisingly, it doesn’t take anything away from this thriller.
The performances by Guy Pearce and Miranda Otto are painful to watch at times because they’re so believable. The way in which they cope with their daughter’s disappearance is a stark contrast with Sam Neil’s performance as Caroline’s father. He sees Caroline as a nuisance.
Ruth Bradley’s performance as the deeply troubled Caroline is quite powerful. At times it feels a little forced but overall, she’ll make you feel very uncomfortable in several scenes. The murder scene is very intense, startling. It comes close to some of the violence that has shocked me in Michael Haneke’s films Caché and Funny Games.
First time director Simone North does a good job at maintaining a certain level of suspense throughout the film. There are some interesting camera moves that borrow from David Fincher’s Panic Room that I enjoyed.
One thing that didn’t work for me at all was the choice of music at the beginning and end of the film. The tone or feeling that the music evokes felt completely wrong. I would have expected something dark and sombre. The whole music video montage at the end of the film felt unnecessary, like it was pasted on during final editing. It’s possible that I saw a working print of the film and it still isn’t finished.
Despite the ending, I enjoyed In Her Skin which had its North American premiere at OzFlix in Toronto. I would love to know how it is received in Australia once it is released.
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Posted in OzFlix at 8:56 PM | Comments (14)
Cactus
Cactus (2008). Written and directed by Jasmine Yuen Carrucan
Questions abound in this low-budget road movie that takes place in the Australian outback. John Kelly (Travis McMahon) is in desperate need of some money so he takes a job which involves the kidnapping of a professional gambler, Eli Jones (David Lyons). John must deliver Eli to someone in the middle of the outback by following meticulous directions and instructions. Along the way a policeman (Bryan Bell) becomes involved and things get more confusing.
Very little back story is revealed which makes the film exciting yet frustrating. By the end of this journey your patience may wear thin. Like an episode of the TV show Lost, you’ll have more questions than answers.
Cactus is Carrucan’s first outing as a writer and director. With little to no budget, she has made a decent film. It’s beautifully shot and the acting is competent. Unfortunately she left me in the outback without a map and I’m still trying to figure out why the film is called Cactus.
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Cactus - Official Film Site.
Posted in OzFlix at 11:41 PM | Comments (1)
Not Quite Hollywood
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008). Directed by Mark Hartley.
This is a fast-paced documentary about Australia’s “Ozploitation” films of the 1970s and early ‘80s. It’s a celebration of the forgotten action movies, sex comedies and horror films that could never have been made in Hollywood.
Interviews with Quentin Tarantino, Dennis Hopper and Jamie Lee Curtis will pique the curiosity of North American audiences. An endless number of clips accompany the interviews. After 90 minutes you’ll understand why films such as Saw, Wolf Creek and even Death Proof are inspired by some of the Ozploitation films.
In The Man From Hong Kong George Lazenby was set on fire because a stunt double wouldn’t look as convincing. Of course, Lazenby was burned performing this stunt and he became so angry that he punched the director.
While making the horror film Thirst, Henry Silva refused to hang out of real helicopter. The director found a crane and told Silva that they would suspend him only a few feet off the ground and fake the shot. Once filming started the crane was raised 70 feet into the air with Silva hanging on for dear life.
If you love film then I think you’ll find this documentary to be very entertaining. The opening title sequence and production value are top notch and you’ll be amazed at some of the stories that come out of the interviews.
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Not Quite Hollywood - Official Film Site.
Posted in OzFlix at 3:16 PM | Comments (0)
Three Blind Mice
Three Blind Mice (2008). Directed by Matthew Newton.
Three naval officers go on a 24-hour shore-leave in Sydney. Before they ship out for Iraq they plan to have a night on the town. There’s an uneasy tension in each of the officers that grows as the night wears on and the film peels back the layers of their characters. By the end of the night we have a much different understanding of these men and their friendship.
In addition to writing and directing, Matthew Newton plays Harry, one of the three sailors. He’s a chatty, charming version of Vince Vaughan and a lot of fun to watch. The writing is snappy and all of the performances are quite believable.
The film is low-budget and reminded me a lot of Swingers. Forget the fancy crane shots, special effects and sweeping score, this film is all dialogue. So if you enjoy films such as Smoke that rely heavily on writing then you’ll appreciate what Three Blind Mice has to offer from Down Under.
Three Blind Mice screened at TIFF’08 but I was unable to see it then. At the time of this review it still hasn’t found a distributor so I feel lucky to have seen it at OzFlix. If you’re in Scotland you can screen Three Blind Mice on February 16 at The Glasgow Film Festival.
½
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Posted in OzFlix at 2:54 PM | Comments (0)
Michael Levin Photography
I find Michael Levin’s black and white photographs to be quite stunning. Many of his photos are long exposures that are carefully framed creating simplified landscapes.
Posted in Photography at 12:17 AM | Comments (0)
OzFlix: Australian Film Weekend 2009
I’m planning to see these films:
- Three Blind Mice
- Not Quite Hollywood
- Cactus
- In Her Skin
If you can’t wait for Hot Docs or the Toronto International Film Festival then OzFlix is the perfect way for a film lover to spend a weekend in February.
Visit the OzFlix website for information on tickets and movie times.
Posted in OzFlix at 8:10 PM | Comments (0)
How To Get An OHIP Card in 5 Minutes
I needed to get my Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) card renewed in a hurry. Ten years ago my card expired, then I moved and just never bothered to get a new card.
For ten years I was healthy and never needed to use OHIP until a few weeks ago. I sprained my knee while playing hockey. I couldn’t see my doctor or get an X-ray until my health card was renewed.
Here is how I renewed my health card in under 5 minutes:
- Visit your local OHIP office during a snow storm. If you make it to the OHIP office the lineups will be very short!
- Enter the OHIP office on crutches and you probably won’t have to take a number. The woman behind the counter took pity on me and sent me to the front of the line.
- Make sure you have a valid driver’s license and proof of your current address (car insurance, phone bill, etc.)
Before you know it, you’ll be walking or limping out of the OHIP office with a temporary card that is valid for doctor and hospital visits.
Posted in Observations at 8:03 PM | Comments (2)
Mr. West Has Style
Kanye West and his entourage are a stylin’ bunch. View larger photo.
(Via kottke).
Posted in Music and Photography at 3:31 PM | Comments (2)
Is Rogers’ Monthly Usage Allowance Enough Bandwidth?
Three years ago I wrote about Rogers’ bandwidth limit of 60 GB per month and people are still angry and commenting about it.
Rogers refers to bandwidth limits as the nicer sounding usage allowance. But is 60 GB per month enough? It’s 2009 and people are using more bandwidth than ever before.
Usage Allowance is Good
Usage allowance is good for Rogers. Their website makes it sound like imposing bandwidth limits is a good thing for their customers:
To continue to meet your needs for speed, reliability and continuous improvements to the network, each of our service options now includes a usage allowance.
Imposing monthly usage allowances on Internet services lets Rogers charge their customers more money in the form of expensive plans (95 GB per month for $54.95) or usage penalties — if you use more bandwidth than your service plan allows you are billed for the additional bandwidth.
You Don’t Really Need More Than 60 GB Do You?
According to Rogers’ website, with a 60 GB allowance you can:
- download 15 movies
- play online games for 2,000 hours (83 days)
- download 15,400 songs
If 60 GB of bandwidth isn’t enough you can upgrade to a 95 GB allowance plan that allows you to:
- download 24 movies
- play online games for 3,000 hours (133 days)
- download 24,300 songs
It seems like 60 GB would be enough for most people according to Rogers’ research but a quick glance at the comments from my earlier entry indicates that 60 GB isn’t enough bandwidth for a lot of people.
I’ve never gone over my 60 GB limit and I would describe myself as a moderate to heavy web user. I use my home Internet service for my business and I’m online all day long. There are 3 other people in my house that are online at various times and I still haven’t hit the 60 GB limit. Maybe my situation is unique. For all I know I fit the profile of the average Internet user.
If you were to put a limit on your bandwidth, what would it be? Do you use more than 60 GB per month on a regular basis?
Posted in Technology and Web at 4:34 PM | Comments (17)
Jury Duty and Financial Hardship
Yesterday Jordana Huber of Canwest News Service did a telephone interview with me for a piece in today’s National Post newspaper — Economy could deal blow to jury duty. I’m quote a couple of times to give my perspective on jury duty as a self-employed person.
Back in October I blogged about my jury duty experience: How to get out of jury duty. For some, jury duty could be a disaster and affect their livelihood. With the state of the current economy I would be worried if I was selected again.
If you get a chance, turn to page 6 in today’s National Post or read the story online.
Posted in News and Web at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)
Facebook Demographics
Who knew that Fastest Growing Demographic on Facebook: Women Over 55 or that teenagers make up only 12% of all Facebook users? Surprising.
Posted in at 10:31 PM | Comments (1)
Creating Blocks of Time Without Interruptions
I just listened to Merlin Mann’s latest podcast: Gangs, Constraints, and Courageous Blocks. If you struggle with to-do lists, drown in email and hate phone interruptions then you might want to take 10 minutes to listen to what Merlin has to say which is:
Learn how ganging and constraints can help you create the blocks of time you need to devote 100% of your attention to making your best work.
Posted in Observations at 8:53 PM | Comments (2)
Dumpster Diving North Of Toronto
Cory Doctorow wrote an article for Wired magazine called Dumpster Diving back in 1997. This story caught my eye because the dumpster diving was taking place in Markham, Ontario where a lot of Canadian corporate head offices are located.
A lot valuable garbage gets thrown out that dumpster divers like Darren Atkinson turn into cash. Doctorow wrote an update to this story for Forbes.com —Â It’s Just Garbage. Ten years later, Atkinson is still pulling computer chips and monitors out of the trash as a full-time job.
One of the most interesting things about this story is that none of these high-tech corporations recycle anything! A lot of materials that could be recycled go straight into the dump. Why do residents in Toronto have to recycle their garbage and when corporations could care less what gets dumped into the landfill?
Posted in Observations and Web at 8:13 PM | Comments (0)
