Lewis Bostock's Movie Blog

My John Waters Marathon, Part 1 of Many

2012-02-02T14:00:00.000+13:00

If I was ever asked to make a list of my favourite directors of all time, the name John Waters would be right up the top of the list. In the interests of rediscovering why I love this man so much, I've decided to rewatch his entire filmography, in no particular order, and will report my findings in this regular and totally filthy feature.

John Waters

John Waters: This Filthy World

When John Waters brought his stand-up comedy routine to Auckland city, I missed out. I was crushed. This live-recording more than made up for it though giving us tremendous insight into the filthy, and yet, charming mind of a true maverick.

This Filthy World might not be the best stand-up in the world, but it's rich with anecdotes that are both funny and bizarre. What his frequent collaborator Divine used to get up to in their early filmmaking career is just hilarious. "When we reenacted the Kennedy assassination, Divine played Jackie, but when his mother found his bloodied pink suit, he was so nervous he said I AM JACKIE KENNEDY!"

John Waters | This Filthy World

John Waters is a twisted Richard Attenborough. He pursues his obsessions with an unapologetic, active curiosity such as sitting in on Patricia Hearst's trial. He returns from the wild to report his findings with great enthusiasm. I challenge you to find somebody who can talk about "anal blossoms" with equal relish.

He makes filth so accessible for the mainstream though with a unique, observational humour. Sure, he will always be outside of the mainstream and will forever retain a cult status, but it's also his delightful, non-threatening quality that makes him so accessible - even though he admits to looking like a child molester.

The bit about Michael Jackson's burn unit had me in hysterics. When my flatmates got home from work, I made them all watch it, just to see their faces screw up in laughter at the mention of MJ's "watery load."

Young Adult, Review

2012-02-01T16:35:00.000+13:00

With its lack of zingers and a dour, measured approach, does Young Adult signal the end of a Diablo Cody I know and love?

There was a huge backlash to the enormous success of Juno, Diablo Cody's debut as screenwriter. Too many found Cody's dialogue unbearably cute and stylized. They cite the opening scene of Juno (between Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson) as hard to sit through because every line sounds like it came straight out of a snarkyblog, but rather than forgive this as a rookie mistake, many have called her undeserving of the Oscar and all the success that followed.

Diablo Cody | Oscar Winner

I've never had a problem with her dialogue. In fact, it's one of the reasons why I love her work. With Young Adult, we see Diablo Cody lose her schtick. While this may win over Cody's detractors, it totally subverted my expectations and felt as though Cody had started listening to her own critics. I would argue that her TV show United States of Tara was a marker of her growth as a screenwriter while remaining true to her voice; you can have your cake and eat it too.

Upon a second viewing though, I could appreciate Young Adult for the good film that it is. In a phenomenal performance, Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a ghost-writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown in an attempt to reclaim her (now happily married) high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson), during her stay, she forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Patton Oswalt) who is still struggling with the pain of his own high school experience.

The plot of Young Adult is like a conventional romantic comedy with a truly unlikable character at its centre, whom it never expects us to root for. This is refreshing for a film released in the same year as What's Your Number where Anna Faris pursued her love interest with the same level of insanity as Theron pursues hers, but Young Adult asks us, what if the romantic heroine was truly pathetic and fucked up? Without spoiling too much, it all builds to a scene where we are uncertain of who exactly is pity-fucking who, I've never seen that in a film before.

Charlize Theron | Young Adult

The film is worth seeing for Diablo Cody's writing, of course, but for Charlize Theron too. Her performance is subtle but an utterly convincing portrait of arrested adolescence. It was too confronting for Oscar, who didn't nominate Theron for another shot at Best Actress, but she's worthy of all the acclaim nonetheless. Her brutal delivery of the line "No, you're good here" in the film's final scene killed me. I don't suppose we will get a romantic heroine like Theron's anytime soon, and for that I'm grateful to Diablo Cody, who hasn't lost her edge.

Armageddon: Pop Culture Expo Relocates to Tron

2012-01-31T17:00:00.000+13:00

In one hell of a risky move, the pop culture expo Armageddon will relocate to Hamilton, the City of the Future with the Claudelands Event Centre playing host.

I say risky because moving away from Auckland, an obvious cultural centre, with the volumes of people needed to attract and sustain an event like Armageddon, is risky, but we should all support it and love Armageddon all the same.

The move will be a good excuse for us geeks, gamers and film fans to head out of Auckland city on the weekend of 14th-15th of April, I'll certainly be heading down.

Event Director Bill Geradts says he's thrilled to be bringing the expo to the city. "We've waited a long time to bring Armageddon to Hamilton, and we've got some cult icons from the small and big screens coming to be part of it," said Geradts.

This year boasts a strong line-up of stars of the big and small screen, but Twilight fans will be excited. Wolf pack duo Tinsel Korey (Emily) and Bronson Pelletier (Jared), along with Volturi vampire (Demitri) Charlie Bewley will all be there.

(I should disclose that I have worked for the PR agency responsible for publicity of Armageddon, however, I have not been paid to write this blog post nor do my opinions reflect those of my employers. I just genuinely love Armageddon.)

To quote from the official press release:

From it's inception in 1995, the Armageddon Expo has grown to become the largest fantasy event in Australasia. With shows in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Melbourne and now Hamilton it's clear to see the Armageddon Expo continues to embody the ever growing pulp culture phenomenon.

"Armageddon is a real melting pot of Twilighters, anime enthusiasts, comic collectors, Transformers fans and cult tv show devotees all mixed in and generally having a fantastic weekend" says Event Director Bill Geradts. "We see trends come and go, but with ongoing rise of festivals like ours, being considered a 'geek' is now more acceptable than ever - it's even considered to be pretty 'mainstream' and cool!" says Bill.

2012 SAG Awards: The Help Wins Big

2012-01-30T18:24:00.000+13:00

In what was otherwise a dull show, the Screen Actors Guild awards gave us plenty to talk about in its last 20 minutes. Viola Davis beat Meryl Streep, Jean Dujardin beat George Clooney and the ensemble cast of the Help won for their wonderful performances. What this reveals is that the actors branch (who make up an overwhelming number in The Academy) love The Help. This won't translate into a Best Picture win however as the film failed to get a Best Director and Best Screenplay nomination, but it *fingers crossed* means a Best Actress win for Viola Davis, making her the second African American woman ever to win Oscar gold.

It's incredible to me that Halle Berry was the first (and at the time of this writing, the only) black woman to win Best Actress, and that was ten years ago now. The Academy has such a stain of racism on its history and Viola Davis is the actor to right so many wrongs.

The ensemble cast of The Help

We nearly went the whole running without The Artist winning something, but then, the film's star Jean Dujardin won the actor and struggled to get through his acceptance speech. English is not his second language, but he stars in a silent film so it doesn't matter. Today was a great day for eyebrow acting.

It was the repetitive nature of the awards, particularly in the TV categories that made this a real awards show dud. The sixth consecutive win for Alec Baldwin. That's enough already. The consecutive wins for Betty White, Kate Winslet, Modern Family and even Boardwalk Empire proved (once again) that this is a popularity contest. Granted, that there are lots of great actors in the Boardwalk Empire cast, but you know it should've gone to the Breaking Bad cast.

The cast of Modern Family are so certain of winning now that they've taken to performing bits at the podium. At the Golden Globes. Now, the SAG awards. Both times the actors have been "in character" when they've accepted awards. The misguided attempt to take the resentment off their predictable wins ends up cringeworthy. No matter how tiresome the awards show gets, I'll always appreciate Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer for their gracious speeches.

The Martin Scorsese Drinking Game

In an effort to liven up the proceedings, Bridesmaids stars Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy introduced us to their favourite drinking game. Whenever somebody mentions Martin Scorsese on set or during awards shows, drink! It was actually funny, but resulted in a very awkward cutaway to Malcolm McDowell screaming at his wife. The drinking gag was then repeated by Tina Fey when she downed Steve Buscemi's wine at his mention of Martin Scorsese - injecting a bit of life into his otherwise dull acceptance speech.

The most adorable moment came when veteran Dick Van Dyke took the stage. All the actors stood up in rapturous applause. He was so utterly charming in response and said over and over again "Oh, please. I'm just the presenter! I'm just the presenter!" He was there to present Mary Tyler Moore a lifetime achievement award. A consummate entertainer. I couldn't help feel inspired during as I wasn't too familiar with all the nuances of her phenomenally successful career.

I Heart Lana Del Rey

2012-01-29T21:51:00.000+13:00

I don’t care that she ‘betrayed’ fans by reinventing her image, totally bombed on SNL or is said to be overhyped and overrated. I love her.

Lana Del Rey | Blue Jeans

Everything about Del Rey is a reference to Hollywood. She took her stage name from 40s actress Lana Turner. She cut her look from retro magazines. And describes her sound as "Hollywood Sadcore." Her music videos are made up of lip-syncs to web cam, where she channels classic Hollywood ingenues, and a montage of vintage film clips, which together with her vocals turn Los Angeles into a haunting, dreamscape where Hollywood functions as a "dream factory" but in reality is a harsh, killer of dreams. David Lynch loves Lana Del Rey, I bet.

Lana Del Rey has earned her haters though. After it was discovered that singer/songwriter Lizzi Grant had reinvented herself, and transformed into Lana Del Rey, an overwhelming number were quick to resent her new found success and accused her of being a "sellout" because she "injected collagen into her lips" like it was totally unusual for a music star to reinvent themselves. The backlash was chronicled in detail in an wonderfully-written piece in The Guardian where writer Paul Harris defended Del Rey saying "all the greats have done it."

What I Watched This Week

2012-01-28T20:08:00.000+13:00

1. The Artist
The silent film destined to win Best Picture. I'm certain it will win. I've never been more certain about anything in my entire life. Too light hearted for me, but I liked it. How could you not? It's charm and likability is so disarming, you can't help but go with it. Unfortunately, it's also a trifle that won't hold up to repeat viewings nor will it stand the test of time.

Jean Dujardin & Berenice Bejo | The Artist

2. The Descendants
Criminally overrated. Nowhere near the greatness of Alexander Payne's About Schmidt, but enjoyable. This, for the record, is not Clooney's best role. He's good not great. Too many moments took me out of the film, but a setting unfamiliar to audiences, Hawaii, gave it something extra. I thought Shailene Woodley was a revelation and I would recommend the film for her alone.

3. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The problem with Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy is that the film is an incomprehensible mess but it has too many redeemable features for me to completely write it off. The production design and ensemble cast are superb, but if you can't figure out what the fuck is going on, what does it matter?

4. Win Win
This was a simple, well written and well directed story, no actually, fable. This is a fable. This is about doing what's right and wrong in the attempt to make a buck. Every moment rang true for me with the ensemble cast giving us such terrific and rich performances. Paul Giamatti in particular is wonderful, and Amy Ryan as the moral compass of the film, so good.

Rooney Mara Evil Genius

2012-01-26T18:30:00.000+13:00

Tonight I finally watched The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I loved it. Rooney Mara is incredible. Totally worthy of her Oscar nomination. Move over, Tilda Swinton.

Without getting into a comparison between this and its original Swedish language version, haven't read the books or seen the films. Fincher's remake was my first intro to this pulpy story. For the record, I don't particularly care to "study up."

Rooney Mara | The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

It pisses me off when I hear people say this was a "paint by numbers" exercise because it takes so much talent to do what Mara does here.

In the film she plays Lisbeth Salander, a kickass anti-heroine with a gollum physique and a traumatic past. She is incredibly good at what she does. Victimized, vengeful, vulnerable. Together with Fincher, Mara has made this character a cinematic icon, a character to be worshiped.

For the most passionate response to the character and Rooney Mara's performance, look no further than Sasha Stone's review of The Girl With The Dragon Tatttoo.

As realized here by Rooney Mara, Salander seems only part human. She’s done what she can with what little of her there is but she’s hardly there – a streak of black ink across the cold, geometric blondes of Sweden. Black hair reaching down in harsh shards over eyes, which beam out strangely like the lonely predatory eyes of owls, pinning what they want through the dark. Her skin has been stitched, tattooed, bruised, sucked, clawed at, beaten, punched, kissed. She wears the traces of those disassociating sensations like she wears tattoos – they can seduce or intimidate, depending on what she wants or needs. But she learned early on that need was not a useful emotion so it got buried. She trusts no one. She makes up her own rules as she goes along and can find out anything about anyone — Salander can penetrate every layer.

Rooney Mara is not a good movie star in the sense that she doesn't show any flare for the press except for a general demeanor that's a cry for help. "Get me outta here" her attitude suggests, like a signal from a flare gun.

The pain of having to deal with questions about the piercings, the tattoos - and men, like Letterman, who constantly underestimate you, manifests itself in interviews as cool, aloof and borderline arrogant. She is still in character it seems.

What her attitude expresses to me is total confidence. There was no doubt in her mind when she decided to tackle the role, and then, never wavered when the role demanded so much from her. She's really saying "I got this."

2012 Academy Award Nominations: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2012-01-25T12:48:00.000+13:00

Here they are, the 2012 Academy Award noms – with a whopping 12 noms for Hugo and 11 nominations for The Artist, the two films that are love letters to cinema lead the awards race. For a full list of nominees, click here.

(While I haven't seen The Artist at the time of this writing. I will see it tonight at a press screening as the film hasn't been released here in New Zealand.)

Who will receive Hollywood's most coveted statue?

The Good
Today is a good day for fatties with Melissa McCarthy nominated for her breakthrough performance in Bridesmaids, and ex-fatties, with Jonah Hill for his turn in Moneyball, both of which are progressive and unconventional choices.

Great to see The Tree of Life receive well deserved honours in Best Director and Best Cinematography, but Best Picture too! When so many had expected it to fall out altogether, the film was cheered on by critics at last minute.

I want to give Christopher Plummer a big hug.

Wonderful to see Hugo do so well across the board. It shows formiddable strength in all the technical categories and will be "the film to beat" in Art Direction, Costume Design, Visual Effects, Sound Editing & Sound Mixing.

The name Bret McKenzie soon rose to the top as a local trending topic on Twitter when kiwis were overjoyed to see him nominated for his hilarious Man or a Muppet song. With such weak competition, this has to be a guaranteed win for him also.

Nothing for you, J. Edgar.

The gorgeous Jennifer Lawrence announces Best Picture noms.

The Bad
Disappointed to see Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy lose an Art Direction nomination when its design is the best thing about that incomprehensible mess. Talk about pissed off as those filmmakers tried to art-direct their way to a good movie.

The fans of Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton will be disappointed to see their critically acclaimed performances passed over for Demian Bichir and Rooney Mara.

When Albert Brooks and Patton Oswalt learned of their snubs, it led to this exchange. Kenneth Branagh can go suck a fuck. The honour is wasted on him.

War Horse.

The Ugly
Not only was it criminally insane to not award David Fincher or The Social Network last year, The Academy continue to insult this incredible director by snubbing him once again, even after he beat Steven Spielberg to a DGA nomination.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close for Best Picture. Many Oscar pundits are suggesting its nomination is a fault of the new voting system while others cite its stand up and cheer Academy screening as an explanation. Still, it has to be the worst-reviewed Best Picture nominee in memory.

Diablo Cody Loses Her Schtick

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000+13:00

Despite the phenomenal success of Diablo Cody's debut as screenwriter, Juno came with a huge backlash. Too many find her dialogue unbearably cute and stylized.

The opening scene of Juno (between Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson) in particular is hard to sit through with every line sounding like it came straight from a snarky blog. Rather than forgive this as a rookie mistake, many have called her undeserving of the Oscar and all the success.

Charlize Theron | Young Adult

With Young Adult, we see Diablo Cody mature as a writer as she explores themes of maturity. Together with Charlize Theron, Cody has given us a truly unlikable character in what is actually a conventional romantic comedy. The difference here though is that it judges the heroine harshly for being truly pathetic and fucked up.

This is refreshing in a year which brought us What's Your Number where Anna Faris pursued her love interest with the same level of insanity as Theron only Faris has the gaul to expect us to root for her.

Young Adult is missing zingers though. While this may win over Cody's detractors, I thought it needed more of her signature sass.

What is missing from the screenplay Charlize Theron makes up for in performance. Excuse the cliche but if looks could kill, well, Theron is deadly but some scenes struggled to find its mean streak.

I'm all for a screenwriter becoming more matured and more measured moving forward but this was neutered.

It felt as though the writer had started listening to her own critics.

What the hell is going on out there in film wonderland?

2012-01-23T00:21:00.000+13:00

It certainly has been a tumultuous week. I don't even know where to start with all the film industry related havoc. Hell has been raised.

Hollywood's lobbying efforts failed to result in anti-piracy legislation SOPA passing in the US congress. It turns out that in the face of swift internet backlash and protest, some politicians don't stay bought.

Hollywood mounted a large sting operation against Megaupload, one of the world's largest file-sharing sites, its founder Kim Dotcom arrested in Auckland, and several company executives charged with violating piracy laws, as TV3 reported.

In a profile on its founder, Kim Dotcom, TV3 journalist James Murray said “Dotcom is a colourful character to say the least” with stories of his extravagant lifestyle and checkered past. This dude is so seedy.

It doesn't matter what your ethical stance on piracy is. It doesn't matter which way you look at it. Hollywood needs a villain. You know Dotcom will be used by the lobbyists as "the villain made rich by enabling piracy" in the PR war.

But, if US authorities can use our extradition laws and get our local police to do their bidding, what the hell do they need SOPA for?

Still from anti-piracy ad.

Meanwhile, the sequel to the heavily pirated Sione's Wedding was released. The first film was so famously pirated in fact that it led to anti-piracy ads with Our Tem and a seedy bogan trying to flog Sione's from the back of his car.

The premiere of Sione's 2 led to a news story about the anti-piracy measures Paramount Pictures was going to by forcing cinema-goers to surrender their cellphones at the door, a practice which isn't unusual at advanced screenings. In spite of the threat of piracy, it didn't stop the film from beating Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy to the number one spot earning $723,092 at the local box office.

The poor reviews didn't stop kiwis from paying to see the film either. In a heartfelt piece, film critic Dom Corry articulated what I'm sure many have felt for years as the "critic's conundrum" when it comes to reviewing local films. Here South Pacific Pictures executive John Barnett and Academy Cinemas proprietor John Davies weighed in with their comments, in response to Corry.

The week's events also pitted local distributors and net neutrality advocates against each other. It all started when (in a story relating to Megaupload) Internet NZ's chief executive Vikram Kumar was quoted as saying:

"Hollywood has made up its mind to give it to us six months or two years late. It isn't available to us quickly, legally or at an economic cost" as a reason for rampant film piracy.

The Motion Picture Distributors' Association of New Zealand then issued a press release, in response to Kumar, which nobody can seem to find?

They took issue with his statements saying that:

"For movies that grossed over $1 million at the NZ box office in 2011, the average delay between the US cinema release and the NZ release was 16 days. 44 percent of the films were released in NZ before the US, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn."

The Motion Picture Distributors' Association of New Zealand spokesman Robert Crockett then appeared on the homegrown Cinematica podcast to explain his position but host Dan Slevin remained skeptical about his claims.

This spurred on a big discussion between Dan Slevin, Hugh Lilly, Doug Dillaman and myself on Twitter about the 16 day average.

Eventually Mike Dickson released a collaborative Google Spreadsheet which anyone can update so we may find out exactly how long kiwis have to wait for movies compared to overseas release dates.

It's a mad, mad world.

And Now For Something Completely Different

2012-01-22T10:00:00.000+13:00

This week the guys at Biggie asked me to write about an Xbox game. I was a little hesitant, having never written about video games before, but decided to give it a go. My first attempt is a review of Dance Party Central 2.

Next in the motion-controlled dance game fad is Dance Central 2, the latest from game developers Harmonix, but just because they’re following a fad doesn’t make it any less fun. Dance Central 2 is sure to be a hit at any friendly get-together or boozy house party.

Dance Central 2 | Xbox

Here’s a game that destroys the perception that video games are a solo, sedentary pursuit with an experience that will get anyone off their arse. You may have seen demos of the game in mega malls all over New Zealand. A half-decent solo player will soon draw a small crowd. People can’t help but stop and have a go in public. This shows us the popular appeal of the dance game. We all love dancing. And those of us with a body that doesn’t necessarily lend itself to dancing have a go anyway. It was a thorough workout that made me sweat like a farm animal, but way better than the gym. I loved it.

Like the first game, Dance Central 2 tasks you to mimick an on-screen dancer and a basic routine. The challenge is to dance and follow cue cards that slide up the side of the screen depicting moves, so you have a rough idea of what to do next. The game often asks you to do a move 2-3 times using one side of your body, then asks you to repeat the move with the other side, but making sure that every move accurately mimics the dancer to score the maximum points. The storyline - about using dance to take down a villain - is silly and needless, the songs are more important.

While Singstar Dance leaned towards a girl-friendly mix of Eighties and Naughties pop songs, Dance Central 2 has a songlist that is almost exclusively hip hop. The game comes with 44 songs ranging from the talent of Usher, Rihanna and Justin Bieber to the ‘talent’ of Chingy, B.O.B and O-Zone. The use of Flo Rida’s Can’t Handle Me is a reference to Step Up 3D, revealing to us exactly who this game is for. The one Donna Summer song is odd, but the two Lady Gaga songs are much appreciated. This might not be your mother’s dance game, but if you have cool young dude in the family, it will be a hit.

The game developers at Harmonix, who have already banked the enormous success of Rock Band, have proven once again that they can deliver a fun, energetic game experience. Solo play is fine, but the game is made for battle mode! A great addition is Break it Down mode, giving you the freedom to perfect a routine in any difficulty level before moving on to Perform It mode. A cool feature is freestyle, during gameplay, you’re asked to perform any move from the routine, which is then repeated in flashy video playback seamlessly with the song.

The on-screen dancers feel a little too designed and awkwardly rendered. Their movements are quirky and sometimes tricky to follow. In Singstar Dance for example, the dancers accurately reflect a real person, but these dancers are garish caricatures. The real winner though is the superior Xbox Kinect technology, which doesn’t require the annoying glow sticks of the Playstation Move, “you are the controller” as they say.

There's Something About Doubt

2012-01-21T11:00:00.000+13:00

There's something about Doubt that makes my circle of friends quote the film incessantly. It is slightly inappropriate however as the film is about the suspicion of pedophilia in a Catholic school, but bear with me.

Meryl Streep & Philip Seymour Hoffman | Doubt

Doubt has a campy quality that has largely gone unnoticed. While it is also about the danger of certainty, the enjoyment comes from watching actors (at the peak of their powers) scream at each other. Some of the lines are so ridiculous, they're hard not to quote. "Tell Sister Raymond to wash her neck!" "I like Frosty the Snowman!" "Penmanship is dying all across this country!"

What's so brilliant about Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman is that they know exactly how to camp it up without falling into the absurd and doing a disservice to the sensitive material. It is only freaks (like me) who find the camp in their line readings. The film has the illusion of a prestige picture but the theatrical nature of the performances make it hard to take seriously.

The Doubt Party Game

What's even more fun is watching the film with a group of friends. Everyone must be divided into teams. Team Aloysius vs. Team Flynn. Each team must wear the appropriate costume. Habits for Team Aloysius. Robes for Team Flynn. Some kind of drinking game must be involved. Drink! Everytime there's a clap of thunder or a gust of wind. We even entertained the possibility of printing some tee shirts with either Team Flynn or Team Aloysius on the back.

Movies in Parks: Free Movie Screenings in Parks Auckland-Wide

2012-01-21T07:00:00.000+13:00

Movies in Parks | Takapuna

Over the summer, Auckland Council is sponsoring a series of free screenings in parks all over the city. This will be the fifth consecutive year for Movies in Parks promising some excellent movies in some excellent parks once again.

Visual epics Avatar and Inception, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, last year's Oscar rivals The King's Speech and The Social Network are among the films to be screened in parks on both sides of the bridge and as far reaching as Orewa.

Under the Taste of Kiwi section, Movies in Parks also boasts a good selection of homegrown films including World's Fastest Indian, Billy T: Te Movie, The Orator, My Wedding and Other Secrets, Sione's Wedding, Tracker and Boy.

Movies in Parks is a good way of showing off our cultural heritage, showing off our beautiful parks in a family-friendly environment. We should all support it.

Auckland Council have also set up a hotline 09 373 6191 for movie-goers to check if the movie will proceed in the event of rain or bad weather. Good idea to double check, as you all know, this summer has been so rainy.

The Death of Internet Freedom in the Name of Anti-Piracy

2012-01-20T13:00:00.000+13:00

US lawmakers have backed off support of SOPA, the wildly unpopular Stop Online Piracy bill amid "blackout" protests on high profile sites. Please read this article to fully understand this awful bill.

Today is a good day for internet freedom. It's hard to celebrate when a "guilt upon accusation" law (where an individual can be prosecuted without a court appearance if they are merely suspected of downloading copyrighted material) passed here in New Zealand last year.

I'm against SOPA and similar legislation because it threatens my livelihood. It gives corporations vigilante power to strangle websites I rely on. It could stop me from linking-to content freely. It serves corporate interests not my interests.

It has been frustrating to watch two mega-industries Hollywood and Silicon Valley pitted against each other (over SOPA) when each is vitally important to the others survival. I love Hollywood. I love Silicon Valley. This is like two parents fighting.

Hollywood has an industry-wide attitude problem that's creating a love/hate tension between us. "I'm as mad as hell, Hollywood. I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

Hollywood doesn't understand that the cost of piracy is outweighed by the freedom of the internet. Their lobbying effort, by the MPAA especially, smells of an industry that prefers a world where the internet doesn't exist. (This is naive on my part, Hollywood doesn't need to feel all warm and fuzzy about the internet, they're not idealists, they're a big, behemoth business.)
Hollywood doesn't understand that convenience is an addiction. If only they created a legal way of downloading movies that was convenient and fairly priced, it wouldn't just protect internet freedom but the vast majority of pirates would stop using sites that SOPA tried to destroy.
It pains me. It pains me that Hollywood are trying to fix a business model with legislation without fully understanding the technology industry which that legislation would affect and radically alter for the worst.

HBO Won't Leave Chris Crocker Alone

2012-01-19T10:30:00.000+13:00

HBO announced that they have bought the US broadcast rights for Me @ The Zoo, about Chris Crocker, the infamous video blogger of "Leave Britney Alone" fame. The documentary will also screen at the Sundance film festival later this month.

Chris Crocker | Me @ The Zoo

Chris Crocker became famous during the height of the paparazzi's obsession with Britney Spears, in 2007, when Crocker made an impassioned plea for the press to Leave Britney Alone on his YouTube channel.

Judging by the trailer, directors Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch have set out to explore the phenomenon of internet celebrity, video-sharing and social media storytelling. The title is a reference to the first video ever uploaded to YouTube.

What's so fascinating about this story, is that the story continues even beyond the documentary, as Chris Crocker still regularly posts videos to YouTube, his latest video, is a reaction to news of the HBO distribution deal.

Chris Crocker has always been an endless source of curiosity and fascination for me. After Leave Britney Alone, he tried to prove, using various social profiles that there's more to him than the butt of late-night TV jokes.

His Twitter bio once read "Trying so hard not to be the person I never was."

To keep up with Chris Crocker online is to find his campy pop songs, sexually explicit photos and rumours of a hotly anticipated debut in adult entertainment.

This Week in Gabourey Sidibe, Week 3 of 3

2012-01-19T10:00:00.000+13:00

Remember when Gabourey Sidibe had a starring role in Foster the People's music video for Don't Stop? This was released back in December, but I discovered it during research for this regular feature. *chuckles. Sidibe plays a driving student, who is held hostage by a dude on-the-run, but become his getaway driver and during a high-speed police car chase, they fall in love.

Also, friends tell me that Gabourey Sidibe made an impromptu appearance on the Doug Loves Movies podcast when she showed up in the live studio audience. "What?! I love comedy" she replied when Doug singled her out during the recording.

#teammargaret

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000+13:00

I want to see Margaret, which was stuck, for literally, years in the editing room. The studio insisted that the director Kenneth Lonergan cut the whopping 180+ minute duration to something more commercially viable, but Longergan refused. Lawyers got involved. The film sat on the shelf for years unreleased. It was messy.

Eventually, Martin Scorsese and his longtime collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker finished a final cut of the film, which Lonergan approved.

In 2011, the film appeared in a handful of cinemas in the US and only ONE cinema in London, in what must have been the most limited release of all time.

Anna Paquin | Margaret

A funny thing happened around about the time critics formed an online petition begging the company, who released the film, to give it a push in the awards race, the #teammargaret hashtag also exploded on Twitter among movie bloggers. The goal was to get as many people as possible to seek out and see the film. The phenomenon was reported on in TIME and The New Yorker magazines resulting in over 600 signatures on the online petition.

Look, I'm writing about this, like, six weeks too late, but I would love to see more of this grass roots support online for films that desperately need to be seen, but don't have the financial support they need to find their audience.

How to Watch the Golden Globes (Without Really Watching)

2012-01-17T15:00:00.000+13:00

I asked my Mother to record the Golden Globes for me on Vibe. She only recorded the Red Carpet coverage on E. Mother fail.

Within a couple of Google searches though, it's possible to extract all that's good about the awards show without having to sit through it. The host tries to make the awards show not so boring and long, failing that, he will predictably make a joke about how the awards show is boring and long. I found more entertainment value looking through the internet coverage afterwards. Where else can you find Justin Bond, The Mistress of Shortbus tweeting throughout?

Ricky Gervais | Golden Globes 2012

Speaking of the host, Ricky Gervais, it was good to see him return. Last year he hurled insults at his employers and Hollywood's elite. He did exactly what he was hired to do. Crack jokes. The surrounding controversy was nothing more than when people who keep tigers as pets but complain when they bite. What made last year so effective though was that the people in the room weren't prepared for the "roasting" he gave them. This year, they were. It was weak.

What's so wonderful about the Golden Globes is that they truly are a meaningless accolade, unlike the Oscars. I maintain that the Oscars has an impact on careers and box office so they're not entirely meaningless. The Golden Globes don't even have an impact on the Oscars as ballots are due days before the ceremony.

What I like about the Golden Globes is that they're the ONLY televised award show to give their top prize to The Social Network, but let's not open old wounds.

It's also an opportunity to see people that I like win awards. My faves were Downton Abbey, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Plummer, George Clooney and of course Meryl Streep, not for her performance, but for her speech.

If you're ever in a situation where you've missed the Golden Globes or all your attempts to watch the awards shows have been ruined by your Mother, I've compiled a list of internet alternatives so you get the best without the rest.

1. The full list of nominees and winners are on IMDB.

2. You can watch Ricky Gervais' opening monologue on YouTube.

3. Gawker always picks out the best bits of the ceremony, like Meryl Streep's acceptance speech, these bits, this bit and this bit.

4. Pick out a few acerbic bloggers and read back over their tweets. My faves are @nathanielr, @mxjustinVbond and @joereid.

The Best Dressed

2012-01-17T11:30:00.000+13:00

Tilda Swinton | Golden Globes 2012

In a gown that is certain to divide fashion pundits, Tilda Swinton, for me, was the best dressed at the Golden Globes this year. This lavender, tuxedo dress is a perfect example of a woman who knows how to rock her androgynous look.

What I Watched This Week

2012-01-16T07:00:00.000+13:00

Have been going back and forth between the DVD store lately to pick up a few weeklies. You can get five weekly hires for ten bucks.

Without naming names, I made extra sure that all the DVDs were returned on time this week. It has recently come to my attention that my local DVD store sends debt collection letters to customers for late fees when they haven't visited the store in less than 3 months. 3 months! It's so short sighted. If you keep Baycorping customers, you won't have any customers.

Juliette Binoche | Certified Copy

1. Heathers
The classic 80s black comedy about what happens when high school politics turn violent. The early Mean Girls, if Cady murdered The Plastics and made their deaths look like suicides. This comedy is so black. In one scene, which would still be relevant today, Winona Ryder and Christian Slater kill two jocks but make it look they were a closeted gay couple in a suicide pact.

2. Certified Copy
I read one critic, can't remember the name, who said that watching this film was like "watching both halves of Blue Valentine at the same time." The mind games played by director Kiarostami are utterly absorbing and never boring. It will make your mind somersault with questions about perception, the nature of relationships and just objective reality in general.

3. Cedar Rapids
This isn't a great film, but with some fine character acting by Ed Helms, Anne Heche and Isiah Whitlock Jr, it's a perfectly acceptable watch on hangover Sunday. I feel like there's an insightful, Alexander Payne level dramedy about the American businessman in there somewhere but there was too much cheap slapstick and John C. Reilly hamming it up. Still, it worked.

4. Super
They say never review a film you didn't watch all the way though. I turned this film off after 45 minutes of suck. The film has a similar plot to Kick-Ass but without a lick of humour. Tonally, it's a mess. I was never sure how we were supposed to react to the violence. Sometimes it's played for laughs. Sometimes it's played for horror. I was too bored to care.

The Homoerotic Movie of the Year

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000+13:00

Albert & Joey | War Horse

Over at Indiewire, Peter Knegt has written a cheeky little piece about the homoeroticism in, wait for it, War Horse. Did anybody else see this coming? Steven Spielberg's old-fashioned, unabashedly sentimental Oscar bait turns out to be the homoerotic movie of the year. All the male soldiers have gay war buddies. Even the horses are intimate. I'll let Knegt detail how the movie is homoerotic, but here's one moment that stuck out to me.

First and foremost, War Horse himself—or “Joey,” as lead character Albert names him—is totally gay.

The only moment in the film that suggests Albert has any interest in girls is toward the beginning, when he races Joey against another boy in his town, who is riding in a fancy car with a girl. The girl pays much attention to Albert, though in the end Joey can't jump over a fence and thus Albert loses the race and her attention.

Years later, both Albert and the boy in the car are in the trenches together at war. Albert starts taking about the incident with the girl and the car..

"Who was that girl," he asks.

"There was a girl?," the other soldier responds, smiling.

Exactly.

The Tree of Life, Finally

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000+13:00

Brad Pitt | The Tree of Life

I don't know what to say about The Tree of Life that hasn't already been said. It took me awhile to catch up with the film. I missed it at festivals and at cinemas. If you think that makes me less of a film geek, to you I say, "Go fuck yourself."

Until the movie appeared on John Waters' fave movie of 2011 list (right alongside Justin Bieber's Never Say Never) where he described the film as "The best new age, heterosexual, Christian movie of the year." I couldn't resist it any longer and marked the film's Blu-ray release on my calendar.

Is it one of my fave films of the year too?

Yes.

Why 3D Was Invented

2012-01-11T22:58:00.000+13:00

It used to be in 3D movies that things fly off the screen and into your face. 3D was all about "pointy pointy pointy" gimmicks. Now filmmakers, with this illusion of depth and distance, want to make 3D movies an "immersive" experience.

In this new age of 3D movies, every so often, maybe once a year, a film like Journey 2: The Mysterious Island comes along to remind you that 3D is a fun gimmick. Last year it was the Piranha movie. In Journey though, there's plenty of giant insects, reptiles and electric eels to poke you in the eye but one scene involving Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson "poppin his pecks" is utterly absurd.

Josh Hutcherson & The Rock | Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

In the movie, Josh Hutcherson (reprising his role from Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which disposed of Brendan Fraser and replaced him with The Rock, as the boy's stepfather) partners with The Rock on a journey to an island. Along the way, they come across Vanessa Hudgens, who appears in the movie as a love interest for Hutcherson, but she's playing hard to get and rejects him.

Hutcherson turns to The Rock for advice on how to get the attention of a young woman. The secret to gaining, he demonstrates, is to pop one's pecks. What follows is an extended scene of The Rock twitching his man boobs. In a children's movie! The scene is played for laughs obviously, but in our cinema, there was only uncomfortable shifting as we were all forced to watch The Rock's sweaty chest muscles writhe and wriggle under his shirt.

What's worse though, this is where the 3D gimmickery comes in, The Rock asks Hutcherson to grab nearby berries to throw at his twitching chest so that the berries ricochet off. It's all very strange. All the while The Rock is "poppin his pecks" and insisting that this is the only way to impress a girl. With a look of sheer horror, Hutcherson refuses to throw berries at his chest. At which point, Luis Guzman throws the berries, they ricochet, fly off the screen and into our faces.

This is why 3D was invented.

Miss Bala Trailer

2012-01-11T00:21:00.000+13:00

I'm so excited to see Miss Bala after watching this crackling trailer. The film tells the story of a young woman desperately clinging to her dream of becoming a beauty queen in a Mexico dominated by organized crime.

What draws me to this is the juxtaposition (I hate that word juxtaposition, by the way, it's one of those lazy film student words) of beauty pageants and Mexican crime. I'm sure the thematic link between the images is explored more in the film.

When the names Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna as Executive Producers appeared on the screen, I giggled. To think of those two handsome devils from Y Tu Mama Tambien as executive anything is a stretch, but it's awesome that they are behind this film so it finds US distribution.

The song in the trailer is This Ain't No Hymn by Saint Saviour.

Everyone Hates The Devil Inside

2012-01-10T14:00:00.000+13:00

The Devil Inside

The big story today of course is The Devil Inside when it broke US box office records by yielding a totally unexpected $34.5 million over its opening weekend.

However the film it seems is universally reviled NOT just by critics evidenced by the low 7% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes BUT the great cinema-going public.

The film also received an F rating from Cinemascore, a film market research firm, which surveys "average movie goers" to forecast box office receipts. Other movies to receive an F rating are The Box, Wolf Creek, Bug, Darkness and Solaris.

There have been reports of boos and hisses in cinemas for what has been described as one the most contemptibly awful endings of all time, not to mention, general disgust for its crappy hack job of the Paranormal Activity franchise.

While Paramount spent $1 million to acquire the rights to distribute the film and spent more on marketing, it's still estimated that there will be a sizable profit despite the predictions of a 70% drop off in box office revenue next weekend.

All of this stirred internet discussion, basically, because the movie was marketed to the top of the box office when it has, apparently, no redeemable features.

Over at Badass Digest, Devin Faraci went as far to suggest that the studio, Paramount and its effective marketing strategy, was guilty of "conning" audiences.

Instead of creating the next money-printing Paranormal Activity franchise, Paramount pulled a short con. They tricked people into coming to the theater this weekend and then ran off home with all their money.

Our own Ant Timpson defended the studio and talked directly to the people on Twitter who actually attacked the cinema-going public for going to see the film!

Why all the anger towards audiences who went along to see a new horror film? They're jerks!?! It's called good marketing you dummies! It's like complaining at the funhouse that there aren't real ghosts. Just think it's naive of anyone to blame a major for making money.

My Top Ten Desert Island Films

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000+13:00

I was inspired to write this post after reading Salon's and @sakura_59 's posts of the same title. For me, a "desert island film" is a film you could not live without, is a film you could watch over and over again.

What's so wonderful about this hypothetical is that my "desert island films" are not just a splendid way of passing time while I endure harsh climates, hunger pains and the possibility of being stung by a venomous snake, but absolutely necessary for my survival. The ebullient charm of Nikki Blonski in Hairspray would lift my spirits. The cerebral puzzle of Mulholland Drive would keep me occupied.

If I was ever cast away on a desert island somewhere, it will probably be through some fault of my own, but let's hope I was crazy enough to pack a wonderful DVD collection in my suitcase. DVDs that could distract me from the task of foraging for rotten berries "they taste like burning" and experiencing some kind of Tom Hanks Wilson-style hallucination. In no particular order, here goes.

1. Hairspray - The campy musical about sizeism would give me something fun to sing-along to on the island.

2. Network - This is one film I couldn't live without. My favourite film of all time. The film that never ceases to be entertaining.

3. Mulholland Drive - The film remains to be mysterious. The jigsaw that is always fun to smash and put back together again.

4. Citizen Kane - It's a cliche, but the way the film is crafted would hold up to repeat viewings for a lifetime spent on an island.

5. Shortbus - You've got to have at least one film to arouse you when you're on a desert island. This one is for the wank bank.

8. The General - This one to remind of the magic of cinema. Funny, charming and wonderful. I love this film so much.

9. Goodfellas - Whenever I'm feeling low or even melancholic, this is the movie I watch to give me that shot of creative adrenalin.

10. Secrets and Lies - Human beings are such emotional wrecks. Why would I want to go back to life off the island after seeing this again?

This Week In Gabourey Sidibe, Week 2 of 3

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000+13:00

Last week I promised to check in with our favourite fat actress, Gabourey Sidibe, in a a regular feature, This Week in Gabourey Sidibe. Well there's been a few recent developments since we went to see her comic turn in Tower Heist.

New Zealanders who watched America's Got Talent on Prime may have seen her Mother, Alice Tan Ridley audition. This is the woman busked for years in New York subway stations, and was originally set to play Precious' Mother in the movie before M'Onique was cast and eventually won the Best Supporting Oscar.

According to Indiewire, Gabourey Sidibe accidentally let slip, in an interview with The HF Magazine, that next year she will be starring in a film called What's The Matter With Margie, which she described as a "cool, dark comedy." The details of this project are largely unknown, what it's about, who's directing etc. Hopefully this is a new Coen brothers movie or something.

Bummer Barry

2012-01-08T02:45:00.001+13:00

This is Bummer Barry, "our queer friend" from the movie Snowtown, which I highly recommend. When I saw Snowtown for the first time, I got a terrific idea for a blog post, My All Time Fave Seedy Gays.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at gay characters who operate in the seedy, criminal underworld.

What I think these characters offer us is ambiguous motives and contrasts to the macho, hetero world around them. Bummer Barry, for instance, is clearly a transvestite, but he appears to be collaborating with a male, fascist gang.

He intrigues me.

So far, on my list of all time fave seedy gays, I have Bummer Barry, and that guy in the movie Bronson, who runs bareknuckle boxing matches, and has all those great one liners, anyways, I need your help filling out the rest of the list!

Snowtown, Underrated Triumph

2012-01-07T16:26:00.000+13:00

I highly recommend Snowtown, the debut feature from filmmaker Justin Kurzel, about Australia's notorious serial killer John Bunting and the Snowtown murders.

Snowtown is one of the best, most underrated films of the year.

It is a triumph in performance, Daniel Henshall, especially, is chilling as John Bunting. He moves effortlessly from charming to menacing. The triumph though is giving us one of the most naturalistic performances of a serial killer ever. He makes Anthony Hopkins' Dr. Lecter look like a cartoon. Everything about the performance is grounded in reality. Henshall brings a kind of "blokeyness" that's immediately recognizable. We know this man. We know that he doesn't just exist in movies. It makes the hideous acts of violence all the more scary.

The director has a masterful handle of tone, mood and atmosphere. To watch the film is to feel the temperature drop in the room, to feel that something terrible is about to happen at any moment, to feel deeply anxious for the running time. A read of the Wikipedia page revealed just how historically accurate the film is, and yet, it never felt regurgitated or banal like so many films "based on a true story" do, on the contrary, the film is artfully constructed with some stylistic touches that Jeff Nichols, Andrea Arnold or Lynne Ramsey would envy.

I loved it.

The Jack Sparrow Effect

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000+13:00

After seeing Sherlock Holmes 2, on the walk from the cinema to my car, I had overheard a woman saying 'Give it up, Robert Downey Jr, you don't have to be so quirky.' I whipped around and said 'Oh, I completely agree.'

We talked about what drove us crazy about the film and the performance.

We talked about how the success of Pirates of the Caribbean had led to a new kind of acting tradition where men act self-consciously quirky to the point of irritation.

This is called the Jack Sparrow effect.

Johnny Depp is the man responsible. When I talk to Depp fans, they say they love him because "he's always so different." He's not really all that different -- with every film a weirdo version of a character he's played before.

What's different for Depp is when he plays living and breathing human beings not men in funny costumes with funny accents. That's what I believe makes his performance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape so revered all these years later.

Nathan Rabin on The Frighteners

2012-01-05T20:00:00.000+13:00

Over at The AV Club, Nathan Rabin takes an in-depth look at Peter Jackson's The Frighteners for his regular feature My World of Flops, where Rabin finds something valuable in Hollywood's failures, like a prospector panning for gold.

In this beautifully written piece, he discusses Peter Jackson's unusual connection to Steven Spielberg via Robert Zemeckis, Michael J. Fox's last role as a leading man and even traces the origins of the CGI-laden Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Frighteners sometimes feels like nothing but an endless series of special effects-intensive set pieces; the technology seems to be driving the story rather than the other way around. It’s a film of tremendous strengths—ingenuity, a certain morbid wit, technological daring, an unmistakable, fully formed sensibility—and equally formidable weaknesses. It’s a riot of competing, sometimes clashing components angrily crying out for attention. It feels sometimes like the work of someone who wants to use all of his tricks and play with all of his toys in case he never has the opportunity to do so again.

(I need to give a shout out and thank you to Greg Bennett, @soundslikecin, who linked to this article on Twitter, where I discovered it.)

Tower Heist Left Me Hanging

2012-01-05T03:24:00.001+13:00

Just when you're ready to give Brett Ratner a pass for his latest effort Tower Heist, which is by no means a great comedy, but it's watchable. He does something insane, and totally abandons his beloved star Eddie Murphy.

Keeping in mind that Ratner chose Murphy to host the Oscar show HE was going to direct before he was forced to resign for saying misogynistic and homophobic shit in public, you'd think that he'd give Murphy more screen time.

What is insane (and infuriating) about Ratner's choices as director is that he betrays the most basic storytelling, storytelling 101. It's not that the characters arcs aren't compelling, it's that Murphy doesn't even appear in the last 5 mins.

You find out what happens to everyone else, Michael Pena, Gabourey Sidibe, Matthew Broderick, but what the hell happened to Eddie Murphy? He just needed one more scene, one more beat to complete (or round off) his character arc but Ratner leaves us hanging like that car on the tower.

Why I Love Mrs. Doubtfire

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000+13:00

The longest running joke among my friends and family is to work Mrs. Doubtfire dialogue into everyday conversation. On a particularly hot day, scream, "I'm melting like a snow come in Phoenix!" If somebody important is coming over for dinner, announce, "I'll put on a chicken." When somebody presents swimming as a good idea, yell, "Oh no, dear. I think they outlawed whaling!" Or, if you ever had a brief stint in drag, like me, complain, "If I ever find the misogynistic bastard who invented heels, I'll kill him!" You get the idea.

I was first introduced to Mrs. Doubtfire when I saw ads of Robin Williams as an old lady rocking out to "Dude, looks like a lady" while using a sweeping brush as a guitar. I thought I have to see immediately. It played on British television around Xmas time when my family was staying, we all watched it and laughed, and laughed. I suppose the adults understood all the humour, but for me, at the time, it was just a funny movie starring an actor that I liked in a funny costume.

Years later, when I watched it again as a teenager, it was a totally different movie. I was gobsmacked that they let Robin Williams get away with saying such hilarious but inappropriate lines in a children's movie. When Mrs. Doubtfire is taunting fancy man Pierce Broanan about his relationship with his now ex-wife Sally Field, he says "Well I hope you're up for a little competition. She's got a power tool in the bedroom, dear. She uses it and the lights dim, it's like a prison movie. It's a wonder she hasn't chipped her teeth."

At the time of its release, my parents were having problems. Divorce was such a terrifying concept growing up. They stayed together, but the movie communicated to me what it meant to live in separate households. Although it relays its message in a saccharine monologue at the end, the movie is not afraid to talk openly about divorce, in the early 90s too, at a time when Disney, while enjoying a successful comeback, wouldn't have gone anywhere near divorce. The impact that the divorce has on the family, is realistic, and at times, heartbreaking.

The movie also introduced me to the possibility of seeing gay characters on screen. Robin Williams' brother, played by Harvey Fierstein, is gay. Their chemistry is incredible. Fierstein equals Williams with his quick wit. He is certainly not cast to be laughed at but laughed with. When Williams asks "Can you make me a woman?" Fierstein says "Honey I'm so happy!" It is progressive that the gay characters' sexuality is incidental to the plot, it is not the plot.

The gay characters are accepted by their family, in fact, it is the gay characters who welcome Williams into their home when his marriage is ending, which is an amusing contrast, the homosexuals have their shit together when the heterosexuals are falling apart. When Mrs. Doubtfire reveals to the children who she really is, they ask "Who did this?" referring to her convincing disguise. "Uncle Frank and Aunt Jack." They nod as if it was normal, and again, incidental.

What is even more progressive is that when Robin Williams' boss, at the television station, finds out that Mrs. Doubtfire is a man, he doesn't run in horror or fire her on the spot, he gives her her own show. "Why in god's name are you dressed like a woman?" "I would like to introduce you to the host of your new show." It is hard to believe that a TV executive these days would greenlight a children's television show hosted by a transvestite, but there you have it.

It is this progressive attitude toward traditional gender roles that is smuggled into what is otherwise the kind of Hollywood children's movie has become known for. Once Robin Williams embraces his feminine side and walks a mile in his wife's shoes, so to speak, he becomes a better Dad. "I cook, I clean, I bake, I sow." It even goes as far to suggest that good parents do not assign all the domestic chores to just one parent, a good father must sometimes play housekeeper.

Hot Poster for The Paperboy, Starring Zac Efron

2012-01-04T07:00:00.001+13:00

Let us take a moment to appreciate this hot poster for The Paperboy, starring Zac Efron. The retro poster craze is in full swing with whole blogs dedicated to the craze, but this one is irresistible.

This is Oscar nominated director Lee Daniels' follow up to Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire. Does that mean we should refer to this movie as The Paperboy: Based on the novel "The Paperboy" by Pete Dexter?Zac Efron plays a reporter who returns to his small towwn to investigate a murder involving a death row inmate. With a stellar cast and Oscar pedigree, I'm there!

We Bought a Zoo, Review

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000+13:00

I am not enough of an animal lover to fully understand the connection between caring for animals and overcoming grief. The last thing I need to do with my life, after losing a loved one, is shovel horse shit.

In the movie, We Bought a Zoo, Matt Damon plays a single father, who after the loss of his wife, buys a run down zoo in the belief that returning the zoo to its former glory will console his grieving children and make them happy again.

It always appears in movies that the humans are helping the animals but its ultimately the animals that help the humans. In Free Willy. In Water for Elephants. In Fly Away Home. The relationship between animals and humans is as old as cave paintings, but the therapeutic power of animals is a Hollywood construct.

Or is it?

I suppose what may come close to the unconditional love of a parent, if that parent is gone, is the unconditional love of a pet, a faithful dog can fill the void left by death? The movie wants us to believe that learning to love animals equips us with all the necessary skills we need to love humans. When one becomes an animal lover, one becomes a human lover. As Elle Fanning dorkily asks Scarlett Johannson in the movie 'Which do you love better? The humans or animals?"

Not to take anything away from people who have found that animals are therapeutic, and that this power, depicted in We Bought a Zoo and a long lineage of family movies, is not just a Hollywood construct. I saw a news story the other day about a rape victim, who, together with her therapist, learned to care for and ride stallions, a symbol of masculinity, and in turn, came to trust men again.

In this movie, once Matt Damon sees how happy his (absolutely adorable) daughter becomes after feeding the animals, he decides to buy the zoo, despite the fact that it's fiscally irresponsible and sucks up all his inheritance. It doesn't matter, when a character stops at nothing to make children (and animals) happy, who wouldn't root for them? The movie treats this as a given, and doesn't earn it.

It's frustrating to see a skilled screenwriter like Cameron Crowe refuse to create any real antagonist and mess around with plot contrivances to keep the zoo in the family's possession, for example, an investment drops out of the sky at precisely the moment it's needed. The family are never in any real danger of losing the zoo because pesky zoo inspectors, bad accounting and freak rainstorms are only temporary nuisances. There is no real drama. Only cloying scenes.

When the movie is busy with its silly subplots, involving a zookeeper called MacKready, putrid sentimentality, the over use of annoying Sigur Ros songs, and cringe worthy dialogue "I like the animals, but I love the humans." I clung onto Matt Damon for dear life, who makes this noble effort believable. He is an incredible movie star. An actor who gives us total sincerity and raw emotion when all he has to do is stare at a computer screen and struggle to pay bills.

This Week in Gabourey Sidibe, Week 1 of 3

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000+13:00

In what I hope will become a regular feature, we find out what's new and what's happening with Gabourey Sidibe, the young Oscar nominee who wowed us with her debut performance in Precious, which I insist people refer to by its full title, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire.

Gabourey Sidibe | The HF Magazine

This week in Gabourey Sidibe, Gaby stars in Tower Heist, which opened in New Zealand on Boxing Day. She is not given much to do in the film, except play a broad Jamaican stereotype. She definitely got laughs when I saw the film play to a big crowd north of Auckland. It was a relief to see people laughing along with her NOT at her, although she doesn't have the best comedic timing.

I couldn't tell you precisely why I have taken such an active interest in her career. It's probably a combination of her winning personality, her awards pedigree and her size. All of which makes her so uniquely positioned in Hollywood.

I hope that Hollywood know exactly what to do with her talent and don't give her the flatulent and falling over role in a comedy just because she's fat.

Had she won the Oscar, she would have had to live up to the promise of winning an award at a young age, which can so often be a burden for a young actor ala Anna Paquin, Jennifer Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marissa Tomei.

Luckily though, she is free to make a comedic turn as a randy maid in a movie like Tower Heist. Given her penchant for comedy, it was, while a low brow choice, a good step toward gaining traction in the mainstream.

My parents know who she is now.

Karina Longworth on The Iron Lady

2012-01-02T11:55:00.000+13:00

Oh, Karina Longworth you put it so much better, here's her great take on The Iron Lady's gender politics, whitewashing of history and detestable use of montage.

Ruthlessly exploiting recent history to lend weight to a standard-issue mom-romcom question, The Iron Lady asks: Is it possible to be a ballbusting, barrier- (and barrister-) breaking lady politician and still maintain some semblance of a family life without literally losing one's mind? The answer the film offers is a resounding "no" — and then it asks you to believe that this is the true tragedy of Thatcher's life.

What I'm Most Excited For in 2012

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000+13:00

There are of course three films to be tremendously excited for in 2012. The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spiderman and The Hobbit.

What I'm most excited for in the new year however is the release of not one but two Steven Soderbergh movies. The director whose filmography is brilliant as it is eclectic. If he's still seriously considering a 'hiatus' from filmmaking, as he keeps threatening, it doesn't look like he's going to stop anytime soon.

His first film Haywire looks like a kinetic, kick-ass action movie. The point of difference however is mixed martial artist Gina Carano who has never appeared in a film before. The trailer would have us believe it's a straight-to-DVD movie but Soderbergh's success with The Girlfriend Experience would indicate that he can turn an unlikely star into movie gold.

The more interesting film though is is Magic Mike about Channing Tatum's own career as a male stripper before he became famous. It is sure to get girls and gays rushing to the cinema on the chance of seeing any number of the film's stars Tatum, Pettyfer, Bomer or McConaughey near nude or naked.

How could I be this excited about seeing his new films after what happened to me during his last film? In one of life's cruel ironies, I came down with measles while watching Contagion, a movie about a deadly virus outbreak. Soon after I left the cinema, I went straight to bed and stayed there for seven days.

If I start doing mixed martial arts or stripping next year, you'll know why. Steven Soderbergh films seem to have this visceral affect on me.

My 3 Favourite Films of 2011

2012-01-01T19:40:00.000+13:00

Making an end of year top ten list is difficult in New Zealand because so many movies that qualify for awards consideration aren't released until January-March next year. There's still a long list of critically acclaimed movies I haven't seen yet but I want to single out three films that have stuck with me throughout the year.

1. Drive

My favourite film of the year. "The best music video Michael Mann never directed." I love it. For its total dedication to style over substance. Everything is effortlessly cool. The cinematography, music, costume etc. Everything. To the point where the director seems more interested in conveying character with a cool scorpion jacket than with dialogue, and it works beautifully.

2. How To Die in Oregon

The most moving film I saw all year. I cried, and cried, and cried. For those concerned that the film is overly manipulative and exploitative need to know that although it powerfully advocates for Oregon's Death With Dignity law, it does move on, and concentrates on those facing their own mortality and the bravery required to take control of one's destiny and all the emotion involved.

3. Red State

It is almost a great film, patchy and imperfect, but enormous fun. Kevin Smith broke with his own tradition of over writing to show us that he could, in fact, direct. This was a cheeky film that showed us that real horror isn't just about (yet another) slasher stalking a bunch of horny teens but what human beings are willing to do to each other in the name of the lord. John Goodman is badass too.

In Her Shoes is Underrated

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000+13:00

It's my sister's 21st birthday today so I've been thinking a lot about movies about sisterhood. In Her Shoes was the first that came to mind. There's a wonderful moment in the movie when Toni Collette talks about *spoiler alert* shoes.

Bear with me.

Her closet is full of shoes that have never been worn. In any other movie about women this obsession would justified because she's a *shudder* shopaholic or some kind of superficial Sex and the City girl. In this movie however, the shoe obsession is explained with some rather insightful writing by Susannah Grant.

Shoes. OMG. Shoes.

Toni Collette's character buys lots and lots of shoes because as a woman who has lost weight and put on weight all her life, naturally, she finds clothes shopping to be a terrible strain but "shoes always fit." It is a line delivered by Collette with such sincerity and honesty and like she is speaking to my own experience.

It's one of those moments in a movie that stays with you because you totally relate. I often find clothes shopping to be a soul-destroying experience. There's usually nothing in my size or nothing to flatter my shape. Shoes is that one thing you can depend on. Your shoe size never fluctuates.

It's fitting, pardon the pun, that a movie about two sisters who learn to relate and emphasize with each other would use shoes as a metaphor. "Never judge a man until you have walked a mile in their shoes."

Sorry, guys, I am being so corny and sappy. It must be Xmas. I honestly do love that moment though. Maybe it's because I have got so much enjoyment from shoe shopping recently. Those of you have seen my red kicks know. *chuckles.

The Muppets, Review

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000+13:00

It's so frustrating when a movie, that you desperately want to love, comes so close to great but is merely good. Unfortunately, The Muppets is one of the movies.

In the movie, Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to bulldoze the Muppet Theater and drill for oil. Together, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit the Frog reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways, to stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theatre.

What's frustrating about the film is that the jokes often fall flat. The rap number by the venerable Chris Cooper is especially cringe worthy. Other jokes involving a Muppet tribute band called The Moopets, Carmila and the Chickens bocking Forget You and a longlist of celebrity cameos don't work. In fact, the entire middle section of the film smacks of a deleted scene lacking the kind of energy needed to build up to a satisfying finale. The most criminal of its story problems though is that feminist icon Miss Piggy gives up her job as plus size editor of Vogue all too easily for a chance to get back with her frog. If I was a parent taking girls, it would require a discussion about making sensible choices after the film was over.

The decision of whether to take children to this new movie is controversial. My own 9-year-old brother was restless throughout, being too young to remember The Muppets, he didn't hate the movie but the humour went over his head. If he was given the option, I'm sure he would have chosen to see Alvin and the Chipmunks or The Smurfs, for their cheap tricks, squeaky voices and silly catchphrases, but unlike those remakes of classic TV shows, The Muppets has been made with a genuine warmth and affection as opposed to cynicism and studio fodder. It's the difference between choosing to eat a home cooked meal over a fast food fad.

While I'm unconvinced that this movie will create new fans, there's still plenty for adults to enjoy. New Zealand's own Bret MacKenzie (Flight of the Conchords) wrote two songs for the movie. His songs Life's a Happy Song and Man Or a Muppet has been playing on repeat since I saw the movie, but it was the songs Pictures in My Head and of course The Rainbow Connection that moved me to tears. What the music does is remind you how The Muppets could go from songs of deep melancholy to exuberant joy. The film is worth seeing, perhaps not with children, but with Gen X-types who want to take a pleasurable stroll down memory lane.

Cinematica: New Homegrown Movie-Discussion Podcast

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000+13:00

Have been enjoying the Cinematica podcast recently. Cinematica is a locally produced podcast about the world of cinema and its latest releases.

In episode eleven, hosts Dan Slevin, Kailey Carruthers and Simon Werry talk about their favourite films of the year. Their picks were great! Not the same, typical titles you see on critic's top ten lists but some underseen gems like Tomboy, Sarah's Key, A Cat in Paris and Le quattro volte.

What I love about it is that the episodes are synchronized with New Zealand release dates. I do love American film podcasts but when their release dates are sometimes wildly different from ours, you often feel left out of the discussion, simply because the film hasn't been released here yet.

Keep up the good work, guys.

Poor Glenn Close

2011-12-28T07:00:00.000+13:00

This time last year Oscar forecasters had predicted that Glenn Close would be in the awards conversation for her performance in Albert Nobbs. They were right. Close has been nominated lots already and looks like a deadlock Oscar nomination.

I would argue that it's hers to lose though.

In the movie Albert Nobbs, Glenn Close plays the titular character, a woman living in 19th century Ireland, who has disguised herself as a man so she can work and survive and one day open her own small business. The role requires her to put up a wall, to remain closed and cut off emotionally, so she doesn't give herself away. As a result, we are too detached from the character and quickly lose interest in her plight. This is a hard performance to master.

You may have trouble finding Close convincing at all as a man. I believe that if you suspend your disbelief, there is still a lot to be admired about her performance. There is one scene where Albert recounts an episode of abuse that is heartbreaking. It's at least one moment where Close allows the character to open up emotionally. My friends certainly found it hard to believe any of it, and I worry that audiences may not accept the facade either.

On paper, Glenn Close has all the makings of a Best Actor winner. Her career spans 4 decades, this is 'her time', she has been nominated for 5 Oscars but never won, her last nomination was in 1989 for Dangerous Liasons, she not only takes on the challenge of Albert Nobbs but she had a hand in writing the script and raising funds. This is her passion project.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Oscar voters are at all passionate about her performance probably because they don't particularly like the character.

Poor Glenn Close.

This is not going to be her year.

Janet McTeer's Boobs

2011-12-28T05:00:00.000+13:00

That ridiculous moment in Albert Nobbs when Janet McTeer reveals that she too is disguised as a man by flashing her boobs. It made the audience titter. PUN.

Also, I love that she's wearing a scarf.

Also, McTeer has great boobs.

The Iron Lady, A Wikipedia Page With a Budget

2011-12-27T07:00:00.000+13:00

I wouldn't recommend The Iron Lady.

The majority of the film is Margaret Thatcher, played by Meryl Streep, rattling around her London home, suffering from dementia and hallucinating conversations with her husband.

All the major political moments that happened during her reign are presented in flashback and montage with absolutely no drama or insight. To the point where it all becomes repetitive and predictable.

Everything is presented in montage. Seriously.

When Margaret Thatcher looks at an ornament of two soldiers in her home , I turned to my friend and said 'Are your ready for the Fawklands War montage?' Sure enough, that's what followed. It's like the screenwriter abandoned all research that would have made scenes dramatic and insightful, and instead printed her Wikipedia page, went off and filmed it. It's lazy.

When I saw the trailer for The Iron Lady, I thought it looked so campy and quotable and ridiculous. There's one scene where Margaret Thatcher totally emasculates her right hand man, which reaches the level of camp I was expecting. I wanted this movie to recall Mommie, Dearest. You know that one scene where Joan Crawford says 'Don't fuck with me fellas! This ain't my first time in the rodeo!'

(And that one ridiculous line at the end of trailer, 'Gentleman, shall we join the ladies?' Was cut out from the movie altogether.)

Alas.

Tintin, Nothing More than Shallow Spectacle

2011-12-26T11:44:00.000+13:00

After I watched Tintin for the first time, I snarkily said on Twitter something along the lines of "The film is a disappointment and nothing more than a showreel for WETA Digital." I still maintain what I said. Now that we are being pumped with the film's marketing leading up to its Boxing Day release, I am reminded by what a shallow spectacle it is.

Not criticizing here but kiwis will turn out in droves to see it. No doubt. There's a sense of national associated with seeing a film when both Peter Jackson and WETA are attached. In a week when our Peter released The Hobbit trailer, when we all collectively flashbacked to Lord of the Rings, we remember that he can deliver both spectacle and story. *sigh.

While Tintin maybe a step forward for motion-capture technology, unfortunately, it's a massive step backward for storytelling. Without any depth of plot, theme or character, it's hard to like or even love Tintin. I could see it performing well financially in New Zealand though as a fun way of passing the time but I challenge anyone to hold it long in their memory.

Letterboxd: New Social Site for Sharing Your Taste in Film

2011-12-24T22:12:00.000+13:00

Letterboxd is a great social site that lets movie buffs share their tastes in movies with friends and peers. It was made right here in Auckland by the guys at Cactus Lab who made both the 48 Hours and Incredibly Strange websites.

I have looked for a website like Letterboxd for a long time but there's nothing quite like it out there on the web and certainly not as gorgeously designed. Over the last month, since I started using the service, I have loved using it to make lists.

I have made a Top Ten list every year since 2000. These lists just used to sit there on my hard drive but when Letterboxd goes public I can use them to pressure friends to watch all the movies I have loved over the last decade.

According to Letterboxd's official Twitter feed, the Letterboxd team are in a festive mood and will be giving out more invitations to people who have been waiting patiently on the beta list, just in time for Xmas. Awesome.

The team will also be giving out more invitations to current users so we can get our friends to start using the service. If you want an invitation, let me know so if more become available I will send one to you -- all wrapped up beautifully with a bow delivered to your inbox with a festive chuckle.

Request an invitation to Letterboxd here.

The New Zealander of the Year Has Only Seen Four Movies

2011-12-24T20:55:00.000+13:00

In what must have been an attempt at humour or irony or whatever, TV3 Nightline's Ali Ikram bestowed upon John Banks a truly meaningless accolade.

ACT politician John Banks is the New Zealander of the Year.

What Ikram's light and frothy news story revealed though was that John Banks has seen a grand total of 4 movies in his lifetime. (And then came some weird joke about Banksie watching The Iron Lady -- 15 minutes at a time. It was all very cringeworthy.)

John Banks has only seen 4 movies in his lifetime.

While it didn't stop Epsom voters from returning such a grotesque, national embarrassment to our parliament, I like to think that voters could be swayed next time depending on the 4 films.

I could imagine 3/4 are your typical blokey choices like The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather and 12 Angry Men, but the 4th movie is something his wife made him watch or something super gay, like Shortbus.

Imagine if John Banks had only seen four movies in his lifetime and Shortbus was one of them!

I relish at that thought.

Such fun.

A Song About Woody Allen Jesus

2011-12-23T22:55:00.000+13:00

Watch Tim Minchin sing a humorous Xmas song from The Jonathan Ross Show after it was brutally cut from fear of offending stupid viewers.

It starts with a funny verse comparing Woody Allen to Jesus and then expands on this absurd comparison with other pop culture references.

I thought it was in keeping with the show's Xmas spirit and didn't mock Jesus but was rather a song about how awesome Jesus is.

According to Minchin on his blog, the show's producer was happy with the song but it was ITV's director of television Peter Fincham who demanded that Minchin be cut from the show.

What's awesome though is that when Minchin got his hands on the footage, he uploaded the song to YouTube himself and asked tech geeks to copy and mirror the video in case ITV tell YouTube to take it down.

The Hobbit Trailer, Here At Last

2011-12-23T17:30:00.000+13:00

This week the trailer for the famously troubled Hobbit movie finally appeared. The sheer amount of shares of the trailer on my Facebook feed alone I think is a good indication of the anticipation for this movie.

The trailer succeeds as a callback to what we all loved about The Lord of the Rings Trilogy but exciting (although it reveals very little) to see what will make this movie different. Martin Freeman. It looks like he will bring a tremendous amount of verve and his impeccable comic timing.

It retains the same sense of danger and adventure that was consistent in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy but with a more lovable character at its centre.

This is more Pip and Merry, and less Frodo, if you know what I mean.

My favourite moment is when Gandalf and Galadriel look at each other serenely and she brushes aside a long strand of his grey hair. I can't wait to see that scene played out in its entirety. It's so wonderful to see Ian McKellen in the cloak and floppy hat again. His is a truly wonderful portrayal that we so easily take for granted just because he's one of our great actors.

I Love You, Tom Cruise

2011-12-22T17:58:00.000+13:00

You know what pisses me off? The public has forgotten what an incredible actor Tom Cruise is. All they see is his Scientology loving and couch jumping insanity. This is an actor who was once the most bankable actor in Hollywood who delivered some of the most committed performances of his generation.

Tom Cruise does his own stunts.

Tom Cruise is insane.

In a disposable action movie, like his latest, Mission Impossible 4, Tom Cruise is seen climbing up the tallest building in the world. For realz.

This is a scene that has been used to sell the film repeatedly and yet people are still repulsed by his mere presence. Resigned; they are willing to overlook him because they heard the IMAX sequences are awesome?

Something went wrong in his career. Knight & Day seemed to be the point when people went out of their way to avoid him because he never looked more out of a place in a genre that he used to dominate.

Mission Impossible 4 did earn millions at the box office but I feel like the draw card is the franchise NOT the talent of its star.

Find me another who can move brilliantly from romantic lead (Jerry Maguire) to action hero (Minority Report) from character actor (Magnolia) to funny cameo (Tropic Thunder) from a complex character study (Born on the Fourth of July) to good guy (A Few Good Men) and bad guy (Collateral).

I challenge you.

The State of the Oscar Race

2011-12-20T11:06:00.000+13:00

The Oscar race strikes me as painfully weak so far without the makings of a The King’s Speech vs. The Social Network fight to the death.

It has become clear that The Artist is the Oscar frontrunner.

A darling among critics, The Artist appears often on the critic’s top ten lists and scooped up a crucial prize from The New York Film Critics early. Its momentum began at Cannes where audiences applauded its director for mastering silent film techniques.

The fact that this film looks fondly at Hollywood’s silent past in a digital era will go over well with The Academy, like it went over well at Cannes.

In an effort to stop its momentum, the blogs have called the film too lightweight, pointless and shallow to win. This backlash however didn’t stop it from leading both the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations as it continues a steadfast march toward victory.

Come Oscar time it may run the risk of overexposure where Oscar voters get sick of the frontrunner and switch last minute ala Crash over Brokeback Mountain and Million Dollar Baby over The Aviator. This is where The Descendants (or Hugo?) could steal it.

Let’s not forget that the film is backed by one of the most powerful marketers in Hollywood, Harvey Weinstein, who has a history of boosting an unlikely but popular contender. He has done it before with The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love and Chicago. He can do it again.

Shame, Review

2011-12-15T14:40:00.000+13:00

Shame is a film that seeks to be a confronting film about sex and sexuality BUT it reflects the same old, negative attitude we have toward sex, and doesn't do anything to challenge that attitude.

In the movie Shame, up and comer, Michael Fassbender, star of X-Men: First Class, plays a man suffering from sex addiction. Carey Mulligan, plays his troubled sister, whose unannounced arrival at his New York City apartment is the cause of much disruption and stress in his deviant life.

It is a burden for this character to deal with people who depend on him. He has a complete lack of interest in human connection, rather than reach out, he looks for the next orgasm, and doesn't care where he gets it, rather than give his sister the emotional support she needs, he craves anonymous sex and internet porn.

The film received an NC-17 rating in the States, which means young adults under the age of 17 cannot see the film. This is financial suicide for some films. Rather than edit the film to gain an R rating so it can reach a wider audience, the filmmakers embraced the rating as a way of signaling to its target audience what exactly the film is about.

When your film stars a magnetic, handsome actor AND promises explicit sex AND full frontal male nudity, I expect many will rush to the cinema. And so they should, if only for the performances of Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, who should be in contention for all the top awards Hollywood has to offer.

Shame Dir. Michael Fassbender 2011

While they are brilliant in some of the best individual scenes of the year, where director Steve McQueen's long takes allow us to watch people behave in a way that is fascinating, and unusual, Shame is nowhere near as intelligent as it ought to be, in fact, I would go as far to say that it upholds the status quo.

The status quo, run by an ignorant media, religious elites and a lack of real sex education has brought up adults who treat sex as shameful and even dangerous. The filmmakers uphold this with its deeply depressing tone. We all, to some extent, keep our sexuality in the closet but after seeing Shame, it will probably stay locked inside.

In one scene of the film, Michael Fassbender's character, after being turned away from a straight nightclub, enters a gay cruise club and accepts oral sex. The suggestion here is that, 'Wow. He has sunk pretty low, if he's looking for sex here.' He's crossed a line and now all sorts of scary sex can come wondering across. It's discrimination.

A more provocative film, like Shortbus, is one that shows us that sex is a positive and benevolent force in people's lives. In its depiction of explicit sex, we should come to realize that sex can strengthen relationships rather than destroy them. Or, is one, that suggests good sex is not simply in marriage, in private and for procreation only.

The problem with Shame is that it's warning of 'See! Look at this guy! You will become him, isolated from your loved ones, if you have too much sex' is not unlike so many news stories this year. From Tiger Woods to Charlie Sheen, and now with the release of Shame, we continue to tell the same story over and over again.

It's overkill.

Why I Love Lady Gaga

2011-10-21T00:23:00.000+13:00

Confession. I'm a huge Lady Gaga fan. It's not just her music. It's not just her live shows. It's not just her fashion.

It's also something else.

Although I do love to rejoice and sing-a-long to Born This Way as much as the next gay guy BUT regardless of what YOU think of her music, her ability to grow a large and passionate fan base and sell them albums in the millions is to be admired. In fact, I would argue that Lady Gaga is the greatest marketer on the planet.

Why?

Her complete and utter devotion to her fans. Hollywood by contrast mischaracterizes fans or simply doesn't THANK fans enough. I can't imagine Lady Gaga ever suing anybody who wanted to listen to her music. She would rather adjust her business model than mail a fan an infringement notice.

Her willingness to alienate fans. On the Six Pixels of Separation podcast, Seth Godin said 'If you're not willing to alienate fans, then you're only playing greatest hits.' The album Born This Way alienated fans. I remember tweets that read 'I prefer The Fame Gaga.' It doesn't matter, she's moved on already.

She is utterly transparent about her constructed fame. In a candid interview with Stephen Fry, she displays so much 'larky self-knowledge'. Lady Gaga treats fame as a project. If her first album, appropriately titled The Fame, has a thesis, it's that anybody can feel famous. Lady Gaga makes her fans feel famous.

Her use of social media to create a level of intimacy with fans. Simply scrill through her tweets and it's like she's talking directly to you. Hell I know people who have her tweets sent to their mobile phone. I admire this is in an artist, because it's a skill that I believe is vital for an artist in the digital age.

13 Reasons Why It Sucks to Live in New Zealand

2011-10-13T01:44:00.000+13:00

After reading David Farrier's excellent post When will be able to watch great new TV, legally? it inspired me to identify and list the reasons why kiwis are so frustrated with the current economical model, which has grossly limited overseas distribution of films and television shows

The industry has worked on a model where distributors used to 'call the shots' by deliberately holding off on the distribution of films and television shows. With calculated release dates, known as release windows, distributors have tried to eliminate the risk of distributing a film overseas until there is sufficient demand OR until they can justify the marketing costs required to release a film.

The internet has fundamentally changed this model.

The internet has put digital technology into the hands of kiwis who love film and television (in this post I'll refer to them as fans) enabling them to undermine the distributor by illegally downloading to eliminate the insufferably long release windows. However many fans don't illegally download, and as they look for a compelling legal alternative, their frustration is heard online.

FRUSTRATION

Films often take a long time to reach our shores. The window of opportunity to see films is small if the film is screening at a film festival. Fans often have to wait up to a year for the DVD release.
Fans in greater Auckland have to go out of their way, sometimes travelling far and wide, sometimes battling Auckland traffic, to see a small art-house film that did well at a film festival overseas.
Fans have to disconnect from Facebook and Twitter, and disengage from blogs and podcasts, if they want to avoid spoilers of what's going to happen in their favourite TV show or movie.
Film and TV is a common interest which turns strangers into friends. Fans cannot participate in online discussions, if they haven't seen the movie, further alienating them from friends.
Piracy is a temptation. Fans could illegally download their favourite show or movie, but they face penalties under New Zealand's new Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill.
Fans could try talking to elected officials about the bill, but they don't know what a legal alternative like Netflix is, or, as Wikileaks revealed, they would rather support Hollywood's interests.
SKY offers a SKY Movies package for upwards of $49. This is ridiculously expensive compared to Netflix and Hulu, which offer 'all you can eat' options for a low $7.99 USD monthly fee.
TVNZ and TV3 have 'catch up' services, although these are better than nothing, the selection is strictly limited, popular shows, like Grey's Anatomy, stream long after they've aired overseas.
Fans who eliminate expensive cable options like SKY in favour of legal options like TVNZ and TV3 (aka cord cutting) is difficult when almost every kiwi uses the internet under a bandwidth cap.
Orcon's O-Zone promises to load some sites like iSKY.co.nz for free meaning it doesn't count towards a customer's monthly data allowance BUT this is a complete violation of net neutrality.
Apple TV combined with iTunes, one of our only legal streaming options for movies, again, offers a very limited selection. For an avid fan, the selection is out of date, or just plain awful.
At DVD rental stores, fans are often greeted with outrageous overdue fees, and will avoid the store to avoid paying them. In desperation, stores use debt collection agencies to recoup all that they can.
The cinema is fast becoming an expensive habit. Fans are cautious. They justify the expense of going to the cinema for big 'event' movies, like Avatar, hence the name Event Cinemas.

What would fix most of these issues is a legal streaming alternative like Netflix, but Netflix uses 30% off all US bandwidth consumption at peak hours. Unfortunately, in New Zealand, we do not have the infrastructure or 'fibre to the door' to support a bandwidth intensive service like Netflix. I don't know what an avid fan is supposed to do in New Zealand, wait impatiently OR as many already do, turn to piracy?