away from her

The 2006 Sarah Polley film,wife striken by Alzeihmer ("I think I may be beginning to disappear") and her husband of 45
years is left-astray,pushed out of her mind.

Many things I liked,though nothing tops the final scene.When her memory finally recognizes-there's a deep,apologetic knowledge in her eyes.Wanting to say everything,but not able to.He looks to her,patient and undemanding as always: realises he's remembered,and an image of her appears-but younger.Before love,before loss.Such a simple image,but it carried so much weight for the story.

...

ocean

The ocean has always been something close to me.Or more so,water contained in any form-in bathtubs,pools,rivers-something healing in the way it covers your skin,that coldness that rises from inside and ultimately settles as a warm feeling on the back of my neck.It sucks that I'm hopeless at science,if not I wouldn't have minded giving marine biology a go,though I'm not fully sure what that entails,someone who works with and for the ocean,its beautiful wildlife and distance from the human world-or its proximity to something much higher than existence.

All the short stories I try to write,some character in one way or another somehow retreats to the ocean-that is how powerful its magnetism is,my mind wanders there below consciousness,beyond reality.I never quite know why I'm where I am,or what I'll do differently tomorrow-but faced upon a vast space of nothing but clear,calm water-the feeling rises from within-I must give all I can give-until there is nothing,but clarity.

...

yyys heads will roll

The YYYs new vid for Heads Will Roll,second single of their 3rd studio album.I love this band to bits,and the new album is a massive departure from their usual style.It was a risky but successful move,the album has its own merits and stands out on its own-and I'm glad the band's got the balls to step out and try new things,unlike say Greenday who seems to be rocking yet the same outfits and eyeliner,whilst singing the same old tunes.Sure,you've got your diehard fans to consider and have to be sure not to completely sell out,but what they've done here is quite impressive.Only Zero and Heads will Roll sound the way they do,upbeat and packed with synths that is-the album is mostly made up of quiet ballads (no doubt inspired by the success of Maps),with one song (Dull Life) that mirrors the loud spirit of their debut album.Regardless,there are so many great tunes to choose from as a third single-it'll definitely be a slow number,I hope they go with either Skeletons or Soft Shock although Hysteric would be a pretty predictable move seeing how marketable that song is.Anyway,the vids alright but I suggest you look up the uncensored version of the Spike Jonze directed vid for their old song Y Control,it has a whole bunch of well-dressed kids running around tearing each others (fake) insides out.

veckatimest

The new album is streaming over on the band's MySpace.

just like yesterday
i told you i would stay

...

if it feels this good getting used

1. This song is unbelievable.If I ever get into the entertainment business-be it a semi-porno zombie flick or as some reborn pop goddess-this song will surely come into play,the song speaks to me about so many things that are absurd but for the hell of it,you're willing to gamble off something big.

2. That is,I'm willing to some extent-prostitute myself for some measure of satisfaction.I'm nowhere near middle-aged if by which I'm sure my reputation will be in shreds,I'll do whatever it takes to have an extra lick of the tastiest fruit.

3. I don't know what I'm talking about.The song,however,is clearly amazing and will continue to be for eons ahead.

...

im cheerleading myself

cute/creepy

gaga in sydney

just cos.

TGIF

...

interview

I remember reading Where the Wild Things are as a child,and seeing large images of it perched over cribs and in places like nurseries or school.It looked strange,I didn't understand any of it but I was really attracted to the way it was drawn-and the monsters,there was this curious thing about them.As adults we can decipher what we feel and know,but as a child you got to experience all these weird,mixed emotions.Part of me yearns to be that curious again.

Anyway,interview with their costume designer here.Speaking of interviews,the Marlon Wayans on Channing Tatum piece in Interview magazine's the funniest thing I've read all week (issue with Emma Watson on the cover-I think Emma Possum sounds so much nicer) check it out.

"She dabbled in potions,particularly those for women who felt their faces droop with age-and was rumored to grow tiny mushrooms in her hair.Oh yes,Evaline was a very peculiar woman."I think I want to write a children's classic one day.That I'll do.

secret goldfish

karen walker eyewear

via coolhunting

...

Synecdoche, New York

Charlie Kaufman,the brilliant writer of Adaptation & Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (a few among many,but those two I consider essential viewing)-stands behind the camera for the first time,the result is a film I struggle to summarize into words.Currently rated a low 65% on Rotten Tomatoes,many are calling it a confusing mess,not completely untrue.

The film topples under the weight of its own ambition-packed with too many characters over a story that runs past two long decades-a continuous line of deaths (too many) and unexplained events that add up to a film aplomb with plot holes and unanswered questions.I wouldn't call it confusing despite this,but messy for sure.However,its the sheer size and grandeur of this film that elevates its core message-that life is ultimately meaningless and plagued with a deep and irremovable sense of loneliness,and all that takes place between birth and death leads to pure nothing.

Considering the merits: it makes a few compelling points,both Philip Seymour Hoffman and Samantha Morton play their lead roles extremely well (Oscar nods for both wouldn't be surprising),and is full of small bright ideas (ie the house permanently on fire,the weird psychiatrist).All of this was eclipsed by the big,troubling issues:I feel that plenty of other films have expressed the same message more effectively,with much simpler stories and fewer characters.

*If you're interested in finding out more,I highly encourage reading this.

...

trailer for Woody Allen's "Whatever Works"

via firstshowing

I've just come back from seeing Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut at the Nova,not quite sure how I feel about it yet.Might write about that later.

...

Star Trek XI

I don't know shit about fraking Star Trek,but in the hands of JJ Abrams I felt safe walking in and in the end felt that I had made a right choice seeing this.

I'm usually quite skeptical about sci-fi movies,this mass geekery of silly costumes and even sillier dialogue-most of this franchise additions or remakes have either of two purposes:to make a crapload of money in the box office by creating something that existing fans might forever denounce and boycott,or something strictly for fans that everyone else finds inaccessible.This Star Trek however,will satisfy both Trekkies and noobs alike I expect.

I liked most the directness of the story-there was no pausing to highlight some cool gadget or obscure fan-fact,leaving fanciness out of the equation the film stuck to a very practical angle.No frilly romances,pompous drama,no excess-it was trim,clear-headed and cautious about every detail in the story.On the downside,its this vagueness in the plot that kills it too for some reason,I felt for a major part of the film things felt too neatly into place and a lot of things just happened to happen at the most convenient times.It was like it ran on clock that rung every 15-20 minutes to call for an action scene,and between these action scenes ran a series of menial events that feel too organized-trouble would ensue,only for loose ends to be tied together by the simplest of answers-ie someone would just teleport their way out of there before the last second.Happily drunk with plot devices (terms like "red matter","time continuum" were thrown around freely when required),this pattern would ride up to the very end:concluding on a fairy-tale ending even a pony could predict.

Besides that,the CGI was amazing and complimented well by the music-the ensemble cast was very strong,Chris Pine proves more than a blue-eyed pretty face and Zachary Quinto,Eric Bana and John Cho (whose single fight scene I was very pleased by) deserve praise.I wasn't too happy about what they turned Simon Pegg into-I'm a huge fan of his (since the Shaun of the Dead days),but to hire a talented actor only to restrict him to play the village idiot just infuriates me-the same thing happened with Pegg in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People,Run Fatboy Run-I'd prefer he'd be like Ricky Gervais (who reportedly turns down more than half of the offers made to him) and be more selective with parts,to avoid this foolish typecast he's forcing himself into.

That's my critique.I'm sure any other review would've spent more time talking about other stuff,certainly not a whole paragraph on Simon Pegg's very,very small and unessential contribution.That's what matters to me anyway,before and after I'm still completely uninterested in Star Trek but wouldn't mind seeing another Star Trek movie,as long as they throw in something else (in this case,it was JJ Abrams in the directors seat+Eric Bana as a villain & John Cho kicking ass).

...

selgas cano architecture office

archdaily via today&tomorrow



...

fuck you

Her next single will be the anti-Bush rant "Fuck You"-the album is loaded with spunk and energy,there's not a song on it I don't love (it'll be hard to pick a fave,but I'd chose 22 & Back to the Start).I can't wait to see her at the Forum when she descends to down under later this month-despite her drunken antics and tainted public image,I think she's a genuine talent and has much more to offer than just music.Popbytes has a jazzy/bossa nova mix of "Fuck You"-I can't say just how much I love it (kid A undertones on a jazzified Lily Allen track=eargasm),click pic (<--) for link.

via Popbytes

...

twitterella

muh faves

Nicole Richie
Mindy Kaling
Tina Fey
Colbert

Everyone's on Twitter,even JJ Abrams has one.Speaking of which,his Star Trek film arrives here this week.I have a feeling it'll blow me off my seat.Head through the ceiling,yaddi yaddi ya.



...

a basterd he is

New poster for Tarantino's next,out August 20 here.I do not like Pitt,to me he's just a pretty face with very little talent to match (unimpressive too is the choice of Diane Kruger as leading female,I can't think of a paler blondface).For Tarantino however,I'd subject myself to anything and anyone-the man is a freaking perfectionist with his art-plus,Inglorious boasts an amazing cast that includes BJ Novak (Ryan!-he's been amazing on Office this season),Michael Fassbender (from Hunger),Eli Roth,Maggie Cheung and two very unexpected names: Freaks & Geeks actor Samm Levine,and Mike Myers (his recent stuff hasn't been good-I hated Shrek,but the Love Guru was inoffensively just average).This new poster lacks bite (I hope they play down Brad Pitt's involvement,his celebrity status could overshadow the film completely),but I'm sure the film will deliver a few surprises.

via FirstShowing

...

lost spoiler

this week marks the show's 100th episode
and it was a positive reminder of why I've chosen to follow the show this far.

I cannot believe they killed off Daniel Faraday.The crazy scientist always had some sort of sad,weak side that we finally saw came from being exploited since childhood by Eloise & Widmore,who we saw this week looking uncertain for a change.The episode dealt with three separate times,but wrapped everything up beautifully-before Daniel drew his last breathe,he warned Charlotte about coming back to the island and met his mother,still years before she gave birth to him-"You knew this would happen".

To non-losties,none of this makes sense.But man,that was one hell of a GREAT episode.

...