16, 17, dance little lady dance

film 16: varese, the one all alone. a doco at greater union. oh my goodness, i was falling asleep during this one. no really. i was nodding off as soon as the lights went down. um.. .assaulted by sounds of all descriptions, the vision as obscure as the music at times. probably would've made more sense had i been semi-awake.


film 17: stolen. australian doco at greater union. an amazing story. the film makers say they travelled to western sahara to film a family reunion and ended up embroiled in a country covering up present day slavery. it premiered at the sydney film festival a couple of months ago - and a contingent from west sahara showed up to deny the film's content, including the woman from the original story. very interesting.

then i managed to find my way back to the dance floor and the funpit. yahhh... thanks to those who put up with my frenetic energy. ;)

14, 15

film 14: van gogh: brush with genius. doco at IMAX. really just an overview of his life as a painter - only 8 or 9 years of the 37 he spent on earth. beautiful close ups of some of his more unfamiliar pieces. makes a visit to amsterdam hit the list of the many place to see, the van gogh museum.

i've been walking in the rain all evening. it's been raining all afternoon and into the night. the water on the pavement reflects back at me as i walk, just amazing.


film 15: rem koolhaas: a kind of architect. doco at acmi. too much to take in, but not enough either. felt self-indulgent in a way, even though it wasn't the architect shooting the film. a couple of interesting koolhaas buildings, it seems he considers the whole being of the project, not just the facade.

film free day

met mark, elissa and jamie at section eight before heading to shanghai dumpling for dinner. oh wow! what a fantastic experience. it's a ship 'em in, ship 'em out establishment. tasty, hot food (burned my tongue on the crispy beef) and they stole my half full lemonade off the table before i could grab it. it's like a challenge being thrown down i feel, so i'll be back.

then onto festival hall and...


...the flaming lips concert.


i did hear that flaming lips patrons have a tendency to dress up... there was also a santa claus in the crowd.


this is a pic (courtesy of jamie) of the lead singer walking out over the audience, how cool. there were people dressed as geckos and sheep on the stage, a slide, confetti cannon (i want one of these), huge balloons, fabulous light show. it was a great night, really entertaining. and a break from staring at a screen. ;)

13 (+ trivia)

walked into the city for trivia at the sherlock holmes. pub meal with friends before 4 rounds of questions. we won. YAH us!!


film 13: examined life. another doco at greater union. there were parts i enjoyed, when i was awake. but it was kinda draining to be asked to think wisely or even thoughtfully at 9.30 on a tuesday night. i may have come away with something, i'll have to mull it over a little longer. :)

10, 11, 12

film 10: little joe. a doco at acmi. wasn't too impressed. his 15 minutes of fame rolled out into about 5 years in his late teens, early 20s - making strange films with andy warhol and paul morrissey in the factory. after that there wasn't really anything more to say. a comment i took was when dallesandro was talking about the craziness that was east village ny, "a cup of tea could get you married in a minute".


film 11: balibo. a new australian feature at the forum. besides the fact it was running 45 minutes late (due to the lateness of stupid politicians) this film was SPECTACULAR. heart breaking and engaging and so well told i am very proud to know it's an australian film. you MUST see it. you HAVE to see it. (note the caps for emphasis). a sad and true story. anthony lapaglia was amazing.


film 12: visual acoustics. a doco at greater union. i missed the first 5 or so minutes of this, wasn't even sure i'd go in since i was running so late from the last film, but i'm so glad i dragged my butt up those stairs and into another darkened theatre. a beautiful film on a photographer who brought modernist architecture to a lot of the world. sigh... one day i'll have a glorious home.

(i have a sneaking suspicion they know me at GU now).

6, 7, 8, 9

film 6: the promised land: a swamp pop journey. a doco at greater union. bit of a self-indulgent ramble at times, but some of the music was fantastic. would like to try dancing to it. a couple of quotes that i really liked from the film are -

"after silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music".
- aldous huxley -

"take care of the sense and the sounds will take care of themselves".
- lewis carrol -



film 7: alphaville. a french noir sci-fi feature from the late 60s. another anna karina film. it was slllooowwww... "i'm fine thanks, don't mention it". catch phrase of the film. caught up with david and carla, dave and claire and jamie for this.


film 8: prime mover. a new australian feature at the forum. a light rom-com about following your dreams and how they can affect others. some dreams change, some don't. enjoyed this one. "i thought you were a gypsy? i'm in real estate". classic.


film 9: no one knows about persian cats. an iranian feature at acmi. bloody FABULOUS. and you must see it. about the underground music scene in tehran. the struggle for permits to play, or visas & passports to get out of the country. a couple trying to put a show together before they leave are attempting to get band members, so they travel the city listening to different types of music. it's a side to the country one doesn't normally see. it shows that we're all the same. very powerful.

1,2,3,4,5

film 1: our city of dreams. a doco at greater union. 5 female artists linked in some way to new york. 2 american born and 3 migrants. the one i didn't find i connected with was the performance artist in her 60s - self flagellation as art. just odd to me, didn't click at all. liked swoon - late 20s, early 30s - street art moving towards stenciling on wood.


film 2: sweet rush. a feature at the forum. i think a polish film and at 3.48 (started at 2.30) the changing reel played backwards and upside down. lights came up and there was a 5-7 minute break where quite a few in the audience took the opportunity to escape. a slow film, and all i was thinking besides am i cold, is i want some sex. well maybe just in the film. :) on the way out i heard someone say... "aha the first of the festival films"... love it.


film 3: anna. feature at acmi. a kooky french musical from the 60s. fantastical. a q&a afterwards with anna karina, more a curiousity really. i swear i had one of those coloured visor bucket hats in the early 70s. and now i want a seethrough coat, technically a raincoat i guess. a film about not seeing what's right in front of you, or beside you. hmm... message in there for some people don't you think? yes, i am aware of the irony.


film 4: thirst. a feature at greater union. mad korean vampire flick. a priest turns "dracula", falls in love, makes up for years of abstinence with a married woman (who actually looks like she's about 12), kills said married woman's husband and then the adventure just gets zanier. hilarious. really enjoyed the insanity.


film 5: black dynamite. another feature at greater union. a bit of a spoof on the 70s blackploitation films, black dynamite was a brilliant ride. karate chopping, breasts heaving, bullets flying. cliche upon cliche upon cliche. and it worked. a fabulous late night audience pleaser.

need sleep.

fridays... always on my mind

a busy week of dancing classes (two), trivia and "write club". tonight i think i will curl up on the couch to conserve energy. i've got 15 nights of film festival viewing to get through. 40+ movies are booked in at this stage.

ivy is now a citizen of victoria. braved the local licensing centre this afternoon. no going back now, i'm in the place to be. ;)

done and dusted...

the weekend as well as the trial.

the last week has been interesting, being part of the justice system and seeing how it moves (slowly). but i'm glad it's over and i can get back to a routine again. even though part of that routine will be getting up at 5.30am and going to work a little after that.

i had a few friends over on saturday for a games night. i got to bake for the occasion and made nan's famous chocolate cake for the first time. i was just a little concerned that it wouldn't work out. there was the phoning of mom to get the ingredients correct - "will flora do since there's no fairy margarine?" - i'm certain nan would never have been so precious. i even had to have a piece before the guests showed, just in case.


caught up with trish and stuart for a chat and feed at their new place in hawthorn. yah to a friend-filled weekend.

oh, we found him not guilty on all three counts by the way. i know you were curious. ;)

day 3: the trial begins

and while i sat cloistered in the jury room with the other members of the panel, mention was made of gangs out in the werribee area. reds and blues or something. i said i preferred jets and sharks and no one got it. it was a sad moment for the day.

day 2 in the pool

well, back in the county court building again. it's after lunch and i'm still waiting. waiting and more waiting. i continue to thank the gods of credit that i have a laptop and ipod and friends willing to listen to me gripe about waiting. actually half my life seems to be me waiting for something. so much for action girl. :)

so observations so far... a potential jury member reading the crimes of josef fritz - hopefully she'll carry it as she walks by the accused. another is reading a brief history of time.

****

and then... i lucked out and got pulled from the ballot. so upstairs to the court room i did go. and then.... i got pulled out of another ballot and had to walk by the dock where i could've been challenged or stood down... why wasn't i?? so yes, i am now part of a jury panel. damn! it lasts for about 5 days, which means i'm out of work action until next tuesday.


caught the film red cliff with alex at nova. an epic film with a few laughs, not sure if they were just because of the translations either. it was entertaining.

day 1: a call to arms (aka jury duty)

waiting waiting waiting in the holding pen for potential jury members and then... she died. my mac notebook that is. which took me away from the digital world for a bit and back to print, which is always a joy. i'm reading pride and prejudice and zombies at the moment. some light pap to get my mind off the criminal world. :)

got thrown out mid arvo so went and purchased a new baby macbook. she's white and gleaming. and her companion is a little nano ipod. yeah, i spoiled myself. then the rest of the arvo was taken up with setting up the new kid on the block.


and then to the dance floor where normally i can forget all my worldly troubles but not this night. no... i had to lead. LEAD. i know it was painful to do and watch. the girls had to lead, guys follow. very funny and hard work, let's not do it too often please.

zzzzz.......ing.....

wasted half the day with sleep. by the time i got into the city noon had passed me by - the girls at starbucks even queried the lateness of my hour. yes, how's that for regular? ha!


met alex, chris and carol at acmi for cleo from 5 to 7. not an action film by any stretch of the imagination, but interesting. probably better had i not kept dozing off. oops! the last time i was doing that was when i was watching star wars I or II for the second time with martin - i'm not sure there was any sleep the night before with that one. yawn!

art and music

a quick trip to heide to catch the exhibition "modern times" before it closed. managed it with one day spare. i was a little disappointed with the rest of the grounds as there's a lot of construction going on at the moment and i couldn't get into heide 1. i really love wandering around the little home where the reeds lived and entertained the likes of nolan, tucker and hester. the artistic bohemians of the 40s congregated here. bliss.





the only interior i managed to snap on my phone camera. sneaky and out of focus i know but i couldn't help it - love the 45.


the evening was spent with jamie and mark at the tote for a couple of brisbane bands, hungry boys from hungary and the boat people. fun times.

freaky friday

i'm not talking about the disney movie nor the strange movies played at acmi late on a friday night. this freaky friday is all about me freaking out. all over a damn film. honestly. it was ridiculous. i was ridiculous. i can not believe my behaviour over almost not getting tickets to inglourious basterds.... what is wrong with me? i'm not even a tarantino fan. and he'll be at the screening, but still why did i get so worked up. no idea. i don't get stressed. didn't get stressed. now do. over this. why?

but night came after day and i ended up in flemington for laksa king and an unwind with cheng. fabulous laksa and even more fabulous cheng.

more brrrr-ing.....

first icy car of the season. 3 or 4 degrees when i got to my car this morning. the bonnet wasn't green but crystals of white...awwww... of course i then had to get the scraper out to see through the windscreen to drive.

oh and then this great big moon smiled through it's misty halo. yep, a beautiful, though cold morning in melbourne. and there's a blue sky day ahead.

MIFF program launch

that was last night. i sang happy birthday to geoffrey rush. heard that quentin tarantino will be in attendance for a screening of his newest movie. copped an eyeful of some of the films to come in a couple of weeks time and got my grubby little hands on a program, 4 days before the rest of creation. so it must be said i spent some time trawling through it's pages, and even though i've really not read much in detail i have already plotted out 46 films. there were a few more but even i can't watch two films at the same time. eek!

had to buy myself a festival passport, so i have unlimited film access. i don't expect to see anyone from july 25 til august 9. but at least you'll know where to find me. :)

too long between kisses....

read an article that nat sent on to me today. it got me thinking in this direction... ;)

not west australian but australian western

i had freebie tickets to a soon-to-be-released australian film tonight, lucky country. i've not long got home after the screening so i'm still mulling over the action. a cast member and the writer introduced the film, it was interesting to hear their take on it. and whilst there definitely were thriller-like moments, it wasn't anything new and also a little slow at times. beautiful shots of one kind of bush, not my kind, not red enough.

i didn't really say anything in that first paragraph did i? okay, the story of a settler family in 1902 who were trying to farm the bush. three men arrive and stir things up. that's all i'm saying.