Candy

Last night I decided to see the new Australian film `Candy' starring Heath Ledger and Abby Cornish. I'd heard mainly good reviews so had reasonable expectations.

First off, Heath Ledger (as Dan) is again fantastic backing up his best-ever performance in Brokeback Mountain but Abby Cornish (as Candy) is clearly the star of this film about addiction, mainly to drugs but I think also to each other. She's just amazing in every scene.

The support cast is solid, with Geoffrey Rush, Tony Martin and Noni Hazelhurst - but that's all they are, support cast.

I liked this film but wasn't blown away by it. Some scenes were outstanding, gripping and emotional but other times I found it hard to care for the characters. It's a bit like Little Fish (the Cate Blanchett film of last year) but I rated Little Fish as a much better film all round.

Interestingly, there was a sort of cameo from Brian Houston, of Hillsong fame, as a segment of Hillsong TV was shown in one scene while Dan and Candy were flicking through TV channels.

Should you see this film? It's worth seeing, it's a good film but didn't reach great status. A 7.5 out of 10 from me. I have to give ex-CITM member Andrew Lampe a plug here, he worked on the film as a `production runner' (according to the credits), so well done Lampe!

One Tree

I think I've already come up with a grievance for Festivus 2006 and that's Channel 10's handling of One Tree Hill, my favourite TV show currently running. Two summers ago they showed about seven episodes. Last summer they showed one. Thank God for DVD!

With three seasons down in the USA it's now unlikely 10 will resurrect One Tree now, especially with Foxtel now showing season 1.

So why is it so great? The show is esentally about two half-brothers (Lucas - Chad Michael Murray (top left) and Nathan - James Lafferty (bottom right)) who end up playing on the same school basketball team and how their lives, separated for 17 years, have now suddenly been brought together. My fellow One Tree watchers will hound me down but my favourite character is still Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz (top right)), who is Lucas' best friend. Won't go any further than that. The other central characters are Peyton (Hilary Burton, centre) and the ever interesting Brooke (Sophia Bush, bottom left).

There hasn't been a `teen drama' like this since 90210 and it's got 10 lengths on The OC. I did think of naming my blog after Friends but that'd be too obvious.

The Tension and The Spark

With a bit of a void in quality new music to listen to I've been going back and rediscovering older CDs, most recently Darren Hayes' (ex-Savage Garden) remarkble second solo album `The Tension and the Spark'. It's raw and honest and vulnerable and it just grabs me. It's actually the second time I've rediscovered it and it always grows more on me.
(Just as an aside, while I'm writing this an absolute classic - Foreigner's `I Want To Know What Love Is' is playing on my computer, my list tells me it's my 8th favourite song of all time)
Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
The CD opens with `Darkness' which wasn't a hit here and barely made the top 40 but it haunts me.
`It doesn't really matter where it all began, all I know I got covered in darkness'
Track 3 by contrast is called `Light' and is amazingly uplifting.
`I have changed I have become, I am flame I am the sun, I'm the reflection of you'
The fifth song `Dublin Sky' is nostalgic and heartbreaking.
`I've been down a lonely street tonight and I don't know what's wrong with me'
By track 7 we're getting pretty deep on `Unlovable' and it's hard not to relate to it at times.
`Am I so unlovable, is my skin untouchable, do I remind you of a part of you that you don't like'
I ask myself sometimes why I listen to such music. I like music to affect me whether it's positively or negatively. Obviously positive is preferred but it's my experience that every cloud doesn't have a silver lining. This is a great CD that was never going to be commercially successful because it's too honest and too deep for the punters out there.

My obsessions

If you've ever tried to call me between 7.30pm and 8pm on Mondays between 1996 and 2004 you'll know what I'm talking about.
Is it wrong that I can quote quickfire Simpsons but not the Bible? (probably but that's a rhetorical question)
These two global phenomena have taken over my world at various times. I'll never forget one Monday night, about 7.40pm, when a certain now former church member, with initials S.H. called me and in mid-sentence realised what time it was and that I would be out of commission for a while. Yes, so the world stopped when Friends came on and it was sad, but not shattering, when it ended. But thanks to DVD I have every episode and can watch them whenever I want. (Coming soon - my all time top 5 Friends episodes)
Have you ever had a conversation with me that hasn't related back to the Simpsons at some point? Or more to the point Homer Simpson and something goofy and hilarious he has done? Does it bother anyone though that Bart should be 27 by now?
(Also coming soon - the all time top 5 Simpsons episodes and quotes).

Desperate viewer

For a show that was so compelling last year, Desperate Housewives has really lost the plot. There's nothing worth remembering, nothing to hang out for, I'm almost watching it now in the hope that it will get better. I just don't know what went wrong. On the plus side I might end up getting some of my Monday night's back but it's really sad when you are more interested in Big Brother.
I remember rushing out to buy the DVD of season 1 in November last year. Unless something drastic happens, I can't see myself doing the same for season 2. That's going to be a challenge in itself, when you're a collector you can't just get one season of something and not complete the set.

Indescribable

Ok, so last night at CITM we rounded off our Building God's People series with a slightly long (hi Dominic!) but not boring sermon on Sacrifice, following on from Faith, Service, Purpose and Commitment. I'll admit I was expecting a slightly Hillsong-esque talk telling people if you give more God will give more back to you, etc etc. I was later informed by someone who spent some time at Hillsong that he didn't ever hear such a talk there. Perhaps they've got a bum wrap. Still if you publish a Christian book called `You Need More Money', I think it was called, you can get misunderstood. Anyway, I feel for the people out there who haven't locked in their gift to the church yet. It's a big decision and not one I took lightly but I'm glad that's over.
Cutting to the chase a bit, the last sentence of 2 Corinthians 9 struck me - being thankful to God for his indescribable gift. I'm not going to try and describe the gift - I think if you know the grace of God you know what we're talking about.
Another thing it made me think of was a song, sung by Chris Tomlin (great singer) and written by Laura Story, called Indescribable. I was secretly hoping it would be played after our service last night but realise that was a huge longshot. I came across it on FM103.2 a while back but every time I heard it there'd be another song and I wouldn't hear who sung it. I eventually tracked it down and play it probably once a day on average.
Here's a few words from the final chorus...
`Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name
You are amazing, God
Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart and you love me the same
You are amazing, God'

X-Men 3:The Last Stand

But is it the final stand? The third X-Men film perhaps suffered a bit from having to follow X-Men 2, which was, as I recall, voted the best comic book adaptation of all time by Empire magazine. So they were really on a hiding to nothing. Having said that it wasn't a bad film just not as engrossing as its predecessor. Killing off, or de-mutating in some cases, some major characters is a big move but with so much to draw from within the comics it's not a bad move.
I went in expecting Jean Grey's transformation into the Phoenix to be something special but I found it a shade ho-hum. She wasn't bad but she just, ironically, lacked animation. She did more standing around and being talked about than anything else.
Whether there's another X-Men movie remains to be seen. I'd say there probably will be, knowing what Hollywood is like - a sequal is a lot easier to come up with than an original idea. I gave it a 7.5 out of 10 which pales in comparison to the 9 out of 10 X-Men 2 received. It's now about three months since I've seen a 9 out of 10 (this year both Brokeback Mountain and Capote received that honour) and it's not looking good for the rest of the year.

Welcome

OK, this is my first shot at the world of blogging. The L plates are well and truly on and I'm sure I'll learn more about it as we go along. First off, the title is a nod to one of my favourite TV shows, One Tree Hill, which has been all but ignored here in Australia. Anyway, welcome to my world....