Reality TV

As a rule I am not a devotee of reality television but I have caught much of the start of Big Brother 2008.
Despite their attempts to persuade the public that there is something different, the producers clearly stuffed up by having an eviction on the first night. The grandmother was always going to be voted off by the young people.
It would have been intresting to see how they mixed in the house but we'll never know. Now we have a bunch of token people - the bimbo, the redneck, the weirdo, the smart guy, the buff party boy etc etc.
I don't get into Idol until the top 10 at least but given we'll be up to season six I think later this year we will be scraping the barrel a bit.

Lars and the Real Girl

Surprise of the year so far. Lars And The Real Girl is one of the most touching and life-affirming films I've seen. It's also one of the saddest, yet I laughed most of the way through.
Led by a stunning performance from Ryan Gosling as Lars, a scared little boy trapped in a man's body who doesn't know how to connect either physically or emotionally with the world. When we meet Lars he seems like everyone else, although a shade reserved.
It turns out that he just doesn't know how to function outside his own limitations. He's been scarred by his past, so much so that he becomes delusional. Enter Bianca. She's essentially a sex doll but when she `arrives' Lars treats her like his new girlfriend, even refusing to sleep in the same room as her. That's how much he respects her.
The challenge for Lars' brother Gus and sister in law Karin, with whom Bianca `lives', is how do they deal with his problem.
What they do is quite surprising. See, what Lars doesn't understand is that people love him and care about him. That's a big part of what I drew from the film. How people react to and accept your quirks, special needs, disabilities, etc, are signs of how much they care for you.
It's easy not to see that. I think Lars eventually comes to see this fact. It certainly makes me think about how I treat others. Everyone should have a look at themselves in this regard.
Again, Gosling is amazing. He's the epitome of a closed off shell of a man, who has built so many walls around himself they are suffocating him.
An excellent support cast, particularly Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer as Gus and Karin, and a highly original script makes it hard to believe this is an American film when you consider some of the rubbish and remakes pumped out. Bravo I say.
While I laughed a lot, with much of it you just had to laugh. It's a kind of guilty laugh because the situation is quite serious. And while it was very funny I'd have to say this was still a drama. So much so by the end it was hard not to well up a bit. Very happily giving this 9 out of 10.

Strange day

Didn't feel like Wednesday today. Kind of felt more like Thursday. Luckily I have Friday off (don't usually get public holidays off) so it will be okay that tomorrow feels a lot like Friday.
Don't think I am the only one.

E=MC2 - the review

This is Mariah Carey's 15th album (including greatest hits compilations) and as the name suggests it is a follow-up to The Emancipation Of Mimi.

As is normal, I write this review after one day's listening so that it is the first impression and that usually holds true.
What can I say about E=MC2? First up I think the album cover is atrocious. The semi-slutty look doesn't suit Mariah and I'm surprised no one has told her. But I can live with that I guess.
The first song Migrate is pretty ordinary and not a good introduction to the album like It's Lke That was last album, but fortunately the very catchy Touch My Body comes next and improves the situation.
It took a little while for me to get into that track when I first heard it a while ago but I really like it now. The third song is okay then we hit paydirt. Nobody does the power ballad like Mariah Carey, she has it mastered and nails it again with I Stay In Love. (The next bit is in block letters on purpose).
WHY ISN'T I STAY IN LOVE THE SECOND SINGLE?!?!?!?!?
That's right, I Stay In Love is an absolute smash in my opinion but apparently the powers that be in Carey's record company (or even herself) has decided the far inferior Bye Bye be the second single and this is a huge mistake.
Everyone knows the best thing about Emancipation was the huge hit We Belong Together, which was a million miles better than any song on that CD and high among my favourite Carey tracks.
Now I Stay In Love is essentially the sequel to We Belong Together, it sounds a shade similar but the piano work is hauntingly moving. I am in disbelief that this song isn't about to hit the airwaves. Big mistake there.
Just digressing, it reminds me of what happened in the 90s when Roxette wanted to release Spending My Time as the second single off Joyride but the record company didn't release it until the fourth single and interest in the album had dropped off by then. It was easily the best song on that album and the band knew it.
I hope Mariah knows that I Stay In Love is the best song on E=MC2 and it is a huge error not to be releasing it now.
Back to the CD. I can cover the rest in one word: mixed. Some songs are very solid others are of no interest to me. Side Effects is good once the intro is out of the way, I'll Be Lovin' You Long Time is fairly catchy.
I guess I am still stuck on the Mariah of the early to mid 90s.
It's as good as Emancipation, perhaps a shade more polished, but until she tones down the `collaborations' every future CD will rate about the same. If you liked Emancipation you'll like this, if the self-righteous rapping annoys you be warned there is far too much of that here.
I'm not bagging the album, I just hate it when there is great potential and it isn't realised. But, hey, I just pay my hard earned for the CD so what does my opinion matter?

David Cook vs Mariah Carey

I'm not a big watcher of American Idol (being in Australia obviously) but the Mariah Carey night caught my eye and I paid a bit of attention.
There was the odd slaughter of a MC classic but it was David Cook's treatment of Always Be My Baby that really stood head and shoulders above everything else. He's taken a pop song that's pretty breezy and given it a much harder edge and it works big time.
Worth checking out.
As an aside, I've just picked up the new Marah Carey CD, E=MC2, and am about to start listening. I'm going to be critical so stay tuned.
Also, I just wondered if Mariah mimed at least some of her song on Idol?

Golden Slipper Day

One of the biggest day's racing in Sydney is Golden Slipper day and that happened to be today.

The race itself is wotth $3.5 million overall and there tends to be around 30,000 people or so at Rosehill racecourse in Sydney's west.
Today wasn't exactly a great one weather wise but it didn't rain (at least anything other than the odd spot or two) and it didn't seem to bother anyone.

I won't talk about the punting side as I wasn't overly successful today but you get that sometimes.
The pictures I have posted here are as follows:
1. Racing To Win leads out the Ryder Stakes field

2. The crowd early in the day

3. Me holding the Golden Slipper trophy

4. The horses close to the post in one of the early races.
Next Saturday is Derby Day over at Randwick, another highlight usually of the racing calendar.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Inappropriate is one word that comes to mind when describing the new comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall but another word is amusing.
Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), a big name TV star, announces to a very shocked and very naked Peter (Jason Segel) that she's breaking up with him.
After quite a hilarious and prolonged period of uncontrollable crying Peter is convinced to take a holiday to Hawaii to get away from memories of Sarah. The trouble is Sarah is at the same resort and in the suite next door with her new boyfriend, the obnoxious (but in his way quite funny) English pop star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand).
You can pretty much guess where it is headed when Peter befriends the hotel hostess Rachel (Mila Kunis). Throw in a religious newlywed couple having trouble `bonding', an obsessive waiter with a weird crush on Aldous (semingly), a rock opera about Dracula and a perennially high surf instructor Chuck (Paul Rudd) and this is quite a light hearted ride.
I think here are certainly much better, and funnier, films from this genre out there - Good Luck Chuck and Knocked Up come to mind - but it is pretty entertaining, if overly crude.
I had a good laugh and there were some scenes that were very, very funny and you can't ask for too much more than that in the well trodden sort of romantic comedy genre.
I just don't know how Segel allowed himself to be involved in three nude scenes in the one film. A 6.5 out of 10.

500 and counting...

I was hoping I'd have something awesome to post for my 500th post on this blog but you'll have to settle for a picture of the great Homer Simpson.
Woo-hoo, 500 posts - I didn't think I'd make it that far.

A classic Homer quote or two to celebrate:

- ``When will I learn? The answer to life's problems aren't at the bottom of a bottle, they're on TV!''
- ``Stealing! How could you?! Haven't you learned anything from that guy who gives those sermons at church? Captain What's-his-name?''
- ``No, no, no, Lisa. If adults don't like their jobs, they don't go on strike. They just go in every day and do it really half-assed. ''
- ``Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!''
- ``And how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?''

I could go on and on and on....

Before Sunset

My faith in the belief that a movie can come out of Hollywood that is breathtaking, moving, has passion and soul and heart and can keep you engrossed from start to finish is returning.
As you can see I thoroughly loved Before Sunset , the sequel to the 1995 film Before Sunrise, again starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.
Set nine years after the first Jesse and Celine meet again, this time in Paris, as Jesse is promoting the book he wrote which is largely about their first encounter.
They spend the next 70 minutes (it is not a long film) catching up on their lives, missed opportunities, regrets, and ponder the future.
You really need to see the first movie but they do recap a bit at the start of the second. What is evident from Before Sunrise is how much the characters have grown. They aren't simply the same people thrust into a new situation as some sequels try to get you to believe.
I'm going to consider buying these as they are films you can watch again. Highly recommended.

Expectation vs the movies

Expectation holds great power when I'm about to watch a film, I'm sure most people experience something similar.
I hired a few movies last weekend and have been watching them with mixed reactions.
For several months I'd been keen to watch Half Nelson, starring Ryan Gosling, and had such expectation that I was a bit disappointed by the end. It was a good film but didn't live up to the hype that I had built.
It's a shame because it was a reasonable performance from Gosling.
The other movie was a double back featuring Before Sunrise and its sequel Before Sunset, starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.
I've only watched Before Sunrise and I can say I will definitely be watching the follow-up because I was blown away. Made in 1995, Before Sunrise is a simple yet captivating film about two strangers who meet on a train and spent one day together in Vienna.
The whole film is basically the two of them talking about their lives, their views, their hopes and fears and becoming closer by the minute. You don't need special effects to make a movie that so clearly illustrates the simple connection between two souls. Outstanding, bring on the sequel (if I didn't have to work tomorrow I'd be watching it right now!).

Never Back Down

Expecting a cheap rip off of Fight Club, I was pleasantly surprised by Never Back Down .

The story is a tried and true formula: troubled teen comes to new town and has a run in with the school tough guy, largely over a girl. He gets angry and wants revenge but is counselled by a quiet, wise man who slowly gets through to him.

Sound familiar? I must say even though fighting was central, the film borrowed a lot more from The Karate Kid than Fight Club.

What makes this better than the cliched idea it was born from is the lead character Jake Tyler (Sean Faris). There won't be any Oscars but he held the movie together well as far as I'm concerned. Jake is haunted by the death of his father in a car accident where he wasn't strong enough to not allow his dad to drive while drunk.

He sees it as giving in.

That's where Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou) comes in. He's the master of a local `combat club' where angry teens can work out their aggression. He has a rule that no one is to fight outside the club. Of course Jake breaks the rule but is awarded a second chance.

Look, you can pretty much guess where this is headed. Ryan McCarthy (The OC's Cam Gigandet) is the bad guy, looking a lot like Brad Pitt in Fight Club coincidentally.

If you don't take it too seriously and get caught up in the Fight Club comparisons then you'll enjoy it. I certainly did and give it an 8 out of 10.

Inside information

Some people see introversion as a great thing, or a defining thing about them. Sometimes I think there is an extrovert inside trying to force its way out.
The struggle between wanting to be one way and accepting that you are who you are is an interesting one. I look at other people and wonder how they became how they are. Is it just nature?
I don't have this desire to all of a sudden become this completely out there person but I often wonder if I could be. I like my own space from time to time, I enjoy curling up on the couch with a movie or box set of One Tree Hill or one of my other guilty TV pleasures.
I see life very much as a contact sport.
Now I don't mean we should be causing harm to people or grabbing their `wheels' as some have done in rugby league this week. People were created for relationship with each other and the human touch has such a powerful effect.
Everyone needs their own personal space, definitely, but in a big city like this one we have lost sight of the fact that there is great comfort and energy to be drawn from the simple touch, and not just in the secular world. A handshake, a hug, a pat on the back, a friendly embrace. It's all good.
The guy who planted himself in Martin Place and started the Free Hugs campaign was on the right track. It's something so simple and he made it all the way to Oprah.
I reckon tomorrow everyone should make an effort to do one `good deed' or make a simple gesture to make someone else feel good.

There's nothing to tell

It's been a fairly standard week and I haven't felt overly inspired to write anything, so this is basically filler until I do.
Glad it's Friday tomorrow and I'm looking forward to a bit of a quiet weekend for a change.
Incidentally, the name of this post comprises the first line of dialogue from the very first episode of Friends.