Speed

Have you noticed how fast things happen these days?
It's the end of August and we're looking at spring now and pretty soon we'll be talking Christmas plans and New Years celebrations. The Noughties are finished, what do we call the 2010s?
I say all this because I've realised how a lot of the time I want things to happen fast.
I want to get to work quickly (and leave work quickly), I eat quickly (at times to my detriment but I should expect that), I walk quickly, I don't have long showers. You get the point.
Everything doesn't need to happen so fast but somehow I get caught up in it. Maybe it is a Sydney thing, or at least a big city thing.
Happily I have holidays coming up in a couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to the break. I enjoy getting out of the rat race if I can and I'm also looking forward to a few days in Melbourne coming up.
Having been there a couple of times this year I now know a few people so that will make the trip this time a bit more fun (and I have had a pretty darn good time in those two trips).
Needless to say I should try to slow down.
Really, there's no need to rush. Ferris Bueller had it right - 'life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop once in a while and look around you could miss it' (or something like that).

Fighting

There is an excellent film in the movie Fighting but as illustrated by the unimaginative title the great story isn't really on display.

Films involving fighting are a dime a dozen these days so what sets one apart from the other is the story. Fight Club has a lot to answer for.

Fighting is a grittier film than most of the genre and that's where the storytelling gets lost. The fight scenes are raw and brutal, almost primal.

The last movie like this I saw was Never Back Down and while it had its flaws the story was there, the characters were three dimensional and it just seemed to work.

The big problem with Fighting is that the two lead characters are two dimensional at best and have little chemistry. Shawn McArthur (Channing Tatum) is trying to make a life in New York but is forced to hustling books on the street to make cash. It's there he meets Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard) who is not dissimilar to Shawn but seems to have a network.

Harvey discovers that Shawn can handle himself in a fistfight and swoops in to manage his underground fighting career, with the carrot of a minimum $10,000 if he wins.

This is all well and good for me but we really don't find out too much more about Harvey other than he's struggling to make ends meet despite the appearances.

Shawn, we learn, despises his father and this comes to a head when Evan Hailey (Brian White) re-enters his life. Hailey trained with Shawn under his father's coaching and was the preferred protege. Thus we have the tension of the past.

Like I've said, I think there's a good movie here but a lack of imagination has prevented it from being made. That said, I did enjoy it somewhat.

Channing Tatum is not a great actor, or his character is highly underdeveloped, and I suggest he is there because of his imposing stature. The best thing about Fighting is the realness of the fight scenes, though they are a bit short at times. I wouldn't say don't see it, because I'm giving it a 7 out of 10, I'd just love to see this film if it were a 9.

Good as new

Aside from a bit of obvious landscaping still to be completed the house is finally finished.
It was an odd feeling staying there last weekend. The same address but a different house.
Essentially the house is the same dimensions but there are significant changes inside and it is much more modern - and much nicer.
The days of long hot summers and sleepless nights should be well and truly over in that house from now on with all the refurbishments.
Sleeping in my old room, well the new version of it, was also strange. It's slightly bigger than it used to be and has proper windows, the lounge room is big enough to incorporate a dining area and the kitchen is pretty schmick now too.
I'd been at my parents for many years about getting a new house and while I'm sure everyone didn't want to get it the way it happened, they are happy enough with the results. As I said there are a few little things to be finished and finalised but it looks good to me.

In other news

It's been a pretty big week but happily I have tomorrow off and am heading away for the weekend.
I had quite a nice lunch on Tuesday at Otto in Wooloomooloo, pretty swanky joint and I'd hate to think how much it cost. Whether it was worth it or not it was a media lunch so I didn't have to worry about that. Had some unpleasantness there but I'd rather not go into it, as it has passed.

Over the past few weeks I've had kind of a sore throat and I got it checked out a couple of days
ago. To my surprise I found out I have ulcers in the throat and have to go on antibiotics. Hopefully they will clear up without much trouble.

My parents have moved into their `new' house and I'm told it is a bit weird to be back at the old address in the new house. It's been more than a year since the fire so I can understand how strange it must be. It will be odd going there and it not being the same house.

District 9

This is one weird film.

It's hard to accurately describe District 9 other than to say it's a sci-fi film that you haven't seen before.

That fact is the best thing the film has going for it. Uniqueness is hard to find these days where everything is either a remake or a well trodden idea. You only have to look at the previews. The fact it is 'presented by Peter Jackson' makes absolutely no difference, by the way, it's just a selling point that he found it interesting and gets a producer credit.

District 9 is set in Johannesburg where an alien ship has been perched over the city for 20 years and remains unmoved.

The inhabitants have been relocated into what becomes a ghetto and it is decided to move them out of the city. This is where things go awry.

The unlikely hero of the story is Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) who is leading the alien task force in evicting the aliens from the ghetto.

There are all sorts of commentaries going on here, with racism being high on the agenda, as is the treatment of the poor. The humans refer to the aliens as 'prawns', largely because they kind of look like prawns but also because they are scavengers. They have also developed a taste for cat food.

The trouble comes to a head when Wikus is infected with some alien DNA and becomes the target of government agencies wanting to dissect him for science. Wikus and one of the aliens become unlikely (and quite hilarious) allies in trying to help him recover as he tries to give the aliens their freedom.

What is very cool about District 9 is the hovering mother ship which is in the background in most of the film. It gives the movie an ominous feel.

The movie is also quite gory and has gun fights to rival the latest Rambo film, at least in gratuity.

This is a hard movie to sum up. I'd say if it interests you it's worth a look. It is unlike any film I've seen in a long time, it is part documentary, part slasher film, part war movie, part alien invasion. I give a 6.5 out of 10 and I just hope they don't go thinking about sequels. It would undermine all the reasons this movie stands out.

But it's still really weird.

Public Enemies

Whether or not some aspects of John Dillinger's life have been enhanced for the screen and for good narrative, I left Public Enemies with one word in my mind - meh.

It's the 1930s and robbing banks is all the rage. Dillinger (Johnny Depp) is something of an expert in that regard and at one point in the film says it takes him a minute and a half to get the job done.

Fair enough. The fact I find it hard to believe Dillinger would give a glib interview to a host of reporters while on his way to a jail cell can go to the side. It may have happened but you really don't get a sense for who Dillinger was.

Similarly outrageous is the thought that he could wander into the 'Dillinger Division' of the Chicago police and go completely un-noticed. It did make for one of only a few highlights in an overall disppointing film.

Director Michael Mann, who seems to still be living off the reputation for the gripping Heat, can take some of the blame. The shaky camera work is so 2005 and adds nothing.

The casting is questionable. Depp has proven he can be just about anyone. Christian Bale is boring and I don't think it is his character Melvin Purvis. I'm not from the 30s but I couldn't understand why Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) was in love with Dillinger when he treated her like a possession.

There were some excellent moments, including the aforementioned Dillinger Division scene, some of the gunfights and the script also had some humour.

In the end, why should we care about Dillinger? We only got the sense that he was a smug, confident criminal. As I said at the start. Meh. A 5.5 out of 10.

The Old Man And The Sea

In my efforts to include more culture in life, I've been reading some 'classic' literature.
Even though I am yet to finish Huckleberry Finn (but am close) I've ripped through Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea and I have to say I thoroughly recommend it.
A simple story, written clearly and concisely.
That's what makes it remarkable. That a writer doesn't need page after page of action to hold the reader's interest is a sign of a great writer. Now I hadn't read any Hemingway prior to this one so didn't know what to expect.
At around 96 pages it is far from a long book and it is not in chapters. What Hemingway has done with this story is brilliant because he has taken a tale of a man who does not stand out in any way, except that he is a fisherman.
It's his relationship with the sea and with the fish he is in pursuit of that draws you in and keeps you turning the page. If you haven't read it, seek it out. You won't regret it.
Next up, as I have mentioned earlier, is Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The Simpsons need to age

I don't think this idea will shock anyone, but after watching the latest episode of The Simpsons tonight I again concluded it needs to be refreshed.
The only way the writers can do this, in my view, is to let Bart, Lisa and Maggie age by a year.
I know, I know, South Park did that at one point but they also did an episode called Simpsons Already Did It so stealing from other animated shows is not new.
Heck, South Park, Family Guy and American Dad are all crude rip-offs of the Simpsons anyway.
By letting the characters age it can put them into new situations, new regular characters can be introduced and new ideas tried.
We had a glimpse in an episode where Lisa was promoted to 3rd grade and Bart demoted but they didn't go far enough.
What would happen if Bart made it to fifth grade (he could go on an episode of Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader), how would Lisa cope with third grade, Maggie might finally get to speak a bit. The possibilities are endless.
Something needs to be done to bring The Simpsons back to its former glory. Season 12 is about to be released on DVD and by this stage the show was less consistent and memorable episodes fewer and far between. The classic Pinchy episode is now over 10 years old and I don't think there has been an episode since anywhere near as funny.
So, challenge extended writers. Over to you....

Why isn't getting real as easy as it should be?

Perhaps it's just something you go through when blogging, but I can't seem to generate the enthusiasm at times to keep it up.
Writing movie reviews, music reviews and commenting on trivial stuff is so easy.
Getting real is not so easy.
It seems it is that way in life in general, not just in the cyber world.
Maybe I'm concentrating on the wrong people, or maybe I'm just not going to get what I want.
Yeah I want something real, something that feels...something.
I go back to my previous statement - am I focusing in the wrong direction? Some aspects of my world are so deeply entrenched in keeping reality at arm's length.
Others are so caught up in reality there seems little hope of turning back. Doesn't matter how much you want to, if you can't get in the driver's seat you can't steer.
In some ways I'm very simple and as the ad says the simple things in life are often the best.
But why are the simple things never as simple as they should be?
While it's fun being a bit cryptic and colourful, I think it's pretty clear what I'm talking about.
(It's all about relationships, not necessarily romantic ones but not excluding them either.)