MJ, a year on...

It's been 12 months since Michael Jackson died - can you believe it?
I still remember arriving at work and seeing the news that he'd collapsed and the disbelief. People like him, well, that doesn't happen.
It's quite ironic that his last album was called Invincible, isn't it.
Just caught a bit of a concert from the 1997 HIStory tour featuring Stranger In Moscow and Smooth Criminal. He was unique. There'll never be a musical artist with as much raw talent as him ever again, I'd say.
A year ago I listed My top 5 Michael Jackson songs on this blog. I think the list still stands but there are a heap of great songs that didn't make the top five.

Animal Kingdom

It's always hard to approach a film that has been given five star reviews with low expectations and this was the challenge ahead of Animal Kingdom .

Now I'm not going to give it five stars but I will say now that it is one very good film, and one that gets better the more you think about it.

The central character is J (James Frecheville) who is taken in by his grandmother Janine (Jacki Weaver) when his mother overdoses and dies.

The family he is thrown into is one he's had little to do with since his mother had a fight with his grandmother over a game of cards.

Janine's family is involved in various illegal activities and is often playing cat and mouse with the cops. Andrew (Ben Mendelsohn), Barry (Joel Edgerton), Craig (Sullivan Stapleton) and Darren (Luke Ford) invite J into their world and he finds that it is a survival of the strongest.

A shocking event changes the tone of the film early on and from there it doesn't let go of you, there's an intense feeling that carries on right to the end. Very unsettling.

Interestingly, Animal Kingdom is low on the swearing. That's something I was surprised about but I also think it is a good thing because unnecessary swearing often ruins a film. Don't get me wrong there are a number of profanities at times but it's not overdone.

I won't go any further into the plot but the message you get from the film is a clear one.

And it is interesting to watch as the characters turn on each other in order to survive. It took a while for me to work out why it was called Animal Kingdom but in the end it is obvious.

The acting is superb, especially Mendelsohn and Stapleton and Weaver is surprising as the matriarch who may not be everything that she seems.

One of the better Australian films in a long time. It has its flaws but it's a solid 8 out of 10 for me.

Same horse, different jockey

The best way to describe what happened today, i.e. our new Prime Minister, is simple.
It's the same horse but a different jockey. I don't see how it affects me at all at this point or changes anything.
But it sure made for an easy news day.

Sandown excursion

Another excellent trip south of the border wrapped up yesterday, this time the aim was to see some of the controversial hurdle racing.

Now, I love the jumps. But there are some people who think it is cruel or whatever and I am not going to debate the pros and cons of it here, or anywhere for that matter.

That is my view and it is not going to change regardless of what any anti-jumps campaigner will say or chant.

After the plane got me to Melbourne 30 minutes later than anticipated I was on the hop a bit for the rest of the day as I tried to do everything I had planned.

Friday night I was at the Gertrude Hotel in Melbourne, just off Brunswick Street. It was a fairly nice pub where there was a lot of talk about the soccer and the AFL.

Being a bit early, I sat there and observed a bit before my friends arrived.

On Saturday I caught a train to Sandown racecourse, which was about a 40 minute ride.

Being a big fan of the jumps racing I was keen to see two horses in particular - the champion 'chaser Mazzacano and the up and coming star Black And Bent.

Unfortunately the champ was off his game and didn't feature but the new star certainly proved himself with a huge win in the Australian Hurdle.

There was a reasonable crowd on hand and it was great to not be the only one applauding as he careered away from the pack in the home straight. In fact, there was quite a reception for Black And Bent (pictured).

The weather was a lot milder than I had expected and planned for (which is a good thing) and this time there were no hailstorms!

Melbourne is a great place to visit, but I don't know if I'd want to live there.

The A-Team

I'd say Liam Neeson sums up the remake of the classic 80s TV show The A-Team best when he remarks 'overkill is under rated' late in the movie.

As mentioned a week or two ago when I saw The Losers, the expectations for this action-comedy were high. Not to mention that the bar was set pretty high by said film.

Well, the verdict is - The A Team definitely match it.

Completely over the top, the makers have definitely retained the feel of the TV series without the 80s hanging over its head.

The casting is pretty good. Neeson is a solid leader as Hannibal, Bradley Cooper's Face is charming though not as much the chameleon as his TV predecessor. (Also, given the amount of times his shirt was off I don't think a lot of attention was being paid to his face). Sharlto Copley (from District 9) wasn't an obvious choice as Murdock but he was an inspired one. Quinton Jones had by far the toughest job trying to follow in Mr T's footsteps as B.A. Baracus and, I have to say, didn't do too bad.

We all know the story by now. They get set up, break out of jail seeking revenge on those who set them up. Along for the ride is Jessica Biel as Captain Sosa, a former flame of Face (of course) who is trying to haul them in.

The character I enjoyed the most was definitely the CIA agent Lynch (Patrick Wilson). He's hard to describe, but he's the kind of bad guy who you barrack for for a while then enjoy seeing him get caught out.

Overall, The A Team was a great deal of fun, albeit over the top but you come to expect that. I gave the Losers 8 out of 10 and this definitely matched it. So, 8 out of 10 - not rocket science but high on enjoyment.

Now, for the sequel.....

Bring on August

Oh yeah! August 17 is the big day for season 7 on DVD.
It was an excellent season on the whole, a few teething problems but looking forward to the final season later this year.
And to think it's already the middle of June so this release is only two months away.

Acclimatisation

The cold snap has been interesting but in a way it's a good thing since I'm heading to Melbourne next weekend.
The weather there can be unpredictable but in all likelihood it is going to be colder than it is in Sydney. The last time I was there it was the weekend of the massive hail storm so who knows what I'm in for.
So this week's temperature drop represents a chance to acclimatise somewhat to the type of conditions I will experience down there.

More than just songlines

While a lot of today's popular music is vacuous and forgettable there are songs that really get under your skin if you listen to the words.
One such song, for me anyway, is the Lifehouse song Simon, from their No Name Face album of 2000. I've always loved it and been haunted by it.
The verse in italics is particularly poignant but the whole song gives me shivers.
I also changed the lyrics in my header for a while, ironically away from a Lifehouse song. The line is from the Savage Garden song 'I Don't Know You Anymore'.

Simon Lyrics

Catch your breath
Hit the wall
Scream out loud as you start to crawl
Back in your cage
The only place where they will leave you alone
'Cause the weak will seek the weaker
Until they've broken them
Could you get it back again
Would it be the same
Fulfillment to their lack of strength
At your expense
Left you with no defense
They tore it down

(Chorus) And i have felt the same as you
I've felt the same as you
I've felt the same

Locked inside
The only place
Where you feel sheltered
Where you feel safe
You lost yourself
In your search to find
Something else to hide behind

The fearful always preyed upon your confidence
Did they see the consequence
When they pushed you around
The arrogant build kingdoms made of the different ones
Breaking them 'til they've become
Just another crown

Refuse to feel
Anything at all
Refuse to slip
Refuse to fall
Can't be weak
Can't stand still
You watch your back
'Cause no one will

You don't know why they had to go This far
Traded your worth for these scars
For your only Company
Don't believe the lies that they told to you
Not one word was true
You're alright
You're alright
You're alright

Underestimation

I'm pretty sure I have underestimated how tough it would be to get off these darn anti-depressants.
Perhaps I've rushed it in reducing the dose because over the last few days I've had recurring headaches and a few other little things that lead me to believe I have been a bit hasty.
I'm actually just under two weeks ahead of the schedule so maybe I should try and stabilise for those couple of weeks and then look to reduce further.
It's frustrating because I really want to be not taking them, and that is over-riding the suspicion that I might actually still need them.

The Losers

The big question that The Losers was always going to throw up is just how high will they set the bar for The A-Team?

The answer - pretty darn high.

The Losers focuses on a five man team on a CIA mission in Bolivia who are left for dead after being betrayed. As you do they set out to seek revenge on the man responsible for them being abandoned, with the help of the obligatory beautiful mysterious woman.

Cliches aside, The Losers is still a pretty refreshing action-comedy. It features a cast of actors who aren't widely known (in the big-name sense) aside I guess from Chris Evans.

And it is Evans who steals the show as Jensen, the technical expert amongst the quintet. He's a bit on the camp side, wears outrageous T-shirts and has just about all the better scenes.

Leading the troupe is Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), there's Pooch (Columbus Short), Roque (Idris Elba) and Cougar (Oscar Jaenada), all of whom possess some special reason for being a part of the team.

One of the best things about The Losers is how it doesn't take itself seriously.

The bad guy Max (Jason Patric) is pretty standard spoilt brat rich guy trying to take over the world-type. But he does have a few moments of his own.

I think if you don't expect huge things then you're going to love this film. It's fun, there's plenty of action and it doesn't require a lot of hard work.

Clearly aimed at The A-Team market, as I said, this film has set a high bar for the 80s TV reboot and it will be interesting to see if it can match this. An 8 out of 10.

What, you've never seen a hypocrite before?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I caved.
I gave in to the facebook phenomenon today after a short discussion with a friend yesterday. But I hereby swear to delete my profile if I feel it is not useful.

* by the way, the header comes from an episode of The Big Bang Theory.

OK, I admit it

One for the 'guilty secrets' file.
I have to admit that I really enjoy the TV show Glee. It's really silly but for some reason highly enjoyable.
Perhaps it is the fact they drag out classic songs to cover each week, I don't know. But it is something I will casually flick over to from time to time.

Retro week

I had a fairly good time away but it did feel a bit like retro week at times.
On Sunday I went tenpin bowling at the old centre I used to go to when I was in high school - there's a swanky new one in town but I think proximity dictated where we went in the end.
I bowled two games with a very competitive eight-year-old who didn't really get the fact that him getting 82 to my 117 was a pretty good effort.
Later that day I was flicking channels and came across two classic films from the 80s. The first was Girls Just Want To Have Fun starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Helen Hunt, Shannen Doherty and Johnathan Silverman. I had this weird experience while watching parts of it because for some reason I knew the lines coming up even though I wouldn't have seen that film for 20 years at least.
Then came the Mel Brooks classic Spaceballs. Now this was a time, for those Gen-Y people, when parodies of films were done with class and tongue in cheek. It's a send up of Star Wars essentially and it's pretty funny even today.
A few days ago I played bingo to continue my retro week. I even won something! For such a simple game it can be very frustrating but it was a bit of a laugh overall.
Then to finish off was good old Hey Hey It's Saturday (on a Wednesday night). Talk about flashbacks, used to watch it religiously at home on an early Saturday evening.