Good news!

Ok, I finally have some actual news about some actual progress!

I scored a lead role in an amatuer short film called "Masked Man". I get to die - twice! (one death is a dream). That's shooting towards the end of March. If nothing else, it'll be a decent bit of acting to put on my showreel.

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I'm a bit excited about this one - I have a casting this week for extra work on a pretty big film in Sydney. Yay! As I said ages ago I was resisting doing extra stuff but this is one of Australia's biggest upcoming films, and plus, I need to start doing pretty much anything to get some paid work. Cross all your fingers and toes for me because this would be an awesome opportunity to experience a big-budget film set in action.

I still don't have an agent so I was very lucky to get a casting. I emailed the casting guy directly and hassled him, politely of course, a few times for information. Just call me Miss Assertive. If they like me they're going to refer me to one of the agencies they deal with. Keep those fingers and toes crossed!

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I went to a meeting last night of a "Working Actor's Group" at my old drama college (Wesley Institute in Drummoyne). There was an agent there I was keen to meet, Elvis Joseph. The organiser, my gorgeous friend Sarah, and I were the only ones to turn up but we managed to talk with Elvis for almost 3 hours about marketing, headshots, CVs, agencies, the current state of film in Sydney, and Christian film which Elvis is currently researching. A lot of it was very helpful and I got some good feedback on my current headshot (which is great because I'm getting new ones done very soon).

Sarah and I had a bit of a play in front of a camera, seeing which was our "best side" and the ways different angles look. I reckon my right three-quarters (halfway between front-on and profile) looks best. But overall I was a bit shocked. The camera really does add 10 pounds, as they say, and I felt really fat and ugly - especially compared to waify thin Sarah. Normally I'm quite happy with how I look, but I have been trying to lose weight and I have about 10kg to go to my "ideal weight". Hopefully the camera will like me more (or I'll like myself on camera more!) then. It was good motivation though - I dragged out the old aerobics DVD this morning and did two workouts today. Watch this space for the return of the old skinnier me!

Aarrrgghh!

I'm so annoyed! I just want to tell the whoel institution that is The Media to stick it. somewhere nasty.

Why, you ask? Well, of course, there are about a kazillion reasons for wanting the media to shut up, but the current one is the announcment I just heard on the news...

"Stripped bare... rave reviews for Harry Potter's daring stage debut."

followed by " Harry Potter is all grown up" and a couple of minutes talking about Daniel Radcliffe (yes they did eventually get around to using his actual name) in the play Equus,a dn how he smokes and appears nude. Not one mention of the other star of the play (Richard Griffiths), supporting castmembers, or even the plot!

Now I'm sure this was all expected and I'm sure Radcliffe and the cast are dealing with it graciously. But geez louise, I'm so sick of hearing "Harry Potter" this and "Harry Potter" that, as if he's not just a fictional character reappearing every couple of years. If the media keep up all this craziness, it's sure going to be painful when all the films are finsihed and Radcliffe et al start doing other films.

Craziness.

Blow

I watched this last week, so I shall try to remember what I loved about it.

I think this was one of Johnny Depp's best performances (well, of those I've seen which is probably just over half of his films). It's more of a typical-Hollywood-leading-man role than many of his other characters, and he does it so darn well. One of Depp's great strengths, I think, is his ability to move his character through time, to portray a long timeline of a character's life as they age - keeping the essence of the character but changing in those subtle and varied ways that people do as they age. And if you try to ignore the not-so spectacular old-man makeup, the last part, as an older George Jung is prison, is beautiful.

Penelope Cruz impressed me too. It's not easy to play someone who's always stoned with resorting to boring cliches, but she did it well. I really liked her character but I didn't feel sorry for her, which is good I think because it menas they just told the story as it is, without trying to impose feelings on the audience.

All the supporting cast members were great, the characters all played their part and all meant something to the story as well as emotionally.

Anyway, yes, I loved it.

Plus: Johnny with blonde hair. What is there not to like?

My Oscar Predictions

I honestly don't care much for the Oscars, but I have nothing else to talk about lately, so, just for fun... let's see how right or wrong I am...

Actor, leading role: Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Actor, supporting: Djimon Honsou, Blood Diamond
Actress, leading role: Penelope Cruz, Volver
Actress, supporting: either Cate Blanchett, Notes on A Scandal, or Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Directing: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best Motion Picture: either The Queen or The Departed
Animated Film: Happy Feet

Art Direction: either Dead Man's Chest or Pan's Labyrinth
Cinematography: Children of Men
Costume Design: Marie Antoinette
Best Documentary: An Inconvenient Truth
Visual Effects: Dead Man's Chest

Adapted Screenplay: William Monahan, The Departed
Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga, Babel

The rest of the categories I don't know enough about to hazard a guess... but let's hope Saviour from AFTRS wins Live Action Short Film. That would be cool.

EDIT - Well, I got 8 right! (If you count the ones I had two options for!) Here is the list of winners. And check out the "Thank You CAM" where winners have to deliver their thank you speech - backstage I think it is, with dozens of people milling around getting in the way - how NOT classy is that?! Ah well... I guess the Oscars were classy once upon a time...


I saw Rocky Balboa last night. I was surprised by how much I liked it. It's a really great film and about so much more than boxing (which, I guess, all the Rockys were supposed to be...) Together with Million-Dollar Baby, which I watched a couple of weeks ago, it's made me want to take up boxing! (ok, well, not really... but I do sometimes really want to punch people and it would be cool to be able to do it properly, yes?) Anyway, Rocky sure is a great character and the film was an excellent "goodbye" for him.

Romantic-esque-ness in Sydney

I went all the way into Circular Quay today to do a commercial proposal for a freelance director/photographer type person. It was fun. It was another montage type deal, so the scene was very quick but far more interesting than that last one I did. The theme was about Sydney being a romantic city and my scene was to laugh with and kiss a guy.

Yes, my first screen kiss. Oh the excitement. Ha ha. I was actually quite nervous and so was the lovely Josh, but once we started shooting it was easy and fun. We had to do, oh, at least 10 takes (director couldn't decide on angle and shot size) and after a few it was getting pretty funny. We both got the giggles at one stage - yes, terribly professional I know! Plus, I was taller than Josh, so I had to take my shoes off and bend my knees a little, so it was really quite funny. The concrete was burning hot so in between takes I was jumping up and down and running to stand on my shoes.

People kept stopping to watch (we were right near the Opera House so lots of tourists), and there was this one old guy that stood and watched the whole time. Weirdness.

Then there were a couple of shots for a different scene, just close ups of my face and hands. It was a good day, met nice people and it only took a bit over an hour. Plus, the director/photographer girl is going to give me a good deal on photography for my headshots (my mother in law has offered to help pay for them so I should be able to get them done in the next month or so. Yay!) and she's got other projects coming up that she might want me for.

So, let's hope that the companies involved love these ad proposals and decide to go ahead, PAY for them and put them on TV! *crossed fingers*

New Template

A change is as good as a holiday!

Wuthering Heights

*sigh*

No, not one of the half-million Wuthering Heights films. I just finished reading the book. Goodness, it's a good one, isn't it?

I read it years and years ago and had forgotten most of the story so it was such a pleasant surprise to read it again. I was particularly surprised by how much I dearly cared for Heathcliff by the end. Just imagine a love so strong in a man so crazy!

In the various films' threads on IMDB there's endless discussion of which actor could play Heathcliff if they made it agian today. Suggestions range from Daniel Day Lewis to Orlando Bloom to Joaquin Phoenix... Johnny Depp... Colin Firth... Hugh Jackman... Heath Ledger... hmm, I don't know about any of those. I think Depp could have done it 5 or 10 years ago but he is starting to age a bit now (finally!). I think Orlando as Heathcliff would make me laugh (but you never know!). Heath Ledger's an interesting idea.

As for Cathy, apparently there are rumours around that Angelina Jolie was interested.... um, no. Not good. Besides, dear Cathy dies at about 19, so you need someone pretty young don't you. (I'll do it! Pick me, pick me!) I can't think of anyone.

Any ideas?

Ponderings on the future of film... etc...

I just read this post by John August (the screenwriter of Go, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... and I'm not sure what else...), about the new technologies in entertainment and the possibilities of writing films specifically for 2-inch screens such as iPods, mobile phones etc.

This comment literally brought anxious tears to my eyes. The idea that large-format film could fall by the wayside, cast off in favour of miniature technology and short attention-spans totally freaks me out. Not only because I want to make a career out of said film, but because... well, can you imagine *not* seeing movies at the cinema? Imagine the largest screen available being your own TV, imagine spending hours staring at a screen so small it might as well be Elmo's Let's-Pretend Movie Theatre.

Now, I am biased I guess because I dont have an iPod, never used one. I only use my mobile phone for making phone calls (oh and occasional photography when I've forgotten the camera) and YouTube actually kinda annoys me. But hey, I reckon there are plenty of people just like me who can't bear the thought of even fewer great films than we get now.

I am greatly comforted by the fact that live theatre still exists, and flourishes in some ways - in fact seems to be growing again in popularity, so it's fairly unreasonable to think that film as we know it would disappear completely. I can see it reducing somewhat to a more "arty" pastime, much as live theatre is now - for the more wealthy and/or artistically-minded people.... but that sounds good to me! I can live with that.

who needs guns...

Okay after my big rant in my last post about guns and children shooting each other with them... I suddenly remembered that this stabbing, with a small knife, happened at a high school near me this week. The 16-yr-old boy was not killed but required emergency surgery.

Wow. My brother and my husband attended that school.

See, these are the kinds of things about which Aussies say "only in America..." Whoops. No longer only in America hey. Scary stuff.

Bowling for Columbine

Sorry I haven't posted all week. I've been stuck in a bit of an "I'm such a failure and I'm not getting anywhere" kind of funk, so obviously I haven't had anything constructive to say.

On Thursday I went into Paddington for a "featured extra" role for a student short, and boy was that frustrating. 2 hours to get there, half an hour to park, 10 minutes doing make up for.... wait for it.... 2 seconds! of shooting. It was like a montage scene of various people wearing these certain t-shirts with slogans so each of us only had to stand and look at the camera for 2 seconds and that was it.

*sigh* Definitely no more freebies for minor parts.

Anyway. Watched Bowling for Columbine a few nights ago. I'd seen bits and pieces of it before but not the whole film through. It's a powerful documentary because it raises questions, offers *possible* answer, but hinestly doesn't answer them. Michael Moore is seemingly left with no idea why the USA has so many more gun-related deaths than any other country and he's happy to admite he really doens't know. I think he just wishes some more people in power would try to figure out the answer.

The opinions of the gun owning people were pretty frustrating. It seemed that their only reason for owning several guns (as opposed to one for self defence) was "it's my right". Whcih is a really stupid reason. Of course it's your right. It's also your right to do handstands on your roof and eat your dinner off the floor... and any other number of ridiculous things, but you don't see people doing all that just because they can, do you? Nutters.

I was particularly unimpressed with Charlton Heston. The man has the sensitivity of a lump of dirt. He held NRA gun rallies in the Columbine area and in Flint, Michigan, both within weeks of very disturbing gun deaths in both places. He didn't apologise for that, nor would he admit that it was an insensitive way to treat grieving local people.

I just don't know how you can hear about a 6-year-old boy shooting one of his classmates (that's what happened in Flint), and still think that it's okay to have guns in a family home. The idea of everyone having a gun is just so foreign to me that I can't comprehend the thinking behind it.

Anyway sorry, I wasn't going to start ranting about guns n stuff.

Bowling for Columbine was an awesome doco and I'm glad Moore made it. I only wish someone could find the sense and the answers in all those questions.

Back online.

I've been absent in the Land of Broken Computer. Sorry. But it's all better now. I haven't been up to anything exciting anyway so nobody's missed anything.

While the computer was off, though, I read Shantaram, and about half of Wuthering Heights. I LOVE Shantaram. I can't even describe it; it's just beautiful, beautiful writing and such a compelling story. I thought at first it was an actual autobiography but apparently it's a fiction based on Gregory David Roberts' real life. Brillliant novel. Definitely read it if you can.
I've been wondering, though, how they'll get it into a film. It's 930 pages and I can't easily think of which sections they could leave out... but I'm sure they'll manage. GDR is co-writing the screenplay himself so I'm sure he'll figure out which parts are most important.

Acting-wise I haven't done anything lately. I've applied for a role in a film (not sure if it's a short or a feature) in Sydney but the auditions haven't been announced yet. I helped at a playreading as "stage manager" on the weekend for a group who want to put on a musical. They're hoping to sell to somewhere like Riverside or Glenn St for their subscription seasons. If that gets off the ground it'll be proper paid work so hopefully it will.

I've been applying for millions of part time jobs, waitressing and housekeeping and such. No luck so far. *sigh* REALLY need some cash.

Okay, to make up for the week's lack of posting, here's a really long (potentially very boring but hey, I like weird details about people, so why not...) questionnairre... got it from Connor...


1. Is your second toe longer than your first? nope

2. Do you have a favorite type of pen?nope

3. Look at your planner for March 14, what are you doing? taking T to preschool.

4. What color are your toenails usually? toenail colour.

5. What was the last thing you highlighted? ads in the positions vacant section of the local paper.

6. What color are your bedroom curtains? we have awful apricot-ish holland blinds.

7. What color are the seats in your car? grey I think.

8. Have you ever had a black and white cat? nope.

9. What is the last thing you put a stamp on? a letter to the debt recovery office! (for noel's parking fine)

10. Do you know anyone who lives in Wyoming? Not that I know of.

11. Why did you withdraw cash from the ATM the last time? groceries.

12. Who is the last baby that you held? If two-year-olds count as babies, then my daughter B. If not, I can't remember... I don't tend to hold other people's babies.

13. Do you know of any twins with rhyming names? Nope.

14. Do you like Cinnamon toothpaste? Never had it but I think I would hate it.

15. What kind of car were you driving 2 years ago? none. I'd just had an emergency caesarean.

16. Pick one: Miami Hurricanes or Florida Gators. Are they sports teams or ways to die?

17. Last time you went to Six Flags? I wonder what Six Flags is.

18. Do you have any wallpaper in your house? Nope.

19. Closest thing to you that is yellow: stripes on my shirt and beads on my bracelet.

20. Last person to give you a business card? Real estate agent. Ages ago.

21. Who is the last person you wrote a check to? I don't think I've ever written a cheque.

22. Closest framed picture to you? a picture with two people drinking tea with text: "Friends. Hold a true friend with both your hands".

23. Last time you had someone cook for you? Ha! Mum cooked for B's birthday last week.

24. Have you ever applied for welfare? I've been on Austudy when I was at uni and now that I have kids I get family tax benefit. Is that welfare?

25. How many emails do you have? Who would know that sort of thing?

26. Last time you received flowers? Last week. Mum brought them.

27. Do you think the sanctity of marriage is meant for only a man & woman? Honestly undecided but leaning towards no.

28.What happened to #28?

29. Do you play air guitar? Nope. But I play air piano, saxophone, drums and microphone. Not all at once, that would look weird.

30. Do you take anything in your coffee? Coffee is evil.

31. Do you have any Willow Tree figurines? No but Noel has "Father and Daughter" and B has "angel of prayer".

32. What is your high school's rival mascot? Whaddya think I am? American?

33. Last person you spoke to from high school? Jocelyn!

34. Last time you used hand sanitizer?About 6 years ago when my American friend M brought some to uni.

35. Would you like to learn to play the drums? Oh yes.

36. What color are the blinds in your living room? Same horrible apricot-ish as the bedroom one.

37. What is in your inbox at work? Work? huh?

38. Last thing you read in the newspaper? Positions Vacant.

39. What was the last pageant you attended? see question 32.

40. What is the last place you bought pizza from? Macquarie Pizza.

41. Have you ever worn a crown? Yes. I played the Queen of he Night in Snow White once.

42. What is the last thing you stapled? goodness knows.

43. Did you ever drink clear Pepsi? huh?

44. Are you ticklish? Yes. You seriously don't wanna go near my feet!

45. Last time you saw fireworks?Last week, at the school across the road.

46. Last time you had a Krispy Kreme doughnut?at least a year ago.

47. Who is the last person that left you a message? My Avon region manager.

48. Last time you parked under a carport? years ago.

49. Do you have a black dog? nope.

50. Do you have any pickles in your fridge? nope.

51. Are you an aunt or uncle? yes. my nephew is one week younger than my B.

52. Who has the prettiest eyes that you know of? my daughters.

53. Last time you saw a semi truck?My husband drives one.

54. Do you remember Ugly Kid Joe? I remember the name.

55. Do you have a little black dress? yes.

**Fav-ology**
What is your salad dressing of choice? anything'll do.

What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Well, the best of a bad bunch would be Macca's I guess.

What is your favorite sit down restaurant? I dunno.

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? chocolate.

What are your pizza toppings of choice? chicken, mushrooms, pineapple, spinach, cheese, tomato.

What do you like to put on your toast? margarine, vegemite, jam, peanut butter, creamed honey.

What is your favorite type of gum? Extra spearmint.

**TECHN-OLOGY**
Number of contacts in your cell phone? heaps.

Number of contacts in your email address book ?heaps.

What is your wallpaper on your computer? Photos of Noel riding his mountain bike through a stream.

What is your screensaver on your computer? basic black.

How many televisions are in your house? Two, but one is under a pile of stuff and not plugged in.

What kitchen appliance do you use the least? electric juicer.

**BI-OLOGY**

Are you right handed or left handed? yes.

Do you like your smile? I like all smiles.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? My babies. By caesarean.

Which of your five senses do you think is keenest? touch. or smell.

When was the last time you had a cavity? Never.

What is the heaviest item you lift regularly? my 4-year-old.

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Yes. by a telegraph pole, it jumped out in front of my bike.

**MISC-OLOGY**
If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?No.

If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? I wouldn't, but I would change my surname if it wouldn't upset people.

How do you express your artistic side? I just do.

What color do you think you look best in? Blue or yellow.

How long do you think you could last in a medium security prison? As long as I needed to.

Have you ever swallowed a non-food item? Probably.

How often do you go to church? every few months.

Have you ever saved someone's life? not that I know of.

Has someone ever saved yours? Well the doctors who recommended my first caesarean thought they were, but I beg to differ. I think I've saved my own life once.

**DARE-OLOGY**

Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000? yep.

Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? yep.

Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? don't think so.

Would you never blog again for $50,000? definitely.

Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000? Yes, in certain contexts.

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? I would try. Not sure that I'd manage it though.

Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000? no way in the world.

Would you run over a dog or cat for $1,000,000? My initial respone is yes, I would. But maybe I couldn't. I would if I could give most of the money to children's charities.

Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000? Yep.

Oscar Nominations

I actually, personally, think the Oscars and certain other awards shows are really contrived and meaningless, but anyway....

Announced today were the nominations for the 79th Academy Awards.

I've not yet seen any of the films nominated for best motion picture - I shall try to see them in the month before the awards, though, so that I will have an educated opinion to yell at the TV when the award is announced. :)

In fact, I've only seen four of the films on the whole list of noms - Dead Man's Chest (Art Direction, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Visual Effects), Cars (Animated Feature and Original Song), Marie Antoinette (Costume Design) and Happy Feet (Animated Feature).

I'm really pleased to see that three of the 5 "Actress in a leading role" noms - Judi Dench, Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep - are from the older end of the scale. It does get a bit boring seeing all the young thin people all the time! Happy to see Kate Winslet there too - she is one of my favourites, not just for her acting but her values and truthfulness in life.

A nice surprise in the live action short film category is The Saviour, by Peter Templeman and Stuart Parkyn from the Australian Film Television and Radio School. Well done to Peter and Stuart!

And how exciting to see Abigail Breslin as supporting actress - imagine being nominated for an Oscar at age 10! But from all reports, she sure deserves it.

Anyway, I'm sure that if I'd seen more of these films I'd have more to say about the noms - mind you, that would require all of them being released in Aus by now!

Shantaram news

It's been announced that Shantaram, which has been talked about and in pre-production for years, finally has a new director. Mira Nair is attached and the plan is to start filming around October this year.

I'm desperately hoping that at least some shooting will take place in Australia. (the [true] story is of an escaped Australian criminal who flees to India and has all sorts of adventures) And no, not just because I'd like to see Johnny Depp in Aus, but because the film industry here is just starting to pick up after quite a slump and this kind of project happening here would be exciting. However I imagine most of the film will be shot in India, and I *think* I read a while ago that the studio shooting would be done in England. But hey, I can keep hoping.

I was given Shantaram, the book, for Christmas, and from the first few pages I've read so far I think I'm going to love it. I'm excited about the film.

From the sublime to the ridiculous....

We've watched a few really ridiculous movies here lately.

Saturday night we started with Miami Vice. Hmmmm. I was thinking that perhaps if I knew the original TV show at all I would understand and/or appreciate it more. It's pretty awful.

Luckily, we watched it with some friends so we enjoyed predicting all the ultra-predictable moments, then laughing and groaning at the really unbelievable ones. The storyline was muddled and the characters were confusing. The incidental moments dragged on forever while vital pieces of information were skimmed over in an instant. I'm completely baffled as to why there was such hype about this when it was released.

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Next, for some more groaning and hilarity, we watched Snakes on a Plane. Yes, mo-fo snakes on the mo-fo plane. Talk about entertaining! I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Seriously, if the filmmakers were aiming for side-splitting hilarity, they succeeded brilliantly.

'Tis indeed a pity that that's apparently not what they were aiming for. The characters are cliched, predictable, unlikable and ridiculous. There are so many characters for whom you actually wish death-by-snake-bite the moment you meet them, and are pleased when your wish not only comes true, but happens in a hilarious moment of insanity.

Actually, there was one moment that was seriously NOT funny - snake poison was sucked from a pustulating wound. We all nearly vomited.

Won't waste anymore time on that piece of craziness except to say how truly bizarre it is that movies like that get made, and marketed so well. The mind boggles.

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Yesterday we watched Clerks 2.

I am so disappointed with it. If it weren't for about 10 minutes of revolting, completely unnecessary and totally unfunny action (a sequence involving bestiality), it would be a really great film. In fact, someone should just cut out that whole sequence (well, most of it anyway) and it would be a great film.

Start from the beginning, though. The characters are great, the actors are great. It is, of course, fun to see Jay and Silent Bob again (I haven't seen the orginal Clerks but I know them well from Kevin Smith's other stuff). The plot is simple, believable and meaningful, and the dialogue is funny and real. I was really, really enjoying the film, until that sequence I mentioned just went way too far.

Basically, Dante is leaving the fastfood store where he, Randall, Elias and Becky work. He's moving to Florida to marry Emma. The film covers the journey of him realising he really loves Becky and wants her and a simple life rather than rich Emma and the rich life in Florida. All of which works really well. The awful part comes when Randall throws Dante a goodbye party and hires "Kinky Kelly and the Sexy Stud" - an act involving a person and a mule. It was SO. WRONG. They could have easily cut it shorter; there were plenty of opportunities for it to end sooner; even just talking script and screentime, it was way too much time to devote to a pretty minor event in terms of the character's story. Dante ends up kissing Becky as Emma walks in, shocked by the scene. That could have happened much sooner in the scene and been just as shocking for Emma without having to waste so much time on something appalling.

Anyway, once that sequence has crawled back to the dark hole from which it came, the film ends well and restores itself a little bit of dignity.

I finally understand why Kevin Smith has received so much negativity and so many complaints about Clerks 2. The sad thing is that he's being forced to defend something that not only ruins an otherwise entertaining and skillful film, but was totally unnecessary to plot, character, or atmosphere. What was he thinking?

*mind continues to boggle*

Marie Antoinette

After my go-see yesterday I found my way (I always get seriously disoriented in the city and go the wrong way down George St. Happens every time!) to the cinema just as the trailers were starting before Marie Antoinette.

For the first half, I was quite disappointed. It moved very slowly, and felt as if they were trying a bit to hard to set up the atmosphere and environment rather than getting on with telling the story. It sure was a beautiful enviroment, though! After a while I started to become more involved in the story and in Marie Antoinette's difficulties and extravagances, and by the end I was quite emotional and had decided I liked it.

I wasn't expecting to be sympathetic towards the young queen, but I found myself feeling somewhat sorry for her even when she was frittering away the poor peoples' money on diamonds and dresses, or throwing fantastic parties for her lover at the country retreat. The film did (eventually) capture the idea of a young girl thrust into a crazy world... and I was torn between sympathy for her having to deal with the bizarre Court routine, and frustration with her for not realising how the life she was leading was hurting people. I think that's because when you learn about the French Revolution, it's mostly from the point of view of the starving, over-taxed commoners. So while you're seeing the Royal family eating ridiculous amounts of rich food and playing with expensive fabrics and jewels, in the back of your mind is constant thoughts of those commoners, struggling to get some bread on the table.

Kirsten Dunst was fairly impressive. It would have been a difficult role, playing a young woman so far removed from any modern women. I think she captured the essence of a girl brought up in a place of stifling tradition and duty, well prepared for life in court, but with the same desires and need for escape as any teenage girl.

I really liked Jason Schwartzmann as Louis XVI. The character was a little odd; a nervous and eccentric young man. Schwartzmann played him with conviction and made me really like him.

I was pretty annoyed at all the American accents. I realise that any accent would have been equally silly, since technically they should have been speaking French anyway - but they could have at least worked with a more standard mid-Atlantic accent. The American accents made the scenes where they were talking about sending aid to the Americans seem a little odd.

As the mum, the most emotional parts of the film for me were seeing the children. I cried for Marie Antoinette when her tiny baby girl was taken away with not so much as a "please", to be fed by the nurse, even though she'd wanted to feed her herself. I wanted to scream "no! Don't let them take her! You CAN feed her!" And again when we saw little Marie Therese as a 3-yr-old, dressed in a gorgeous but awfully restrictive formal dress and saying things like "I am pleased that you find me so". When Marie Antoinette gave birth to a son, the whole court was present and then the baby was carried, screaming in his basket, in a cheering procession. These kinds of portrayals of children - just pawns and decorations in a big political game - break my heart. The third child broke my heart completely. I won't spoil the moment for you but the sequence involving the third child was done beautifully; the story told in such a succinct but powerful way. And finally, when the mobs were surrounding the palace, those poor children were so scared and so brave.

I was pleased that the film ended with the King and Queen leaving Versaille with the children; and not with the ending of their lives. That would have been too much, I think - and everyone knows what happens anyway, so best to leave that to our imaginations I guess. I feel compelled now to learn more about Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette... though I'm scared to find out what happened to their children...

So yes, I've decided I like it. Although, if I hire or buy the DVD, I will probably skip through a few sequences in the first half to avoid the dull moments. I'm also very keen to see the "making of", assuming they have one. It really is quite a fascinating topic.

A little ant at the bottom of the anthill...

Yep, that's me.

I went to Mullinar's today for my go-see, and it went well, but it mainly served to remind me how very small I am and how far I have to go. The 20 or so girls in the waiting room waiting to be tested for a TVC; the receptionist fielding dozens of calls about productions and talent and castings; the movie posters all over the walls; the stacks of paperwork with hundreds of peoples' names on them - all of them hopeful actors, just like me, hoping to climb a bit higher on that ant-hill. I've spent half the afternoon wracking my brain to think of ways to get myself noticed.... Work Hard is the only logical answer I can think of. :-) But of course!

The consultant I met with was lovely, very friendly and welcoming. He reminded me a lot of Ethan Hawke. He seemed really interested in hearing all about me, and I found myself wishing I'd thought of a few "talking points" so that I wouldn't have come out with quite so many "um"s. He was happy with me doing two monologues (I chose one Australian and one American), and said that they were great (but he probably says that to everyone!). I had to pose for a few repeat photos because there were technical issues with the video camera's still-photo function.

I also wished I'd written down a list of questions to ask because when he asked if I had any, I only thought of one pretty insignificant one. On the way home I kept thinking of other things I wanted to know. Isn't that always the way?

My girls also got a mention; I talked about them briefly and the consultant wanted to know their ages. Apparently they sometimes need mothers with their own children for things, so they like to know who has kids and how old they are. That sounds like fun!

The main thing he had to say to me was recommending I get an agent. He said they don't mind if you do or not, but it's more likely that you'll get noticed if you do. I told him yep, I'd love to have an agent and all I can do is keep sending them my info and hope someone takes notice.

Anyway, I left feeling good about myself. I think I left him with a good impression, but whether or not he remembers me next time something comes up remains to be seen. I think the first thing on my to-do list now is to get new headshots done and do the rounds of the agents again; see if I can't get me some representation.


After that, I took myself to the movies and saw Marie Antoinette. I shall write about that in another post.

Meanwhile, I just caught some of Australian Princess on TV. Oh. My. Goodness. Seriously, what the heck kind of television is that? Who watches these things? I'm off to clear my brain of the strange princessy madness by reading a good book...

(not) Good Reasons to Stop Acting

I just came across this article called 5 Good Reasons to Stop Acting by Bob Fraser. I really really like it. Fraser's basic philosophy seems to be "if you want to act, act. If you really want it you will get there".

I think that in some part of my head I already knew everything he talks about (that you don't have to be good-looking, that you don't have to live in the right place, that it doesn't matter what Other People think, etc, to succeed at acting) but it's good to be reminded, by such a passionate writer who seems to really care about the people he's talking to.

Thanks, Bob.

a step and a decision

I received a reply from one of the casting companies I emailed - a consultant from Mullinar's who wants me to come in for a go-see this Wednesday. Yay! A go-see isn't a huge thing (it just means meeting with one or two casting consultants, performing a monologue for camera; introducing yourself to them, basically, so they have you on file), but it is definitely a good positive step, and I'm excited!

Mullinar's is, I think, the biggest casting company in Australia and they cast a lot of both film and television. Impressing them would be a very good thing. I attended a go-see there when I was 14 but that was a long time ago and I was with a less-than-competent agent who wouldn't have recognised a suitable role if it jumped up and bit her (other people had problems with said agent too, so it's not just me being bitter, I assure you). These days I'm more capable of assertiveness and hopefully, even without an agent, I can do better to put myself forward for more roles.

In other news, I've decided not to do any more unpaid extra work, because the last few times have been pretty frustrating and unhelpful experiences. I'll still do unpaid roles if it's something that seems worthwhile and is meaty enough to be put on a showreel, but I think 7 or 8 months of volunteering to be a space-filler for sometimes-interesting, sometimes-weird-and-frustrating student and amatuer directors is enough.

However there's still one "featured extra" part coming up; another short film that was originally scheduled for December. It's on 25th Jan now and I'm playing a school teacher. I think I even get to speak, and the producer on this one seems lovely and organised, so perhaps it will be a better experience.

Anyway; less time on the computer, Sumara, and more time rehearsing a monologue...

The Man Who Cried

Slowly making my way through my "must-see" list. However I am dependent on the stock at my local video place - which tends towards the Hollywood blockbuster over anything smaller or more arty. *sigh*

Anyway, this week I've rented The Man Who Cried. I think I need to watch it again to fully absorb it, but I did mostly love it the first time. "mostly", because some sequences feel a bit like something is missing - as if some moments have had to be cut during editing for time, leaving out some peripheral information.

I was really impressed with Christina Ricci. I'd never noticed how beautiful she is. Those big eyes are very emotive and transparent, and the character was very truthful.

Cate Blanchett played her flirty, advantage-taking character to perfection.

Cesar wasn't, I don't think, one of Johnny Depp's best roles. I felt for him and desperately wanted he and Suzie to make it, but I wasn't nearly as affected by him as I usually am by Johnny's acting. Perhaps this was because of the aforementioned "missing moments" - I really felt that I wanted and needed to know more of Cesar and his family in order to really care for him in more than a shallow way.

I recall Johnny saying in an interview that he finds love scenes very uncomfortable, and especially mentioning this film because of how young Christina was (she would have been only 19 or 20 and Johnny 37 or so). So I was impressed to see a more realistic love scene than we usually see in films. It was a very truthful moment between Suzie and Cesar.
You know how so many films portray sex as a beautiful, simple, ecstatic thing? Well, in The Man Who Cried we see it in more of a real way; sometimes dull, sometimes uncomfortable and painful, sometimes quite a big event emotionally.

The film was quite evocative of war and the issues surrounding it. I really hated John Turturro's character, Dante, but he played him well. His was a story that made me remember with a shock that there really are people that narrow-minded, prejudiced and selfish in the world. Films do that to me sometimes; films that cover stories of appalling human behaviour, and everytime it shocks me to remember that people really can be truly horrible.

Anyway I shall watch it again, enjoy the carefree gypsy scenes and ignore the stifling Italians and Germans.

Peter Jackson

I've recently finished reading Peter Jackson; A Film-maker's Journey by Brian Sibley.

It was a great read, with stacks of all the weird little details I love about Peter's background, and lots of comments from Peter about all of his films and colleagues and aquaintances and work and struggles and.... heaps of stuff.

I must admit, the only films of his that I've seen are the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so the part of the book about those was the most interesting to me. However the telling of the preceeding 40 or so years was really interesting too, he sounds like a very exciting person to be around and work with.

Jackson's seemingly endless capacity for hard work and determination is pretty inspiring. He made his first feature-length film - Bad Taste - with a bunch of mates on weekends over about 4 years, and it became quite a cult hit. I'd never heard of it, but that's not saying much; I'm not exactly a splatter-flick connoisseur. Years of huge visions, ridiculously hard work, long hours, and a few "secret shoots" (sshhh don't tell the NZ Film Commission!) led to Heavenly Creatures and then LOTR and King Kong. Heavenly Creatures is now definitely on my "must-see" list.

The thing that most inspired me was the fact that once, at age 9, Peter decided he wanted to make films, he never once swayed from that goal or took any side-tracks. And that little kid who was astounded by the 1933 King Kong is still the same person today - just with a few more resources available to him. Like I said; determination.

Oh and the other cool thing - he made all his films in New Zealand, mostly in and near his home town of Wellington. The fact that Peter was so successful and made such beautiful films without ever having to pack himself off to Hollywood is fabulous. Yay for Peter Jackson.

(Oh and Peter, what's your next film? I'd be more than happy to pop over to NZ for a few months' filming. ;-) )

I just remembered; The Lovely Bones will be his next film. I wonder where he'll shoot it, seeing as it's set in Pennsylvania.

Happy Feet; wonderful but odd

We took the girlies to see Happy Feet last week. I'd heard many reports that it's brilliant and beautiful, and some that it was weird and too adult. So I was expecting it to be good fun with maybe a weird moment or two.

For at least the first half I was thinking "this is wonderful!" I was getting emotional and caught up and anxious, the way great movies always make me feel. I loved the whole concept; creatures so emotive and emotionally free that they each have their own "heart song" with which they attract and find their soul mate. The characters are beautiful and endearing (except the nasty ones of course!) and I felt swept away in their story. I wasn't even bothered by Robin Williams, of whom I usually think ooh clever! Robin Williams playing Robin Williams!

There was a sequence where the characters are swept up in joy and fun and they're swimming their hearts out and feeling adventurous and all that good stuff, and I was thinking "this is the best film I've watched since Dead Man's Chest" (I know, very odd thing to think at that moment, but there you are.)

And then, the weirdness began. The story suddenly changed dramatically and there was a whole new world (that of humans) jarringly introduced, followed by a new, remarkably implausible, journey which, of course, leads to the salvation of penguinkind and a lesson for all viewers about the dangers of global warming and pollution.

A few minutes after the sudden change of dynamic I was literally sitting in my cinema seat with an odd, confused look stuck to my face (and we were in the front row so my odd, confused look was facing the screen almost vertically - an attractive thought, I know) and thinking "what the?"

"What the?" didn't leave my thoughts. The film ended on a What the?. A very nice cosy feeling-happy what the?, but a what the? nonetheless.

Still worth watching though. Like I said the characters and concept are beautiful and more than make up for the odd-ness.

Oh, and one's 4-year-old attempting a tap-dance in the foyer after the movie always add to the good experience too... she's so cute... *silly mothery grin*

I am so not a light-comedy kinda person

A wee bit of acting today in a ridiculous little tropfest film...

I got a call late last night asking if I was available today to be a featured extra in a scene. It was described as "a parody of an Alcoholic's Anonymous meeting and the director specifically said "so dress how you think an alcoholic would look".

I did so, and turned up at the studio looking every bit the alcoholic-suburban-housewife-in-denial.

Which would have been fabulous if in fact the scene was anything to do with AA.

Instead of an "Incontinents Anonymous" meeting, to which the participants had to wear adult nappies poking out the top of their pants/skirts. Every one of the extras were told the same speil about looking "like an alcoholic" and then we turn up and are asked to put on our nappy!

We all went along with it as cheerfully as we could manage, trying really hard to see the funny side and trusting the director and lead actress when they said that in context it was going to be really funny and not so ridiculous. The bloke beside me and I consoled each other with the hope that no one we knew would ever see the film. It's a shame they felt the need to trick people about what the scene was to get the extras they needed.

And I'm sure it will be a great, funny film and I wish them luck. It's just not my cup of tea.

One perk of the day was that the lead actress is Rebel Wilson. She's a great girl and it was nice to meet and chat with her. She's most recognisable from Fat Pizza and The Wedge (TV shows)She'll be seen in a cameo role in the upcoming Ghostrider with Nicolas Cage, and I have to admit I hung on her every word as she told about acting with Nic Cage and Eva Mendes.

Apparently Rebel was told not to speak to Mr Cage until he first spoke to her - even while they were on set and acting together she was not allowed to speak to him. Eh, that kind of behaviour from big stars really irks me - I can understand huge celebrities not wanting to speak to every fan in the street, but your fellow actors? That's just rude. If you're busy or tired, how hard is to simply smile politely and excuse yourself, rather than making all sorts of rules about who may speak to you and when. Blech. I was really disappointed by that because I've admired Cage for a long time and now I won't be able to watch him without grumpily thinking "prima donna!"

Anyway Rebel's a lovely girl and I enjoyed meeting her. The other actors were great too. And I suppose it's always worthwhile to have a few hours more experience around a film set.

Dear me!

It's been almost a month! What's become of me?

Well, not much actually, hence the nothingness for December so far, but I thought I'd better pop in for a little updatey-kinda-thing...

I had a couple of "featured extra" bits in short films lined up for the first half of December, but they were both postponed until January/February.

Also postponed has been the feature film, because R-the-director has been having lots of issues with scheduling and casting and illness. He's kept in touch though, so that's a good sign, and he still seems keen to have me on board (whether in the lead role or not, I don't know).

I'm starting to send photos out to casting agencies, having established that that is in fact an acceptabel thing to do.
I phoned Barrett Casting because I heard that they were casting Baz Luhrman's Australia (which is being shot next year partially in Sydney). The lady I spoke to was very nice and helpful and said that even though there was unlikely to be anything suitable in that one, I was welcome to send my photo to them. So I figure casting people are happy to receive photos. So that's what I'm doing. :)

Last week I designed and "operated" lighting for a singing recital, of the students of a lecturer of mine from college. "operated" is in quotations because as it turned out, there was no operating to be done - the lighting board died about an hour before the show. I spent all morning rigging and focussing and plotting my beautiful design, and - kaput. Something went psycho with the memory of the desk and I wasn't clever enough to figure out the problem. Apparently this particular desk has played similar refusal-to-operate games in the past.
Anyway, I managed to get a few lights working straight from the dimmer racks and the show went on with one stable amber wash, and I morphed into Assistant Stage Manager.
It was very sad.
But, my fee paid for some Christmas presents for my children, so the frustrating day was worth it.

What else?
You know, I don't think I've even watched any movies this month!
No hang on, I watched Coyote Ugly and Save the Last Dance last week. Just a couple from my feel-good collection. :)

I'll be taking my girls to see Charlotte's Web either today or next week. I keep hearing all about Dakota Fanning, she's a clever little girl that one.

Okay that's enough of a rambly-updatey-thing.

Merry Christmas!
Happy Hanukkah!
Hope you all treasured the Winter or Summer Solstice! (depending which hemispehere you're in!)

Blessings to all for a happy holiday season!

Wolf Creek

We bought this on DVD a few days ago. You know, one of those spur-of-the-moment purchases when you weren't supposed to be spending any money. What can I say, we're weak.

Anyway...

As far as horror films go, Wolf Creek is pretty well up there. It was actually kind of refreshing to see the Aussie outback used for something like this rather than your average romantic adventure. The story is compelling and, although it's a little slow to get going, it draws you in and makes you want to stay. The sense of inevitabillity is huge. Right from the start, there are little hints that soemthing is not quite right; that everything will not go according to plan.

John Jarratt is simply amazing as Mick Taylor, the truly evil serial killer. Jarratt has been in stacks of Australian TV dramas, but I'm afraid I really only remember him from presenting on Better Homes and Gardens, so for me seeing his stunning performance was spectacular. Truly, I can't say enough about how well Jarratt created Mick Taylor. Much amazement. The making-of doco shows Jarratt talking about getting into character and finding the truth of it. He says he had to totally let go of himself, because "it's not him. John Jarratt just can't do this".
Writer/director Greg Maclean talks about Jarrat, on set, remaining in character a lot of the time, and speaking to him and other crew as Mick Taylor. It seems Taylor was a very difficult skin to climb in and out of, so perhaps Jarratt wanted to minimise moving in and out of the evil persona.
So yes, I was mightily impressed and a little inspired by Jarratt's performance.

The other cast were great too, though. The roles consisted of an awful lot of pain, torture, and terror, and Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi and Nathan Phillips coped with it really well. I was a little bored by the "ooh aren't we having fun" over-acting at the beginning, but I don't know, maybe they were exaggerating on purpose in order to contrast with the darkness later on. All three of them performed beautifully once the horror began, through what must have been a fairly harrowing shoot.

And again, my favourite film character - the Australian outback - plays a central role. And does it well, if a little wet in this one. Apparently when their shoot days were overtaken by rain, they decided to make the most of it and tweaked the script a little to allow for the rotten weather. And, boy, it sure did work.

I guess the outback is McLean's favourite film character too - I see his next film, Rogue is shaping up to be another horror in the outback. I'll be looking forward to it.

Dead Man's Chest DVD Commentary

First, thanks to Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio for providing the commentary, full of interesting insights and random facts. Also for all your patient online question-answering which has provided all of us wannabe film industry addicts with much fodder for discussion... and a bit of envy at the being-paid-for-living-in-paradise-while-making-really-cool-movies thing. :)

Here's some of the interesting stuff T&T talked about in their commentary:

Impressionism
Beginning from the opening wedding montage, Ted and Terry say they were aiming for a more impressionistic, rather than straight story-telling, style with the film. Orginally, apparently, the first scene was going to be Captain Jack's entrance via the Turkish prison, followed by the sequence of events on the Black Pearl up to the losing of the hat, and THEN to the abandoned wedding sequence. That theory was similarly abandoned upon a first viewing when it was felt to be too jarring for the audience - moving from a literal story-telling style (Captain Jack's scenes) to the impressionistic style, was too hard to relate. So the choice was to put the impressionism right up there at the beginning, and then introduce the audience to the "juxtaposition" of different characters' scenes in small vignettes. This juxtaposition determines how the audience sees the story and understands the character - T&T believe this is easier to relate to, because in real life that's what you see - small chapters of people's lives and it's up to you to fill in the blanks with your knowledge and imagination.
So, they say that they purposely tried to get away from the normal "one-main-character, three-act story" in favour of an impressionist "mosaic".
Which I really like. I think too often we can get caught up in the belief that a film needs to be as "realistic" and "believable" as possible. Really, there is so much value in a story presentation which allows one to be lost in a different world that is not reality. Indeed, sometimes the best way to make a story real to an audience is to set it outside of reality.
Similarly, one comment made was Billy Wilder saying - "give the audience the two plus two, and leave them to come up with the four themselves". I like it ("simple, easy to remember").

The Passing of Time
This idea is first introduced in the Black Pearl's rum cellar when Bootstrap Bill appears to warn "Time's run out, Jack". Ted or Terry (don't ask me to keep track of which voice was which!) pointed out a lovely image that I hadn't noticed before; when Captain Jack reaches for the run bottle and sand pours out of it, Bill says his line about time. Like sand through the hourglass.... it's a really nice image, and it helps to set up the idea of not only Captain Jack's time being up, but time being up for all those who belong in the world of Pirates, adventure, and a free world.
Which, of course, is reinforced later, and throughout, by Lord Beckett, his veritable army of EITC men, and his map.
The map, say Ted and Terry, is a symbol, to Beckett and to the audience, of the level to which the EITC, with the backing of the Crown, are taking over the civilised world. As the film progresses the map becomes more complete, and in it's final scene it is finished, signalling, perhaps, the end of the world as we (well, Captain Jack and his kind) know it. Also very important to this idea, they said, was the finding of the EITC spices in the cannibal-tribe hut. Another clue that the company is pushing Jack's kind further and further.

Creating the Story
Ted or Terry said that when they were asked to write a sequel or two, they had to make a decision; they could have made a whole new story (in the way the James Bond series does), or they could "retroactively engineer a larger story from the story of Curse of the Black Pearl. Obviously, they chose the latter, and the story points they built on were:
~ The compass. Thanks to a stroke of luck, they were able to change the purpose of the compass slightly to fit a bigger story. Originally (way back when writing the first film), the compass was indeed intended to point only to the Isle de Meurta. But that fact never made it into the actual film (it was left as something mysterious), so Ted and Terry simply changed the facts to read that the compass in fact points to whatever the person looking at the compass "wants most at that time. How clever. (oh, and they were very insistent that it was that definition, that the compass does not point to the person's "heart's desire" but to what they want most right then.)
~ Captain Jack's entrance - they wondered briefly if they could ever create an entrance as good as his COtBP entrance, before deciding they never could. So they settled for coming up with one that wouldn't "suck relative to that". I think they succeeded, I love the coffin-blasting entrance.
~ The "they made me their chief" line. It was an impro'd, throwaway line in the first film, and it became the inspiration for a very important sequence of DMC. Ted or Terry said that the cannibal tribe sequence is "a tribute" to that original line.
~ "Why is the rum always gone?" This line from Captain Jack recalls the island scene with Elizabeth and gives a small clue to what may be going on in his head.

which brings me to

Captain Jack's attraction to Elizabeth
Ted and Terry made quite a big deal of this possibility, starting from when Captain Jack remarks about the rum being gone. Apparently this indicates that Elizabeth "is playing into Jack's thoughts to some degree". Later, the problems Jack is having with the compass are attributed to this as well, as well as the fact that in Tia Dalma's hut, Captain Jack is the one who knows the answer of a woman being the thing that vexes all men.
The biggest hint, I thought, was near the end in the oft-debated moment in the longboat, when Captain Jack looks at the compass, registers an odd look, then rows back to the Pearl. One writer said that it was purposely left ambiguous but that he thought the compass had been pointing towards land. The other made a disagreeing sound, and said "no I think... no... well, I'll just say I think it was pointing the same way the whole time actually".
Interesting.

and Elizabeth's Frustration
This was also highly emphasised by Ted and Terry as very important to Elizabeth's character and story in DMC. Her frustration at not having been "married" yet is made evident in the jail-cell scene with Will, and reiterated several times, most obviously the "marri-age" scene with Captain Jack and their almost-kiss at that point.

The Importance of the Cannibal Island
I have to admit I never really got the importance of this sequence. It just seemed like a weird excuse the torture actors and stunt people with long sticks and cages. However, I have been enlightened.
The cannibal island sequence is, according to T&T, vital in progressing Captain Jack's storyline from avoidance of fate to an action plan to move with. Up until this point he was only trying to get to somewhere safe, to save his own behind. After this point, he knows without a doubt that there is nowhere safe for him:
~ At sea, the Kracken is after him.
~ In civilised society, the law and the EITC are after him, and
~ In uncivilised lands, cannibals are after him.
Therefore, the only option left is to actually make a plan and face the music (because, as we learned in COtBP, Captain Jack doesn't make a decision or a move until he absolutely has to.
So there you go; the mindlessly funny action sequences have a purpose. :)

Foreshadowing
Ted and Terry seemed quite amused by their own use of this word - one of them said sarcastically "oh come on, big summer movies don't use literary devices!"
They mentioned three main instances of foreshadowing. First, the fact that Captain Jack arrives in a coffin and says something about taking a short "side-trip". And related, the fight scene when he falls into a grave near the church. Third, for Elizabeth - when she's fighting in the tavern and she knocks Norrington over the head to stop the fight. The comment was "she's willing to hurt someone she cares for" to save the day.

Hints for At World's End
There were a couple of little hints. At Tia Dalma's hut and at Davey Jones' organ, big drama was made of the matching locket and music box. And also at the hut one of them said "every single thing in here has meaning if you really take notice". A really interesting one was about Captain Jack as the god in human form with the cannibals. They were talking abotu that idea being based on a real bear-worship tribe somewhere in Asia etc, and one of them said that Captain Jack as the god-man was a "subtle set-up for something that goes on in Pirates 3". Mmmm, interesting. I imagine it's something to do with how the Captain survives the Kracken and "defeats death" in some uber-spiritual/supernatural way.
One more random comment was that many things that are "in plain sight" in DMC will be revealed to be much more important in AWE. Cool. :)


Okey dokey, that's it. All my notes, laid bare. And much tidier.

Hope that's at least vaguely interesting to someone. :)

#%**!!$%#

I just typed about 10 paragraphs about the DVD commentary! My daughter turned the computer off! Aagghhh!

Again, I'll be back later. *sigh*

Or not.

Too tired. Going to bed. Back with more tomorrow.

:)

Dead Man's Chest on DVD

Yay!

Sorry Merlin. I did say I would watch the DVD with commentary the minute it was released and post here quick-smart. But my DVD didn't get to me as soon as it should have (thanks Aus Post!) and I didn't get to watch it until last night. And it's birthday weekend here. Of a 4-year-old kind.

ANYway....

It was oh-so-lovely to see Captain Jack again. And William even; I'm quite impressed with Orlando lately. And Gibbs. And Norrington. And Pintel & Ragetti. Oh okay, it's good to have them all back again.

I'm a bit disappointed that there's no actors' commentary, or one from Gore. My guess is that they were already being kept too busy with the two-movies-at-once thing, so they weren't called upon for commentaries.

However, there is a Ted and Terry commentary and I found it a lot more interesting than I'd thought I would. There were a lot of insights and a lot of comments that they admitted were answering questions/debates from all the online discussion about aspects of DMC. There are even a few tiny hints about possible plot points for At World's End.

I'm realising as I type that I don't remember all that much of what I wanted to relate form the commentary. So, I shall watch it again tonight (as soon as the kiddies are in bed which will be within the hour), and take notes, and be back in about 4 hours with a nice long post about it.

Meanwhile...

The "making of" doco, "According to Plan", was really great. It shows the enormous undertaking that such a big film is. Ships, trucks, islands, hurricanes, construction, heat, stunts, water, water, water... Everytime I see something like this, especially about a film I connect so well with, I just get that flame again, the "I wanna be there!" feeling. You can see on screen the "family"ish relationships everyone builds, and the hard work they do, the crafting of an idea into a reality, the feeling of desperate need to "make it work". I love that.

There are lots of other great extras too. Particularly amusing is the section of "Creating the Kracken" where we see how they made that slime fly all over Jack. Johnny says it's disgusting but he's smiling that adventurous smirk while he says it. :-)

Anyway like I said, I'll be back later.

Lord of War

Talk about harrowing. Lord of War is the kind of film that makes you bawl and gasp and hate it even though you just can't stop watching.

It's really well made and the performances are brilliant. Nicolas Cage as the amoral, money-hungry illegal arms dealer is scary and disturbing and so believable. His character was sickening. He knows without a doubt that the guns he is making money from are killing millions of completely innocent people, and he chooses to not care, to turn a blind eye. Even after he loses the people closest to him, he still goes on, deciding not to care. There are several moments in the story where his loyalties are tested, and while watching, at each point, I thought "this is it, he's going to do the right thing now and admit his mistakes". But no. Each time I was truly shocked that he proved me wrong. He was so fascinatingly, conflictingly, wrong. I almost said "evil" then, but I didn't even feel like he was evil. Just as if he was so apathetic that he was really unable to make any choice other than the one he'd orginally made to sell guns. That was all he could do, and choosing to do anything else would be admitting himself human and fallible.

Ethan Hawke was wonderful too. It took me until at least halfway through before I realised the cocky investigator was Hawke. I love when actors lose themselves like that.

By far the most disturbing part of the film, for me, was the very end, when some text comes up saying "Based on actual events", followed by "The five biggest arms dealers in the world are the governments of the USA, China, the UK, Russia, and (somewhere else, I can't remember). Those five nations also make up the UN Security Council."

Scary, yes? That's the bit that got me crying more than the disturbing and awful murders in the actual film. Freaked me right out. Who exactly are we supposed to depend on to keep the sodding world safe, huh?

So anyway, brilliant film. I recommend it. But not if you're not in the mood for a good old mind-disturbing freak-out session.

Poseidon

is crap.

That's all I have to say about that.

Okay, not really. I guess I should explain why it's crap.

~ Firstly, almost all of the dialogue is just exposition. Didn't you know that passengers on cruise ships always have casual chats about the fact that there's an opening in the hull around the propellors? Of course they do.
~ And related to that, there's no character building, just a few glances at character when something dramatic is happening (ie something more dramatic than the general ship-sinking activity). The audience has very little reason to care about the main characters because we don't really know them.
~ Really stupid things happen that just wouldn't happen. For example at one point the main characters are traipsing along corridors looking for an exit and when they stop to talk, the mum realises the son has wandered off. Honestly, people. When you're desperately trying to escape a sinking ship and you've already almost lost your son once, you just don't let him wander off. And a terrified child in said sinking ship doesn't just wander off. It was such a stupid moment. Then, we see the adults trying to free the child from behing a locked gate as the water's rising over their heads and all I could think was why doens't he just go back the way he came, he wandered in there on his own after all? The kid disappears (shock! panic! NOOO!) and then, lo-and-behold!, he's found his way back the way he came through an easily opened door. My goodness. It was awful. And there were too many other "oh that SOO wouldn't happen!" moments.
~ Something that was quite hilarious - all the main characters had some kind of awfully convenient background that helped them solve their dilemma. Every second scene had someone saying "I used to be a firefighter, I can...." or "I'm an architect, I know how this was engineered". After a while the group of friends I was watching with were joining in with similar sentiments like "I used to be a man-of-steel, I can just break us out of the hull". My contribution was "It's okay, I was an actor in the original Poseidon movie, I know exactly how to get out".

Anyway, enough rambling about an awful film.

Apology

to R-the-Director for being mean about him not calling me back. He sent an email this morning saying that the producer (his friend) is dealing with his mother being hospitalised for a serious operation so shooting has been pushed back and casting hasn't been decided yet.

He's going to send me a revised draft of the script and call me later on to discuss it. So I guess I'm still in with a chance.

I really need to work on this "do-an-audition-and-then-forget-all-about-it" thing. Or I"ll go mad with all the toing and froing and assuming.

Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton to direct STC

Here's a bit of news.... a couple of days old, but hey, I'm slow. Actor Cate Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton (a playwright) have been announced to take over as Artistic Directors of the Sydney Theatre Company. They'll take over from Robin Nevin in 2008. Which is great, I think - it'll give the STC a new lease on life (not that it particularly needs one, but a new, younger leadership will be refreshing), and it'll give Cate more time at home in Sydney with her boys. That sounds nice. :-)

~~~
I'm thinking with love of the family and friends of Belinda Emmett . Sending my thoughts and prayers in your direction, and in the direction of the millions of women affected by breast cancer in Australia and around the planet.
~~~

Watching "Cars" again...

and I forgot to mention the other great song in it - "Get Your Kicks on Route 66".

I am so going to drive Route 66 the first time I go to the states. (and don't you Americans dare tell me it's not as cool as it's supposed to be. Let me pretend.)

*#^%!!!

*growl*

R-the-sodding-director did not call me today.

I think it's fairly obvious that I didn't get the role. I just can't decide whether I feel angry about him being too much of a wuss to call and say so, or just plain miserable about missing out on a great role.

Both, I suppose.

I was going to write some opinions/reviews/rambles/whatever it is I do with films today - lately I've watched 8mm, Lord of War, V for Vendetta, Poseidon, and Scary Movie 4 - but I can't be bothered. So there.

Cars

I have watched "Cars" about a hundred times in the last couple of weeks.

No, not exactly. I have watched it twice, and wandered in and out and overheard it from the next room who-knows-how-many other times. It's my girls' new favourite movie, you see.

I really like it. Well, I did really like until about the 67th viewing.

The soundtrack is fabulous. Great songs like "Life is a Highway" and a really fun 1950s-esque do-boppy song that I still haven't remembered to look up in the credits.

It made me cry. Yes, I cried about some animated talking cars and their poor neglected town. (another great song in that bit, which is why it made me cry - they know how to get to people don't they? Soppy music does the trick!)

Anyway, today I insisted on Mary Poppins, to try to rid my brain of said animated talking cars. You just can't beat Mary Poppins.

Sorry to be such a slack blogger.

Howdy-ho. :-)

Trying to be cheerful. Can you tell?

Apparently I will definitely get a phone call from R-the-director today. They were definitely making a decision last night. Not holding out any hope really.

A little tidbit - This conference (The XIII Biennial Conference of the Film and History Association of Australia nad New Zealand) looks really interesting. If you're in Melbourne. I'm kinda drooling over all those session titles....

~What is Cinematic Realism?
~Transnational Utopias: Centre and Periphery in Baz Luhrmann’s Red Curtain Films
~Australian international cinema
~Two or Three Things I Know About Stanley: Inside Dr Strangelove at the Kubrick Estate
~Darwin, sex and taboo in Jungle films of the 1930s
~Testimony in the Umbra of Trauma: Film and Video Portraits of Survival
~The Politics and Cultures of the Contemporary Film Archive
~Stop the World, I Want to Get Off: Uses and Abuses of the ‘New Cinephilia’
~Happiness, or Something Like It: Family in the contemporary American “smart” film
~Everyone was watching! Embarrassment and shame in women’s narratives of cinema-going

Anyway, I won't be there and I don't personally know anyone who will be so there's not much point to this post. Just that it looks really interesting.

5 Weird Things About Me

I've been tagged!

"Here are are the rules to play:List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets.Tag 5 friends and list them.Those people then need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people.Don’t forget to let the people you tagged know by posting a comment on their blog!"

1. I talk to myself almost constantly. As a teenager my brother often yelled through the wall between our bedrooms to tell me to shut up. These days, my older daughter is always asking what I'm saying, and Noel never quite knows when he's supposed to be listening.

2. I can only focus one eye at a time, ie I don't have monocular vision like humans are supposed to. It is usually only noticable when I'm tired, and people start thinking I'm looking over their shoulder instead of at their face. If I concentrate I can purposely switch which eye I'm focussing with and people sometimes think it's a cool party trick. It often results in dodgy-looking photographs. :)

3. I really love maths - particularly seeing the workings behind a formula. In high school I refused to use a formula unless my teacher showed me the working that led to it. I haven't done any maths for years and I miss it.

4. David Campbell (an Australian singer - and Jimmy Barnes' son) once patted me on the head at a studio recording when I was singing in a choir. He's only about 5 years older than me so that was a bit weird.

5. I'm obsessed with film and yet I've never seen Casablanca, Ben Hur, Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind or any silent films in their entirety. I've seen bits of them. I should watch them.

I don't even know if five people read this blog - I'll just tag Connor, but only if you feel like it.

Okay, so it was a bit over-dramatic to say I was dying with nerves and anxiety. Feeling a bit butterflies-in-the-tummy-ish woud be more accurate. But hey, why ruin a good story with the truth, hey.

Still haven't heard a definite yay or nay, so I'm just assuming it's a nay and trying not to think about it. And yes, you may deduce, from the fact that I haven't posted in days and the only thing I do post is about this, that I am failing on that count.

In other news, though, I got my receipt from Showcast and saw that my listing is up online. I'd link to it but I don't think you can view them unless you're registered as a casting professional.

Any casting professionals, though, go ahead and look me up! ;-)

I'm dying

with nerves and anxiety.

I heard from R-the-director earlier in the week, and he said I'd be told by the end of the week if I have the role in the romantic-drama feature. I was shortlisted for the romantic lead girl. He liked my "believable and subtle" English accent.

So.... by my calculations, it's pretty much the end of the week... perhaps even the beginning of the new one.

Aaggh. I really really want it.

New photo

I changed my profile photo. I did it with a "charcoal drawing" filter, and I can't decide whether it looks arty or as if I have some weird skin disease.

Maybe I just have a very arty skin disease...

T.S. Eliot

I've discovered T.S. Eliot. I took Sue Asby's T.S. Eliot; Life and Works with me to the playground today and read most of it while the girlies played. At first, with the mundane life-story bit and some talk about society of the early 20th century, I was bored. So I told myself that I might as well be educated about such things, and read on.

As I got to the descriptions of the poetry, I started to be really interested. Primarily because Eliot seems mostly interested in something that always fascinates me - the difference, and conflict, between how one behaves on the outside, and how one feels on the inside. Some of them seem to be saying "I know I'm at a posh, fancy tea party, but I feel like I'm at a carnival riding the bumper cars... anyone going to join me?"

Take this one, which I read over and over because I love it... it's called Hysteria...

As she laughed I was aware of becoming involved in her laughter and being part of it, until her teeth were only accidental stars with a talent for squad-drill. I was drawn in by short gasps, inhaled at each momentary recovery, lost finally in the dark caverns of her throat, bruised by the ripple of unseen muscles. An elderly waiter with trembling hands was hurriedly spreading a pink and white checked tablecloth over the rusty green iron table, saying: 'If the lady and gentlemen wish to take their tea in the garden, if the lady and gentlemen wish to take their tea in the garden...' I decided that if the shaking of her breasts could be stopped, some of the fragments of the afternoon might be collected, and I concentrated my attention with careful subtlety to this end.

It describes such a simple moment, a typical everyday moment, but in such an interesting way.

More reasons to love Eliot:

"...the first danger is that of assuming that there must be just one interpretation of the poem as a whole, that must be right... But as for the meaning of the poem as a whole, it is not exhausted by any explanation, for the meaning is what the poem means to different sensitive readers."

and this:

"The poet may know the history of [the poem's] composition, the material which has gone in and come out in an unrecognisable form, and he knows what he was trying to do and what he was meaning to mean. But what a poem means is as much what it means to others as what it means to the author, and indeed, in the course of time a poet may become merely a reader in respect of his own works, forgetting his original meaning."

Eliot, from The Frontiers of Criticism

And I think you can apply those thoughts to all kinds of art. I really love artists who are brave enough to put their art out there and let it be open to interpretation; to let people see what they see, and take from it what they need, without judgement.

I like it. I like it a lot. :)

Today

I had a great day today. I drove into the city, alone in the car (nobody talking at me, no small people in the back wanting attention), singing along LOUD to the Eagles and daydreaming. :)

I got to the location right on time, even after getting lost on the way, and the boy playing my son greeted me with a loud, cheeky "hello mum". There were other kids today, too, so it was a bit more chaotic and disorganised than Friday, but still running pretty smoothly. I was impressed with these guys actually - for students, they've been really organised and well prepared - and amzingly, running no more than about 10 minutes behind schedule.

Filming all went well. My part is mostly hand acting - my face is rarely seen, actually, because the focus remains on the boy, whose hand I hold a lot and whom I walk beside a fair bit.

We did some scenes in a pet shop which was interesting. It seemed the arrangements had been made with one staff member (the manager, presumably), but a different guy was working there today and wasn't very happy about us being there. He got a tad grumpy, so we were all careful to keeps the kids in line and get everything done as quickly as possible.

Again, the crew were all very appreciative of me helping them out, and I got along well with them. I had a nice little chat with the "son" too, over lunch. He's done a few short films before, and a couple of small roles in TV shows. Nice kid. :)

When I left they were trying to figure out what to do about the fact that it was raining, when the scenes they shot yesterday were in 38 degree blazing sunlight. And the lead actor goes away on holidays tomorrow.

Anyway, blah blah. It was a good day. :)

Before Sunset

After watching Before Sunrise I wrote that I wasn't quite sure of it with one viewing, but predicted it would grow on me with multiple viewings. I was right - the 2nd time I watched it I felt much more connected with the characters and appreciated their stories more. Maybe I was just paying more attention.

Before Sunset (the sequel), on the other hand, I loved first time. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are wonderful. The entire film is just those two, conversing as they walk around Paris. There are some truly beautiful moments when it's like you're watching a little current of energy connecting "Jesse" and "Celine" as they gradually explore one another.

I was impressed to see that the screenplay was a genuine collaboration of Hawke and Delpy with director Richard Linklater. The script was really impressive - a lot of time is spent talking about seemingly mundane details of life - work, family, recent history - and yet there's just something about everything they say that teaches them, and us, something about each other and ultimately leads to the conclusion. Which I won't give away of course. :) The ending is great. One of those endings that just feels right. Comfortable.

:-)

Pens and Candy......

Quills

I have a bit of a thing for British period pieces lately. Can't get enough of those delightful accents and topsy-turvy sensibilities. Quills fits the bill anyway, and in between squirming with the discomfort and gasping with the melodrama, I rather enjoyed it.

Geoffrey Rush is just amazing, as usual. Actors that would be prepared to throw themselves into a role like the Marquis de Sade are rare creatures, and Rush certainly throws himself in. This man has no qualms about doing whatever it takes to make his character real. I just think he's awesome; an inspirational performance for me - mainly because of the rawness of it. An aging, almost-defeated, desperate man, literally laid bare and opened up for all to see. And yet at the same time, reserving some of the man's spirit for private - there were, I thought, still secrets in the Marquis' heart. I was genuinely inspired by that incredible baring of a soul.

And Joaquin Phoenix is fast moving up my favourite-actors list too. He's beautiful in this - a gorgeous young priest, so sure of himself... and yet, not. Love, mercy, anger, lust, confusion, heartbreak; all find themselves naturally and perfectly at home on Phoenix's (rather beautiful) features.

Kate Winslet was great too, I guess. Nothing struck me as spectacular about her performance, but the character was believable and accessable, so I guess that's what counts. (Why is it, I wonder, I find it so much easier to appreciate male actors' performances than females'? There's a question to delve into one day...)

Anyway, I liked it. In fact I would've watched it again a few days later but the disc (a rental) refused to work a 2nd time. (What do people do with DVDs when they rent them? Clean them with sandpaper? Be careful, people!)


Chocolat

I think, maybe, this is my new favourite film. (For the moment, anyway. I admit my favourites change fairly regularly.)

For a stunning, perfectly directed, suberb ensemble performance, you just can't go past Chocolat. Not one actor or element lets it down. Judi Dench, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, Johnny Depp, Alfred Molina... and a beautiful boy named Aurelien Koenig (yes, I just love the name).

It's a beautifully simple story (mysterious travellers blow into town, disturbing the peace and creating upheaval, eventually bringing new joy and quashing the stifling norms of yesterday), shot in a beautiful place, with beautiful people - what more could you want?

I'd be waffling for hours to mention all the things I love about it.

The best line, and the best ever Johnny Depp line It just has to have been a Johnny impro. I know it doesn't translate well to type, but hey, you'll have to see it:

(with a mouthful of chocolate, looking Binoche up and down as she walks away from him) "I'll come round later, get that squeak out of your door" (cue the Depp Cheeky Grin)

One last comment; I'm rather taken with the "red shoes" motif. (Binoche's character wears striking red high-heels which are featured quite prominently, and at one stage her daughter, Anouk, cries "why can't you wear black shoes like all the other mothers?") Those red shoes really caught my eye, as more than a clever artistic motif.

I want to be one of life's red-shoe-wearers. Who cares what the black-shoe wearers think. :)

I'm so old. :-)

Well, last short film I did I was talking about how everyone thought I was about 5 or 6 years younger than I am (which is 25). Made me feel quite chuffed with myself.

So, just to balance that out I guess, I'm playing the mother of a 10-year-old boy in a short film called Goldfish, another student short. (As I said to a friend today "Aaaggh! Not 'mum' roles already!") It's being shot in black-and-white, which should be interesting, and there's practically no dialogue. A very simple, but compelling, visual story.

I had a great time at the shoot today. All the crew seem to think I'm just the bees-knees for "helping them out" at such short notice (they even gave me a round of applause! *snicker*), and the director kept telling me after takes how perfect my timing was and how great it looked. So hey, a lovely hour or two of ego-boosting praise. The boy playing the son is a lovely young chap, very polite and clever. We had to hold hands a lot, and he didn't complain a bit. :-)

We're shooting again on Sunday, near Bronte Beach. Mmmm... Bronte Beach...

I know I'm terrible!

Sorry for not posting in a while... I'm the queen of procrastination lately.

I have seen about 7 films lately that I want to talk about, but I just can't summon the energy to sit at the puter for long enough, or compile the messy thoughts in my head into enough coherent sentences to make it worthwhile.

Stay tuned, anyway, for what I thought of Quills, Chocolat, Ed Wood, Casanova, Before Sunset, and a couple of Harry Potters.

Oh by the way Merlin, I've finished Half-Blood Prince now. The biggest cry I've had in a long time! LOVED it! I've been scouring your site for any Harry tidbits I can find, now that I don't need to worry about spoilers. :-)

And "Dead Man's Chest" has been pre-ordered. :-)

Oh, and a bit of news: I'm *pretty sure* I have a part in a short film, shooting tomorrow and Sunday - the planned actor pulled out yesterday so they were desperate for someone in a hurry... it's playing a young boy's mother in some kind of mysterious circumstance, the part has no dialogue but is apparently an important role for the story. *shrug*... see what happens hey.

How cool is Jack Nicholson.

That's all I have to say today. Just saw a preview (trailer) for The Departed , and was reminded of him. Haven't seen much of him for quite a while.

I remember first seeing Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest when we were studying the book in high school. I remember thinking he'd captured the character and the tone and style of the book so beautifully.

And check this out - Nicholson's been acting in films since 1958's The Cry-Baby Killer ! Wow - that's nearly 50 years he's been at it - consistently working that whole time. More recently, no wonder I haven't seen much of him - The Departed is his first film since Something's Gotta Give in 2003.

Anyone have a favourite Jack Nicholson film, or moment?

(How much do I love IMDb?!)

Fear and Loathing...

In Las Vegas .

Woah. Wooaaahh.

Nice movie. Nice in the "eerr.... *vaguely confused frown* ... nice" kinda way.

I tried watching it last night after my girls were in bed, but I fell asleep for part of it so I got pretty lost. I watched it again today while one was asleep and the other was out... and still got pretty lost. :) It's that kind of film.

When I first started it I was disappointed and last night I went to bed feeling down that I hadn't enjoyed it. Today, though, a while after the ending, I'm starting to love it. Perhaps, the whole film is such a wild trip (and it IS a wild trip!) that you can't really appreciate it until you've come down and had time to recover from the blurry and disturbing images that have just assaulted and travelled through your tingling senses.

I haven't read the book and I know very little about Hunter S. Thompson so perhaps that's why some of the images confused me... but I get the impression this was an exciting, pushing-the-boundaries writer who marched determinedly to the beat of his very own fantastic drum.

Benicio del Toro was fabulous as Dr Gonzo, and Johnny Depp as Raoul - well, I bet he was just having a wonderfully fun time while shooting this one, loving the adventure. I did marvel a little at both actors' ability to portray acid-riddled, ether-induced wanderings of the mind so convincingly.

I'm loving my adjectives today. :)

Anyway, I've come away from the experience with a thirst for knowledge about Hunter S Thompson... and an inexplicable urge to find out what an acid trip really feels like...

ANd now, form the ridiculous to the sublime... my bigger girl is watching the first Harry Potter movie right now, I might just join her...

A History of Violence

Well, if you're the type who likes a bit of blood and flesh and a few faithfully-created gunshot wounds... you'll love A History of Violence. Otherwise - you still might like it, you'll just have to cover your eyes a few times. :)

Noel and I watched it this evening. After a couple of minutes, Noel said "this is what you call a slow start to a movie". Yep, and it stayed that way. Slow, yes, and yet compelling. It was your average 95 minutes but it felt much longer. There was the odd fast-paced, forward-moving scene that kept me interested in between all the drawn-out character development and seemingly random scenes.

The main plot was great, I thought. Average, small-town, family guy put through hellish stuff and forced to be the unassuming hero... until... I was definitely fooled (mostly, I did pick up a couple of small clues) by the twist in the tale and enjoyed the finding out of what comes next. But there were a few thoughts that seemed like they wanted to be subplots - the teenage son, maybe gay, being bullied - why so much time spent on that if it wasn't going to go anywhere?

I wasn't terribly impressed with the acting - a bit too much "facial expression acting" - "happy face", "confused face", "shocked face", "relieved face" - especially from Maria Bello as the wife.
Ashton Holmes as the son was a bit more real. But hey, I still quite enjoyed the thing so it must've been alright.

But, uh, don't watch it when there are kids around. (a big thank you to mine for going to bed really early tonight!)