DVDs for sale

I'm saving for new things and letting old things go, including my DVD collection. I have some absolute gems, including many that are brand new and still shrink-wrapped. If you'd like to bid for any of these, they're going for a steal on eBay, which you can view here.

Animal Kingdom winners

Congratulations to the winners of Animal Kingdom double passes:
Greg C, David M, Catherine M, Chris K & Melissa G

Once you've seen it, please share your thoughts of the film at my original post.

Animal Kingdom give-away

As I posted previously, I consider Animal Kingdom one of the finest Australian films of the last two decades. It's now open in cinemas and I have double passes to give away to the first five readers to email me with "Animal Kingdom" in the subject field and your name and address in the body of the email (you'll find the email link near the 'About Me' section).

COMPETITION CLOSED

Animal Kingdom premiere

I've already written about Animal Kingdom, the Sundance award-winning film that is one of the most exciting local productions in decades. It releases nationally on 3 June. For a chance to win a double pass to the film's 'red carpet' premiere (on 24 May in Melbourne or 25 May in Sydney) and attend the after-party, check out this site.

Williamstown Literary Festival

I wouldn't normally post about what is for me a local festival, but this one may be of interest to readers here because it includes film and film-related events. I believe the Williamstown Literary Festival has been a regular event since 2005, but it's never been on my radar until now. I normally find out about it after the fact but this year one of my local bookshops sent out an email promoting it.

Festival guests include film directors Ana Kokkinos and Paul Cox (whose My First Wife will be screening along with a Q&A), actor William McInnes, Danny Katz, Waleed Aly (one of my favourite social commentators, a very eloquent speaker), Steve Bracks, Thomas Caldwell (one of my favourite film critics and bloggers), Marieke Hardy, Catherine Deveny, children's author Andy Griffiths (Zombie Butts from Uranus!) and many others who I'm sure those more in tune with the literary world will be more familiar with. In short, it's a damn impressive line-up, taking place mostly over the weekend of 1 & 2 May at Williamstown Town Hall [map]. And events cost a mere $7 ($5 concession) with some events free.

I'm going to take my son to some of the free kids events (he's a voracious reader and an Andy Griffiths fan) and I also want to attend the Paul Cox screening, hear Ana Kokkinos speak (with a panel) about "place and culture in film and literature", Steve Bracks and Waleed Aly talk about "life, politics" and more, and a few other events.

Check out the full program online or download the PDF. Check out the festival website.

Festival of German Films - Festival Guests

As an addendum to my FoGF 2010 Preview, I thought I'd cut and paste a media release regarding the festival's guests:

Famed Director SÖNKE WORTMANN & Acclaimed Feminist Writer ERICA FISCHER in Oz for AUDI FESTIVAL OF GERMAN FILMS 2010

Now celebrating its 9th year, the AUDI FESTIVAL OF GERMAN FILMS returns in late April with its most dynamic line-up to date. Boasting more than 30 new movies – most of which have never before been screened in Australia, the Festival will commence in Sydney on April 21 and tour Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth until May 9 Our 2010 guests include renowned German Director Sönke Wortmann (THE MIRACLE OF BERN, MAYBE, MAYBE NOT, ALONE AMONG WOMEN) and noted feminist author, Erica Fischer, who both speak excellent English.

Wortmann will introduce screenings of his latest film, POPE JOAN, starring Johanna Wokalek (THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX), David Wenham and John Goodman, whilst Fischer will present special screenings of the classic 1999 feature AIMÉE & JAGUAR, based on her best-selling 1994 novel, Aimée & Jaguar: A Love Story.

SÖNKE WORTMANN (In Melbourne Tuesday 27 April & Sydney on Thursday 29 April)
Sönke Wortmann is one of Germany’s most successful directors and producers, who has shaped German cinema since the 1990s. Wortmann has received numerous awards, including the Bambi for MAYBE, MAYBE NOT (Der bewegte Mann), the Bayerischer Filmpreis for THE MIRACLE OF BERN (Das Wunder von Bern) as well as the Bambi and the Adolf-Grimme-Preis for his documentary of the FIFA World Cup 2006: DEUTSCHLAND. EIN SOMMERMÄRCHEN. His second big passion is: Soccer – a topic he has very successfully brought to the big screen. His international blockbuster POPE JOAN (Die Päpstin), was a major box-office success in Germany in 2009 and will have its Australian premiere during the Festival.

ERICA FISCHER (Available now in Sydney and in Melbourne on Friday 23 April) Erica Fischer was born in England, where her Jewish- Austrian parents found exile during WW2. She was a founding member of the New Women’s Movement in Vienna, participating as activist, theorist and speaker in various events and demonstrations and co-founded the feminist magazine AUF – Eine Frauenzeitschrift (A Woman’s Magazine) as well as the women’s bookstore Frauenzimmer. Fischer is the author of more than 12 books, among them Aimée & Jaguar - a real-life love story of two women in war-troubled Germany. Published in 1994, it was a major success and has since been translated into 20 languages and in 1998 was made into a major film, which screens in the Festival. Erica Fischer presently lives in Berlin and works as a freelance author, interpreter and journalist.

Avatar and alleged 'Box Office Gross'

I just received Screen Australia's latest email newsletter, Get the Picture, which states:

Avatar is now the highest-grossing film of all time in Australia. Released on 17 December 2009, it had earnt $108,621,853 at the local box office by 7 March 2010, making it the first film released in Australia to earn over $100 million.

It then provides a link to its website of the top-grossing films of all time. I always have a problem with these sorts of claims, because a dollar in 1960, for example, would be worth $12.07 today according the Reserve Bank's official CPI rates. Crocodile Dundee's takings of $47.7M in 1986 puts it in fifth place as all-time Australian gross box office. However, when inflation-adjusted, that amount is equivalent to a whopping $108.89M in today's currency, putting it just ahead of Avatar. Now, I have no doubt that Avatar will continue to increase at the box office and pip Crocodile Dundee, but you see my point? And look at E.T. - inflation adjustments boosts it from #30 on Screen Australia's list to #3 on mine (below).

The fact is that the publication of box office gross is statistically dishonest and misleading. If, in half an hour, I can put download Reserve Bank rates and Screen Australia's list, and make a quick calculation, why can't we get this sort of comparison? I don't think it's laziness. I think it's a tendency towards sensationalism. There will more often be a film that beat (in unadjusted figures) a previous record gross, allowing for a headline. That's just pure bullshit.

Now, I only have Screen Australia's list of the top 50 grossing films at the Australian box office. It's not a complete list, so I can't compare with say Gone With the Wind, because it's not on that list. From memory, in gross, that film beats them all. And there will be others from way back whose adjusted box office would put them into the top 50.

In case it's not clear, in the following table, the columns are: Screen Australia's rank of each film title, the year of release, the gross box office according to Screen Australia, and my calculation of the inflation-adjusted box office. The list is sorted descending by adjusted box office.
Update: Titles without a Screen Australia rank have been sourced from Movie Marshall.

S.A. Rank	Title	Year released	Box office $M	Inflation adj. $M
	Gone with the Wind	1940	12.22	400.44
	The Sound of Music	1965	13.01	140.38
1	Avatar	2009	108.75	108.75
5	Crocodile Dundee	1986	47.71	101.30
30	E.T.	1982	32.66	89.46
	Star Wars	1977	18.31	80.23
	Dr. Zhivago	1966	7.60	79.97
	The Sting	1974	12.64	79.09
2	Titanic	1997	57.65	78.82
	Grease	1978	18.48	75.16
	Jaws	1975	13.64	74.59
	Towering Inferno	1975	11.27	61.63
6	Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring	2001	47.43	59.37
	South Pacific	1958	4.69	59.08
4	Lord of the Rings: Return of the King	2003	49.37	58.60
3	Shrek 2	2004	50.39	58.30
8	Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	2002	45.65	55.47
	Ten Commandments	1958	4.26	53.69
9	Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone	2001	42.35	53.01
18	Babe: The Gallant Pig	1995	36.78	52.19
12	Star Wars: Ep. I - The Phantom Menace	1999	38.83	51.39
	The Empire Strikes Back	1980	15.13	51.22
28	Jurassic Park	1993	33.00	49.91
	Man from Snowy River	1982	17.23	47.19
7	The Dark Knight	2008	46.09	47.06
	Crocodile Dundee 2	1988	24.92	46.19
17	Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets	2002	37.38	45.42
39	Forrest Gump	1994	30.56	45.15
16	Finding Nemo	2003	37.39	44.39
	Pretty woman	1990	26.16	42.46
14	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	2006	38.05	41.48
24	Star Wars: Ep. II - Attack of the Clones	2002	33.86	41.15
41	Independence Day	1996	29.50	40.95
	Return of the Jedi*	1983	16.21	40.88
10	Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince	2009	40.60	40.60
23	Meet the Fockers	2004	34.98	40.47
11	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	2009	40.34	40.34
19	Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire	2005	35.73	40.22
32	Shrek	2001	32.10	40.18
36	Gladiator	2000	31.12	40.17
48	The Lion King	1994	27.11	40.05
26	The Matrix Reloaded	2003	33.63	39.91
21	Star Wars: Ep. III - Revenge of the Sith	2005	35.46	39.91
	Mrs. Doubtfire	1993	26.24	39.69
22	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe	2005	35.17	39.58
42	The Sixth Sense	1999	29.31	38.79
15	Australia	2008	37.56	38.35
27	Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban	2004	33.14	38.34
13	The Twilight Saga: New Moon	2009	38.22	38.22

Note: my calculations are approximations that make these assumptions for simplicity:

• Box office figures are considered to be amounts at the end of the year of release
• Inflation rates are based on Reserve Bank calculation of CPI as of December of each year. So a 2009 value for gross box office, won't be adjusted by my calculations until the end of 2010.

If anyone can point me to where I'll find gross box office for all Australian releases, I'll update the above table to include the films pre-1982 that may otherwise make the top 50 box office (adjusted).

Update:
I've amended the table above to include titles not included in the Screen Australia list, using the gross box office figures from Movie Marshall, adjusted with my calculations (which unsurprisingly differ slightly from Movie Marshall's, who would obviously be using slightly different arbitrary assumptions). Many thanks to Paranoid Android for pointing out MM's list.

Taking over $400M in today's money, nothing is going to beat Gone with the Wind anytime soon.

Cosmetics

OK, Blogger have provided some new templates that allow much more flexibility to the design of a blog. I want to stick with green. Colour is important for me in many aspects of my life and with the passage of time, I've gravitated towards different colours.

I 'see' colour, something I mentioned in my 'Change of Plans'. Even as a child colour was important to me and I have vivid recollections of care taken to arrange toys, pencils, jelly beans, smarties, etc in order, often the colours of the rainbow. As an adult, I similarly arrange my clothes, especially shirts, socks and underwear. I do virtually all the cooking in my household, and I take care to cook also with a sense of visuals in terms of colour.

I didn't seek it, but major life changes (a divorce) nearly twenty years ago, awoke in me a perception of colour I hadn't been aware of before. At this time, purple appeared to me and was prominent in my life, reflecting the changes I was undergoing. I still have affection for all colours, but purple became dominant. Later life changes brought blue to prominence and yet later changes elevated green. That's where I am now and I find that given an option between green and another colour, I'll more than likely choose green. Now, I'm not going to get into colour therapy and interpretations here, but if you're open to this aspect of metaphysics, you'll have some idea of the significance of all this.

This is all a round-about way of saying that this is why I chose green for my blog's colour scheme when I started it back in October 2006, and why I've decided to stick with it. I like the crispness of this new makeover, and Blogger have made it much more flexible to make changes. I might experiment a little, trying to avoid too many changes. So far, I've made the blog width as wide as I can and added another column. Cosmetics aren't too important to me - content is my main interest - though I do want to make navigating this site as pleasant an experience as possible. Feel free to offer any comments on the makeover.

Castaway with David Stratton

Last night I attended ACMI's Desert Island Flicks with David Stratton. I'm really enjoying this new ACMI regular event, where a film personality discusses the five films they'd want to have if marooned on a desert island.

First thing, DS apologised for cheating. His selection was five that affected him so deeply that they had changed his life in some way. This is, for me, what film is largely about - part of a larger dialogue about life and life issues.

DS is probably most well-known as the co-host of TV's At The Movies and it's previous SBS incarnation, The Movie Show, for the last twenty-four years. He helmed the Sydney Film Festival for 18 years from 1966 to 1983, during which time he championed the 'last New Wave' of Australian cinema and fought against parochial film censorship. As a precursor to his weekly time slot with Margaret Pomeranz, DS also championed world cinema on SBS with presentations on SBS of World Cinema and Movie Classic selections. During this time, he had unusual freedom to present a treaure-house of films that introduced many to a different world of cinema, and he mentioned during the evening that some of these were technically banned in this country.

The evening was introduced and moderated by the very informed and informative Deb Verhoeven. She mentioned that DS was born in 1939 and came to Australia in 1963 at age 24 as a '£10 pom' (ie in receipt of assisted passage).

DS's selections are basically a short autobiography. He mentioned that five is an arbitrary number - he could have just as easily selected 10, 20 or 100, but that we'd be there until after midnight. Here then is his selection:

1. Duel in the Sun (King Vidor, USA, 1946)
As a young child during the war, DS grew up with his father absent. Living in Andover, Hampshire, he developed a love of cinema from his grandmother, who took him to the movies four or five times a week. Much to his mother's disapproval, the grandmother had no sense of censorship and would take him to anything. This film left a powerful impact on the 6 year old Stratton mind, with it's melodrama full of immoral characters, and left him "mildly traumatised".

2. Smiles of a Summer Night (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1955)
As a 16 or 17 year old living in Birmingham, DS was aghast to realise that, despite no shortage of cinemas in the city, he'd seen everything screening. By this time he had become consumed with cinema and pretty much lived to see the next film. It was at this time that he discovered film societies and crossed town to see Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944). He joined up for the monthly screenings and the next month he discovered foreign language films with Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night.

As a "lusty teenager", DS was taken by the overt sensuality and consequently had a crush one of the beautiful actresses (whose name I don't recall). Most importantly, he was introduced to a whole other world of film that has had a profound influence in his life.

3. Loves of a Blonde (Milos Forman, Czechoslovakia, 1965)
It was 1966 and DS was the director of the Sydney Film Festival. The nature of censorship in this country at that time meant that virtually every film for public exhibition had cuts, even innocuous films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This continued until 1971 when Don Chipp became the Minister for Customs. According to DS, the two preceding ministers were idiots.

The nature of censorship meant that quite often, the first time DS would see a film was in the less than ideal environment of the censor's office as they would comment on various scenes to be cut. The censor demanded about 20 cuts to Loves of a Blonde. DS wrote an intemperate letter to the censor, effectively calling him an arsehole, that he had a hideous point-of-view that insinuated a dirty perspective of the film.

The next day, DS received a phone call (I think) from the censor's assistant who said the censor was extremely insulted and that if the film was to be shown, the cuts must be made. DS complied but decided to never again screen a film with any censor's cuts. While screening a clip from the film, DS commented on where cuts were made, and really, they showed how prudish and unnecessary the censors were.

4. Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Konen/Gene Kelly, 1952)
It is well known that Singin' in the Rain is DS's favourite film. At the time, he was living in Chelsea and was immersing himself in MGM musicals. This one struck him for its being highly cinematic and has stayed with him. He estimates that he's seen it some 50-60 times. An element that is important to him is that it is about the transition from the silent era to sound, and that silent films are an art form that is not much understood by contemporary audiences. He spoke at some length on this subject.

DS also mentioned his awe of Gene Kelly and how he met him in Australia and he hadn't appeared to age at all - especially his hair colour had remained unchanged over the decades. He later interviewed Kelly at his home in Beverly Hills and when a short bald man answered the door, he realied that Kelly had previously been wearing a wig. DS's admiration for the man was not just due to his great on-screen talent but also because he was a very genuine man whose politics DS respected. Kelly's wife had been black-listed during the dark McCarthy era and Kelly had been active in supporting those artists.

5. The Last Wave (Peter Weir, 1977)
During his directorship of the Sydney Film Festival, DS championed the works of many Australian directors, including Peter Weir, Gillian Armstrong and Paul Cox. He became friends with several of them, including Weir, who allowed him on the set during the making of The Last Wave. In one kitchen scene, filmed in an actual house, there was not enough room for the cast and crew for DS to sit in, and so he crouched under the table at David Gulpilil's feet.

The night's proceedings then turned to a Q&A session. Some of what transpired is as follows:

• In reponse to a question about the relevance of film criticism, DS mentioned the recent sacking of Todd McCarthy from Variety magazine after 31 years and that he (himself having written for the magazine for 20 years), wrote an intemperate letter of complaint.
• It was revealed that as of 2008, DS had seen some 125,000 films (it's well-known that he records every film he's ever seen, even as a child - something I do myself, though I started my list in 1995).
• DS is hoping to make it to 25 years with Margaret Pomeranz, which will make them the longest on-screen film criticism partnership. This will be sometime next year. Later I asked if he had anything planned beyond that to which he replied that he's 70 years old and on his last legs. I suggested maybe he could go back to his roots and champion the films he loves rather than what he clearly finds a chore at times, having to see the latest Sandra Bullock or queasy-cam (his term) Paul Greengrass film. DS went into some length about his early days at SBS and the unparalleled freedom he enjoyed in those days. He didn't think that freedom was possible today, and certainly not at the ABC. Without going into details, he was clearly unhappy with how he and Margaret were treated at the end of their stay at SBS.
  
• In answer to a question DS mentioned that bad films have always been made, but that decades ago, the bad films were better than most of what is produced today. It's hard to argue against that, in my opinion.
• In answer to a question about the onscreen chemistry with his co-host, DS mentioned that only twice did the show have to be stopped because their arguing got out of hand. Both times it was Margaret getting out of hand - surprise, surprise!
• DS mentioned that hand-held camera work evolved from TV but that's it out of control and caters to a young audience. He described it as a video game style and that Paul Greengrass had made a living out of it (I can't watch his films). The Hurt Locker was mentioned as a film where the hand-held work wasn't too distracting and that modern directors should look at cinematographers like Haskell Wexler to see how hand-held should be done.
• He wondered whether viewers get bored with his complaints about hand-held camera. I called out that it's always appreciated and others in the audience nodded in agreement.
  
• The big film festivals like Sydney and Melbourne now show too many films - half of them aren't worth seeing (which I've written on before, and agree with). Previously, Sydney would screen about 50 films, and nearly half of them would get a theatrical release.
• For DS, much of the magic of cinema has gone. Partly that's a reflection of himself (as I've often said, some kinds of magic can only happen once), and partly it's because films aren't as good as they used to be. What once received general wide release, can't even garner an arthouse release - this has of course been mentioned in multiple spheres in recent times, a lament many of us share.
• The best fun DS has had in his professional life has been the ten-year course he's run at the University of Sydney, covering the history of cinema, with about 100 attendees. He's started a second ten-year course, and about 30% of the students are repeats from his first course. He loves the personal interaction and the research he does to present the course. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet worked out how to clone himself for us Melbournians.

The evening was very different to the previous debut event with Adam Elliot (I plan to write on that - I was preoccupied with other things at the time). That's a reflection of the individuals being highlighted as much as the different vocations. With Adam Elliot, it was fascinating to see how his selections were a reflection of his work (or rather, vice versa) whereas with David Stratton, his selections were more about the path his life had taken.

The next Desert Island Flicks sessions will be with journalist Chris Masters, followed by indigenous elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin and then director Tim Burton. I highly recommend them, and with a limit of 80 seats per session, you need to get in early.

Title translations

I've pointed out how poorly foreign language films are translated into English. Not so much translated as re-badged. As a student of French, I notice it mostly on French titles.

Entre les murs became The Class which I find quite bland and lacking in the poignancy of the literal Between The Walls.

Just last night I posted about Non ma fille tu n’iras pas danser renamed Making Plans for Lena, which has nothing on the literal No My Daughter, You Will Not Dance. Given Lena's relationship with her father and given the way her life is unfolding, the literal meaning is so much deeper.

[Edit: my French teacher has corrected my translation. It should be No My Daughter, You Will Not Go Dancing]

Another French Film Festival title I mentioned was Jusqu’à toi (literally, To You) which is renamed Every Jack Has A Jill for us Anglophones. How they come up with a cutesy English title like that is beyond me. It's just so cute without bearing any (or little) relation to the film. "To You" doesn't give much away, I suppose. Perhaps it doesn't titillate the mind of the target audience like "Every Jack Has a Jill".

One of the worst cases of title bastardisation I can recall is Catherine Breillat's À ma soeur (For My Sister) being renamed as Fat Girl, a title that makes it sound like it's a silly romantic comedy rather than the serious drama it is.

I suppose I'm a purist, and I prefer to use either the original title as intended by the film-maker, or at least a literal translation. It's all about respect for the art and the artist. With the French Film Festival currently in full steam (and I've seen 17 of the films so far), it's not unusual that I'm thinking about this. But what prompted this post was the recognition that this renaming is not a phenomenon that is unique to English bastardisation of foreign titles.

Balibo has been renamed The Balibo Conspiracy for overseas distribution. And, The Hurt Locker has been translated into French as Demineurs, literally Bomb Disposal Experts - pretty bland and generic, I suppose, compared to the original title. I noticed it in an email from French Amazon, which I subscribe to.


While I prefer the English title, I've got to say that the French artwork is a big improvement on the American. That one big single image says it all with impact, and even the colouration is quite fascinating. The American version disperses the impact, trying to have bit both ways - explosion and the GI Joe aesthetic with Jeremy Renner in the foreground.

But, I digress. Back to renaming - what about you, do you have any weird renamings you'd like to share?

What's On

There's always complaints about the quality of art house cinema outside of film festivals. There's some top-notch cinema on right now. Grab it while you can:

• A Prophet
• Ricky
  

Daniel Johnson

Here's another plug, for something I'd go to if I had the time. It looks like a terrific opportunity:

SPEAKEASY CINEMA PRESENTS

THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON

A FILM BY JEFF FEUERZEIG

PLUS A LIVE ACOUSTIC SET BY THE MAN HIMSELF – DANIEL JOHNSTON

8PM | TUESDAY 2ND FEBRUARY

SPEAKEASY CINEMA AT 1000 £ BEND

361 LT LONSDALE ST, MELBOURNE

TICKETS $25 (PRE-SALE)* / $27 (DOOR)

THROUGH MOSHTIX.COM.AU

*Pre-sales receive discount voucher for a $12 beer & burger bundle

"Daniel Johnston combines ebullient pop to wonderful sadness in the great tradition of Syd Barett or Brian Wilson. Daniel Johnston is an American treasure." ~ David Bowie

"He’s my favourite songwriter." ~ Matt Groening

“When a child hits a piano he makes untainted music, and that's there in Daniel. He goes between extremes of naivety and darkness". ~ Jason Pierce, Spiritualized

Watch the trailer >>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qtFPOxDMs4

www.speakeasycinema.com.au

Daniel Johnston has spent the last three decades exposing his heartrending tales of unrequited love, cosmic mishaps and existential torment to an ever-growing international cult audience. He is one of the most significant cultural figures in American alternative rock music alive today, having inspired a whole generation of alternative rock icons such as Nirvana, Beck, Flaming Lips, Spiritualized and Wilco. From humble beginnings handing out homemade cassettes to anyone that would listen, his career has spanned over three decades and twenty albums. He has collaborated with Sonic Youth, Sparklehorse, Yo La Tengo, Butthole Surfers and Jad Fair and counts David Bowie, Tom Waits, Matt Groening and Johnny Depp amongst his many fans. Daniel is also the subject of an in depth biography currently being written by notorious British music writer (and current Brisbane resident) Everett True.

As a prolific visual artist Daniel’s vibrant sketches have earned him worldwide recognition and critical praise. The comic book-style doodles that used to fill his schoolbooks now hang in galleries all around the world.

For much of his life Johnston has been dogged by struggles with manic depression. His downward spirals and various demons lend added poignancy to Johnston’s heartfelt soul-searching – and are all wildly expressed in his music and art.

Despite these fluctuations, and perhaps because of them, Daniel Johnston has become a true American icon and a pop phenomenon.

In The Devil and Daniel Johnston director Jeff Feuerzeig weaves together vintage performances, home movies, dozens of recorded audiotapes and testimonies from friends and family. Anchored by Johnston’s awe-inspiring music and artwork, the film is a heartrending portrait of madness and genius walking hand in hand.

Winner of the Best Director (documentary) Award at the Sundance Film Festival 2005.

"The most harrowing and aesthetically keen portrait of madness and artistic inspiration since Crumb." ~The Onion's AV Club

"One-quarter inspirational, three-quarters nerve-racking" ~ New York Magazine

Running time = 110 min.

As a licensed event this screening is 18+.

Speakeasy Cinema looks like a cinema, tastes like a laneway bar and smells like your mum’s cooking. The program catches films on the sly by screening titles that might otherwise fall through the cracks at the usual suspects - and there’s plenty of space for you to hang around and debate plot points with your pals afterwards. Additional lures include exhibitions in the gallery, after-parties, sneaks at DVD extras, Q+As, giveaways and funny meal-deals. Plus we’re bringing shorts back into fashion… just like the olden days. Speakeasy Cinema launched in October 2009 and usually happens at 1000 £ Bend in Melbourne.

www.speakeasycinema.com.au

www.hihowareyou.com

www.sonyclassics.com/devilanddaniel

Cteq and ADG

I just got back from seeing Elem Klimov's Proshchanie (The Parting, aka Farewell, aka Farewell to Matiora, 1983). It was written by Klimov's wife, Larisa Shepitko (The Ascent), who was also going to direct it but was tragically killed in a car accident on the first day of shooting. A grief-stricken Klimov took over the project as a tribute to his wife. I was particularly keen to see it (though it screened as a last-minute replacement for Asya's Happiness, which didn't arrive in time), on the strength of Klimov's Come and See, perhaps the most powerful and certainly one of the most amazing films I have seen.

The Parting is about a village, Matiora, which is being vacated by the authorities so it can be flooded for a hydro-electric plant. While not in the same league as Come and See, it was meaningful to see the parallels with the later work.

On a completely different subject, when I got home there was an email from the Australian Director's Guild asking me to post information about the following that may be of interest. I cut and paste it as follows:

ADG/AFI Meet the Director

When: 11am-12.30pm Saturday 12 December

Where: Kino Cinema
Collins Place
45 Collins St
Melbourne

Meet Australia's Best Directors
a discussion with the Samsung Mobile 2009 AFI Award
Best Director Nominees

Meet Warwick Thornton (Sampson and Delilah), Robert Connolly (Balibo) and Rachel Ward (Beautiful Kate) in this exclusive discussion and screening event.

This unique opportunity to have the directors on the same stage will allow you to gain insight into the directors craft, hear inside stories about filmmaking and catch a glimpse of the films that earned these directors their nominations, only hours before the award winners are announced!

TICKETS: Full $12, Concession (students, pensioners, unemployed, members of MEAA, ACMI & screen guilds) $10, ADG & AFI Members $9. (Plus booking fee)

Tickets available through Moshtix now: http://www.moshtix.com.au/event.aspx?id=32314&ref=moshtix, 1300 GET TIX (438 849), on your mobile www.moshtix.mobi and all moshtix outlets including Polyester Records and Greville Records. If purchasing concession or member tickets please bring proof of eligibility on the day.

Hallo possums!

I just got back from seeing Sonnensucher (Sun Seekers), screening as part of ACMI's Focus on East German Cinema. It's an excellent film, that depicts the bleakness of life behind the Iron Curtain in a very matter-of-fact manner, leading to it's banning in East Germany for 12 years. It's so frank both politically and socially, in a manner that would be considered brave even in so-called free countries.

As I rolled up in my driveway, I saw what I thought was a large rat. It was, in fact, a young possum. In recent weeks, I've been taking my son to a local park and we've been feeding the critters, much to our entertainment. This little fella seemed quite unshy and was nibbling on my ginger lilies. I held out a little piece to him and to my surprise he jumped up my arm and onto my shoulders.

The missus took these shots (click to enlarge); I wasn't really able to capture much myself. He seemed keen to climb as high as he could but couldn't tackle the helmet. I think I was more afraid than he was, and put the visor down to make sure I don't have nasty possum claws clambering over my face. I otherwise felt quite safe with all my motorcycle gear on. He seemed quite content to stay put so I removed him and he didn't put up much of a struggle. I finally released him to a nearby tree.

The same dreary criticism

So now Michael Coulter, The Age's production editor (whatever that means) is an Andrew Bolt wannabe, criticising the state of Australian cinema. Criticism is not unwanted nor unneeded, but this dross in today's paper is just as tired a criticism as the type of films he's criticising. Coulter's solution, à la Bolt, is to remove public funding and have Australian films funded as per Hollywood. As far as I know, this only works in one country, namely America, and even then, most films coming out of that place are not big success stories.

In particular, these closing comments in the article lead me to not take Coulter seriously:

Personally, I'd be more than happy to see the Australian Film Commission's funding handed over to, say, MICA paramedics, who are at least delivering a demonstrable benefit to society.

Until then, I'll stick with the majority of Australians and vote with my feet - which will take me, likely as not, straight into the next session of Transformers.

Mind you, I agree that we don't need any more mediocre films made to the same old tired formula that we've been pumping out for the last few years. But does Coulter really think we should be producing films like Transformers? I'd rather spend that money on MICA paramedics. The world does not need more mindless trash movies.

What's on

Just a reminder that The Limits of Control is still on, having (unfortunately) opened the day before MIFF. I think it's better than anything I saw during the whole of MIFF, with perhaps only Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon equalling it. So now MIFF is over, you're all probably a bit fatigued and not rushing out to see anything. But, when you do, I highly recommend this beautiful film by Jim Jarmusch. I doubt you'll see a better looking film all year. Catch it while it's on the big screen.

Other than MIFF

With a full-on schedule booked for MIFF (some 40 films), it's easy to forget that there's other things on (all film-related, of course). I had booked myself in for United Red Army at the Forum this morning but, at 190 minutes, figured I'd take some time out, and hence this post.

Having given Balibo a whopping 5 stars (and I don't know how that's justified), I'm a little bemused by Jim Schembri's 1/2 star for Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control and, furthermore, his description of the film in today's Age as a 'blockbuster':

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince enjoyed a second weekend at No.1 with a massive haul of $6.46 million across 510 screens for a total of $29.6 million. This was despite the opening of the new Jim Jarmusch blockbuster The Limits of Control, which managed $28,999 on five screens.

[p.18 in the Arts section under 'Box office' - as yet not online; emphasis is mine]

Now, though I loved The Limits of Control (which you may have gleaned from my review), I'd hardly call it a blockbuster. It really is a niche film and Jarmusch is a niche director. That the film is showing on a measly five screen pretty much confirms that. And how can a film screening on five arthouse screens take a dent out of a mainstream blockbuster screening on over one hundred times the number of screens, largely the big multiplexes?

Opening on the eve of MIFF was always going to hurt the film's box office in Melbourne, because the target audience is largely focused on the mega-circus that is MIFF. It's a pity, because it's a better film than anything I've seen yet at MIFF (13 films to date).

...

Cedar Boys
This new Australian film by Serhat Caradee opens on limited release today and my preoccupation with MIFF has prevented me from reviewing it in more detail. It depicts the struggle of immigrant families in contemporary society. I often connect with this subject, though Australian films tackling these themes in recent years have usually failed to have the authenticity and dramatic tension that Cedar Boys achieves.

The film is nicely photographed and well-acted. The dialogue in particular is excellent, very real. Hopefully Cedar Boys will find an audience. The lack of marketing and the timing (mid-MIFF) isn't working in its favour, so if you're steering clear of the MIFF crowds, this is one to look out for - just be quick; it may not be around for long. Check out the official website.

...

Lake Mungo, another Australian film, opens today. There's a Q&A session with the cast and crew 6.30pm tonight at the George cinema.

...

Post-MIFF
For your post-MIFF fix, you may want to put the following into your calendars:

• 16 August: Gruber's Journey at ACMI
  
• 18 - 20 August: Indonesian Film Festival at ACMI
  
• 19 - 26 August: Russian Resurrection Film Festival at the Como
• 21 - 30 August: Melbourne Writer's Festival at ACMI
  
• 25 - 30 August: Israeli Film Festival at Como and Brighton Bay cinemas
• 27 - 30 August: Anna May Wong on Film at ACMI
  
• 3 - 30 September: AFI Professional Members' screenings at ACMI
  
• 4 September & 2 October: Red Hot Shorts at ACMI
  
• 10 - 15 September: The Bicycle Thief at ACMI
  
• 16 September - 5 October: Italian Film Festival
• 17 - 27 September: Focus on Australian Noir at ACMI
  

Time

It's Sunday night and I've been so flat out that I've not collated my Week in Review for this week, nor for the last. But hey, it's the lead up to MIFF, the busiest time of the year. I've got parent teacher interviews tomorrow night, but hopefully I'll get something up soon. If not, c'est la vie !

[Edit]: I should mention that one of the films I saw was Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control. I find it odd that it opens next Thursday, on the eve of MIFF. Many of the film's target audience will consequently be otherwise engaged but hopefully won't miss this gem, possibly my favourite cinema release of the year so far. More to come...

"A talent for lies and abuse"

This article in yesterday's The Australian pretty much encapsulates my thoughts on Michael Jackson, which I think makes a very good read in the current climate of selective amnesia about the man's accomplishments. Forensic psychiatrist Robert M. Kaplan writes:

Jackson had been successful in achieving his most important goal: claiming the mantle of victimhood as justification for leading an exploitative and predatory
life.

People talk about MJ as if he was some kind of saint, an image he carefully nurtured with his Christ-and-the-children-type hype. If, like me you're sick of everyone's defences and rationalising of MJ's behaviour, check out the full article.

Begging more or more begging

I was sitting in Centre Place having lunch with my good friend Matthew and was approached by another beggar. I detect my mind making judgements:

Scrawny, aboriginal woman, maybe 40 or so. Substance abuser, homeless, maybe some mental illness, maybe associated with the substance abuse.

Now, I posted about on this topic recently, which roused a little response. I discussed the thinking behind my usual responses to beggars. Some suggested theirs and I was also criticised for my "naive, middle class and condescending" attitude. Now, I thought the latter comment was quite disingenuous, but nonethess I gave it some thought. I reckon I give a shit a lot more than the average naive, middle-class, condescending person and I do - despite my faults and limitations - give a shit. Did I mention that I give a shit?

So, Matthew had declined the offer to help out this person, and I make no judgements of him one way or the other. Begging is an uncomfortable situation to find oneself in. On the one hand we don't want to be part of someone's problem (and money to purchase substances that may be abused aren't really helping anyone). On the other, we have some degree of compassion and it pains us to see others suffering. What to do?

Once again, I engaged this person. Leanne is her name. I asked her what she wants money for and she said for food. With whatever sincerity I could convey, I said that many people feel uncomfortable giving money, but that I'd be happy to pay for a meal. I suggested she order a meal and tell the cafe person I'd pay for it (they know me). Well, this is the first time someone's taken me up on the offer. Leanne looked all excited and appreciative. I must say that my way of dealing with Leanne was a slightly modified version, which I developed as a result of the discussion from my last post. Leanne actually said she'd really just appreciate a coffee.

A couple of guys were sitting adjacent to Matthew and I (FWIW, we were at the front of "5", a tiny little cafe). They complimented me on my attitude and one of them ended up pulling out the coins for the coffee.

Coincidentally, I was at the Nova cinema in Lygon St. Carlton that night seeing the preview screening of Winged Creatures with a Q&A with Rowan Woods. As I was leaving the cinema, who should approach me but out Leanne asking for some money. I said "Hi, Leanne" and she was surprised. "How did you know my name?" she asked. Now, I was wearing a suit and tie earlier in the day and at this time I was in my motorcycle gear. "I gave you some money for a coffee in Centre Place at lunch-time", I said and a light of recognition flashed across her face. Some other people walked by, she left me and approached them, and I left to go home. Make of that what you will.