Thursday 15 June 2006

Royal week

At First Sight (Fri 7 12noon) I doubt that this midday drama is especially worthwhile, usually the domain of B-grade tearies (this one has Val Kilmer playing a blind masseur named Virgil) however if Mira Sorvino is your idea of a good time then put in a tape. I can’t give you any more of a hint than that. Either that or Carla Gugino in She Creature (Sat 9 1230A).
The Poseidon Adventure (Fri 7 11P) More pulp but if you had intended on seeing the remake in the cinema (Rutger Hauer and Adam Baldwin) then you might like to see what you’re letting yourself in for (and saving the price of admission in the process I’ll warrant). Stars Gene Hackman as a priest and Leslie Nielson as ship’s captain (no, this is not a joke).
The Royal Tenenbaums (Sun 7 1115P) is Wes Anderson’s third feature and while I don’t think it hits the high notes with the same consistency as his fourth feature (Life Aquatic) it mixes his trademark “dead pan humour and nonplussed irony [with] genuine pathos.” Using some of his favourite actors, Bill Murray, Angelica Huston, the Owen brothers (Luke and Owen) along with other class stayers, Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Stiller, this is an ensemble cast worthy to note in a film that has a number of fans.
ABC / Hitchcock double act late on Sunday night : Sabotage (1230A) and The 39 Steps (140A). Both cinematic classics and both on my dating schedule with the VCR machine.
In the football (World Cup football of course … is there anything else at the mo. ?) sees Australia take on the mighty Brazil early Monday morning (2A kick-off). I had planned to put in a video tape and watch on a 3 hour delay when I woke up at 5 however Hitchcock may be too good to pass up and I might awaken at that ungodly hour and watch it live. Australia’s third group game is against Croatia at 5A the following Friday morning.
As the third group matches get underway (from Tuesday) you may note that four games are broadcast in succession. Two of them will be live (Australia’s is for example) and the other two will be shown on a two hour delay. This is because FIFA have scheduled the final two games from each group simultaneously to cut-down any likelihood of contrived results.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

A friend and myself were stupid enough to believe Marget (SBS Movie Show) that "Life Aquatic" was good. So we went and saw it at the movies.

Rather like Bill Murray's delivery, the movie is boringly paced, has a boring plot, had boring action and EXTERMELY boring "comedy". (And I use the term loosely). While some people (see imdb.com) seem to think that this movie is fantastic - no one can say exactly why. Or point out a scene that was particularly enjoyable. I don't believe that I laughed once throughout the entire movie. All I can remember is sitting there going "is this it?". A boring movie made by boring people for bored moviegoers if you ask me (which no-one does, that's why I'm posting on this blog).

Would quite like to see the Hitchcock movies - thanks for the warning.

Australia vs Brazil will be lots of fun - but what bugs me is the attitude. Not one person has said that we stand a chance, not even the players. Looks like they are going in already defeated if you ask me.

GGBlog said...

Lacho old boy - you have spectacularly failed to grasp "it." But who's to say that we find the same things funny ? In truth though, there hasn't been such a disconnect since Uncle J. stumbled through Lost in Translation (also starring Bill Murray at his best or worst depending on your take).

Anonymous said...

You lose one point for using the buzzword "disconnect".

Ok, if I really have to have an open mind (and I really don't want to, irrationality is my middle name), why did you enjoy "life aquatic"? And don't use the word gregarious please.

Anonymous said...

Wading in uninvited (why change the habits of a third-of-a-lifetime?) ....
Life Aquatic (and Lost in Translation) are soft, gentle, subtle, movies. Yes I'll grant you some spark may have been welcome in spots, but this would have made them different movies.
It's a bold writer/director that sticks with it to showcase a mood. Now I know the extension of this argument may see us all watching stupid pointless French movies with no begining, end, or otherwsie, and I too draw the line, but in fact the two movies are portraits of a segment of life and the feelings/response of the charecters stumbling through that segment.
Life Aquatic was a bit more cartoony due to the larger than life eccentric character, but it still had that feeling of the main character/s standing on the outside of their passage in life and looking in. Thus the viewer has a chance to look in with them.
For mine, Lachy-lad, Lost in Translation was more enjoyable, as I really identified with that fish- out-of-water-in-another-land feeling and the quiet observational musing it can bring. For a brief moment, the context, and Murrays life weary character, was both identifiable, while triggering the urge to "snap out of it" and re-engagae (which Murray did in small ways).
These flicks are a worthy part of the film smorgasboard.
And I watched them on Shanghai DVDs for 50 cents a piece.

Anonymous said...

And please don't listen to Margaret. That's what the GG blog is for. (The aliens will recall her soon. Even they cannot fathom her anymore.)

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen Lost in Translation and now I'm not sure if I want to.

GGBlog said...

I agree it is unusual these days to have movies aimed at mature adults that are not exclusively period pieces that star either Maggie Smith or Judi Dench.
Bill Murray is in a 'purple patch' at present where clever (and younger) directors such as Wes Anderson or Sofia Coppola can exploit his inward woundedness. A representation of a life that hasn't worked out quite as he'd dreamed.
Come back to it in a few years Lacho !