Animal Kingdom

Sydney sometimes feels like that to me. A bit of a race or a competition. Survival of the fittest, or those with a parking fairy.

Today I spent wandering around the 17th Biennale of Sydney with three of my best friends. Frankly, most of the contemporary visual art that we saw (mostly at MCA) was pretty lame, especially the junk masquerading as "video art". Apart from Bill Viola's work at the MCA, it really is self-indulgent, second or third rate rubbish in my opinion. What we saw at MCA is from all over the place and not just Australian, so in saying that it is mostly rubbish I guess the problem stems from poor curatorial selection because it isn't indicative of the state of Australian contemporary art practice. I have better contemporary art hanging on my walls at home. The Biennale selections just don't rate for me, nor did they compare with the quality of work still on display at the State Library of NSW in their One Hundred exhibition. In that exhibition there is something for everyone from Banks' HMB Endeavour journal to a really beautiful illustrated letter from Brett Whiteley to his mother. I'm so glad that I didn't miss this great exhibition.

Later on we went to see the brilliant Australian film Animal Kingdom (see image & link to the film website). It deserves all of the rave reviews it is getting and Jackie Weaver deserves some big acting award for her portrayal of the convincingly disturbing crime matriarch, Janine "Smurf" Cody. She is seriously creepy. It is a big leap above the recent spate of TV crime dramas that are based on real events in both Melbourne and Sydney. It is more relaxed in the way it portrays the story and it looks so much better. The acting is better, the direction and writing is superb and the film just works so well.

It is easily the best Australian film I can remember seeing for a long time. The violence in the film is both direct or inferred and you never quite know when it is going to happen, or not. There is a lot in its title and they manage to stay true to that right up to the final scene. I also liked the way they frankly portrayed the lives destroyed by crime and the fact that at some stage most criminals make a big mistake or come undone. They are not all brain surgeons or lucky for their entire lifetime. Don't miss it and see it in a cinema, not on DVD.

@snailx's film meme

How many films do you see a year at the cinema?
Probably around 30 or so. (I've joined the Dendy now I live so close to Newtown, so intend to see more from now on.)

What’s your favourite film(s)?
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Jesus' Son, Magnolia, The Dreamers, Downfall, Without Limits, The Good Shepherd, Wings of Desire, Mou Gaan Dou 1 2 & 3, The Ignorant Fairies, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Lawrence of Arabia, Big Wednesday, Donnie Darko, Fargo, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Latter Days, Lords of Dogtown, An Englishman Abroad, and A Single Man.

Who is your favourite director?
Don't really have one, but I liked what Tom Ford did recently with A Single Man and have a lot of respect for David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia & many others).

How do see most movies (eg tv, cinema, download, dvd)?
Cinema and DVD.

Do you think 3D movies will be a fad…again?
Yep.

What film do you hate the most?
Avatar. Absolute rubbish.

Do you have a guilty pleasure?
Porn & the films of Ashton Kutcher.

Who is your favourite film reviewer?
I suppose I like the reviews of Margaret Pomeranz & David Stratton because they usually give you different perspectives. There is also Paul Byrnes in the SMH and I read his reviews most Saturdays.

How many times have you seen The Sound of Music?
Several & enough.

Name a film, or films, you’ve seen multiple times?
The Sound of Music, The Great Escape, Star Wars, Gallipoli, Field of Dreams, Magnolia, Lawrence of Arabia, On Golden Pond, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Big Wednesday, & probably several others, but I cannot remember them all.

Have you ever yelled comments at the screen in a cinema? (…did people laugh?)
Not since uni and I cannot remember.

Vivid & Sydney Film Festival 2010

I hope you all stayed up late waiting for this. It was a late night. And I must say that tonight Rage is playing the worst music I've heard in ages (apart from the stuff after 5.30 am). Terrible guest programming.
So tonight I went out to two flicks at the 2010 Sydney Film Festival. Firstly there was the Australian premier of The Tree at the State Theatre. It is a decent film about loss, grief, imagination, families and country Queensland. As I've recently lost my brother in an accident it was all a bit close to the bone for me. Everyone is going to say it is beautiful, poetic and lyrical, but I'm not so sure. There was a lot I liked, but overall, I don't think it grabbed me or convinced me. Sorry.
After that we walked down Macquarie Street to look at all the Vivid lights and then entered the Sydney Opera House for Nosferatu with Darth Vargus. The band and score were excellent as were the sound effects by Miss Death. Jamie Leonarder's introduction just went on for too long. And for me the film is just pretty corny. It may well be historically significant, but I'm glad we didn't have to sit through it without the amusing live soundtrack. Even so I fell asleep a number of times.
I have to add that the seats in both venues were excellent and I had heaps of leg room. You cannot say that about all film venues in Sydney, especially some old cinemas in Oxford St.