More hiding

Well once again I have very little to update you on, having shandy-ed out of all my social engagements this week.

However, excitingly, my byline has appeared in print for the first time since moving to Australia. Yes, I am the newest theatre critic at The Brag, a free street press more targeted to the music-loving youth of Sydney than theatre afficionados, but a respectable publication nonetheless.

Look! My byline!

I reproduced the review on my blog for those of you who can't squint to read the ink on paper.

Also, the final piece of my immigration jigsaw arrived today: the UK police records, which are thankfully all clear. I have a 2.30pm with my immigration lawyer tomorrow, somehow it all seems too tantalisingly close for me not to start to hope...

cx

In hiding

There's nothing much to blog about, of late, because I'm reaching the part of the annual cycle where I work my ass off for unhealthily long days, sleep far too briefly, try to cram in some exercise and only occasionally manage to socialise (usually reluctantly and with a nagging feeling that I ought to be elsewhere).

Last weekend my friend Marianne held an 80s party for her birthday, cue lots of shoulder pads and mullet wigs, and a surprising number of glam rock stars. I donned fingerless gloves, tied a pair of stockings in my hair and did Madonna circa 1986.

Madge-tastic

More pics here.

But apart from that, nothing much to report. I'm exhausted, still ill, my back aches, I'm not getting enough sleep, I'm totally stressed out at work, yada yada yada. You're not going to want to hear it so I won't blog about it.

Despite my huge workload I've been trying to keep up with another blog that I started a while ago. It's a theatre review blog, which I started up in a bid to get on the preview list of Sydney's theatres. It may well be working! Check it out here -- it's called Girl in the Emerald City. More reviews to come in the next couple of weeks.

So that's all for now, until something interesting happens.

cx

Movies movies and more movies

I'm starting to realise that films really dominate my life, from watching them to making them, to watching other people make them, to watching people win awards for them, to flying interstate to see them, to blogging about them, to tweeting about them: all I seem to think about is movies.

Watching the Oscars with my team

Now that I'm all grown up and everything, I'm starting to wonder how healthy this is. Yes folks, once you hit 30 you start pondering the bigger questions in life, like Do I prefer passionfruit or mango yoghurt?, Shall I cycle to work or get the bus today? and Is there more to life than film?

I think this is a question I shall delay answering for another time. Meanwhile, a bunch of mates and I hopped on a plane last week to go to the Adelaide Film Festival, to (yes, you guessed it!) watch some movies.

AFF is only once every two years. You may remember when Matt and I went in 2007, and how shocked I was at the 40+ degree heat, because it is dry heat compared to Sydney's mugginess. Seems I haven't learnt much, the heat shocked me once again, and, combined with the freezing air conditioned cinemas, has left me with a stinking cold now I'm back home.

This time the gang rented an apartment a block away from the main festival cinema, which was most convenient. Unfortunately far too convenient for those 'All back to ours for beers' moments which happened with alarming regularity.

A rare moment of seriousness as we chill and work in the flat

Still, much fun was had, little sleep was and, and many films were watched and analysed. We also discovered a charming little chocolate shop for those illicit espressos laced with dark chocolate which helped me get through the day.

Here's a round-up of some of the films I saw.

Che, parts 1 and 2
Epic sprawling biopic starring the deliciously watchable Benicio del Toro as the revolutionary Che Guevara. With a combined screen time of almost 5 hours, the films take you through the Cuban revolution, Che's time speaking at the UN assembly, the failed Bolivian revolution attempt and his eventual capture and murder. Far from perpetuating the already merchandise-tastic myth of Che, Steven Soderbergh's films tell it like it is. I felt as though I was hiding out starving in the Bolivian jungle with the scruffy band of revolutionaries themselves, and Che was certainly not held on any pedestal for his beliefs and leadership. Not quite as stylistically far-out as I'd hoped for but brilliant none the less.


My Year Without Sex
Great title, average film. New Aussie flick which tells the story of a woman who has a brain aneurysm so she can't repress sneezes or have sex for a year (yes, I always lump those two things in the same category too...?!) It's a bit kitchen-sink-y with regards to telling about Australian suburban life but there were some genuinely hilarious moments, including one scene where the family and friends dress in black to bury their goldfish and even invite a priest round to conduct a blessing. I lost it at that point and couldn't stop laughing. Ahem, I guess you had to be there.



Van Diemen's Land
A true lesson to me that I should read the blurb in the guide before going to the movies. I went to see this on the strength that it was a new Aussie film based in Tasmania, and that's about all I knew. It is a gritty and alarmingly realistic film about a group of convicts in Tasmania who escaped and ended up surviving by killing and eating each other. Although I spent about a fifth of the time with my fingers in my ears and my eyes closed, I still saw enough to make me sick, but also to realise that it was a great film, despite its low budget. Full marks to the filmmakers for just getting out there and filming it, and not sitting around waiting for govt funding like most frustrated Aussie filmmakers do!


Blind Loves
Sweet Slovak film telling the stories of different blind people and how they navigate their relationships. From an old couple who are both blind and live in loving sightless harmony, to a blind woman expecting her first child, to the teenager meeting people on the internet and wondering when to tell them she is blind. As well as being quietly insightful, the film had some lovely moments, such as the couple decorating their Christmas tree and having to feel the lights to see if they are on (ie warm), to the couple having a celebratory meal and raising their champagne glasses to each other, only to completely miss.



Samson and Delilah
By far one of the best Australian films I've ever seen, this is a stunningly filmed tale of two Aboriginal teenagers in the Northern Territory and how they navigate the 'normality' that is their life. With barely any dialogue, the film manages to get deep into the psyche of these kids and tells their story with a heartbreaking reality. I ended up sobbing, but I'd be very interested to see how it plays overseas where people have very little knowledge of the background behind how the Australian government have handled Aboriginal issues over the years, and what a mess it all is as a result. I really hope this gets a UK screening. LFF?


My Tehran for Sale
Powerful Australian film, filmed entirely on location in Iran. A woman struggles to stay true to her artistic passions in a society where cultural expression is suppressed and art only happens underground. She spies a way out via marrying an Australian resident but things don't go according to plan. The cast and crew Q&A was moving and insightful, as the Iranian leads, who'd come to Aus especially, told of how their lives were genuinely like that, and they refused to live in fear despite the increasing uncertainty in Iran. Again, made by confident and fearless (and all female) Australians who didn't sit around waiting for funding.

I missed a few screenings due to being sick, having to do work, and exploring the city, plus I saw a bunch of shorts at Kino Adelaide which were fun.

We also escaped the cinemas for an evening and went to Henley beach (via the palendromic beach Glenelg, random fact!) and watched the sun set over the ocean. As I live on the east coast of Australia, I never get to see the sun set over the ocean, so I think this was the first time I'd seen this since mum's wedding in Greece! Beautiful.



Back home to Sydney, back to work, back to the real (reel?) world.

cx