Sunday, 31 August 2008
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
On being Doris Day
I have to confess I'm turning into a bit of a nanna at the moment. Still in my post-festival energy-drained downtime, I feel like I've been warding off an impending cold for two whole months. It's always on the brink of taking me over, but I've been successfully keeping it at bay. Unfortunately, in order to achieve this, I've had to abandon all hope of a social life, in favour of staying in, sleeping lots, overdosing on hot lemon and ginger tea, and watching endless episodes of TV series on DVD clutching my ancient M&S hot water bottle. Yes, folks, isn't my life thrilling?
Hearty winter walks on the cliffs
Having made a good inroad with season 5 of the West Wing, I've temporarily been sidelined by a marvellous 2004 British TV mini-series called Blackpool -- a musical comedy cop mystery story (?!) starring David Tennant as a cop investigating a murder in a casino owned by David Morrissey. It's bloody brilliant, and Tennant is as watchable as ever. It's only marginally making up for me being a little bit too far away to go and see him in Hamlet at the moment. (He's currently playing the Dane in Stratford.)
Dashing Scot in hilarious drama
Last Sunday a gang of us went to the 50s fair at Rose Seidler house. This was about an hour north of Sydney, an original modernist house built in stunning grounds, which hosts a 50s fair each year. I refrained from spending any money but adored the dresses and fabrics and homewares on the stalls. When I do get my own place I'll be 50s-inspired when I kit it out. There were so many gorgeous narrow-waisted red-lipsticked women hanging about too, and stylishly-quiffed men.
Another reason for my lack of a social life is I'm completely skint, due to saving up for two exciting impending trips. On Monday I set off for the Toronto Film Festival, via Vancouver, and when I return my dad will be arriving for a month's visit. We'll be heading off to New Zealand for a couple of weeks, where I hope to escape the world, go tramping in the hills and recreate Lord of the Rings on a camcorder starring John and Carmel. Woo hoo. So despite my boring posts now, just think what gems await you when I blog about my travels.
The view from Kirribilli where I dined last week
cx
Having made a good inroad with season 5 of the West Wing, I've temporarily been sidelined by a marvellous 2004 British TV mini-series called Blackpool -- a musical comedy cop mystery story (?!) starring David Tennant as a cop investigating a murder in a casino owned by David Morrissey. It's bloody brilliant, and Tennant is as watchable as ever. It's only marginally making up for me being a little bit too far away to go and see him in Hamlet at the moment. (He's currently playing the Dane in Stratford.)
Last Sunday a gang of us went to the 50s fair at Rose Seidler house. This was about an hour north of Sydney, an original modernist house built in stunning grounds, which hosts a 50s fair each year. I refrained from spending any money but adored the dresses and fabrics and homewares on the stalls. When I do get my own place I'll be 50s-inspired when I kit it out. There were so many gorgeous narrow-waisted red-lipsticked women hanging about too, and stylishly-quiffed men.
Another reason for my lack of a social life is I'm completely skint, due to saving up for two exciting impending trips. On Monday I set off for the Toronto Film Festival, via Vancouver, and when I return my dad will be arriving for a month's visit. We'll be heading off to New Zealand for a couple of weeks, where I hope to escape the world, go tramping in the hills and recreate Lord of the Rings on a camcorder starring John and Carmel. Woo hoo. So despite my boring posts now, just think what gems await you when I blog about my travels.
cx
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Addiction
Hello folks. I mentioned a while back that I made a film for Kino Kabaret. Kino is a global movement which is all about making films with passion and a spirit of collaboration, and not simply waiting around with an idea but no drive to bring it to fruition on film. So many people feel they need funding and official backing to make films, when actually all you need is a good concept, a good team, and ambition.
Kino screenings are held once a month and people make their films for a particular Kino. I made this film with Alex last year for Kino after the SFF. Kino Kabaret is held twice a year, and instead of having a month to make a film, this time you only have 48 hours. So... I turned up at 10am on Monday 14 July without a clue of what I was going to make, had an idea by 11am, storyboarded it and met my actor at 4.30pm. Shot it that evening, recorded the sound the next morning, edited it the next afternoon and it screened at 6.30pm on Tuesday 15 July at the ACP. How's that for 'not being shackled by the burdens of time or money'?!
So that's the result. It's a little rough, could be edited tighter (about 1-2 mins shorter) but it was fun to make, Simon was a great sport, and it was a welcome creative release after the stress of work over the last few weeks.
cx
Kino screenings are held once a month and people make their films for a particular Kino. I made this film with Alex last year for Kino after the SFF. Kino Kabaret is held twice a year, and instead of having a month to make a film, this time you only have 48 hours. So... I turned up at 10am on Monday 14 July without a clue of what I was going to make, had an idea by 11am, storyboarded it and met my actor at 4.30pm. Shot it that evening, recorded the sound the next morning, edited it the next afternoon and it screened at 6.30pm on Tuesday 15 July at the ACP. How's that for 'not being shackled by the burdens of time or money'?!
So that's the result. It's a little rough, could be edited tighter (about 1-2 mins shorter) but it was fun to make, Simon was a great sport, and it was a welcome creative release after the stress of work over the last few weeks.
cx
Friday, 1 August 2008
Blue Mountains retreat
There's nothing like a getaway to the Blue Mountains to restore the soul and revitalise the spirit after a hectic few weeks. The wonderful Matt organised a post-Kino retreat to the Blue Mountains, three blissful days off work with mates in a cottage in Leura. This time of year is my favourite -- crisp cold wind, stunning blue skies, and gorgeous clear nights with more stars than blackness, it seems. The mountains are just a couple of hours by train West of Sydney, and it was a great idea to get away from the city and chill out for a few days.
Bushwalking with the gang
Although we did go on a splendid bushwalk the majority of our time was spent in the cottage, gathering around the log fire, gazing out at the view, chilling, reading, cooking, eating and most of all watching films. Matt brought his projector and we cleared a whole wall to project films onto. A mixed bag of mainly horror films ensued, until someone had the bright idea of propping the projector up so it beamed up onto the ceiling and we were all strewn on mattresses on the floor watching films effortlessly up above. Move over Cecil B DeMille. Pure decadence!
Movie-watching in style with Alex and Karina
See more pics from the trip here, including Carmel's stylish modelling of walking boots and waterproof jackets. Totally unnecessary.
Since the festival my cheesy film-watching has been my therapy: after a six-month period of talking about fantastic world cinema, it seems I needed some trash to balance it out. Among the films I have watched are:
80s-tastic cheese. Gotta love Andrew McCarthy
Goldie Hawn chick-flick cheese
Classic Aussie outback horror
Flashback to childhood with the Neverending Story
Cringe-making 80s sexual politics
As well as the aforementioned Labrynth, Princess Bride, The Muppet Show, Enter the Dragon, The Big Chill, and heaps of episodes of the West Wing...
Anyway, cheesy films aside, I'm back in Sydney, working hard at post-festival wrap-up and getting ready for my Toronto trip in September.
I have more news too about my rollerskating escapades and filmmaking fun, but will blog again at the weekend. Hope those of you in the UK are enjoying the heatwave while I'm huddled against the heater.
cx
Although we did go on a splendid bushwalk the majority of our time was spent in the cottage, gathering around the log fire, gazing out at the view, chilling, reading, cooking, eating and most of all watching films. Matt brought his projector and we cleared a whole wall to project films onto. A mixed bag of mainly horror films ensued, until someone had the bright idea of propping the projector up so it beamed up onto the ceiling and we were all strewn on mattresses on the floor watching films effortlessly up above. Move over Cecil B DeMille. Pure decadence!
See more pics from the trip here, including Carmel's stylish modelling of walking boots and waterproof jackets. Totally unnecessary.
Since the festival my cheesy film-watching has been my therapy: after a six-month period of talking about fantastic world cinema, it seems I needed some trash to balance it out. Among the films I have watched are:
As well as the aforementioned Labrynth, Princess Bride, The Muppet Show, Enter the Dragon, The Big Chill, and heaps of episodes of the West Wing...
Anyway, cheesy films aside, I'm back in Sydney, working hard at post-festival wrap-up and getting ready for my Toronto trip in September.
I have more news too about my rollerskating escapades and filmmaking fun, but will blog again at the weekend. Hope those of you in the UK are enjoying the heatwave while I'm huddled against the heater.
cx
Sunday, 20 July 2008
G'day Pope!
Sydney is full of pilgrims at the moment, who have gathered here from all over the world to see the Pope, who is visiting for World Youth Day. The city has been overrun by them, it's bigger than APEC. It's been frankly quite irritating, disrupting traffic, causing road closures and taking over our streets. They walk around in packs with their glowing orange backpacks, waving the flags of their nation, singing and clapping, all very disruptive. It was almost passed as a law last week that it was a criminal offence to 'annoy' the pigrims, but thankfully the government saw sense and it was not passed. Still, football chants such as 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Oi, Oi, Oi' are not going to catch on here, I fear.
Quality Journalism
In other news, I saw the new Batman film on the day it came out. IT'S AWESOME. A bunch of us queued up at Fox Studios and saw a late show, and were completely freaked out by the film, which is incredibly bleak and tense and quite simply amazing. I'm going to see it in IMAX next week, can't wait.
V excited while queueing for Batman
Tomorrow I'm going to the Blue Mountains for a few days with some friends. We've hired a cottage and are going to tromp around in the bush, eat lots and watch some movies. Heaven. Will blog when I'm back in the city, but I'm very much looking forward to the break.
cx
In other news, I saw the new Batman film on the day it came out. IT'S AWESOME. A bunch of us queued up at Fox Studios and saw a late show, and were completely freaked out by the film, which is incredibly bleak and tense and quite simply amazing. I'm going to see it in IMAX next week, can't wait.
Tomorrow I'm going to the Blue Mountains for a few days with some friends. We've hired a cottage and are going to tromp around in the bush, eat lots and watch some movies. Heaven. Will blog when I'm back in the city, but I'm very much looking forward to the break.
cx
Friday, 11 July 2008
'Oh the flame trees will blind the weary driver...'
It's deepest darkest winter here in Sydney, and I'm having a 'dry July'. As was tradition in the UK I would usually take January off the booze, after the season of excess, when you're skint after Chrimbo and feeling icky and full of winter food. Of course January's the middle of summer here and party-tastic, so there was no question of giving up drinking, especially as mum and Keith were visiting then. July however is a perfect alternative, after the festival months of sponsorship wine, canapes and eating crap in the CBD, I'm skint as anything and it's very cold. Two weeks in and it's proving trickier than I had hoped. I keep getting invited to parties where the booze is free and my will is weak. We shall see if it lasts...
So things are becoming more 'normal' post-festival, as we immerse ourselves in debriefs, acquittals, financial year-end and wrap-up. It's a bit sad to lose my team, they've been amazing to work with this year and I'll really miss them. Now we're back to skeleton crew in the office, there's no-one to delegate to, and there are lots of empty desks :o(
Flame trees blossom
The season of the flame trees has commenced, and they are beginning to flower. Seasonal changes are much more acute in Australia, or perhaps I'm more attuned. I've been getting back on the bike, swimming in the mornings, and am back at Yoga with the magical Rick.
My yoga school
Catching up on my lack of festival films, I've sneaked home a few screeners from the festival stash -- the other day a gang of us watched a double-bill of The Chicken the Fish and the King Crab and Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon -- outstanding selection. Jason Statham was in town for the premiere of The Bank Job, an intriguing story which apparently is completely true but was buried under a 'D' notice in the 70s forbidding the press to write about it, where a bank heist is engineered to cover up some photographic evidence of Princess Margaret engaging in some dodgy orgy activities. Apparently they couldn't make the film until she'd died. Anyway, it was a bit disappointing, with a rather one-dimensional set of performances and some cliched set-ups, but the after-party was swell enough.
The main outcome of the evening was that I made the social pages. Oh la-di-da, I was in the Sunday Telegraph (the equivalent of the UK's Mail on Sunday!) Check it out...
Making the social pages
Will I ever reach these giddy heights again?
cx
So things are becoming more 'normal' post-festival, as we immerse ourselves in debriefs, acquittals, financial year-end and wrap-up. It's a bit sad to lose my team, they've been amazing to work with this year and I'll really miss them. Now we're back to skeleton crew in the office, there's no-one to delegate to, and there are lots of empty desks :o(
The season of the flame trees has commenced, and they are beginning to flower. Seasonal changes are much more acute in Australia, or perhaps I'm more attuned. I've been getting back on the bike, swimming in the mornings, and am back at Yoga with the magical Rick.
Catching up on my lack of festival films, I've sneaked home a few screeners from the festival stash -- the other day a gang of us watched a double-bill of The Chicken the Fish and the King Crab and Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon -- outstanding selection. Jason Statham was in town for the premiere of The Bank Job, an intriguing story which apparently is completely true but was buried under a 'D' notice in the 70s forbidding the press to write about it, where a bank heist is engineered to cover up some photographic evidence of Princess Margaret engaging in some dodgy orgy activities. Apparently they couldn't make the film until she'd died. Anyway, it was a bit disappointing, with a rather one-dimensional set of performances and some cliched set-ups, but the after-party was swell enough.
The main outcome of the evening was that I made the social pages. Oh la-di-da, I was in the Sunday Telegraph (the equivalent of the UK's Mail on Sunday!) Check it out...
Will I ever reach these giddy heights again?
cx
Monday, 30 June 2008
Dance magic dance...
Now there's a title for those of you fond of deciphering the titles in mum's blog -- what musical reference is there in today's blog post heading? Find out at the end of the post folks!
So it's been three weeks and a million years since my last post, but the festival is finally over and I now lay exhausted in my lovely beautiful much-missed bed and am fully on the road to recovery. It was a great festival, here are some of my highlights:
Me looking lovely in Collette Dinnigan on Opening Night
Me looking foxy in a little black number at the party for the World Premiere of The Square
Me looking foxy again in an Alannah Hill number and new specs at the party for the World Premiere of Three Blind Rodents
Me accepting my award for most eclectic wardrobe in a lovely Zimmermann number at the Opera House
Yes, you guessed it, my aforementioned dazzling array of frocks didn't let me down, and I managed to get away with only one repeat, and even then I accessorised so differently no-one noticed!
Apart from my frocks, there were heaps of other fun things going on. There was a martial arts-obsessed panda; wannabe gangsters; numerous penguins; sexed-up bugs; frozen horses; a talking horse; a runaway horse; a lost horse; a lost band; a lost bicycle; lost people; too much viagra; birdwatchers; some rescued chickens; tattooed men; ten-pound poms; imprisoned choristers; elderly choristers; runaway soldiers; surfies; refugees; tsunami survivors; hunger strikers; lemon trees; a spiral jetty; good prayers; money-making toilets; tight-rope walkers; old rockers; older folksingers; two hardcore heavy metal dudes; and one long kiss in the surf.
(Let's play a new game -- how many film references can you spot there, folks? A free SFF bag for the first person to correctly identify each of those films...)
Now that the festival is over I'm slowly regaining my sanity (Yes, not quite there I hear you cry) and getting my life back in order. It's been a pleasure this weekend (my first weekend off since March!) to enjoy the simple things in life -- going shopping in my local shops, baking fish, vegetables, fruit crumble, and mooching about in the winter sun. I ran on the cliffs for the first time in ages, read a couple of books, watched some episodes of The West Wing (Season 4 disc 2, in case you're interested), and even went for a pedicure and foot massage (taking a leaf out of Siobhan's book, as it's nothing I've ever done before, but it was fab!). So, in terms of battery power I'd say I've recharged from 15% back to about 35-40%. Let's see if I make it back to 90-100% before the next festival kicks in.
Not a Cockatoo in sight
Post-festival I took my team out for an afternoon jaunt to see some art on Cockatoo Island. This is a real island in the harbour, which used to be a shipbuilding island, after it was a place to keep convicts. Many of the buildings are still exactly as they were all those years ago, and I secretly thought the buildings were more impressive than the art currently held inside them! It's all part of the Biennale which is on at the moment, and hopefully I'll catch some more before September. We were all too exhausted to really appreciate it but the trip on the boat and in the winter sun was good for us.
The view from Cockatoo Island
Art filling warehouses
I've put some more pics on flickr if you want to see more festival fun, and all the venues and some of my colleagues. I didn't catch many films but I'm making up for it now by borrowing screeners. I think the rest of Winter will be spent curled up on the sofa watching festival screeners, drinking lemon and ginger and looking after myself. Hoorah.
As a festival antidote, a gang of us gathered at a house in Coogee and watched a triple bill of 80s classics. We'd spent much of the festival talking about the Luck Dragon and Faldor, so we needed the tonic.
The Princess Bride
Yes you've guessed it, 80s movie fans, the musical reference of the title is Bowie in Labyrinth.
So that's all for now but I think usual blogging duties shall resume now that I'm not doing crazy 16-hour days. Not only will I have more time to blog, but hopefully I'll also have a life to blog about! Not quite as exciting as Siobhan's jaunt in New Zealand but interesting nonetheless.
Love to you all.
cx
So it's been three weeks and a million years since my last post, but the festival is finally over and I now lay exhausted in my lovely beautiful much-missed bed and am fully on the road to recovery. It was a great festival, here are some of my highlights:
Me looking lovely in Collette Dinnigan on Opening Night
Me looking foxy in a little black number at the party for the World Premiere of The Square
Me looking foxy again in an Alannah Hill number and new specs at the party for the World Premiere of Three Blind Rodents
Me accepting my award for most eclectic wardrobe in a lovely Zimmermann number at the Opera House
Yes, you guessed it, my aforementioned dazzling array of frocks didn't let me down, and I managed to get away with only one repeat, and even then I accessorised so differently no-one noticed!
Apart from my frocks, there were heaps of other fun things going on. There was a martial arts-obsessed panda; wannabe gangsters; numerous penguins; sexed-up bugs; frozen horses; a talking horse; a runaway horse; a lost horse; a lost band; a lost bicycle; lost people; too much viagra; birdwatchers; some rescued chickens; tattooed men; ten-pound poms; imprisoned choristers; elderly choristers; runaway soldiers; surfies; refugees; tsunami survivors; hunger strikers; lemon trees; a spiral jetty; good prayers; money-making toilets; tight-rope walkers; old rockers; older folksingers; two hardcore heavy metal dudes; and one long kiss in the surf.
(Let's play a new game -- how many film references can you spot there, folks? A free SFF bag for the first person to correctly identify each of those films...)
Now that the festival is over I'm slowly regaining my sanity (Yes, not quite there I hear you cry) and getting my life back in order. It's been a pleasure this weekend (my first weekend off since March!) to enjoy the simple things in life -- going shopping in my local shops, baking fish, vegetables, fruit crumble, and mooching about in the winter sun. I ran on the cliffs for the first time in ages, read a couple of books, watched some episodes of The West Wing (Season 4 disc 2, in case you're interested), and even went for a pedicure and foot massage (taking a leaf out of Siobhan's book, as it's nothing I've ever done before, but it was fab!). So, in terms of battery power I'd say I've recharged from 15% back to about 35-40%. Let's see if I make it back to 90-100% before the next festival kicks in.
Post-festival I took my team out for an afternoon jaunt to see some art on Cockatoo Island. This is a real island in the harbour, which used to be a shipbuilding island, after it was a place to keep convicts. Many of the buildings are still exactly as they were all those years ago, and I secretly thought the buildings were more impressive than the art currently held inside them! It's all part of the Biennale which is on at the moment, and hopefully I'll catch some more before September. We were all too exhausted to really appreciate it but the trip on the boat and in the winter sun was good for us.
I've put some more pics on flickr if you want to see more festival fun, and all the venues and some of my colleagues. I didn't catch many films but I'm making up for it now by borrowing screeners. I think the rest of Winter will be spent curled up on the sofa watching festival screeners, drinking lemon and ginger and looking after myself. Hoorah.
As a festival antidote, a gang of us gathered at a house in Coogee and watched a triple bill of 80s classics. We'd spent much of the festival talking about the Luck Dragon and Faldor, so we needed the tonic.
Yes you've guessed it, 80s movie fans, the musical reference of the title is Bowie in Labyrinth.
So that's all for now but I think usual blogging duties shall resume now that I'm not doing crazy 16-hour days. Not only will I have more time to blog, but hopefully I'll also have a life to blog about! Not quite as exciting as Siobhan's jaunt in New Zealand but interesting nonetheless.
Love to you all.
cx
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