The Hurt Locker (2010)

An excellent, hard-hitting film on the Iraq war. It focuses on the
bomb-disposal unit and the daily life-or-death situations they
encounter attempting to diffuse road-site bombs. It left me feeling,
on the one hand, respect for the American soldiers having to deal with
such treacherous conditions, and on the other, anger at the futility
and wastefulness of the whole enterprise.

Notre univers impitoyable (2008)

Mediocre french romantic drama (is that a genre?), starring Jocelyn Quivrin, the très mignonne Alice Taglioni and old warhorse Thierry Lhermitte (who you might remember as the "méchant" Pierre Brognant from the excellent Dîner de Cons).

On a sad note, it turns out that Quivrin was killed in a car crash in 2009, leaving behind Taglioni, his real-life partner, and young son.

The most interesting thing about the film (apart from the lovely Mlle Taglioni, of course) is that it represents a rare inversion of the relationship we normally see between anglo-saxon and continental european cinema. That is, it takes an interesting, novel idea (in this case the Gwyneth Paltrow flick Sliding Doors), and blatantly rips it off. At least the french are subtle enough not simply to remake the same film (cf. Vanilla Sky): they just took the essential idea, of having two parallel story lines running in two alternate realities which differ in only one decisive "what if" moment. 

The rest of the story that is fleshed out around this premise is fairly banal so I won't go into too many details. Suffice it to say that Quivrin and Taglioni are a yuppie couple working at a some kind of law firm in the La Défense district of Paris. The reality-splitting moment occurs when a senior staff member dies suddenly, leaving a place for a prestigious promotion (to be chosen by the boss Lhermitte). In one reality Quivrin gets the job, in the other it's Taglioni. The two story lines then follow the changes that occur as each one adapts to their new, superior role. As I say, it's rather predictable, run-of-the-mill stuff from there on.

Bottom line: BOF.

Death At A Funeral (2010)

Enjoyed this silly, over-the-top, feel-good comedy with Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan. Good to see some nice old-school funk tunes in the soundtrack.

Archer - Season 1

Have just finished, and enjoyed, the brisk first season (10 episodes @ 20 minutes each) of animated spy-comedy series Archer. Fast-paced and witty, the show is kind of like 30 Rock in a spy agency. Will be checking out Season 2 soon.

merging pdf files on the command line

The following is handy when you need to merge several pdf files in Linux:

gs -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -sOUTPUTFILE=firstANDsecond.pdf -dBATCH first.pdf second.pdf

The inputs are first.pdf, second.pdf (there can be arbitrarily many of these); the output is firstANDsecond.pdf.

Kings of Pastry (2009)

This enjoyable documentary film (which I believe aired on SBS at some point) follows three chefs in their preparations for the competition to confer the status of Meilleur Ouvrier de France ("Best Craftsman in France"). It reminded me in parts of the hugely entertaining "The Kings Of Kong" -- there is the same fanatical dedication, and the same feeling of taking something way past a healthy stage (e.g. when you see a grown man in tears because his giant spun-sugar flower arrangement has come crashing down). Still, you can't help but admire the unadulterated pursuit of excellence in any field, and you genuinely feel sorry for those who don't make it at the end. But you feel more sorry for their wives, who will have to pick up the shattered pieces of their husband's egos, dreams... and sugar sculptures.

Volver (2006)

Quite enjoyed this, my first Pedro Almodovar film. Penelope Cruz is great in this. The only other spanish film I've seen her in is "Open Your Eyes" (better known as the "original" Vanilla Sky); it's nice to see her without the annoying accent and attendant foreigner novelty status that encumber her english-speaking roles.

Carl Sagan on science in America

A cogent, and typically eloquent, point from the great Carl Sagan in Chapter 2 of his "The Demon Haunted World" (written in the mid nineties, it has only become more relevant in the subsequent decade-and-a-half):

[S]cience is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time - when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance. As I write, the number one video cassette rental in America is the movie Dumb and Dumber. Beavis and Butthead remains popular (and influential) with young TV viewers. The plain lesson is that study and learning - not just of science, but of anything - are avoidable, even undesirable.

The Further Adventures Of A Jaded iFan (2011)

This entertaining yarn continues the story of Fanboy, a reluctant but hopelessly addicted user of Apple's iPod range of music players. Followers of the series will recall how the previous episode ended with Fanboy rejoicing at his success in replacing the battery of his aging 1st generation iPod Nano and seemingly poised to enter a renewed and lasting era of music listening prosperity.

Alas, as good (and not so good) sequels tend to do (just think of Alien 3 -- from the "not so good" category), this one begins with the revelation that the idyllic scenario envisaged at the end of the previous installment has not worked out quite as expected. Five months on from the battery replacement, Fanboy is struggling with new and more serious iPod issues: the battery is no longer recharging properly and the screen is intermittently displaying strange "screen of death"-esque diagnostic messages. He is soon forced to confront the grim but inevitable truth: the time has come to stop farting around and just get a new mp3 player already.

And so begins Fanboy's epic quest to choose the optimal player for his needs. He is briefly tempted to consider the "dark side" of non-Apple products (the Sony USB-stick Walkman seems particularly appealing) but in the end he realises his destiny: for overall usability and compatibility with his existing Mac-centric home set-up, he must remain an iPod Fanboy.

In the film's climactic final scene, Fanboy is forced to choose between the new 16GB Nano, whose smaller size and built-in clip makes it suitable for uses previously restricted to the iPod Shuffle (e.g. running, gym). However, still shaken -- and possibly a little wiser -- from his battery problems with the previous Nano, he ultimately chooses the new Shuffle, figuring that the smaller outlay ($56 as opposed to $220) more than makes up for the reduced storage capacity (2GB) and lack of (battery-sapping) LCD touchscreen.

Bottom Line: the new Shuffle is a nice upgrade to the range and a great little mp3 player. The new "voiceover" function allows you to check the name of the current song playing and, crucially, to switch between multiple playlists. My only major criticism is that it is now too small for its own good: the clip is rather awkward to open without inadvertently pressing the buttons. It's a detail, but an annoying one when you consider that the previous version worked perfectly -- why fix something that wasn't broken? But overall, the world is safe and Fanboy is content -- for now....

Darling Harbour Jazz & Blues Festival (June 10-13, 2011)

Thanks to a sustained period of rainy, windy and all-round rubbish weather over most of the weekend (and continuing through the following week as of this writing), this open air event was something of a washout.

I did make it to James Morrison's festival opener at Harbourside (on a floating stage in front of the shopping centre) on Friday night, which featured saxophonist Dale Barlow and guitarist James Muller. Some nice playing, particularly from Barlow and Muller. Morrison was quite entertaining with his easy-going patter between songs -- he's clearly very at home on stage -- and it was impressive to see him playing a range of instruments (trumpet, obviously, but also keyboards, trombone, and even a miniature saxophone). Musically, the highlight was a brisk rendition of bebop standard "Scrapple from the Apple".

I also made a point of checking out The Ron Carter Trio, who played in Tumbalong Park on Saturday evening. Featuring Mulgrew Miller on piano and Russell Malone on guitar, this is a genuinely world class act and their polished performance certainly reflected that. Unfortunately, this style of jazz would have been better suited to a cosy indoor venue rather than outdoors on a cold and intermittently rainy winter's evening.

I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)

Very entertaining, and surprisingly moving, true story about con man Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) and his star-crossed romance with Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). Both actors put in great performances, particularly Carrey: this is probably the best acting I've seen from him, easily on a par with his work in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (a film I also enjoyed a few years back) -- and far more enjoyable than the over-the-top comedy roles that have been the unfortunate mainstay of his career. Well worth a look if you are at all partial to either of these actors.

The Expendables (2010)

Actually quite enjoyed this spoofy homage to the blockbuster action flick, starring Sly Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Jason Statham -- together with a few younger actors whose names I'd probably know if I hadn't grown out of the genre sometime in the early 90s. The action is hilariously over the top and continuously dispensed, while the plot is gloriously cliched: suffice it to say that it involves a rag-tag team of mercenaries covertly hired by the US government to kill a South American dictator (ham-acted by Angel from Dexter) who, together with a sinister ex-CIA (or was it FBI?) agent and his henchmen, is engaged in the usual bad-guy business of trafficking large quantities of white powder.

There are a couple of nice cameos. Mickey Rourke plays an elder leader/father-figure of the "Expendables" who delivers the film's only minute of real acting with a guilt-ridden recollection from his war days. There's also a nice scene with Stallone, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger ("-- what's his problem? -- he wants to be president..").

All in all it's good, light hearted fun. Though I do cringe to learn that a sequel is in the works...

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Starring River Phoenix and a young Keanu Reeves (at the beginning of what would be a lengthy interregnum between his Bill & Ted and Matrix eras), this low-budget arthouse effort follows the lives of two young gay hustlers in the Pacific Northwest. It's not a very happy film, and the plot seems to wander as aimlessly as its two main characters. However, the two leads give convincing, at times quite moving, performances and overall it has a great feel. Look out for a bit part from Chili Peppers bassist Flea.

127 Hours (2010)

Directed by Danny Boyle, this film tells the story of Aron Ralston, the young mountain climber and all-round adventure "dude" who hacked off his own arm after being pinned by a falling boulder while canyoneering all alone in the Utah canyonlands. Given the grim premise and the fact that we know in advance what has to happen ("no, hacking at the rock with your pocket knife won't do any good -- you're just blunting it for later, when you'll need it for something else..."), Boyle did a good job injecting the film with a sense of tension and suspense.

Ralston comes across as the fairly self-centred, single-minded individual that I suspect he would be in real life, but there's no denying the freakish horror of his predicament, and the sheer pluck that was needed to do what he did to survive.

Bottom line: I saw this feature in a list of top movies "you love but wouldn't want to watch again"; I reckon that's fairly accurate.

Black Swan (2010)

What is it with the term "Black Swan"? Ever since pompous finance writer and self-styled "flaneur" Nassim Taleb coined the term in his books "Fooled by Randomness" and "Black Swan", we're hearing it everywhere these days. On CNBC at the moment they're even talking about "Black Swan fatigue". Admittedly, the concept does seem have come into its own in recent times: from the GFC of 2008 to the Japan earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown trifecta earlier this year, we seem to be surrounded by "unknown unknowns": events that were simply outside the framework of everyday expectations. And don't forget global warming --- probably the biggest black swan of all.

That's all very interesting, but it has bugger-all to do with a pretentious hollywood film about a pampered ballerina who goes insane while trying to nail the lead role in a production of the Swan Lake ballet (and simultaneously trying to elude being nailed by the play's director, a gloriously hammy Vincent Cassel). So I guess my first problem with this movie was the shamelessly zeitgeist-tapping misappopriation of the term "Black Swan" for its title.

But it wasn't my last problem. Don't buy into the hype: Natalie Portman writhing in her bed in a delusional state does not an oscar-worthy performance make. This movie, massively over-hyped, is in reality a massive bore. The psychological aspects seem contrived, the controlling mother attempting to live through her daughter is a tired cliche, and the denouement is telegraphed so clearly you can practically hear the morse code being tapped out.

Ghost Writer (2010)

IMO, a somewhat over-rated drama/thriller. The eponymous "ghost-writer", played by an entertaining-as-always Ewan McGregor, is given the task of finishing off the memoirs of former UK prime minister Adam Lang (over-acted by Pierce Brosnan). The previous ghost-writer disappeared under mysterious circumstances is now presumably, well, a ghost. It soon transpires that all is not as it seems, blah blah blah.

Bottom Line: Moderately entertaining -- like a good t.v. movie that you'd tune into on a particularly quiet friday night in.

Sonny Rollins @ Sydney Opera House (June 2, 2011)

Excellent show from the ageing saxophone colossus and a top-notch band. We had amazingly good seats right in the front row -- when he shuffled right to the front of the stage, Rollins was literally only a couple of metres away.

Rollins is truly a living legend of the jazz world -- having been around since the early 50s and played with most of the greats of that era. He's also one of the few survivors and, given that he turns 80 this year, the fact that he's still playing at all is commendable. So to see him playing with such power, imagination, and sheer presence, at this stage is nothing short of inspirational.

One nice touch was when, near the end of the opening song, he seamlessly slipped in the melody to "Santa Claus is coming to town". Now, I may be overthinking it, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was a little nod to the white afro and beard that he sports these days. In a less subtle gesture to the Sydney audience, he offered up a nice rendition of Waltzing Matilda at the end.

The Opera House is slowly growing on me as a venue. It can feel a little sterile, but I like the fact that the band marches on at the allotted time (8pm) and plays a solid, no nonsense show until 10pm. Sure, it would be nice to have an encore, but I'm rather fed up with the formulaic "encores" at most stadium shows anyway (crowd bays for more; band re-appears to play songs that were clearly always going to be in the show; band leaves the stage again; crowd bays, futilely this time, for more; lights come on and everyone knows it's really over). And the view of the harbour when you emerge from the concert is always impressive. The one severe downside remains getting to and from the venue -- it seems doomed to be at least a moderate hassle when travelling by car.

Guitarist Peter Bernstein gave a very interesting guitar masterclass at the Sydney Conservatorium the following day (which, having been tipped off by my instructor there, I was able to attend).