Screen Dumps: a brace of steaming torrent turds

Date Night (2010)

Tina Fey and Steve Carell ham it up in this rom com / blundering action flick which features a few easy laughs and an amusing cameo from a topless Mark Wahlberg. I liked Ray Liotta's turn as a mob boss (he seems to be maturing nicely into this role) and William Fichtner (the weaselly van Santz from "Heat" who was despatched so satisfyingly by Bobby De Niro) is always good for a laugh (although the pole-dancing scene near the end was way overdone and one of the films most cringeworthy moments). Both Fey and Carell are deservedly successful on the small screen (I'm a big fan of Fey's "30 Rock"); this effort demonstrates that this is no guarantee of success on the big screen.


Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

It looks like the runaway sucess of last year's "The Hangover" has got the Hollywood clone factory running in overdrive as a series of decreasingly funny "buddy flicks" roll off the conveyor belt. With this one, you can just imagine the cretinous Hollywood agents pitching it to their studio bosses: "it's like Hangover but with sort of a Back To The Future twist.. but, get this, instead of a Delorean, the time machine is a hot tub! And instead of starting in the eighties they're going TO the eighties!"

It's not a terrible film but the returns in this genre are diminishing rather rapidly and I hope the studios take the hint. One thing I did enjoy was Crispin Glover (George "I'm your density" McFly from the original Back To The Future) as the hapless bellhop destined to have his arm severed.

Can I join you Jerry B...?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yxTNIi2g14&feature=related

Awesome funk bass/guitar jam featuring guitarist and producer Nile Rodgers. LOVE that Strat!

"But Beautiful", by Geoff Dyer

But Beautiful: A Book about Jazz by Geoff Dyer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As the title suggests, this is a beautiful, unique little book. It's a great tribute to jazz in both content and form. In content, as it is a series of semi-fictional vignettes taken from the lives of some of the great jazz musicians; and in form, as Dyer takes some (often skeletal) facts and improvises around them, filling in the gaps to craft stories with details as they could have been. The writing style is gritty but tender and has a very authentic feel. I'd highly recommend this to any fan of good music and good writing.

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George Benson @ Sydney Opera House

On Saturday we saw George Benson perform his "Unforgettable Tribute To Nat King Cole" show at the Opera House. It was a masterful performance and a very enjoyable show. It comprised two quite distinct parts: the first two-thirds was Benson singing Nat King Cole classics with a large Count Basie-style jazz orchestra, while the last third (what he called the "Benson Party") saw him break out the guitar and play a selection of his own songs.

The Diamond Age, By Neal Stephenson

The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Brimming with edgy, interesting futurologisms (the nanotechnology ideas are impressive given the book was written in the mid nineties), but as a story it doesn't work very well. Stephenson gets bogged down in fanciful, pointless detail which, combined with the disjointed, perspective-jumping narrative makes it really tough going (I laboured through on this, my third attempt at the book). To be honest, it's been a while since I've struggled as much to keep focused on a book all the way through. The ending seems rushed, leaving many of his (very good) ideas under-explored.

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Nobby & Wayne

Another human-interest story brought to you by Gekko:

I just read that former England and Manchester United midfielder Nobby Stiles has sold some of his 1966 World Cup medals in order to help fund his retirement. Apparently, he had hoped to leave them to his sons but, obviously he needed the cash. The good news is that they were bought at auction by Man United, who paid up almost 200k pounds and will put them on display in the club museum.

I found this kind of touching at first, until I started to put this into perspective. Because only a week ago, I read another story in The Guardian involving another Manchester United and England player and a figure of around 200k pounds. A couple of differences: in that article, the player involved hasn't won a World Cup with England (indeed, he was an instrumental part of possibly the lamest England performance ever in this year's tournament). And the 200k was his new weekly salary.

Hyperion, by Dan Simmons

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

pretty decent sci-fi yarn. the quality of writing is above average (for sci-fi, that is) and there are some interesting ideas.

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