With not even a half-hearted attempt at chronological order, here is a
crude dump of my latest and greatest android-tubing:
30 Rock (Seasons 5 and 6): it's probably past its best at this stage,
but it continues to do what it says on the tin. I had no problem
mugging up to 2-3 episodes per0 bus ride.
Hung (Season 1): short-lived HBO comedy/drama about a high school
teacher who, thanks to the GFC and a messy divorce, ends up
moonlighting as a male gigolo. It's mildly entertaining here and
there, but it's awfully contrived and none of the characters are
really engaging, so it's not hard to see why the show didn't last too
long. The opening theme by The Black Keys is probably the highlight
for me.
Control: a well-done biopic portraying the brief and predominantly
unhappy career of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. On the face of it,
there's little to pity, or respect for that matter, about a guy who
ditches his wife and newborn for a french floozy as soon as his band
starts to get a whiff of success, and who returns home to the family
fold only to get drunk and hang himself in the back kitchen. But the
film does a good job of conveying Curtis' depression as a real (and
debilitating) affliction, and invites compassion without going
overboard and heroizing him.
Alien Quadrilogy: I treated myself to a bit of revision here in the
run-up to seeing Prometheus on the big screen (more about that below).
Nothing fundamentally new here, so I'll limit myself to two
observations. (1) Aliens is still, for my money, the apex of the
series: much as the alien is the perfect organism, this is the perfect
action film. And the automatic sentry guns (which, in what can only be
described as a moment of pure cutting-room folly, were edited out of
the original, but can be seen in the "special edition") are simply
awesome. (2) Alien Resurrection is an appalling turd of a film that,
in hindsight, could be said to herald the beginning of the violent and
protacted rape of the franchise that would really get going in earnest
with the farcical "Alien vs. Predator" installments. Of course, the
writing was already on the wall with Alien 3 -- a film that I'll go to
my grave arguing should never have been made and wishing I could
somehow unsee (Hicks and Newt -- dead? Just like that? Why?), but at
least it was a sort-of okay film on its own terms.
Mad Max Trilogy: out of curiosity more than anything else, I decided
to check out these cult favourites (from a happier age in which the
"mad" tag applied to Mel Gibson's movie alter-egos more than
himself..). The first one was actually okay, but the sequels were
pretty silly. The bad guys dressed and acted, for the most part, like
they belonged to a Sydney Mardi Gras stage float that had somehow
taken a wrong turn on the way to George Street and ended up in the
outback. But I did like the elasticated cage fighting in the
Thunderdome.
Inside Job: excellent documentary film exploring the causes of the
GFC. Check out the weaselly squirming of some of the economists who
had (unwisely for them, as it turns out) agreed to be interviewed for
the film.
Margin Call: a fictional story set in an investment bank, loosely
based on the events leading up to the collapse of Lehmann Brothers.
Good performances from a surprisingly strong ensemble cast, including
Kevin Spacey, Simon Baker, Demi Moore and Jeremy Irons. There are a
couple of slightly over-the-top moments (Irons' theatrical boardroom
speech being one of them), but for the most part it rings quite true
and is as authentic a portrayal of investment banking culture as I've
seen.
Cloudstreet: thoroughly enjoyed this charming mini-series adaptation
of the Tim Winton novel.
Stardust: fun little fantasy/fairy tale film based on the book by Neil
Gaiman. Robert De Niro camps it up as a whoopsie pirate captain,
Michelle Pfeiffer plays a witch, and Claire Danes is a star fallen to
earth in human form (with a remarkably good english accent). Look out
for a scene-stealing cameo from Ricky Gervais.
Sweeney Todd: I didn't realise going into this one that it was a
musical, so there was a moment of serious trepidation a few minutes in
when a street urchin, apropos of nothing, burst into song. Despite my
early misgivings, however, I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. Johnny
Depp and Helena Bonham Carter manage to stay on the entertaining side
of quirky (a remarkable achievement, given that it's Tim Burton at the
helm), and Alan Rickman is enjoyable as always.
Anvil! The Story Of Anvil: a fairly interesting documentary film about
Canadian heavy metal also-rans Anvil who, despite promising early
success back at the beginning of the eighties, never quite made the
big time. Now in their fifties, they still haven't abandoned the dream
of breaking through and prepare to risk it all for one last shot. I'm
usually one to root for the million-to-one shot, but here it just
seems a bit sad.
Moon: haunting and thought-provoking little sci-fi flick in the vein
of 2001:A Space Odyssey. I wish more sci-fi films had this ratio of
budget to entertainment value.
Dr Strangelove: early Kubrick film, this is a very entertaining
satirical commentary on cold war madness, much in the mould of Catch 22.
Shame: a brooding film about one man's struggle with sex addiction.
For those of us who still thought of the latter as something faintly
glamorous to be read about in the tabloid media in conjunction with
the likes of Michael Douglas or Dave Grohl --- in short, as something
that applied to those more fortunate than us -- this film gives a
decidely smuttier take. Stars a Patrick Bateman-esque Michael
Fassbender.
Prometheus: this has the dubious distinction of being my first cinema
visit since living in Sydney. My initial reaction was one of general
underwhelmedness (and no, I don't think it's because I saw it in
boring 2D on the non-VMAX screens). But that opinion improved steadily
over the following day or two, and in the end I've come round to
thinking it was actually a pretty reasonable effort. Michael
Fassbender, playing the main non-human character, gives the most
entertaining (and probably the most human) performance.
