Tube Enema!

THX 1138: low key early hard sci-fi effort from George Lucas, which I watched because I just read that it was the inspiration for the Toto song "99". If only Lucas had applied a similarly minimalist approach to dialog in his star wars prequels.

All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace: 3-part BBC documentary on machines, philosophy and politics in the 20th century. There's some good stuff here: I particularly enjoyed the footage of objectivist whack-job Ayn Rand and interviews with some of her acolytes (sadly, her most notorious protege, one Alan Greenspan, declined to be interviewed). As the series progressed, however, it seemed to be lacking a coherent thesis, and in the end was overly fluffed up with sensational claims and dramatic sound-bites.

Looper (2012): look, given that I grew up claiming Back to the Future and Terminator as two of my all-time favourite film franchises, it was always going to be hard for me not to have a soft spot for any film involving time travel (heck, I even enjoyed Hot Tub Time-Machine!).

The History of the Eagles (2013): excellent documentary featuring extensive, unprecedented interviews with all band members. Pretty much essential viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in the ban or classic rock in general.

Killing Them Softly (2012): reasonably entertaining gangster yarn.

The Hobbit (2012): while it wasn't without a certain charm, it left me rather underwhelmed.

Django Unchained (2012): again, underwhelmed. Some brilliant performances (Samuel L. Jackson's in particular) but overall it didn't quite work for me.

Ted (2012): surprisingly funny.

The Wire: Possibly the last great cable tv series that I'll discover retroactively. Took me a long time to get around to watching it, and it took a while to get me hooked, but once it did I couldn't get enough. Quite simply a brilliant piece of work, with some really memorable characters. It's all in the game, yo.

You Can't Do That On AndroidTube

I've been suffering a bad case of blog-stipation, so let me try to squeeze out a very brief précis of my recent Android-Tubing pleasure…

Super 8: nice little retro alien horror flick. Lots of stylistic throwbacks to the kind of flicks children of the 80s grew up loving.

V For Vendetta: finally got around to watching this graphic-novel adaptation. And rather enjoyed it.

Cocoon: filling in a bit of a gap in my 80s repertoire. If you can get over the weirdness of seeing Brian Dennehy transmogrify into an angelic alien, this is quite a touching, yet cautionary, look at what happens when a fountain of youth is discovered.

Spaceballs: another inexplicable blank in the gekko canon. As a hard-core Star Wars aficionado, it's probably just as well I didn't watch this growing up as I may well have resented seeing my beloved franchise mocked so irreverently. Watching it now, as an only slightly-less defensive aficionado, I found it amusing in parts but pretty cheesy.

The Young Ones: inspired by my long-time admiration of his Lord Flasheart character from BlackAdder (Woof!), I decided to check out Rik Mayall's breakthrough comedy which was co-written by Ben Elton. Has its moments, but hasn't held up anywhere near as well as Blackadder.

Bottom: Rik Mayall's follow-up to The Young Ones, also featuring his comedic cohort Ade Edmondson (Viv from the Young Ones). Pretty forgettable fare; it went for 3 seasons but really wasn't good for it.

Searching For Bobby Fischer: a slightly Hallmark-esque drama about a father and his chess-prodigy son, based on a true story. Lawrence Fishburne has an amusing, though implausible, turn as a street-smart chess hustler.

The Killing (Forbrydelsen): excellent crime thriller t.v. series from Denmark. Blends some of the real-time urgency of the 24 series (in that each episode corresponds to a day), with a dash of Se7en thrown in. Each season (there are 3) deals with a single murder and its implications for a range of unrelated characters.

To Catch A Killer: we had a bit of a Brian Dennehy thing happening, so we went with it. This is a surprisingly good made-for-tv crime drama from the early 90s, based on the appallingly true story of serial killer John Gacy, played chillingly by Dennehy.

The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes: I was rather disappointed with this attempted reboot/coda of the Apes franchise. The plot unfolded like a join-the-dots attempt to take us from present-day earth to a planet populated by super-intelligent apes.

The Bourne Legacy: speaking of franchises, I actually really enjoyed this addendum to the Bourne, um, legacy. I liked Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker, and I like him again here.

Men Of A Certain Age: probably the highlight of this installment of AndroidTube. By turns funny and serious, the show is about three middle-aged blokes in LA, who are buddies since high school and all going through some sort of mid-life crisis. The big 5-0 may be a ways off for me, but I really related to some of the issues faced by the characters, as they come to terms with where they're at in life, what they've accomplished versus what they had hoped to, etc.

Abandoned: a special dishonourable shout-out to Bad Santa (what was Billy Bob playing at?), and the catastrophic Rock Of Ages.

The Great Wall + Haffertee the Hamster

One of my favourite internet-based time-wasting activities is tracking down childhood books/toys/tv shows etc. I'm continually amazed both by how much of this often obscure material has found its way online and by how, for want of a better word, crap most of it is when I do track it down. (Transformers cartoon series anyone?) But occasionally, I do glean some insight into the true nature of something to which I had been oblivious when I originally encountered it.

Case in point: I was recently looking up a few children's books (with a view to perhaps revisiting them with Gekko Jr at some point). And what I found were two cases of what had seemed like wholesome, innocent stories that are in fact thinly-veiled propaganda materials.


1. "Haffertee Finds A Place Of His Own", by Janet Perkins. I vaguely remembered this as a nice yarn about a hamster who lives in the house of a nice family and makes himself a cosy little living space somewhere (in a shoebox was it?). So imagine my reaction upon finding this on Amazon:

Part of the "Haffertee" series, this is another story about a lovable soft-toy hamster and his friends. As children read the books, they will also learn more about Haffertee's best friend - God - and his care and interest in all aspects of everyone's lives.

Hmmm. Well, I guess on second thoughts nostalgia can go hang: suffice it to say that, loveable as he may be, Mr Haffertee won't be bedding down in the Gekko residence any time soon.


2. "The Great Wall", by Paul White. In this case I admit I already had a fairly strong suspicion that the story had some kind of religious undertones. (After all, the book was a gift from a great uncle who had a tendency to ply my brother and I with god-fearing reading materials: a children's bible and storybooks of parables such as "The Good Samaritan" --- which against I very much enjoyed -- were among his other offerings.)

Anyhow, I am unable to track down the original edition (a lavishly illustrated A4-sized paperback in landscape format), but I did find the text. As you can see, it starts off as an intriguing tale about some unusually loquacious jungle animals, but it gradually turns into something much more sinister:

In an African hospital the story is told of THE GREAT WALL. All the animals were very upset for suddenly this great wall had appeared right through the middle of the jungle. Elephant said, "what can we do?" All the rest of the animals chattered, "We MUST do something about this wall. It is very serious. How can we get to the other side?" Giraffe said, "The Great Wall is very high and as far as I can see it is very thick." Lion roared, "And the best parts of the jungle are on the other side!" Monkey jumped up and down, "We must get through. This side of the wall is desert. It's dry and dusty and dull." "Stop the talk, " snorted Rhino, "Stand back! I will charge through it." And he thundered away towards the wall with the animals cheering him on. BANG!!! The awful wall nearly knocked poor Rhino out and made his face and head bleed! Then Elephant had a go. He tried to push through the Great Wall. He pushed and pushed, and heaved and heaved. But had to admit at the end, "there is no way THROUGH that Wall."

Hyena laughed his spooky giggle. "For animals of great strength and small cunning there is no way through that Great Wall, But... we hyenas are smart and crafty. I will find a way AROUND that Wall." So he walked and walked, all day, all night. Another day and another night. And then the waiting animals saw Hyena coming back at last. They yelled, "tell us quickly what you found." Hyena gasped, "It is no use at all. There is no way around, the Great Wall goes on and on and on! There is no way AROUND!"
Then Snake hissed, "Enough of this! Sssssso you think you are clever and strong, but I am a ssslitherer. I will slither and ssssslide UNDER the Great Wall." Off Snake went, he twisted, wiggled, and squirmed. He disappeared for a long while, and then he came back up. "At last I have found a way under the Wall, " he said. "Pardon me, " said Giraffe, "you are still on the same side, snake!" "What, " hissed snake, "I have travelled many dark ways underground. No animal could have done as much. If there was a way UNDER the Wall I would have found it. There is no way under!"

No way THROUGH. No way AROUND. No way UNDER.
Then monkey yelled, "Look at me, look at me. I can climb anything. I will find a way OVER the Great Wall. Stand back - here I come!" And monkey yelled a giant "WOOOOP!!" and ran toward that wall. He leap on it and climbed and climbed and climbed. Down he fell at last with a crash. Then he got Giraffe to stand close to the wall. And monkey got a good start by climbing first up Giraffe's long, long neck. Monkey climbed and climbed, he tried so hard. Then he fell, and tumbled down with an awful "bump!" Elephant found him at the bottom of the wall knocked right out! He had to blow air into Monkeys' mouth with his trunk to get him to "come to" again. All the animals agreed, "there is no way OVER the Great Wall."
NO way THROUGH. No way AROUND. No way UNDER. No way OVER.

The Great Wall has a name which can be seen by those who understand. The wall is called SIN. People try all sorts of ways to get past the Wall made by their own sin. They try to get THROUGH, and AROUND, and UNDER and OVER Sin. But there is no way we can get past Sin by ourselves. Listen to what God's book, the Bible, says, "Your sin has come between you and your God." But Jesus has broken down that Wall. There is a Doorway in the Wall, and it is in the shape of a Mighty Cross! So that anyone who wants to have nothing to do with sin, who wants to come to God, can. When they come to the Great Wall they just walk through the Cross -Door. Why? Because of what Jesus has done. He shed His Blood for the Sin of the world. Here is what the Lord Jesus says to you and me: "I am the Way ... come to Me."

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." ( John 14:6).

Crikey, that's pretty heavy stuff to lay on an innocent child; in fact, I'd go so far as to describe it as a load of sadistic bollocks. The tragedy is that it starts off so promisingly --- if only we could read about how the animals then sat down together and somehow contrived a solution to the "wall" problem as a team (don't ask me how -- maybe they invent dynamite or something). Now that just might be a story with a worthwhile message.

The Devil and Simon Flagg

I originally came across this delightful short story in a mathematical text on Fermat's Last Theorem (I've forgotten its name, but suffice it to say I probably wasn't reading it in any depth). It says more about academics than it does about the Devil.

The Hunger Games

"Welcome to the 74th annual...... Battle Royale!!!... er... Running Man!?! Um, no that's not right is it... oh yes: Hunger Games!!!"

Regular interim-ites will recognize (and forgive, I trust) the pathetic but all-too-regular urge that I feel to tap into the zeitgeist and get jiggy with it that recently led me to read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (and watch the 2012 movie adaptation in fairly short order).

I actually quite enjoyed the book (which has the distinction of being my first fictional ebook read on the iPad) -- and I can imagine I would have enjoyed it all the more when I was a member of the "young adult" demographic which is its intended readership. Back then I probably would have eagerly gobbled up the remaining two volumes of the trilogy too, but in staid adulthood I find my curiosity sated by the first.

I found the film, on the other hand, to be a bit so-so and by-the-numbers. It was a reasonable effort, but it all seemed a bit rushed.

Of course, as you'll have noticed from my opening gambit, I drew the obvious parallels to the japanese gore flick Battle Royale -- which I watched just last year and rather enjoyed -- and the classic Arnie action movie The Running Man (1987), which was a childhood favourite of mine.

I decided to re-watch The Running Man and was pleasantly surprised to find that it still holds up quite well. The dialogue is pure cheese (it's Arnie in his heyday, after all) but it can be appreciated in a mildly tongue-in-cheek. The line "Hey, Christmas Tree!" is one of my all-time favourites, and he even manages to squeeze in an "I'll be back!". Also amusing to note that Mick Fleetwood and Dweezil Zappa have cameo roles as resistance freedom fighter types (what's up with that???).

Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning AndroidTube

life on mars

really enjoyed this series -- bbc at it's finest. john simms is sam tyler, the cop from 2006 who crashes his car and wakes up in 1973. Is he mad? Or in a coma? Or back in time? Take my advice: it's well worth
a watch to find out. The soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission.

ashes to ashes

follow-up series to "life on mars", featuring the foxy Keeley Hawes as DI alex drake, who takes a leaf out of the sam tyler playbook, taking a bullet to the head and waking up in 1981. Philip Glenister is back as "The Guv'", aka DCI Gene Hunt, who gives us the glorious catch phrase "fire up the quattro". Overall it's a fun and worthwhile return to the "life on mars" universe, but it's not quite as good as that
first series. It probably should have stuck to two seasons instead of stretching out to three.

broken embraces (2009)

another one from the cruz/almovodar canon. not bad, but not essential viewing.

the rules of attraction (2002)

film adaptation of the bret easton ellis novel. populated with characters that are as contemptible as they are uninteresting, this leaves one with the impression that Ellis is a tired one-trick pony.

priscilla queen of the desert (1994)

hugo weaving, guy pearce and terence stamp explore their inner queen in this iconic aussie flick.

the town (2010)

yawnarama bank robber flick directed by and starring ben affleck. you've seen it all before and better done.

eric clapton & friends (1986)

captivating performance by slowhand from the height of his eighties pastel era. features phil collins on skins, who delivers a stirring rendition of "in the air tonight".

get thrashed! (2008)

documentary film on the origins of thrash metal. features some interesting early footage and interviews with key players -- including a classic snippet where dave mustaine humbly acknowledges that he is
directly or indirectly responsible for the success of all the top thrash bands (having co-founded Metallica and Megadeth, he does have a point, but still...).

You Are What You AndroidTube

You know the drill:

Food, Inc.: Excellent, troubling documentary film which shines a light on modern-day food production in the US (and the role of large corporations therein). It's all-too similar to the problems we see in the finance industry: large corporations with deep pockets, armies of lawyers and lobbyists and, above all, a relentless, insatiable drive to increase profits at the expense of any other consideration. In both cases, the increase in "efficiency" comes at the cost of an increase in systemic fragility and, subsequently, a heightened risk of large shocks. In the finance world these take the form of ever-larger boom-bust cycles; in the food industry we see outbreaks of food poisoning and new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria evolving in the petri dishes of modern CAFOs.

It is all, quite literally, sickening and guaranteed to provide some (excuse the pun) food for thought next time you're in the supermarket. As for me, to paraphrase an Uruk-hai from The Two Towers: "look's like (non-organic) meat's back off the menu!".

True Grit: exquisitely shot, but fairly slow, western that will probably only appeal to purists of the genre (for the rest of us, suffice it to say it's no Tombstone!). Featuring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin.

Casino Jack and the United States of Money: documentary film about disgraced lobbyist and all-round shyster Jack Abramoff who screwed over everyone from sweatshop workers in the Mariana Islands to Native American Indian casino owners while peddling his connections to top-level US politicans. If you have any lingering doubts on whether the US political system is rotten all the way to the top, then watch this and be disabused. Warning: this film may leave you feeling so dirty that you need to take a shower immediately after viewing.

Invictus: tells the story of South Africa's rugby world cup win soon after the end of apartheid -- if it wasn't based on a true story you'd think it was way too much of a fairy tale ending. It's a reasonable film but doesn't quite work for me. Morgan Freeman is not bad as Nelson Mandela, but it's hard to nail such a larger than life figure. And not to belittle Matt Damon's performance as the Springboks captain, but it would be nice to see a genuine South African in the role (imagine how Aussies would react to an American playing the role of Don Bradman?).

Animal Kingdom: gritty family crime drama set in Melbourne and featuring a smattering of well-known Aussie acting talent (notably Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, and Jacki Weaver). Reminiscent of Underbelly or a darker version of Two Hands.

Warrior: excellent film featuring Australia's own Joel Edgerton. Equal parts "The Wrestler" and "The Fighter", with a liberal sprinkling of Rocky, set in the brutal context of mixed martial arts cage-fighting. A measure of how much I was enjoying watching this on the bus  last night is that I sailed, completely oblivious, right past my stop and on for about another kilometer or so before noticing.