Cablog

Engaged

Last night I engaged three taxis around town, as a passenger. Each journey was without locality or language issues, so nothing to report there.

This week my girlfriend and I are on holidays and managed to find a sweet movie, re a recent post.

On Monday night we got lucky with Mao's Last Dancer, an entertaining and uplifting account of Li Cunxin's true story. Highly recommended.

And thanks to readers who suggested other suitable films worth watching together, especially one dealing with blogging and romance!

Speaking of romance my son and his delightful girlfriend have just announced their engagement so last night we celebrated with a sumptuous dinner at King Street, Wharf. Many times in the cab I've waited outside the Japanese restaurant, Kobe Jones saying to myself, one night I'm going to have a slap-up meal at that joint. Now I have and can highly recommend the banquet dinner for two, with a selection of matching wines. A fat time was had by all.

And speaking of engagements, here's a sweet photo of my mother in 1943 aged 21, newly engaged and reading a letter from my Dad who was away at war. Awww.

Movies

Movies aren’t really my go having long given up on the pap which modern Hollywood deems entertainment. This is not to say the movie industry never produces decent fare, it’s just that I’m particularly hard to please and these days prefer documentaries. Call me a non-fiction sort of bloke.

Actually, why don’t they make movies like the black and white classics shown after midnight on ABC TV? Whilst I admit to often falling asleep I still love them as they’re generally uplifting, have redemptive storylines and don't mess with your senses.

Recently whilst carrying film critic Michael Idato I inquired of a decent movie to see with my girlfriend. If there’s one pursuit sure to find favour with the better half it's a trip to the movies, and a real bonus is to also enjoy the film.

Michael recommended Inglorious Bastards by Quentin Tarantino. Okay, anything by that joker is a challenge, to say the least, and not what I’d call easy entertainment. Indeed, it took me half a dozen viewings of Pulp Fiction, with English subtitles, to get my head around that crazy flick.

Which brings me to a real annoyance – why don’t filmmakers direct actors to enunciate, or otherwise provide viewers with subtitles? Thank God for Asian pirate copies.

This week I carried Margaret Pomeranz of At the Movies and I asked her to recommend a nice romantic movie that I could see with my girlfriend next week. At first Margaret struggled to suggest something romantic, citing a current dearth of that genre.

Finally she offered, “Well, there’s the latest vampire series, Twilight. It’s not that good but it is romantic.” This really got me laughing and I told her that at my age there was no way I’m going to see a romantic vampire movie. Driving off I wondered if she was just pulling my leg.

However I later learnt that my girlfriend has actually read and enjoyed some of the Twilight books (she's got daughters). Then, as an afterthought, mentioned it’s a chick flick. Pass.

So here’s a question - are there any nice romantic movies currently on show? I don’t want anything that’s too heavy, has a message, is political or violent or crass; or a morbid, moody, low light mumble-fest; or an ear-splitting audio assault...actually, bugger it, I’ve got a better idea.

We’ll go see the stage musical, Mama Mia. Apparently it’s a nice show.

(reference: Margaret reviews the first Twilight flick)

Dark art

Early last night I carried a passenger to the Opera House. When I heard she was going to see PJ Harvey I was jealous as Harvey is currently my favourite female musician. Ironically, to this old fart, she looks and sounds a lot like the original rock goddess, Grace Slick. Here’s a couple of Harvey videos; on piano; an oldie; duet with Nick Cave.

Speaking of dark art, a while ago I was invited to contribute some images of roadside memorials to a documentary project, Resting Places. This is presently up for final judging in the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and reviewed here, with a trailer showing one image at 00:24. Feels kinda neat, actually, given it was taken on my camera/phone.

Now with Tropfest screening this weekend (hit link for past winners) I'm tempted to try a short film shot on the Nokia (example video) for 2009. Just for fun, of course.