This Is A Day That Will Be Long Remembered

In the immortal words of Lord Vader (SW EP IV: A New Hope) "This is a day that will be long remembered", for it has seen the release of Episode III, the final instalment in the Star Wars saga. I elected not to attend one of those 12:01 am screenings for the die-hards and settled for the more leisurely 3:30 pm session, which ended up pretty full for a weekday matinee. But I still got a good seat in the center back row.

I'm still sort of digesting the film so haven't really drawn any definite conclusions other than it is not as some have said the greatest of the six movies; Empire still sets the standard in that regard. It most resembles Attack of the Clones mostly in terms of sets and a certain feeling of sensory overload. There are just so many battles, chases, explosions, fire, etc that you feel like you are not watching a story so much as a series of CGI scripts. The highlights are as ever the light saber duels, and there are more of them than in the other Star Wars films.

The pacing of the film suffered from a relatively slow first half, which then accelerated a little too quickly in the second half. Fortunately there was a reduction in some of the appalling dialogue reminiscent of EPI & EPII, but there was still some particularly in the Anakin-Padme storyline.

After I got out of the cinemas it was raining and relatively cold. As if in some strange way commemorating this momentous day, there had been a hail/frost storm of such magnitude that the ground along the river bank & particularly in my suburb was covered in so much ice it looked like snow and the carpark in the local shopping centre was flooded too. I think this is probably a fairly rare event for a sub-tropical city. Walking back home I saw dense fog leading up the street which looked eerily like the foggy dark street in the "Exorcist". As I trod on the ice I was surrounded by the strong scent of eucalyptus from the leaves that had been scattered on the road by the hail.

"Downfall" Film Review

I saw the controversial movie "Downfall" yesterday. It is a painstaking depiction of the last chaotic days inside Hitler's bunker as the Nazi state collapsed in April-May 1945. The film impresses with its commitment to detail and realism, having been based on a book by the German historian Joachim Fest and the recollections of Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge (played by Alexandra Maria Lara). The filmakers' efforts in this regard are seen in the fine attention to detail (down to the Nazi ashtrays even) and the nuanced characterisations of the protagonists.

Bruno Lanz's portrayal of Hitler is brilliantly crafted as he displays the different aspects of his character seemlessly. As to be expected there are the violent outbursts and rants of a man filled with hate, and losing his grip on reality, defiantly rejecting the bad news he receives from his Generals. There is however and more controversially the genial Hitler, who shows affection for his dog, and is nice to his secretary & cook. This depiction has been criticised for supposedly lending some degree of sympathy to a man responsible for so many atrocities. This criticism is I think unwarranted, firstly it probably is accurate, people even at the extremes are not perfectly evil or perfectly good 24 hrs a day, and secondly you really don't feel any sympathy or sense of greater identification for Hitler.

The characters in Hitler's inner circle are also fleshed out well. We see a range of personalities including the chillingly fanatical Nazis Dr Goebbels & his wife, the dapper architect Albert Speer, and assorted Generals, and aides. There are some who maintain their belief in Hitler even as all crumbles around them, others who start looking for a way out, and some who continue doggedly fighting a losing battle.

The film is long at 156 minutes, and even though I knew from history what was going to happen (well obviously in terms of the result but also some of the fates of the individuals) it still managed to keep my attention. The first rate performances, excellent production values and cinematography, combined made it well worth watching.

Scrupulousity

Yesterday I checked my mail box at the post office. For the umpteenth time I got the previous person's mail. I've chucked that mail back so many times marked "NOT AT THIS ADDRESS!" but the stupid jerk's bank & credit card statements keep getting sent.

Afterwards I went to the newsagent and bought two newspapers and a magazine (some dog magazine with a Great Dane feature in case anybody is curious), and yeah I shelled out $2 extra for the Star Wars pin that is available if you buy a certain newspaper. I can't believe I'm getting suckered into buying a newspaper that I don't even read (it's a Murdoch/Newscorp paper).

Anyway to the point of this whole post. I took the stuff to the counter, fiddled for the right amount, and the girl says $11.45, which was a little more than I expected but I forgot about the $2 pin. So I handed over a $20 note & a 50 cent coin. In a second afterwards I did a quick mental calculation and determined that the total should have been $12.45. So she ended up giving me too much change. For some reason I was annoyed (probably because of the mail) and was thinking "Last week I had to remind you guys to charge me $9.70 instead of $5.70 for the papers and now I have to do your job for you again. Fuck it I 'm just going to pocket the difference."

But no of course, a short while later I kept thinking, I shouldn't have kept the extra $1, but I was carrying a lot of crap & a roast dinner so it was impractical to go back. So today when I went to buy the papers I paid exact change and gave the girl ( a different one) an extra $1 explaining that I'd been given too much change the previous day. You should have seen the look she gave me. It seemed to say something like "WTF??? Are you nuts???"

An Evening With Diana Krall

About a month ago (yes I'm slow) I attended a Diana Krall concert. It was a pretty full house, perhaps 88-90% full. My silver reserve seat was reasonably positioned facing the stage and a bit more than the length of a basketball court in distance from the stage. It was better than the crappy gold seats that were available.

My overall impression was mixed. She sounded every bit as good as advertised, a wonderful vocal talent & pianist, with a lot of range and good improvisation. I was disappointed I guess in that her performance was relatively short. There was a support act, Mark Scholtes, that went for perhaps 30-35 minutes (guessing as I didn't have a watch) and then there was another 30 min wait for Ms. Krall and her trio which had the natives restless. They got stuck in with gusto performing a few brassy upbeat numbers, and then some of Diana's own recent compositions & some from husband Elvis Costello. In between there were a few pauses as she spoke to the audience (she has an alluring slow, soft, husky voice) recalling a few anecdotes, a joke about Canadian Geese, green bananas etc. After what seemed to be a little over an hour, she said something along the lines of it's been great and I was thinking "What? You're finished already???" She played the last piece. Then there was the obligatory standing O and they left the stage. Then of course the obligatory encore and she returned sans the trio (who were pretty good) to perform one more song.

Perhaps it was just as well it ended rather soon. To be honest I was getting a bit sleepy during some of the numbers, particularly the blues pieces with extended double base sections . Yeah I know, sacrilege! I am a jazz philistine! But on the way out I overheard some guy saying to a friend "gee I was getting a bit sleepy" and his friend goes "yeah that type of music tends to make you a little too relaxed". So I guess I wasn't alone.

Danger@The Street Crossing & Pavlovian Conditioning

The other day I was waiting for the traffic/pedestrian lights before crossing the road. Upon hearing the sound of the pedestrian meter I was about to cross, until I realised it was still red. This has occurred on frequent occasions owing to the association between the pedestrian meter sound & safe passage to walk (because the the sound is emitted when it's green lights for pedestrians). It's analagous to the experiment with Pavlov's dog, he rang a bell whenever it was feeding time & so the dog salivated in anticipation as soon as the bell was rung. Whenever the pedestrian meter sounds I begin to step forward, which can be somewhat hazardous, as often the sound is coming from another meter in close proximity rather than on the actual crossing in front.

Eva Green's Freckles: A Film Review

Yesterday I saw Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" starring messrs Bloom, Irons, Neeson & Eva Green. This film is basically of the historical-action flick genre as popularised by "Gladiator" & "Troy". It boasts copious amounts of melee violence, elaborate sets (filmed on location in Spain & Morrocco) & production values with dramatic visuals of massed horsemen and armies. Oh and close ups of the lovely Eva Green.

The film is set during the 12th century Crusades and depicts a mixture of factual/fictional characters & events; a Christian King (Edward Norton) of Jerusalem who practices tolerance & tries to keep the peace between Christians & Muslims, a blacksmith/knight (Orlando Bloom) who plays the upstanding (& unbelievably self-denying) hero, and a bunch of evil scheming religious fanatics who want to start a holy war (hey it was the Crusades right?). Oh yeah and there's the obligatory love interest, Eva Green as the King's sister.

The plot is fairly predictable, and basically there's a lot of violence although the film does try to communicate the message - tolerance: good, fanatacism: bad. Hence Mademoiselle Green's comment:"It's not like a stupid Hollywood movie". Overall I enjoyed "Kingdom of Heaven" for what it is, a competent, visually impressive, historo- action flick, and umm yeah ... Eva Green's freckles.

The Pity of ANZAC Day

Yeah I know ANZAC Day is on April 25th, but I'm a little tardy here. For any overseas readers - ANZAC stands for Australian & New Zealand Army Corps & ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance/holiday commemorating the efforts and sacrifices of the armed services. In particular the ANZAC myth or legend focuses on the hardships, heroism & efforts of the ANZAC soliders or ANZACs during the Dardanelles Campaign of the First World War, fought on the beaches and hills of Gallipoli, Turkey. Every year thousands of Australians & New Zealanders flock to the shores of Gallipoli to commemorate this day. There are marches of veterans of other conflicts (WWII, Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf Wars) in cities across Australia.

It's good that people remember these sacrifices made during past conflicts. What is bad is that beyond the flag waving, & solemnity, there is virtually no thought, consideration, or reflection as to why these sacrifices were needed in the first place. The original ANZACs at Gallipoli were tough & courageous yes, but why were they invading another sovereign country? Was it actually about freedom, democracy, protecting Australia & NZ or rather allegiance to the British Empire & its geopolitical imperatives vis a vis the central powers, the European Balance of Power & the prevention of German hegemony? Who knows? Moreover it seems, who even cares? There's a scene in Peter Weir's movie, 'Gallipoli' where the ANZACs are asking themselves why they are over there. One of them says something along the lines of "Gee I dunno, some guy shot some Archduke or something."

I remember reading about an old WWII veteran and his granddaughter who attended an ANZAC Day march together back in 2003. The old vet was of the opinion that Australia shouldn't be involved in the war in Iraq on the grounds that it was outside Australia's sphere of interest, we had no beef with Iraq, and it might make matters worse - fair enough, some geopolitical & ethical considerations there whether you agree or disagree. However his granddaughter, though admitting to not understanding the issues supported the decision to send troops based on faith in the Prime Minister. This is the pity of ANZAC Day. All that time waving little flags, not enough time to think issues through & to become informed, but just enough conditioning & blind faith so that whenever the brazen trumpet sounds, there's an almost pavlovian response along the tired lines of "It's our patriotic duty. We've got to fight like the ANZACs did. They did their duty & so must we." If we really do value the sacrifices of the ANZACs don't we owe it to them & ourselves to become better informed about issues surrounding conflicts? Shouldn't we try to learn from the past. Shouldn't we know why we employ force and for what purposes, objectives, and prospects?

There is also another disturbing aspect to ANZAC day of late. In recent years the 'dumbing down' & commercialisation of ANZAC Day has become particularly pronounced. The younger generation have taken to it with a collective gusto. Visiting ANZAC Cove at Gallipoli has become the new must-do pilgrimage almost as obligatory as the extended backpacking holiday to the UK. There were proposals to fly over the singer John Farnham to give a special 'ANZAC Concert', then there is the annual 'ANZAC Day Australian Rules Football game', the other day I saw ANZAC commemorative coins at the Post Office. ANZAC Day is good business ...

Indecision

I was shopping at Kmart last week for amongst other things tea towels. Thereupon I was met with the frequently recurring problem of indecision. I must have spent at least 8 minutes trying to decide which tea towels to purchase. They came in different sizes, colours, patterns, and materials. Should I get the 40 x 50, 45 x 50, 50 x 70, check pattern, dark green, maroon, lightweight, thick, hand wash, or machine wash etc?