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Diary
By TheophileEscargot (Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 08:24:45 AM EST) Reading, Watching, MLP (all tags)
Reading: "Rabbit-proof Fence", "Resurrection Men". Watching: "Planet Terror". Web.

What I'm Reading
Rabbit-proof Fence by Doris Pilkington tells the truth live story of three mixed-race girls, forcibly sent to a care home by the state, who made a long journey in an attempt to get back to their families. Short book, told in an awkward but authentic-sounding style by a younger member of the family.

Pretty good: fascinating story, fairly touching. Doesn't go too far into misery memoir territory; very little wallowing in self-pity.

What I'm Reading 2
Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin is the 13th Rebus novel: this one won a prestigious Silver Dagger. Pretty much deserves it: has a great puzzle-gimmick, and some tense interactions as Rebus tries to investigate dodgy cops while on a remedial course for excessively maverick cops.

Brings back a lot of regular characters though: you'd be better off reading some of the preceding books before starting this one.

What I'm Watching
Saw Planet Terror, Robert Rodriguez' half of the "Grindhouse" double-bill, which was split into two for the UK release. Thought it was good fun: much better than the Quentin Tarantino section Death Proof: while that had a lot of dull setup, Planet Terror whizzes through the setup and goes straight into the action. Starts out as a moderately tense tribute movie, but gradually turns up the absurdity into a full-on action spoof.

Effects are a bit gross, but too absurd to be really frightening. Liked the missing-reel gimmick which skips a lot of dull plot development. Overall, worth a look if you have a sense of humour and a moderately strong stomach.

Web
Global warming technofix: Fleet of ships to spray salt water into atmosphere, thus increasing cloud cover over ocean and reflecting heat into space.

Youtube: Grindhouse trailers. Movie clips count down from 100.

Rosetta probe flies by asteroid.

Origins of classical music concert seriousness. (MeFi).

"Obesity gene" doesn't make you fat if you do loads of exercise.

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- Global warming cloud technofix is a good idea 14%
- Global warming cloud technofix is a bad idea 42%
- - 28%
- Classical music seriousness is good 42%
- Classical music seriousness is bad 28%

Votes: 7
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- Fleet of ships to spray salt water into atmosphere
- Grindhouse trailers
- Movie clips count down from 100.
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It's go go, not cry cry | 34 comments (34 topical, 0 hidden)
Planet Terror by ad hoc (4.00 / 1) #1 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 08:34:07 AM EST
Loved. It.

--
The three things that make a diamond also make a waffle.
Rabbit Proof Fence was a good movie, too by georgeha (4.00 / 2) #2 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 08:34:17 AM EST
if missing the usual amount of modified supercharged deathmobiles I associate with Aussie films.



the automotive carnage in Muriel's Wedding by cam (4.00 / 3) #3 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 08:52:30 AM EST
made the film.


cam 
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic
[ Parent ]
I thought it was better in The Piano, by ambrosen (4.00 / 1) #6 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 10:03:07 AM EST
and in Heavenly Creatures.

[ Parent ]
I thought Heavenly Creatures was Kiwi by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #7 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 10:19:24 AM EST
I can't tell the difference, but some people think it's important.



[ Parent ]
They both were by Greener (4.00 / 1) #8 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 10:23:15 AM EST
I think that's the joke.

While I'm here I might as well give a shout out to The Castle, The Dish, Lantana, Two Hands and Beneath Clouds. Australia has a much better domestic film industry than Canada.

[ Parent ]
Lantana had some funky cars by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #9 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 10:29:49 AM EST
I don't think any were supercharged.



[ Parent ]
Canuck producers by ammoniacal (4.00 / 1) #10 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 11:03:41 AM EST
dump their efforts into television, because the Yanks will lap that shit up.

"To this day that was the most bullshit caesar salad I have every experienced..." - triggerfinger

[ Parent ]
Yeah by Greener (4.00 / 1) #14 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 11:38:50 AM EST
I think one of our main problems is we're overshadowed by the US industry.

Also, Australian films tend to tell Australian stories whereas Canadian films could more often than not be set in Anytown, USA and there's no real sense of national identity. Hell, the two most financially successful Canadian films were My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Porky's and they both took place in the US.

Canadian films also tend to get limited releases and end up mainly on festival circuits or in art houses unlike Australian films. They also make much less domestically than Australian films do back home.

I wouldn't even really consider BSG and Stargate to be Canadian productions. They may be filmed here but with mostly foreign cash and they don't tell Canadian stories. The Matrix was filmed in Sydney and I don't know of anyone who would call that an Australian film.

[ Parent ]
Don't forget Red Green by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #15 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 11:40:53 AM EST
and DeGrassi.



[ Parent ]
The Red Green film was terrible by Greener (4.00 / 1) #16 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 11:50:24 AM EST
Trailer Park Boys was much better.

I was slightly too young to get into DeGrassi when it first aired and am too old for the new version.

Thanks to CBC we do have several really good Canadian TV shows but recently they've been canceling the ones I liked. JPod being the most recent one that comes to mind.

[ Parent ]
Red Green was good by ad hoc (4.00 / 2) #17 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 12:57:15 PM EST
but they should have stopped after the first show. They ran out of jokes after that.

--
The three things that make a diamond also make a waffle.
[ Parent ]
You don't watch Red Green for new jokes by georgeha (4.00 / 2) #21 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 01:18:14 PM EST




[ Parent ]
Give Degrassi another try by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #20 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 01:15:23 PM EST
the icky pedo feeling goes away after a while.



[ Parent ]
As it turns out by Greener (4.00 / 1) #22 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 02:18:13 PM EST
I don't get that channel.

[ Parent ]
Oh no. No, no, no. Your estimate is all WRONG. by ammoniacal (4.00 / 1) #26 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 02:57:20 PM EST
Toaster-fucking is a singularly Canadian phenomenon.

"To this day that was the most bullshit caesar salad I have every experienced..." - triggerfinger

[ Parent ]
I thought that was Uncle-fucking by Greener (4.00 / 1) #27 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 03:27:53 PM EST
Honestly, I have no idea what you're talking about so I'm going to assume it's a BSG reference because I've never actually seen it. All I know is it's filmed about 5 minutes from my sister's old place.

[ Parent ]
ORLY? by ammoniacal (4.00 / 1) #28 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 03:35:46 PM EST
Yes. s/fucking/frakking

"To this day that was the most bullshit caesar salad I have every experienced..." - triggerfinger

[ Parent ]
Kids today... by Phage (4.00 / 2) #29 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 10:33:04 PM EST
That's supercharged and nitrous.
Sheesh.

[ Parent ]
I didn't see it in the comments by sasquatchan (4.00 / 1) #4 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 08:54:59 AM EST
but all the salt such a plan would shoot in to the air, where does it come down ? If back in the ocean, no problem.. If on land, not so good.


Obesity gene by ucblockhead (4.00 / 1) #5 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 09:31:02 AM EST
I'd be really interested to see what other differences are found between people with and without it in populations where 3-4 hours of manual labor is the norm.

I remember reading about a group of Indians that were on both sides of the border between Mexico and the US who were genetically similar and where similar in terms of income, etc., and yet suffered massively from obesity on just the US side.
---
[ucblockhead is] useless and subhuman

I prefer Death Proof by nebbish (4.00 / 1) #11 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 11:15:16 AM EST
I don't really know why, objectively Planet Terror is the better film. Planet Terror was just a bit much somehow. I watch the old 70s films it's a homage to as well, so maybe I'd just seen it all before.

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It's political correctness gone mad!

I think Death Proof by TheophileEscargot (4.00 / 1) #12 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 11:24:14 AM EST
Was less over-the-top, and less of a spoof. Didn't have anything like the monkey bike scene for instance. So you could play along and suspend your disbelief a bit more maybe.

I wonder if it might have been better as part of the original double-bill. I think they extended both movies when they separated them. Must have been harder to pad out Death Proof as there's not that much action in it till the end.
--
It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?

[ Parent ]
Death Proof was wayyyy too long by spacejack (4.00 / 3) #13 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 11:36:59 AM EST
Cut it down to about 45 minutes and it would've been great. But unlike Planet Terror, I was actually immersed in Death Proof's action and tension. With Planet Terror, I was completely detached and got bored fast.


[ Parent ]
Spot on by nebbish (4.00 / 2) #18 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 01:03:22 PM EST
Death Proof was meant to be a lot shorter and was padded-out so it could have a stand-alone release.

It had an unusual two-act structure as well, which I liked. Unlike Planet Terror it felt like it was trying to do something different. I can't think of another film like it. And despite his naysayers, Tarantino is a brilliant director.

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It's political correctness gone mad!

[ Parent ]
It's a strangly divisive topic by spacejack (4.00 / 2) #30 Wed Sep 10, 2008 at 03:14:02 PM EST
Whether you're on the Death Proof side or Planet Terror side.

My theory is that people who preferred Death Proof believe in order, while those who preferred Planet Terror are agents of chaos.

Theo surprises me here.


[ Parent ]
Maybe more by TheophileEscargot (4.00 / 1) #31 Wed Sep 10, 2008 at 07:51:39 PM EST
Minimalist vs. maximalist.

Looked back at my diary on Death Proof and my comment was: "a movie stripped down to bare essentials of car chases and cute girls wiggling around is bound to have a certain appeal."

Not sure where I fall on the alignment thing.
--
It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?

[ Parent ]
So by ucblockhead (4.00 / 1) #32 Thu Sep 11, 2008 at 07:39:21 AM EST
What if you think that Tarantino is an overrated amoral hack, and therefore refuse to see either? True Neutral?
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[ucblockhead is] useless and subhuman
[ Parent ]
Religious fundamentalist by spacejack (2.00 / 0) #33 Fri Sep 12, 2008 at 02:34:22 PM EST
j/k

[ Parent ]
Bah by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #34 Fri Sep 12, 2008 at 03:55:30 PM EST
I think he's an overrated amoral hack on entirely secular grounds.
---
[ucblockhead is] useless and subhuman
[ Parent ]
The other thing with Death Proof by nebbish (4.00 / 1) #19 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 01:09:48 PM EST
The girls

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It's political correctness gone mad!

[ Parent ]
But ... but ... by ad hoc (4.00 / 2) #24 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 02:26:48 PM EST
Cherry Darling

--
The three things that make a diamond also make a waffle.
[ Parent ]
Hubba hubba! by nebbish (4.00 / 1) #25 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 02:33:14 PM EST
But I just loved that New Zealand stuntwoman...

--------
It's political correctness gone mad!

[ Parent ]
That old chesnut.... classical music performances. by Tonatiuh (4.00 / 2) #23 Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 02:23:19 PM EST
It comes as a big surprise to me that classical music concerts are supposed to start at 20:00, I suppose that is an US context (it is the New Yorker after all), but to say there is an unwritten rule about this is in extreme exaggerated.

Here in London times vary widely and we even have "matinees" (strange name for shows starting early in the after noon). In Austria I attended serious concerts that started at 18:00, 19:00 or 20:00, ditto in Germany or Spain.

In Mexico people do applaud between movements if they like something.

As for the format of a concert, the only thing that is as generalized as the article maintains is the reverential attitude towards the performers, The programming likes and dislikes vary widely according to country, region, concert hall and even individual programmers in the same hall.

I smell a bit of US parochialism there, maybe even NY parochialism, they can be a bit irritating those NYers.






It's go go, not cry cry | 34 comments (34 topical, 0 hidden)

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