Short Reviews #48
The Lovely Bones (2009)
Spoiler Warning: If you haven’t read the book or seen the trailer, you are best to avoid reading below.
Fans of the book will no doubt be disappointed with Peter Jackson’s interpretation of Alice Sebold critically-acclaimed 2002 The Lovely Bones. He modifies a number of elements, removes various plots and chooses to ignore any mention of rape and dismemberment with the victims. That said, do those things need to be explicitly portrayed on screen? I don’t think so. Also, any filmmaker that has to realize the afterlife is always going to fight an uphill battle. For the most part, The Lovely Bones is all over the place. It’s terribly uneven at times, with performances ranging from the very good (Saoirse Ronan as Suzie Salmon and Stanley Tucci as George Harvey) to the very mediocre (Mark Wahlberg). If you are expecting a drama handled with the care and execution of say Jackson’s earlier work Heavenly Creatures, you will be disappointed. Some of the scenes feel overly clumsy where as others feel rather profound. Jackson’s realization of the afterlife is probably as good as can be expected from the viewpoint of a 14 year old girl (something that many reviewers had issues with and I think Jackson did a pretty good job in relation to the character). In the end however, the film never finds a constant footing and you can’t help but feel let down. Brian Eno did the score though and it’s amazing.
Zombieland (2009)
I wished I saw this in 2009 because it would have ranked in my Top 10 of the year for sure. Zombieland revels in that perfect cocktail of extreme, zombie madness and comedy. Edgar Wright did it back in 2004 with Shaun of the Dead and now Ruben Fleischer has done it, albeit with a definite American twang. What makes this work so well is the chemistry of the four cast members: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. They all seem to gel perfectly on screen. The script is also hilarious and kudos to first-time feature director Fleischer for knowing exactly what it takes to make a damn fun zombie movie. One minor quibble would be the scope as it feels quite restrained. I’m sure in the sequel they will open up the geography. And if zombies and comedy aren’t your thing (shame on you!) at least you can admire the excellent typography work in the film and the greatest cameo I have seen in a very long time (Don’t ruin the surprise if you don’t know who it is).
The Invention of Lying (2009)
The Invention of Lying suffers the same fate as The Lovely Bones: it’s all over the place. This is particularly unfortunate since Ricky Gervais co-wrote and co-directed this star vehicle. It’s no shock to anyone reading this that I’m a huge Gervais fan so it saddens the inner critic in me. The central premise of a man, who lives in a world where nobody can lie and one day discovers that he can, seems intriguing and has potential for comedy gold. However after a while, that premise wears thin. Gervais (a well-known atheist) certainly won’t make the religious crowds happy and you have to give him credit for portraying an alternative point of view about the world in a mainstream, Hollywood production. But leaving that aspect aside, the film goes from romantic-comedy, to drama, to deeper themes, back to comedy, etc… and as a whole, felt uneven. He rounded up a stellar comedy cast though including Jeffrey Tambor, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill and Jennifer Garner (who was actually very good). I’m looking forward to Cementry Junction which is written and directed by Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Merchant’s input will hopefully compliment Gervais’s style more.
Samson and Delilah (2009)
I watched this incredible Australia film after all the hype had died down. After it won the Golden Camera award at Cannes and the AFI for Best Film. I’m glad I did because any preconceived notions about the film were removed and I sat back, consuming all that was delivered. In a society where it’s incredibly difficult to define what exactly is ‘Australian’, Warwick Thornton’s Samson and Delilah is a film every Australian (and native) should see. It casts an eye over the Aboriginal youth community in modern Australia in such a frank and realistic fashion that there are no words needed to describe it. There are only a few words spoken in the film and that’s all that is essential. The performances from newcomers Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson as Samson and Delilah respectively, are phenomenal and achingly real. It saddens me when people tell me they didn’t like the film because it was “too slow” or “the characters weren’t likable”. Great films inspire reactions inside us, occasionally make us question the larger things in life and this is one of those films. In fact, I’d love to see this shown in every classroom across the country.
St Elmo’s Fire (1985)
Okay well this film is pretty bad BUT in terms of 80’s style, this is a classic. It’s a slightly older version of a teen John Hughes movie except it was a Joel Schumacher film. Schumacher was the go-to director for when the John Hughes generation reached their twenties. He wasn’t quite as successful with his scripts but there is something to admire about the comrade of the cast. Looking back on the film now, sure it’s aged and Rob Lowe still cracks me up making love with his saxophone but you can’t deny there’s a chemistry between the cast that works. Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham, Andie MacDowell and Rob Lowe. These were the Brat Pack and the biggest young cast back in the day and surely this was hugely influential for the creators of the TV series Friends. And yes believe it or not but they are making a TV series based on this film to capture the Friends market. Why am I not surprised? Side note: Emilio Estevez’s character Kirby probably should have been locked up at the end because I’m pretty sure that what he does constitutes ‘crazy stalker’ many, many, many times.
Grizzly Bear @ The Corner
Photo by Tom Hines. Official Press Shot
Grizzly Bear played their second gig at The Corner last night and if I had to sum up the experience in two words it would be “lush harmonies”. The Brooklyn boys sync perfectly not only in vocals but instrumentally too. You seriously cannot faulter any of their abilities as musicians. This was 2010 indie music at its very best and a great way to start the gigging year. My highlights were Colorado, Two Weeks and Foreground but I don’t think any fan left unhappy. The setlist was slightly different to the first nights show.
SETLIST:
- Southern Point
- Cheerleader
- Lullabye
- Knife Play
- Deep Blue Sea
- Fine For Now
- Two Weeks
- Colorado
- Shift
- Ready, Able
- I Live With You
- Foreground
- While You Wait For The Others
- On A Neck, On A Spit
- Fix It
Encore:
Top 5’s of 2009
Let me start off by saying that “No” I’m not going to post my ‘Top anything’ for the decade. Entirely too hard. I am writing a best TV of the noughties though :)
Anyway, let’s go already!
- See Top 5’s of 2008.
- See Top 5’s of 2007.
- See Top 5’s of 2006.
Top 5 Albums
1. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
Following the critical acclaim of 2006’s ‘Fur and Gold’, Bat for Lashes reach pitch perfect with ‘Two Suns’. This is a gorgeous record, sounding like it would be the soundtrack to a dark winter wonderland in a snow covered forest, full of tall pine trees and wolves howling at the moon. Natasha Khan’s stunning vocals guide you on this journey of perfection. The single ‘Daniel’ is also one the year’s best.
2. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Like Fleet Foxes last year, 2009 was Grizzly’s Bear’s. ‘Veckatimest’ has been in many Top 5-10’s and there is certainly an undeniable elegance to their indie sounds. The single ‘Two Weeks’ is a great track, full of lush vocal harmonies but the record as a whole is a great listen. They also appeared on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack with the excellent track ‘Slow Life’ which no doubt garnered them a whole new legion of fans (although fans you’d want?). Catching them in early January. Should be great!
3. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
It was only last year that the instrumental, experimental beats of Fuck Buttons gave us the brilliant ‘Street Horrrsing’. Now they give us this excellent mindfuck that is ‘Tarot Sport’. There are shades of the mighty Tangerine Dream record ‘Phaedra’ in there too. This is EXCELLENT music to design to, especially when you need something to bring you home on that final stretch of a crazy all-nighter project. I imagine it would also be amazing to drop acid with. I cannot get enough of the tracks ‘Surf Solar’ and ‘Olympians’.
4. Passion Pit – Manners
It all started when Michael Angelakos wrote a few songs for his girlfriend in 2007 and now his band is an international sensation. It was ‘Chuck of Change’ that first got my attention but I’ve grown to admire Passion Pit the more I listen to ‘Manners’. We all fell in love with the track ‘Sleepyhead’ but when the children starting singing on ‘The Reeling’ it was completely freaking awesome. The band will be here for the BDO 2010 and I can’t wait to catch them.
5. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
I don’t think there’s another band in 2009 where you feel like kicking up your shoes than Mumford & Sons. When I first heard the title track kick in with the banjo, I just had to dance – boot scootin’ style of course. It was the track ‘Little Lion Man’ that got aaaaaaalllll the attention though with the lines “I really fucked it up this time. Didn’t I my dear!” I even heard the song on commercial radio! (a shame because (a) what was I doing listening to commercial radio and (b) now drunk CUBs are going to sing this at the top of their lungs at their favourite pub/bar).
Other Notables: Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Silversun Pickups – Swoon, Lonely Island – Incredibad, Decemberists – Hazards of Love, Whitley – Go Forth, Find Mammoth, Volcano Choir – Unmap, Throw Me the Statue – Creaturesque, Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer, Metric – Fantasies, Fever Ray – Fever Ray, Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion.
Biggest Disappointments: Editors – In This Light And On This Evening (not a good change of tune), The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die (I like your old stuff better than your new stuff), Doves – Kingdom of Rust (Title track is great but I didn’t warm to the rest of the album).
Most Overrated: Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs – It’s Blitz.
Top 5 Films
Note: All films were released in Australia during 2009.
It’s been a fantastic year for films with some of the best examples of storytelling that has ever been.
1. Up
Easily the year’s best film as this is cinematic storytelling at its very finest. Pixar’s motto has always been “story first” and they continue to nail that aspect of filmmaking. Then again, they also managed to make me sob like a small child within the opening twenty minutes of the film. Is this nominated in the ‘Best Picture’ category at the Oscars yet? Arguably Pixar’s best film (everyone has a favourite and this is probably mine although I do have an abundance of love for Wall-E).
2. Avatar
For sheer “Holy shit that is fucking amazing!” factor, Avatar makes it into number two spot on my list for the year. So much was riding on the success of Cameron’s comeback film and so many people wanted him to fail or were thrown off by the trailers. But come release date, the critics were silenced like ‘that’ and he delivered a visual spectacle unlike anything we’d ever seen and did it in the best Hollywood fashion there is – big and bold. And it’s still breaking box-office records. The good news is that Cameron won’t take another 12 year hiatus from filmmaking. The bad – how’s he going to top this?
3. Moon
Everytime I hear Clint Mansell’s perfect score to this film, it takes me back to Sam and GERTY and their isolation on the moon. I’m glad Sam Rockwell finally gets a role he can really call his own because I can’t imagine anyone else as the lead. Everything I love about cinema is contained in every frame of this movie. It’s also an incredibly moving experience. See it if you haven’t already!
4. Samson and Delilah
Sometimes I feel like I don’t cover enough Australian artists on this site – music and otherwise. It’s not that we don’t create amazing art and pop-culture; it’s just there is a world outside our walls which constantly surprises and moves me. However Warwick Thorton’s Samson and Delilah is one of the best Australian movies I’ve EVER seen. It’s incredibly well directed, acted and brings a very serious issue to the forefront without ever jumping to cliché or manipulation. There is next to no dialogue in the film and when I hear some people didn’t like the film, it saddens me. If this film doesn’t flaw you, you don’t have soul. This should also be required viewing in all Australian schools.
5. (500) Days of Summer
Probably the best indie-romcom-that-isn’t-a-romcom. What makes this work so well is the leads – Gordon-Levitt embodies the character perfectly and Zooey oozes the ultimate indie pixie-girl factor to the nth degree. It could have easily been the most annoying film of the year with the indie soundtrack, the vintage clothes but it manages to hit all the right notes when it comes to falling in love in your twenties with someone who isn’t in love with you. Oh and you also happen to love indie music. Gordon-Levitt loved doing the dance sequence in the film so much he gave the SNL audience a knock-out opening performance (unfortunately NBC have removed the video from freaking everywhere!).
Just Missed: The Hurt Locker (would be number 5 but it’s not released officially yet), Let The Right One In, Inglourious Basterds, District 9, Paranormal Activity, Frost/Nixon, The Hangover, The Wrestler, Doubt and Star Trek.
Also I haven’t seen Synecdoche New York, A Serious Man, Bright Star, Up in the Air, Ponyo, or Fantastic Mr Fox. Shame on me I know.
Biggest Disappointments: Terminator Salvation – Disappointment only if you feel like a beloved entity gets raped by a shlockmeister who doesn’t know how to handle the material. McG just isn’t the man for this series – he had the right technical crew with him but completely bypassed any of the emotional elements or likable characters that James Cameron is typically so good at nailing. Not really a disappointment if you knew McG would fuck this up. Knowing – Roger Ebert put this in his Top 10 films. Ebert should lay off the meth. Yet another Nicolas Cage snoozefest.
Most Overrated: Antichrist. You either go with and accept that Von Trier has made his masterpiece or delve into this wanky piece of self-obsessed tedium. Clearly I felt the latter and that opening sequence whilst looks amazing, could have been done by any commercial film director doing a fragrance ad except Von Trier throws in a hardcore porn insert.
Worst Film: Halloween II. Worst film of the year, worst film of the decade. Nice one Rob! (read review)
Best Film Podcast: Slashfilm. Dave Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley deliver this weekly podcast in the best way possible – totally geeking out on film and TV with a good sense of humour and fun. They talk about what they’ve been watching recently first and then typically review a film or two afterwards. They also post an ‘after dark’ podcast which is just film ramblings that can be just as much fun as the first podcast. My favourite is Number 56 where they talk about movie food. The hosts also have extremely good taste for the most part and dissect films intelligently. If you love film, the slashfilm podcasts are must-listens every week.
Top 5 Gigs
Nothing can top last year’s best year ever for live music but there were some great moments this year.
1. Fleet Foxes (2nd Jan, Prince Bandroom)
2. Bon Iver (19th Jan, Forum)
3. Frightened Rabbit (9th Jan, Northcote Social Club)
4. Phoenix (3rd Aug, Palace Theatre)
5. Josh Pyke (29th Oct, Palace Theatre)
Had tickets to but couldn’t make it dammit!: Metric, Mogwai, Black Mountain.
Note: Sorry no photos from the above shows since I didn’t take my camera along to any and I got in trouble for posting a live photo on the blog (which makes no money) which I credited the photographer for. Granted I didn’t ask them first which you should all do kiddies but let’s face it, I was excited about the show and wanted to post a shot.
Top 5 Watched TV Shows
AMAZING year of TV this year. I’m going to cheat somewhat though since I’m going to list Top 5 shows I watched this year, not necessarily FROM this year. I know I suck. Sue me.
1. Six Feet Under (entire series)
This was my year to watch this life-changing series that will forever be with me for the rest of my days. So many moments in this show are classics but that finale was the absolute perfect way to end the series. You know those lists of “100 things you should do before you die”, one of them is to watch the entire series right away.
2. Breaking Bad (seasons 1 and 2)
My favourite and best show of 2009 period. Who hasn’t wanted to start their own meth lab to help support the family? Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul are TV’s best couple if you ask me. “Wait.. Wait.. Are you building a robot?”. Ahhahahah just watch this already.
3. Eastbound & Down (season 1)
Danny McBride finally has material that only he can completely own and Kenny Powers is one of the year’s most hilarious characters. So many great lines and moments. Easily Jody Hill’s best work. Can’t wait for season 2. Buy now. You won’t be disappointed.
4. Dexter (season 4)
After a slightly disappointing third season, Dexter hits back hard with this excellent season due to the exceptional performance from John Lithgow as the Trinity killer. Jennifer Carpenter and Michael C Hall also excel but it’s the season finale that shocks the most. Season 5 will be a change but kudos to the writers for having balls.
5. True Blood (season 1 and 2)
Whilst season one was all about establishing the characters and settings, season two expanded the Alan Ball vampire universe with some interesting characters and developments. Although season two was a little uneven and the finale slightly anti-climactic, it was still my favourite of the two. Season 3 apparently brings in the werewolf factor (thanks Twilight!). Lyns and I threw a True Blood Halloween themed party this year too, complete with plenty of V.
Other Notables: Lost (Season 5) – If you’ve stayed with this show throughout the great and the slightly less great, most likely on DVD, then season 5 was another stunner and the whole time travel mechanism was a perfect shift the show needed. CANNOT WAIT for the final season starting in Feb! Californication (season 3) – Duchovny is so perfect as Hank and Susan Sarandon’s daughter shows off more than just acting talent. Curb Your Enthusiasm final season – I’m not quite sure the Seinfeld reunion was as good as it could have been but that second last episode addressing the Michael Richard’s racist tirade was fucking side-splittingly hilarious. SNL Digital Shorts – The Lonely Island videos are all excellent. They really need to release a DVD with everything they have done up until the end of 2009.
Slight Disappointing: Flight of the Conchords (season 2). After a stellar first season, the New Zealand boys have their work cut out for them after they used 90% of their material for season 1. Season 2 wasn’t bad it just wasn’t as great as the first. Still the Michel Gondry directed episode featuring – ‘Too Many Dicks on the Dancefloor’ was a highlight.
Top 5 Personal Flickr Favourites
2009 was a year when I removed myself from band photography due to the countless gigs I shot for years for no money at all. You spend so much time shooting for various publications which make buck loads of cash and you get nothing in return. When people say “but you do it for the love”, that’s true but “love” doesn’t pay the bills when you reach thirty.
1. 
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4. 
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Top 5 Moments
1. 1 Year Wedding Anniversary
Lyns and I clocked the one year anniversary in style. It was an amazing day. They say the 1st year of marriage can be the hardest but we must have beat the odds.
2. My 30th
I got old but at least I celebrated with my bestest of friends despite nasty bushfires raging throughout Victoria. It was a conflicting night. Turning 30 certainly puts many things into perspective.
3. James Sann Photography
I launched my photography business this year and I feel like I’ve grown as a photographer this year in particular. Shooting weddings is much harder and more creative than I ever imagined. I remember when I was younger that shooting weddings seemed so pedestrian but I can now say with absolutely certainty, not anyone can do it. I love continuing to refine my skills though and new gear and techniques certainly help too. Plenty of great clients in 2010 too!
4. Meeting new people
I met some truly amazing people this year and gained new friendships which I am very fortunate enough to discover. They say it’s harder to find friends the older you get but if you are open to it and not a complete knobhead, it’s really not that hard. Australian’s are a friendly mob.
5. Seeing Avatar
I had to tack this on at the end since I love film so much and well I had been waiting to see this damn film for years and years. An event movie doesn’t come along very often and whilst Michael Bay smashes robots on screen for nearly three hours of monotonous bore, Cameron turns that dial to eleven and leaves you wanting more. Hail to the king baby!
2010? WTF? Are we into the future already?
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Hooverdust is a pop culture blog designed and developed by James Sann. I cover a range of topics such as Film, Music, TV, Photography, Design and teh internets.
Based in Melbourne and Bendigo, Australia, in my professional life, I am a freelance multimedia designer, photographer and a part-time University lecturer & tutor.
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