http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/sam-cleveland/ Sam Cleveland is a professional writer with an arts degree and near-perfect manners. Gold Coast-born and based, Sam nurses a pre-occupation for films directed by Michael Mann and Brian DePalma, comics written by Alan Moore and Mark Millar and music made by (mostly deceased) black folk. For years he was an entertainment reporter for News Limited, where on various stints at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals he picked up several mildly diverting anecdotes about his brushes with various marquee-name eccentrics. Closer to home, Sam reviews films for ABC Radio and produces great volumes of advertising copy, corporate submissions and tender documents. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/playing-with-nature-the-ethics-of-sex-selection/ A Melbourne couple’s decision to abort twin boys conceived through IVF – the weekend’s flashpoint news story – is a can of worms, a hornets’ nest and a Mandelbrot set of ethical complexity all in one. The couple, after the death of their first baby girl, wasn’t happy with the twins’ gender and is now in the midst of legal action to pre-determine the sex of their next IVF baby. Which, you might be surprised to learn, we can do nowadays. Some medical industry smart arse has even rebranded it ‘family balancing’. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sam Cleveland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/playing-with-nature-the-ethics-of-sex-selection/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/playing-with-nature-the-ethics-of-sex-selection/#item4851 Sun, 09 Jan 2011 20:00:46 +0000 Sam Cleveland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/festival-booze-australias-most-expensive-drug/ On a simple buzz-for-bucks basis, booze on sale at the wildly popular Summafieldayze festival is the most expensive drug on the Australian market. Single cans of mid-strength Smirnoff vodka and lemonade were going for the ridiculous sum of $10.50; a captive market of 30,000 punters (each shelling out $140 for a ticket) was caught in the net. For the cost of three or four festival drinks and a couple of phone calls, any half-connected ticketholder could instead score himself a measure of illicit drugs sure to get them far closer to “the happy place” place than a few pre-mixed cans ever could. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sam Cleveland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/festival-booze-australias-most-expensive-drug/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/festival-booze-australias-most-expensive-drug/#item4820 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:40:08 +0000 Sam Cleveland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/there-will-be-a-winner-and-a-loser-in-the-wikileaks-saga/ Julian Assange’s extradition to Sweden for alleged sex crimes is destined to become an ugly, inconsequential sideshow to history. Wikileaks’ revelation that Saudi Arabia egged the US into attacking Iran over its nuclear ambitions? A footnote. Australian Senator Mark Arbib spying on his colleagues and countrymen for the US government? Grubby trivia, at best. The real historical weight of the Wikileaks saga lies within the undiscovered country of its endgame. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sam Cleveland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/there-will-be-a-winner-and-a-loser-in-the-wikileaks-saga/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/there-will-be-a-winner-and-a-loser-in-the-wikileaks-saga/#item4692 Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:50:45 +0000 Sam Cleveland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lohan-stitched-up-by-patriarchal-virgin-worship/ Am I the only one a little queasy over the underlying public gloat at the jailing of master criminal Lindsay Lohan? There it is, just beneath the surface – unspoken and insidious. It’s the patriarchal desire to see a wanton woman tamed. Disagree? Replay the Lohan case with buttoned-down Katie Holmes in the dock and picture the reaction. See what I mean? But a boozing bisexual rootrat with a spoiled tabloid reputation and cash in the bank must be brought to heel. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sam Cleveland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lohan-stitched-up-by-patriarchal-virgin-worship/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lohan-stitched-up-by-patriarchal-virgin-worship/#item3606 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:02:34 +0000 Sam Cleveland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/plenty-of-romance-pity-about-the-comedy/ Rove sidekick Peter Helliar’s debut film is out today and whoever cut the trailer has seriously let the side down. Actually scratch that… there are two possibilities here. Whoever cut the trailer either A) didn’t know what they were doing or B) didn’t have much to work with. Helliar’s film, I Love You Too, is an Australian-set romantic comedy templated on glossy US romantic comedies. All the moving parts are there: the goofball best friend (Helliar), the unobtainable beauty (Megan Gale) and a novel challenge for the central couple to overcome – he can’t say ‘I love you’. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sam Cleveland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/plenty-of-romance-pity-about-the-comedy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/plenty-of-romance-pity-about-the-comedy/#item3020 Thu, 06 May 2010 19:45:14 +0000 Sam Cleveland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/three-dimensional-films-a-one-dimensional-rip-off/ If you don’t want to be ripped off this weekend, don’t watch Clash of the Titans or Alice in Wonderland in 3D. Both films were shot ‘flat’ – two-dimensionally – and converted to 3D after the fact, an unsatisfactory process known as ‘up-conversion’ or ‘dimensionalising’. If you’ve already watched Alice or Titans in 3D – and paid the premium 3D ticket price for the experience, thank you very much – you’ll know what I’m talking about. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sam Cleveland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/three-dimensional-films-a-one-dimensional-rip-off/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/three-dimensional-films-a-one-dimensional-rip-off/#item2801 Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:47:56 +0000 Sam Cleveland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/hottest-act-at-the-big-day-out-is-an-innocent-criminal/ According to the letter of the law, the hottest act on this year’s Big Day Out roadshow is a criminal. The remix demigod Girl Talk, whose output comprises nothing but densely layered cuts of other people’s music, is in flagrant breach of current copyright law every time he puts out an album. The Jackson 5, Queen, Nine Inch Nails, Public Enemy and Kelly Clarkson are just five of the hundreds of artists sampled and blended with one another on his latest record, 2008’s Feed the Animals. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sam Cleveland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/hottest-act-at-the-big-day-out-is-an-innocent-criminal/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/hottest-act-at-the-big-day-out-is-an-innocent-criminal/#item2197 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:55:34 +0000 Sam Cleveland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-blokes-guide-to-the-best-chick-flicks/ Curators of obscure movie history will, if they’ve had their eyes open, likely record 2009 as the year the ‘chick flick’ smartened up. Rounded female characters showed up in everything from straight-out Oscar bait to rock ‘em-sock ‘em horror flicks, while some of the best films of the year centered around women and their distinct set of needs and challenges. 2009’s diverse honour roll includes everything from Drag Me to Hell and Whip It to An Education and Coco Before Chanel. This year’s femme flicks starred women saying and doing interesting things, a seismic shift from the decades of wish fulfilment pap clued-up female moviegoers have had to sit through. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sam Cleveland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-blokes-guide-to-the-best-chick-flicks/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-blokes-guide-to-the-best-chick-flicks/#item2053 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:50:01 +0000 Sam Cleveland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-avatar-just-might-make-its-money-back/ There’s a very good reason why James Cameron’s Avatar, also known as The Most Expensive Movie Ever Made, stars a couple of computer-generated blue humanoid aliens. Simply put, the mega-budget 3D sci-fi spectacle has been designed with a sort of ‘calculated universality’ and its 10-foot, cat-eyed protagonists are a central part of that strategy. Film production is a tight business and risk-averse Hollywood isn’t about to throw big money at a production unlikely to make big returns. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sam Cleveland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-avatar-just-might-make-its-money-back/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-avatar-just-might-make-its-money-back/#item1985 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:55:23 +0000 Sam Cleveland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lets-not-give-britney-another-nervous-breakdown/ Whoa whoa whoa! Australia, hold up. Let’s tread carefully here… do we really want to induce another Britney Spears meltdown? Because that’s what we’re skirting with this teacup tempest over the somewhat faded pop star’s decision to lip synch the bulk of each stop on her current concert tour. Since kicking off the Australian leg of her 60-date comeback roadshow at Perth’s Burswood Dome last week, Spears has faced a page one Daily Telegraph hitpiece, reports of WA fans demanding refunds (a claim the venue denied in a statement) and the sort of media harassment usually reserved for Dennis Ferguson. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sam Cleveland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lets-not-give-britney-another-nervous-breakdown/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lets-not-give-britney-another-nervous-breakdown/#item1678 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:55:03 +0000 Sam Cleveland | Author bios | The Punch