http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/film/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2013 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +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/maaaah-vel-ous-how-movie-accents-make-us-snobs/ A long time ago, in a faraway galaxy, a world possessed exactly the same pronunciation snobbery as ours… For those who live on another planet, and especially for those who wish they did, the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy based on the works of Tolkien has been recently complemented by a ‘prequel’ called The Hobbit. Most see the Lord of the Rings as a highlight in the sci-fi and fantasy genres of film and there are many reasons to agree. One thing that might attract us to the genres resides in their unnerving contradiction. The more fantastical a movie attempts to be; the more accurately it portrays the social relations of our world. The converse also applies. Gritty TV dramas attempting to portray reality are often quite fantastical. If you want to understand America of the 1950s, watch The Forbidden Planet before you see Mr Ed the Talking Horse. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maaaah-vel-ous-how-movie-accents-make-us-snobs/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maaaah-vel-ous-how-movie-accents-make-us-snobs/#item10318 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow]. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-film-is-les-miserable/ Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow]. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-film-is-les-miserable/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-film-is-les-miserable/#item10323 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow]. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/vale-red-dog/ I’m pretty sure my dog looks sheepish when he farts. I also caught him rolling his eyes the other night when we were trying to fool him by spelling out D-I-N-N-E-R. I know for sure that it’s not an accident when he bumps visitors’ wine glasses only to dive in and lap up the spill. I’ve written quite enough about my own dog. It’s indulgent, sorry. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/vale-red-dog/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/vale-red-dog/#item10255 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow]. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fifty-shades-of-selfish-desire-in-the-twilight-of-fantasy/ “Hello ladies.” Perhaps you remember the viral advertisement where Isaiah Mustafa of the impeccable pecs encouraged women to “look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me” and then, accordingly, buy Old Spice so their men could “smell like he’s me.” The advertisement’s self-aware ribbing of the gulf between the clichéd perfect man and the ordinary guy was cheeky and hilarious, but a sign of the times? With E L James’ adult novel Fifty Shades of Grey still dominating the New York Times bestseller list, I’m starting to wonder. Because though many have marvelled at the runaway success of the erotic novel, its popularity isn’t at all surprising given our collective enthusiasm for romance as a genre - featuring, of course, a male romantic hero against whom men in real life simply cannot compare. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fifty-shades-of-selfish-desire-in-the-twilight-of-fantasy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fifty-shades-of-selfish-desire-in-the-twilight-of-fantasy/#item9435 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow]. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/an-interview-with-snowtown-director-justin-kurzel/ Note: This profile on Gawler-born film-maker Justin Kurzel is one of a series commissioned by Adelaide’s Sunday Mail for its centenary year, and has been republished here. Type the words “Davoren Park” into Google and the first hit you get is a newspaper article headlined “Streets of Fear and Loathing” published in The Advertiser on July 31, 2009. It begins: “Davoren Park residents are arming themselves with knives and not letting their children play in front yards following a series of violent incidents. Their fears come after an alleged murder and police siege in the embattled northern suburb that has a growing reputation as a no-go zone for all but those who live there. A mother of four, who has lived there for two years, told The Advertiser she will not let her children play in her front yard and drives them to school most days even though the school is less than 100m away. Most residents interviewed by The Advertiser spoke only on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.” Not long after that article was written, a young and unknown film-maker named Justin Kurzel spent several weeks in Davoren Park looking for cast members for a film. He didn’t want to use actors. He wanted people from the area. He saw a woman with her dog at the local IGA. She got into a screaming match with an old lady who chastised the woman for not having her dog on a leash. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/an-interview-with-snowtown-director-justin-kurzel/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/an-interview-with-snowtown-director-justin-kurzel/#item9324 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow]. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/me-and-my-lucky-underwear/ If these walls could talk, what would they say? As they are plastered their speech would probably be slurred and we’d have difficulty understanding them. But why is that phrase limited to just the walls? Why can’t we imagine other objects having a voice? I do. Frequently. Apart from being a damn satisfying word to vocalise, anthropomorphising is the act of giving a human personality to non-human things.  Think Disney movies, like Fantasia and Beauty and the Beast. Now this may seem like fun, however, there is a down side to being perspicaciously personificatious - I very rarely throw anything away. “Please don’t get rid of Steve,” I plead to my girlfriend “Steve is my favourite mug. He and I have shared so many coffees together.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/me-and-my-lucky-underwear/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/me-and-my-lucky-underwear/#item8943 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow]. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-the-going-gets-tough-the-tuff-get-gong/ What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Sure, that stands to reason. But if you nearly died from a gunshot wound, you’d be entitled to take some time off, y’know, life to get patched up and recover. Not so Bob Marley, as we learn in exhaustive, exuberant new documentary Marley directed by Kevin Mcdonald and featuring talking heads like Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jimmy Cliff, Ziggy Marley and many more. We’ll get to the near death experience in a moment but first must point out a few other topics one could devote 600 words to after watching Marley. Rita Marley: Guardian Angel to the Kaya Casanova, Who Invented Reggae? Three Beats then the Heartbeat, Big Tree, Small Axe: How Bob Marley and The Wailers Chopped Down The Music Industry, Stevie Wonders What Bob Looks Like and Bob’s Babies: 11 Wailing Children to 7 Ladies. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-the-going-gets-tough-the-tuff-get-gong/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-the-going-gets-tough-the-tuff-get-gong/#item8900 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow]. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/frankly-my-dear-film-festivals-are-a-waste-of-time/ There’s no sadder sight than that of an Aussie Film Festival-goer, still wet from rain and the lack of a working umbrella, waiting in line to see another bleak offering (whether said offering has subtitles or not).  Group a hundred or more of these sad, miserable specimens within the confines of a George Street multiplex in Sydney or a Greater Union 30-screener in Melbourne, and the casual passersby, going to see real movies and eat expensive popcorn, will be forgiven for having thoughts of prisoners filing into forced labour camps. Not to be entertained are these filmgoers. Oh no. They don’t see Festival Films with two capital effs to enjoy themselves or to be unburdened of their daily woes for a few hours.  For the majority of Festival patrons, the films are the burden – painful artistic labours, the birthing of which takes years, sometimes decades, and the viewing of which is far more harrowing than watching any actual birth, no matter how difficult. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/frankly-my-dear-film-festivals-are-a-waste-of-time/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/frankly-my-dear-film-festivals-are-a-waste-of-time/#item8845 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow]. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-most-memorable-five-words-in-movie-history/ It’s a close-run race with “Here’s lookin’ at you kid”, but “I’ll have what she’s having” is right up there as one of the best one-liners ever. Its creator, writer and film maker Nora Ephron, died today at 71. The woman was a quotable quote machine, able to read relationships between men and women with wit and honesty. How she never won an Oscar is a mystery. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-most-memorable-five-words-in-movie-history/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-most-memorable-five-words-in-movie-history/#item8835 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow]. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dear-dr-tinman-yay-or-neigh-on-this-spielberg-flick/ Welcome to the sixth edition of Dr Tinman’s Ignorant Remedies for the Aching Soul. I am Dr Tinman, life-doctor and former builder of tiny Scandinavian model houses. Over the past month and a half, I have been providing you with exceptional pieces of advice to help you escape the existential filth-pit that is your life. This week is no exception. And while I have been told that writing out “prescriptions” on post-it notes does, in fact, break several laws (except Newton’s Three Laws of Motion – which are only violated if a lavender-coloured note is used), I shall continue to metaphorically bathe your emotional sores with my sponges of understanding. And so, we move on to this week’s question: feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dear-dr-tinman-yay-or-neigh-on-this-spielberg-flick/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dear-dr-tinman-yay-or-neigh-on-this-spielberg-flick/#item8539 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Okay, I’m going to say it. Les Miserables sucked. There. I can’t take it back. We could have done a Phantom Menace and lied to ourselves for months, but I think it’s better to accept the truth now. Ahhh, that’s good. It’s a load off my chest. [Ed note: Spoilers follow].