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Reviews, previews and chuckling and snorting...

20/20 Filmsight - November 2007

My Amazon Wishlist

November 30th 2007 18:40
Being a film junkie is easy in our modern times... all the information you could want about any film is available at the touch of a finger.

And, if you've got the means, buying movies is incredibly easy, thanks to Amazon.

Unfortunately, for us tragic souls lost on this Australiasian island, the shipping costs are as much as the DVDs themselves. Who will shed a tear for us? I guess we'll have to console ourselves with our beautiful beaches, the great weather, and barrels of fantastic wine.



It seems that the buttons on the widget aren't working... so here's a link to the list:

My Amazon.com Wish List

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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: C'est la vie!
   


Who Loves The Sun @ Possible Worlds

November 29th 2007 22:14
Who Loves the Sun ontario cottage on the lake
The opening night of the Canadian Film Festival, Possible Worlds, was a packed house at the Chauvel Cinema, complete with Canadian beer and little slices of quiche.

The beer was ice-cold Kokanee and the film was Who Loves The Sun, a brilliantly executed movie about the grumpy reunion of three friends who used to summer together at an idyllic cottage on the clear waters of a beautiful Ontario lake.

Director and screenwriter Matt Bissonette has captured the feel of summer in Canada down to the last detail, from the sink in the bedroom, to cliff jumping, to fishing on the lake. After 6 months of a cruel winter, lakeside cottages are the only refuge for Canadians, a group of people that greet the long summer days with the thrilled excitement of a butterfly emerging from a chrysalid.

Bissonette wrote a magnificently spartan script involving just 5 actors and one location, packed with wonderful dialogue and plenty of opportunities for sunset shots. Unfortunately, as the director and producer revealed in the Q&A after the screening, political constraints forced them to use different locations in both Manitoba and Ontario. Nevertheless, the shooting was finished in 20 days.



Perhaps the most satisfying effect of Who Loves The Sun on the Sydney audience was, for me, how funny the movie is. The audience laughed heartily throughout, which is an incredible feat considering how tragic the story is.

And that's the deal: Who Loves The Sun is a terrific example of Canadian humour at a fundamental level... Canadian humour is self-deprecating and sarcastic, as taken from the British, but also quite surreal and absurd, enjoying a laugh at the ridiculous. If you've ever seen a moose, you can understand the need to laugh at something that seems so out of place in a frozen wasteland.

The three main actors, Lukas Haas. Adam Scott and Molly Parker, carry the film with remarkable poise, rendering a fine range of emotions, from lust to pure hate. Trapped at the cottage, with no way of leaving except swimming across the lake, they're forced to endure each other. The irony of the idea of 'freedom' in the wilderness creates a situation where the three friends have to get along with each other, no matter how much they'd like to leave.

I was fortunate to see the Australian premiere of Who Loves The Sun, which was well-received by the audience, including my cynical Australian friends. It'll be showing again on Dec. 3rd, as a fully-accessible screening for people with a disability - I strongly recommend that you catch this fabulous Canadian feature.

I say: Highly recommended. You love Canada, right? You love our big mountains and our maple syrup and our good looking hockey players, right? Well, this movie is a more realistic depiction of holiday life in Canada than I've seen in a long, long time.

See it for: Molly Parker is Canadian, but the other two male actors are both from California, originally. I won't hold it against them since they fight so well. Also, yes, the title is a Velvet Underground song.


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Americanas
   


Kellie Pickler is not smarter than a 5th grader (and is Europe a country?)

November 28th 2007 22:19
To be honest, I didn't have any idea who Kellie Pickler was. Hallelujah for Wikipedia which has instructed me that Pickler was an eliminated contestant from American Idol, but managed to score a country music recording contract.

Kellie Pickler in a red dress
Her debut album went gold, but I'm not sure if it's because she's talented or because she looks like this. (or like this, in her prom dress, apparently


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: C'est la vie!
   


Drunken Master

November 27th 2007 22:31
Drunken Master DVD cover movie poster
The original Drunken Master is heralded as one of the best Hong Kong kung fu movies ever made... it's the movie that gave Jackie Chan his big break and crafted his trademark kung fu-comedy style.

The second Drunken Master, made in the 90s, is a fine production, with quality and style. Highly entertaining and well-worth a watch


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Asian
   


Everyday Normal Guy Rap Song

November 27th 2007 01:50
This video is making the rounds and quickly gaining popularity on social news sites like Digg.

It's called 'Everyday Normal Guy Rap Song' and the name shows off everything you need to know. It's by John Lavoie, a white guy singing about how spectacularly unspectacular he is


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Short Films
   


Fun with anonymous comments

November 26th 2007 23:18
I wouldn't say that I'm a scandalous blogger, but writing about movies is inherently a contentious arena... people can be quite fervent about the movies that they like, as their tastes in film often represent the image they present to the world.

As a result, it's easy to stir up some heavy emotions, especially on the internet, where readers are free to spew their acidic comments from behind a shield of anonymity


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: C'est la vie!
   


Star Wars Galaxy Map

November 26th 2007 03:24
Star Wars Galaxy Map
George Lucas may have come up with the Star Wars Universe, but time and time again, it's being shown that the true depth of the sci-fi series comes from the adulation and love of the fans.

An excellent case in point: Lucas' scripts make mention of systems and planets that sound pretty snazzy in a script: Coruscant, Tatooine, Corellia, Alderaan. But where the hell are these places


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: C'est la vie!
   


Spin - a short film about destiny and turntables

November 25th 2007 22:45
This short film from Double Edge Productions is incredibly well-made for a short and has won several awards.

It's not too ingenious, treading some predictable ground, but the beauty is in the execution


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Short Films
   


Even a millimeter matters

November 24th 2007 18:37
This cell phone commercial is charming enough to warrant a second look. It's hard to tell if this is done with computers, because filming this would be an incredibly huge pain in the ass.


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Bizarre
   


Ricky Gervais in Africa

November 23rd 2007 18:34
He's done The Office and Extras, but Ricky Gervais still hasn't jumped the shark, using his notorious fame to poke further fun of his pudgy faced humour...

... in this short, Ricky films a humanitarian report from Africa, showing an extraordinary depth of humanity. Ah, Mr. Gervais, you are a great and noble person


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Short Films
   


Christian Bale to play John Conner in Terminator 4

November 22nd 2007 20:28
Terminator robot killing machine
Stunning news out of the primordial soup of the movie industry: Christian Bale, lead actor in American Psycho and Batman Begins, has signed on to play an adult John Conner in Terminator 4.

This is serious stuff. Everyone wanted to punch John Conner back in Terminator 2, and I never got around to seeing the third installment. Christian Bale has built up a serious fan base around a strange selection of films, from blockbuster Hollywood stuff (Batman Begins, Shaft), to off-the-wall movies by fantastic directors (The Machinist, Rescue Dawn


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Preview
   


21 - MIT Blackjack nerds take the casinos for millions

November 21st 2007 23:08
21 movie poster kevin spacey kate bosworth
This movie looks a little too glossy for me, with Kevin Spacey and Lawrence Fishburne taking on big money roles... but it's the film adaptation of the book about the gang of MIT computer, engineering and math students who played the averages, made a strategy and walked away with millions of dollars from American casinos.

The book is called Bringing Down The House... I didn't read it, but I read a lot about these guys in magazine and on the net


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Preview
   


Monkey Warfare @ Possible Worlds

November 21st 2007 22:20
Monkey Warfare Canadian Film Don McKellar
Another well-hyped film showing at next week's Canadian Film Festival, Monkey Warfare is a deliciously low budget effort from Reginald Harkema.

It stars Don McKellar and Tracy Wright as Dan and Linda, two middle-aged down-and-outers who spend their days riding around Toronto, looking for scrap and junk to sell as antiques on the Internet. They're burned out idealists, following the tracks they laid as youngsters, when they were idealistic and wanted to rebel against our materialistic, wealth-driven society


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Americanas
   


Possible Worlds: the 2007 Canadian Film Festival

November 21st 2007 12:30
Who Loves The Sun Canadian Film Festival
It was Tracy who got me into the festival... though I lived near the Chauvel Cinema last year, I didn't attend Possible Worlds, and only found out about it after Tracy enthusiastically posted about it on her site.

The Canadian Film Festival highlights some of the great movies coming out of Canada every year... being north of the big pie called the US (of A), Canadian cinema often gets overlooked, especially by me, a Canadian


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: C'est la vie!
   


2007 Bicycle Film Festival

November 20th 2007 22:25
Monkey Warfare Canadian Film

The Bicycle Film Festival will arrive in Sydney from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, all in one weekend, all at Dendys Opera Quays cinema.

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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: C'est la vie!
   


The Orble Interview with Jerry Seinfeld

November 19th 2007 23:15
Well, to be fair, it wasn't really an interview. More of an interviewette.

I was fortunate enough to get a spot on the red carpet last night at the Australian premiere of Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie. There were quite a few celebrity families, bringing their kids for the opening, but I had no idea who they were


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: C'est la vie!
   


Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie

November 19th 2007 23:00
Bee Movie Chris Rock Jerry Seinfeld windshield wiper
Jerry Seinfeld's new animated feature film, Bee Movie, is backed by Dreamworks and is a beautifully colourful children's movie packed with big laughs and IMAX worthy visuals.

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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Americanas
   


Manufactured Landscapes : showing at the Possible Worlds Canadian Film Festival

November 18th 2007 22:37
Manufactured Landscapes Edward Burtynsky

Manufactured Landscapes is the 2006 Canadian documentary that followed notable photographer Edward Burtynsky as he went to China to shoot photos of the Three Gorges Dam.

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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Americanas
   


Ghostbusters 3 Video Game from Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis!

November 15th 2007 22:10
When I was really young, I played a Ghostbusters 2 video game on the PC. It was awful, thinking back to the dull gameplay, the ludicrous cutscenes, but everyone my age loved Ghostbusters. Who ya gonna call?

Now comes the news that Vivendi Games will be producing another Ghostbusters game, possibly called Ghostbusters 3, to be released in fall 2008
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The Heartbreak Kid

November 14th 2007 21:54
Ben Stiller The Heartbreak Kid
The Heartbreak Kid is the latest movie from the Farrelly Brothers, whose body of work includes Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary.

From their previous films, you can guess what The Heartbreak Kid is going to be: another gross-out romantic comedy starring Ben Stiller
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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: Americanas
   


Top 10 Accidentally Sexual Lines in the Star Wars Movies

November 13th 2007 18:55
Sith Happens Yoda T-shirt
Today, I found a great post by Miss Cellania called 'Sith Happens' which includes a list of Unintentionally Sexual Quotes from the Star Wars movies...

Some of the gems


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: C'est la vie!
   


Killer Bean Forever

November 12th 2007 23:57
Killer Bean Forever

This guy, Jeff Lew, claims to have been the lead animator for The Matrix Reloaded, and was inspired by his newfound talents enough to leave the team and make a feature movie.

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The Blog Readability Test

November 12th 2007 21:37
Do you assume that you've got a massive vocabulary and the wit to use it? Check out the readability of your blog with this utility, The Blog Readability Test.

Unfortunately, despite all my cleverly crafted phrases and inspired posts, 20/20 Filmsight comes up as a meager 'High School' level blog


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: C'est la vie!
   


An Old Mistress (Une vielle maitresse)

November 11th 2007 22:54
Asia Argento Breillat An Old Mistress
Catherine Breillat is well-known for her sexually intense, provocative films, such as Romance and Anatomy of Hell. Her latest work, An Old Mistress, is a gentle, beautifully filmed historical drama, about passion and jealousy in 19th century France.

It's quite a lavish production, with fabulous costumes and unbelievable sets, recreating the lives of the nobility at that time. Breillat amuses us with the dichotomy of the noble man - an image of chivalry and decency, but with the desperate stench of lust and infidelity underneath


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Posted By: Cibbuano - Category: European
   


Hola Mexico Film Festival

November 8th 2007 21:58
Del Toro vampire
Thanks for the heads up from Christian, an American blogger that covers Latino cinema.

The Hola Mexico Film Festival will go through 5 cities in Australia, including Sydney from Nov. 15th to 21st... the festival will take place in the wonderful Chauvel Cinema, which is the best venue in Sydney for watching great cinema


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Into The Wild

November 7th 2007 22:21
Into the Wild
Sean Penn's latest directorial effort is called Into The Wild, a film adaptation of a book by Jon Krakauer about Christopher McCandless, an rich American kid that forsake everything to die by himself in the Alaskan Wilderness.

My flatmate was looking forward to this film, and after seeing it, I can safely assure him that he'll like it, to which he responded with a double-fist-pump and a whoop of joy. He'll like it because