films and cinemas

HOT: The Kelvin Club, Melbourne Place, Melbourne

August 7, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments

I’ve never understood the need for men to have spaces like private clubs or sheds. Women don’t seem to require those same physical boundaries and RM has not been able to explain why men need it to my satisfaction. The Kelvin Club opened is a private members club for men and women, but the decor [...]

HOT: Silent Wedding, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melbourne

August 7, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #12: My second Romanian movie of MIFF was very different to the first, but both were equally amusing in a quirky way. Silent Wedding (Nunta muta) is set in a Romanian village in 1953, near the beginning of Communist rule. The peasants live an idealistic rural life in soft summer light and have gathered [...]

HOT: Food Inc, ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne

August 6, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #11: As you’ve probably gathered by now, I feel very passionate about food. And one of the less salubrious aspects of the abundance of relatively cheap food choices we are fortunate to have in the Western world is the advent of industrial food production. Ostensibly, the aim is admirable – to produce a lot [...]

NOT: Members of the Funeral, ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne

August 6, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #10: My first NOT of MIFF. Members of the Funeral was a macabre Korean film telling the backstory of three guests who attend a funeral for a young teenage boy. The disjointed film never really captured my attention properly – I drifted off to sleep at various points and so I didn’t really grasp [...]

HOT: Prodigal Sons, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melbourne

August 5, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #9: Kimberly Reed’s documentary about her unusual family Prodigal Sons had so many twists I don’t even know where or how to begin. Perhaps the easiest way is to just set it all out in a list [spoiler alert!]: Kimberly used to be Paul. She’s now a very attractive blond-haired woman – I would [...]

HOT: My Magic, ACMI Cinemas, Federation Square, Melbourne

August 5, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #8: The opening scenes of My Magic made me wonder whether I’d be spending half the film with my eyes squeezed shut. An enormously overweight man (who reminded me of my nightmarish ex-boss – argh!) sat at a bar alone and kept asking for his liquor glass to be topped up. When the bartender [...]

HOT: Hansel and Gretel, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melbourne

August 3, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #7: Despite the fact that I’m not generally a fan of horror movies, every year at MIFF I seem to gravitate to at least one Korean horror film (oh god, the nightmare of the octopus-eating scene in Old Boy). This year’s offering was the creepy Hansel and Gretel with its evil twist to the fairytale. [...]

HOT: All Around Us, Forum Theatre, 154 Flinders St, Melbourne

August 3, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #6: Oh, I was completely enraptured by this Japanese gem. All Around Us (Gururi no Koto) was a beautifully measured film about a young Tokyo couple finding their way through their early years of marriage. The carefree Kanao and fragile Shoko got married because Shoko fell pregnant and at first their relationship is stiff and strained. As the years [...]

HOT ALERT: Week of 3 August

August 2, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Starting this week I’m going to trial a different type of post – an alert as to what I think will be HOT in the coming week. Please let me know your thoughts about these weekly posts! For the week of 3 August, some events in my diary: MIFF continues – I’ll be seeing a [...]

HOT: Giselle, Kino Cinemas, 45 Collins St, Melbourne

August 1, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

The second of my forays into World Opera and Ballet was the lovely 2006 production of Giselle by the Royal Ballet. Romanian ballerina Alina Cojocaru was deservedly promoted to the top rank of Principal after this performance of Giselle - her bright smile and blithe spirit were perfect for the innocent Giselle, her technique was [...]