Will it... won't it...

Has anyone read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? I guess you don't have to because they're making a movie about it with Natalie Portman (whoM I love)!!

Will it be good? Interesting? Thoughts?

~ Hurley Who?

mish mash hish hash

Everybody's bored and buggered off to somewhere more exciting. So I thought this was rather appropriate.

"Today I discovered that if I hum at a specific frequency, my right index finger will spasm. MLIA"

"Tonight, my family and I watched Coraline. Since the movie finished, we have been watching the dvd logo bounce around the screen, waiting for it to hit a corner dead on, cheering when it comes close. It hasn't yet, and we've been watching it for over an hour now. MLIA"

"Today, my family told me I was adopted. My whole family is white. I'm black. I think I figured it out. MLIA"

Also want to give props to Louis Tiffon and her fantabulous blog http://akalalouie.tumblr.com/, a blog worthy of being followed religiously.

It was actually through Louis' blog that I found this little gem: http://www.caroline-marechal.fr/agent-illustrateurs/illustrateurs/gouyette (my favourite is Antoinette Fleur).

And of course where would we be without a jolly little song and dance?

Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire (Funeral)

There's a lot of hype and interest around Arcade Fire now, especially amongst the Where The Wild Things Are fans, and rightly so. It's impossible to hate the raw anthemic guitars, sweet modulations into major keys at just the right moment and a sensitive husky Kings-Of-Leon-esque yowling over the top. Top stuff for those who hate too many lyrics but can't stand Sigur Ros.

Or some polarising stripped-back indie soul-searching? Try Aurora by Lapush. There's the safe monotonic guitar chords to make you feel like you're on a night train, a hearty dose of nice-guy mewling and the appropriate accompanying effects.

Give it a go.

Last and probably least, I'm going to chuck in this celebrity-fest released for Bandaid, just because we like Christmas with a feeble commerical sort of conscience.

[disco.read]

get yourselves a bucket, comrades.

This is for Hurley Who, yes you.

It's giving me the heebie jeebies.

{disco.read+cake.crusader+meatloaf}

Post-racialism

PS. Saw Zombieland - apparently Woody Harrelson is quite good at comedic roles and that Jesse Eisenberg looks a lot like/behaves a lot like/may in fact be the reincarnation of Michael Cera (who is not dead so scrap the latter). Also saw The Informant - only watch if you are middle-aged and bald.




- no name -

The Dunk Mug

I love this mug.

You can buy them at this awesome store.

~Louis Tiffon

Who's Reviews: An Education

An Education was a delightful film, thanks largely to Carey Mulligan. Plus, watching it in Dendy Quays meant Count Lucifer and I enjoyed a great view of the Opera House before and after the film and a fun trip to and from Circular Quay where we were accosted by, not one, but two strange men. That was an entirely appropriate entree to the central concept of this film, I guess.

Set in 1961, on the cusp of social change to attitudes about sex, this is a morally troubling film. On one level, the surface politeness of David (Peter Sarsgaard), a charming 30-plus man who makes a living doing ethically dubious things, made me almost forgive is pursuit of Jenny (Carey Mulligan), a 16/17 year old precocious schoolgirl who dreams of jazz music, Paris and the high life. But on the other hand, CL and I couldn't help but think "eugh" when you think about the basis of the story: older man seduces younger girl with charm and trips to Paris. This has 'pedophile' written all over it.

At the beginning of the film, we are immediately aware that Jenny is different to her friends. While they are insufferably obnoxious and inappropriate, she peppers her sentences with French and is altogether more self-assured and intelligent. But this proves dangerous because she is bored. Bored with studying Latin, bored with her pushy parents and bored with Graham (Matthew Beard), an adorable but clumsy schoolboy who is pursuing her. Then in comes David, a suave and charming gentleman, cough, cough, with glamorous friends Danny (Dominic Cooper from Mamma Mia) and Helen (Rosamund Pike, who is hilarious), a lifestyle of leisure and a strange attraction to her. Although there is something fishy about David and his friends, Jenny turns a blind eye to some confronting facts about them (essentially, some of their income comes from thieving).

The rest of the movie plays out with complications galore. Jenny believes her "life education" should come before her school education. She forfeits her chances of getting into Oxford when she is expelled for being with David. To the shock of her peers and encouraged by her parents (who fail to protect Jenny from David's steely grasp), she goes on not one, but two trips with David. Once to Oxford and once to Paris. Lets just say this was very cringe-worthy not because of sexual content, but because the most morally confronting issues were raised in these scenes.

Do we accept their relationship because it's consensual or is it just wrong for an older man to have a relationship with someone who is essentially a child in many respects?

Jane ignores the advice of her teacher and mentor, Miss Stubs (Olivia Williams, or Jane Fairfax in the Kate Beckinsale version of Emma). But who can blame her? Going to jazz clubs and conversations about pre-Raphaelite paintings are just so much more interesting than King Lear.

But, without giving the ending away, Jenny must eventually pay for her actions, ignorance and impatience. Cue rude awakenings, heart-breaking confrontations and attempts to rectify what was wronged.

Carey Mulligan is the 'bright star' of this film (haha CL). Even though she is 24, she manages very convincingly as a 17 year old girl. She is sufficiently wide-eyed and simultaneously stubborn to be believable as a strong-willed teenage girl on the cusp of womanhood. Emma Thompson has a nice cameo as the delightfully frumpy and anti-semitic headmistress who manages to slap some sense into Jenny in the end.

What wasn't very convincing was David and Jenny's relationship. Sure he was a smooth operator, but there was no believable chemistry. Maybe because he was a total cad, I dunno.

I spent the whole of today thinking about the end of the film. I'm not quite sure how to interpret it. Though there is technically a 'happy ending', one wonders whether or not Jenny truly values her education (with David, that is) or if she wishes to forget that chapter of her life altogether. I guess the overarching moral I gathered is that you must be educated in order to receive an education.

Rotten Tomatoes has 94% positive feedback on this film so I guess most people love it. I'd give it an 8/10. A morally stirring story where the strangest part was the fact that it was based on the life of a real woman... gross...

~ Hurley Who?