Blog Archives
The Salt of Life (Gianni Di Gregorio)
Gianni Di Gregorio‘s film is one of the more thoughtful and comically entertaining films due for release this year. Di Gregorio (Writer/Director of 2008‘s acclaimed Gomorrah) both directs and plays the leading role in this wistful comedy; markedly titled Gianni e le Donne (Gianni & The Women) in his native Italian. Gianni (the leading character, and not to be confused with the Actor/Director himself) has recently reached a turning point in his life: the onset of ‘old age‘. Having been made redundant from work, he finds himself mindful of not only his aging face & body; but of his relevance to the world-at-large.
The film is endearing to the plight of this ageing Italiano and charming in it‘s climactic (yet restrained) final scenes. Its looks at the romanticism and sexuality of Gianni as he ponders his lacklustre marriage and his attention to (and from) young women. At once an humourous, heartfelt and honest observation of the aging man -The Salt Of Life is wonderfully shot with subtle stylisation. The film won‘t stir up any media-pack accolades but it‘s surely a fine production; with a brilliant cast.
The Salt Of Life opens this week at Cinema Nova.
Of Gods and Men
Des hommes et des dieux provides a rare insight into philosophical ideas surrounding the theological-humanist realm. The film‘s religious and political posturing is set amid an ex-French colony‘s Islamic militant uprising. It is a study of conviction, dedication, and loyalties -to church, state, and self. Sweeping shots and cinematography that invokes a sense of foreboding frames a backdrop of Algerian Mediterrenean splendour that is mired by murder, subjugation and threats of violence.
Xavier Beauvois has sculpted a film that relates the hope of humanity with its insecurities and compromises, and one can‘t help but feel the presence (or influence) of Camus in the work. At times the film loses pace and relevance to its central narrative. However, this perhaps provides reflection on its monastic surroundings and religious themes. The film is utterly compelling; it is graceful and thoughtful in both composition and execution. Crucially, the audience is invited to delve beneath the somewhat melancholic and theological surface; wherein lies a rich bounty of questions about ourselves and our humanity and compulsions.
Of Gods and Men won the Grand Jury prize at Cannes and opens on May 26th.
Tim Vine
This evening myself and a couple of close friends attended a stand-up performance at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
The man we were fortunate enough to see was Tim Vine; an English comic from UK television programme The Sketch Show. The act was a riot! It consisted of a seemingly endless onslaught of cheap gags, described as “An inspired medley of out to lunch one-liners” by The Guardian.
Mmr. Vine (pronounced with two m’s) came out with such beauties as “I saw a woman giving birth to a baby in the snow the other day… -she said the weather brought out the child in her” and “I went swimming with the dolphins -and we just clicked” Then, after taking out an X and Y graph as a prop and cutting in in half: “I love the smell of freshly cut graphs” Sheer banal ridiculousness and a laugh a second, as the jokes were moving almost too fast to comprehend the punchline/s. A definite hoot, all for the tidy sum of $25.
A must see for those with a taste for banal humour in all its glory.
From last year’s festival:
-Rock The Boat
Two Door Cinema Club
I’m sat here listening to this disc; the latest offering from French powerhouse label Kitsuné. I picked up this release a few days ago and am quite glad I’d held off listening to it until I was in such a mood as I am in now.
Thus, the record is quite good; if but a tad heavily produced. The album; Tourist History opens with track Cigarettes In The Theatre, which strikes as a somewhat upbeat tune -jovial and easy to digest, melodic while establishing a sound of the European summer in the vein of a Killers or early Franz Ferdinand B-side. Tracks 3 & 4 move through with a charm of melancholic repetition that is to be admired; admonishing earlier typecasting mentioned for Track 1. The sound digresses with the cruisiness that is Something Good Can Work; however the songs continue to wind up when one is just beginning to immerse oneself in its quaint yet rhythmic beauty.
The standout tracks are reluctantly Cigarettes, I Can Talk, Eat Up and Something Good -insomuch as this is an album that demonstrates an excellent continuity and is quite certain to further impress on repeated visits. Hear it for yourself, perhaps?
-Rock The Boat
Buffet 2010
This weekend is host to the Acclaim Magazine / Fashion Exposed Buffet street lifestyle industry showcase. It comprises 3 days of tradeshow, party, public expo and discussion forums. Your host took to the event to get a sneak peek at the latest streetwear and accessories trends and to chat with a few of the freshest up-and-comers in the field.
I caught up with Shelley from Super Special screenprinting -we had a chat about the grand possibilities that were available in regards to creating the freshest tee’s. This company has what I’d regard as the highest quality screenprinting for clothing anywhere in Melbourne. Their gold trimmed and detailed garments were certainly a sight to behold! Super Special of Spotswood (Spottiswoode?) are definitely one to contact if you’re after some custom made tee’s and no doubt they’ll hook you up with a competitive quote. e: info@superspecial.com.au
Next up, I checked out the myriad of international brands featured at Booth #15′s True To Life Clothing -purveyours of such fine goods as those of Diamond, 10Deep, Upper Playground, Zion and Society (among others). These guys know their shit, check: truetolifeclothing.com.au
Continuing on, I perused the New Era stand, rad designs by Sup (Singapore) and some excellent t-shirt prints from locals Quiet Riot (Thornbury). However, after a little longer wandering around I found an outstanding new upstart by Sydneysider Asher in his Sabotage label. Asher is a native of Manly NSW, from the Northern Beaches part of Sydney. His designs mirror that of some of his various tattoo’s in the Mitch O’Connell / classic tatts sense. I got chatting with Asher and he was a great fellow; eager to peruse my own INFX designs and always scouting for contributors. He let it be known that he wants the label to comprise broad tastes and to promote a lot of different styles; So if you have what it takes & are looking for an outlet with your off-the-wall designs, give Asher a holler at Sabotage: sabotage101@live.com
Faith No More – Melbourne 2010
Right! Just got in…
A fine show. Certainly, the prelude of Andy Kaufmann alter-ego inspired babble proved a continuous farce; but the set list was spot on.
I was inclined, though to flirt with the idea of a down-tempo approach to this live outing and the subsequent adherence to fans and their mode of life. Actually, to be honest these ideas made me think of the Rolling Stones playing ballads to geriatrics. Fear not though! That isn’t to define the quality of songs and performance, in toto.
Personally, I vied to hear ‘Crack Hitler’ but without which the bulk of songs from King For A Day and prior releases certainly satisfied. On lesser thoughts however, it’s Tony Clifton’s said invocation that may well play into Patton’s seemingly endless entertainment satire. Well done!
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