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QPIX STUDENTS ARE TROPFEST FINALISTS
Graduates of QPIX’s 2011 Diploma of Production course have won their way into the finals of TROPFEST, the world’s largest short film festival, with their student production PHOTOBOOTH. Set in the Afghanistan conflict, PHOTOBOOTH is one of a sequence of...
'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu' Out February 10
(Nationwide)
Over The Fence Comedy Film Deadline
(Nationwide)
Rottofest 2012: Call For Entries Now Open!
(Nationwide)
latest news
Geoffrey Rush Joins Tropfest
The acclaimed actor and newly-crowned Australian of the Year, Geoffrey Rush, will be a key player in 2012’s Tropfest activities.
Naomi Watts To Play Princess Diana
The Aussie actress is set to play the people’s princess in an upcoming film that chronicles the final two years of Diana’s life.
Sullivan Stapleton Signs On To ‘300’ Prequel
The Aussie actor has beat out the competition to land a role in the upcoming blockbuster.
James Cameron Loses Long Time Australian Collaborators
Producer Andrew Wight and cinematographer Mike deGruy lose their lives in a helicopter crash.
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The Only Way Is Up
Yumi Stynes puts the animated world under the microscope.
3-D cinema is genuinely mind-blowing when it works and I've heard industry innovators talking about the looming spectre of 3-D television. From what I can tell it will mean punters will have to buy a whole new TV set but, like DVDs, which at first seemed unnecessary when we all already had VCRs, the technology will eventually sell itself. That is, when there's enough content to make it worthwhile. Maybe pencil in 3-D TV for ten years from now.
Meantime, if you can, check out what the master filmmakers at Pixar Studios are doing with 3-D with their latest blockbuster Up.
Rumour has it that when the idea of Up was announced, shares in the company actually dropped because investors were disgusted by the lack of merchandising opportunities with a film that starred a grumpy old guy and a fat Asian kid. I love it! So crass. Investors were wrong, of course, because everything this studio has put out has been a monstrous success. From last year's WALL-E to their first film Toy Story in 1995, and everything in between, people can't get enough Pixar.
I'd be curious to know what you think are their best and worst films, so please post below your thoughts. Here are their films to date:
TOY STORY
A BUG'S LIFE
TOY STORY 2
MONSTERS INC.
FINDING NEMO
THE INCREDIBLES
CARS
RATATOUILLE
WALL-E
UP
Like most parents in Australia, I can safely assure you that (with the exception of Up) I have seen every one of those films more than five times. Yep. Think about that the next time you have unprotected sex.
Anyway, Up was a blast visually but I must say I am starting to find all this Hero's Journey stuff a little predictable. At the point in Up where the villain reveals himself I felt my whole body disengage from the story and I started thinking about whether cooking schnitzel was respectful to the life and flavour of said chicken, and what exactly is Chicken In A Biscuit? If the film caught my attention I'd wonder - why do I like that goofy dog so much? (Is it because he reminds me of the dog Sam in True Blood?) My kids were sufficiently engaged to go the distance but lack of a good theme song helped the whole thing drop off the radar the instant it was over.
I am a huge fan of the films of Japanese director/auteur Hayao Miyazaki. He created two of the greatest animated films ever made: Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. They're appropriate for children but teenagers and adults love them as well, not least because they address matters of the soul in ways that don't embarrass us and his (mostly female) characters find ways to be noble and fabulously heroic without ever shooting anyone. If you have never seen one of his films I urge you to seek them out - the joy and audacity of this man's imagination is truly delightful.
His latest film Ponyo could be a good starting point although of all his films, this one is probably pitched at the youngest audience. It tells the story of a 5-year-old boy, Sosuke, who finds a magical goldfish princess in the sea and names her ‘Ponyo'. They become fast friends and their friendship leads to wonderful adventures.
An interesting idea is buried in this film and it's one that I particularly like, about the heroism of motherhood. In the English-language version of Ponyo the mother character is voiced by Tina Fey (30 Rock) and scenes where she is racing her boy away from a devastating storm in her little car are exhilarating. She is awesome, but not in a showy way as she fights the daily war of parenthood without time to so much as glance down at her hands. I hope many mothers recognise themselves in her.
It's funny that people are saying the new rom-com (500) Days of Summer turns the genre on its head because the female lead is more insensitive than the male. Who are these people? I have a whole army of fabulously insensitive female friends - come over some time, we will beat the crap out of you idiots! Zooey Deschanel plays the insensitive love interest to Joseph Gordon-Levitt's caring, cardigan-wearing, Smiths-listening guy and the best moments in the film are underscored by music from Melbourne band The Temper Trap. Good? Good.
And finally, the sad news that Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze has passed away. It is with this in mind that I would like to remind you that he wasn't actually that good. The man appeared in way more stinkers than good films but there were enough to get a Top 5.
Top 5 Best Patrick Swayze Films
Dirty Dancing
This is actually a pretty terrible film and if Patrick Swayze really was Baby's dancing teacher, it's pretty dodgy that he slept with her (played by Jennifer Grey), even if she was super-cute before her nose job. It was, however, a good opportunity for horny housewives to cop an eyeful of the man's upper torso - some of the best perving since Welcome Back Kotter was axed.
Ghost
If nothing else, Ghost bought the Righteous Brothers a few houses with its use of their hit ‘Unchained Melody' in the climactic (cough cough) scene where Patrick Swayze's ghost gets sexy with Demi Moore at a clay wheel. And Whoopi won an Oscar.
The Outsiders
From 1983, this screen adaptation of the classic novel by S.E. Hinton was chock full of hot young actors including Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, C Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, and the then 30 year-old Swayze in a small part as Ponyboy's older brother Darrell.
Point Break
He is so weird in this film! As the bleached-blonde badass Bodhi, he shows undercover FBI guy Keanu Reeves how to catch his first tube, be at one with the sea, and how to rob banks. We see Patrick in a whole new light as a baddie and director Kathryn Bigelow proves yet again that she's awesome at testosterone.
Donnie Darko
Patrick's role was small and creepy as Jim Cunningham, a motivational speaker who comes to represent all the hypocrisy Donnie Darko rallies against. The closing montage sequence to Gary Jules' version of ‘Mad World' is moving and unforgettable and makes us reconsider Swayze's character all over again.
RIP PS