Published March 20, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson

Scoop and the Town

Geoff and I managed to catch Scoop tonight.

Lighthearted, kind of strange in a quirky way, predictable but I think they meant it – which means it’s okay and it really was quite funny although I can see why people wouldn’t like it. If you’re after a fun evening that won’t jar your brain, definitely bother.

I have somehow missed the whole Woody Allen thing… so I can’t compare it with any other of his films (as I don’t know what they are)… I didn’t realise he was in the film until afterwards.

For my, ‘have a sleep in the afternoon’ state this was the perfect entertainment – movie form. I very much enjoyed myself. Scarlett Johansson seems to be able to make something of most roles and as a general rule, post experience, the movie will ‘be okay’ if she’s in it.

There were some absolutely wacky bits. Quite different.

Another movie I’ve seen recently is Elizabethtown. It is a little in the flavour of Garden State, but clearly not half as well acted. I still quite liked it. It got me laughing. Characters weren’t as well developed but still likeable. Orlando Bloom is a boring actor (or looks like a girl/elf) and Kirsten Dunst’s Claire is just odd. I have been warned not to watch it a second time, I am pleased I caught it a first.

Movies

Published March 17, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson

God is still nice

Last night I got online to check if my pay and Centrelink had gone in. It turned out that work had payed me for the month – useful and I couldn’t see my Centrelink. Oddly the top balance didn’t match the total. But the top balance was enough to pay those two evil bills. I went scrounging and found a deposit of about two hundred dollars with the descriptor as MTS – the amount was a bit higher than my usual Youth Allowance fortnightly relief.

Strange.

I went to bed in a nice oblivion (with a little of the standard Bec skepticism) thinking maybe someone had somehow put some money in my bank and perhaps I’d have one of those cool, “God has put money in my bank through some nice person” stories.

It turns out that I don’t have quite such a remarkable story to tell, in that the money did turn out to be my Centrelink. It is however a little higher than what I’ve been getting as a standard rate over the past few months and in working I would’ve expected that rate to drop, not rise.

The nice thing about last night was that in evaluating it all, I think I have pretty much let the thing (‘thing’ being the tightness of the reality) just sit and I’m okay with it. I don’t need a lot of excess. I do have people I can go to if I get absolutely stuck and I can bite my better reason in having to get a loan (very undesirable) if I really need to.

If you ever need a slap of perspective, take some time out to watch Turtles Can Fly.

Life Movies

Published March 14, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson

Notes on a Scandal

(Look what I found in drafts!)

To snatch the last few minutes of my lunch break…

As Geoff mentioned, he saw Notes on a Scandal the other night and coincidentally, so did I.

The film is absolutely brilliant. Creepy. Weird. Cringy. Adrenaline producing.

Geoff was struck by the ‘old people/lonely’ thing where as I clued in to the absolute rampant instance of emotional manipulation.

I know what it’s like to be both an observer, a middle-man and I’m sure even a participant in an emotionally manipulative situation. And it’s horrible (a pretty clear theme in the movie) when it gets out of hand or even tries to creep in under the splits in a little miscommunication and unexplained expectation.

This is rooted in selfishness and fear.

I hate it for what it does to both parties.

General Movies

Published February 19, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson

Creativity is not dead

You don’t have to drag me kicking and screaming from animation, I’ll run with glee. It’s a tedious and painstaking task. Infact I got out before we truly got there.

I’m still skipping out of the world of moving parts and swallowing print media whole. And yet it is movies like The Corpse Bride that leave me with that little twinge of, ‘oh to be a part of something like that’ (same goes for Lord of the Rings).

I saw it last night, The Corpse Bride and loved it! Tim Burton is hideously clever and movie itself is funny, brilliantly directed, animated and shot. It was simply nice to watch an adult cartoon for once without having to contend with your average romantic comedy typicals. Very refreshing. A delightful (in the truest sense of the word) way to spend a bit over an hour. I had a grin smashed to my face the whole time.

General Movies

Published February 11, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson

Cinderella sweeps up the Sand

A couple of years ago I was down at the Dromana Drive-In with friends on ‘Schoolies – Take 2’. We were just about to watch Russell Crowe smash a few noses in and there was a scuffle and a consensus that the car was ‘too squashy’. I moved reluctantly (because of the movie) and willingly (because of certain individuals) into the other car – that other car happened to be on the other side of the drive-in, infront of some alternate movie… In Her Shoes if I’m not wrong. To cut a long story short – and one that I’ve already told, I missed seeing Cinderella Man despite wanting to.

The other day I finally got my chance. True to my long abated expectations the movie matched what I’d heard. Renee Zellweger was superb. Being a ‘typical girl’ – the whole boxing bit didn’t so much appeal to me. Before you stop me and point out that movie revolves around ‘the fight’ (or even many) note that there’s a life story wound in amongst the not-too-painful-for-the-viewer boxing scenes – hence everyone winds up satistifed.

I would watch it again. And that’s saying something.

The other ‘long awaited’ movie was one that I got to see yesterday, The House of Sand and Fog one raved about by… hmm, Tom -perhaps. I think that at one time someone even provided a big fait spoiler by giving me a complete synopsis. I was pre-warned that the movie was depressing. The movie itself was somewhat slow, but a beautiful arrangement with a plot that’s not half bad. As warned it was incredibally depressing and really quite disturbing.

I doubt I’d go out of my way to see it again, but I can appreciate it for what it is and the issues it plays somewhat rawly with.