Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

I put on, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Emma Thompson was great. I sometimes forget what a great actress she is. I don't know what the guy's name is, he was cute though. (I'll look it up) He had the sexiest voice.

I thought it was a going to be a light weight comedy to end the week. It wasn't a light weight comedy. There was a real exploration of self. And sex. And the baggage that goes with all of that. It was good. I liked it. I like stories that are real. I like real people interacting in movies. I'd recommend it.

And the Alabama Shakes, a new band to discover.

Fight Club

Who knew the movie Fight Club was a meditation on same sex attraction.

The Shape Of Water

We went to see The Shape of Water. Unfortunately, I had a laughing fit in the key scene, (The Ziegfeld Follies scene) as I thought it was so ridiculous and cliched. (David and Sam had both their hands over my mouth) In a small cinema too, what's more.

It was a gorgeous film to look at, the design was fabulous.

However... just more American pap, in my opinion.

Call Me By Your Name

We went to see Call Me By Your Name, Sam, David and I. The cinema was full of Millennials, groups of girls and straight Millennial couples, nary a gay boy was in sight, which we thought was kind of odd for a gay film, still, I guess that is the consequence of going mainstream. The cinema was full too, as it was cheap arse Monday, not that the cinema being filled to capacity made any difference to my cinema experience.

I was completely captivated by Timothée Chalamet. In some ways, he reminded me of myself at his age, except without the confidence, or quite the charisma. I think what I mean, is that I looked a little like him and I had hair like his.

I wasn't so keen on Armie Hammer at the beginning, oh, I wasn't so keen on him much at all, but I guess he grew on me, or I got used to him, or something, but in the end, he was satisfactory. Still, I think the film would have been better with a different actor playing his part.

I loved the time in which it was set. I loved the old Fiats. One of the Fiats, I remember, had the BG prefix on the number plate, which is from Bergamo in the Lombardia region. Of course, that is no guarantee of anything, but I just like that kind of stuff.

The house was gorgeous, and it reminded me of the houses I have visited in Europe. It reminded me of travelling through Italy a little later than that time, at around the same age, when I discovered the beauty of Italy and Italians, even if I didn’t discover love like they did.

I liked the story, it was a nice, sweet love story. A friend today asked me if it was about love, or was it about lust? He thought it was about lust. I thought it was about both, love primarily, as the two aren’t mutually exclusive after all, quite the contrary.

The only bit I found less than convincing was, what I would call, the pivotal moment, but that may have been my fault. What I remember off the top of my head,

They’d gone for a bike ride, they’d come to a statue, Elio told Oliver that it represented some specific battle from world war one.

Oliver asks Elio if he knew everything.

Elio leans on the railing around the statue, or some such thing, and says something like he wanted to tell Oliver. He wanted Oliver to know. Elio repeats that he wanted Oliver to know. And then Oliver is telling Elio they should never speak of such things.

I turned to David and said, “Did I just blink and miss something?”

“It was very subtle,” David replied.

And I was left feeling less that satisfactory about that whole scene.

I have to be honest, right at that pivotal moment, there were two Fiats parked in the carpark by the statue, one of which, the most prominent brown one, I was sure was newer than 1983 when the movie was set, and I was distracted by it. It was a 1990s Fiat, I rather thought.

I was distracted, and it was my fault. Moral of the story, be careful not to get distracted by minor details at major plot points, although, how ones knows that, other than in retrospect, is tricky.

I googled the scene, and this is the conversation I missed. And it is kind of the key piece of conversation. (Should there be a spoiler alert here? No, I don’t think I am really giving anything away)
“I know nothing, Oliver.”

“You seem to know more than anyone else around here.”

“If you only knew the little I know about the things that matter.”

“What things that matter?”

“You know what things.”

“Why are you telling me this,” asks Oliver.

“Because thought you should know?”

“Because you thought I should know?”


I googled the Fiat, and while it was produced in the 1990s, that particular model was first released in 1983, so in that scene it was brand new.


I liked the movie. It was a sweet love story set in a beautiful house in a beautiful part of Italy, what was there not to like?

The lights came up as the credits rolled and the Millennials were saying like this and like that and rolling their eyes when I hadn’t immediately moved my feet out of the way so that could move their princess selves passed me and to the exit.

I turned to David. “I hated it.”

I turned to Sam. “It was so boring, I was wondering when it was ever going to finish.”

“You can’t be serious,” I said to Sam.

I turned to David. “You can’t be serious?”

“Two and a half hours I will never get back,” says David.

“It was a piece of shit,” says Sam.

“What?” I stuttered as I looked from one to the other. “I liked it. I don't think it was the best gay love story ever filmed, as one review I read claimed, but it was sweet...”

“Oh please,” says David.

“You can’t be serious,” says Sam.

The Most Disgusting Movie Ever Made

Not so long ago, I was in Cash Converters looking at DVDs when I came across a movie on the cover of which it was stated, "The most disgusting movie ever made." Well, that got my interest. That is a big call I thought, best I buy that and have a look. It is a rape revenge movie, so today when I was home alone, I thought I'd pop it on and have a look.

Sam's and my taste in movies couldn't be more opposed. He likes big action block busters like Transformers, Avengers, Thor and the like, and I like movies that are not that, so he wouldn't want to watch this movie anyway.

Not that this movie is to my tastes. I hate violent movies, but when they make such a claim as the most disgusting movie ever made, well, you just have to give it a go. I'm pretty sure I will turn it off before it gets to the end, but be that as it may, with much trepidation I slid it into the DVD player.

Buddy headed to the back door and to his kennel as soon as the movie started, as if he knew.

Sometime later...
don't go outside. Why are you going outside...

Sometime later...
you go Jennifer!

11.30am.
That was pretty lame. I Spit On Your Grave (1978). It was pretty B grade, kind of amateurish, bad acting, holes a mile wide in the script, but, I guess, it gave a bit of a snapshot of the 1970s.

I see that it has many sequels and a number of remakes. Well, I won't be watching any of them, any time soon.

The sun is shining, I'm off to get lunch.

Love Actually

I walked down to Smith Street in the afternoon, the sun was shining, it was a lovely day. TattsLotto, sausages and potatoes, for mashed potato, of course, from Coles, for dinner, but just a sniff around cash Converters in between to look at the CDs (the no 1 second hand CD, in any second hand shop, is Dido’s No Angel, don’t know why, just thought you might like to know that) and to look for the missing episodes of Weeds, season four and season five.

I’ve been reading a lot about the sequel to Love Actually lately, and all this talk of the sequel put it in my head to watch it again. I thought I had a copy of the original, a Bali knock-off, to be sure, but when I went looking for it I couldn’t see it in my dvd collection. (It was probably David’s thinking about his dire movie tastes) Oh well.

When I was in Cash Converters there were quite a few copies of Love Actually on display, all $3. Then I saw a 3 movie dvd pack of Love Actually, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones Diary for $3. OMG, I thought, as I reached for it. It is true, I did say OMG, but quietly and under my breath, not out loud so anybody could hear. I’d part with my shekels for that, I thought. I’m a closet Hugh Grant fan, after all. The thinking poofs leading man.

So, we watched Love Actually late in the afternoon. I liked it all over again, you know, in that same way you eat a Big Mac, it’s easy, and it fills a spot.

Now, I’m listening to Dido’s No Angel, (thank you Apple Music) just to see what all the fuss is about, or not about, as the case may be.

Scrum

We watched "Scrum" at the Queer Film Festival. We went with David and Lachlan. Mark met us there, (he's been down from NSW for a week) after spending the day in the botanical gardens with his sister and their mum. His mum suffers from alzheimers. He pushed her around in the wheel chair, up a lot of hills by the way he was saying that he was creaking.

Scrum, it was quite nice, even if I did nod off at one stage, but I liked what I saw. The cinematography was very washed out and blue. The characters were good. Mark cried he was so touched. Sam said it was rubbish, but he does tend to like blockbusters, or animated. David was straight on his phone afterwards, as he does, yap, yap, yap, so I didn't hear what he thought. Lachlan wore a beanie. (David and Lachlan are on the precipice of breaking up, Lachlan was very quiet)

Sam and I spent the earlier part of the day having lunch, sushi train, and sniffing around Dick Smith for a bargain. All the city outlets. (I refuse to say store. When did Australian's change to saying "store" exclusively?) 

The sun was shining in that warm, golden, wintry kind of way, it was nice to be in Fed Square, in the late afternoon. We drank coffee, of course, and white wine, dry white wine.

On The Beach

I bought a copy of On The Beach (even if the cover says La Hora Final, yes, I had to resort to buying a Spanish copy) Gregory Peck and Ava Garner (one of the most beautiful woman ever born) shot in Melbourne in 1959, so I can see what Melbourne looked like in 1959 (the pinnicle of man's existence, 1959, it has been all down hill since that year, but that is another story) Yes, so I can yet again cry at the beauty Melbourne once was and, yet again, lament the Frankenstein Melbourne has now become.

At the exact moment I was sliding the DVD into the blu-ray DVD player, the said blu-ray player ceased to function and from all reports (read frantic googling) it is now cactus and all that remains is for it to be buried at the bottom of the garden.

So what should I take from this? Clearly, all new age thinking is telling me that the universe does not want me to watch this DVD? I should consult the cards, or the stars, the tarot, or Zelda and her crystal ball, clearly. I should have my guru on speed dial for occasions just like this. Maybe, I should make an appointment with my trans-personal councillor?

Wolf of Wall Street

We went to see Wolf of Wall Street, Sam, David and I. It was great, really very funny. We laughed out loud. Leonardo Dicaprio is such a good actor. The rest of the cast was good too.

Supposedly a true story, the excess' of their world were truly mind boggling. It was like living every day at Mardi Gras.

The only fault I would mention, and maybe I am wrong, but the scene where they travel from Italy to Monaco where the boat is swamped by huge seas, in what would have to have been the Mediterranean, I doubt would occur. I don't think the Mediterranean is subject to weather like that. But, maybe I am wrong and maybe that is just artistic license?

I Think The Choice Was A Throwback To Her School Girl Crushes

Up early to see Moneyball with Jill. I think the choice was a throwback to her school girl crushes and Brad Pitt, rather than an actual choice in movies. 

Sam and I felt a bit wrecked, cursing that we’d agreed to an early session, 13.45. Sam said he was waiting for me to cancel.

The movie was good, okay. Brad Pitt was pretty good, I guess. It had a nice moody atmosphere. Good cinematography. Another win for him to add gold to his coffers.

We had soup in Victoria Street as we headed home.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

I went to see Percy Jackson and the lightning thief. It wasn't my choice of movie and it was at Southland, what's more.

 
What a ridiculously pretty cast. Let’s face if the two leads had a child, it is likely that it would be a great big blue eye. Do they have a plot just outside Vegas, just next to the gay porn stars with huge cocks, where they grow them? Dark hair, blue eyes, perfect features. You should see what they all looked like at a training camp for young demigods.

I liked the premise of the movie, the Greek gods and their offspring, but it was teenage fare, to be truthful. They could, actually, learn something about Greek mythology, true.

And, you know, out in the burbs, at a suburban shopping mall, the boys are not without their charms.

Films

In the last week, or so, I've headed to the cinema, with Mark and Luke and on my own.

I went to see, Sampson and Delilah, what a great film. What a devastating film. It's amazing that you can make a film with no dialogue, or, at least, with what little dialogue there is, it is just so unimportant.

I saw Wake in Fright. It was great. I really loved it. Ugly Australia, what could be more perfect. Jack Thompson was hot. And old American Fairlaine for a rue hunt. it couldn't have been more perfect. A full front nudity to rebel against the times we're in. Great cinematography. Great landscapes. Great characters.

I saw Bruno. I laughed in some bits, but, grimace, ho-hum for the most part. I guess I couldn't get my head around them not being actors, for the most part. I loved the talk show.

The lawsuit scene, at the bingo hall, has been deleted. Chickens.

My Year Without Sex

I went to see My Year Without Sex. I liked it, a simple and charming story. I've always loved Matt Day there is something really lovely about him. Natural. Honest. Not to mention the killer smile.

It did touch on the problem with parents today and that is that children are running the show. It really is time parents showed some back bone and took back control.

The paedophile was hilarious. The yuppy couple revolting. The Christians, well, your normal uptight lot. Her decision about God enlightening. The family life was played well, realistically. The story was good. There are lots of things subtly included in this film. The cinematography was a bit too stark, at times, for my liking.

David and I saw, The Art of Being Straight and Between Love and Goodbye @ QFF. Both okay. John, in The Art of Being Straight, just adorable. Annoying stereotypical gay older lover, though. Too cliched for me. Between Love and Goodbye should have been great, but one half of the couple was whiny annoying and the brother was too, too, much. But, over all, I liked both films.

Oh yawn, Heath Ledger got the supporting Oscar.

Is it just me or do other people find his family just a little creepy. They seem to enjoy their ill-gotten lime light just a little too much. Go to the opening of an envelope, as they say.

Must go see Milk. 

Movies

I watched...

Slumdog Millionaire - so the Indians make a formulaic American movie and beat the Americans at their own game. It was good.

The Bankjob - yawn, another pommy cops and robbers movie. I spent part of the movie trying to convince my friend that the lead actor was not Guy Richie.
Great cars, though.

Sitting up late in bed... The Dreamers - I've always loved this movie, nice to go back to it to have another perve.

Saturday night in DVD's

Troy - Will this movie ever end? Sure, Brad is pretty, but we always knew that.
Eric Bana is beefed up too.

Little Miss Sunshine - oh please Toni? Surely you can get better material than this? Rubbish.

Shelter

Love brings together two men who aren't sure where to fit a relationship into their lives in this romantic drama. Living in the oceanfront working-class community of San Pedro, Zach (Trevor Wright) is a young man in his early twenties who has been forced into the role of emotional anchor for his dysfunctional family; his mother is dead, his father is too ill to work, his sister Jeannie (Tina Holmes) is too busy partying to look after her five-year-old son Cody (Jackson Wurth), and Zach is the only one with the wherewithal to hold down a job and keep the rent paid. He's sacrificed his dream of attending CalArts in order to help Jeannie raise Cody. Between cooking at a diner and looking after Cody, Zach has little in the way of spare time, but as often as he can he heads to the beach to indulge his passion for surfing. While hanging out with his surfing buddy Gabe (Ross Thomas), Zach meets Gabe's brother, the struggling homosexual writer Shaun (Brad Rowe), who has taken a break from Tinseltown while rebounding from a dysfunctional relationship. Shaun goes surfing with Zach one day, and the two discover they're powerfully attracted to one another, and a flirtation turns into a love affair. As Shaun has to explain to his girlfriend why he no longer wants to be with her, Zach tries to make Jeannie and his father understand why he's come out of the closet. Shelter was produced for the gay and lesbian-oriented cable television network, though it enjoyed a brief theatrical release before its broadcast premiere. Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Doubt

The legs getting better, thanks. I couldn't see a doctor and thought I might have to take myself off to the hospital, but really, what are they going to do anyway? In the sense, that I can walk today, where I couldn't yesterday. Badly, but I can walk. I even drove.

David and I went to see Doubt at the Nova. I'm not sure that I got it. I left feeling it was about homophobia; that a possibly gay priest took a young, gay boy under his wing for noble reasons and the church establishment wasn't going to have it? That probably wasn't it, if you get a non-gay perspective.

It was great to see Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep go one another, though. Phillip Seymour Hoffman raged and Meryl Streep exploded in response, in their confrontational scene. I find both actors a joy to watch.

It was beautifully shot, lovely cinematography, gorgeous period settings, great cars. The nuns looked like a group of bats while the priests seemed like a boy's club.

But what was it about? Tradition meets the future? Changing times and the power struggle that ensues? An admission that pedophilia has been known in the church for longer than the latest scandals? That priests have always been gay, you know, thanks to celibacy? I'm not sure.

I guess I enjoyed it? No, I did like it, I'd have to say. It held my attention all the way through, but that could have been because of the fine actors, as much as anything.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

I went to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It seemed interesting, what I saw of it. It was Friday night, the end of the week. I've worked two weekends in a row. We had a couple of joints before we went in, I was asleep within 10 minutes.

I'd also been to work drinks, hanging with Charlie. But throw in stubbies of Carlton, maybe three. Actually, it started at a farewell lunch, when I ordered a pint because they didn't have schooners not realising how much bigger pints were. Then not thinking that I'd get another pint when the guys went for more drinks. I wafted around the office all afternoon.

In the cinema, I tried to wake myself up so many times, but couldn't. The 'giving in' was glorious.

It's a pity, the movie was really interesting the way it was shot in the beginning from the eyes of a man waking from a coma, coupled with sleepy eyes. It was mesmerising. I was right there.

Apparently, the movie was great. Both Mark and Luke were impressed, telling me I had to go and see it again, as I stumbled to the car - thinking I was in Brunswick Street, only to have my entire reality spin when Lygon Street came into focus. Everything looked shiny and black and was moving fast.