Movies!

What have I been watching you ask?? Well you're most likely not asking that. It'd be more along the lines of why am I reading this... Well congratulations on reaching the 30th word without tabbing back to Redtube. And now I shall begin. Last weekend I watched Judd Apatow's Funny People, Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, Samson and Delilah, and Richard Kelly's Southland Tales. I think today I will focus on just one.

Firstly, Samson and Delilah is easily the best Australian film I have seen in a long time. To be honest I haven't been keeping up with local films and that is not to say the quality is to blame, it's more the severe lack of exposure. Sure if I wanted to seek them out I could. And being someone who hopes to one day film and promote his own film in this dusty cinematic climate, I probably should. Back to the film though, if you still haven't seen Warwick Thornton's 'True Love' story (as advertised by the film's tagline), do yourself a favour and rent it. Or even buy it if you're willing to spend $29.95 towards a small boost to our film industry and a decent boost to your DVD collection. Without giving too much of the story away, this 'True Love' of which the tagline speaks comes in a near silent form (one of the most powerful aspects to this film) via a young Aboriginal girl and boy who travel away from their desolate community and head to Alice Springs (both badly beaten and with a plastic bottle of petrol under Samson's nose throughout every scene). This film feels the need to jam issues down you're throat at certain times (such as the opening scenes of young Samson leaning up from his mattress in the morning and spending the next minute huffing petrol from a rusty paint tin, which isn't far off stoners waking up and pulling a cone before even getting out of bed...) but there are important messages here that I'm sure don't need to be mentioned. Also this film has so many beautiful shots it's almost worth watching for the visuals alone; one of the most stunning scenes in the film showed nothing but the underside of a highway running over a small gully, with a blue dusk light above and a flickering fire illuminating the concrete underneath (this is where the two sleep for a majority of the film).

I will post further reviews later in the week but will also add that I have been watching Breaking Bad, a show about a science teacher who after being diagnosed with lung cancer tries to leave enough money for his family of three by setting up a meth-lab. Everything goes horribly wrong and (dark) hilarity ensues. Exceptional writing and very sympathetic characters. Check it out.