Early this morning there was another major earthquake, this time in Chile. The Big Picture has a photo blog up that they are updating as new information comes through. The death toll is currently 214, but looking at those images it’s hard to believe it won’t rise significantly.

One last word, if you are thinking of donating, you may want to read this little piece on the Red Cross first. I have donated to the Oxfam International Crisis Fund in the past, but whoever you choose to do, do a little investigation first. You may be suprised how little actually goes to the crisis you are donating for.

Creepy Santa is creepy

Seen tonight at the Grace Emily in Adelaide. At one stage Creepy Santa tried to dance on our table, only to slip and fall on his creepy head, rubbing his creepy ass on the guy sitting next to Michelle on the way down.

The second movie Michelle and I saw last week was Away We Go, a new film by Sam Mendes. I had absolutely no awareness of this going in, so I was pleasantly suprised to find a quirky, funny, enjoyable film.

The film follows a couple who are searching for a new place to settle down as they have no ties to the town where they are currently living. They come up with a list of friends, family and tenuous acquaintances who live in areas which interest them and spend the film visiting each in turn. It’s a road movie, of sorts, but the interest doesn’t come from the wide open countryside but the bizarre, sweet, and sometimes fucked up people that they meet.

I’d had my wisdom teeth removed literally the day before we saw the movie, but even with a mouth full of blood I was laughing along with this movie (although that may have been the codeine). The main characters are eminently likable and you really want it to work out for them, but the supporting cast really carry the humour and pathos of the film. It even has a kiwi (Melanie Lynskey) in it, so now you have to watch it!

Michelle and I were lucky enough to get to two preview screenings last week, the first of which was 9 by Shane Acker. I was actually pretty keen to see this, as the trailer was excellent and I enjoyed the short film it was based on.

Unfortunately, the final film got nowhere near to meeting my expectations. It was frustrating, boring and ultimately forgettable. While visually stunning in places,the writing can’t match the visuals. The characters (in particular the main protagonist) are poorly written stereotypes and their decisions are, even in the context of the film, are completely illogical. I am usually pretty tolerant of contrived plot devices if the action is exciting and the characters enjoyable, but 9 misses all these marks. The antagonist in the film is created in a scene where the hero makes a random decision for no reason that is never questioned on and never held accountable for. He is directly responsible for the death of one of the last 9 living entities on earth, and yet the others still follow him like he’s a messiah!

The more I think back on it, the more frustrated I get. It seems that there is a good story in there trying to get out, but it ends up getting buried pretty deep.. It really is a shame about the plot, because it sure does look good.

I was lucky enough to catch a preview screening of Capitalism: A Love Story last week. It was all the things you would expect from a Michael Moore Film; depressing, inspiring, frustrating, bewildering and above all, totally one-sided!

Like The Cove, this is a film that sets out with a story in mind and edits out anything that doesn’t support it. Also like The Cove, it paints such a terrible picture that you feel that there is no need to see the other side as nothing could justify the cruelty that these people inflict on others (or dolphins, like in The Cove (really, you should watch that, it’s good)). It makes you challenge your beliefs and to question your own lifestyle - these are the things that a good documentary should do! Not since Life and Debt have I felt so angry at the culture of greed that drives western society.

Capitalism hearkens back to Michael Moore’s first film, Roger and Me, and is easily as strong as Sicko. It still has the US-centric viewpoint that made Fahrenheit 911 so boring, but since the economic fuck ups in the US had such a global reach it makes sense this time to keep such a tight focus. It also helped me endure the heavy religious themes towards the end, as I can understand how that would play in America even if it doesn’t resonate with me.

So, a one eyed flag waving American puff piece on the evils of capitalism, and still it got a standing ovation. Although in a crowd where everyone got in for free, it’s probably preaching to the converted.

I managed to get an eye infection that left my eyes bloodshot and so goddam itchy that it was driving me crazy. I also caught a cold at the same time, so I ended up sick at home today. “Why, that’s a perfect time to install Windows 7”, I thought to myself. And so I did exactly that.

I have been enduring Vista for over a year now and I honestly don’t know why I bothered with it for so long. It made any task on my home PC into a long drawn-out battle. Thankfully Michelle had a macbook that I could use when I wanted to get something done in a reasonable timeframe.  After using Windows 7 for just one afternoon I already love it. It is the OS that Vista was always meant to be.

The installation was relatively painless, although I had to run a network cable across the house to get internet access so I could download my wireless network card drivers (reminded me of those old CD-ROM drivers that came on a CD). I installed the 64-bit version too, which has been absolutely painless compared to when I tried the same thing on Vista.

So, in summary, two thumbs up! I would even recommend paying for this one ;)

Time for another movie review, and coincidentally time for some hyperbole. The Hurt Locker is the best war movie I have seen in a long time, maybe ever. It is almost documentary-like in it’s portrayal of military life in Iraq. There is nothing gratuitous about this film at all. It never glamorizes, never dramatizes. It is just an honest look at the lives of soldiers in Iraq.

Except, of course, that these soldiers are in a bomb defusal squad, which leads to some nervously intense scenes. The cameos are used brilliantly and the acting is top class. I am finding it a very hard movie to fault. Perhaps my only bugbear being that the famous actors who do appear can dilute the movie, making you realise that this is just fiction after all. It is honestly that convincing.

I can’t think of a better movie that I have seen all year. Watch it now!

I caught a free screening of Orphan last week. It was one of those horror movies that is kinda creepy but also quite silly, and there were more than a few unintentional laughs throughout (like the psychiatrist with a window overlooking a meat processing plant).

The movie also tried to be clever and trick you constantly. It would set up an audio cue and frame the picture in a way to suggest it is about to jump scare you, but then it doesn’t follow through, or reveals that there is no threat. It was quite amusing the first few times, but by the end of the film it is so overplayed it becomes predictable.

The phone call that sets up the final act also was a bit too convenient and explained a bit too much. Nevertheless, the child actors used were all fantastic, particularly the one who played the deaf girl. If the story had a bit more meat to it and the director wasn’t so keen on tricking you with fake scares then it could have been great. As it is, it is pretty much just okay. Better than the standard horror fare these days, but not significantly so.

Kanye West’s annual stage invasion has given me endless amounts of joy over the last few days. I freely admit that I have spent far too much time at immaletyoufinish.com but the video above is perhaps the best. Don’t worry too much about Obama, though. He can hold his own.

Always take a spare pair of boxers to the gym. That way, when you accidentally drop them on the wet floor of the changing rooms, you don’t have to spend the rest of the day with a clammy ass.