New article alert! I wrote a review of ACMI's delightful new exhibition, Game Masters. All the details can be found over at Just One More Game
http://justonemoregame.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/special-guest-review-games-masters-at-acmi/
Monday, 23 July 2012
Thursday, 12 July 2012
OUYA? OOO Yeah.
So, the latest buzz topic in gaming is the OUYA and its highly impressive Kickstarter numbers. How impressive are they really though? I investigate over on Dusty Cartridge.
http://dustycartridge.com/features/ouya-the-revolution-will-be-televised/
http://dustycartridge.com/features/ouya-the-revolution-will-be-televised/
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Proteus preview up!
Quick note: I wrote a preview of upcoming indie gem Proteus, the fine folks over at Dusty Cartridge have it up now!
Check it out here:
http://dustycartridge.com/features/peaking-world-proteus/
(P.S. I didn't write the headline, using 'Peaking' instead of 'Peeking' is setting my teeth on edge... :-S)
EDIT @10:30PM Headline all fixed up, feel a bit goobery for complaining...
Check it out here:
http://dustycartridge.com/features/peaking-world-proteus/
EDIT @10:30PM Headline all fixed up, feel a bit goobery for complaining...
Thursday, 5 July 2012
RAOC 2.0!!!
Welcome back, to all the ghosts of blogs past who may still frequent this place.
So, the last time I tried to kick this off I lasted, what, 2 weeks? The first problem came when I undertook to create those accursed film diaries! What at the time seemed like a great way to give my blog a point of difference, in the end seemed a little too much like hard work...
So, things are going to be different this time. I have recently had offers to write content for a number of gaming blogs, a challenge which I was all too happy to accept. This blog then will stand as a centralised hub of my various writings. If I write something that appears on the internet, rest assured it shall be linked here!
To kick things off, at the below link you will find a piece I wrote on the trials and tribulations of waiting for indie classic Fez to be patched. It was published on The Age's Screen Play blog last week:
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/games/blogs/screenplay/your-turn-fezstration-20120628-213hk.html
Plenty more in the pipeline, stay tuned!
So, the last time I tried to kick this off I lasted, what, 2 weeks? The first problem came when I undertook to create those accursed film diaries! What at the time seemed like a great way to give my blog a point of difference, in the end seemed a little too much like hard work...
So, things are going to be different this time. I have recently had offers to write content for a number of gaming blogs, a challenge which I was all too happy to accept. This blog then will stand as a centralised hub of my various writings. If I write something that appears on the internet, rest assured it shall be linked here!
To kick things off, at the below link you will find a piece I wrote on the trials and tribulations of waiting for indie classic Fez to be patched. It was published on The Age's Screen Play blog last week:
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/games/blogs/screenplay/your-turn-fezstration-20120628-213hk.html
Plenty more in the pipeline, stay tuned!
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Melbourne Film Diary 01 Feb - 05 Feb
Welcome to another week of the Melbourne film diary, and I'm afraid things are not off to a great start! A couple of days late, and not only that but I have decided to fiddle with the format after a single solitary week. Rather than a top five of the weeks cinema, instead from now on the diary will offer a daily highlight, the must see movie on any given day in this fine city. So, on to the diary!
Wednesday 01 February
Summer continues, and that means outdoor cinema. Tonight's top pick is that evergreen classic, Casablanca. Showing at the rooftop cinema in Swanston St, watch Bogie and Bergman in one of the all time greatest romantic tales.
Casablanca, Rooftop Cinema, 9:30PM, Adult $20 + BF, Concession $16 + BF
http://www.rooftopcinema.com.au/screening/41
Thursday 02 February
It is Oscar season, which means the next month or so will see a steady stream of nominated and should've been nominated films. Today sees the release of a couple of doozies. First up, in the shoulda-been-nominated category, is film festival darling Martha Marcy May Marlene. Starring Elizabeth Olsen in a star making turn, this film deals with the struggle of a girl to pick up the pieces of her life after being ensnared by a cult. Secondly, in the definitely-nominated and current Best Picture front runner, The Artist. This French silent film took Cannes by storm and has since been going gangbusters on the American awards circuit. A must see for amateur Oscar pundits.
Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Artist. Both showing at Hoyts, Village and Palace Theatres.
Friday 03 February
Friday sees a return of the gleefully awful and the deliciously catty world of Cinema Fiasco at the Astor Theatre. To the uninitiated, CF features a tragically poor film, alongside the delightful commentary of hosts Geoff Wallis and Janet A. McLeod. Tonight's offering is the Blaxploitation/Horror mash up, Sugar Hill. The plot features both the Mob AND zombies! Awesome as that sounds, Thankfully it is not the plot you turn up for.
Sugar Hill, The Astor, 8:00PM, Adult $19, Concession $17
http://www.astortheatre.net.au/films/sugar-hill
Saturday 04 February
Back to the Astor for the second day running! Today they are showing the 2010 re release of Fritz Lang's masterpiece, Metropolis. This version is the extended version made with restored lost footage obtained from newly discovered prints in Argentina and New Zealand. Last time the Astor showed this film it was an absolute sell out, so be sure to get in early to grab a ticket. Doors open at 6:30PM.
Metropolis, The Astor, 7:30PM, Adult $15, Concession $14, Child/Pensioner $13
http://www.astortheatre.net.au/films/metropolis
Sunday 05 February
Sunday afternoons mean Sunday sessions, and where better than at The Shadow Electric? Located at the Abbotsford Convent, doors open at 3PM on Sundays with a full bar, comfy deckchairs, food available at the Convent, and table tennis for the athletically minded. This is all followed at sundown with a film. Tonight's showing is Submarine, a quirky British comedy directed by Richard Ayoade better known perhaps for his role as Moss on TV's The IT Crowd. Free entry until 7PM, after which a film ticket is required to stay.
Submarine, The Shadow Electric, Sundown, Adult $19, Concession $16, Child/Pensioner $14
http://shadowelectric.com.au/film/submarine
New Release films
All new releases opening Thursday unless otherwise noted.
The Artist - Hoyts, Village, Palace
Chronicle - Hoyts, Village
Man On A Ledge - Hoyts, Village
Martha Marcy May Marlene - Hoyts, Village, Palace
Bolshoi: The Sleeping Beauty - Village
Friday, 27 January 2012
Tropical Traumas
The Descendants
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, Beau Bridges
Hawaiian Lawyer and Property mogul Matt King's (George Clooney) life is overturned when his wife, Elizabeth is critically injured in a boating accident. Distraught by the condition of his comatose wife, Matt can barely concentrate on an important property deal for which he is the sole trustee of his greater extended family. On top of this, he is in sole charge of taking care of his youngest daughter for the first time in his life, as he says himself, he was very much the 'back up parent'.
So the plot stands after the first 20 minutes or so, and thus far is no different from the many other soapy melodramas available for your viewing pleasure. However, after this introductory 20 minutes, the movie really steps up a gear and shows why Alexander Payne is such a well regarded screenwriter.
Anyone who has seen previous Payne penned films will know how good he is at crafting fully realised, flawed and complex characters. A speciality, especially in his past few films has been creating older characters coming to key crossroads in their life, and realising that their system of values may have been slightly awry all this time. In About Schmidt Jack Nicholson played the titular character as a man utterly despondent at the course his life had taken, whereas in Sideways Paul Giamatti's wine snob Miles is consumed by bitterness and rage at the emptiness and failure of his life thus far.
Clooney's portrayal of King is almost the polar opposite of the wine soaked Miles. A man for whom success oozes out of every pore, King is the wealthiest and most successful member of his clan, and has worked hard to achieve this. His achievements have come at the expense of his relationships with his family, which he will spend the majority of the film trying to untangle. His focus on business is notable in an opening voice over in which he complains about how Hawaii is not like it seems in the movies, with people having the same problems as everywhere else. He goes so far as to note that he hasn't been on a surfboard in 15 years. This is a symptom of his disconnection with the lands of his forefathers, and his gradual awakening to the paradise around him is one of the major signposts of his personal growth. This is some of Clooney's finest work, burying his usual demeanour of smug certainty beneath the grief and anxiety that the twists of plot provide.
To focus too much on the performance and character of Clooney is almost criminal in a movie packed with such rounded characters and stunning performances. Every character has there own particular problems and flaws, and the actors do wonders with the meaty parts given them. Particularly notable are a pair of performances from Matthew Lillard and Judy Greer, of whom both are better known for comedic or lighter roles. Here they provide ample evidence of their dramatic chops in roles that are absolutely pivotal to the plot. Shailene Woodley is terrific as older daughter Alex, and indeed the movie only really comes alive when she enters the picture. She was terribly unlucky to miss out on an Oscar nomination for this breakthrough performance. Veteran actor Robert Forster has several small but key scenes as Elizabeth's grieving father, and is electric in them. I must also make a special mention of Nick Krause's ludicrously stereotypical spaced out beach bum, Sid. It is a mark of the quality of this film that even this character is shown to be deeper than he originally appears.
The backdrop to all of this is a Hawaii which is not the picture postcard island of countless surf and beach movies. Instead it is a Hawaii of a more rustic, primeval beauty. The choices made in cinematography show a lush island that makes one understand how it could be described as a paradise on earth.
All this sounds suitably superlative and yet... All the parts are there for a very satisfying film experience, and indeed it is highly entertaining. However, it never really takes off and becomes something that transcends its genre. Alexander Payne's screenplay is as terrific as always, but the direction is merely competent. The characters are well written and the actors are in top form, but which characters have really changed by the end, and by how much? Whilst a very well crafted and well acted drama, it lands somewhere above a TV disease of the week movie and below a truly amazing cinematic experience. Eminently watchable, but by no means compulsory.
Recommendation:
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, Beau Bridges
Hawaiian Lawyer and Property mogul Matt King's (George Clooney) life is overturned when his wife, Elizabeth is critically injured in a boating accident. Distraught by the condition of his comatose wife, Matt can barely concentrate on an important property deal for which he is the sole trustee of his greater extended family. On top of this, he is in sole charge of taking care of his youngest daughter for the first time in his life, as he says himself, he was very much the 'back up parent'.
So the plot stands after the first 20 minutes or so, and thus far is no different from the many other soapy melodramas available for your viewing pleasure. However, after this introductory 20 minutes, the movie really steps up a gear and shows why Alexander Payne is such a well regarded screenwriter.
Anyone who has seen previous Payne penned films will know how good he is at crafting fully realised, flawed and complex characters. A speciality, especially in his past few films has been creating older characters coming to key crossroads in their life, and realising that their system of values may have been slightly awry all this time. In About Schmidt Jack Nicholson played the titular character as a man utterly despondent at the course his life had taken, whereas in Sideways Paul Giamatti's wine snob Miles is consumed by bitterness and rage at the emptiness and failure of his life thus far.
Clooney's portrayal of King is almost the polar opposite of the wine soaked Miles. A man for whom success oozes out of every pore, King is the wealthiest and most successful member of his clan, and has worked hard to achieve this. His achievements have come at the expense of his relationships with his family, which he will spend the majority of the film trying to untangle. His focus on business is notable in an opening voice over in which he complains about how Hawaii is not like it seems in the movies, with people having the same problems as everywhere else. He goes so far as to note that he hasn't been on a surfboard in 15 years. This is a symptom of his disconnection with the lands of his forefathers, and his gradual awakening to the paradise around him is one of the major signposts of his personal growth. This is some of Clooney's finest work, burying his usual demeanour of smug certainty beneath the grief and anxiety that the twists of plot provide.
To focus too much on the performance and character of Clooney is almost criminal in a movie packed with such rounded characters and stunning performances. Every character has there own particular problems and flaws, and the actors do wonders with the meaty parts given them. Particularly notable are a pair of performances from Matthew Lillard and Judy Greer, of whom both are better known for comedic or lighter roles. Here they provide ample evidence of their dramatic chops in roles that are absolutely pivotal to the plot. Shailene Woodley is terrific as older daughter Alex, and indeed the movie only really comes alive when she enters the picture. She was terribly unlucky to miss out on an Oscar nomination for this breakthrough performance. Veteran actor Robert Forster has several small but key scenes as Elizabeth's grieving father, and is electric in them. I must also make a special mention of Nick Krause's ludicrously stereotypical spaced out beach bum, Sid. It is a mark of the quality of this film that even this character is shown to be deeper than he originally appears.
The backdrop to all of this is a Hawaii which is not the picture postcard island of countless surf and beach movies. Instead it is a Hawaii of a more rustic, primeval beauty. The choices made in cinematography show a lush island that makes one understand how it could be described as a paradise on earth.
All this sounds suitably superlative and yet... All the parts are there for a very satisfying film experience, and indeed it is highly entertaining. However, it never really takes off and becomes something that transcends its genre. Alexander Payne's screenplay is as terrific as always, but the direction is merely competent. The characters are well written and the actors are in top form, but which characters have really changed by the end, and by how much? Whilst a very well crafted and well acted drama, it lands somewhere above a TV disease of the week movie and below a truly amazing cinematic experience. Eminently watchable, but by no means compulsory.
Recommendation:
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
'Seven thumbs up'
One of the curious idiosyncrasies of a reviewers craft is the perceived obligation to boil a film experience down to the cold hard number of a review score. Whether using a star rating, marks out of ten, letter grading or even just giving a particularly fine film 'Q pineapples out of ampersand', a scoring system basically renders a reviewers careful constructed critiques moot in the face of an arbitrary concrete number. Human beings have a remarkable love of comparisons and all the lovely arguments that they can provoke, as evidenced in comment threads throughout the internet when a reviewer is considered too generous or too mean with a score.
Here on Random Acts of Criticism I will be taking a slightly different tack. Whilst I will give every film I review a mark, it will be one of my own choosing. Numerical based ranking systems miss the point of the main reason that I read a review. This reason is chiefly to suggest the following; is this a movie I would like to see? If so, how much would I be willing to spend?
With this focus on recommendation rather than ranking, I will award each film reviewed one of the following four ranks. (An implied lesson from this ranking is that no movie is so bad that it should never be watched, it all just depends on the circumstances under which you watch it.)
Cinema: Only the best films reviewed will get a Cinema ranking. What this means is that, given the opportunity, you should do what you can to see this film in a proper theatrical setting. Going out to the movies is an expensive trip these days, no point wasting cash on dreck!
DVD: There are plenty of films out there that, whilst not being amazing, are still a couple of hours of good entertainment. Whilst not being 'must see' movies, they are certainly worth spending a few dollars on for a big night in at the movies.
Television: So, you're stuck at home, with nothing to do, no DVDs to watch. Flick on the idiot box and see if any of these films are playing. Certainly not worth paying for, and by no means the height of filmic achievement, these films aren't worth seeking out, but it still beats Home and Away.
Aeroplane: Here we are folks, the bottom of the barrel. These are the sort of films you should only watch only if you are imprisoned in a metal tube hurtling through the skies and your only choice of film is the god-awful few they force you to watch as part of the in-flight 'entertainment'. You have been warned.
And that concludes the entire rating system. Stay tuned tomorrow for the first film to be reviewed on Random Acts of Criticism, Alexander Payne's The Descendants.
Here on Random Acts of Criticism I will be taking a slightly different tack. Whilst I will give every film I review a mark, it will be one of my own choosing. Numerical based ranking systems miss the point of the main reason that I read a review. This reason is chiefly to suggest the following; is this a movie I would like to see? If so, how much would I be willing to spend?
With this focus on recommendation rather than ranking, I will award each film reviewed one of the following four ranks. (An implied lesson from this ranking is that no movie is so bad that it should never be watched, it all just depends on the circumstances under which you watch it.)
Cinema: Only the best films reviewed will get a Cinema ranking. What this means is that, given the opportunity, you should do what you can to see this film in a proper theatrical setting. Going out to the movies is an expensive trip these days, no point wasting cash on dreck!
DVD: There are plenty of films out there that, whilst not being amazing, are still a couple of hours of good entertainment. Whilst not being 'must see' movies, they are certainly worth spending a few dollars on for a big night in at the movies.
Television: So, you're stuck at home, with nothing to do, no DVDs to watch. Flick on the idiot box and see if any of these films are playing. Certainly not worth paying for, and by no means the height of filmic achievement, these films aren't worth seeking out, but it still beats Home and Away.
Aeroplane: Here we are folks, the bottom of the barrel. These are the sort of films you should only watch only if you are imprisoned in a metal tube hurtling through the skies and your only choice of film is the god-awful few they force you to watch as part of the in-flight 'entertainment'. You have been warned.And that concludes the entire rating system. Stay tuned tomorrow for the first film to be reviewed on Random Acts of Criticism, Alexander Payne's The Descendants.
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