This is a emotionally gruelling but ultimately well made film, about the worst things that could possibly go wrong, following a single act of “evil.”

It mildly bemuses me that this film is rated “R” in America — sure it contains drug use, perky breasts and a fair amount of graphic voilence, but I found myself more caught up in the tragedy and irony of the characters and the disastrous situations unfolding.

The biggest gripe one could have with Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, is that because of the omnipitent pathos in this production, combined with the nearly 2 hour running time… One feels emotionally drained by the end. This is definitely not a feel-good film. Really, it’s a hard film to watch.

Nonetheless, I’d encourage you to watch it (if you are prepared for the unrelentingly tense atmosphere) as the acting is extremely convincing, and the structure, while not the conventional chronological series of events, isn’t confusing.

See more informatin on IMDB.com.

Well I’m finally back again. I now have a job. Granted, it doesn’t pay very well, the hours are long, there aren’t really any breaks to speak of… but at least I have a job (and free coffee and quite nice food!). If you ever happen across Stuzzi (on High Street, Northcote) feel free to say “Hi” to the resident dish pig.

Latest fashion transgressions

After being in a western cultural vacuum for over 9 months (well okay there was Westlife, Backstreet Boys and Linkin Park — but they’re not what one would call culturally significant), I again find that many people (and unfortunately now my little sister) have no clue.

• Fluro! (My little sister has succumbed to this “retro” style… And I thought we left behind the fluro and lycra for good?)
• Emo (Anyone seen that Sprite billboard: “If emos are non-conformist, Why do they all look the same?” — it’s sheer brilliance)

And amusingly enough, the thick rimmed glasses are still around (I also recently found a pair in my nanna’s garage of funk, but promptly misplaced them somewhere). Personally I think only the Blues Brothers should be allowed to wear them. I was thankfully wrong about the shoulder pads.

My new toy

After about two months of consideration and two weeks hard work, I now have a white/pearl Asus EeePC 4G. :-)

I can say with pride (and a hint of smugness) that due to my foresight (ie: use a flexible style), this site works quite well on the 800×480 screen.

If you’re interested in one, check out EeeUser.com, as it’s more informative than the Asus page.

Today Joe and I were informed that we have two days off due to the classes we teach having an important exam (and thus needing time to prepare, etc)… We made this short film:

Windows Movie Maker (it’s decent enough to do what we want, but can anyone recommend a better [free] alternative?) and a Canon PowerShot A530 were the primary tools we used. The soundtrack is “Ambush in the Passage” by Jeremy Soule from the Total Annihilation real-time game.

Many thanks to the Wang Wang (??) biscuit company for giving us inspiration and tasty snacks!

Let’s just say: This is not your average Bond Film.

Certainly, there was an amazing chase about 5 minutes into the film, with the baddie performing some amazing Parkour, with Bond barely managing to keep up.

However, where the film significantly diverges from the past couple of offerings (License to Kill, Golden-Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day) is that it examines Bond’s character in a degree of depth. Indeed, this surprisingly is, for a Bond film, a character driven panoply.

It seems to work, although one got the distinct feeling that his soul-searching was not going to last long. After all, Bond is a timeless character — the perfect device for sequels. There is going to be plenty of guys and bad guys and girls (well, married women, in this case) yet.

The plot wasn’t fantastic. It didn’t make too many satirical observations about the world today (a la the Tomorrow Never Dies Murdochesque media empire), aside from “things were better during the Cold War”, and the terrorism related parts were a little contrived. However, there was a well crafted tension in parts of the film, which demonstrates some of the sensitivity in this feature.

Obviously, being a Bond Film, it will not change your life. That said, it certianly and competently carries the the torch of the franchise. Quite a lot of fun, with some intriguing elements.

(Click on the image to see the full version)