LAMB Devours the Oscars - Up

Howdy all!
Just a note to say that my write up of Up and its Best Picture nomination is now at the Large Association of Movie Blogs (LAMB) for their LAMB Devours the Oscars event.

Go there NOW!!!

The 4-Week Subtitle Sensation!

Orright all? What’s occurring?

Here at Rach’s Media Opinions we have an event. It’s huge. Massive, even. On Tuesday night, my best mate is going away with her folks for 4 weeks . Granted I’d give the left testicle of God to go with her (Mauritius *sob*), but I can’t, so instead I’m house-sitting their 2 (that’s right, TWO) flat-screen televisions.



Consolation prize, yes, but I’m making the most of it. How am I going to spend my magical 4 weeks of magical TV alone time? I’m havin a foreign movie marathon, that’s how!

See, the thing with watching a subtitled movie is that you can’t really walk around or do too much else. That makes it difficult to watch them in a share house where people keep asking you to do shit. I’ve had a number of foreign films in my collection waiting for a moment where I could dedicate my uninterrupted attention, and I’m finally getting the chance!

Currently in my collection:

• Thirst
• JSA
• Nosferatu (technically silent, but you still have to pay attention)
• Audition
• Dead or Alive
• Fudoh
• Les Diaboliques

Already on my list (but don’t own):

• Let The Right One In
• The Chaser
• The Returner
• Inside
• Salo
• Full Metal Yakuza
• I’m a Cyborg but that’s OK
• Battle Royale
• Versus
• Cure
• Memories of Murder

I need more. That’s only 18. I NEED MOOOOOOOORE!!!!

I want 28 that I can get hold of. 1 a day (though that’s not necessarily how they’ll be watched). So I need a massive bunch of suggestions just in case my rental stores don’t have copies (stoopid Perth).


HELP!!!!

del.icio.us Tags: Movies,subtitles,towatchpile,4-week Subtitle Sensation

District 9 vs Avatar – Best Visual Effects

I know, I know, another Oscar post lamenting the popularity of Avatar. But I watched District 9 again last night and 2 cents jumped into my hand so I’m giving it to you whether you like it or not.

Look, as I’ve said before, I really did enjoy Avatar. It was a fun movie and the special effects were fabulous. For $300 million USD they’d fucking want to be! But here’s the thing. District 9 had a budget of $30 million USD, and the effects were as good, if not better. See where I’m going here?

The effects of District 9 were grittier and more realistic, and they demonstrated the quality that could be accomplished without a Cameron-sized budget. It’s not like the aliens only appeared in shadows, and it’s not like the aliens and humans never interact. You also can’t tell me that the cost was because the horizon needed to be generated, because District 9 has a dirty, great, big spaceship in the horizon for most shots!

But the other night, during my re-watch, I realised something that I believe puts District 9 over the edge. The lighting. One of the most difficult things to do right in graphics is lighting. Most filmmakers try to avoid well lit shots that involve CG. The reason is that if you don’t have the light source coming from exactly the right place, the shot looks fake. Basically, you shouldn’t be able to do shots like this without a budget higher than some countries GDP:

Alas, the likelihood of District 9 beating Avatar in the Best Visual Effects category is about as likely as it winning Best Picture. *Sigh* I know. Give it up.

del.icio.us Tags: Avatar,District 9,effects,graphics,Oscars,Best Visual Effects,awards,lighting

Happy Birthday to 3 Fabulous Fellas!

Everybody knows it was George Romero's birthday on 4th Feb (yesterday).

Happy Birthday!

Did you know it is H.R. Giger's birthday today ?? Me either! My friend at The Glass Walking Stick told me!

Happy Birthday!

And lastly, just for shits and giggles, it was Heavenztrash from In Nervous Convulsions birthday yesterday as well :)

Happy Birthday!

(not actual photo :P)

A Horror Weekend!

In more ways than one! Jeeby heebies, kids! What a weekend! I'm totally zombied on this Monday-est of mornings, so you'll have to excuse the typos, the ramblings and the tangents while I attempt to tell my story.

I'll start on Friday. What did I do on Friday? That's not a hypothetical question guys, I can't feckin remember...
Hmm. Watched Star Gate SG1 season 2 I think. It wasn't exciting. Maybe I shouldn't have started there...

OK. Saturday.
What did I do in the morning? God I'm tired.

Saturday Afternoon.
This I remember. I went to a friends house to help her move in. Now, this is fine. Helping friends move is always pretty tiring, but it has to be done (at least, it does if you ever want help for the same thing). So I did what I could, followed instructions and stayed on my feet for most of the arvo. We left around 6.20pm because I had to get changed.

To go to a concert of The Horrors.

Yep. I helped a friend move house before going to a live gig. Clever huh? I've also just realised that a lot of people reading this may have thought that "A Horror Weekend" may have meant that I spent a weekend watching horror films...
Hee! Ha ha ha! *Giggle* *Giggle* *Snort* *Sigh* Sux to be be you :P

Back to the gig.
It took place in a venue called The Amplifier Bar, which is a shite venue but seemed to suit the crowd. I felt old but that's no surprise. I managed to remember how to dress appropriately, but my hair wasn't big enough. Stretched ears and an eyebrow piercing made up for that though so I was able to conform nicely to the "total non-conformists".
 Alright, I'm taking the piss out of the crowd (and myself) but I promise that I won't be doing the same for the bands.

The support act was called Fabulous Diamonds. They were great! They're a duo from Melbourne I'd really like to hear more of. Repeating drumbeats with echoing vocals and electric organ melodies, I could have listened to them for a lot longer.

After an intro that was ridiculously long (seriously guys, that's not the way to rile up Perth audiences), The Horrors finally came out and started kicking everyone's arse. It was a really great gig, the sound was good (although the vocals could have been louder), the performance was great, and the crowd was happy. Two numbers that stood out for me were Scarlet Fields and Primary Colours. They didn't play "She is the New Thing" or "Jack the Ripper", but you can't have everything, can you? I was just happy to be in a place where I could dance around to music I actually like!

It was also a relief to hear Faris Badwan sing and know that his vocals are actually him and not some machine. There are too many "musicians" around nowadays that started in the studio. These guys are the real deal, thank God! Furthermore, Rhys Webb and Tom Cowan would swap instruments between them (bass and synthesizer) depending on the song (and album it came from).
Speaking of Tom Cowan, what a creepy mofo. Kinda glad he's found his outlet, if you know what I mean...

Once the concert was over, it turned out my weekend of horror was not complete. You see, me and my best mate volunteered to take care of the children of the friends who were moving, just to give them some space. So I wake up, deaf mind you, that concert was loud, jump out of bed and trundle back to the house I'd left the day before.

To keep the 3 kids occupied and hopefully tire them out, we decide to take them to the pools. 4 hours of swimming, eating, swimming and 1 exploding nappy later, do you think it was the kids who were tired? Hells no! It was the 2 adults skulling coke and coffee in a desperate attempt to outlast the children! It didn't work. I'm totally shattered. I don't even have the energy to yawn.

On the plus side, I just found out that The Big Pink are touring at the end of Feb, and Henry Rollins is doing a spoken word gig in May :D

I am Officially LAMB #435

Hey all!
I know I've been a little slack on my blog this week, but there's 2 reasons (excuses) for it.
Firstly, Monday I went to Raggamuffin, a Reggae music festival. Fantastic music but got stoned just by standing in the crowd. Ended up with the munchies by the time I got home! No where near a computer all day.
Secondly, Tuesday was Australia Day. It's un-Australian to do anything that can be considered work on Australia unless you don't have a choice (i.e. those serving food to the rest of Australia who can't be shagged cooking).
Those are my defenses and I'm sticking to them.


But on the "good news" front, I have officially been welcomed as a member of LAMB (Large Association of Movie Blogs). I am LAMB #435. Check my post out here.

Vote! Vote! Vote!

Here in Australia voting is compulsory, and so it is here too:




Do it now!