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Good stuff in Revenge of the Sith

October 17, 2015October 5, 2017yggdrasille

Nooo-Meme-Darth-Vader-04 — No, this moment is not one of the good things about the movie

They’re screening all of the Star Wars movies on Channel 7 Saturdays, and tonight it was Revenge of the Sith. I’m not a mega Star Wars fan by any means so I wouldn’t say that the prequels ruined my childhood memories or whatever, but there’s no doubt that they deserve the hate they get. This movie has many of the same issues that flattened the hell out of its predecessors, but overall it’s the most watchable one of the three. Which is faint praise I guess, but it does have quite a few things I genuinely enjoy and it manages to have some good moments of pathos and drama, mostly when the actors are spared having to spout Lucas’ stilted dialogue.

Quote of the day

October 15, 2015yggdrasille

“Here and now, we are alive.”

– from Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

The Expats by Chris Pavone – Book Review

October 13, 2015August 30, 2024yggdrasille

Fun, fast read for the summer; part spy thriller, part domestic drama.

The Martian – Film Review

October 10, 2015October 17, 2017yggdrasille

martian Really loved this movie. It’s a strange one coming from Ridley Scott, whose previous sci-fi films are not exactly known for their sense of optimism and belief in the best in people, yet with The Martian he strikes a perfect tone: it’s entertaining, inspiring, enormously good-natured and with a perfect mix of seriousness and silliness. It celebrates science, intelligence, perseverance, teamwork, and is full of likeable characters I wanted to give hugs to. It is also a love letter to that humble vegetable, a potato (no, seriously).

The Cats of Kilkenny

October 9, 2015yggdrasille

The only thing that’s better than a limerick is a cat limerick!

There once were two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought there was one cat too many.
So they fought and they fit,
And they scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats, there weren’t any.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl – Film Review

October 7, 2015April 7, 2024yggdrasille

20150811 For the first time ever, I ended up watching a movie in an empty theatre. It wasn’t a surprise: I went to an early session in the morning after the AFL Grand Final, in a cinema whose main demographic probably wouldn’t find the movie all that enticing. To be honest I don’t think I liked my solitary viewing; as much as I seethe against the inconsiderate talkers and rustlers at the movies, cinema is a shared experience and even a single other person in the audience makes a difference as far as the atmosphere goes. As it was, it just felt rather weird and off.

Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult – Book Review

October 4, 2015March 6, 2023yggdrasille

It didn’t occur to me until later, but this book bore very strong similarities to My Sister’s Keeper, probably Picoult’s best-known novel. Let’s see, it’s about a family with a special needs child, a mother who is well-meaning but blinded to some truths about her family in her single-mindedness, another daughter who feels neglected and misunderstood, a father who is caught in the middle, a lawyer who has her own side story; there’s a court case and a big shock ending. Still, as the legal battle at the centre is completely different, it wouldn’t be fair to call it a rehash.

Melbourne

October 1, 2015yggdrasille

This December will be 20 years since we moved to Melbourne, and I think it’s a fine place to live in, despite the random weather, railway crossings, high cost of living, Punt Road and way too much black in fashions.

Beach cabins at the Middle Brighton Beach

St Kilda; the first Melbourne suburb we lived in when we arrived in Australia. By a weird coincidence, I also got my first ever job as a housekeeper in the same serviced apartments we had first stayed in.

Flinders Street Station, one of my favourite buildings in the city.

Melbourne Moomba Festival, on a rare occasion when I actually attended it. I get less fond of crowds with age, but in a right mood it can be quite invigorating.

Queen Victoria Gardens; we didn’t have TV or computer for some weeks after we moved, so I remember my family hanging around there a lot… getting fresh air and exercise before I could play Civilization for the thousandth time again.

Crown Casino

This statue is actually called Angel, but I always thought of it as the pushmi-pullyu beast from a children’s book. When we first came to Melbourne it used to stand by the National Gallery, but now it’s near Yarra River.