I saw an advanced screening of The Artist today and felt that it deserved its own review as I loved it that much. But just quickly, a little bit of background on my interest in this film. I have been passionate about silent cinema for years now. I was totally obsessed with it in high school and all of my year 12 art was about my favourite silent comedians. It all started when I read a book about Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and progressed to a massive love affair with silent comedy, in particular Buster Keaton (the guy pictured in my movie review header, as a matter of fact). Ever since then the golden era of Hollywood silent film is one of my favourite eras of cinema. It was a simpler time where so much could be conveyed without the need to resort to lots of talking (though I am also a huge fan of film noir of the 1940s which was the complete opposite of silent film, but I won’t go into that just now). So naturally, when I heard about this film many months ago, I was thrilled and have been counting down the weeks and days until I was finally able to see it.

The Artist is about famous Hollywood actor George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) who is the king of silent cinema. A chance encounter with a female fan, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) propels her into the public eye and due to her peppy (heh) nature and good looks she quickly starts to rise as a new star. Two years pass and as George’s home life starts to deteriorate, he is told by studio boss Al Zimmer (John Goodman) that they will cease production on all silent films and start making talkies. George is repelled by the thought of talking pictures and vows to make his own silent films by directing and staring in his own picture. But unfortunately for George, no one is interested in silent films any more and when his film is released, it is overshadowed by Peppy’s new talkie which is released on the same day. So begins George’s descent into obscurity, mostly because he is too proud to conform. His wife leaves him and within a few years winds up in a tiny apartment with his dog Jack (Uggie) and and alcohol problem. Meanwhile Peppy is the new big thing and the new darling of Hollywood, though she never stops thinking about George who helped her get where she is.

The most important thing you need to know about the film is that it is a silent film. Not just that it doesn’t have spoken dialogue, it is completely filmed in the same style as many silent films from the 1920s. Instead there is a wonderful music track that helps tell the story. The style of acting is even quite similar to how silent films were acted, with some slight exaggeration in order to convey emotions, though not enough to become hammy. They use title cards throughout, but nowhere near as many as you might expect for a modern silent film. There is actually small amount of proper audio, but I won’t elaborate on when they occur of why they’re there because that would give too much away. I know there will be a lot of people who will find this whole concept really bizarre and might not be able to enjoy it at first, which is why I’d suggest people to check out a few silent movies on youtube to get their head around how they work. It’s not all slapstick, fast motion, lingering looks and title cards telling you what was just said, there’s a fine and subtle art to how it all works and I’d hate for anyone to hate this movie because they don’t  get how silent films work.

Can I just say Jean Dujardin is my new movie star crush? Without him this film might not have been all that great. He embodies the silent movie star persona and never have I seen such fantastic acting. The way he can convey emotions without a single word is mind blowing! Plus he looks just like the classic Hollywood actor, clearly based on the likes of Douglas Fairbanks or Gene Kelly. He just… stole my heart! The way he could make the audience laugh and cry without actually saying a thing is no small feat. I don’t know if he is a dancer, but the way he danced in the film was so effortless, like he’d been doing it all his life. Amazing! Of course the other actors were terrific, but basically none of them manner in comparison to Jean.

OK I could gush for hours about how good this film is, but I won’t because I INSIST THAT YOU GO AND SEE IT. I know I recommend you go see a lot of the films I review BUT you can forget all of them right now and go see this film as soon as you possibly can. I want everyone to see what I can honestly say is one of the greatest films I have ever seen. After all, it’s been nominated for 10 Academy Awards and has won dozens of others all over the world. Please do yourself a favour and go see it. Hell, I plan to see it at least another couple of times so hit me up if you want someone to go with. I cannot praise it enough! I kind of feel like that crazy cat girl from youtube who just wants to hug all of the cats in the world, except I want to see every single screening of this movie ever!

Yesterday was Australia Day! I’ve never really been one to be patriotic or even that worried about celebrating public holidays beyond sleeping in late and doing bugger all for the day. But this year my best friend had an Australia Day BBQ so it was time to get out there and have fun. The theme was “bogan” but I decided to dress up in something completely different. I was also very much in a pink mood so I chose my pinkest and most in-you-face dress.

Dress: Gail Sorronda for Target
Shoes: Super cheapo pink flower thongs pinched from my mum’s closet :D

The dress was white, but as you may have already guessed about me, I don’t really like white (when you have pink hair, you tend to develop a healthy aversion to it) so I dyed it pink. It sort of looks tie-dyed, which was unintentional but I love how it turned out. I haven’t worn it in ages because a certain someone didn’t like it, but now that is no longer a problem, I am going to wear it more often!

And just for good measure, I thought I’d get into the Aussie Day spirit for a few moments:

How was your Australia Day?

Source

Let’s talk about fashion trends that don’t need to come back into fashion. Grunge would be the #1 for me. Because shitty old denim and flannelette shirts was a good look… not. It’s not a big surprise that it’s now “in” because I’ve been appalled at the atrocious 90s fashions that have been re-emerging in the last year or so. Prime example:

Clearly I am not  a fan of  maroon velvet, particularly of the crushed variety. If there was ever something that needs to stay firmly in our suppressed memories of bad 90s fashion, crushed velvet clothing is among them. Don’t even get me started on the thought of red velvet nerd shoes with lacey white ocks because that’s a rant that you don’t want to hear and I don’t have time to articulate properly.

Grunge was a fashion with a purpose, and bringing it back now for tweens and ditzy 20 year old’s who shop at General Pants Co, Supre and Cotton On pretty much goes against everything the grunge era stood for. But aside from that, it was hideously daggy and it offends my eyes to bear witness to it. Sure, it was cool at the time and compliments a very special era of music that still shapes the sound of alternative rock today. But flannelette shirts? No. Just no.

What I propose is that, since grunge fashion is being inflicted on us all, we also bring back some other classic looks of the 1990s. A few of my favourite examples:

Now they’re some fad’s I could (and do) get into!

It’s a HUGE change. It was something I’d been thinking about for a few months but I’m the type to procrastinate until the chance has gone or just plain wuss out and not go ahead with major decisions such as these. In other words, I’m all talk to action. And yet I had an epiphany last week and within six days I had moved my entire life across Brisbane. My mind is still boggling that a) I did it and b) I did it so quickly.

It’s easy to focus on the negatives when you make such a big change like this. I’m not a big fan of massive changes, I do like having a bit of a routine with the freedom to do what I want without bothering anybody else. Living with my mum now, I have to rely on here getting me to the train station (until my poor car gets back on the road) and it’s now a big deal transport and time wise getting to work our going out on a Saturday night. In order to look ahead and maintain a sunny disposition and not ket the big stuff get me down, I am concentrating on turning these potential “negatives” into positives in my new situation:

• The Long Commute to and from work. While this is a massive change from my usual 2 minute train trip to work and 20 minute walk home, I now have lots of time to read to and from the office. I can also listen to music and zone out which is something I haven’t had time to do for ages now and have actually rather missed.
• Being completely out of the hustle and bustle of the Valley. While I will miss $5 steaks at RGs and being so damn close to everything all the time, I am going to save HEAPS now I have less temptation to go out drinking or out to dinner randomly. There’s far less chance I can pop down to the shops for a late night snack or get tempted by the various shops on the streets surrounding home. I will also find myself with less to do so I will have more time for the things I love like blogging, sewing and various other crafty things I just couldn’t do in the Valley.
• Being so far away from friends. In actual fact, because my situation has changed so much, it’s likely I will spend more time with the friends I haven’t seen in a while because they’re no longer “just around the corner” and I’ll be able to see them in places outside the Valley (fancy that) which means I will appreciate my time with them a lot more.

In other words I am going to save SO much money, I will get more “me” time, I will be able to do more creative stuff more often and I will get rid of a lot of stress that I’ve just sort of learned to live with over the years. I am actually really excited! Plus I love my mum dearly so it will be great to spend lots of time with her ^_^

Once again this Disappointment Tuesday post is a day late, for reasons that will be explained in my next post. Please note also, this not much of a disappointment as it has a nice ending. BUT there were a few moments during this ordeal that I thought “FML” and “I’m so blogging about this”.

I got a text from the place where I get waxed about how you can get 50% of all waxing services on Tuesday 17^th with the new girl. I was all HELL YES FOR SAVINGS and booked an appointment for a brazilian and eyebrow tidy. The girl I booked it with told me the new girl is experienced but was just learning their techniques and so I should expect the session to take longer than usual. All I heard was YAY CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP though, so she could have said “she’s brand new, you’ll be her first client” for all I cared.

I rocked up to the appointment feeling a small pang of anxiety. What if she waxed my eyebrows off? What if the brazilian went horribly, horribly wrong? But it was fleeting and I knew they wouldn’t do that to me. The new girl was lovely and gave me the usual spiel before leaving me alone to undress and prepare myself. When she returned though, one of the other girls who I’ve had a few times before was with her. I then suddenly realised this was going to be completely supervised, much to my horror.

Just for the record, I admire and respect beauticians who spend all day every day waxing the ugliest parts of peoples bodies to spare us the indignity of having to do it ourselves or resort to the ever-evil practice of shaving. Imagine looking at dozens of vaginas every day? It boggles my mind that this is a profession that women actively seek out. Good on them though, because if I had to wax myself down there, I’d be admitted to hospital shortly after with massive blood loss and suffering panic attacks from the stress of it all. I also feel a certain tension about having someone down there, forcibly tearing out the hairs and then finishing off with the tweezers. I mean, what if they all discuss of our “quirks” down there with each other after we’ve gone? It’s disconcerting having a practical stranger touching you in the most intimate of places, let alone having two of them there at the same time!

I played it cool though, and as both girls were lovely I had a good old chat with them throughout. First off they did my eyebrows which was pretty straight forward and she did a good job and only asked the supervising girl a couple of questions during the 10 minute process. Then they moved on to the brazilian. I was feeling pretty tense by now but they successfully distracted me with chatter so I got through the first half of the wax without any problems. But then she had a lot of questions and even needed some assistance at one point. Let me just say that you do not realise how much hair you have down there until you hear two beauticians standing over your lady parts and pointing out where has been missed and what type of wax will remove it. Looking down and seeing two pretty girls peering at your girl parts while contemplating which wax to use n those stray hairs was just about the most awkward thing I have ever experienced. I felt like they were waxing a gorilla and immediately felt shame that I’d waited an extra week before booking this appointment, like I’d grown some massive rug down there in those few extra days.

Fortunately the ordeal was over fairly quickly and while I felt a brief moment of shame for owing a vagina, I was pleased to see the results were very good. I was also pleased to notice, as I was paying, that they wrote some notes about my appoitnment that said I was a very nice customer and a few comments about how good to wax I am. Awww.

The moral of the story: If you’re super sensitive, do not book an appointment with a trainee beautician, especially if you need to get your hoo-ha waxed. The same applies for haircuts or basically anything that can potentially shatter your self esteem. But if you’re tough, it’s worth it for the savings an knowing that you’ve helped someone get that one step closer to becoming a professional!

There’s a lot of press surrounding a music festival that’s happening in Brisbane in February and for once it’s not about recreational drugs or the ridiculous cost of alcohol. This time it’s about the fact this is a neo-nazi festival. Hammered occurs on (or around) Hitler’s birthday and attracts neo-nazi skinhe and white supremacists people from all over the world to listen to music and generally meet up with like-minded people. It’s the 3rd year that it’s been held in Queensland and the 20th year that these guys have been organising events and gigs in Australia.

Let me be clear: I loathe and detest racism and especially white supremacy. It is abhorrent in every conceivable way and in my opinion they should just blow up the venue where the festival is being held to rid of the words of the these revolting people. It boggles my mind that there are enough neo-nazi’s in Australia that they can hold an entire festival, though admittedly you can call just about anything a festival these days, so long as there’s a few bands and some merch and food stalls.

People are petitioning for the festival to be banned, and I don’t blame them. The thought of a large group of like-minded, bigoted idiots coming together to share their racist ideals and opinions leaves me cold. But can it be banned? Apparently the State Government can’t ban the festival because in itself, the festival is not illegal. Which is fair enough. While the festival and the people attending go against everything I believe it, they have the right to their own beliefs. Hate speech, while deplorable, is not illegal unless someone is directly victimised. But on the other hand, how likely is it that this festival will result in some form of illegal activity? Sure, you have to apply directly to the promoters to be interviewed before they will disclose the location of the festival to you, but surely the location will slip out and there will be people going to protest the event which could easily result in verbal attacks or physical violence.

After much inner debate I feel that the festival, as wretched as it is, should be allowed to go ahead. Allow me to explain why before you shake your fist at me! First of all, these people will be neo-nazi’s/white supremacists no mater whether the event happens or not. Cancelling it will not make them say “Maybe I shouldn’t be a neo-nazi any more, since it’s clearly not welcome in Queensland, therefore I am going to change my racist ways immediately”. In fact it will probably just anger them more and there’s nothing worse than an angry bigot! Then there’s a fact a lot of the attendees probably lead quiet lives and use this event as an outlet for their beliefs. While most people disagree with their beliefs, if they are otherwise decent, contributing members of the society then what harm does it do if they attend a festival such as this? Then there’s the fact I have not heard of any issues arising from previous events and after a bit of searching couldn’t find any news articles about there being multiple arrests because of fights between these guys and protesters.

I had a look through a forum where they promote the festival from last year, and while their whole philosophy (ie. the fourteen words) enrages me beyond belief, they don’t seem to be worried about anything but having a good time. So while I wish people like this did not exist, I have to reluctantly admit there is no good reason to cancel this event. All this media attention has done is spread the word to many more people which undoubtedly means it’s been exposed to a heap more racists who were previously unaware of the event/sub culture. Ideally I’d rather hear nothing about it in the press and let them do their thing and let it remain a small sub culture that will eventually die out and be a distant, embarrassing memory.

What are your thoughts on banning the Hammered festival?

Me and Miss Mia Doll at Crown Casino on Friday night

I got back from Melbourne yesterday and I gotta admit, I love Melbourne very, very much. I spent four days there with good friend Miss Mia Doll, shopping, partying and having a grand ol’ time. I was fortunate and arrive just after their heat wave (though Brisbane decided to go and start its own heat wave the day I got back, typical) so I got to enjoy a warm sunny day while actually feeling cool when in the shade! You wouldn’t believe how much of a thrill that is like it is to a Queenslander.

Some of the things I did while I was there:

• Shopped at Chapel Street
• Wanted just about everything I saw in Dangerfield
• Wanted to buy everything from every store I visited, pretty much
• Went to the emo club night Nextwhich was hilarious
• Spent a day in the City where I was awed by how many kawaii asian shops there were. SO JEALOUS!
• Went to Crown Casino and had a ball laughing at the bogans and winning some money (well, watching the others win money, anyway)
• Visited fancy Melbourne cafes and ate a range of foods I never usually eat (ie. fast foods)
• Made new friends :)

At Tokyo NoNo, the Japanese mall on Bourke Street

It was a lovely trip, the only flaw was that it was way too short! I love Melbourne so much, and if I didn’t have my whole family and lots of friends up here, I’d probably already be living down there! Though admittedly, I’d be perpetually broke with all of the shopping and cafe/bar hopping I’d do. But it’s definitely worth regular visits. I hadn’t been there since 2008, and hope to go back at least once again this year and explore every party of that wonderful city.

Have you been to Melbourne? What’s your favourite part of the worlds most liveable city?

YAY! It’s 2012. Which is significant for me for a few reasons (ie. I turn 30, though if that Mayan calendar thing is actually true, we all die two days before my birthday). I also have some big plans for this year which I am very excited about (I will go into further detail as they start to pop up).

The first, exciting thing I have done so far was finally upgraded my poor 6 year old HP laptop for a brand spankin’ new HP desktop. I’m not computer savvy enough to worry about building my own computer and HP have proved themselves with how well they work for me. So now I will be able to get back into graphic design stuff (did I mention the fact it’s a touch screen computer? Coz it is!) and also VIDEO EDITING! I am pretty darn excited about the though of this, as I haven’t been about to do much proper editing with my old laptop. I’m not entirely sure what I will be editing exactly, but I will make sure it’s good :D

Also to start off my year with a bang, I am off to Melbourne for a few days. Which is going to be SO MUCH FUN. I haven’t been there since early 2008 and as an old school Victorian (I lived in country Vic until I was 9 years old) it holds such a dear place in my heart. I also went with someone who is no longer my friend and also wasn’t very much fun, so I am excited to share this visit with good friend Miss Mia Doll. I plan to go shopping, see some sights and go out and relish in how much trendier and more exciting Melbourne is compared to poor sleepy Brisbane. There will be a massive post to follow!

To celebrate the new year and because they were well overdue, I got my nails did. I knew I wouldn’t be bothered doing any designs of my own so I got them to add some cute little sparkly bows on my ring finger nails. They look MUCH better in real life, but until I get Photoshop working on this computer, I had to use this dodgy photo of them. I have decided this year I am going to get WAY into nail art and experiment a lot more. So if you know me in real life, hit me up so I can do your nails and get lots of practice!

OK well I really ought to pack, since I really haven’t started and have to be at the airport by 7am tomorrow morning. I look forward to sharing my exciting new adventures with you all very soon!

Getting ready for NYE 2011-12

Holy shit, it’s december 21st! Where the fuck did time go? I have about five posts half written but somehow time escaped me! 2011 has been fairly average for me, some good stuff happened and some shit stuff happened. We organised a highly successful and extremely professional zombie walk in October, and I got TWO puppies (one in August, the 2nd in October) who have changed my life so much, in a good way! I’ve also had my poorest year since I was a student now that I am finally being an adult and paying off my many debts and it SUCKS! I also lost my car of 6 years (which may be back in 2012, we’ll see) and my poor dependable HP laptop is finally on her last legs.

I have big plans for 2010, to make it worth my while in case that whole Mayan calendar thing ends up having some truth to it (if it does, we all die two days before my 30th birthday, mwahaha). Here’s a few:

• SAVE MONEY. I’m almost 30 for crying out loud. Time to stop wasting money on bullshit and save money for travels, a new car and for things I actually genuinely need.
• BLOG MORE. I have been terrible with blogging this year and I’m so ashamed of myself. Good news though, I got a new computer this afternoon (bless you Harvey Norman and your 24 months interest free) so I will be able to work to my full potential and bring to you some amazing stuff.
• GET WELL. I’m not actually sick as such, but I have the back of a 60 year old which I keep ignoring and getting just enough physio to fix it for about a week. I’ve also started managing my migraines and gotten rid of a lot of them, which I hope gets even better next year.
• LOSE WEIGHT AND GET FIT. Let’s be honest here, I will say this every year. But I’ve been AMAZING at it this year and while I’m not some skinny minnie yet, my fitness is at the best it’s ever been so I will just keep at it.
• TRAVEL. My good friends are getting married in Thailand which I cannot miss! I’m also spending a few days in Melbourne next week which will be awesome and long overdue. I need to try and travel more, it brings me such joy and I need more of that in my life.
• STOP WASTING TIME & BEING LATE. It runs in my family but it’s no excuse. I mean right now I am blogging at 10pm when I should be getting ready for tonight!!! Hopeless. But I will get better next year.

Thanks to those who’ve kept with me and still read/enjoy my blog. I promise to deliver more and more next year. I just hope I’ve kept a few of ya’ll entertained week to week. Lova ya gutses :D