27 Dresses

Went to flicks with my mum to see '27 Dresses' last night. It was light-hearted entertainment. Typical feel good romantic comedy. As one who has been a bridesmaid only 5 times and had thought that excessive, I could relate more to the cynical journalist than the constant bridesmaid.


I laughed a lot during this movie and that's got to be good for you. The critics may mock and demean such movies as frivolous and fluffy, but laughter is the result I look for. It was a pleasant experience.

About Heath Ledger....

I have no idea how or why. Obviously - I don't know Heath Ledger. I admire and respect his art. I loved the characters and his playing in 'Two Hands', 'Ned Kelly', '1o Things I Hate About You', 'A Knights Tale' and others.

I felt he was a good person as far as I could see from such a great distance. I feel sad about his loss for his family, friends and for film. I appreciate the work he did and am grateful for that. I hope the media is kind to those close to him.

Music and Lyrics

I have to admit Hugh Grant plays characters that I find very likeable. I wasn't expecting much from this film and I was pleasantly surprised. It was true to its genre as a romantic comedy, I felt good after watching it.

I liked the way the 'pop' star was exposed as such a fraud too, with her spiritual 'glitter', yet underneath she thought the Dalai Lama was a llama. I liked the exposure of the 'famous' intellectual author as well.

It was just what I needed to watch last night.

Changes to Media Diet

Two articles today have drawn my attention to the fact that I don't listen to the radio or watch television any more. This statement comes from RIP Radio? an article today about podcasting growth, in 'The Age':

"He sees this streaming of genres, or "Foxtel for radio stations", as the future of radio. "Unless traditional radio stations look at these models, they will quickly find that they are irrelevant because young people just don't listen to the radio any more.""

The second article, Local TV to Profit from Writers Strike from 'The Australian', sounds like a boon for Australian Television Production, but this quote is telling :

"Mr Mitchell said this could lead to an Australian season of "repeats versus repeats", leaving networks with lower costs: "Presumably, they'd charge no less in ad rates." But he cautioned against taking viewers for granted. "People could
gradually drift away from free-to-air TV to pay-TV if it happened over a period of time," he said."

My son dropped our TV whilst I was on holidays. It died. He was stressed and thought I'd be upset, I wasn't. Possibly due to the way he framed the news.

Son: I've got some really bad news.

Me(interstate): Oh no, something really bad has happened....think recent teenage rampage in NarreWarren.... Just spit it out, tell me.

Son: I've killed the TV

Me: What in some freak underage drinking gathering?

Son: No, I was vacuuming and tried to move it and it fell off the stand.

Me: Really, that's it.

Son: True

Me: Thank God.

It could have been some other activity rather than vacuuming I guess, but, I really didn't care. He wanted to rush out and replace it before I got back, but we decided to use his small TV from his room, cause he rarely uses it and do some research before buying another.

He brought the TV downstairs and put it where the old one had been. I've watched a couple of DVDs on it, but I haven't even plugged the aeriel in. I don't listen to the radio in the car now that I have my iPod. I have an adapter I use. I download ABC radio and other podcasts. I buy DVD's of my favourite TV series and watch them as I want. I go to the cinema. I hire DVDs. I watch advertising on Duncans TV AD Land. Come to think of it I don't buy any print media except the occasional specialist magazine, I read enough online. Same goes for newspapers. Anyone else notice a change in thier media consumption?

Atonement

Last night I went to the Cinema with my mum to watch 'Atonement'. When it ended I felt I'd been too emotionally drained. It was an intense film and although the room was packed full, I frequently felt that shifting in my seat was too noisy due to the absolute stillness in the cinema.

I rushed outside and lit a cigarette, the main characters smoked mercilessly throughout the film and my addicted brain craved that kind of interuption to the tragedy unfolding before me.

With a bit of space between the experience and myself I must say it was a very well made film and delivered a real emotional punch. Kiera Knightly's acting with her grace and beauty were breathtaking. The green dress has to be seen. It was vivid and so realistic I had to turn away from many of the war scenes.

Amazing Grace

I wanted to see this film at the Cinema. Today I watched it on DVD. It was an experience. I was totally inspired by the story of William Wilberforce and his passionate life, devoted publicly to abolishing slavery and privately to fully experiencing life. It is a film containing many exquisite moments. I especially enjoyed Richard the Butlers relationship with William the politician and his quotes.
There is much to see and learn in this film and I highly recommend it.