This posts first memory is not mine. I am told that almost every Sunday through my husband's first year at university, he and his mates would congregate in what he called "couch stadium", a living room that had no less than 15 couches and most importantly the television and vcr, with a bucket of KFC for the weekly screening of Braveheart while they nursed their hangovers. It is easily my husband's favourite film of all time and having seen it myself, I too think it is pretty good.
For me, swords and sandals films remind me of my latin teacher in years 7 and 8. She was incredibly passionate about teaching Latin and wanted us to appreciate what life would have been like in Ancient Rome. Every so often she would subject us to snippets of films like Spartacus, Clash of the Titans and Ben-Hur. As students, I believe her passion for latin was matched equally with our preference for watching films instead of reading text books and learning verb conjugations and so we convinced her towards the end of the year to allow us to watch a couple of these films all the way through. Thus I saw Clash of the Titans starring Laurence Olivier for the first time.
Within Swords and Sandals, at least for me, there are three distinct categories:
1. Those related to medieval England - for example, Braveheart, Excalibur, Ladyhawke, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc and A Knight's Tale
2. Those tied to Ancient Rome - for example, Gladiator, Clash of the Titans, Spartacus, Ben-Hur, Cleopatra, Clash of the Titans (Wothington version) and Troy
3. Those that feature fencing over broadswords: The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Princess Bride, The Count of Monte Christo, The Man In the Iron Mask, The Legend of Zorro and The Mask of Zorro.
I am not including the Samurai films in this category as they will form the subject of a future post.
I know that I haven't mentioned all the films in this category that are worth watching. I have really only included my favourites and so today's post is a short one.
Monday 30 September 2013
Sunday 29 September 2013
Surfing Greats
As an Australian, the beach and surf are very much ingrained in our culture. As a child and even well into my twenties I had the fortune of living near a surf beach. I remember monster waves dumping my body back into shore as a child when I thought I was body surfing. I discovered many years later that my childhood experience of being swept up in the salty foam of a broken wave that made me feel like I was caught in a gritty washing machine was not anywhere near body surfing once I finally mastered the art.
I have taken a couple of surfing lessons at Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia and the surf school there is a great one for beginners. Surfing is a great sport because you really have to focus on what you are doing which forces you to clear your mind of other things. It also combines strength with aerobic exercise and the beauty of nature. Tim Winton wrote a book based largely on his memories of surfing in Western Australia in the 1960s and 1970s called Breath and the book captures the thrill and culture of surfing in Australia really well.
There are very few really good surf movies. The Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello beach movies, while endearing are miles away from surfing as a sport and a passion. There are a few gems that have been released over the years and with the improvements in camera technology and special effects over the decades, the surfing footage now can place you on the waves as it were.
Ones that I think that are worth watching purely for surfing are The Endless Summer, Step Into Liquid, Big Wednesday, Riding Giants, May Dayz and Bombora: The Story of Australian Surfing (a two part television series, not strictly a movie but worth watching nonetheless). For the die hards, there is also Morning of the Earth which is a good example of surfing in Australia, Indonesia and Hawaii in the 1970s but I find it to be quite dated now.
For those that want a narrative to accompany the surf footage then you cannot go past Point Break. Others that on a good day you might enjoy include Blue Crush, North Shore, Bondi Tsunami, Newcastle, Blue Juice (because there aren't many British surfing movies) and more recently Chasing Mavericks and Drift.
Are there any that you think I have missed. If so, let me know.
I have taken a couple of surfing lessons at Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia and the surf school there is a great one for beginners. Surfing is a great sport because you really have to focus on what you are doing which forces you to clear your mind of other things. It also combines strength with aerobic exercise and the beauty of nature. Tim Winton wrote a book based largely on his memories of surfing in Western Australia in the 1960s and 1970s called Breath and the book captures the thrill and culture of surfing in Australia really well.
There are very few really good surf movies. The Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello beach movies, while endearing are miles away from surfing as a sport and a passion. There are a few gems that have been released over the years and with the improvements in camera technology and special effects over the decades, the surfing footage now can place you on the waves as it were.
Ones that I think that are worth watching purely for surfing are The Endless Summer, Step Into Liquid, Big Wednesday, Riding Giants, May Dayz and Bombora: The Story of Australian Surfing (a two part television series, not strictly a movie but worth watching nonetheless). For the die hards, there is also Morning of the Earth which is a good example of surfing in Australia, Indonesia and Hawaii in the 1970s but I find it to be quite dated now.
For those that want a narrative to accompany the surf footage then you cannot go past Point Break. Others that on a good day you might enjoy include Blue Crush, North Shore, Bondi Tsunami, Newcastle, Blue Juice (because there aren't many British surfing movies) and more recently Chasing Mavericks and Drift.
Are there any that you think I have missed. If so, let me know.
Saturday 28 September 2013
Film Club: Great Films for Discussion
I was once part of a book club. We were a bunch of women who would pick a book to read each month and then meet at someone's house and discuss the book over an afternoon cup of tea on a Sunday. On occasion, more than 3 people would have read the book the entire way through and on more occasions than I would like to remember the conversation would digress into children and what it was like to be a mum. As a single girl in her twenties, I found these conversations to be the most tiring.
My dad was so disgruntled by my mum's book club - hers actually works in that most people have read the book and it forms the basis of discussion over wine and cheese without splintering into discussions of "women's issues" - that he started his own 'men's awareness group' which was and still is a movie and a meal each month. The movies started off being popcorn fodder that their partners would not want to see however recently they have started to filter their viewing choices more rigorously. All too often the meal would precede the movie and so there was no room for discussion about the film afterwards.
My parents are part of a film society which screens one film each week for 26 weeks of the year on a Sunday early evening. I think the screenings are at 6.30pm. Most of the films aren't main stream hollywood productions and some of the films are quite old. What the film society is missing is the cafe or bar afterwards where people can meet and exchange ideas with others about the films they have just seen.
When I was at university, I did film studies as part of my degree which was great because the 3 or 4 hour lectures included watching films and the tutorials were the forums in which we could discuss the films we had seen. I often adopted the role of devil's advocate in the tutorials as I knew it would incite discussion and debate which was important when getting participation marks.
I am not currently part of a book or film club at present but if I were, these are the films I would want for the purposes of discussion for a once a month film club for the first year.
1. Django Unchained - easily the best Tarantino film yet - so much to it.
2. The Hours
3. L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment)
4. Hotel Rwanda
5. Thank You for Smoking
6. The Wedding Banquet
7. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
8. Spellbound
9. Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)
10. Trainspotting
11. A Ma Soeur! (Fat Girl)
12. Oldeuboi (Oldboy)
I don't pretend this list is by any means complete. It is really meant to generate discussion between its viewers either because of themes, characters, storyline, film techniques etc...
What would be on your list? Are you part of a film club? If so, how does it work?
My dad was so disgruntled by my mum's book club - hers actually works in that most people have read the book and it forms the basis of discussion over wine and cheese without splintering into discussions of "women's issues" - that he started his own 'men's awareness group' which was and still is a movie and a meal each month. The movies started off being popcorn fodder that their partners would not want to see however recently they have started to filter their viewing choices more rigorously. All too often the meal would precede the movie and so there was no room for discussion about the film afterwards.
My parents are part of a film society which screens one film each week for 26 weeks of the year on a Sunday early evening. I think the screenings are at 6.30pm. Most of the films aren't main stream hollywood productions and some of the films are quite old. What the film society is missing is the cafe or bar afterwards where people can meet and exchange ideas with others about the films they have just seen.
When I was at university, I did film studies as part of my degree which was great because the 3 or 4 hour lectures included watching films and the tutorials were the forums in which we could discuss the films we had seen. I often adopted the role of devil's advocate in the tutorials as I knew it would incite discussion and debate which was important when getting participation marks.
I am not currently part of a book or film club at present but if I were, these are the films I would want for the purposes of discussion for a once a month film club for the first year.
1. Django Unchained - easily the best Tarantino film yet - so much to it.
2. The Hours
3. L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment)
4. Hotel Rwanda
5. Thank You for Smoking
6. The Wedding Banquet
7. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
8. Spellbound
9. Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)
10. Trainspotting
11. A Ma Soeur! (Fat Girl)
12. Oldeuboi (Oldboy)
I don't pretend this list is by any means complete. It is really meant to generate discussion between its viewers either because of themes, characters, storyline, film techniques etc...
What would be on your list? Are you part of a film club? If so, how does it work?
Friday 27 September 2013
Classic Cop Action
There is something about going to the movies and seeing a big screen action film that hits all the right buttons - great hero(es) and villain(s), a solid script, plausible if not slightly far fetched stunts that activate the viewer's adrenal glands so that you walk out feeling completely pumped and potentially bulletproof.
For me, Die Hard, was the first film that really gave me that sensation. This was probably coupled by the fact that I snuck away with a friend to the 9pm session in the first run of the film on the pretence I was attending a school dance. I was filled with the nervous adrenaline that comes from an act of defiance and the risk of being caught before I entered the door of the cinema. Unfortunately we were found out having returned to the dance after my friend's dad had arrived early to pick her up. Knowing it wasn't going to be long before my parents discovered my deception, I came clean about the evenings events only to be told by my dad that he would have driven us to the cinema and picked us up after the film had ended. It makes me wonder whether I would have enjoyed Die Hard any less. I'd like to think not as I believe it is, to this day, one of the greatest cop action movies of all time.
Special mention should also be made to Beverly Hills Cop. This was the first "adult" film that I saw at the cinema without my parents. Most of the children in my class at school descended on the local cinema for the 11.20am session. This was back when cinemas had a short film, intermission and then the feature so going to the cinema was a real event compared to today. Being almost our entire primary school class unsupervised, the short film screening gave us the opportunity to play up to such an extent that the usher confronted our tribe of back-row bandits and dispersed us randomly in groups of no more than three throughout the cinema. The thing is, our intention was always to watch the feature film and so scattering us at random may appeared to have settled us down but I believe we would have quietened down anyway once the film had started.
Beverly Hills Cop was great and the sequel is almost as good as the first one. Outside of the Casio keyboard 80s soundtrack, both movies have held up quite well.
Other films in this genre that haven't lost their impact especially with the development and perfection of special effects are Speed (kids, if you are wondering why your mum thinks Keanu Reeves is hot - watch this movie - it will explain a lot), Lethal Weapon 2 (a rare occasion where the sequel is better than the original), Bad Boys and Bad Boys II, Heat, Infernal Affairs and Hard Boiled. All of these films work really well on a big screen so if you have a friend with a media room/home theatre, this is the place to watch them and the more people the merrier.
I haven't seen White House Down yet so I haven't added it to the list. What about you? Any Classic cop action films that you think I have missed? Let me know.
For me, Die Hard, was the first film that really gave me that sensation. This was probably coupled by the fact that I snuck away with a friend to the 9pm session in the first run of the film on the pretence I was attending a school dance. I was filled with the nervous adrenaline that comes from an act of defiance and the risk of being caught before I entered the door of the cinema. Unfortunately we were found out having returned to the dance after my friend's dad had arrived early to pick her up. Knowing it wasn't going to be long before my parents discovered my deception, I came clean about the evenings events only to be told by my dad that he would have driven us to the cinema and picked us up after the film had ended. It makes me wonder whether I would have enjoyed Die Hard any less. I'd like to think not as I believe it is, to this day, one of the greatest cop action movies of all time.
Special mention should also be made to Beverly Hills Cop. This was the first "adult" film that I saw at the cinema without my parents. Most of the children in my class at school descended on the local cinema for the 11.20am session. This was back when cinemas had a short film, intermission and then the feature so going to the cinema was a real event compared to today. Being almost our entire primary school class unsupervised, the short film screening gave us the opportunity to play up to such an extent that the usher confronted our tribe of back-row bandits and dispersed us randomly in groups of no more than three throughout the cinema. The thing is, our intention was always to watch the feature film and so scattering us at random may appeared to have settled us down but I believe we would have quietened down anyway once the film had started.
Beverly Hills Cop was great and the sequel is almost as good as the first one. Outside of the Casio keyboard 80s soundtrack, both movies have held up quite well.
Other films in this genre that haven't lost their impact especially with the development and perfection of special effects are Speed (kids, if you are wondering why your mum thinks Keanu Reeves is hot - watch this movie - it will explain a lot), Lethal Weapon 2 (a rare occasion where the sequel is better than the original), Bad Boys and Bad Boys II, Heat, Infernal Affairs and Hard Boiled. All of these films work really well on a big screen so if you have a friend with a media room/home theatre, this is the place to watch them and the more people the merrier.
I haven't seen White House Down yet so I haven't added it to the list. What about you? Any Classic cop action films that you think I have missed? Let me know.
Why the Blog?
Many, many years ago in what almost seems like another life, I used to work at a video store while completing my university degree. It was my favourite part time job while studying and as a university student, I had several.
Looking back, I was the female version of a cross between Barry from High Fidelity and Randall from Clerks but probably not quite as offensive or as colourful with my language. My regular customers, in the knowledge that I would question and debate "poor" viewing decisions, would sneak in while I was off work to rent films like the 1998 version of Godzilla. In my arrogance, which I now put down to youth, I believed it was my duty to ensure my customers would only watch quality films which, by and large were ones that I recommended.
With the development and adoption of new technology and now the ease of electronic downloads, I have witnessed the demise of the video store (along with record and bookstores) and tragically, the culture that accompanies it. There no longer exists the need to watch something else because the film you planned to rent is not available and for me that marks a missed opportunity as it was often on those occasions that I found hidden gems that I would not have considered viewing.
Recommendations for films in the past not only came from friends and "reviews". A complete stranger in the video store at the same time as yourself or a video shop employee with access to your viewing history were often the source of recommendations. In today's world, the random recommendation is often found online and tends to be coupled with a complete film synopsis. The anonymity of the internet now means that no assessment can be made of the person making a recommendation when compared to receiving that recommendation from a person in a face to face setting.
As a blogger I am the first to acknowledge that I am not going to be able to remove that ability of people making a visual assessment of me before deciding on whether to adopt one of my viewing recommendations. I find it easier to communicate electronically through the written word than do a video blog. What I can promise is that this blog will seek to recommend films without giving away the storyline or other details that should really only be revealed upon the viewing of the actual film.
As we get older, there are fewer first experiences (e.g. learning to drive, first kiss, etc...) that have the capacity to affect us emotionally and seeing a really good film that you have little knowledge of that you are able to immerse yourself in and be affected by is, in my mind, one of the few safe remaining experiences that can do that.
And so ends the first post. Tomorrow the fun begins...
Looking back, I was the female version of a cross between Barry from High Fidelity and Randall from Clerks but probably not quite as offensive or as colourful with my language. My regular customers, in the knowledge that I would question and debate "poor" viewing decisions, would sneak in while I was off work to rent films like the 1998 version of Godzilla. In my arrogance, which I now put down to youth, I believed it was my duty to ensure my customers would only watch quality films which, by and large were ones that I recommended.
With the development and adoption of new technology and now the ease of electronic downloads, I have witnessed the demise of the video store (along with record and bookstores) and tragically, the culture that accompanies it. There no longer exists the need to watch something else because the film you planned to rent is not available and for me that marks a missed opportunity as it was often on those occasions that I found hidden gems that I would not have considered viewing.
Recommendations for films in the past not only came from friends and "reviews". A complete stranger in the video store at the same time as yourself or a video shop employee with access to your viewing history were often the source of recommendations. In today's world, the random recommendation is often found online and tends to be coupled with a complete film synopsis. The anonymity of the internet now means that no assessment can be made of the person making a recommendation when compared to receiving that recommendation from a person in a face to face setting.
As a blogger I am the first to acknowledge that I am not going to be able to remove that ability of people making a visual assessment of me before deciding on whether to adopt one of my viewing recommendations. I find it easier to communicate electronically through the written word than do a video blog. What I can promise is that this blog will seek to recommend films without giving away the storyline or other details that should really only be revealed upon the viewing of the actual film.
As we get older, there are fewer first experiences (e.g. learning to drive, first kiss, etc...) that have the capacity to affect us emotionally and seeing a really good film that you have little knowledge of that you are able to immerse yourself in and be affected by is, in my mind, one of the few safe remaining experiences that can do that.
And so ends the first post. Tomorrow the fun begins...
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