Qantas - the True Spirit of Austrlia, IVF, Eminem's Slim Shady, Film Reviews
QANTAS - THE TRUE SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA
by the editor
Qantas airlines has been criticised left right and centre over the last couple of months. Sure, they have had a few "safety" incidents. But don't all airlines. Just look at the Concorde - allegedly the world's safest plane. Then there was that upstart "IMPULSE" airline. I mean, would you trust anything a deoderant company told you? (give me two lebs and I'll show you a misleading advertisment as to the benefits of 'anti persperant' deoderants). Well, Impulse Airlines may claim to be "different" to the deoderant, but still, with a name like that, you know you're not getting exactly the best advice.
IVF DEBATE HIGHLIGHTS FUTURE BATTLES
As a society, we have become far more tolerant of all different types of lifestyles. This is in no small part due to the effect that post-modernism has had on society. By destroying the notion of "normality", and blurring traditional definitions of what the place of a man and a woman was, etc., it was inevitable that questions that we are currently facing would come up. Furthermore, the significant advances in science through genetic engineering and improvements in "artificial" methods of conception have made possible a future where the traditional views of what constituted a "family" would be put under the utmost pressure. click here to continue.
Will
Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records
Well I do, so fuck him and fuck you too.
- The Real Slim Shady, Eminem
In my car last Saturday, I had JJJ on and the music was same as, getting boring, and then this song starts up. Fake harpsichord sound, almost like the soundtrack to an old Nintendo video game, and then begins a rap. Excellently paced (no doubt really hard to pull of with lots of syncopation) and delivered with biting wit or should it be a biting ramble, it was sort of a revelation. I don't know how long the song has been out, but I'm sure it'll sell lots of records
The Real Slim Shady strikes me as both a personal and social comment about the rapper himself. Starting off with a funny sentence about how these peoples jaws are dropped because he's white. Indeed, his rap sound is very convincing african american. Eminem then goes onto answer his critics and the effects rap is having on the youth of America. I find that it's an adequate retort. The whole language and rap thing should be an issue in the past, but unfortunately it's still not. The song's final section includes having a go at Will Smith, Christina Aguilera (very funny) and Brittney Spears. One day, the resident muso might analyse it, but for now, all I've got to say is that it was something really unexpectedly good.
Rap has certainly changed in its reach over the time; there is still anger in the music, but it's changed in character and intention. While I'm still not sure about the line between rap and music, perhaps a better question to ask is whether there is a line between rap and poetry anymore? Is poetry beginning to be displaced by rap? Interesting. Furthermore, when you look at the origins of Punk music as a movement covering disenfranchised white males, and you look at rap/hip hop, which covered disenfranchised black people, I think a case can be made that it is the latter movement which has more successfully integrated with the general populations musical tastes. Perhaps this is why some forms of punk music seem to attract fascist elements (it hasn't been penetrated by black audiences; if anything, it is hip hop culture that has influenced some punk/heavy metal). Of course, I'm speaking generally, but it would be interesting to examine this in more detail later.
"Here on Earth" gains AV honour
One must be concerned about the three actors in this film. That they chose to do such a horrible picture after being in relatively good pictures prior to this is a very big surprise. "Where the Heart Is" is simply the worst picture I've seen since Welcome to Woop Woop. It was so bad that I was in the aisles laughing at the languishing shots of the kissing couple, or the slow motion of a romantic run that wasn't necessary because the movie felt like it was in slow motion already, or the narcissistic filming of Chris Klein and often his girlfriend, or the cliche at every turn script. Indeed, where the script didn't keep to Hollywood cliche is the most disturbing and perverted aspect of this script. The main character is a self-centred rich boy who ends up getting the girl when her best friend and previous boyfriend, who loves her selflessly, is left to 'happily' stand by for the sake of the girl. Now, I would've loved to see a plot twist where the 'best friend' goes and shoots the rich kid and then shoots her for falling for him. That's would've certainly made the picture 100 times better. Such curious morals will be demonstrated in the box office flop that this movie will be. I don't know of even a romantic that will find this film enveloping. It is so distasteful that even I, who can succumb to mainstream hollywood fair and exclude its conventions for the sake of a few beautifully constructed shots, could not find one feature of complements. Furthermore, the cinematography, which should have been excellent given the setting, was appalling. The people responsible should never work in Hollywood again. They give cinema conventions and cliches a bad name, and it's sad that as we are on the cusp of a new millenium, that garbage like this is allowed to get made. 2/100 (for the laughter at how bad it was).
"The Skulls" - another shocker
This movie stretches the incredulity for everyone barring a few hicks from America's South who love establishment conspiracy theories. There's even a coded Bill Clinton character in the film, but that's not enough to save this mediocre film from its stupidity. Basically about a poor kid who will be in debt of around 200 thousand if he is to do Law at Harvard, he finds himself invited to "the skulls" due to his extreme smartness and his rowing ability. This secretive society contains a number of Eyes Wide Shut rituals, soul mates (blood buddies) and a free ride through life. The cost is eternal kinship with The Skulls and a code of silence about its membership. A murder occurs, and the poor kid being the poor kid, cannot handle the cover up, especially since it was his best friend. And the story goes on from there. Unlike Where the Heart is, which was complete tripe, this movie has some good sequences in it, but again it's not enough. 58/100
"The Patriot" - Gosh am I proud to be American
Mel Gibson, the American citizen Aussie, plays a Southern man forced to protect his family and fight for independence. His brilliance and brazenry means that he can overcome the enemy... England. And thus we get one of the most truly wicked characters we've seen for a while. I mean, firstly the English Accent is enough to send any of us into hatred of them. Look at that mean self centred Pom in the Titanic that was no match for Leo. And then there was the barbaric act of shooting Mel Gibson's son. It's 'ungentlemanly' to do that during war. The movie contains some outstanding battle sequences including an awesomley shot battle scene where you see a canon take off a few people's limbs. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie doesn't stand up to the explosiveness of those scenes. There were some obvious ironies - more obvious than Steven Spielberg would be when he's at his most obvious. And the dialogue was a bit stupid. A girl gave a speech in a church that sounded a lot like the President's speech in Independence Day. It's not surprising to discover that the makers of that were behind this film. Still, it's worth a look on the big screen for its battles and for a part of American history that we generally don't hear much about (the secession from England). One more thing, the treatment of the slaves in this film will be interesting. Both Ride with the Devil and this film have dealt with the issue. I think that there probably were slaves who did not think of themselves as such and were happy in that position. The portrayal of that in a movie perhaps should not however make it out as though ALL were happy. Indeed, a small minority may have been happy or have been treated as benevolantly as Gibson's lot were. There's a strange thing with Americans and Southern Gentlemen - no wonder Bill Clinton milks the accent for all its worth when he speaks to his people.
GET "OUR RUSSELL" and MEG OFF THE MAGAZINE COVERS (24/07/2000)
As someone who likes to go to newsagents, it is almost scary now to be faced with a barrage of magazines, all with Meg Ryan on the cover or Russell Crowe. I don't know how many angles you can cover the same story from, but basically Meg Ryan's marriage was in ruins and Russell Crowe fell for her or the other way around. However, it was not enough that every magazine at the front of the newsagent collectively had Meg on the cover (or with 'our russell'), but my beloved Sydney Morning Herald couldn't keep out of the mess. The back page reported that the real issue about the Ryan/Quaid separation is over their spiritual advisor. I bet none of the female mags dug that one up. Goes to show, it takes a broad sheet to tell us the whole story. Sydney Confidential is a better read now. Anyway, I hope this madness will be behind us because I almost have to walk in with blindfolds to avoid seeing Meg and friend on top of copies of the SMH and the Tele.