Tv

Watched a bit of telly last night, highlighted by a show I'd never seen called "Hustle" and my old favourite, "Prison Break".

"Hustle" is a show about a group of cons who go out and hustle people who have done something dodgy. Last night they honed in on a newspaper who had written a false story about a good friend of one of the group. Consequently they falsified a story about the Queen Mother, saying she had died during the war and been replaced by another woman so as not to alarm the general public. They went to great lengths to make the story tight and ended up convincing the paper's chief that it was true, only to have him betray them. Luckily they had a plan B and managed to get him sacked and damage he paper's reputation. Not awesome, but one of the better shows I've seen in a while.

"Prison Break" was action packed. It ended with Michael in an operating theatre at "The Company" headquarters, Linc trying to bargain for Michael's life, T-Bag being held up by a fake Bible salesman and Mahone being arrested by his old friend Agent Lang. Exciting stuff. Looking at IMDB, we're only 1 episode behind the US after tonight's episode, which is pretty good, even it means I've had to watch it Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve (still yet to work out how I get to watch it tonight).

The Bank Job

"The Bank Job" is based upon a true story of a 70's bank heist that was built around recovering some photos of a royal family member in a compromising position from a safety deposit box.

Martine (Saffron Burrows) learns of a bank which has some issues with it's alarm system and consequently has them disarmed while the problem is being resolved. She tells an old scheming friend of hers, Terry (Jason Statham), about this golden opportunity and before long he has gathered a team who can get into the bank and make a raid. Little does he know that he's being set-up purely so Martine can get the invaluable photos and consequently be released from a drugs charge from the Government. The Government is being blackmailed because of the photos and wants to get them back so they can destroy them. A simple job soon becomes extremely complicated and dangerous. Will Terry get busted? Will the royal family be shamed? Will Martine walk free? See it to find out.

A well put together movie, with plenty of twists and turns. I'd picked it out for a dvd night with the in-laws and was a little worried about the content of the first 15mins but it soon improved and everyone thought it was a winner. One of the better done-to-death bank robbery movies you'll see.

Mahervellous

Got my belated birthday present from mum the other day- a copy of "Mahervellous. It's the story of Brett Maher (obviously) and follows his life from birth to the current day. Thankfully there's not much about ages 0-14 but mostly on his days at the AIS to the current day. The most interesting stuff was probably the inside info on the Don Monsoon and Mike Dunlap days and learning about what happened with Chris Blakemore, Leon Trimmingham, Rob Rose, Tim Brenton etc. Also covers his Olympic and International experiences, as well as the tragic death of his son Hudson.

A great read for any 36ers fans, of which there are probably about 10,000 who may consider reading his story.

American Hoax

A big part of holidays for me involves reading, and today I knocked off a book I've been reading in fits and starts all year- "American Hoax".

The book revolves around 5 characters created by writer Charles Firth who, mainly through the use of the internet, he will try to advance in the American political landscape. The characters are named after Aussie icons, including Dr Andy O'Keefe and Edward McGwire. Each is given an agenda and given the task of getting as much of their work published as possible in respected domains.

The book is pretty interesting at the start, but gradually begins to tire a little as many of the characters don't advance that far and really tread water. There is some great humour in the book though, most notably through the use of footnotes. It's different and shows what can be done through an online medium these days. Some of the funnier moments involve pretentious poems by the Khorin-al Ghrant character (a deaf, mute Muslim woman) and the use of Wikipedia and Google to create Bertrand. Best line of the book was this, which cracked me up.

"Today, Dr O'Keefe is planning to run for President, though failing that, is thinking of hosting a new television game show where people have to guess a number and then wait for half an hour to find out whether they were correct".

Worth reading if you're a Firth/Chaser fan or in what can be done with a website and email address.

The Day The Earth Stood Still- Gold Class Style

Headed to Marion last night to take in the "Gold Class" experience with the Osborne's. The movie choices were limited, and we ended up settling for "The Day The Earth Stood Still."

The movie is a modern day version of the 50's classic, this time with an environmental theme. Klaatu (Reeves, in the perfect role for him- a dull alien) comes to earth with a team to kill humans so that the earth can be saved. His people believe they've given us enough time to see the damage we're doing but refuse to change, so they'll save the earth for us. I thought this was harsh as we've only learned the damages caused from using aerosols and the balloons that come out from power points for 20 or so and are making changes, like green power and catching buses instead of using cars and stuff like that. Scientist Helen Benson (Connelly, in another dull role) and her stepson Jacob (Will Smith's annoying kid) befriend Klaatu and try to change his mind about the killing humans bit. Will they succeed? See it to find out.

Not as bad as I thought, but certainly won't be seeing it again. Probably drew me in a bit with cameos from Curtis from "24" and T-Bag from "Prison Break".

Let's now focus on the best part- the Gold Class. We sat down and organised for our meals to come in 30min into the movie. After 5mins a lady came to us with a salad- which we hadn't ordered. About 20mins later Tara's nachos came, shortly followed by a pizza, also not what we'd ordered. A few minutes later my chicken tenders and wedges arrived and they ruled- great quality at a fair price. Shortly after another pizza arrived, also not for us, then my drink which was needed due to the spicy wedges. Besides the food, the chairs also ruled, lying down while watching a movie on the big screen is great. I've decided for major movie events this should be the way to go. Not cheap though. A worthwhile experience.

Casino Royale

Saw this after seeing "Quantum of Solace", which was a dumb idea but didn't really have a choice. Here's my review.

"Casino Royale" brings us a new Bond, Daniel Craig, who is a 180 from all the previous ones. He's cold and calculated and not very funny, but the ladies still love him.

This movie sees him try to halt a fund raising attempt for a terrorist organisation that involves playing "Texas Hold 'Em" (my dream). Of course Bond is good at most things and cards is certainly on the list. Along the way there's lots of chases, fights and explosions, many better than anything we've seen in any movies, let alone the Bond franchise. There's many memorable scenes including an attempt to blow up a plane, a chase on a construction site, a drink spiking and a memorable scene.....well it involves Bond's nuts and a special whip, but it's not sexual.

Don't wanna give to much away but it's a great film, heaps of action and no-one would walk away unimpressed. Make sure you see it before seeing "Quantum of Solace" to save some confusion.

Australia

With less than a week to go before our free movie tickets expired, we
had to see a movie quick. Wifey was keen to see "Australia", so off we
headed to the Parade to check it out. Here's my thoughts.

"Australia" is a movie about Australia and the Australians that live
there. It is set in Australia in the midst of WW2 (probably my
favourite war). The movie focuses on the story of Lady Ashley (Nicole
Kidman, in her best role since "Days of Thunder"), a British lady who
has come to Australia to see what's going on with her husband's land.
She arrives to discover her husband is dead. This devastates her but
also annoyingly means she's now gotta move over 1000 cattle. She
enlists the help of "The Drover" (Hugh Jackman, in perhaps his best
work since he played the voice of "Roddy" in "Flushed Away") to help
with this mammoth task. This begins a huge task of moving the cattle
and then having to take on and run the station. Lady Ashley soon forms
some strong relationships, most notably with The Drover and little
Nullah and when she discovers mysterious circumstances surrounding her
ex-husband's death, against all odds, Lady Ashley takes on the land and
the powerful Carney family who threaten her cattle business existence.
If that's not hard enough then the Japanese invade Darwin and threaten
the lives of all those she loves. Will Lady Ashley again overcome the
odds? See it to find out.

An OK movie, but loses points for it's ridiculous length and the amount
of CGI in a movie that's supposed to showcase the beauty of this big
brown land. The movie begins with a stunning sunset, but after this
there isn't much breathtaking scenery, which is stupid seeing as the
movie is also a little bit of a tourism showcase. The only tourists
this movie would likely capture are cattle rustlers or people who like
dirt. Kidman was OK, Jackman not totally believable as a drover (this
is the same guy who played Peter Allan on stage) but the real star was
David Wenham who was awesome and should have got more screen time.

Christmas

Started Christmas with Christmas Eve at the in-laws. Had all the staples- fried camembert and roast. Present time went well, with the boys fully into it. I cleaned up, getting dvd's of "Extras" and "The Office", shirts, CK jeans, fancy aftershave and more. I even got myself a few presents- a "Best of Bowie" cd and the new "Girltalk" cd. Bands these days. The cd is black with no writing on it and there's no writing on the sleeves, so I don't know what the songs are called, although they all kinda blend into each other so it doesn't matter I guess.

For Christmas Day met up with mum's family at a park in Hackney. Quite pleasant, albeit a bit weird as we did a "BYO". We decided to get some food on the way, but not much seemed to be open. I dropped off the family and went looking for food. After 2hrs I came back with McDonalds. First Christmas I've ever had Macca's for lunch. It brought back memories of when I had Chinese for lunch with Gary in 1999.

At night had dad over for another roast and some dessert. I was damn full by the end of the day.

The Blues Brothers

In my recent weekly dvd hire, got out a few oldies including this "classic".

"The Blues Brothers" is a movie about two brothers, Jake (Belushi) and Elwood (Akroyd), who besides having the unlikely surname of Blues, are part of a killer band. The movie picks up with Jake being released from prison after a 3yr stint and being reunited with Elwood. On the trip home they drop in to see their old Catholic nun who looked after them at the orphanage. She tells them of the pending closure of the home unless they can come up with 5 large. The brothers take this as if they have been given a mission by God to reform the band, do some gigs and come up with $5000. Over the next hour they seek out the old band members, some keener than other to reform. During the hunt we are treated to some great cameos from some other the legends of soul, including Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker and most notable Ray Charles with his brilliant performance of "Shake A Tailfeather". They then manage to book a big theatre for a huge show they hope will raise the money. Will it work? See it to find out.

More a movie of some great scenes and cameos, but pretty patchy in spots. Belushi and Akroyd were pretty unaccomplished actors going into this and the movie heavily relies on gimmicks eg car chases than their acting prowess. Decent and holds up ok for a nearly 30yr movie.

Prison Break

Stupid Channel 7. So I remember last night that "Prison Break" might be on. I checked the guide and I was right.

It was a good episode, but ended stupidly again as Michael, the man who covers all bases, neglected to check the papers that Self handed to him. Yep, the papers were blank, meaning they're screwed. There's another episode on tonight too, which is a bit weird seeing as most channels cancel their big shows in November and don't show them again until Feb. I guess I'm one of the few people left watching it. Oh well. Surprisingly there's another episode on tonight- on Christmas Eve. So while most of the family is in one room watching Marina Pryor and Anthony Callea sing carols, I'll be watching T-Bag get up to no good.

Wall Street

Had been meaning to see this for a while (ie 21 years) and with 3 weeks of nothing to do on my hands, what better an opportunity.

"Wall Street" is a movie about Wall Street. It focuses though on the fledgling relationship of a promising stockbroker called Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen, in a role that showed the skills that would lead to such smash hits as "Young Guns" and "Major League") and one of the most powerful businessmen in New York, Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas). Bud has been trying to get a meeting with Gordon for a while, and eventually gets 5min with him to show his skills. When Gordon shows his lack of interest, Bud divulges some info on a company whom his father works for that is essentially insider trading. Gordon loves insider trading, so tells Bud if he wants his business he needs to keep the inside info coming on other companies too. Bud decides to essentially sell his soul and do this so that he can get all Gordon offers. When a deal goes bad, Bud must decide if he'll keep towing the line or make a stand. Will Bud sell out? See it to find out.

Ok, but not as good as I thought. I thought the Gecko character was going to be way bigger and that Bud was slimier, but it didn't pan out this way. The supporting cast was average outside of Martin Sheen as Bud's dad, especially Darryl Hannah (the mermaid in "Splash"). Ok, but no classic.

My trip to Adelaide

On Thursday headed off for the bright lights of Adelaide. I worked and stayed in Ballarat for the day. The day went reasonably well and the night was full of adventures including watching "The Prestige", treating myself to a burger at "Hog's Breath" and watching plenty of cricket.

On Friday I visited customers from Ararat to Nhill, then drove through. There was plenty of entertainment along the way, featuring the call of the cricket, "Internationalist" and "Ok Computer" and then the 5AA sports show. Listening to the show, I noticed there weren't many callers and decided it might be worth a crack at the quiz. I got through to my surprise and won a $50 voucher to Sammy's. Sweet.

When I arrived I ate, caught up with the family's adventures and then hit the hay.

Saturday featured a visit to the beach, a 3rd birthday party and poker with some dear old friends. I didn't win at poker but had a good time. I did win though on NBA Live, beating Darren for the first time in this version. Many thanks to Kyle Korver. I then took on Corey and killed him too, this time courtesy of a dominant Brandon Roy.

Sunday featured church, lunch at my sister's, tea at Macca's with the Osborne's and then watching the kids while Tara went to "Christmas In The Square". Later on Bruce and I watched "Wall Street" (see next blog).

Today I went into the office to work, then came home and chilled out.

The next few days should be crazy busy but should be fun.

The Prestige

In my motel room the other night I caught this on the movie channel. Here's my thoughts.

"The Prestige" is kind of like "The Illusionist", only a bit different. It is built upon the story of two rising magicians- Alfred (Bale) and Robert (Jackman) who soon become bitter rivals after Alfred seemingly kills his girlfriend on purpose (that would do it for me). They become engrossed in a a game of "can you top this" with no rules, causing a lot of tragedy and pain along the way. Near the end of the movie it seems Robert, who has generally been the follower and not the leader, finally pulls of a stunt that blows Alfred's mind. Has Robert finally outdone his foe? See it to find out.

A gripping story, with plenty of action and a lot for the audience to try to work out. The main stars are excellent, brilliantly supported by Michael Caine, and not so much by Scarlett Johansson. One of the better movies of the millenium.

Quantum Of Solace

Sat night Dean and I headed to Forest Hill to go see the latest Bond flick- "Quantum of Solace". It would be the first Bond flick I'd seen since "The World Is Not Enough" , the one with Denise Richards as Christmas the nuclear scientist, which should tell you how credible that was. That put me off seeing Bond flicks for a while, but seeing as i'd been invited plus we now had D Craig as the the main man, I thought I had nothing to lose.

"Quantum of Solace" is about Bond being on a mission to hunt down a guy who killed a good friend of his (I think). In the middle of that he gets caught up in a plot to overthrow the Bolivian government (man they must have used up a lot of countries) and a rort revolving around natural resources. Luckily most of the film though focuses on vehicle chases and explosions. Some of it pretty jerky, making it hard to properly follow and also allowing them to get away with some of the most ridiculous stunts ever. The film climaxes with Bond and his ally Camille both given the chance to exact revenge.

Good action stunts, and I much prefer this moody, troubled Bond than the suave one. Add the great locations and you have an enjoyable movie. Worth seeing.

Die Fälscher

"Die Fälscher" (or "The Counterfeiters" for those of you who can't speak German) is the amazing true story of a group of Jews in a WW2 concentration camp who are forced to make counterfeit money to help fund the Nazi war effort.

The group is headed by Sally (Karl Markovics, in probably his best role since the heady days of Kreuzfeuer and Qualtingers Wien), a master counterfeiter who was imprisoned when busted just before the war started and then sent to a concentration camp. He gets transfered from Auschwitz to Sachsenhausen, where he is given access to technology he never got the chance to work with and is asked to counterfeit the dollar and the pound. He's loving it at the start but as his consience gets rattled by a fellow worker who challenges him that their work is funding and therefore assisting the Nazi efforts. Sally must decide if he'll just do as he's told, or do something about it.

Probably didn't end the way I expected but that's probably because (a) it's not a Hollywood movie and (b) it's a true story. Certainl an amazing story and one well worth seeing.

Steve Nash the comedian

Get Smart

On the weekend we got out "Get Smart", something I wasn't very excited about but thought it would be passable. I was pretty much right.

The movie commences with Max (Steve Carell) as an analyst, keen to get out and do the dirty work. When Agent 23 (The Rock, Dwayne Johnson) gets assigned office work, Max gets his big break. The headquarters of Control get attacked by Kaos and Max and 99 (Anne Hathaway) head a team to attack them and try to stop their latest quest for world domination. There's some action, weak jokes and a thin plot- and that's about it. Carell mails it in like never before, but he wasn't given much to work with. A hastily put together script is the movie's biggest issue, which is a shame considering the esteem the show is held in worldwide. They could have made it much zanier and fun or made it more "what made the man" (think "Batman Begins"). Another shameful attempt at a quick few $$$ built upon the popularity of a legendary show.