Dr Miracle

Roger Explosion

Gran Torino

Headed to Eastland last night with Dean and Cam to see "Gran Torino".

It's about, get this, 78 year old ex-Korean War veteran Walt (played by Clint Eastwood, who is the only person who could possibly have played this, but still had some ridiculous moments) who comes to the aid of his neighbours and takes on several gangs.

The film starts with a Hmong boy named Thao being initiated by his cousin's gang (against his will) by stealing Walt's prized "Gran Torino". Thao fails and is sent by his family to do chores for Walt. In the midst of this the gang returns to shake Thao up and Walt confronts them with a rifle. Walt continues his frenzy by taking on a few other hooligans. Soon Walt, initially extremely prejudiced against foreigners, warms to this lovely family next door and their family, especially with Thao and his sister Sue. Things begin to escalate though and Walt is forced to kick it up a notch. Will the old man defeat a gang of 5 extremely buff Asians? See it to find out.

A good movie with a kind of nice message. Lots of snicker-worthy jokes, generally based around his racist thoughts and old school ways. The scenes in the barber shop and the Hmong's home are especially good. Like I said, a tad of a stretch at times, but what movie doesn't have some slightly unlikely instances these days.

A must for blokes and certain women will like too. FYI, it's #82 on the IMDB Top 250, just ahead of The Prestige and The Elephant Man.

Australian Open

Went to the Australian Open with mum today to check out some hot tennis. I got mum a membership for the tournament which got her 2 ground passes, a hat and a few fringe benefits. The ground passes aren't as good in the 2nd week though as the singles are done and you get mostly legends and mens and womens doubles on the outside courts .Luckily some family were there and they offered to share their passes into Rod Laver with us, meaning we took turns watching the good matches. Here's my thoughts and diary of the day.

-Started the day by watching some legends doubles. It was Henri LeConte (the funny French guy) and Scud against Mats Wilander and Joakim Nystrom. The LeConte/Philippoussis pairing seemed a little odd (with one being deadly serious and the other preferring to get laughs than hit winners) but they played well and won in a thriller (sorta). LeConte was the best on the court, with deft touch still anywhere around the net. Scud was, well, Scud. Some nice ground strokes but some poor ones too.

-After this went into Rod Laver to watch Serena Williams play Victoria Azarenka (pictured)who I'd never heard of. Sat next to a distant cousin who I met for the first time in this match and we had a good chat and paid out the players, so that was good. Azarenka played the 1st set really well and had Serena stuffed. In the 2nd the match evened up, then Azarenka called the physio out, then took a medical time out. She returned but it become obvious she was struggling. She started to look a bit unsteady on her feet, started grimacing, then started coughing loudly. Shockingly, especially on Australia Day, she quit. The diggers must have been turning over in their grave. Appaling. But seriously, I thought she was going to vomit and then pass out, so fair enough.

-Went from here to another legends match, this time the Woody's against Guy Forget and Fitzy. The Woody's were too good and got home in a close one. For this game we got 2nd row seats, which was good.

-With not much left on with name players, we headed to the "Members Lounge", a perk of mum's membership. Mum flashed the pass around like Wayne and Garth in this scene from "Wayne's World"



Sadly the members lounge wasn't how I pictured. I figured we could go have a martini with Roger Federer or something, but it was just a section of the Lexus Centre with a cafe and bar and a big screen. The big screen seemed to be hooked up with an indoor antenna and the picture was crap. We watched the first set of Nadal/Gonzalez,then went home.

A good day out, especially in Rod Laver. One of the better sporting events as a whole we put on in Australia.

Dokic

Yet again Aussie sporting hopes hang on the shoulders of a girl who moved here from another country as a teenager.

I've watched all of Jelena's matches at the Open and she's playing pretty damn well. She's knocked off three top 30 girls in her last 3 games and looks good enough to go all the way. Hopefully that ankle roll she did last night, which would have put Gav out of action for a few weeks, is only mild and she's fully ok for her next game. It's weird seeing an Aussie female tennis player who seems to have a really solid game, plays well under pressure and responds to the crowd. Just get rid off those awful Chris Dittmar interviews after her matches.

Slumdog Millionaire

Took wifey last night to "La Premiere" (the Hoyts version of Gold Class) to see "Slumdog Millionaire". It's pretty similar to "Gold Class" except you get complimentary soft drink and popcorn, which is a pretty sweet deal, but you don't get a reclining chair (which sucks) and you sit with others along a balcony which is overseeing where the poor people sit. One of the highlights of the night was watching the poor people work out how they got upto our seats. I wanted to shout something insulting to them, but I'm pretty humble.

The movie was excellent. It's about a boy named Jamal who gets to the last question of India's version of "Who wants to be a millionaire". The movie starts with him being interrogated the day before he gets to the last question as the host of the show is suspicious he's cheating, especially because of the fact he's a "slumdog". We then retrace Jamal watching the video of the show with the police and him telling stories about how he knew the answers.

It's a brilliant idea for a movie (based upon the book "Q&A") and played out well as the story was so good. The cast is really solid, especially when it follows Jamal, his brother Salim and friend Latika as little children. The cast is really good, the cinematography excellent and the story is a masterpiece. Don't just take my word for it though- it won the Golden Globe for best picture and is No. 34 on the IMDB.com Top 250, 3 spots ahead of "Wall-E". If you're still not convinced, watched this trailer....



2 amusing side notes.

1/ About half way through mum rang me (she was babysitting) asking how to get the sound back on as Isaac had fiddled with the tv set-up. Isaac then turned the power off 3 more times, meaning it took me 10mins to explaint o mum how to put the tv on, the stereo on, foxtel on and the dvr set-up.

2/ During the week, Andy Maher was on SEN saying how brilliant it was and even the more remarkable was that it was a true story. One caller phoned in and told him it wasn't and that he thought it was based on a book but Andy countered that the book must have been based on a true story. Then another guy phoned in and reviewed the book as he'd recently read it, then Andy started to back down from his stance and seemed rather crestfallen.

"Extras" Christmas Special

Finally got around to watching this online the other day and must say I was a bit disappointed with it. It went on a downhill slide for about 75mins, then Andy comes to his senses and makes some changes. The message seemed a bit mixed and it was just a bit too depressing at times, especially the Maggie storyline. The monologue in the Big Brother house was pretty excellent, but I also enjoyed moments like this.

Fights

Man, this doesn't pass for a fight. If they were hitting each other over the head or back with the chairs wrestling-style that's fine, but this?

Reason I love my wife 187

One thing wifey is passionate about is entering competitions. Over the last year she's one some decent things for the kids, but not as much for me, which is annoying. Yesterday though she hit the jackpot when she won a free week hire of this little puppy (pictured above). It's sleeps up to six and comes with all expenses paid (except the petrol). They clean it, give us a little pack....it's gold. I'm very excited thinking about where we may go and being able to stay in comfort (it's even got a shower and bathroom). If you've got some destination ideas, let me know.

Instructions for American Serviceman in Australia 1942

For my birthday last year, my mate Tompy got me this little gem. It's a booklet that was given to US soldiers helping with the war effort in Australia during WW2. It's full of info about the country at the time and lots of what they perceive as our cultural quirks ie we say "bloody hell" a lot. An easy read so you get to say "I read a book in a day", which is always good (although i read it in bits over several months ie back-up reading material when eat-in restaurants I frequent were out of papers).

Tropic Thunder

This was one that I kinda wanted to see at the movies, but was more than happy to wait for it on dvd. Good move.

"Tropic Thunder" is a movie about a bunch of prima donna actors (in the movie, not in real life....I think) played by Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jnr who are on the set what is supposed to be the biggest war movie ever. Within days the movie is a month behind schedule and the trio's antics are bugging everyone, from the director through to the executive producer (played by Tom Cruise, in a disguise so good Tara didn't even pick him). To teach them a lesson, they are placed in the middle of the jungle to fend for themselves, under the threat of the Vietcong and animal attacks (one of the best scenes of the movie). They still think they're filming until things become a little odd. Will the guys work out what's going on and get outta dodge? See it to find out.

Not bad, but not enough jokes and plenty of poor ones. Ben Stiller and Rob Downey get most of the laughs, with little left for Jack Black. Tom Cruise was just a tad over the top for me, but got nominated for awards, so go figure. Here's a trailer.

Last Goodbye- Vanilla Sky

Possibly my favourite music/movie scene of all-time