Earth Hour - Saturday 28 March 2015

Earth Hour this year is on Saturday 28th March 2015 from 8.30 PM to 9.30 PM. Although largely symbolic with little practical impact on energy saving, the event continues to remind people across the globe on the importance of tackling climate change. What will you be doing ?

The Link is here: Earth hour 2015 

Film Review - Birdman - Michael Keaton

L to R: Michael Keaton and Edward Norton "Birdman"

Billed somewhat as Michael Keaton's rebooting of his own acting career, Birdman can be a confusing film at times due to its structure and the use of a filming technique similar to one continuous take.  Co-written, co-produced and directed by Mexican film director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, the film follows the attempt by former Hollywood superhero actor, Riggan Thomson (Micheal Keaton) to restart his acting career by staging his own adaptation and production of a short story by Raymond Carver in one of Broadway's theatres. His efforts are dogged with uncertainty with a multitude of problems - his own previous typecasting as 'Birdman' and personal insecurity, the quality of the play's cast (leading to the replacement of one member with a famed Broadway prima donna, method actor, Mike [Edward Norton]), his daughter Sam (Emma Stone) a recovering addict who works as his assistant, while his girlfriend Laura (Andrea Riseborough) is also in the play's cast. Naomi Watts completes the key ensemble cast appearing as first-time Broadway actress Lesley and the former love-interest of Mike.

This film has many strong points and takes the viewer into the backstage activities of live theatre which would be of interest to theatre aficionados. In contrast, the character of Riggan can be irritating at times as he has conversations with his alto-ego, Birdman, throughout the film, visualises live action scenes on the street, floats above New York city and uses telekinetic special powers - all of which are in his mind. Is life imitating art for Michael Keaton ? The awarding of a Golden Globe for Best Actor would appear to say it is.  This is not film which will find a place on the American Film Institute's best film list, but it is a competent dramatic effort nonetheless.

Film Review - Mr Turner - Mike Leigh

Timothy Spall as J.M.W Turner in Mr Turner

Mike Leigh's biographical drama film, Mr Turner, won't appeal to all audiences with some aspects of his representation of the great British painter, J. W. M. Turner however it is nonetheless an impressive period work with an excellent cast and high production values.

The film is set in the last 25 years or so of Turner's life when he has long been established as an artist with fame, fortune and recognition as a popular if somewhat anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts. As the film progresses, Turner is shown sketching, painting, travelling to picturesque locations, staying as a guest with the aristocracy, visiting a brothel to do some sketch work, being strapped to a ship's mast to view a snowstorm and awkwardly navigating relationships with lovers, his housekeeper and children with very limited success. Leigh's objective with the film was to show not only the brilliance of Turner but also the man himself as a very flawed and awkward person seeking to distill, in an almost spiritual form, the world as represented in his paintings.

Timothy Spall gives a strong performance as Turner (for which he received the best actor award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival), Dorothy Atkinson portrays his housekeeper, Hannah Danby (with minimal dialogue but many long takes showing various expressions), Paul Jesson is William Turner, the much beloved father and Marion Bailey is the widow Sophia Booth with whom Turner spends his last years.

The film's has several strong points: the clever linkages between painting scenes and specific Turner paintings orients the viewer to Turner's  works; the scripting of the film is 19th Century without the error of slipping into 20th/21st Century dialogue which comprises many other period set films. The weak elements of the film provide some obvious flaws: Turner is portrayed as mainly grunting rather than responding in speech to other characters; there is an overstated drabness to most settings and clothes which reflects more the director's bias than reality.  Overall the film is a positive experience and well worth a cinema ticket.

2015 - The Year Ahead

As the new year approaches, it's topical to consider the overall economic and socio-political environment which will frame the following twelve months - and potentially affect lives across the globe.

Economically the international situation remains fragile: during 2014 the United States had annualised GDP growth of only 2.7% (a similar rate also applied to Australia), the European Union was 0.8%,  Japan was negative with -1.2% and China dropped to 7.3%. The US Fed ended its Quantitative Easing policy and Central banks across the world continued to warn of the need for greater debt control stringency, improved capital adequacy requirements while retaining liquidity in funding markets. The greatest concern remains that critical lessons from the GFC have not been learned and applied.

In terms of international relations and stability the United Nations and Member Nation States continue to face challenges from well organised terrorist organisations such as Islamic State (formerly ISIS, ISIL or perhaps better referred to as DAESH), Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and the Taliban operating in both Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan. The festering confrontational relationship between Israel and the Palestinians shows little progress in the immediate future nor does the unproclaimed conflict between the Russian Federation and the Ukraine. The Syrian civil war grinds on with little prospect of an immediate outcome and peace.

From an Australian perspective, the world has never looked more unsettled since the end of the Cold War and the influence/competition between the two Superpowers of that era.

The power of the World Wide Web, various mobile devices and software applications has meant the power of disruptive technologies has never been greater than when the first steam train and automobile heralded the end of horse drawn carriages and carts. Realignment and adjustment of national economies and workforces to this new order continues to present hard and difficult lessons.

Happy New Year, one can only hope.

Christmas 2014

During the second half of the 20th Century, Christmas  generally become synonymous with gift giving, Christmas trees and rampant consumer spending. In contrast, prior to the Second World War, it was a far more limited celebration which was largely confined to the middle and wealthier classes in Great Britain and Europe although there was a limited involvement for the working class. It's worth reflecting on the deeper origins of this festive season to provide a broader perspective than the current pre-season sales would otherwise project.

The word itself is derived from Middle English Cristemasse which dates back to the 11th and 12th Centuries in various uses and basically meant Christian mass. The Cristen part is derived from earlier Greek and Hebrew terms such as Khristos and Messiah (which means 'anointed'). The masse part comes from the Latin 'missa' or celebration of the Eucharist. In short it was simply a celebration of religious observance. All of the additional 'accessories' were added in later centuries with the major gift giving and large meals occurring in the late 19th and 20th Centuries.  As for the birth of Christ, on which this observance originates,  it is generally accepted by scholars and religious historians that the year Jesus was born was between a period of 7 BC and 2 BC. There is no certainty as to the exact month or day. The choice of the 25th December occurred during the 4th Century AD within the Western Christian Church and later adopted by the Eastern Church.  In most respects this makes little difference in any meaningful manner as the true value of the event is the focus on others rather than oneself. In that sense the Spirit of Christmas transcends the fixation with pre-Christmas discounts and Boxing Day Sales. Peace be with you wherever you may reside.

Film Review - The Water Diviner - Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe as Connor searching for his surviving son - The Water Diviner

Russell Crowe's first credit as a film director (while also being one of the lead actors) is an impressive effort with The Water Diviner.  Shot on location in Australia and Turkey with a joint Australian/Turkish cast and crew, a reported $9M budget and a good interplay between backstory flashbacks juxtapositioned with current scenes, this is a technically well crafted film.

A period piece set after the conclusion of World War I and four years after the disastrous Gallipoli campaign, Australian farmer, Joshua Connor (Russell Crowe) has left his farm and travelled to Turkey to the Gallipoli battlefield in search of the remains of his three sons, believed to have been killed in action. Turkey, as the centre of the defeated Ottoman Empire, is under Allied Occupation but Connor receives little support for his quest from the British authorities in Istanbul. While staying at his hotel in the Turkish capital he is treated sympathetically by Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko) the Turkish widow of the Hotel's owner, and provided with advice how to reach Gallipoli without an official travel permit.

Connor reaches the Gallipoli shore to find an Allied Graves Unit commanded by an Australian officer (Jai Courtney) engaged in the recovery and registration of soldiers remains assisted by two liaison staff from the Turkish Army. It is at this point the story takes a twist as Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan) the senior Turkish liaison officer discovers one of Connor's sons survived as a Prisoner of War and may still be alive. Connor's quest to reclaim his lost sons from the battlefield becomes a mission to rescue his surviving son as the Ottoman Empire disintegrates. Added to the mix is the growing romantic interest between Connor and the widow, Ayshe.

The Water Diviner has graphic violence due to the flashbacks of hand-to-hand combat at Gallipoli and later the invasion by Greece of Turkey's border region where Connor must travel to search for his surviving son. The film's plotline and representation is very sympathetic to the Turks and portrays the Greeks in an unflattering light which no doubt will add some controversy to an otherwise clear linear perspective. There is some inconsistency as Connor moves from grieving father to action man almost instantaneously in the later part of the film and stereotyping of some characters, most notably the British. Of note, the film is almost complimentary to Australian Director, Peter Weir's 1981 film classic 'Gallipoli'.  This is a film for cinema viewing rather than DVD or download.

Film Review - Interstellar

On board the Endurance - Interstellar

Christopher Nolan's Interstellar mixes theoretical physics, strong character development and an in-depth back story with stunning visual effects to deliver a complex layered film quite distinct from many recent efforts in the science fiction genre.  A simple straight forward space exploration film this is not and with a screening time of 169 minutes it is a film which will appeal to those who would like more than dazzling CGI effects (although there are more than enough scenes with high end imagery).

The plotline of the story is set on a dying planet Earth, not too far into the future with crops failing and endless dust storms. Society has fallen back into an agrarian culture to survive with technology and space exploration abandoned. Former NASA pilot and widower, Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) runs a farm with his father (John Lithgow) and his son, Tom and daughter, Murphy.  Through strange messages he discovers that NASA still exists and through the efforts of Professor John Brand (Michael Caine) is launching a mission to a worm hole which has appeared near Saturn. Probes through the worm hole have established that three potential planets for human habitation exist on the other side.  Cooper is enlisted by Professor Brand to pilot the mission shuttle with a team consisting of Brands' daughter, Amelia (Anne Hathaway) and scientists Romilly (David Gyasi) and Doyle Wes Bentley) with very quirky robots operating with almost human personality programming.

On Earth, as time relativity passes more quickly, Cooper's daughter Murphy has become an adult (Jessica Chastain) and joined Professor Brand working on an equation to launch massive space stations from Earth using gravity. All is not what it seems and Cooper and Amelia are confronted by endless challenges far away in space (including a massive black hole termed 'Gargantua') and some unexpected but devastating deception from their own colleagues.

The film was shot on locations in the United States, Canada and Iceland and theoretical physicist, Kip Thorne (a collaborator with the late renowned scientist, Carl Sagan) was the scientific consultant both with story development and visual effects. If you're familiar with terms such as worm hole, event horizon, singularity and gravitational lensing, the actual science gives the storyline a high level of gravitas.

The supermassive black hole,Gargantua, as shown in Interstellar