Month: October 2010

The Social Network movie- a big yawn

liligans Films, So you think you're cultured?

Had it not been for the ABC’s “At The Movies” high rating for this film, I would not have thought of going to see it. However, when a film about the founder of Facebook receives a high five from a critic like David Stratton, then I am persuaded to give it a go. David had said that he had not expected to like “The Social Network” but was pleasantly surprised. I, on the other hand, expected to like this film because of his review but was very disappointed.

Why? Well, it seemed disjointed and poorly scripted. The main actor who played Mark Zuckerberg, was excellent. But the other actors resembled caricatures, monofaceted and so many of them overacted. It is not easy to make a story of a young man’s rise to fame and fortune tedious, but this film managed to do it.

We should have been fascinated by this “genius” but he seemed like he was just playing in the lost children’s section of Toys R US. Poor little hacker…

I found myself looking at my watch to see how long there is to go. There were some noisy coke (as in cocaine) scenes. The portrayal of young women in the film was abysmal. They all seemed to be rather sluttish, apart from the one who had broken Zuckerberg’s heart and sent him on the road to billions.

It was a rather sad and confusing movie which had much potential in the beginning but which failed to deliver. Having said all this, I realise that other reviews have been favourable and my opinion is not that of the majority.

I would even go so far as to admit that had I been watching “The Social Network” at home on TV I would have switched channels after the first dreary half hour, but you know how it is, I had paid for my movie ticket and by George I was going to get my money’s worth of suffering lol.

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Tony Curtis made me do a double take last week

liligans Films, Literature, So you think you're cultured?

Many of us remember how good looking and affable Tony Curtis was. He was a mega film star in his day and with his passing last week we lost another great from the Golden Years of Hollywood.

No matter how successful Curtis was he never forgot his humble Bronx roots and that was part of his charm.

I did a double take when I read that he was buried with a copy of “Anthony Adverse.” For some reason I got the notion that “Anthony Adverse” had been written by Henry Fielding, the Eighteenth Century novelist responsible for “Joseph Andrews” and “Tom Jones.”

Well, it did sound like the sort of thing that Fielding would have written. It could even have been the work of Samuel Richardson, perhaps. Imagine my surprise that Tony Curtis would have chosen to be buried with a copy of an English Eighteenth Century classic!

I was amazed and very impressed to have learned of this facet of Tony Curtis’s character. I mean, not only was Tony a hunk but he was also an intellectual! I practically swooned. He wasn’t just a pretty face.

I decided to google “Anthony Adverse”……….

What are you reading?

liligans So you think you're cultured?, What Pisses me off

There are some pretentious people around. You know the ones I mean. They figure in that aspirational waste of paper called “Wish” published monthly by The Australian. In it you will find ads for luxury items as well as interviews with “names” who are into meditation and Zen and organic carrots.

They are the ones who have made it, so to speak. We apparently want to know what they are reading, eating, wearing and driving. How do they cope with their success? It can be a problem, you know, and my heart goes out to them.

Well, they seem to be doing quite well, really. Bravo! And if life gets too hectic they escape to their hobby farms where they grow their carrots and herbs. We used to say that everything was rosy but now it’s green. Green this green that. Quite frankly, I’m a little bit tired of all things green.

Above all, what really intrigues me about the glitterati is their choice of reading matter. It’s never Mills and Boon. Not for them the dime novels. As relaxation they prefer to read the entire Oxford Dictionary, all twelve tomes of it. I wonder if they ever get past B for BS. And if it’s not a dictionary then it’s the latest thriller by Kierkegaard or that other barrel of laughs, Nietzsche. How impressive is that? I’m quite green with envy.

Call me a cynic but I don’t believe them for one second. Those are the books they display and yes, they mean to read them one day. Of course they do. Or rather they intend to when they have a decade to spare. But meanwhile they’re into the Hello magazines and Who Weekly.

So what am I reading? How about the Target catalogue? My favourite restaurant? The Felafel Place or Grill’d. My favourite tipple? Bud Lite which I can’t even buy in Australia, so I go for Ginger Beer or tomato juice. My latest gadget? Kindle, so that I can get all the free books online, even the Complete Oxford Dictionary should I want it. Somehow, that doesn’t have the same cachet as having a dozen dictionaries strewn around that trendy coffee table.