Ooh, check out these photos from the set of the upcoming His Dark Materials movies. The gyptian barge looks good! I like the atmosphere they’ve got going too.

How excitement! A customer just called to ask whether it was going to be difficult to get into the shop today, as apparently there’s a movie – Superman! – filming down York Street. I had no idea! I’m going to sneak down at lunch and see if I can get a photo.

Update: Here they are! The two crappiest photos ever. (I only had my mobile and I didn’t want to risk getting too close for fear that I’d get, like, busted or something. I don’t know. I was paranoid.) They’d set up a big crane at Wynyard Station, not far from Krispy Kreme. It was holding a big roof-like structure over the area by the bus stops beside the Menzies Hotel. There were hundreds of people milling around, sitting on the grass and standing at the fences watching. This first shot is from up top in the little park-like area, looking down towards where all the lights were. At one point I heard a voice over a loudspeaker call “Action!” and then I caught a glimpse of a crowd of people start walking around that street. And then “Cut.” Hollywood in action is pretty boring, to tell you the truth. The second shot is down on Wynyard Street looking at the big crane thing. I didn’t see anybody that looked very important, though there were two swanky big motorhomes parked down one of the side streets.

Stupid anecdote: I was sorta disappointed not to see Lois Lane because I read in a magazine yesterday that she was going to be played by Mischa Barton from The O.C., and I had a crazy vision that maybe she’d be wearing yet another big ugly hat and I could yell something amusing at her. But then I got home and looked it up and it turns out that it isn’t her, it’s Kate Bosworth. Damn. That’s what I get for gleaning celebrity information from nine-month-old magazines at the doctor’s office.

Tonight I joined the Snook out at Westfield Bondi Junction (a big fancy-pants shopping mall) to see Wimbledon with the rest of his co-workers. Their boss had booked a Gold Class showing for us, which was pretty sweet. It’s basically a private theater – no more than 40 people – and everybody has big plush recliners to sit in. Unfortunately the concept of “open bar” and “two hour movie” don’t go so well together… I myself had to get up and wee twice during the film, and I hate missing the movie. Luckily I didn’t miss much, as this is a strictly formulaic rom-com. I never really bought into the love story at all, mostly because Kirsten Dunst annoyed the crap out of me. I guess I’m over her. Paul Bettany was great, though, and I found him really believable as a tennis player. The Snook and I also got a kick out seeing some shots of London and Brighton. (We also had fun speculating on how the tennis sequences were filmed; the IMDb trivia page confirms that the ball was CGed in afterwards.) So all in all, a fun evening… but way, WAY too many carbs. Ick.

Last night Snookums and I went out to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with a friend. I don’t mean to sound like a wanker or anything, but I’m not sure I can say anything meaningful about it right now. It’s just too close. I really, really liked it. I found myself fighting back tears about halfway through. I absolutely loved the ending (though the idealistic part of me wanted it to end as soon as Joel woke up that last time, not wanting to see the messy yet realistic and ultimately uplifting ending). I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank (*eye roll*) the Snook for giggling and squeezing my hand when Joel said, “Constantly talking isn’t necessarily communicating.” Har har. He also thought it was pretty funny to lose me in the bathroom crowd afterwards so I’d get all weirded out. (And I did just have my hair dyed a funky color…)

Tonight I saw Japanese Story, a new Australian film starring Toni Collette. I’m not sure I can say anything meaningful about it without giving everything good away. As the director says, “Some people have just gone, like, you know, I don’t get it and I don’t even want to get it, you know? And then some people go, you know, thanks, I got it.” I think I fall somewhere in the middle. But sometimes it’s good, you know, to not “get” every single thing. I’m still thinking about it. I’d definitely recommend it.