I knew they were making a Lemony Snicket movie, but I didn’t realize Jim Carrey was playing Count Olaf! Check out the trailer. It looks… interesting. I think he looks the part but I didn’t really imagine the Count being so goofy. In the books I read (the first four), he was very creepy and scary and menacing. That’s part of the reason I didn’t like them so much. I don’t like scary stories! But other than the goofiness, this looks like it good be a good film. I hope they keep the books’ warped sense of humor. And how funny is it that Jude Law is providing the voice of Lemony Snicket?! (Link courtesy of Kevin.)
Category: Movies
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The Movie Show moves to ABC…
Shock! Horror! The hosts of SBS’s Movie Show, David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz, have defected to the ABC! To an Aussie, this is pretty much as big a deal as when Letterman jumped to CBS.
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Harry Potter Casting News
Emma Thompson will play Sybil Trelawney, Harry’s dreaded Divinations teacher, in Prisoner of Azkaban. Cool. I kinda pictured Sybil as older, but I’m sure Emma will be able to pull it off. (Luckily Gilderoy’s not around in this one, huh?) Although, what’s this about the movie not coming out til next June? I thought we could expect it this year, same as the last two. Damn.
Edited 12/04/2025: Link is dead and not archived
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Japanese Story
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.
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Birth of a Nation
Ebert has posted the second part of his review of Birth of a Nation. I think he makes some good points about why it’s worthwhile to study art that is considered objectionable by today’s audiences. In Griffith’s time, people glossed over the racism and gasped at his cinematic innovations. Nowadays it’s the reverse, but that doesn’t mean the film shouldn’t be studied and understood within context.
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Ebert
Ebert is embroiled in the debate over Bowling for Columbine‘s accuracy. Interesting stuff.
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Star Wars
The Snook and I were watching Star Wars yesterday and we started discussing the worm that lives in the Death Star trash compactor. I was telling him about the McSweeney’s article that examines the implausibility of the Empire’s waste management system. As we pondered what the worm was doing there in the first place, we both suddenly exclaimed in unison: “Worm farming!” Who knew the Empire was into vermicomposting? 🙂
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Friday Five
I don’t like these questions so much. I’m too indecisive.
1. If you could only choose 1 cd to ever listen to again, what would it be?
Ugh. There’s no way I could pick just one. It would have to be a mix CD that I burned myself of all my favorite songs.2. If you could only choose 2 movies to watch ever again, what would they be?
Pride and Prejudice and the Star Wars Trilogy. (I can count Episodes 4-6 as one movie, right?)3. If you could only choose 3 books to read ever again, what would they be?
Jeez. No clue. Seeing a pattern here? If I absolutely had to pick… To Kill a Mockingbird, The Stand, and a book of Greek mythology. That covers a lot of ground.4. If you could only choose 4 things to eat or drink ever again, what would they be?
This one I like. 1) Mountain Dew. 2) My aunt Berb’s chicken and dumplings. 3) The Snook’s chicken risotto. 4) McDonald’s french fries. *dries drool off keyboard*5. If you could only choose 5 people to ever be/talk/associate/whatever with ever again, who would they be?
What, you expect me to answer honestly? My family reads this site! Actually, if you’re talking face-to-face association, I don’t think I even have five people here that I see on a regular basis. There’s the Snook… and that’s it. Yeah, I really need to make some Australian friends.