Australia - The Movie

If I had a read a simple synopsis of Australia I'd probably never have watched it. Boy meets girl, pick up an orphan child along the way set to the Australian outback at the onset of the WWII. My memory is saying Thorn Birds revisited and that's so far off the charts of movie making I have time for I'm grateful I caught a one liner that it was the best movie of 2008. I'd never heard of it before as I was in Beijing at the time I guess.

Some people have a real aversion to Nicole Kidman but she's never let me down in a movie yet and to my mind is easily one of the most accomplished female actors on the planet, if we forgive her playing drunk instead of stoned in Eyes wide shut. Some people find her cold but I guess that's part of the appeal and without question her partnering up with Hugh Jackson in this movie is about as memorable (and humorous) a sexual match on the big screen as is possible. I don't usually like the themes of love and romance on the big screen outside of foreign language screenplays, so if I enjoyed it I can't imagine anyone else finding it overbearing.

The boy character of Nullah (Creamy) is exceptionally well played. Adding children to the mix is always high risk but there isn't a scene he detracts from. It's not just that he acts well, he nails/is the character of a half aboriginal half white boy under constant persecution from the authorities who it has to be highlighted only stopped the practice of separating children from their mothers in 1973 and belatedly received a useless apology in 2008. That apology is insufficient given the growing testimony of systematic child abuse that the Church exploits and rears their victims.

The aboriginal themes of magic and harmony with the land are well integrated in the movie and if that fails to overcome stereotypical expectations, I think the weaving of the second world war narrative is informative and taught me a few things that I hadn't really thought of before with respect to Australia, Japan and the British Empire during the war. I didn't know about the bombing of Darwin for example.

Directed by Baz Luhrman I think Australia is beautifully produced with very few over the top sentimental indulgences, or so few they don't matter.

Blade Runner - Phillip K. Dick

I watched Blade Runner for the first time last night as part of the 'movie classics I've managed to miss season' I'm going through. I understand now why it's a cult movie. Originally I was only curious about watching Science Fiction which is not my genre of movie making because I'm seriously interested in Phillip K. Dick's unique life which seems to have had a living (nightmare?) time-shift quality to it that reveals clues to questions I'm pursuing today. 


However the movie stand's up on it's own two feet as superb story telling, quality acting and outstanding dystopian scenery from not too far away for us now in 2011. The direction also feels like it inspired Wong Kar Wai's entire career to date. I've included the final deleted scene below because it's so extraordinarily close to the ending of Tron Legacy that I watched recently.

Soul Food Mahanakorn

It's really hard for me to get excited by Thai restaurants in Bangkok when the street food is so often tastier, more fun to eat and inexpensive. My palate is often more Thai than a lot of Bangkokians so the idea of enduring napkins, starched service and something more bland than my taste prefers isn't my first choice of eating environment. However about a year ago I started following Jarret Wrisley on Twitter and followed the ups and downs of establishing a business in this city for a while, as he wrote for the Atlantic before creating a bar restaurant on Thong Lor. I've now eaten there a few times and the food and atmosphere has been so exceptional that I'm going to say it's the only place I can authentically recommend if guests insist on Thai.

The menu at Soulfood Mahanakorn has a care and attention to it such that newcomers wont be stretched too far, and old hands wont be left unimpressed. That's quite an unusual harmonic to achieve with Thai food in Bangkok. I'll also add that the smoked ribs are the best local style ribs I've eaten. It's not far from the Sky Train station of Thong Lor. Here's a map.