Zoolander and Keating! (again)
Thanks to the appearance of the Zoolander 2 trailer, I watched Zoolander last night. I remember it coming out, but somehow I never had the slightest idea it was about fashion assassins *g*. If you'd asked me, I would have said it was a frat boy comedy of some kind, probably due to the association of "zoo" and the basic genre involved. It was fun, although I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I'd hoped - I think that's because I have a almost visceral dislike of Ben Stiller. And while I did like Zoolander the character, it somehow did not manage to diminish this feeling at all. While I LOVE the idea of an airheaded male supermodel who gets roped into an assassination plot, something about the way he plays Zoolander really makes me uncomfortable, and I think perhaps it's because I get the feeling that he's laughing at the character even while playing him. I'm okay with "dumb" comedy even if it's not my favourite thing - I remember quite enjoying Blades of Glory, for example, not to mention Dumb and Dumber. But to feel for the characters I kind of have to believe that THEY genuinely believe in themselves, and Zoolander just seems to act self-consciously dumb in an overly meta way that, say, Hansel (Owen Wilson) doesn't. Stiller plays to the invisible audience rather than actually inhabiting his character. Or maybe I just hate the way he acts like he's "slow" (ie disabled - I apologise if I'm not using the proper terminology), which is not actually the same as acting "stupid", and the implied mockery makes me uncomfortable. I realise I've thought about this way too much :P
High points of this movie:
- visually amazing, loved it. Particularly found Mugatu (Will Ferrell) enjoyable to watch - now THAT's committment. He reminded me of John Malkovich for some bizarre reason.
- the orange mocha frappacino scene. Oh, so that's where that Sherlock gif came from. Dying.
- OMG DAVID BOWIE. I literally squealed when he appeared (there may have been flailing too - hey, I was at home). HOW DID I NOT KNOW? WHERE HAVE I BEEN ALL MY LIFE? The other cameos were lots of fun, too, but Bowie pretty much eclipsed the entire movie just by turning up *g*
Have listened to almost all of Hamilton now, but there are parts of the second act that I may not be listening to again, at least not now. Nopenopenope. Ouch. It's such a brilliantly complex musical though, and I absolutely love the use of hip-hop/rap mixed with nods to more traditional musicals. It's also such an "American" musical, in that I feel it's steeped in the culture and history that are probably second nature to many Americans, but that I find quite challenging, in that sense that it's an alien world to me. I think it's maybe because politics is in some ways a nation's "soul", such as it is, and it's so, idk, bound up with the country's identity. Like, I imagine the terms "founding fathers" and "declaration of independence" probably have an emotional resonance to most Americans that just doesn't exist for me except second-hand.
Part of this musing is just an excuse to mention Keating! (2005) again, which is the only political musical I can think of that Australia's produced, and I suppose gives me the same indefinable national identification. Paul Keating was (Labor) Prime Minister of Australia from 1991-1996, which was a time when Australia was turning outwards, looking at indigenous reconciliation, etc., and it all felt quite exciting and progressive at the time. Keating himself was also a bit of a character - he left school at 15, but as though to make up for that always had quite an elitist air about him, which did not make him particularly popular with the public (in contrast to Hawke, who was a Rhodes scholar, but did his best to pass for a working-class bloke who liked beer and football). Whereas Keating wore designer suits, collected antiques, championed The Arts, and so forth. He also had some of most brutal insults ever uttered in Parliament - there's a page devoted to them, and you can find "When Keating Attacks!" videos on Youtube" *g*
Keating! also features a rap battle in Parliament, between Keating and Opposition Leader Doctor John Hewson, with the twist that Keating's insults are all taken directly from parliamentary transcripts (sample: "I am not like the Leader of the Opposition. I did not slither out of the Cabinet room like a mangy maggot..."). He also really did say "I want to do you slowly" when asked why he refused to call an early election. It's nowhere near as deep or complex as Hamilton (it's more like a comedic revue), but I hope some of you might find it entertaining, and perhaps enjoy a glimpse into Australian politics, musical-style... (Note that Fightback! - complete with exclamation mark - was the official Liberal campaign policy at the time; GST = goods and services tax).
And a more sweetly idealistic one, in case you're interested - Keating's swan song (The Light on the Hill):
High points of this movie:
- visually amazing, loved it. Particularly found Mugatu (Will Ferrell) enjoyable to watch - now THAT's committment. He reminded me of John Malkovich for some bizarre reason.
- the orange mocha frappacino scene. Oh, so that's where that Sherlock gif came from. Dying.
- OMG DAVID BOWIE. I literally squealed when he appeared (there may have been flailing too - hey, I was at home). HOW DID I NOT KNOW? WHERE HAVE I BEEN ALL MY LIFE? The other cameos were lots of fun, too, but Bowie pretty much eclipsed the entire movie just by turning up *g*
Have listened to almost all of Hamilton now, but there are parts of the second act that I may not be listening to again, at least not now. Nopenopenope. Ouch. It's such a brilliantly complex musical though, and I absolutely love the use of hip-hop/rap mixed with nods to more traditional musicals. It's also such an "American" musical, in that I feel it's steeped in the culture and history that are probably second nature to many Americans, but that I find quite challenging, in that sense that it's an alien world to me. I think it's maybe because politics is in some ways a nation's "soul", such as it is, and it's so, idk, bound up with the country's identity. Like, I imagine the terms "founding fathers" and "declaration of independence" probably have an emotional resonance to most Americans that just doesn't exist for me except second-hand.
Part of this musing is just an excuse to mention Keating! (2005) again, which is the only political musical I can think of that Australia's produced, and I suppose gives me the same indefinable national identification. Paul Keating was (Labor) Prime Minister of Australia from 1991-1996, which was a time when Australia was turning outwards, looking at indigenous reconciliation, etc., and it all felt quite exciting and progressive at the time. Keating himself was also a bit of a character - he left school at 15, but as though to make up for that always had quite an elitist air about him, which did not make him particularly popular with the public (in contrast to Hawke, who was a Rhodes scholar, but did his best to pass for a working-class bloke who liked beer and football). Whereas Keating wore designer suits, collected antiques, championed The Arts, and so forth. He also had some of most brutal insults ever uttered in Parliament - there's a page devoted to them, and you can find "When Keating Attacks!" videos on Youtube" *g*
Keating! also features a rap battle in Parliament, between Keating and Opposition Leader Doctor John Hewson, with the twist that Keating's insults are all taken directly from parliamentary transcripts (sample: "I am not like the Leader of the Opposition. I did not slither out of the Cabinet room like a mangy maggot..."). He also really did say "I want to do you slowly" when asked why he refused to call an early election. It's nowhere near as deep or complex as Hamilton (it's more like a comedic revue), but I hope some of you might find it entertaining, and perhaps enjoy a glimpse into Australian politics, musical-style... (Note that Fightback! - complete with exclamation mark - was the official Liberal campaign policy at the time; GST = goods and services tax).
Click to viewAnd a more sweetly idealistic one, in case you're interested - Keating's swan song (The Light on the Hill):