If you were happy every day of your life, you wouldn’t be a human. You’d be a game show host.
I'm finally done for the semester (and hopefully, the degree) but am feeling wrung out. Have been sick for literally a month which hasn't helped. I don't know what's going on there - I think it was possibly the flu followed by three or four successive colds, so nothing serious, but always just a little under par with some spectacular coughing fits. Not in the writing mood at all, but at least getting some reading done :)
Read The Fireman by Joe Hill, which I was looking forward to, but it's probably the novel of his I've liked least to date. His earlier ones were quite compact, but this was a 700+ page epic that imo showed signs of needing a good edit. And this is an odd thing to say, because I don't think I've ever really said this about a novel before, but I didn't 'believe' his characters. I mean, I've read books with protagonists capable of virtually anything and everything and not turned a hair, but I've never read a protagonist I've found so... idk, detailed, yet internally inconsistent? I just couldn't reconcile Harper being a sweet-natured nurse who idolises Mary Poppins and loves children and carefully puts together a portfolio for her unborn child with someone who also gets drunk while pregnant, swears like a trooper (when drunk), is deliberately childish and cruel to a teenager, and performs physical feats of daring at 5-9 months pregnant without seemingly any significant worry or strain beyond a cursory mention of how large and ungainly she is. While of course simultaneously falling for the roguish male hero, with whom she exchanges 'witty' masculine banter. She was like... idk, a Mary Sue by proxy, or some man's mother/madonna/whore fantasy. I didn't dislike her; I just didn't believe her. Too nuanced to be a caricature, and yet imo not quite believable as a person - she was basically whoever she needed to be at the time. On the other hand, the main male protagonist was your fairly standard white male outsider with special powers that no one else has, and a tragic romantic backstory. You know, the usual.
A secondary thing was that it felt like every second chapter had that kind of "little did she know that she would never see him smile again" ending, which is indeed good for building suspense, I guess, but it became so blatant and repetitive that I wanted to kill it with fire.
But it was very readable, and engaging, so I guess that's still a good thing?
Saw a few things at the Sydney Film Festival, which has just ended. First there was High-Rise (Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons) which was visually stunning - in many ways - but otherwise not my thing at all. I thought it did quite accurately capture the spirit of the book in that I disliked almost everyone in it and found the plot both illogical and annoying. But it looked great, and stylistically did have that 70s groovy schlock-horror vibe to it, and there was a lot of sex and screaming and gratuitous violence if you like that kind of thing. Normally I would, but eh. All very arty, but not very satisfying if you want story rather than set-pieces.
Then Ten Years, which is a Hong Kong compilation where five young film-makers were asked to make a short film about what life might be like in Hong Kong in ten years' time, with most showing particular emphasis on life under Chinese rule. Unsurprisingly, the film opened in HK, and was then pulled from cinemas by the PRC Government, in the finest traditions of irony *g*. I thought one out of the five stories was a bit weak, but the rest were solid to absolutely amazing. I wanted to applaud after the fourth one, which was titled 'Self-Immolator', and concerns a protestor who sets fire to themselves in front of the British Consulate following the death of a hunger-striking prisoner jailed for demanding democracy for Hong Kong. It was filmed in quasi-documentary style with news bulletins regarding various events, and academics and analysts being interviewed about the situation. I also loved that it showed the rare face of non-Chinese Hong Kong residents, and features a female character who speaks fluent Cantonese and is willing to fight for HK democracy despite dealing with people who tell her to 'go back to Pakistan'. Overall it was a very moving story and probably the most politically provocative.
There was also a brilliant black comedy about a middle-aged taxi driver who just can't seem to pick up Mandarin, and who falls foul of new regulations requiring all taxi drivers servicing the airport, ferry terminals and CBD to be fluent in the language. He's depressed that his young son is now being taught only in Mandarin, and even his GPS keeps telling him it can't understand his mangled pronunciation. Bittersweet, but hilarious. If anything, the PRC's actions probably stirred up more local interest in the film than ever.
Also Under the Sun, which is an odd combination of film and documentary. A Russian film crew were invited to film a documentary about an 'ordinary' North Korean girl and her glorious journey towards becoming a member of the Children's Union on the Day of the Shining Star (Kim Il-Sung's birthday). However, this is not that 'documentary', but rather a combination of scenes that were filmed, coupled with footage of things that happened during the shoot. So it shows Korean handlers instructing the family what to say and how to act, and details how the father, who is actually a print journalist, is shown in the 'documentary' as being the brilliant head of an exemplary garment factory, while the mother, who works in a cafeteria, is shown to be a worker at a factory producing soy milk.
It was actually very slow, almost meditative, in parts, but had some fascinating moments. In one scene a 'war hero' (I mean, he could have been for real, but it doesn't seem to matter) tells a class of children of his heroic exploits, while the camera lingers on one child who is clearly struggling to stay awake. Another scene is filmed in a classroom, where the teacher repeats the same story so many times that the audience feels thoroughly drained by the end of it. (It was about how landowners and Japanese are scoundrels, and how glorious General Kim Il-Sung once pushed rocks down upon a group of scoundrels and killed them. Also, Americans are evil. Repeat the story for several minutes, have the children repeat the story for several minutes, have the children answer questions about the story, then have them write it down.)
There was also a mass dance celebration, where men and women dressed to the nines dance in choreographed groups waving red scarves. It looked amazing from a distance, but then the camera zoomed right in on the faces. Here and there you saw a genuinely - perhaps manically - smiling face, but the vast majority just had that 'fine, whatever' look. Wave scarf, chant slogan, do whatever the state demands. Just like the rest of us, really.
Theatre-wise, saw the wonderful Philip Quast 'in conversation', which was such a joy. I think he has my favourite musical theatre voice in the world, but I haven't heard him sing live for years - he was based in London for so many years (winning a record three Oliviers for best actor in a musical), and then mainly did acting roles once back in Australia. He's getting on in years, but has retained both his amazing falsetto and earth-shaking baritone. Just incredible, especially at close range (we were in the second row). He had some fun stories, too, such as baking Ian McKellen a cake for his 70th birthday when he attended La Cage Aux Folles with 70 guests and complained that it apparently takes two straight guys to play a gay couple (Quast was starring in La Cage Aux Folles with Roger Allam - my god, the entire theatre must have vibrated with those two) *g*
Lastly saw Heathers (the musical) at the Opera House which I thoroughly enjoyed, much more than most of the musicals I've seen recently. Loved the movie - whatever did happen to Christian Slater? - but had forgotten just how dark the comedy was, and the 80s nostalgia was fun to visit all over again. The songs were well done - properly integrated into the story (for a change) and with some very clever and funny lyrics into the bargain. Good singing, great acting (admittedly tuned to High Camp), and interestingly pared-back but effective set design, with movable banks of lockers being used in versatile ways. Might need a movie rewatch...
Except for the book, that was all in the space of the last week and a bit, which was not ideal timing, but couldn't be helped. Now I just need to stop coughing *g* (In case you're wondering, I managed to not actually cough during performances - it seems to be triggered by changes in temperature and position, so as long as I'm warm and sitting still, I'm fine. LOL.)
Read The Fireman by Joe Hill, which I was looking forward to, but it's probably the novel of his I've liked least to date. His earlier ones were quite compact, but this was a 700+ page epic that imo showed signs of needing a good edit. And this is an odd thing to say, because I don't think I've ever really said this about a novel before, but I didn't 'believe' his characters. I mean, I've read books with protagonists capable of virtually anything and everything and not turned a hair, but I've never read a protagonist I've found so... idk, detailed, yet internally inconsistent? I just couldn't reconcile Harper being a sweet-natured nurse who idolises Mary Poppins and loves children and carefully puts together a portfolio for her unborn child with someone who also gets drunk while pregnant, swears like a trooper (when drunk), is deliberately childish and cruel to a teenager, and performs physical feats of daring at 5-9 months pregnant without seemingly any significant worry or strain beyond a cursory mention of how large and ungainly she is. While of course simultaneously falling for the roguish male hero, with whom she exchanges 'witty' masculine banter. She was like... idk, a Mary Sue by proxy, or some man's mother/madonna/whore fantasy. I didn't dislike her; I just didn't believe her. Too nuanced to be a caricature, and yet imo not quite believable as a person - she was basically whoever she needed to be at the time. On the other hand, the main male protagonist was your fairly standard white male outsider with special powers that no one else has, and a tragic romantic backstory. You know, the usual.
A secondary thing was that it felt like every second chapter had that kind of "little did she know that she would never see him smile again" ending, which is indeed good for building suspense, I guess, but it became so blatant and repetitive that I wanted to kill it with fire.
But it was very readable, and engaging, so I guess that's still a good thing?
Saw a few things at the Sydney Film Festival, which has just ended. First there was High-Rise (Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons) which was visually stunning - in many ways - but otherwise not my thing at all. I thought it did quite accurately capture the spirit of the book in that I disliked almost everyone in it and found the plot both illogical and annoying. But it looked great, and stylistically did have that 70s groovy schlock-horror vibe to it, and there was a lot of sex and screaming and gratuitous violence if you like that kind of thing. Normally I would, but eh. All very arty, but not very satisfying if you want story rather than set-pieces.
Then Ten Years, which is a Hong Kong compilation where five young film-makers were asked to make a short film about what life might be like in Hong Kong in ten years' time, with most showing particular emphasis on life under Chinese rule. Unsurprisingly, the film opened in HK, and was then pulled from cinemas by the PRC Government, in the finest traditions of irony *g*. I thought one out of the five stories was a bit weak, but the rest were solid to absolutely amazing. I wanted to applaud after the fourth one, which was titled 'Self-Immolator', and concerns a protestor who sets fire to themselves in front of the British Consulate following the death of a hunger-striking prisoner jailed for demanding democracy for Hong Kong. It was filmed in quasi-documentary style with news bulletins regarding various events, and academics and analysts being interviewed about the situation. I also loved that it showed the rare face of non-Chinese Hong Kong residents, and features a female character who speaks fluent Cantonese and is willing to fight for HK democracy despite dealing with people who tell her to 'go back to Pakistan'. Overall it was a very moving story and probably the most politically provocative.
There was also a brilliant black comedy about a middle-aged taxi driver who just can't seem to pick up Mandarin, and who falls foul of new regulations requiring all taxi drivers servicing the airport, ferry terminals and CBD to be fluent in the language. He's depressed that his young son is now being taught only in Mandarin, and even his GPS keeps telling him it can't understand his mangled pronunciation. Bittersweet, but hilarious. If anything, the PRC's actions probably stirred up more local interest in the film than ever.
Also Under the Sun, which is an odd combination of film and documentary. A Russian film crew were invited to film a documentary about an 'ordinary' North Korean girl and her glorious journey towards becoming a member of the Children's Union on the Day of the Shining Star (Kim Il-Sung's birthday). However, this is not that 'documentary', but rather a combination of scenes that were filmed, coupled with footage of things that happened during the shoot. So it shows Korean handlers instructing the family what to say and how to act, and details how the father, who is actually a print journalist, is shown in the 'documentary' as being the brilliant head of an exemplary garment factory, while the mother, who works in a cafeteria, is shown to be a worker at a factory producing soy milk.
It was actually very slow, almost meditative, in parts, but had some fascinating moments. In one scene a 'war hero' (I mean, he could have been for real, but it doesn't seem to matter) tells a class of children of his heroic exploits, while the camera lingers on one child who is clearly struggling to stay awake. Another scene is filmed in a classroom, where the teacher repeats the same story so many times that the audience feels thoroughly drained by the end of it. (It was about how landowners and Japanese are scoundrels, and how glorious General Kim Il-Sung once pushed rocks down upon a group of scoundrels and killed them. Also, Americans are evil. Repeat the story for several minutes, have the children repeat the story for several minutes, have the children answer questions about the story, then have them write it down.)
There was also a mass dance celebration, where men and women dressed to the nines dance in choreographed groups waving red scarves. It looked amazing from a distance, but then the camera zoomed right in on the faces. Here and there you saw a genuinely - perhaps manically - smiling face, but the vast majority just had that 'fine, whatever' look. Wave scarf, chant slogan, do whatever the state demands. Just like the rest of us, really.
Theatre-wise, saw the wonderful Philip Quast 'in conversation', which was such a joy. I think he has my favourite musical theatre voice in the world, but I haven't heard him sing live for years - he was based in London for so many years (winning a record three Oliviers for best actor in a musical), and then mainly did acting roles once back in Australia. He's getting on in years, but has retained both his amazing falsetto and earth-shaking baritone. Just incredible, especially at close range (we were in the second row). He had some fun stories, too, such as baking Ian McKellen a cake for his 70th birthday when he attended La Cage Aux Folles with 70 guests and complained that it apparently takes two straight guys to play a gay couple (Quast was starring in La Cage Aux Folles with Roger Allam - my god, the entire theatre must have vibrated with those two) *g*
Lastly saw Heathers (the musical) at the Opera House which I thoroughly enjoyed, much more than most of the musicals I've seen recently. Loved the movie - whatever did happen to Christian Slater? - but had forgotten just how dark the comedy was, and the 80s nostalgia was fun to visit all over again. The songs were well done - properly integrated into the story (for a change) and with some very clever and funny lyrics into the bargain. Good singing, great acting (admittedly tuned to High Camp), and interestingly pared-back but effective set design, with movable banks of lockers being used in versatile ways. Might need a movie rewatch...
Except for the book, that was all in the space of the last week and a bit, which was not ideal timing, but couldn't be helped. Now I just need to stop coughing *g* (In case you're wondering, I managed to not actually cough during performances - it seems to be triggered by changes in temperature and position, so as long as I'm warm and sitting still, I'm fine. LOL.)