Monthly Archives: February 2012

Australian Government Is A Soap Opera

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The last several days have been like a soap opera when it comes to our own government. For the second time in 18 months our useless Labor government are again going through the process of ripping itself apart with in-fighting between Gillard & Rudd as they try to find a new leader because their polls are so low instead of trying to work on effective government and sort out the issues that affect us all.

The labor government here in Australia have stuffed up the budget by blowing it into a massive deficit, introduced dud policies and scared the shit out the general population by pandering to the insane green party with a moronic carbon tax which, in turn, has practically brought a large chunk of this economy to a stand still because of all the uncertainty going around with regards to it.

I’m sorry, but whoever wins this nonsense, we all lose, because it’s not the leader of the party that’s the issue, it’s the awful policy that labor have introduced over it’s one and a half terms so far. The sooner we have an election and get rid of this government, the better this country will be, until then we will have a dysfunctional government run by either a compulsive liar or someone with a power trip complex.

In a related note to all this nonsense, someone out in cyberspace obviously has a sense of humor by posting a funny job listing for Prime Minister on nowhiring.com, of course there are a few prerequisites for the job;

“The applicant would be expected to report to “faceless men”, “Alan Jones” and a large team of experienced senior executives with proven track records.”

“Wayne Swan will also be there”

“Applicants should … be an earnest and empathetic individual of outstanding moral character. However, we will settle for applicants who have a pulse.”

If you could meet the quite amusing job requirements listed, you should give the job a go. After all you can’t do any worse than the two clowns fighting AGAIN!

2012 Formula 1 Season Draws Near

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After what seems like an eternity to a Formula 1 fanatic, the Formula 1 circus is rolling into action again. With just over a month until the first race of the season here in Melbourne, the teams have hit the track at Jerez for pre-season testing which gives us our first real chance to see the 2012 cars in action. This year the cars look a slight bit different to previous years, the most notable difference is the use of the “platypus” noses due to new chassis regulations. All the teams with the notable exception of the new Mclaren MP4-27 sport this new look while Mclaren are using a more traditional nose and in my opinion is the best looking car in the field.

Will it be the quickest though??

Personally I don’t mind the look of the new “platypus” noses, after all Formula 1 has always been at the cutting edge of technology and it’s interesting to see how each team has adapted to these new rules. Red Bull of course have gone their own way with regards to the new noses compared to the other teams and added an intake above the lower nose, how this will help them performance wise is unknown until we get to the season as testing never really gives too much away as the teams don’t want to show their hand too early. If one was speculating, you would have to give the advantage to Red Bull at this point because the title is theirs to lose, but hopefully some of the other teams step up to the challenge this year like in the 2010 season, the last thing Formula 1 fans want is another season without a cliffhanger ending. Time will tell.

Sherlock Is Amazing Television

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A few weeks ago I watched what I believe is the best episode of television in over ten years. I refer to the final episode in this current series of the BBC’s Sherlock. As usual with most of the BBC’s programs, the short length of each series is proof positive that doing shows the American network way, ie: too many episodes per year, just leads to mediocrity in the long run (although there are of course some exceptions.)

While each series of Sherlock is short (only three movie length episodes) this was 90 minutes of brilliant storytelling topped off with a cliffhanger that makes you wish that the wait between series wasn’t so unbearable. Here’s hoping that the wait till series three isn’t as long as the wait for series two.

Cowboys And Aliens (2011)

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Cowboys & Aliens is a very strange genre mix. Many years ago I read that Hollywood was adapting the “graphic novel” (I hate that term, just call it a comic book) and I wondered how it would work without being ridiculous. It seems that the many writers had the same problem.

With numerous rewrites and writer changes, the film itself has been in development hell for many years, so much so that even Ace Ventura and Evan Almighty scribe Steve Oedekerk had a stab at it! Now that we have the film, it proves to me why the studios continue with making rubbish like this, utter greed in cashing in on the “comic book” craze before the next big thing comes along.

Cowboys & Aliens is perfect brainless fare for your average teenager who prefers explosions over a coherent story line. When I saw the first trailer for this, I was intrigued, because at first this looked like a perfectly cast rip roaring western with Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, then we got to the bonkers bit of the trailer where the aliens attack the town and the idea of an enjoyable classic style western went with it.

As the film opens, we find Craig waking up in the middle of nowhere with no recollection of who or where he is and a strange bracelet attached to his wrist. After a short scuffle with bounty hunters he wanders into a small town and is approached by Ella (Olivia Wilde), a woman who not only knows who he is, but what is about to happen. We discover he is Jake Lonnergan (Daniel Craig), a wanted outlaw who is soon to be arrested by the local constabulary.

It’s after his arrest that things start to take a twist, we find that land baron Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) also wants Lonnergan for his own reasons, but before the situation is resolved the town is attacked by Aliens. In the aftermath the townsfolk realize that a lot of its citizens, including Ford’s imbecile son Percy (Paul Dano) have been taken by the aliens for an unknown reason, now adversaries must become allies in order to get their people back. During our heroes search for their lost, we discover that the aliens have come to enslave earth of the past because they are unable to do it in the future because of our supposed technological advancement. Now this ragtag bunch of Cowboys must overcome the odds to not only get their people back, but defeat an enemy vastly superior to them.

Cowboys & Aliens isn’t a bad movie in the scheme of things, its a slickly directed, well executed and technically impressive film. The acting from the main leads is excellent, as its the production design. It’s just a damn shame then, that the foundations of the film, ‘THE SCRIPT’ are so, well, stupid!

There is no denying that John Favreau is very good at directing big budget films, he’s earned his stripes on films like Zathura and Iron-Man for example, but a director can only do so much with the story he’s been given. While Favreau gives it his best effort, it ultimately falls short. There are also moments where the film works quite well, for example the whole opening act up until the aliens arrive is good western fare, but all of that is forgotten once we get into the meat of the story and it’s that meat that is the disappointing part.

I’m sure that if I was 14 I would have lapped this up, but at 34 I’m afraid it just doesn’t cut it for me and I’m guessing a majority of people my age will feel the same. If Cowboys & Aliens had been just a full blown western without all the sci-fi dribble, this stood a chance of being a great example of the western genre, as it stands though, it’s just a very average run of the mill sci-fi film.