Chauvel CinemaWhen I got the invitation to the Opening Night of the new Australian film, “Monkey Puzzle” at The Chauvel Cinema in Paddington I immediately said yes. I really love Australian movies, even if there have been a lot of total dogs in recent years. And I love going to The Chauvel, as it’s located in such a great building.
And there was a nice connection with this film, as the partner of a colleague has written the music for this film. And so it was a combination of going along to support a work-mate, as well as a genuine interest in the film and a desire to go to The Chauvel. I invited Andrew to come along as I thought it was a film he might enjoy.
“What did you think?”, he asked me as we walked down Oxford Street after the film. “I’m kinda ambivalent”, I told him. “I didn’t dislike the film”, I added. I thought it was okay, and pretty good one for a first-time director.
The issue was that I didn’t really like the characters all that much. They were okay, but there wasn’t really enough of an introduction to really get to like them or hate them or have any feelings for them,
That way, when one of them died – or was he killed? – I guess I would have felt something a little. As it was, I didn’t really care that he died. He was an interesting enough character, but not interesting enough to care about, if you know what I mean.
It wasn’t a bad film, it wasn’t a good film.
As noted by Andrew, there’s a bit of eye-candy in the film, both in terms of The Blue Mountains and a couple of the actors. I guess that helped…
Before starting to talk about “Footy Chicks” which premiered on Thursday night at the Sydney Film Festival, I need to alert you to a potential conflict of interest: the film’s producer, Michaela Perske is a friend of mine.
“Footy Chicks” is a documentary about women in Sydney and Melbourne who are, primarily, footy fans. In addition to that, there’s a group of women who sleep with the players, with a significant divide between these women and those who are married to, or who are girlfriends of players.
I’ve known about “Footy Chicks” for a couple of years now and had a pretty intimate knowledge of the type of film it would be. As the film was being made, Michaela would tell me about the footage they’d shot, the stories they’d been told, the people they’d met. So when, for example, footage of a large number of women’s breasts that was shot by a footy player appeared on screen, I knew it before the caption “Player Cam” appeared.
Having that intimate knowledge I was perhaps lulled into a false sense of the subject matter. Subject matter dealing with sexually adventurous men and women, rape, group sex and so on, didn’t phase me at all, whereas other people I know were shocked.
Michaela & Bec at Footy Chicks
What I hadn’t expected, and what I was pleased about, was that all of the women appearing in the film emerged with dignity. These women know exactly what they are doing and why they are doing it, with the exception, of course, of the experiences detailed of those women who were sexually assaulted.
The story of the women in this film is told with passion and humour, which the audience on opening night really seemed to appreciate. The film was well received with a good solid round of applause and there was a lot of interesting discussion in the “Q&A” segment that followed.
After the movie, we went to dinner at the Arthouse Hotel, a great venue with a good atmosphere, but when it comes to the main course, a 5-spice duck dish with bok choy, I have just three letters for you: KFC. Honestly…
Thought I’d give a mention to a documentary my friend, Michaela Perske has produced and co-written called “88”.
The documentary goes back to 1988, the year of the Australian Bicentenary, and tells the story of some of the many thousands of Indigenous people who travelled from all over Australia to join in protests on January 26. As well as being a seminal moment in the development of modern Indigenous affairs in Australia, it was also a seminal moment in the lives of many of those profiled.
The program goes to air on ABC1 on Thursday, January 30 at 8.30pm. A lot of hard work over a long period of time has gone into this, so I hope you’ll be watching :)
There’s more info about the program on their Facebook page.
One of the most exciting things I’ve done recently is book tickets for Liza Minnelli’s performance at the Sydney Opera House in October.
When pre-sale tickets went online, I was there hitting re-fresh as the bookings website went into melt-down mode.
I’ve put a copy of the seating plan on my window at work with x’s where are seats are located (great seats, by the way) which always gives everyone at work a warm smile.
I suspect my workmates think it’s “all a bit gay” that I’m excited about seeing Liza, but I can assure you it’s a long-term and genuine desire I have. From an early age (like 5 or 6), I loved Judy Garland, Liza MInnelli etc. Make of that what you will.
Anyway, in anticipation of this all, Sydney Film Festival this year has had a special screening of “Liza with a Z”, a made for television program from the early 1970s, recently restored, and so tonight Colin and I went along.
Oh my God, it was amazing. The energy levels, the strength of her performance, the goose-bump-inducing moment when she sang (though not overtly) about her mother’s death. It was an amazing performance.
For the first ten or fifteen minutes of the screening, you could sense the audience was wanting to applaud, though of course that’s something you never do at the movies, is it? After a while though they relented, and when Liza gave a great performance, they responded with applause.
One of the night’s plans, to have a hook up with Liza, didn’t eventuate. It would have been six o’clock in the morning for Liza and she’d just won a Tony Award for the show she’s bringing to Australia. I think the whole theatre understood completely it was just not going to happen, given Liza’s lifetime of parties, drugs and alcohol.
And in some ways it was probably for the best. “Liza with a Z” is about youthful energy. Her performance in October will be much different. She’s in her 60s now. To contrast the two probably wouldn’t have worked. It would have been a disappointment in some ways. I think it’s best to separate the two performances with three or four months in between.
Despite the rain it was a rather busy night out and about in Sydney. Oxford Street was absolutely packed with people who had spent the day at Good Vibrations. As it was Oxford Street, none of them, of course, were actually in the clubs. They were all either looking for a late night meal, or were in queues trying to get into clubs.
Crossing Oxford and Crown streets
We, on the other hand, had been to a Swedish movie, saw some Gen Y gay comedians, and even managed a visit to the “heavily-transexual” (?) Taxi Club. The movie was, Allt Flytter (The Swimsuit Issue) was part of the European Film Festival at Dendy Opera Quays.
There were shades of The Full Monty in the film’s premise, about a group of middle-aged men who try something adventurous and new. In this instance, they formed a team to compete at the world synchronised swimming championships. In the background, the film also explores the relationships between the lead, Frederic, his daughter, his ex-wife, and his friend Charles. The film has a “feel good” vibe about it, though, as Graeme noted is often the case with Swedish comedies, it’s not all light and bright. I really enjoyed the film, as it travelled along at a good pace, and with the right balance between comedy and drama. There was also part of the film that was filmed at Stockholm Pride which had a curiosity value for me, since I’m assuming it was filmed in 2008 when I attended Stockholm Pride.
Graeme and James
It was also nice to go to a cinema where there were so many people were speaking in Swedish. And reasonably simple Swedish too. “How did you hear about this film?”, I heard one person ask another in Swedish easy enough for me to understand, with the reply being that she had received a message through Facebook.
Although it would have been fun to have hung around for a little while after the film, and to eavesdrop further on the Swedish speakers, we needed to leave quickly to get into a taxi quick smart to get to Fox Studios. We had tickets for Mardi Ha-Ha, a night of standup comedy as part of Mardi Gras. Four comedians were featured, none of whom I’ve seen live before.
Hannah Gadsby – Darling of the international comedy festivals, and all round comedy award magnet. “Deliciously awkward” – The Age.
Anthony Menchetti – This regular writer for DNA magazine and Comedy Channel presenter survived Gay Conversion School and went on to win Triple J’s RAW Comedy competition. “Masterfully silly… Menchetti is hands down funny” – The Scotsman.
Tom Ballard – This unstoppably funny 19yr old host of Triple J breakfast was the youngest ever winner of Melbourne Intl Comedy Festival’s ‘Best Newcomer’ award 2009. “Watch this boy: He’s going places” – The Age.
Rhys Nicholson – Triple J RAW Comedy finalist 2009. A filthy, forked tongued angel, Rhys makes a welcome return to The Comedy Store with his own brand of smut.
We both agreed, they were all pretty funny.
In particular, I enjoyed Anthony who peppered his act with short comic songs, whereas Graeme’s favourite was Hannah whose act revolved around her body image and growing up in Tasmania…. “Launceston… or Inceston, as call it…”
As we walked toward Oxford Street, we had the intention of calling into a pub where we know the two guys managing the place. They had both previously worked at the pub where we have Wednesday night drinks. Unfortunately, the pub was closed oddly early for a Saturday night.
And so we called in, and had a beer at The Taxi Club, one of Sydney’s truly unique venues with its combination of taxi drivers, gays, transvestites and transexuals. I don’t know how long it is since I’ve been there, but it must be several years. Located on three levels of a rather thin building on Flinders Street, we went straight to the middle level. As we walked up to the bar, I was almost affronted at how friendly the staff were. Unlike the sneering attitude of many Oxford Street bars – the ones where they hand you the change back on a plate – the staff genuinely seemed to be happy to serve us a couple of beers.
Taxi Club
Over in the corner, there was a DJ playing a bunch of sing-a-long favourites, including Dolly Parton’s 9-5 and Spandau Ballet’s Gold who was having the time of his life. And so was the crowd which was a reasonably broad cross-section of the aforementioned taxi drivers, gays, transvestites and transexuals, along with a bunch of assorted others, all of whom were having a great time.
From time to time we noted the odd person here and there furtively making their way into the club for their first “walk on the wild side”. There was a 30-something bloke with reddish blonde hair, for example, who Graeme quickly decided was “definitely looking for a tranny” who came in, had a drink, and left in an instant. I guess the Taxi Club isn’t for everyone. And as we finished our second drink, and as I asked Graeme if he would like another, his reply was short and simple. “I’d like another drink, but can we go to a more conventional gay bar?” Ah, life’s rich tapestry.
I met Kate for lunch at Hingara today. It’s been a favourite spot of ours for a couple of years and today was a great example of why: the BBQ pork was stunning. Walking down George Street later this evening Kate commented, “Do you realise we’ve been talking about that pork on and off most of the afternoon?” Also at lunch was an artist friend of Kate’s called Pamela Mai-Leng See, who was recently signed by Boutwell Draper Gallery in Redfern. Some of her works are featured in a small group exhibition, Heavenly Bodies, currently on show at the Asia-Australia Arts Centre.
As we enjoyed the meal we also had to keep a close eye on the clock, as Pamela was due to speak at the gallery at around two o’clock. Although she has worked mostly in paper-cuts, and many of these were on display, she has recently moved into other media including stainless steel. The very large stainless steel works currently on display are very dramatic, and I like them very much. During her talk, she touched on issues of identity, as a Chinese-Australia who has lived and worked in both China and Australia. “Here my works are often considered very exotic, whereas in China they’re sometimes considered a little kitsch”.
As a young Chinese-Australian, another artist, Suzan Liu spoke about the significance of watching Monkey (although we saw the Japanese television program, it was based on an important Chinese story) on television as a child. Her work, a projection on a number of different surfaces was strongly influenced by the program. At one point during her talk, she was asked a really complex question about symbols in traditional Chinese art, to which she replied simply didn’t know. There was an assumption, I guess, from the audience member that as a Chinese-Australian she would have known everything to know about Chinese art. A bit like the assumption that’s made that all Asian-Australians can speak their own traditional languages. As I said to someone recently, my family came to Australia speaking Gaelic, so you wouldn’t assume I could speak that, would you? Dunno, she said, ¨but I should find out¨.
The other artist who spoke was Greg Leong who works mostly with costumes and digital photography. The oldest of the three artists, and the most eloquent, he spoke with a great deal of intelligence and humour, touching also on issues of identity.
After the exhibition, Kate and I wandered around for a while, and I bought new a suitcase.
From there, we headed off to the movies, though with no particular movie in mind. In the end, we settled on No Country for Old Men, the new film by the Coen Brothers. It was honestly one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen, up there with Silence Of The Lambs in terms of sustained tension. There are several intersecting plotlines to the film which centres around what happens when a fairly ordinary bloke discovers a bag full of money from a drug deal which went wrong, and his pursuit by an opportunistic serial killer. For a good while I had no idea where the film was headed, and even at the end I was still unsure about the film’s purpose. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it immensely and would recommend it to you.
After the movie, a further bite to eat in Chinatown, and that was my Saturday.
Years ago I remember watching a really fantastic documentary about the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras called, Feed Them to the Cannibals. As I recall, the title was a reference to the words of an Australian government official, who was asked what he thought should be done with those engaging in homosexual behaviour in the early days of European settlement here.
For me, that 1993 film was also an introduction to the larger-than-life character of Dawn O’Donnell, the subject of the movie I saw tonight, Croc-a-Dyke Dundee. For many years, a friend and I developed quite a routine between ourselves, as we remembered and laughed about some of the classic lines delivered by Dawn in that early film.
Co-incidentally both films were made by the same person, Fiona Cunningham-Reid. At tonight’s screening she mentioned how she had asked Dawn many years ago if she would participate in a follow-up documentary about her own life story. For many years, Dawn and her partner, Aniek Baton both refused.
At the Q&A session which followed tonight’s screening, Aniek explained what finally brought her around, was recognition the telling the story of Dawn’s life goes some way to telling the history of Gay & Lesbian life in Sydney in the last fifty years or so.
That said, the film also gives a really lovely insight into her life before she became a nightclub owner on Oxford Street. The film explains she was the daughter of a single parent, growing up in Sydney in reasonably rough circumstances, until she was sent to a convent school to “smooth off the edges”. She had an early passion for ice-skating, which eventually took her to live in both London and Paris, until an accident cut short her career.
On returning to Australia she married a man which, in the film she says, “lasted for about two months”.The film then goes on to explain how she made her career mostly in real estate, and then later in nightclubs.
The film doesn’t shy away from the more suspect parts of Dawn’s life. The film talks about her connections with the convicted criminal, Abe Saffron; the many allegations of nightclub arson; and even the suggestion she murdered someone. The film offers no new evidence on any of these allegations, but that’s okay, it wasn’t that type of film.
For me the really interesting insight into Dawn’s life, of course, came from Aniek, Dawn’s partner. They were together thirty years, and it sounds like they had an amazing series of adventures together, particularly the travel. Dawn died five or six years ago, and Aniek was left out of the will. At tonight’s screening she said she was still involved in a complex legal battle tonight which was “ongoing and private”.
Though the film wasn’t as ground-breaking and as memorable for me as “Feed Them To The Cannibals”, I really enjoyed it. I hope one day it will get a television screening as well.
