Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)

'How can anything hurt when it makes you feel so good?'

- The young Annette Kellerman, Million Dollar Mermaid

Esther Williams

Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) tells the story of the controversial Australian swimmer, Annette Kellerman. Brought up by musical parents, Annette grew up with rickets. Each day she would teach herself to swim and eventually overcame her disorder contrary to what she was told by her doctor and others. She broke records in the water and was given the opportunity to go overseas to share her talent, despite her father' wishes that she maintains within a musical environment.

Fortunate enough, Annette swam the Thames River in London, creating a massive reception and of course making headlines. The movie frames Annette as a remarkable woman, whom created much controversy over her one piece bathing suit deemed as skimpy and inappropriate for a woman to wear in that time. However, steered towards her success more than rejection.

In 1908 Kellerman was arrested on Rivere Beach for baring her legs. These days It's hard for us to believe that she was accused of indecent exposure for wearing a one piece bathing suit and not a bikini! Regardless, she compromised and sowed stockings to her one piece so that it was accepted.

The Real Annette Kellerman

I quite  enjoyed this film, perhaps because I had to create a 7 minute drama solo on Annette Kellerman. The major differences from he screen versing reality were strikingly evident that in reality Annette was a busty, fuller figured woman who can be argued as much less attractive as her casted on screen representation played by Esther WIlliams.Also Sydney looks incredibly 'hollywoodize' in the film and the Australian accents not evident in the movie at all. The film is still reasonably censored by the Hays Code, which was still in effect during the production of this film in 1952.

Although the scenes where Annette is performing at the hippodrome may have been a bit far from mirroring the reality, Busby Berkeley does an outstanding job in the choreography and staging and you can see his musical influence in his work. He creates effects on stage rather than relying on the post production of the film, which creates more of a spectacular admiration of the performance.

Amazing staging by Berkeley

I think that I am more attached to this film than I would normally be to any other 1950s, drama-genred film. When I first watched Million Dollar Mermaid in 2010, my viewing was more for a 'confirmation of research' and I watched this film more intently than normal. I really do enjoy this film and if you get the chance or find a copy, I would highly recommend you give it a go! It is long but doesn't drag on as much as I found other 1950s and prior, films to traditionally do. It tells the story of Annette, does glorify it a bit but Esther Williams does a remarkable job and you will fall in love with her performance as much as I did.

Upper Middle Bogan

The latest ABC comedy series, Upper Middle Bogan, has become my latest fixture.. as of today!

Annie Maynard plays Bess, who finds it difficult to bond with her upper class mother; until she realises that she is not her real mother. This series is about an educated mother's connection with her biological family after finding out she was adopted. Her real family is a bunch of bogans and it was interesting to see another Kath and Kim formula hit the ABC. It was interesting to see Glenn Robbin's play Bess' real father. I have always loved the work of Glenn Robbins and although this wasn't a drastic character change from Kel, the glass eye and interest in racing was a little bit different from the man bags and purveying of fine meats. Michala Banas who is cast as Amber, takes on similar characteristics as Kim Craig, the separation from her husband, the hair and the attitude. I have just streamed two episodes online from iView at the moment, but I definitely will continue to view this show. It's a cross between Housos and Kath and Kim. The camera work is also shaky and fly-on-the-wall like the original Kath and Kim series (when it was with ABC) and it's similarities are enough to draw me into the show as a regular! The creators, Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope (The Librarians) have the essence of this show down pat! Well done!!

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/upper-middle-bogan/

The Complementary Cinema Indulgences

Here are some of my favourite movie complementaries! A good movie viewing experience has to incorporate at least one of these in my opinion. Put away the popcorn, upgrade to a warm and classier, almost/meal-like indulgence! This list is more tailored to a gold class or home cinema viewing experience, however, bonus points if you can sneak the hot food into a regular cinema without getting caught! Warning this post may tease an empty stomach!

MnMs

choc centred with a crispy colourful shell! A bag of these go down well.. just be careful not to leave them in your hand for too long... colourful hands!

Boysenberry Choc Top

I love ice cream! It would have to be one of my favourite sweets and I always look forward to my choc top  or drumstick when watching a movie. So yum!!!

Chips & Twisties

Try mixing them up in a bowl! I recommend plain chips and the traditional cheese flavoured Twisties! When I was little I used to always have a bowl of the two mixed up and it overrides popcorn ANYDAY!

Nachos

Feeling a little bit like a meal? Add some mince meat and have the altimate mexican nachos with melted cheese, glacamole, salsa (hot for the chilli lovers), sour cream and of course corn chips or Doritos!

Wedges

Wedges and sour cream are always nice, better than the hot chips and sauce experience.

Roasted Potatoes with Herbs

Roasted potato pieces with herbs are a classier version of the wedges and complimented by a nice glass of wine will make your home viewing a little more classy!

A Cocktail or glass of Wine

Drink time! Soft drink can leave you a bit gasy but you need a nice drink to sip along with your hot meal. Why not have a Cocktail or glass of wine! Just don't get too tipsy.. especially if you are watching a movie like Inception with tangents and story lines and worlds happening all at once, you don't want to be too intoxicated and add extra storylines and worlds to the movie! A glass of bubbly can always make a movie funnier than expected.

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My Top 10 Australian Movies

Australian films get a bad wrap, if it isn't the hatred of hearing our own voices, it's the comparing to Hollywood big budget films. I think it is very hard for the average Australian moviegoer, in a society surrounded by American film and TV content to embrace our own product. It is quite a shame really, yes, our film's can be quite morbid or tacky at times, but why can't we embrace that? An what really annoys me is that an Aussie film can gain some success.. only if an American is cast as a main actor, or half of the film is funded and produced with American assistance. Red Dog, The Great Gatsby, Australia, really? These films had a major American influence and to be honest, I really can't see how Red Dog is portrayed amongst the Australian public as a decent film. I will leave my rant for another time because I have a lot to say. 

Anyway....

Regardless of the film budget funding these films have helped shape Australia, creating jobs, shape the Australian identity in a world wide scale or are just so fun loving. The tacky to the attempted films of sophistication, these films all have a special form of art that makes them so iconic and memorable to be in my top 10!

10. Take Away (2003)

9. Tomorrow When the War Began (2010)

8. Crackers (1998)

7. Beautiful Kate (2009)

6. Cosi (1996)

5. Kath & Kimderella (2012)

4. Wolf Creek (2005)

3. Animal Kingdom (2010)

2. The Wog Boy (2000)

1. The Castle (1997)

Speed (1994)

I'm incredibly slow when it came to catching up on the 1994 classic and I still have not quite caught up to the sequel yet! However, I'm glad I did view this film as it was very different from my expectations. Assuming this film was going to be a lot like Jaws or Duel I was mistaken and THANK GOD! The acting is pretty good, the 90s is clearly reinforced and the concept is slightly different to your typical car chase film... in fact it's more of a thriller than an action. Thrillers have really grown on me and surprisingly so have hybrid action-thrillers! I love a good storyline or plot which is usually omitted from an action genred film. Unfortunately action films (especially these days) are loaded with special effects and shooting and neglect to show any intelligent scripting or interesting plot and I find nil interest in the genre whatsoever. When I have given the genre a chance I've just been disappointed. 

When viewing Speed I am glad that this film took a different path and encouraged a vested interest to be had. I must admit the first part of the film relating to the lift scenes did leave me a little hesitant as the gray and steel colour palette really doesn't sit with me well and led me to believe that this was a 'boring mundane stupid film'. I'm ever so glad those scenes just set up the storyline motivation and didn't reflect the entire movie.

I was humoured when words were uttered but lips weren't moving and some obvious continuity errors. I am not sure if I was over watching the film or they were just so obvious! Despite that I thoroughly enjoyed this film and am looking forward to viewing the sequel!  3/5 rating for me but worth the lengthy watch! 

Paranormal Activity 4

The fourth installment to the Paranormal Activity franchise was obviously ridiculously predictable, a very weak plot and left me disappointed. I am a bit of a horror and comedy fan and I did like the first 3 films for that reason that they left me feeling a little jumpy and laughing at the ridiculous shots and 'pool cleaner'. I watched this film by myself at home in contrast to the prior screenings where I was in a packed cinema and I thought this reception context would 'scarify' the film a bit more- I was mistaken.

The film follows a teenage girl's suspicion that her neighbour's kid is strange and has brought in a bad vibe into her family home. This time to capture the establishing shots of the living room, bedroom and kitchen, her boyfriend uses a recording program easy to set up on each device. The other films had me guessing a little bit more than this one trying to piece together the relationship to the demon a family member had however not in this film. The footage of the abducted boy was the first thing we as a viewer see on the screen and then it goes straight to the main plot where we instantly elate the boy to the missing child. I hope I haven't spoilt..what was only to spoil but it was an editing mistake and should of been shuffled at least a bit later into the film.

However, a major disappointment was when Hunter was reunited with the demon and a group of people suddenly appear and then CUT! Pitch black, The End. Despite my major disappointment I did get a few jumps in this film, yet it wasn't enough to resurrect my hope that the movie would pan out more interesting.

However, in saying this..somehow I am interested to see the 5th instalment of the film set to be in cinemas around October this year. Why??? I really don't know why! I might have got sucked into this franchise, you know it's bad but you still wanna see it.