Modern life is rubbish

As I turned to my favourite newspaper liftout yesterday to read this week's film and music reviews, I noticed a strange turn of events.  This has prompted me to borrow the fantastic line from the Britpop band Blur (second album title) for the title of this little rant - modern life is rubbish!

Rubbish, because some idiot at our cinema chains has decided that they will stop publishing the times of the movies in the newspaper ads! How stupid is it that they run an ad in the newspaper to show what movies are on, then don't publish the times of those movies?  To get the times, you have to go to their website or use the mobile phone app.  IF I CAN GO TO YOUR WEBSITE FOR MOVIE TIMES, I WOULD HAVE LOOKED THERE FOR WHAT MOVIES WERE ON AND WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN OPENED THE NEWSPAPER!  God, don't they know that nobody reads the newspaper anymore?  Except I do!

It just makes no sense to me - if you aren't going to publish the times because you want people on the website, why spend all that money on the newspaper ad at all?  It would be more logical to just cease publishing the ads altogether.  Now I just get really annoyed as I think "ooh, I could make the 8pm session of a movie, wonder what's on, I'll just have a quick peek in the paper" and I can see where the movie is showing but I have no info.  I have to wait for my laptop to load up to find the times (I think I might be Amish, I don't use the internet on my phone and only recently discovered that it even works after thinking for about a year that it didn't work).  I'm the first to admit that I'm not very tech savvy and I'm definitely not a 'gadget' fan, but surely I am not alone.  How do 70 year olds find out what time the movies are on these days?

This trend was started by the ever so hip and trendy and price-gouging Event Cinemas, but now Hoyts have followed suit.  I can only hope that the other chains do not also decide to do this.  I think I might write some feedback to both, but I have very low expectations after the completely moronic responses I got from my last feedback on the excessive length of the pre-show programs (ads and trailers).  One actually wrote back to me 'We do not control how long the movie is' - DUH! Thanks Captain Obvious.  At no stage did I mention the length of the movie in my comments.  Do people even know how to read anymore or can't they handle anything longer than LOL or 27 characters of Twitter?  Is the cancellation of movie times in the newspaper ads some kind of acknowledgement of our dwindling attention spans for the written word?  I guess if you're reading this, you're going against the trend since I'm well over 27 characters.  But maybe we're the last of the old guard.  Who reads newspapers anymore?

End of rant

Movie #21 - Moonrise Kingdom

Wes Anderson, I could kiss you! Your latest movie is a gift to the big, cruel world out there, a salve to a work-weary, sarcasm loving person whose head is down and shoulders are tensed.  Perfect timing then that this movie hits our screens now, just when the world seems to be getting so dark and scary if you pay attention to what's happening outside our doorstep.  Whimsical, fluffy, innocent, delightful.  These words do not do it justice though.

I don't really know whether to describe the plot of this movie or let you find out for yourselves.  Just a quick sketch though so you can see if it's right for you.  Set in the 1960s, the film tracks the adventures of two very young teens who decide they're in love and they should run away together.  The fact that they live on a quirky little island with no roads and are tracked by a lonely scout master, scout troop, lonely cop and the girl's disconnected parents, plus the slow reveal of what these teens are really like, is what makes this different to any other movie.  Any other movie except another Wes Anderson movie of course (being The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Bottle Rocket and Darjeeling Limited).  Wes' movies are always set in this little self-contained world that bears no resemblance to reality and yet the movies are full of wisdom about human relationships and all those touching little moments that make life worth living.

The acting is top-notch by all the adults (regular Bill Murray, newbies Bruce Willis, Edward Norton and Frances McDormand) and while the kids are mostly first-timers and a little awkward, it adds a certain charm and realness to the story of young love tipping everyone's life into chaos.  The set design (especially Suzy's family home - I want to live there!) and desaturated cinematography in the outdoor scenes are splendid and the period detail is amazing, along with the kitschy cute soundtrack.

I don't think I stopped smiling at this movie from the first minute.  If you don't walk out with a smile on your face, I think you should immediately check your pulse, stop reading the news and stop trying to be so cool!  Unless you only like movies with guns and explosions, this is a must-see movie.  Quite odd and yes, again, whimsical, but it's just so sweet I guarantee you'll love it.