Baz Lurhmann, (born Mark Anthony Luhrmann) the director of Moulin Rouge and Strictly Ballroom comes to us again with a new offering, this time armed with the story of the world’s only island continent, Australia. Take a look at the trailer. With shades of the Thorn Birds and Pearl Harbor, thrown together with Moulin Rouge, the film looks good, if not a bit boring. There seems to be some hype from Oprah’s endorsement of it, she dedicating a whole episode to the movie’s release.

Australia, the country, home to the draconian White Australia Policy until the 1970’s - where it was almost impossible for non-whites to emigrate to the country - has always been second to South Africa on the racist totem pole in many people’s views. The trailer for Australia, the movie features some Aboriginal actors, (but no Asian ones - or maybe just a few Japs as they come hurtling at you in their zeroes) and hopefully tells the story, at least in part, of the plight of the real natives of Australia, a-la movies like Rabbit Proof Fence.

Lucky for Australia, it only has to contend with Four Christmases, Transporter 3 and Bolt in its opening weekend, so no doubt you’ll find it being flouted as the “#1 movie in America!” Twenty years ago this might have been an epic for the ages, but today Australia almost feels like Titanic 2.0 - an ok movie if you have nothing better to check out.

TAGS: Reviews, Film Reviews

Roaring Brook Press just released this beautiful pop-up ABC book from Marion Bataille. What an awesome way to experience 3D typography!

Thanks Dashaun!

TAGS: Reviews, Book Reviews, Things We Like

Gilbert Arenas, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant

Over the last four years, FreeDarko has established itself as the thinking man’s basketball blog with Q-tip references sitting comfortably next to political commentary tied together by a love for the Game. Now, the highly entertaining collective is set to release an all-inclusive illustrated compendium of their thoughts in the form of FreeDarko’s Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac.

With an opening manifesto announcing the “dissolution of the old league, a renewal of faith in individual players, the celebration of the new league in its full glory,” and a foreward from fellow blogger (and NBA player) Gilbert Arenas, the Almanac provides clever insight onto the best players in the game. Beautifully illustrated by Big Baby Belafonte aka Jacob Weinstein, and layered with statistical information conjured up in colorful and often hilarious graphics, the book breaks down the star players with smart analysis of their individual games. Sprinkled in between the players are added extras including my favorite section, “Jerseys for Every Occasion” (ever wonder who to rep at that Civil War Reenactment or your brother’s Bar Mitzvah) and tapping into a player’s true spirit animal (Yao Ming is a Giant Moa, Stephon Marbury is a Praire Vole).

Check out their book site here for full-screen preview chapters in their entirety, desktop wallpapers, a theme song and new shirts and posters from FreeDarko.

FreeDarko’s Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac is out on November 11th on Bloomsbury Press.

TAGS: Reviews, Book Reviews

Auge and de Rosnay overlooking Los Angeles

Boobs, Bottles, and Bouchon. Three words sum up the new film, A Cross the Universe, a documentary about French electro-rock producers/remixers Justice’s spring 2008 tour. The film follows duo Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay as they crowd surf across the country, rock out to stadiums full of adoring fans, step over drunk groupies, and get wasted, city after city. Meanwhile, road manager Bouchon marvels at the lax gun laws in the United States, receiving a handgun through Fedex, he shares wisdom from the concealed firearms handbook, takes Auge and de Rosnay to their first gun range, and gets arrested after putting his gun out on the table to order at a restaurant in middle America.

Shot using a digital camera, the film moves quickly from city to city capturing the highs of performing to the electrified masses to the lows of changing a blown tire at the side of the road and all the madness of touring in-between. Some of the most revealing moments show the musically gifted Auge and de Rosnay as they play around on pianos and other instruments in their downtime. The obvious affection the team shares for one another, including appearances by label owner/manager Pedro Winter and their gospel-singing tour bus driver, an aspiring guinness book entrant for “lowest vocal tone”, keeps this film together and provides an intimate, if somewhat superficial, portrait of life on the road in 2008. Check director Romain Gavras previous collaboration with Justice for their music video for “Stress” after the jump. This film is everything you’d expect from a rock ‘n’ roll tour documentary—boys behaving badly with subtitles.

Continue reading »

TAGS: Reviews, Film Reviews

Earlier this year Microsoft put all their ($300 million) eggs in one basket and signed with much lauded Colorado-based ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. The first set of ads from CP+B was a very strange ad with Seinfeld and Bill Gates that got very mixed reviews. There were a second round, which no-one noticed, and these are the third series of ads. Personally, I think playing defense to Apple’s Mac vs PC campaign only legitimizes the reasons people are switching in droves to Mac OS. If I were Microsoft, I would have simply created ads that highlight the many things that are built into their operating systems, things that just say “Our products do this!”

If I had $300 million, I could probably get Pharell to say he was a Republican. (If you look at the video closely, you’ll see most of the people are crossing their fingers behind their backs, so it doesn’t count.)

TAGS: Reviews, Product Reviews

In Tao Nyeu’s first picture book Wonder Bear, the dreamy landscape and abundance of fantastical creatures are sure to captivate the imaginations of not only the intended age group of three to five year-olds, but adults as well. Wonder Bear tells the story of two children and the magical top hat wearing bear they befriend. The boy and girl are introduced to peculiar yet friendly flying monkeys, dolphins, octopi, and a multitude of other creatures that emerge from the bubble-blowing bear’s hat. Free from the limitations of text, the book’s bold, colorful illustrations and loveable characters invite the viewer to construct their own unique story. Wonder Bear is a wholly original vision of the author, who cites a delicious, yet “very odd looking gummy bear” with magic powers, as her inspiration. The former graphic designer created Wonder Bear for her thesis project as a graduate student at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Nyeu is currently working on a second picture book also to be published by Dial Books for Young Readers. 

TAGS: Reviews, Book Reviews, Things We Like

The film plays at the Savannah Film Festival October 27 and 29th as well as at the Santa Fe Film Festival December 3-7. More here.

TAGS: Reviews, Film Reviews

Ever wish you had a reliable food guide for your travels that was based on tasty dishes, rather than some elite system of recognizing star chefs? Well, The Miele Guide, sponsored by the German home-cooking appliances manufacturer of the same name, is releasing its inaugural issue this October, calling itself Asia’s first truly independent restaurant guide—they do not accept any advertising, sponsorship, or free meals for their reviews. The 2008/2009 edition will rank and feature in-depth profiles of Asia’s top 20 restaurants, plus a select list of other top restaurants, categorized by country, city, and cuisine. To reflect the tastes of the 16 Asian countries included, information has been compiled through several rounds of rigorous judging. The first opinions were gleaned from 84 of Asia’s most influential and respected restaurant critics, food, and wine professionals, while the second round is decided by public voting on Miele’s website, which includes Chinese and Japanese versions to encourage greater participation. Next year the site plans to include Korean and Thai. Once published, The Miele Guide will be slim, minimally designed, and affordable. 

TAGS: Reviews, Book Reviews, Things We Like

If you get a chance, you should definitely check out this debut feature by director Lance Hammer. It’s an official Sundance selection. Here’s a synopsis from Sundance’s Caroline Libresco:

BALLAST is one of those rare films that maximize the medium through an aesthetic of understatement. Every frame is deliberately and beautifully composed, every cut artfully and economically executed – not only to transmit a quietly gripping story but to reveal characters’ layered emotional experiences and the specific textures and sensations of their locales. Because it is grounded by three exquisitely nuanced performances, it’s not surprising that BALLAST is the product of intensive collaboration with local nonactors organically connected to the material. First-time director Lance Hammer is a distinctive voice with a remarkable sensitivity to the topography of human relationships and a powerfully cinematic social-realist vision.

Here is a list of screenings around the country.

TAGS: Reviews, Film Reviews

This trailer looks very apropos for the times. Michelle Williams performance is said to be heart wrenching and well deserving of an Oscar. I can’t wait to check this out. Wendy and Lucy screens at the New York Film Festival before a winter run at the Film Forum in New York.

TAGS: Reviews, Film Reviews