Last night I watched this movie, Chumscrubbers. My son recommended it to me and said it was like Donnie Darko as he knew I’d really enjoyed that. He finds great movies!
Andy and I found this movie quite disturbing, because we can see the reality in it. It was scary to watch and scary because you can recognise so much of our existence in it. I was just saying to my friend the other day how I really don’t know what my kids life is like, but I just have to trust them. I really try to stay in good communication with them but I know there are times I don’t succeed. I don’t think I am as extreme as the parents in the movie, but I am confident that some of us are some of the time. If you are a parent, you should watch this.
It also speaks to me of the drug culture in our society. I really find the ADHD drugging of children disturbing. I am not an expert and I probably don’t have any qualification to say that, but I just feel it’s not right. It reminds me of that other great film ‘Thumbsuckers‘, it had one of the same actors in it as well as a host of other great names.
I found this little clip on MSN that discusses the parent angle in this film, you might like to watch that too.
On a lighter note, this blogger found this to comment on, which is another aspect of the film that was lighter and more enjoyable.
Summer Viewing
I haven’t watched many films this summer, whilst we were away we mainly watched our new ‘Battlestar Gallactica‘ DVDs that Andy got for Christmas. Season one was great and I am now looking out for season two. When they were on TV, we didn’t always catch them because they were on late, so having the DVDs has been a great way to see them, no ads!
I really enjoyed the ABC show ‘How the Hell Did We Get Here?’The Baby Boomers Guide to the Movies’. It was a top 20 of Australian Films and I had seen most of them and truly enjoyed the show. It reminded me how much I love Australian film, even the older films that were mainly included in this list!
We went to the cinema at Wollongong to see ‘Casino Royale‘. I wasn’t keen, because I’m not traditionally a big James Bond fan, but I did enjoy this film. My favourite James Bond was always Sean Connery but this new guy gives him a bit of a nudge. The cinema was looking a bit sad though. It felt dirty and dusty, so lucky it was a good film, or I possibly couldn’t have sat through it.
I saw ‘Children of the Revolution‘ on pay TV at the motel we stayed at in Kiama. It was Aussie and quite funny. It’s an Australian movie from 1997 and had Rachel Griffiths in it,among others.
I was delighted to see another Australian movie on the guide ‘Dalkeith‘. It was based on a story from the Traralgon old peoples home by the same name and I had always wanted to see it. I was seriously dissappointed though and couldn’t watch it all. Too stereotypical, although the reviewer I have linked to was more positive.
At Ulla Dulla I watched the new TV series ‘Men in Trees’ and loved it. Andy dislikes the main character, but I’m sure he will tolerate it for me! I am going to watch this series, I can tell. It reminds me of my old favourite ‘Northern Exposure’.
Holiday Reading
I was limited to taking 2 books away for my holidays. Andy works hard to keep what we take away to a minimum, which is good common sense, but a challenge for me when I read so much. I took Isabel Allende’s Ines of My Soul and totally enjoyed it. It was kind of violent though in parts. I enjoyed the character Ines though and as always enjoyed the way Allende writes.
The second book I took, one that I had already started was ‘The Tesla Legacy’ by Robert G Barrett. I have always been interested in Tesla, since I read about him years ago in Linda Goodman’s book ‘Star Signs’. I am looking forward to seeing the movie ‘The Prestige’, David Bowie, whom I am a fan of, is playing Tesla in this film. It looks like a great film anyway and I love fantasy. Hugh Jackman is another of my favourite actors, he’s an Aussie too!
Anyway getting back to the book,it was a light and easy read with lovable characters and some interesting ideas. Andy read it also and agreed it was a bit childish in parts but still enjoyable.
I finished these books in Woolongong, so set out to find some second-hand bookshops on the way home to fulfil my need to read. My first find was ‘Maestro’ by Peter Goldsworthy in a fabulous second-hand bookshop in Kiama, where we stayed on the first night of the trip home. My son Tom has it on his booklist so I thought that would be a good buy. I loved it. I was quite surprised by it to be honest. I have read ‘Keep It Simple Stupid’ and thoroughly enjoyed that, yet found this to be a very different style. It deepened my love of Baci chocolates! I intend to read all his books this year.
Maestro was a short book, so my next find was ‘The Moon and Sixpence’ by W. Somerset Maugham in an op shop at Bateman’s Bay. It was a very hot day and we had walked the streets in a frustrated search for a second-hand bookshop. Eventually we found the op shop and I couldn’t see anything that interested me and Andy recommended this book as one he had loved. I thoroughly enjoyed it. In the beginning it was a shift in concentration because the language is less contemporary, but once into the story and characters, I couldn’t tear myself away. It is a real journey. This book is freely available from Project Gutenburg here,as are a number of Maugham’s other novels, which I will also read this year. In fact after this experience these holidays I think I will get some ebooks one of my memory sticks to take on holidays. The problem is when you are camping it’s a challenge.
My final book purchase was from the shop in Mallacoota that has lots of second hand stuff and a range of books. I found a book there called ‘Briar Rose’ by Jane Yolen, which was another enjoyable read, but unfortunately I consumed it too quickly and was without a book for our last night at Orbost.