The Slaying
Fred Phillis ('Earn your pay with 18 goals on the day')
Central District v Glenelg 1975 The day dawned ominously on this minor round game. Glenelg would make yet another Grand Final that year, were near to full strength, and hungry. They had beaten the Dogs earlier in the year by a lazy 23 goals. Centrals were struggling, had had shocking luck with injuries and were forced to play boys who had started the season in the Under 17s. Glenelg wanted to go into its finals campaign with a full head of steam and wanted its mercurial full forward, Fred Phillis, to get near to his century so as not to prove a…
Continue Reading →Foxcatcher
The 'ornithologist, philatelist, philanthropist' (front left) at Penn U.
(Dir. Bennett Miller) (2014) The historical facts are unedifying and abstruse. John Eleuthère du Pont was an heir to the du Pont family fortune, his personal fortune assessed at about $200m (U.S.). A decidedly odd fellow, he was nevertheless a man of some accomplishment as an ornithologist, philatelist, philanthropist (and fantasist). He was also a sports enthusiast and established a wrestling academy at the family estate for a tilt at the Olympics. It was in pursuit of this that the Schultz brothers, world and Olympic wrestling champions, came to live on the du Pont estate, Foxcatcher Farms. The relationship seems to have been interesting,…
Continue Reading →Thomas Gleghorn OAM
Tom was born in England in 1925 and came to Australia in 1928, his family settling on Lake Macquarie in New South Wales. He started painting at the age of 24, inspired by the works of William Dobell, who gave him early encouragement. A stint in retail display design constituted his only ‘formal’ art training, but exhibiting in Sydney from 1954, he built a strong following and by the late 1950s, he was perhaps the most prominent visual artist in the country. He took out the Muswellbrook Prize, Blake Christus Prize, and Mosman Art Prizes in 1958 (and a score…
Continue Reading →We’re Hip When We Shoot
TVC offers the following flip and militant arts wrap up: Game of Thrones: TVC has viewed episode 1 of series 1 and doubts we’ll catch up (series 5 is currently screening we gather). It appears on first blush to be trash from the schlock-hopper and one hopes cast and crew shall soon be eaten by wolves, like President Taft. Adelaide Arts Festival: This is close to TVC’s heart, so it pains us to say past offerings have ranged from insipid to embarrassing – it hasn’t been Helpmann, Steel, Sharman, Hocking or Archer down here for a while! Thus, thanks be…
Continue Reading →Dior & I
'I could merde a champers...' (still from the official film site)
(Dir. Frédéric Tcheng) (2014) Disclaimer: P neither knows nor cares much about the industry of haute couture but this engaging documentary was an against-the-odds, enjoyable take on a fashion scenario so familiar it is almost a cliché: new designer and effete assistant arrive to head up the major collection of an iconic Euro fashion house with no time to spare. Much eye-rolling, hand-wringing, and undoing beading late into the night, the heroic Parisian seamstresses pulling an all nighter (from their love of the work and helped by some early morning champagne). A last moment decision by designer Raf Simons that he did…
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