Bandt Musik

"Google it, mate"

Leader of the Australian Greens, Mr. Adam Bandt, is on record as wanting – a Treaty; A Republic (for which he called on the day QEII died); eliminating coal and gas as sources of energy; wiping student debt and funding free education for all; a cheap housing construction orgy; tenure for all; an end to all forms of discrimination (including the good ones), and defenestrating the Australian flag. So here’s our Song for Adam (with apologies to Stuart and Marco): [For Michelle] “Well I’m standing here looking at you What do I see? I’m looking straight through It’s so sad,…

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She Said

July 12, 2023 | Posted by Lesley Jakobsen | Drama Film, FILM, THUMBNAIL REVIEWS |

(2022) Yes, it’s all ‘She Said’ in this tedious, overblown 90 minute polemic from director Maria Schrader. Anything ‘he says’ is misogynistic and stupid, ipso facto, because the speaker is a man. The scene is set early on with gratuitous Trump-bashing. Then whispers about Harvey Weinstein’s predatory behaviour are heard and leapt upon voraciously by our female reporters (they are, apparently,  the only ones doing a real job apart from, possibly, Anderson Cooper who is also on to it, (no surprises there)). Everyone’s aghast. The ‘casting couch’ is such an evil and new concept (but only to be expected). Weinstein…

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Happy Valley : BBC One

July 12, 2023 | Posted by Lesley Jakobsen | Drama, TV SERIES |

No-one does grief and resentment like Sarah Lancashire. (See Last Tango in Halifax, BBC One 2012, series 3, episodes 3 & 4).  After Happy Valley  this sterling actor can add loathing, despair and massive disappointment to her CV.  Indeed, no-one in Happy Valley experiences much of anything else.  The West Yorkshire grit, damp, poverty, addiction, disease, treachery  and crime with which they all live is made palpable and visceral in this most excellent 3 series show.  The only person to escape the poverty bit at least, is the one rich man in the village (see The Vicar of Dibley) –…

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Alan Arkin

July 1, 2023 | Posted by Lesley Jakobsen | Uncategorized |

(26 March 1934 – 29 June 2023) Mike Nichols called him “the best actor in America.” He was often one of the few good things about the films he landed, but in his best ones (see below) he was a veritable virtuoso. He generally took ‘small’ roles and made them into brilliant little portraits. Watch him in the original version of The In-Laws, or Glengarry Glen Ross, and you see a man with a barely bottled hysteria. His best: The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming (1966), Wait Until Dark (1967), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968), Popi…

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McQueen M’Quakes – Mind, Mythos, Muse, Minis

June 28, 2023 | Posted by Lesley Jakobsen | ART, CRAFT, Embroidery & Stitchery, HISTORY |

(Special display at NGV, Melbourne, April 2023) The blurb – “Alexander McQueen (1969–2010) is one of the most original fashion designers in recent history. Celebrated for his conceptual and technical virtuosity, McQueen’s critically acclaimed collections synthesised his proficiency in tailoring and dressmaking with visual references that spanned time, geography and media. Showcasing more than 120 garments and accessories, Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse offers insight into McQueen’s far-reaching sources of inspiration, his creative processes and capacity for storytelling…” All true of course. And the NGV has put on a show for the ages; to see these works up-close is a great…

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