Category Archive: LIFE
Why “American Hustle” Was Stillborn
This sloppy and violently overpraised dud, with its almost obsessional sacrifice of content to form, could have been so much better. In the early 1980s, director Louis Malle, with the superb Atlantic City under his belt, was developing a film based on the Abscam political scandal, to be called Moon Over Miami. John Belushi would play the main character, con man Mel Weinberg (essentially the role Christian Bale played in the 2013 film). Dan Aykroyd would be the FBI man looking to implement a sting operation. But then Belushi inconveniently took a ‘speedball’ and died on 5 March, 1982. So crucial were his…
Continue Reading →“Told You I’d be Back”
Benghal Tiger by Indian artist Deeptanshu Chauhan
Glenelg v West Adelaide – 3 April 2016 at Glenelg (Gliderol Stadium) Taking on the reigning premier is never easy, although we did speculate optimistically last week that the Bloods might still be hungover from their 2015 Premiership. So it apparently proved! Despite or perhaps because of your correspondent’s inability to attend due to a previous commitment, the Tigers made a bright start, kept a handy lead due to a 5-2 return in the second quarter, and blitzed the enemy in the final quarter with a devastating 8-0 return. All played well, reportedly, with multiple goal-kickers R. Kirkby (3), W….
Continue Reading →Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid (courtesy Knight Foundation)
(31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) Zaha Hadid ‘s fluid designs were expensive to make, hard to sell and memorable, once finished. Whilst not really our cup of tea, her work – which might have been more extensive but for her refusal to compromise – constitutes an important and largely successful feature of modern architecture, particularly in her public buildings, which vindicate her 30 year struggle against ‘nice’, neat, square construction.
Continue Reading →“Larry…this is real life now”
"The only reason I'm not running for President this year, I swear to God, is I'm afraid no woman would come forward and say she had sex with me."
(Garry Shandling: 29 November 1949 – 24 March, 2016) The American talk-show is one of the weirdest things about America. Canned jokes: a format straight from the days of the music hall: insipid monologues: dumb Q & A’s: dumber sketches: a conga line of actors and singers with a product to plug: barren interaction with the bandleader: in sum, one or two hours so insipid and un-cerebral that it is a miracle things don’t come to a full stop, well shy of schedule. Shandling was born in Chicago (comedy central) and developed an aversion to formulaic comedy. So why would…
Continue Reading →A Not So Good Friday
Glenelg v South Adelaide (Round 1, 2016) All were aboard the bus going south to Noarlunga Oval, described by some as Siberia with face-painting, where cars park along the outer as they do at a country match. The start was good – 3 goals to zip against a typical Noarlunga breeze – but it was evened up by the quarter. It was probably the 2nd quarter what lost it. Two goals each, when we had the breeze, and the Panthers showed how it was done with a 7 goal third term. Coming from 4 goals down, the Tigers had a go but…
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