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In Bruges (Movie): Guest Review

By Amara B.

in_bruges_ver2Just when I was about to put Colin Farrell’s file in the drawer marked ‘no talented douchebags who were once considered attractive’ I watched In Bruges. Colin Farrell has now been upgraded to ‘attractive douchebag’ in my esteem, and he might even be talented, or at least he would appear talented if all of his film choices were as good as In Bruges.

In Bruges is a real gem of a movie if you’re like me and appreciate the darker side of humour; everyone knows that hit men are always good value for money in the humour department (think Jules and Vincent from Pulp Fiction and if you haven’t seen Pulp Fiction you really probably should, though I’m sure you’ve been told this before).

The story follows hit men Ken (Brendan Gleeson) and his protégée Ray (Farrell), who have effectively been ‘banished’ to the small town of Bruges, Belgium, by their mob-boss employer (Ralph Fiennes) after a hit gone very wrong. Ken and Ray are a wonderful comic pairing, an odd couple of sorts but not in an annoying or grating way. Ken is an interesting character, polite and pleasant to a fault but still a ruthless gun for hire; it’s impossible not to like him or his coddling ways. Ray is an equally fascinating character; Farrell’s portrayal of the guilt-ridden gun is both extremely funny and touching at the same time. The exact genre of this film is difficult to determine, which makes it all the more enjoyable, it is extremely funny if your sense of humour isn’t offended by a few (read: maybe a few more than a few) off colour and un-P.C. remarks, but it also harbours a distinct dramatic streak.

Despite the somewhat serious elements present it still succeeds in balancing its humour with themes of guilt, punishment and forgiveness and the result is a truly enjoyable film; it has real depth if you’re into that sort of thing, but it can still be appreciated as a traditional comedy of errors. The scenic route is also worth a look, pretty settings for a pretty movie about guys that kill people. It’s certainly worth a look, you might even come out of the experience with a bit of a renewed Farrell crush, or you might just appreciate it as a very neat piece of film making. For me it was a little bit of both.

Thanks Amara for writing this review while I was busy pretending to be an important journalist for the 2009 AMUNC this week.

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July 18th, 2009ReviewsRead More >1 Comment


Romeo of The Underworld - Venero Armanno

After reading a string of laugh out loud funny books, there was something strangely comforting in this dark and sultry tale about Romeo’s tragic love life.

Romeo Constanzo returns to his hometown of Brisbane after many years in gritty Sydney, to housesit for an old friend. A near-death experience kicks off the storyline (a word of advice: don’t read this if you are travelling anywhere on a plane); the plane is also full of sullen Queensland State of Origin supporters after a devastating series loss. Here is the first isolating aspect of the book. State of Origin is a three-game rugby league series between New South Wales and Queensland, and those who live outside these two states don’t give a toss about it.

Armanno draws on reality for his stories, and in this case, it is the controversial destruction of the famous Cloudland ballroom. Romeo is devastated to find his beloved teenage hangout replaced with the looming ofthreat townhouses.

Romeo arrives at the house to find his friend, Dr. Johnny Armstrong has already left, and a number of crazed messages from a woman who has clearly been left behind. The woman, Mary, eventually moves in, creating some tension of many kinds.

This is not a romance, it’s a love story. A series of mesmerising flashbacks reveal Romeo’s past love, the bottle-blonde Sicilian, Monica Aquila, with the beautiful mother and alcoholic father. At just seventeen, an obvious love triangle entails between the two, and Johnny. Slowly the flashbacks open up and swallow the present, intertwined with a third narrative: Mr. Aquila now toothless and pathetic, who has discovered Romeo’s return to Brisbane and fills in the gaps. The Underworld is not only the name of a club in the seedy Fortitude Valley that Romeo now visits, it’s also a larger metaphor for the place that Romeo’s dangerously introspective nature has taken him.

The plot moves at a steady pace, and the climax sneaks up on the reader. What I love about Armanno’s writing is that it’s so intense, so Sicilian in its overt and covert meanings, and he makes Brisbane seem less like the festering craphole I think it is, and more like this romantic, diverse and dramatic city full of interesting characters (read: drug addicts) and colourful migrants. What I worry about is how relevant the writing would be to someone not familiar with iconic locations such as the Toowong cemetery, Brunswick St Mall or Stradbroke Island. Armanno, in person, exudes Sicilian passion and perfect articulation of his ideas. As one of my favourite uni lecturers (I took his screenwriting course at UQ), I wonder if it’s possible for me to read his books and successfully separate the author from the narrator.

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May 13th, 2009ReviewsRead More >No Comments


Guest Review: Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates

The following is by a friend of mine, Aidan, who is a journalism student and writer. Please leave some constructive feedback/kind words/etc.

Revolutionary Road

In our own minds we all believe that we are destined to achieve great and exciting things. The plain fact though is a majority of us will never end up reaching those extraordinary dreams and instead will retire to a life in the suburbs convincing ourselves we achieved a different type of dream. It’s this bleak reality that makes Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road such a powerful novel.

Set in 1955, Revolutionary Road follows the lives of suburbanite couple Frank and April Wheeler. Although both try to save face and smile about their lives, they are equally unhappy with their boring ordinary existence that does not live up to the hopes of their youth. They plan to change things and move to Europe, but their troubles run deeper and a dark narrative unfolds.

The characters are flawed; Frank is an angry, bitter man but tries to convince himself that he is destined for a better life. Ultimately he takes comfort in the monotony of life and is a coward to change. April has real thoughts and passion but has too long been playing housewife and is lost in her own self-deluded world. When she finally tries to break free it is Frank, the man she once believed was the most interesting man she had ever met, who lets her down.

Richard Yates described the theme of his novel simply: “most human beings are inescapably alone, and therein lies their tragedy.”

The crux of the book is about the disintegration of a relationship, and two people that are meant to be apart. It is that dark undertone that makes Revolutionary Road so moving, it strikes you at your core. It makes you think of your own dreams and casts a seed of doubt in your mind.

Revolutionary Road is a beautifully crafted, insightful book however its bleak introspective content is confronting and at times highly disturbing.

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May 11th, 2009ReviewsRead More >No Comments


Shatter - Michael Robotham

Finishing this book in a matter of mere hours (and I mean mere), was partly due to the fact that I had put the girls I was babysitting to sleep, and partly due to an immensely easy read.
Shatter

In a quiet town outside London, Joe O’Loughlin is the forty-something year old clinical psychologist who gets caught up in a bizarre crime, when he attempts to stop a woman from jumping off a bridge. Her suicide leads to the sudden arrival of her daughter and a psychological mystery unravels.

The present tense is irritating at the best of times, and the reader soon finds out there is actually someone forcing women to extinguish themselves in publicly humiliating ways. Every so often, italics dictate another point of view: the killer’s. As if the plot wasn’t predictable enough already, now Robotham spoonfeeds us clues as to the man’s connections to his victims.

O’Loughlin’s wife is impossibly beautiful and all the men want to sleep with her. No subtlety about this from Mr. Robotham, but the tenseness in their marriage is evident from the beginning, and Robotham conveys this adequately.

Shatter attempts to explore the fragility of the human mind, and kudos to Robotham for not once mentioning Freud. But the style of writing was Americanised, and had none of the British charm I’m used to (although I am currently devouring an anthology of P.G. Wodehouse, which has led to impossibly high standards of literature).

This is the kind of book you pick up at the airport last minute to kill time on your 90-minute flight. It’s the kind of book I could read while babysitting because you can devote half your brain to the story and the other half to listening out for 8-year-olds sneaking about.

Read Shatter if you feel like playing detective and don’t count on an intelligent read. It is, however, easy to read, creepy on a number of levels, and mildly entertaining.

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April 20th, 2009ReviewsRead More >2 Comments


Why I’ve been so quiet….

I just thought I’d check in with a book update. Was reading about five books, up until I finished I Am Legend by Richard Matheson and Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Now I’m down to three.

“Elena what are you thinking? Both those books have been made into massive movies! How terribly mainstream of you.”

Yes, but you must understand, I take recommendations very seriously, and when people with good taste recommend books, I will usually read them. (If this was you, pat yourself on the back!)

And so, while I contemplate what I will review next — I am open to suggestions — I will in the mean time tell you all to read both Jurassic Park and I Am Legend.

Unless big long science-y words scare you of course….(or vampires, or dinosaurs, or genetic- eh you get the idea)

Almost finished with Ryu Murukami’s Piercing so you’ve got something to look forward to.

Spent a week in Sydney, and most memorably walked down King Street exploring all the great second-hand bookshops, where I’ve picked up some little gems. Much more successfull than the Dymocks store (note to self: cute bookstore assistant does NOT equal good taste in literature).

I might have to do a spin-off science fiction blog, what with my Crichton obsession and what not. Dare to dream.

New review will be up soon! Stay tuned. Peace

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March 23rd, 2009GeneralRead More >No Comments