Build a Bridge: Logie Tweet-gate

The Logies on Sunday was the usual mess of bad jokes, pretty frocks, undeserving awards and golden moments (thank you Shaun Micallef). I never expect much from the event - if I don't fall asleep it's been a good show and if I'm not hiding behind the couch cringing at the overly-scripted "casual chatter" between presenters, even better.

But seemingly there are people out there that take the whole thing a little too seriously - besides the cast of Home & Away, who's only chance to prove to their parents that they indeed have 'made it' is to take home a "most popular male/female talent" award. There are viewers that are obviously a little too sensitive about their favourite soap/reality stars.

The Herald Sun today has shamed Melbourne comedian Catherine Deveny, calling her Logie tweets acid-tongued and offensive. Really? I thought they were hilarious. In fact, thanks to Deveny, Wil Anderson (who also got a spray from news ltd.) and a few others, the Logie broadcast was made almost bearable. 

What better topic for Australian comedians than our laughable rabble of 'celebrities' on their night of nights? John Mayer spends half his life saying stupid shit - we can't be shocked when he gets bagged for it. And seriously, Bindi Irwin? She's not so much a child as a social construction - there's nothing child-like about her, but for her appearance. In any case, comedy's hit and miss, what I find funny, others might not - but let me have my fun please - and I'll let you keep watching Hey Hey it's Saturday.

Meanwhile, the idiotic tweets of people wondering who KD Lang was and making snide remarks about the fact that she performed barefoot were far more offensive - here's the trick kids, when you actually have talent you don't need the pomp and circumstance of the Gabriela Cilmi number - you can just sing.

"Entertainment Reporter" Pete Timbs on The Circle this morning had a go at both Wil Anderson and Catherine Deveny. He said Wil was a "so-called" comedian (among other things) and was so disgusted by Deveny that he couldn't even talk about her tweets - though he did put a lovely picture of her on screen - nice one Dev. Besides the fact that Pete Timbs was once on a reality tv show generally populated by bogans and boof-heads, what exactly are his credentials to comment on media and/or celebrities? Ohhh, he works for TV Week you say? Well, that clears it up then.

Besides the Twitter storm-in-a-teacup the program wasn't all bad. Bert did a safe performance, KD Lang was amazing, Shaun Micallef shone every time he stepped on stage and tributes to Don Lane and Brian Naylor were respectful (though I'm not sure of Lane Jr. singing at every Australian media event ... we can stop that now, yes?)

Claudia Karvan looked stunning in classic lines - the diamond bracelet, the black gloves, the oh so revealing neckline, the wave in her hair. Perfection. Again, I'm not sure why the top story on news.com.au yesterday was that her nipple was slightly exposed when she leaned forward on the red carpet - it was the least of the 'reveal' issues of the night - I'm pretty sure you could see what Brynne Gordon ate for breakfast whether she was leaning forward or not.

Jessica Marais was gorgeous as usual, as was Margot Robbie. Ruby Rose looked like a contestant on Bret Michael's Rock of Love (and I don't mean that in a good way), though I loved her silver hair.

Overall it would have been a very dull night without Twitter - so I salute Wil, Catherine and the like and look forward to the next otherwise snore-fest event being made bearable by the T-wit-ter pros.

EDIT: Catherine Deveny's been fired from The Age ... what a load of crap. So utterly disappointing. 

 

For the Love of 3D

Australia's gone mad for 3D. Since James Cameron's Avatar has broken all manner of box office records across the country there has been a renewed interest in all things Third Dimension.

Both A Current Affair and Today Tonight have had stories about the supposed rush to buy 3D televisions for the home and cinemas are hurrying to get whatever films they can in 3D so they can show movie-marathons and ride the wave of 3D popularity.

Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation on channel 10 returns this Sunday with some special segments in - you guessed it - 3D. (You can get your 3D glasses from TV Week or Women's Day magazines this week.)

Is it just me, or is 3D a little bit crap? I went to see Avatar at Imax and was thoroughly underwhelmed. Granted, after the hype surrounding the film I probably wouldn't have been happy with anything less than a Daft Punk-esque laser show requiring a cornea implant and resulting in a near-death-experience-so-close-to-heaven type revelation of existential proportions.

After three hours of checking my watch and wondering what species had bred with Jar Jar Binks to make these not-even-remotely believable creatures, I left the theatre wondering how this film had created such a buzz.

I suppose I should point out that I had watched Back to the Future II the night before - so I really had very high expectations of these new, fandangled 3D shenanigans. I mean, we've been promised 3D for a LONG time now haven't we? I mean, 3D films have been around since the start of the 20th century.

When chatting to a friend of mine about going to see Avatar he explained to me that the glasses provided by the cinema would probably be scratched from overuse and that he was going to be taking his own pair that he had saved from a 1976 Mad magazine.

Basically my reaction to the film, and particularly the 3D technologies was disappointment. Is this how far we've come with 3D? Is this as good as it gets right now? 

Buying a $7000 3D television set seems like a high price to pay to see some sparkly bits of stuff in front of your face every now and then - you can just as easily bang your head on the wall and get a similar effect. 

3D? As far as I'm concerned we have failed as a human race. 

- And where's my f#cking Hoverboard?