Why am I still watching?!

So I happened to catch the end of 10 Years Younger in 10 Days tonight and ... ummm ... the plastic surgeon has severely inhibited the mans sight from his left eye - has no one else noticed this???

I don't know if you can tell from this small pic but basically his left eye is almost completely closed;



What the fuck? I'm sure they sign a waiver so they can't sue when stuff like this happens but really - is this ok? Are we entertained?

Chanel no. 5 and Audrey Tautou

The new Chanel ad was aired tonight on 10 featuring the gorgeous Audrey Tautou from Amelie. Here's a sneak peak;



and here's the making of;

The Making of Train de Nuit, starring Audrey Tautou for Chanel No. 5 from Kristen Seymour on Vimeo.

(The full version's not on the web yet).

Talkin' 'Bout Genius Micallef

Alright, alright, so someone who spent all of Saturday watching the Shaun Micallef (Pogram, Program and Programme) box set really can't be objective about whether or not the debut of Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation on Channel 10 tonight was a screaming success ... but you know what? I think it just might have been a screaming success!

The games were entertaining, the questions were good, the team members were amusing (Charlie Pickering is a revelation) but really the star of the show is, was and ever shall be, Shaun Micallef.

Verdict; something for everyone - I'll keep watching.

Firekites - Brilliant music clip

These kids are from NSW and their music is lovely - this clip was created by Lucinda Schreiber and Yanni Kronenberg - pure brilliance.

Firekites AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Yanni Kronenberg on Vimeo.

Logies Round-up!

Why am I the only person that I know who every year sits down with a bag of strawberries and cream (and a beverage of choice *wink*) to hang on every last moment of the mind-numbingly long Logies ceremony?? Is it just that gen-xers don't 'do' the Logies, or am I hanging around with elitist freaks?

Either way, here's the run-down (of which the length is relative to that of the Logies program, ie. unnecessarily long);

Ok so Gretel Killeen's nervousness was rather obvious - her intro was a bit shaky and the gunned-down-and-went-to-heaven bit was mental but I was hoping she would warm into the role - which wasn't meant to be. I don't know who wrote the gags but they were mostly left hanging - unfortunately no one compares to Shaun Micallef as Logies host - why do they bother hiring anyone else? and why do they make it even worse by getting him to present an award and brilliantly outshine everyone?

Rebecca Gibney is gorgeous and Julie Rafter would have to be one of the most beloved Australian characters of all time. Packed to the Rafters and it's cast members did really well - Rebecca Gibney took out the gold of course (she was the hot tip).

The little what's-his-name from Home & Away that won most popular actor made a true tosser of himself with the speech - someone should remind him that he works at Home & Away and does not report for Foreign Correspondent.

Why was Eddie McGuire on the Underbelly table? He was the only non-cast member there - unless he's planning on a cameo in season 3?

Speaking of Underbelly, how awkward that none of the footage could be shown - and how strange considering at least a few of the episodes were aired on channel 9 - could they not have used grabs from those? Could they not have just filmed some footage in a titty-bar? - no one would have known the difference.

Jennifer Hawkins may be pretty but she is certainly a self-obsessed, talentless hack and not a presenter's a-hole. Her dress was a fizzer - much like her personality *meeeeow*.

Gorgeous girls; Kat Stewart's dress was lovely, Natalie Bassingthwaite was radiant - hair, dress, jewelry - spot-on. The lovely Margot Robbie from Neighbours was a stunner in a fun little party dress and Jessica Marais from Packed to the Rafters is simply one of the most naturally beautiful creatures alive. I love love love Zoe Ventoura - I only saw glimpses of her but she's always gorgeous.

Talk about flogging your new show channel 9! The upcoming home renovation show Home Made had a special sneak-peak just before the red carpet special and at the end of the show and was being shoved down our throats at nearly every ad break ... however it did work - I'm sheepishly looking forward to the show.

Yay for Hollowmen and Working Dog, winners of the best comedy award - the ABC gets kudos for giving us yet another brilliant local comedy. Hoorah!

Special guests from America this year? Well to keep up the b-grade celeb tradition it was Bo and Hope from Days of Our Lives! I have to admit I was a bit exited when I saw them - I thought they had died several years ago and had been continuing in their roles 'weekend at Bernies' style.

Hot tip - don't get footballers to present awards. Being able to read at a grade 6 level is kind of important when there is a teleprompter - and closing your mouth when you're not talking is also good ettiquite.

Danni Minogue might have her detractors but she certainly had the best looking man-bag of the night - it seems both her and her sis have scored *sigh* very eligible former-bachelors.

Best moment; Myles Barlow reviewing the Logies - absolute brilliance.

Worst moments (besides Gretel); all the musical numbers. I love Jessica Mouboy, Annie Lennox and Natalie Bassingthwaite but Jessica wore a terrible outfit, Annie was out of tune all over the place and Natalie's choreography was just ... awkward?

I don't understand why the show goes for so long - we don't need to see every little thing - in fact, we didn't need to see any of Gretel or the terrible "promo department" breakaways - they were more dead on arrival than Rove's jokes.

Speaking of dead jokes - the crowd were so stiff - they didn't laugh at anything! Wil Anderson was pretty funny and he barely got a giggle!

So after 4 hours of mild-trauma I came out the other end relatively unscathed but slightly disoriented as I do every year ... now the countdown to next years "Television Night of Nights!"

New Aussie shows on SBS

Dave in the Life
Starts Monday, May 11 at 8:30pm
(from the SBS website) Twenty something Brisbanite Dave Zwolenski, whose wide eyed enthusiasm and curiosity saw him Embedded with Sheik Hilaly is back in a new series and determined to uncover anyone who has been criticised, marginalised or has been under public scrutiny in a bid to get under their skin and find out who they really are. In his own quirky way, Dave will discover what it's really like to go on the campaign trail as a politician, be a struggling pensioner, scream like a one-eyed "shock jock", live like a homeless person and a gang-member, and work as an impotence expert. In each episode Dave will submerse himself within the life of someone else. He'll live with them, eat with them, go to work with them and genuinely attempt to walk several kilometres in their shoes.

Food Investigators
Starts Wednesday, May 20 at 7:30pm
(from the SBS website) Aussies are fascinated by what we eat. This new 13-part series will investigate food; explore the myths, the hidden nasties, and just what is good, or not good, for us in our diet. Food Investigators is co-hosted by emergency room doctor, Dr Renee Lim: a woman on a mission. She sees the results of bad diets and alcohol abuse every day in the ER. So from domestic kitchens to high tech factories, from farmers' markets to supermarkets, she will be out and about finding exactly what Australians are eating. Renee will be assisted by food scientist Joe Avati and two top dieticians: Geraldine Georgeou and Hanan Saleh. The show will use cutting edge science to take us through food debates, health scares and uncover exactly how our food is made.

The Squiz
Starts Saturday, May 23rd at 8:30pm
A studio-based sports quiz show hosted by comedian Anh Do. Will have celebs, sports stars and comedians.

Samson & Delilah - the verdict

I caught a preview screening last night at Nova of the much-anticipated Warwick Thornton film Samson & Delilah and am having trouble trying to put into words my reaction. This film is so tragically beautiful - it's narrative flows effortlessly with barely a word spoken. The audience is drawn into the world of these two young companions and travels their journey for an hour and a half. The use of silence is sometimes overwhelming as you become aware of your chest heaving because you haven't taken a breath for several moments. It is beautiful. It is dark and sorrowful and sad and joyous and brilliant and timely.

A few observations;
The use of the names Samson and Delilah, the myth of the hero who's strength is taken when his hair is cut is very intelligent. Besides the cutting of hair being a part of the narrative, it reminds us that all humans are the same. Historians have found that in cultures across the earth from Europe to Africa to Asia there have been remarkable similarities in the creation myths of each ancient culture, and in the archetypal story telling of even the remotest communities of the world. We look different, we sound different - but humanity makes us the same.

The beauty of silence reiterates that language is not a barrier - something that white Australia might have trouble believing - after all, language is a good excuse to not engage with another culture. It is much easier to walk with the teenagers and to relate to them when they are stripped bare of anything but emotion.

But who am I really walking with in this film? I became drawn into the sorrow of Delilah and the frustration of Samson but ultimately, and something that was shoved in my face with a particularly poignant series of scenes in Alice Springs - I am the white middle-class person who really knows nothing of the struggles and third-world conditions that indigenous Australians suffer.

This film made me want to slap myself in the face. It made me feel guilty for whingeing about not having central heating. It made me feel pathetic for dropping out of my first attempt at uni because it was too hard. It made me feel stupid for not asking more questions about what is happening in my own country and for not realising that this is how our indigenous population - the people who thrived for thousands of years on this wide brown land before British settlement - now have to struggle. It made me ashamed that I have wasted opportunities that others have not been given because I was lazy.

Every Australian needs to see this film - it should be compulsory in schools, it should be given its own public holiday.

It is a heart-aching slap in the face and I want to scream it from the rooftops.

Please. See. This. Film.