Well, it has been some time. I've been exhausted, I think.

Big weekend. Chris and Amelia's wedding on Saturday. It was a nice wedding. Long day when you combine the wedding, the in-between afternoon tea bit and the reception so I was pretty tired by the end of it. Nice though.

Sunday I went into the city with Michelle and met up with Lorry, Anna, Pete and Duy. We watched 'The Wiz' at ACMI.

'The Wiz' (1978) directed by Sidney Lumet

Wow, I really did not like this film. It was basically a re-make of 'The Wizard of Oz' but pretty shithouse. The songs weren't memorable, it was overlong, Diana Ross wasn't likeable at all in the main role, she was a bit too screechy. The design of the film looked cheap and hasn't dated well. A lot of it is quite creepy and yeah, it was a struggle to get through. There seemed to be a song for every moment in the film - irritating. Lorry started groaning every time a character would start to sing, it was indeed very groan-worthy.

'Daybreakers' (2009) directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig

A really cool, original take on the vampire film. The story felt fresh and interesting and not all that predictable. Although it was cheesy in parts and the cinematographer seemed to love using the slo-mo effect, it was highly entertaining throughout. I really enjoyed it.

'Avatar' (2009) directed by James Cameron

Ok, it's a given that this film is visually spectacular. It's definitely unlike anything I've seen, the 3D and the colour, the whole thing, it is a genuine cinematic experience. Definitely see this in the cinema, don't wait for the DVD. Aside from that though, the story of the film is pretty bland and predicatable. If it wasn't so visually arresting, I think I would have gotten quite bored. In fact, I did get a little bored in parts because the story just didn't excite me in the same way that the effects did. It's a story ridden with cliches meaning that it felt like I'd seen this movie before. It's basically your classic epic tale of a soldier falling in love with a woman from the enemy side and then being faced with the decision about where his allegiances truly lie. The problem is, this classic structure makes the film utterly predictable and the characters aren't strong enough to make it really interesting. There's a sci-fi twist to it, sure, but there is some pretty shocking writing in this film, the opening third is pure exposition of the worst kind and there appear to be some scenes and speeches virtually lifted straight from 'Braveheart'. This film also suffers from having "bad guys" who are "bad" simply because they are "bad guys". I can't stand that kind of thing. At the end of the day though, this film is really all about dazzling special effects and it truly delivers in this respect, it is certainly amazing to look at. I just wish the effort put into the visual side of things was matched by the writing.

'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975) directed by Sidney Lumet

Excellent film. I really, really liked it. The performances are excellent, particularly Al Pacino who just dominates. He's an amazing actor. I really liked the largely improvised dialogue between characters, improvisation creates an interesting dynamic. The way the film is structured is really interesting too, there's always this build up of tension and then the tension is broken, this pattern repeats constantly, subtly giving more information about the characters. You never really get the sense that the central characters are essentially doomed, there is always this element of hope and humour in the film.