Claire on MIFF 2015

Hello all!

One of the best things about Melbourne is that there is always a festival on. Yay culture!

At the moment, we (the city, and I, for that matter) are a week into the Melbourne International Film Festival. This is my first year attending MIFF and boy oh boy, it has been amazing already. And there is still another week to go!

This year I was lucky enough to volunteer at a MIFF event called the 37 South Market. Sadly, as a weekend event, my time volunteering is now over. Boo. But this means I now get to enjoy the festival and see as many films I can (Which, unfortunately, isn't that many in the grand scheme of things. But nevertheless)

As a volunteer I was lucky enough to attend the Opening Gala at Hamer Hall (oh my word). The film at this event was Force of Destiny. Directed by the esteemed Paul Cox and starring David Wenham, this film was about an artist who is diagnosed with liver cancer. With 6 months to live, he falls in love. There was a quote said at the opening, before the film started, saying Paul Cox makes cinema about people, and this film is definitely an example of that. Quiet and moving, the film makes you think about life, love, and donating organs. 

Hannah Frederickson and David Wenham in Force of Destiny, image from the Melbourne International Film Festival

I have also been lucky enough to attend two premier's thus far. 

The first was The Daughter, directed by Simon Stone and a contemporary adaption of the Henrick Isben play The Wild Duck. 
And this film is stunning. STUNNING. The cinematography alone was gorgeous. However, the performance by Odessa Young as Hedvig (aka, the daughter) blew me away. All performances (Geoffrey Rush, Sam Neill, Ewan Leslie, Paul Schneider), actually, were phenomenal. I have no faults for this film. Unfortunately there is no trailer available yet, but if it get's a general release (which it will) I will be sure to let you know!!

The phenomenal Odessa Young in The Daughter, photo from MIFF

The second was Putaparri and the Rainmakers. 

Not only was this documentary directed by a woman, but I had the absolute honor of witnessing Putaparri and his family's story and their fight for land rights of Kurtal in the Kimberly's Great Sandy Desert. An amazingly enriching and insightful film, and the perfect example of the effects of the Mabo ruling. Also an incredible way for white people to understand the importance and connection to the land aboriginal Australians possess. A must see for everyone, to assist in your understanding of this country and aboriginal people. 

This film will be screening again at MIFF on Saturday the 15th. This session is on Standby, so more tickets might be released the night before! It will then be released at Cinema Nova later this year, and on NITV in March. Hopefully the film will be distributed more! 

Tom "Putaparri" Lawford, photo from MIFF

This week I am also seeing Neon, a documentary about neon lights and those who love it; Early Winter, a story of "intergenerational love", connection and family; and My Life Directed by Nicolas Widning Refn, an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the life of the director and his family during the filming of the 2013 Ryan Gosling flick "Only God Forgives." 

Nicolas Winding Refn in My Life Directed by Nicolas Widning Refn, photo from MIFF

There are SO many more movies I'd love to see, but unfortunately, University and work calls! You can check out the full program at the MIFF website, or download the app. It is very handy. 

Are you seeing any films at MIFF this year? Have you gone in the past? I'd love to know!

Stay gold!

Claire x

21.6.15 | Claire

Sunday the 21st of June, 2015.

Good morning! We were off to the train station at 9:30am, and it was quite the brisk morning. Also, I debuted my new bag, which I purchased at the op shop on Saturday. It's a carpet bag in the style of a bowling bag. It's perf and I'm so in love. (Plus it was only $8!)

Brunch at: Brighton Shoolhouse

We shared the Glee Club Pancakes (blueberry and ricotta pancakes with a scoop of white-chocolate ice-cream, bacon and maplebutter)

 It was delicious. Sorry for the lack of pic, we were just too eager to eat it all!

We had brunch with our fave, Lizzie. She's moving to Boston on Saturday, so this was a bit of a last hurruh for a while. We are going to miss her immensely.

OOTD Grace:
Bag from Collette (similar), Shoes from Target, Scarf from boohoo.com and coat from K-Mart

OOTD Claire:
Dress form JayJays forever ago, Coat form Target forever ago, Hat from Target (recently), boots from Target, bag from The Shop of Op on Chapel Street.

Photographic proof that Lizzie has been in our apartment.

Hard at work or hardly working? We spent the afternoon on the couch, under a mountain of blankets watching The Lizzie McGuire Movie and The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. The perfect movies for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

---

Hello, all!

This blog is a learning process for us, so we are still trying to get a feel for what type of posts we want to do. So here is the first post of a new approach: a photodump/A Day in the Life. Often we feel like we don't know what to post about, but since this blog is about our lives in Melbourne, why not document it this way? So let us know what you think, there will be more to come!

Stay Gold,

Claire

The Oscars pt. 2

Hello friends!

Part two of my Oscar’s post is here. So, without further ado, here are my last two ”reviews”

BIRDMAN

Birdman is the story of a former screen-superhero actor, attempting to fight his inner battles and gain relevance again by Directing and starring in a book-to-play adaption on Broadway.

And let me tell you, it is amazing.

As the opening night of the play What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, a single camera follows each character around the narrow corridors, dressing rooms, stage, and the city surrounds of Broadway’s St. James Theatre. This is orchestrated in such a way that the entire movie looks like one continuous ‘long shot’. Can we just appreciate that for a moment, please? Because there is nothing I love more than cinematography. Just, heart eyes everywhere!  Love, love, LOVE. The jazzy drums score sounds like one that would accompany a magic show, as if the whole film is a magic trick (which it so is. Movie magic, people!)

While I could go on scene by scene about the editing of the film, this is definitely also an Actors Film. The characters are so eclectic but then again, fit together so well, including Michael Keaton as ageing actor Riggan Thomas, Emma Stone as his recently rehabilitated daughter, Naomi Watts as a first time Broadway actress, Edward Norton as arrogant method actor Mike Shiner and Zach Galafanakis as Riggan’s best friend, lawyer and Producer of the show, his serious and professional character one I haven’t seen with Galifiankis before and my oh my is it welcomed.

In short, the film is amazing and everyone should see it (and don’t worry, you’re supposed to be leaving the cinema thinking “What in the world did I just watch?” just go with it.)

100% deserves the Best Picture nom (every nomination, actually), BUT, I don’t see it winning Best Picture. Why? Because it doesn’t seem like a film The Academy would choose (because The Academy have a Type. Just look at the winners of the past 5 years. But man, it would be amazing if it did.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

Everyone knows Stephen Hawking as a great scientific mind, one of the smartest people in the world, and also know that he has a motor neuron disease. However, who was Stephen Hawking before he became the man he is today, and how was his journey there? Little know about his first wife, Jane, and the fact that Stephen was told he only had 2 years to live.

This film is beautiful, and it left me with a whole lot of emotion. The score from Johann Johannsson is absolutely gorgeous. But above all, it is important to note the acting ability of Felicity Jones (Jane Wilde Hawking) and Eddie Redmayne (Stephen Hawking). Firstly, Felicity Jones is superb as Jane. I’m not sure how to describe it, but you’re just either a. going to have to take my word for it or b. go see the movie, because she was nominated for a Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA AND Oscar for Best Actress, so obviously, amazing. (It has been a couple of weeks since I’ve seen this and I didn’t take notes afterwards, so I’m sorry).

And of course, there is the delightful and charming Eddie Redmayne with the challenging role of Hawking himself. Leading up to seeing the movie, I had read many interviews with Redmayne about the role and what he did to prepare. And let me tell you, this man read every book, memories ever little fact about Hawking, and employed various movement coaches and other professionals to fully replicate the deterioration of his mobility. The effort and skill is evident in the movie and it is astounding! Particularly at the end of the film, where Hawking is at the stage we are all familiar with in his chair and automatic voice (which is Stephen Hawking’s ACTUAL, patented voice. The voice is copyrighted to Stephen Hawking, but after watching the film himself, Hawking granted the use of it to them. Amazing stuff, right?), Redmayne is able to convey such emotion in a face that can hardly move except for his eyes and cheek. HOW DOES HE DO IT? Or am I just biased? Apparently I’m not, since he has already won the Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA for the performance. It will definitely not be surprising if he wins the Oscar, too.

(Disclaimer: We do not own the images used in this post)

BUT CLAIRE, WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL WIN?

Good question! And let me level with you, I’m hardly an expert in these things, nor am I The Academy (I’m not an old white male, OH SNAP! Ok but seriously, the injustice of The Academy voting alone is a serious issue that needs to be called to attention), so this is just what I think from observation of past winners and my own opinion.

My favourites, and the ones I really want to win Best Picture are Birdman and The Theory of Everything (see above), just because both were spectacular. 

BUT, to be honest, I wouldn’t mind if any of the films I saw won. They are all amazing, hence the nomination in the first place. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Boyhood or American Sniper won. Why? Boyhood has been talked about by so many and it’s impressive 12 year long process is definitely admirable. It also won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama. And American Sniper just seems like, from the sound and looks of it (again, I haven’t seen it) such an Oscar movie. It is America, after all. That being said, there is the whole "fake baby" thing...

While I have enjoyed these movies nominated for Best Picture, and think they definitely deserve the nomination, if not win, I am a little disappointed by the lack of female representation. In all the films, a male is the lead character. In fact, if there wasn't the actual Best Female awards, the entire awards would be uncomfortably and unjustly a sausage fest. Although a female did direct Selma, (you go, Ava DuVernay, you do your thing)!

The Academy can nominate up to 10 films for Best Picture (and they have in the past). this year there were only 8, so female-led films such as Wild, Still Alice, or even Gone Girl could have easily filled those spots. The leads in these films are all nominated for acting awards (Reese Witherspoon, Julianne Moore and Rosamund Pike), so good luck to you, ladies! You all deserve it <3

But this is all neither here nor there ;)

THE ACADEMY AWARDS is on tomorrow, Monday the 23^rd and will be aired free-to-air on Chanel 9 at 12:30pm and will be repeated on GEM at 8:30pm.

Stay gold!

Claire x

Oscar Watch 2k15 | Claire's Thoughts and Picks

Hello friends!

So, as we have mentioned previously, we take the Oscar's very seriously, and leading up to the awards show Grace and I have attempted to see as many of the Best Picture nominations as we can. AND THE AWARDS IS ON MONDAY!!! How thrilling. 

As a reminder, these are the films nominated for Best Picture:

- Whiplash

- Birdman

- American Sniper

- Grand Budapest Hotel

- Selma

- The Imitation Game

- Boyhood

- The Theory of Everything

Grace and I have been able to see 5 out of the 8 nominated films. This is due to a. time (Boyhood goes for 3 hours?) b. money (darn you cinema prices!) and c. the American Sniper trailer makes us uncomfortable, so we’ll probably watch it at some point in the future, but we feel like we might find it confronting at the moment.

I don’t like to think of myself as a film critic, and often times I say that I do not wish to be a film critic, but who am I kidding? Everyone’s a critic. And besides, it’s hard not to be one when you love films as much as I do, and cannot help but spout off all your thoughts, likes and dislikes in a stream of consciousness as soon as you walk out of the cinema, all the way home. With that in mind, what will follow are my attempt at collating these thoughts into a formal review. Also, I only took notes on my phone directly after The Imitation Game so the rest are just off my memory (forgive the vagueness). 

Sound good? I hope you're all as excited as me.

THE IMITATION GAME

“Are you paying attention?”

The opening dialogue surrounds you in the darkened cinema and it feels like the speaker (the unmistakable Benedict Cumberbatch) is addressing you, the viewer, directly. Are you paying attention? Because you should be, the movie has started. The story has begun and in a few short hours, you will learn. This is The Imitation Game, and this is Alan Turing’s story.

The Imitation Game is a movie that needed to be made. The story of Alan Turing and his machine that cracked the seemingly unbreakable Nazi code Enigma in World War II is a story that many know in passing, and even then, this may be limited to history buffs, philosophy students (The Turing Test, anyone?), and perhaps even the older generations, who were around when the top secret information was released to the public, long after Turing’s death. By telling the story in film with stunning and well-known actors such as Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing and Keira Knightley (Both with spectacular performances. Knightley as Joan Clarke positively shines with strength, surrounded by a predominately male cast. You go Keira, we love you Keira), this true story has been re-vitalised.

This movie has something for everyone: It’s a WWII tale, a history lesson; it has suspense, a code to crack, a smart and independent woman, (love?), quick wit that will get anyone to laugh, and exposes the injustice that homosexuals once suffered (not that life is 100% perfect for them, even now). The movie is also filled with brilliant slices of film-work that will make any film fan freak out (The opening dialogue ALONE, which is actually a nugget for a later conversation. MOVIES!!!). The opening line “are you paying attention?” is a hint, for the film is told in non-linear form. Weaving in and out from “present day” where Turing is being questioned by police about his homosexuality, his childhood as a strange boy, struggling with his sexuality and brilliant mind and the core of the film, being recruited by the British Government for a top-secret mission to crack Enigma.

True-Story films and Human Struggle/Triumph films are a favourite of mine, and of The Academy’s (12 Years a Slave, Argo, The Kings Speech, just recently), so it's no surprise that it got the nomination. It is a brilliant movie, however, there is some part of me that just thinks some of the emotion in key scenes, such as when they crack the code, fell short. I cannot deny that there is some part in my mind that thinks the film lacked in the extra mile.

WHIPLASH

Where do you begin with Whiplash? It’s the movie that makes musicians either wish they practiced more or make them want to run screaming. I’m not sure which, yet.

Whiplash is a film about first year drumming student at a prestigious music conservatory, Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), and his desire to a. make it big and b. earn the respect of music conductor Terrence Fletcher in The Best (capitals are needed here) jazz band at the school. Fletcher (played by the intense JK Simmons) embodies the Take No Mercy mixed with Treat ‘Em Mean, Keep ‘Em Keen approach to conducting: that is, throwing chairs at drummer’s heads, threats and intimidation. So, you can understand why the film might make any musician run scared. Simmons’ control over his face, body and voice is phenomenal. How could one remain that angry yet controlled for such a long time?

This is an intense film.

That being said, while this film can be enjoyed by a variety of audiences, it’s definitely a film for musicians. Most of the action takes place in band rehearsal, and rarely is there a scene without a music book or music stand (Ah, memories!) Literal blood, sweat and tears goes into Teller’s performance.  And yes, he is doing his own drumming! (With the help of editing, of course. If anyone attempts those solos all in one, they might literally ruin themselves.)

The point to this review? Basically, it’s a very intense film. The jazz band and drum-focused score complements well with Birdman, if you were to do a double feature (like we did). I really enjoyed it, and it did make me think “Why did I never play my cello until my fingers or knee’s bled?” which is dangerous thinking. While I understand passion, please look after yourselves musicians! But I guess that’s just the power that movies have over you.

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Oh wow, I saw this movie the day it came out, last year. So, it has been a while. But basically, all you need to know is this: Grad Budapest Hotel is so obviously Wes Anderson it’s almost mock-able. BUT I LOVED IT. The performances by all in yet another outstanding ensemble cast were superb. The story of concierge Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) and his Lobby boy, Zero (newcomer Tony Revolori), as they are on the run in light of the death of Budapest Hotel resident Madame D (Tilda Swinton) and a missing, valuable painting. It’s fun! It’s colourful! It’s entertaining! And of course, there are plenty of “from above” AND “centered shots”! (I highly recommend this mastercut)

With 9 nominations (matched only with Birdman) this is a high contender! Budapest and Birdman will be battling it out for most of the night, and let me assure you, I will be keeping score. See how many each win in my Oscars Recap next week!

Disclaimer: Graceful nor Claire own any of the images used in this post.

--

So there are three of "reviews", of sorts.

Keep an eye out on Sunday for the other reviews and find out my favourites to win.

THE ACADEMY AWARDS is on Monday the 23^rd (Sunday the 22^nd in the US, but time difference) and will be aired on Chanel 9 at 12:30pm and will be repeated on GEM at 8:30pm.

Until next time!

Claire x.

January: Month In Review

Hello Friends!

So, a month left of summer and a month left of Uni break! We know we haven’t been the best posters last month (we are still getting onto our feet, of course) so we thought we should let you guys know what we’ve been up to. Living in the city means we have become champs at public transport and we can do many amazing things, including:

The St. Kilda Foreshore Market.
This market runs every Sunday along the Esplanade and is filled with some lovely booths. We purchased some lovely homemade soap and also matching rings! There was also a lot of cat merchandise <3

HOME <3
We visited home for a couple of days, which was very hot (we miss that hometown summer heat. Melbourne doesn’t even know what summer is). We got to catch up with friends we miss dearly and saw Into the Woods! Cinema tickets are much cheaper in the country.

Oscar Nom Watch 2k15
As we mentioned earlier, we are totally award show junkies and Claire takes the Oscar’s very seriously. When the Oscar nominations came out we made it our mission to see as many of the Best Picture nominations we can before the award show on February 22^nd (23^rd for us Australians). So far we have seen 5 of them (The Imitation Game, Birdman, Whiplash, Grand Budapest Hotel and The Theory of Everything) with three to go! 

This included a double feature (we literally had like 7 minutes between each showing.) of Birdman and Whiplash at Cinema Nova in Carlton. $7 tickets on Monday’s is a godsend. If you are going to take advantage of that ticket pricing, especially in the morning, we suggest you either order online or get there early because that line for the box office is LONG. And thank you Emily for joining us!

The Royal Croquet Club
We love the Melbourne online publication, Broadsheet. Honestly, if you haven’t already liked them on Facebook, followed them on Twitter (like we do) or even read the publication and you are passionate about experiencing what Melbourne has to offer, then you simply MUST. They give you the heads up on the best places to eat and simply amazing evens to attend. For example, their recent success of creating The Royal Croquet Club, a whimsical setup along Birrarung Marr with food trucks, Pimms Tents (PIMMS <3), live music, fairy lights and of course, Croquet!

We went twice! Once with the family and once on Australia Day with some lovely friends. We went in the afternoon, so we didn’t get to see it in its prime at night, but we loved it all the same. And my goodness, the bunting, the logo, the lights, the croquet, the vibe? 100% our aesthetic. Claire was heart-eyeing all over the place.

St. Kilda Beach
We live like 5 minutes from the beach, but we haven’t been much yet. One Friday evening though we did enjoy the best fish and chips ever (Tommy Tuckers onAcland Street) at the beach. Now, we are new to the whole beach thing, we haven’t really been an overwhelming amount of times, so he sand and wind was new to us, but who doesn’t love summer evenings and the sun setting over the ocean?

Friends & Family <3
And of course, we caught up with many of our friends and the fam-bam. We are so lucky <3

We Watched:

We also had a lot of downtime on the couch, and this mean, we watched a lot of movie and binge watched The OC Seasons 1 & 2, and Season 1 of Friday Night Lights (fun fact: movies about sport are some of our faves. Don’t ask why). We are really into American Football at the moment (and the South?) and we even watched the Super Bowl this past Monday. We still love country AFL the best, though.

There were also movies:

The Graduate, Charade, Cabaret, The Kings Speech, The Iron Lady, Moneyball, The Reader, The Vow, God Help The Girl, The Riot Club, Remember The Titans, Into the Woods, Whiplash, The Imitation Game, Birdman, Monster’s University, just to name a few.

And now it’s February! And it’s due to be a big one. We have University starting again in the first week of March, more blogposts to write, apartments to hunt, the Oscar’s, and the last traces of summer to soak up! So stay tuned, it’s going to be a wild one.

Also, we promise to post more on the blog and on our Instagram account so feel free to give it a follow! And tell us what you’ve bene up to this new year? We’d love to hear from you!

Stay gold!

Claire & Grace.

Award Season & Claire Really Loves Movies

Hello, all!

You may have seen on our Twitter that our second favourite time of the year is upon us: AWARD SEASON! And my oh my, do we love Award Season. This probably comes from our love of beautiful gowns, celebrities and watching things on screens aka Movies and Television. 

Award season came at such a convenient time for us when we still lived at home, since all the ceremonies and red carpets were televised on Austar/Foxtel, during the school holidays, while Grace and I were sitting at home bored and/or avoiding doing holiday homework (a plus about University: No more holiday homework!)

Unfortunately, since we no longer live at home and we must stay in Melbourne for work etc, we cannot watch the award ceremonies this year (except for the Oscars, which is televised on free-to-air tv thank goodness), we shall be doing what Claire (me) did for the Tony Awards last year: Constantly refreshing twitter as each of the awards are given and wait for Buzzfeed to update their Winners post. This method worked quite well for the Golden Globes last Monday.

The Golden Globes are very exciting to me, because it celebrates TV AND Movies at the same awards show! And Tina Fey & Amy Poehler hosted 2 years in a row.

Also, it can give you a good indication as to what might receive Oscar nominations. So, there was I last Monday, computer on my lap, Twitter and BuzFeed open and constantly refreshed and 2015 planner by my side, listing which films I need to see, the release dates, and where I can see them (As well as documenting what won Best Motion Picture Comedy/Drama, TV series Comedy/Drama as well as the acting categories. It's a very detailed system. 

Today the nominations for the 2015 Oscars were announced, and I am making it my mission (and by default, Grace's) to see as many of the films nominated for the Best Motion Picture Oscar as I (we) can before the award ceremony (which, thank goodness, is on the week before Uni starts. Last year I had classes and had to avoid all social media and wait until the repeat at 9pm to watch it).

The films are:

- Whiplash

- Birdman

- American Sniper

- Grand Budapest Hotel

- Selma

- The Imitation Game

- Boyhood

- The Theory of Everything

(What a sausage fest. Where are our ladies at? And how come Selma wasn't nominated for any acting awards? The Academy/The Oscars are very problematic.)

Now, we have already seen Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game, so that leaves us 6 films to go. We are also adding to the list Reese Witherspoon's new movie, Wild, which she is nominated for Best Actress (by the looks of the trailer, we feel like it might have been snubbed, but we will see)

Now, going to the movies these days is so expensive. Like, as dedicated Village Cinema's people, it costs us $25 for snacks alone. Insane. 

BUT here are some tips to get discounts/see as many movies as you can for a cheaper price:

Find out what day your cinema offers a student discount (most of them do)

For Village Cinemas & Hoyts, these days are Tuesday's. 

At Cinema Nova in Melbourne, on Monday's you can get tickets for $7 for any session before 4pm, and $9 for any session after. 

It's amazing. On Monday Grace and I are planning on going to see Whiplash AND Birdman just because $7 tickets.

So there is our second tip: If you are trying to see a lot of movies like us, take advantage of the cheaper prices and make it a double feature. Cheap tickets, yo!

Award season is also about the fashion! Who can forget Lupita N'Yongo absolutely slaying the red carpet last year? What a goddess.

As the season continues, we'll be sure to share with you our favourite looks, (just because) and keep you all updated with our film viewing progress.

You can also keep updated with our Twitter and our Instagram account.

And this has been our longest post, yet! 

I just really, really, REALLY love movies, guys.

Stay fab!

Claire x

Viola Davis, what a Queen.

Emma Stone

Anna Kendrick