Shhhh! Please keep it quiet…
Personally I don’t see the sense in making all those films with dreary subjects; heroine addiction, gay cowboys and trans-sexual themes and a host of other depressing subjects.
If I really wanted to be that depressed I would look at my monthly Telstra bill.
Studios, actors, producers and directors really need to get a hold on what we, the paying cinema goer really wants, a subject line that makes us feel good, gives us a belly-laugh, or makes us cry or realise a challenge can be met through determination and a bit of grit.
Okay, so there are lobby groups for gay rights. I say, “Great! But why inflict your way of life on me. I don’t care, and, I really don’t want to see a man kiss another man or see a woman-to-woman scenario, and those that have physical sexual changes to their bodies, why not keep it too yourself.”
And, “No, I am not a prude as I have some of the best adult porn stored on my computer for when I want to see it.”
Are the Academy Awards going to be all about homosexuality, or will there be some films with subject matters that have a broader appeal?
Peter Jackson’s King Kong was one of my favourites of the year. So the storyline was already known and the ape died at the end of the film. But Jackson, who in my opinion is in the same league as Spielberg and Lucas, deserves a lot more accolades than he is currently getting. Jackson is brilliant! I can’t wait to see what his next serving will be.
Be careful Hollywood! By ignoring talented creative people you may just force them out of the business of making entertaining motion pictures. Haven’t you learned anything at all from the Independents that are making movies outside of Hollywood?
After looking at what is on offer in the main categories of the Academy, I think I will boycott the awards this year and just write them off as dull and uninteresting and watch a DVD instead.

Retirement’s another option…
Why is it geriatric presenters are still on the tube, long after they have exhausted their “use by” dates. This situation is intolerable, and by saying I am sure this happens in other countries, not just here, this is still not an excuse.
In Australia, Bert Newton, Kerri-Ann Kennerly, Ray Martin, Richard Carlton, and John Burgess, just to mention a few, really have “been there, done that”.
The geriatric entertainment section of the television industry isn’t attracting the demographics that television stations need, as demographics are associated with advertising dollars.
It isn’t the over 55’s that are going to go out and buy an expensive new car, or the latest fashions, or go to the nightclubs where beer and spirits are sold, buy new CD’s and DVD’s. Doesn’t anyone do marketing research anymore?
And yes, I am in the group of over 55’s, and after working in the media for over 40 years I think I might have an inkling of what I am talking about. But the problems in Australia stem directly from those in charge of programming all the way to the CEO of the networks. These people sit in their ivory towers making what they consider all the right decisions about what we want to see and won’t, I repeat, WON’T, listen to the viewers, even when their own surveys run against them.
Australian productions, with few exceptions, are poorly presented with insipid storylines and amateurish actors. I can only think of one exception to this rule, McLeod’s Daughters, of which I have only seen two or three episodes in the last two years, but my analysis of the program is actors are excellent, production good and professional. When the rest of Australia’s production houses can meet this standard of program, perhaps they will then stand a chance of beating imported programs.
(Don’t even let me get started about Australian radio.)


Ahhh, paradise and a room with a view…
Swaying palm trees in a tropical setting, golden beaches bordering clear blue seas, this sounds like paradise, except when you add U.S. Marines in uniform carrying pistols, assault rifles, razor wire and small cages used as prisoner cells.
It seems United Nations Investigators are trying to get the U.S. Government to close down Guantanamo Prison, claiming detainees being held there are facing treatment amounting to torture, violate a host of human rights including arbitrary detention and the right to a fair trial. These findings could throw more flags on the already burning fires of protestors in the Middle East, already fuelled by Australian television showing alleged abuse of Iraqi inmates at Baghdad's U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison. Human rights rapporteurs have declared, "The United States government should close the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities without further delay," Until that happened, the US government should "refrain from any practice amounting to torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment," they added.
Louise Arbour, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, has urged the United States to either bring the detainees to trial or free them. Of course George W considers these 500 inmates at U.S. Naval Base in Cuba “dangerous terrorists”, has shrugged off the closure callings stating everyone detained at Guantanamo gets three square’s a day, exercise and free housing. Add a tropical atmosphere and George W probably wants to know, “What more could these people want?”
Also loudly clamouring to the alleged injustice of Guantanamo detainees is the European Parliament. The White House claims all this fuss seems to be a rehash of allegations made by lawyers for some of the detainees.
Don’t forget, these prisoners were captured on a battlefield fighting against coalition forces there to destroy and drive the evil forces of al Qaeda out of power.
Critics of the American detention camp on the island of Cuba say they aren’t listened too, that their argument falls on deaf ears. Amnesty International has backed the call for shutting down Guantanamo, which it says represents "just the tip of the iceberg" of U.S.-run detention facilities worldwide.
Since when did Amnesty international start looking for icebergs?

Please assure me you won’t become a copycat…
And finally today, as the news is so boring yet again, I want to talk about DVD and Music piracy. We all know it is illegal to copy material that is protected by world copyright laws, but what about backing them up as a file. The motion picture industry and the music industry are going to have to get their wording right or their warnings mean nothing.
Many programs are on offer that will help you back up your favourite films and music, LimeWire, XMedia Duplicator, Apollo Express, just to mention a few and my personal favourite DVD Shrink.
All you really have to do is use your Google search engine where you will find an abundance of downloads and instructions on how to get around copying protected media.
Take heed, when a movie star gets paid millions of dollars acting in front of a camera and a percentage of the takings, I feel no guilt in backing up my motion picture files.

That should do it for today…tomorrow then!