Peter Jackson's film, 'The Lovely Bones' is being touted around as being up for Oscar consideration.  'Fraid it doesn't rate that well in my estimation.  it has a couple of glaring flaws, the most annoying ones being the narration (radio with pictures), a music score that does nothing for the narrative, some very 'out of kilter' scenes that pop up for no reason and some very odd casting.  The animation, also, is somewhat klunky.

Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz are cast as the parents of a deep-thinking, pubescent girl, her younger sister and brother in a 1970s house that allows Marie Mark to wear his fine mullett and flares.  Rachel is by far too pretty for the part and Mark looks kind of kerflummoxed throughout.  Stanley Tucci, however, is just grand in his portrayal of a serial killer and his presence on the screen each time sends chills down viewers' spines. 

Saoirse Ronan plays the central part, a young girl murdered by a serial killer.  We see the story through her (dead) eyes which is often blown out for no apparent reason with musical montages and interludes of heaven and purgatory.  

The screenplay is quite clumsy and there is no real view of character outside that of Mr. Harvey,  (Tucci) and somehow, the film took me back in design to Jackson's breakout film, 'Heaveanly Creatures' 1994.  By far the best scene was with the sister, Lindsey, conducting her own detective work and had the film contained more of these suspenseful moments it would have been less of a trial to watch.

Adaptations are always difficult but this one seems to have only contained enough material for a short film and  I had the feeling that it was padded out to movie length with pointless straying into Elysian fields.

 If you see only one film a month, don't choose this one.  If you are a writer, however, watch it on DVD when it is released near you and try to figure out how you would approach a rewrite!  At least then you won't have wasted your time watching the film.

Apologies for the gap between posts - have been busy.

But I have lately caught up with some film, 'Precious' (Dir.:Lee Daniels, 2009) being the latest and I was pleasantly surprised at the powerful acting performances from all cast members.  The story is of a dyslexic, obese girl, Precious, who is pregnant with her second baby, the result of being raped since the age of three by her father.  Kicked out of school by a powerless Principal, she is referred to an alternative school and there, the teachers unravel her ghastly problems and give her some reason to hope and continue her struggle.  You will, I am sure, have seen plenty of trailers and clips on talk shows, so you will have the gist of the story, and yes, it is worth it seeing Mariah Carey making up for past filmic mortal sins by giving a clean and clear acting performance (unplugged and unmadeup) so I won't duplicate any of that but the format and screenplay were both extremely effective in telling this lurid and confronting tale.  I am not a fan of voice over but in 'Precious', it gives us glimpses of the girl's hopes and dreams that could not otherwise havebeen seen.  The book 'Push' (Sapphire) is a monologue and the detail is vital.  My only criticism is of the audio and many speeches are lost due to accents, swallowing of words and the naturalistic approach.  Sometimes I would have liked subtitles!

However, it is an Oscar contender and will probably win for Mo'nique's performance if nothing else.  The star of the film, newcomer, Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe has great potential as an actress, sustaining a harrowing role with enormous aplomb.  She has great depth in her eyes and expression.  However, she must be cared for by a really thoughtful crew of agents now, be encouraged to lose the obesity and make the most of what should be a massive boost to the potential of her future.  With her health as the key, young Gabby needs to trim down and I could see her with a great career as a versatile actress.  I have lately seen her on talk shows and she displays a personality and intelligence that will stand her in good stead and help her make hay while the sun is shining at its brightest on this, a fabulous start to any career she wants!  I'd certainly look forward to seeing her in other roles.

The tale of Oprah and Tyler Perry getting on board after seeing the film at Sundance is  well known, and it is good to see these two once again putting their money to great use.

Good luck all at the Oscars!

Lately, I have seen a mix of Canadian, Mexican, Brazilian and American telly programmes and shock, horreur! I have begun to miss Australian television, notably, the predictability of it and the set programme that allows you to pre-select what to watch.  Sure, you can do that if you have TiVo or something like it, but where I am, there's no set programme.  It is just a matter of luck if you catch the beginning of the film as there are so many channels in the mish mash of cable we have, that we are constantly guessing what to watch each day.  Hmmm.  This must also make it hell for programme makers as prime time slips and slides according to the time zone you happen to access.  Somtimes we get French programmes, other times not.  Ditto the Spanish and Portuguese.  While we can access Omni, a multicultural station, it is not a patch on SBS with the sensitive programming it had when it was set up by Paddy Conroy in the early days.  Of course, we know that it has been spoiled by current management.  The knowledge of English is actually enhanced by understanding other languages and the pope gave the world a raw deal when the latin mass was banned and poor translations of the bible were approved.  The news here is excremental.  I have no idea what is happening without consulting the internet (TG for that invention).  News in Detroit, Seattle, Toronto, New York, L.A., Atlanta, Hong Kong is light, ill-researched, gibberish and with the exception of the serious lady in Detroit, Carmen, the readers are plain awful.

 I must say that I miss KNOWING what time the news is on and having it line up with my activities.

Maybe I am just spoilt?  Maybe this is just a plot to get us to buy TVs with the internet on board so that it is all online and then there will be no more TV news services at all, just crappy stories  badly filmed on phones and digital stills cameras on their shaky cam.

I do like Iron Chef America for its witty scripting and the American Dancing with the Stars for its hosts and incredible band.  Wardrobe was marginally better in Australia though.  Apart from that, there's Survivor Samoa, (nice to have on while doing something else) an occasional film if we catch them, Jeopardy (right up to date with that!) and good when Hamish and Andy are guests on the awful Jay Leno Show.Those chaps are funny AND NICE!!