Delicious provides us with a mobile personal reference source of useful web references; naturally mine are all to do with movies.
Link to this at: www.delicious.com
Monday, December 22, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Remembering Rumpole - Leo McKern
A Great Read, But...
"Leo Rumpole McKern" by George Whaley is a welcome addition to Australian film biography; McKern's autobiography is long out of print, and has been fetching absurd prices on amazon.com (!).
George Whaley knew Leo well, and directed him in "On Our Selection"; consequently his humility about getting any of the facts wrong in the preface indicates just how seriously he takes his role as a biographer!
Delightfully chronicling Leo's knockabout early years and ending in his very sad health decline, the book is both sad and funny reflecting the life of this great Aussie actor, and in so doing echoes further that of all humanity; the process of growing old and its consequences for us all is written about with touching candour. The respect with which he was held by his fellow thespians is touchingly reflected in Simon Burke's recollections of his sadly failing last acting performance in Sydney, when without a memory for his lines, his performance fell far short of even his own expectations, so that the experience of getting to act with his daughter Abigail was a paltry compensation...
Interesting for this reader as a benchmark of the full measure of this man was the account of his last film performance in Paul Cox's ill-faited biography about the famous Leper priest, Damien of Molokai; Leo hated flying to the point of paranoia, was old and sick, yet committed himself to the work throughout its troubled production course, delivering a moving persuasive performance which is a lasting legacy worth cherishing....
and his praise for Cox as the director beseiged by Belgian producers who wanted a 'Superman" style movie about this simple saintly priest, stands as further testimony for Leo, as well as his generous support of David Wenham in the title role.
Recommended, but be warned of the sad ending as our belovedly defiant Rumpole - always for the defence! - ultimately found himself defeated by the same mortality which will sadly get us all in the end as well.
Available at: http://docs.google.com
"Leo Rumpole McKern" by George Whaley is a welcome addition to Australian film biography; McKern's autobiography is long out of print, and has been fetching absurd prices on amazon.com (!).
George Whaley knew Leo well, and directed him in "On Our Selection"; consequently his humility about getting any of the facts wrong in the preface indicates just how seriously he takes his role as a biographer!
Delightfully chronicling Leo's knockabout early years and ending in his very sad health decline, the book is both sad and funny reflecting the life of this great Aussie actor, and in so doing echoes further that of all humanity; the process of growing old and its consequences for us all is written about with touching candour. The respect with which he was held by his fellow thespians is touchingly reflected in Simon Burke's recollections of his sadly failing last acting performance in Sydney, when without a memory for his lines, his performance fell far short of even his own expectations, so that the experience of getting to act with his daughter Abigail was a paltry compensation...
Interesting for this reader as a benchmark of the full measure of this man was the account of his last film performance in Paul Cox's ill-faited biography about the famous Leper priest, Damien of Molokai; Leo hated flying to the point of paranoia, was old and sick, yet committed himself to the work throughout its troubled production course, delivering a moving persuasive performance which is a lasting legacy worth cherishing....
and his praise for Cox as the director beseiged by Belgian producers who wanted a 'Superman" style movie about this simple saintly priest, stands as further testimony for Leo, as well as his generous support of David Wenham in the title role.
Recommended, but be warned of the sad ending as our belovedly defiant Rumpole - always for the defence! - ultimately found himself defeated by the same mortality which will sadly get us all in the end as well.
Available at: http://docs.google.com
Answerboards
After exploring a range of wierd showbiz questions on answerboards, I blogged an old British tv series called " Grasshopper Island", and found a question just waiting for me within the context of a "Society and Culture Forum"; check out http://www.society-forum.cn , and learn the identities of the major actors in this great little series made in 1970 by the British doyen of kids television, Joy Whitby;
Tim Brooke-Taylor steals the opening episode with a multi-character performance in the tradition of the great Sir Alec Guinness; the series is out on dvd, but has been slightly edited from what was shown here on the ABC back in the early '80's; political correctness clearly requiring some segments be toned down for our more conservative times...
Tim Brooke-Taylor steals the opening episode with a multi-character performance in the tradition of the great Sir Alec Guinness; the series is out on dvd, but has been slightly edited from what was shown here on the ABC back in the early '80's; political correctness clearly requiring some segments be toned down for our more conservative times...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Podcasting for Libraries
Having browsed various library websites, I can see an exciting future where library customers download a range of promotional content generated by staff and members of various library groups;
for example, book, dvd, and cd reviews, along with segments promoting new acquisitions and other material which is in current discussion;
Local History Groups could produce little historical segments about places of significance in the local area, or take it in turns to discuss material in the local studies collection as a means of promoting resources;
Book Clubs, Writers Groups and Genealogical Societies could also promote their interests by recording little promotional segments available for download, where members of the groups discuss in a friendly chatty manner what they do and how easy and friendly it is to join in ;
and regular events like Storytelling and Computer classes could be advertised with sample grabs of the events themselves to whet the appetites of net surfers...
for example, book, dvd, and cd reviews, along with segments promoting new acquisitions and other material which is in current discussion;
Local History Groups could produce little historical segments about places of significance in the local area, or take it in turns to discuss material in the local studies collection as a means of promoting resources;
Book Clubs, Writers Groups and Genealogical Societies could also promote their interests by recording little promotional segments available for download, where members of the groups discuss in a friendly chatty manner what they do and how easy and friendly it is to join in ;
and regular events like Storytelling and Computer classes could be advertised with sample grabs of the events themselves to whet the appetites of net surfers...
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Youtube, You Little Beauty!
This title is taken from a quote from the great little Australian film, "Swiming Upstream"; Harold Fingleton played by the great Geoffrey Rush is overjoyed when one of his sons wins at the Queensland swimming championships, and shouts the aussie exclamation with such furious joy that the rest of his family are actually embarassed by his behaviour... See the Youtube excerpts below featuring Jesse Spencer now a part of the cult series "House"...
and the key point is that scenes as well as trailers from many films can be found on youtube, including material that is hard to get and rare...
so for research, entertainment, or just good fun, video on line is the way to go...
From my childhood:
Radio 4KQ in brisbane used to play the German boy singer Heintje (yes trivia buffs, we know he was born in the Netherlands, but his gold record money making career was in Germany). Thanks to youtube, you can hear him sing AND see him perform with excerts from his films (unobtainable anywhere else...); and he still sings today as Hein Simons.
Walkabout is my favourite Australian film of all time...thanks to youtube, view the trailer!
and the key point is that scenes as well as trailers from many films can be found on youtube, including material that is hard to get and rare...
so for research, entertainment, or just good fun, video on line is the way to go...
From my childhood:
Radio 4KQ in brisbane used to play the German boy singer Heintje (yes trivia buffs, we know he was born in the Netherlands, but his gold record money making career was in Germany). Thanks to youtube, you can hear him sing AND see him perform with excerts from his films (unobtainable anywhere else...); and he still sings today as Hein Simons.
Walkabout is my favourite Australian film of all time...thanks to youtube, view the trailer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
