I'm awake and going to the Dendy Awards. Eight hours of shorts might be a bit much, and I want to see if I can catch the AMEX building open even though it's a Saturday, so I might have to cut out for a while to see if I can get some traveler's cheques cashed before my trip tomorrow.
I also didn't manage to catch Devon, Sarah, or Sayaka last night, so I have no clue what the plan was for last night that I was supposed to be told about as the elevator doors closed. It took probably five minutes for another elevator to arrive and take me back down, and by that time, they had fled to elsewhere. I'll never know what fun-filled enjoyment I missed while sleeping, but the sleep felt really good, so I don't really care that much.
The first three screenings of the awards contenders weren't that impressive. Girl in a Mirror, on a photographer (Carol Jerrems), won three or more of the awards, but I didn't find anything in it that impressive other than some of her featured photographs. The documentary on the fight for safe, legal abortions in Victoria wasn't something I'd pay $10 to see in a cinema, but it was good.
I skipped out after the third screening, seeing as they weren't that impressive. I found the AMEX building closed, as were many, if not all, of the banks, so we'll see if I can get rid of them later. I went back to the Awards screenings after getting lunch and finding my way around Central Station to see the only short that I really, actually enjoyed. It did not win any awards.
Carnivore Reflux is an animated short that expresses incredulousness with the number and mass of animals that meat-eating humans consume on average over the course of a lifetime. It depicts gluttonous, decadent monarchs and aristocrats who have an insatiable appetite for all manner of animal flesh. They eat tons and tons of meat. One day, their chefs come up with a special meal: a gigantic feast of meats followed by carnivore reflux. At the end of the meal, much to the guests' surprise, they vomit up every animal they've ever eaten reconstituted, whole, and alive.
This is, of course, problematic because many of them have eaten some very dangerous animals. They all come out ok though, and a little lighter. And just to show they weren't just picking on the mat eaters, they mentioned Herbivore bowel, where the same thing happens with fruits and vegetables but out the other end.
It was quite funny and well done. It deserved an award more than the documentary on refugees (which ignored practicalities of not granting every refugee immediate admission into the country [i.e. number of jobs available for their skillset, ability of social programs to cope with the new, perhaps non-contributing, people until they have a usable skillset, if it's even practical for them to get one]).
The only one of my favored films to win an award was Little Miss Sunshine, which won the audience award. It was a good film and deserved an award, but it's not Adam's Apples.
Thank you for Smoking (2006, Jason Reitman)
The closing night film came from America, and was very well done. It grabs you from the credit sequence and says, "You want to watch this film." It is partially narrated by the lead character Nick, and we are often, if not always, restricted to his level of knowledge.
Nick Naylor is the Washington lobbyist for the tobacco industry and also its best known, most killed speaker (the only person in the film who can teach him anything about spinning/selling anything is Rob Lowe's Hollywood agent character who only sleeps on Sundays). He meets with the M.O.D. squad (Merchants of Death) consisting of him, the lobbyist for gun companies, and the lobbyist for the alcohol industry.
Nick is called upon to boost sagging sales figures by going to Hollywood to get starts smoking in movies again, but before that can happen, he gives up all of his secrets to the pretty reporter he's sleeping with. She publishes her story, he loses his job, and all appears lost until his young son, to whom he is passing on all of his skills, persuades him to stop using circumstances as an excuse to feel sorry for himself and start doing his job, for himself this time. He does, starts his own consulting business, and his son wins a debate competition. They also add cellular phones, fast food, and biohazards to the M.O.D. squad.
The movie is full of choice moments (Nick's son arguing his way to join his dad on a business trip against his mother's objections, cigarettes saving Nick's life when anti-smoking terrorists try to poison him with enough nicotine patches to kill a nonsmoker). It hits everything right on time, and is a very American rise-fall-return story (we like to cheer the underdog, even when he's doing a job many find detestable).
Smaller details make for interesting comedic moments. The captain got the secret to making a great mint julep from Fidel Castro, but has only black servants like the southern plantation owners of the past.
I can see why an Aussie audience might really like this film. It paints American politics as fairly corrupt, and it's pretty much a tale of a larrikan.
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