MAN ABOUT TOWN

I've heard a very reliable but as yet unverified rumour that the acclaimed Sydney production of Tim Connigrave's Holding the Man is coming to Melbourne next year, with at least one original cast member, as part of the 2008 MTC season. Can any of my fellow theatre-bloggers shed light on this, please?

For the handful of you yet who haven't seen this poster already, I give you Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street , in the forthcoming film version of Stephen Sondheim's deliciously dark musical directed by Tim Burton. I'd be the first in line to say that Burton's been off his game lately, as dire films such as The Planet of the Apes ' re-imagining' (rather than remake), the saccharine Big Fish and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory well indicate. Nonetheless, I have hopes for this one... Thanks to Stale Popcorn for the poster.

BUY A TICKET, TAKE A RIDE: THE LIFE OF HUNTER S THOMPSON ON FILM (dir. Tom Thurman, USA, 2006) Billed as "The closest most of us will get to the cerative genius of the mad gonzo journalist," this hagiographic biopic about journalist and author Hunter S Thompson was, for me a disappointment. While it certainly lived up to its subtitle by giving us a cavalcade of movie stars and film critics reminiscing about their friendships with Thompson, it never really gave us a sense of the man beneath the persona. Nor did it present anything other than a portrait of the man as a loveable rogue. Where was the other point of view - from the son who grew up with an unpredictable alcoholic father, or the literary critics who deem has contribution to the literary canon as forgettable or uninspired? Not in this film, that's for sure. It also suffered somewhat from a muddy soundtrack, which for me at least rendered some of Hunter's own clips and conversations barely audible (although t...

I thought I might post this on behalf of a young local artist who's looking for help with an upcoming project... * * * The Project: Dear Art, Please Touch Me I am looking for people to interview for the 'Dear Art, Please Touch Me', as part of the Next Wave Festival's Kickstart program. It's an audio tour and I'm recording samples of opinions and stories on a series of artworks. Seeking Someone with a bit of 'character' a unique personality, perhaps you have an interesting cousin, aunty, friend, workmate etc. (preferably who isn't a 20 or 30 something art educated person) who wouldn't mind talking about an artwork for ten minutes, then please give me a hoy. I am looking for some diversity, so my preference is anyone with a different accent, interesting voice, a good storyteller, perhaps children and elderly persons or perhaps, they are very monotone but they have something destinctive that sets them apart from others. I can come to you with the ...

So, I've worked out what was going on between me and you-know-who. For the last three weeks, the two of us have been getting together every weekend, sometimes at his place, sometimes at mine. We've been talking intimately about all manner of subjects, from personal experiences to pop culture; getting drunk, hanging out and sleeping in the same bed, only to wake up and talk for hours more, lying beside each before, getting up and having lunch or coffee or whatever. I'm really enjoying this guy's company, but I also thought I might be getting mixed signals (funny, that!). He'd said he wasn't looking for sex or a relationship from me, but yet we were sharing a bed. He said he just wanted to be friends, but yet we were having this intense, intimate friendship of our own. I couldn't work out what was going on. So, on Saturday night, and again on Sunday morning when we woke up beside each other, we talked about it. So, now I've worked it out. Seems having a br...

Real life keeps getting in the way of the Melbourne International Film Festival this year, which means I've only seen half the films I'd planned to see so far. What I have seen so far has been pretty dark, as the following brief reviews will show: murder, AIDS, incest and bestiality! CORROBOREE (dir Ben Hackworth, Aus 2007) The debut feature by young Melbourne director Ben Hackworth is a deliberately eliptical film in which tone and mood are more important than traditional three-act narrative structure. You can read my article about the film here, in MCV , which certainly helped me understand what was unfolding on screen. Many among the audience lacked such insight, which resulted in a large number of walkouts at it's Melbourne premiere on Friday night. This slow-moving story about a dying gay man who hires a young straight boy to re-enact key scenes from his life in a final bid to come to terms with himself and his sexuality was often striking, but too often felt a littl...

There's something stupidly exciting about the opening night of a film festival. On Wednesday, as I frocked up at home after work, I felt quite elated and excited about the evening ahead; especially the after-party. I do love a good occasion, on occasion. So, doing my best impression of semi-goth dapper, and accompanied by a be-suited No-Necked Monster, off we went - first for a glass of bubbles and conversation at The Long Room; then up the red carpet and into the decadent confines of the Regent Theatre (pictured left). Built when going to the flicks really was an occasion, the Regent - an opulent picture palace that first opened its doors in 1929 - was abuzz with an opening night crowd in all their finery (although The Age 's Jim Schembri looked as scruffy and cantankerous as he always does). In theory the dress code is black tie, but most of the men made do with a lounge suit - even so, their were more than a few penguin suits on display. Some cute men too, but tonight, I was...

Fancy that. I wonder who'll replace him as Victoria's Premier? Cue the jostling in the party room, the knives in the back. Brumby? Thwaites? This could be interesting...

... I should be blogging about the opening night of MIFF, or about seeing The Simpsons movie with a bunch of mates; or describing the pleasure of seeing a friend's Irish bf meet the Irish boyo I'm currently interested in, in the charming surrounds of the bar, Horse Bazaar. But no. It's amost bedtime. Instead I shall urge you to grab a copy of the magnificent new album by Swedish duo Studio , West Coast - or the compilation album Music for Hairy Monsters - and that done, I shall crawl into bed... Adieu!

I originally saw this dizzyingly wonderful play by Lally Katz in its original run at North Fitzroy 's independent theatre The Storeroom in 2004. Now re-staged in the almost-as-intimate confines of the Malthouse Theatre 's Tower Room, this new production uses the same set and generates the same unsettled sense of strange delight, thanks to the sure hand of director Chris Kohn. Abalone (Luke Mullins) and his sister Gerture (Katherine Tonkin in the role originally played by Jessamy Dyer) were orphaned as a result of an tragic pruning accident. Their intimacy as children has carried over into the almost-adult life they share in the claustrophobic confines of the family home - reduced here to a single, cluttered room, wonderfully designed by Adam Gardnir - where their games have taken on a dark and unsettling edge. To escape her brother's semi-incestuous attention, and her own flawed fantasies which picture her as the lover of a domineering thug; Gerture escapes at length into a...

When your computer screen is white - an empty word page, or the Google page - your computer consumes 74 watts, and when its black it consumes only 59 watts. Mark Ontkush wrote an article about the energy saving that would be achieved if Google had a black screen, taking in account the huge number of page views, according to his calculations, 750 mega watts/hour per year would be saved. In a response to this article Google created a black version of its search engine, called Blackle, with the exact same functions as the white version, but with a lower energy consumption, check it out. BLACKLE - www.blackle.com About Blackle How is Blackle saving energy? Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) scree...

Finished the final Harry Potter last night, after crying three times while reading it, and laughing out loud so much that it drove Mike out of the lounge to his bedroom. Strangely anticlimactic yet simultaneously satisfying; crying out for a good editor; expository dialogue; scenes that dragged on way too long. And yet... Rowling captures something - that time in adolescence when hope hasn't turned into idealism, when you're still innocent but no longer naive - she catches it and runs with it, so that the books sometimes startle and delight, whether it be with the death of a much-loved character, driven home with cruelly economical use of words; or an unexpected moment of trancendent joy that feels utterly, perfectly right . *sigh*

Eytan Fox (right) with actor Ohad Knoller In his new film, The Bubble , out and proud director Eytan Fox continues to grapple with the complexities of gay life – and life in general - in modern Israel . Having already explored a secret military romance in his debut feature, Yossi and Jagger (2002); then espionage and gay-straight friendships in his follow-up film, Walk on Water (2004); in his latest film Fox turns his attentions to the fraught story of an affair between a young Palestinian man and his Israeli lover. Set in and around hip Sheinkin Street, in Israel’s second city, Tel Aviv, The Bubble tells the story of Noam (Ohad Knoller, in a strikingly different role to that of macho Yossi, who he played in Fox’s earlier film), and illegal resident Ashraf (Yousef ‘Joe’ Sweid), as they navigate a relationship that is constantly threatened by the divide between their cultures. Complicating matters is the bitchy Yali (Alon Friedman), Noam’s jealous housemate, and an impending ‘rav...

What a strange but fun weekend it's been. Friday night I had drinks with an individual formerly known under a nationality-related non-de-blog, to which he's since objected for reasons oconcerned with anonymity; thus, henceforth, he'll be known as he Who Must Not Be Named (or HWMNBN for short - thought it's not that much shorter, really, is it?). Anyway, we got drunk - me on cider first, then hot toddies - why didn't someone tell me that adding lemon, sugar and hot water to whiskey made it so much more drinkable? Then it was on to Cherry (and thanks Max, for getting us in) and Control, before retiring - chastely, I'll have you know - to my bed circa 3am. But why are we sleeping together, and hugging so often late at night in straight bars? Hmm. Mixed signals, or me reading too much into our friendship? I'll let you know once I know... Saturday - hangover, sleeping in, finishing reading an old childhood treasure (more of which in a new post shortly) and then...

Thinking of going to this year's Melbourne International Film Festival , but don't want to waste your money on films that are going to have a local release within a matter of weeks or months? Let me save some time for you. Here's a list of films at the festival that are confirmed for local distribution (as to when they open, just Google the title + Australia release date, and Bob's your auntie in drag): LOCAL DISTRIBUTORS 2007 COMPANY FILMS IN PROGRAMME 20th CENTURY FOX DAY WATCH JOSHUA THE AV CHANNEL DIRTY THREE MADMAN THIS IS ENGLAND ENTERTAINMENT WORDS FROM THE CITY THE SIGNAL EXIT DIRTY CARNIVAL AACHI ...