Films in 2015...what a year it was...

So it is the end of the year and that means I have a couple of weeks off work to be bored and now that I've read the newest Franzen (it is brilliant but long term readers would now that was almost certainly what I was going to say), watched several films, finished season 3 of The Newsroom and the miniseries The Honourable Woman, now that my holidays are over time for me to give you my list of films that I think are worth seeing (or not worth seeing) that were released in 2015. I saw my last 2015 film on the last day of 2015 (more on that later) and my last first time film of 2015 a few days before that (it isn't getting a mention in more detail later. It was Suffragette and I'm sad I didn't like it more. It was good but by no means great). So the films:

 15. Song of the Sea

On the night of the birth of Saoirse, her mother disappears leaving Ben (her older brother), Saoirse, their father Connor and their dog Cú alone on this island where Connor is the lighthouse keeper. Skip forward six years and Connor is deeply depressed by the continued absence of his wife, Saoirse does not speak, and Ben deeply resents his little sister for "ruining" the life he had with his parents and Cú before she was born (conversely she hero worships him). The island on which they live is rumoured to have been home to selkies (people who can turn themselves into seals) and one night Saoirse finds a seal skin coat that was her mother's and walks into the water following the call of the seals (you guessed it she is a selkie but that isn't a spoiler, it is briefly revealed in the above trailer). After that night, the children's grandmother decides it would be better for the children to live in the city and after she takes them there the magic and mythical hi-jinks really begin. This film is from the same studio that made The Book of Kells a few years back which is a film I'm deeply sad to have missed at the cinema as it is supposed to be amazing. Song of the Sea was Oscar nominated for best animated feature in 2015. It is stunning. It is steeped in Irish mythology and is some of the most gorgeous animation I've seen from a non Japanese film in years. The music is also very effective and the vocal acting is very good (more Irish voices on screen I say). After last year's Calvary, this marks a two year in a row appearance for Brendon Gleeson, who was also very good in Suffragette, in my random countdown (that said he hasn't had as good a year in my books as his son has but more on that later). This all said I'm not certain this was actual in distribution in Australian cinemas yet (I saw it at the Sydney Film Festival) so sadly you may have to wait for a possible 2016 release to see it- it was released most everywhere else in 2014 or 2015, but since it isn't for sale on DVD yet, I assume it is coming here late.

14. Joy

Joy is a fictionalised biopic of the woman who invented the magic mop- fictionalised in the sense that the main woman who was the primary basis of the film was much older than Jennifer Lawrence who plays the title character and also the film actual combines the story of several similar women even if it is mainly based on one. Joy (Lawrence) is divorced mother of two who lives in a run down house with her soap opera obsessed house bound mother, her grandmother, her two children, and in the basement her ex-husband and her father (long since divorced from her mother). As a child, she had been a creative, inventive type, but now as the only bread winner in her family, she is wasting her intelligence on dead end jobs. She comes up with an inventive new mop and film chronicles her challenges in manufacturing and selling this product, ultimately using telemarketing in its early days. This was one of my final 2015 films and it is primarily Jennifer Lawrence that got it on to this list. Just a few years ago, I felt the jury was still out on Lawrence despite seeing all of the Hunger Games and recent X-Men films, but then I saw a previous David O. Russell and Lawrence collaboration and completely changed my mind. That film was American Hustle and her performance in that blew me away as she stole every single scene she was in from much more seasoned performers. Joy is her film and every other actor is merely supporting her. Lawrence knocks it out of the ball park and the support she receive is solid. The director/actor partnership she has with David O. Russell (I refuse to use the term "muse" as I feel it does demean Lawrence a bit) is working swimmingly. It is also generally an important story for woman who might feel that they have no opportunities to get ahead.


13. Spring

 
Spring is the story of a young American man who after the death of his mother packs up and heads to Europe where he meets a beautiful but mysterious woman with a dreadful secret. Especially as it is a horror film I can't tell you more than that. This is a shout out to my love of B Grade horror and also sadly is the closest I get to a film not in English as it is not just American but is also co-produced by several European countries (I have been very bad at catching non English films in 2015). It doesn't have the high scale production values of most films on this list but the performances are good, the Italian coastline is beautiful, and the plot is actually quite original. I watch quite a bit of B Grade horror and one of its defining tropes is that it isn't highly original. This walks that line between A and B Grade tidily with one of the most unpredictable reasons for the horror I've seen in a long time. I normally can pick these things but this was completely out of the blue. It is also at times very funny and very sweet. The film did not get an official cinematic release in Australia in 2015, I saw it at the Sydney Film Festival, but it came out on DVD in September. It is unfortunate that B Grade often doesn't get a proper theatrical release as this film was quite spectacular on the big screen if only for its location. 

 12. The Imitation Game

2015 was the year of the biopic (there are two on my countdown alone- also a film that verges on biopic- and I saw several more). This is the story of Alan Turing who was the man partly responsible for cracking the Enigma code and thereby winning the Allies the Second World War. To say that Turing was a computer and mathematical genius is an understatement to the extreme but he was gay and this was 1940s England, a fact which coupled with his high level of social awkwardness made him the scorn of colleagues and made his life very difficult in that time. The Imitation Game was one of two films about a genius without the greatest of social skills released in 2015 (the other being The Theory of Everything which would have been about number 17 on this list if I went that low). It was also the first film I saw in 2015. Despite all of the issues people had with this film (mainly with the fact that the film took Turing's social awkwardness almost to level of mental illness- I would agree to a degree with this concern), the performances by Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley (I actually already mentioned admiring her performance in this in 2014's countdown), and a solid supporting cast of many British actors I admire were outstanding. More importantly, it was time Turing's story was told on the big screen and known by a broader audience, especially the poignancy of the fact he committed suicide after over a year of chemical castration treatment (the film does not say this but he was off the castration medicine at the time of his suicide) following a conviction for indecent acts (i.e. for being gay in an era where it was illegal) and with minimal public recognition for his work. For the modern audience, it provides both a window into the mind of an unmistakable genius in a field few people understand and signal of how wrong society can be.

11. Infinitely Polar Bear

The eldest of two sisters narrates the story of her family in the 1970s. Her mother, Maggie (Zoe Saldana), met her father, Cam (Mark Ruffalo), when they were both working at a radio station, and very early in the relationship Cam told his future wife that he is bipolar but she declares at that point that it is the 1960s and everyone is a little crazy. Jump forward many years and the couple has two primary school aged daughters and is on the poverty line as Cam can't work and then Cam has a complete breakdown. Maggie decides that she needs to improve her family's situation and starts applying for business graduate degrees, and after being accepted to a college in New York, she asks Cam to take solo care of the two girls in Boston whilst she studies despite the fact they separated after the breakdown and that was only 18 months earlier. The remainder of the film focuses on Cam's attempts to raise the girls whilst combating his illness. The film's title sounds bizarre- it comes from the younger girl's combining of bi-polar and manic depressive- and sadly this film got very limited release and next to no audience in Australia which is a mighty shame. Mark Ruffalo (who was also outstanding in Avengers: Age of Ultron- shockingly no comic books film on the list this year and it was the best one- and once again two years in a row on my countdown for an actor but I pretty much love him in everything) is OUTSTANDING in this. You don't see much of the depressive side of Cam's illness but Ruffalo plays the mania more realistically than I've ever seen it portrayed on screen. The performances by Saldana (another repeat actor from 2014) and the two young girls are also solid. I applaud Maya Forbes (a rare female writer/director, making her directorial debut) for the bravery in bringing what seems a very personal film to the screen as the film is based on her childhood and her father's illness. Ruffalo has been justifiably nominated for a Golden Globe and I hope he wins though I think the film is too old for that. What I hope more is that he gets an Oscar nomination as the film might return to cinemas if that happens, if not it is on DVD now.

10. The Martian

In the not too distant future, manned missions to Mars are a thing. On one such trip, an accident occurs and Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left behind with limited supplies and no prospect of rescue for years. He "sciences the shit out of it" and manages to grow potatoes and reach out to contact NASA, whilst NASA workers struggle to think of how/if they can save him, and his mission team heads back home unaware that he is alive. After Interstellar last year, I was nearly ready to declare the serious big budget science fiction film a thing of the past. I felt Interstellar seriously overreached itself and the science in that film was a joke to say the least so I didn't understand why so many people loved it. That being the case and Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain both having been in Interstellar (I do like them both normally but it was just the correlation of serious sci-fi and these actors so soon), I was skeptical to say the least when it came to The Martian but it turned out that was unwarranted. Firstly, the science was better than Interstellar, for a start a lot of it was accurate, and whilst I was hoping another film this year would drive the kids to be scientists (it wouldn't as it wasn't a good science film more on that to come), this will actual be the film for that (go you future generations of botanists, agricultural scientists, engineers, and physicists, go!). Secondly, the script was very smart and I'm very happy to see Drew Goddard who I've been a fan of over the many years of his collaborations with Joss Whedon, and other TV work given the reigns of a big budget intelligent film after the more low budget Cabin in the Woods (pretty much my favourite B grade horror film) and the great but could be better World War Z- I'm hoping he gets some awards for it. Thirdly, it is the best Ridley Scott film in almost two and a half decades (I didn't mind Gladiator but Thelma and Louise was the last one I truly enjoyed and that was made in 1991) and I like that the man who behind Alien and Blade Runner is back directing a decent sci-fi film. Fourth and finally, the cast is chock full of actors whose work I love but most importantly this film belongs to Matt Damon who is solo on screen for most of his scenes and it might well and truly be time for him to take home one of the more significant awards for his acting (this would be more deserved to my mind than his awards for writing Good Will Hunting).

9. Max Mad: Fury Road

A plot description is hard on this because I have to admit this is actual my first excursion into Mad Max land (Mel Gibson creeps me out to say the least) but I'll try. In a post apocalyptic landscape, Max (Tom Hardy) is captured by the War Boys so they can use his blood to enhance their limited lifespan. Max is linked to Nux (Nicholas Hoult). When one of the clan's drivers, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) goes off course and it turns outs she has taken the clan leader's "wives" (read sex slaves) with her, the War Boys are sent to chase her down. Nux ties Max to the front of his car as his "blood-bag" and they catch her, and Max ends up assisting her as she fights both the War Boys and several other clans. Action with a side of action and then more action! And it was made in Australia, directed by an Australian, and stars a lot of Australians albeit in minor roles! I initially had zero interest in this film because of my previous lack of Mad Max interest but then men's rights groups got up in arms and if there is anything that is sure to get me to watch something, it is men's rights groups hating it. This film runs on pure adrenaline and it is an unstoppable thrill ride. The most important thing about this film is its treatment of gender. Theron is the star of the film, though Hardy and Hoult was both very good, she is the one who pack the biggest punch both physically and emotionally. You can easily see that Furiosa could have been a male character so it is a character where gender is not of the first importance. This is further re-enforced by the lack of romance between Furiosa and Max which shows she is not there as a pretty face or to be man-splained to but it is a hero in her own right. This is a revolutionary action film on the gender front (it would be more so if it weren't for one that I'll get to that is similarly brilliant in this way) and also I loved the way the film's male stars and director dismissed and laughed at all claims that the gender structure was controversial or unexpected. More of it I say!

8. The Dressmaker

Now for some more Australian cinema (OK except for its star). In the 1960s, Tilly Dunnage (Kate Winslet) returns to the small Victorian town in which she grew up after being sent away as a child after being suspected of murdering another child. During her absence she has worked with a degree of success as a fashion designer internationally, whilst her mother, Molly (Judy Davis), has stayed put and become the local crazy drunken hermit. The people of the town see Tilly's return as a threat to them and their livelihoods- all except the poor family who have cared for Molly in Tilly's absence (including handsome young son of that family played by Liam Hemsworth) and the cross dressing police sergeant (Hugo Weaving). This is until Tilly designs a dress for the dowdy Gertrude (Sarah Snook) that gains Gertrude the attention of the boy she has a crush on, and then the whole town suddenly wants Tilly to design their outfits. Meanwhile Tilly is herself trying to figure out what happened all those years ago when she was accused of murder as she cannot remember the events of that day. This film has the rare distinction of being directed by, co-written by, based on a book by, and mainly starring women. In a year where the lack of jobs for women in Hollywood has been repeatedly under the microscope, this film is the antithesis of that and thankfully it made some decent money at the domestic box office. As much as I loved the performances by Hemsworth, Weaving, Snook, and the cast of other myriad town's people, the film truly comes down to three things- Winslet, Davis, and fashion. Davis is outstanding as Molly and Winslet is flawless as Tilly right down to that rarity for international actors, doing a really solid Australian accent. The fashion is suitably glamorous and perfectly contrasts the stark rural Victorian vistas. I know many people found the film a little strange but that is likely because the ending is wee bit Shakespearean in scope. I have to say this is one of the many things I loved.

7. Inside Out

Riley has lived a peaceful and pleasant life with her parents in Minnesota, and her emotions have been right there helping her build happy memories. Her father then packs the family up and moves them to San Francisco when Riley is 11 and she is away from all that keeps her safe, and her emotions (Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear) struggle to help her cope. One day, Sadness touches a memory and gives Riley her first memory that isn't coloured mainly by Joy so Joy tries to keep Sadness away from any involvement in Riley's emotionally life but when Riley ends up crying in front of her new school class, a new memory that is core to Riley's identity is formed and it is coloured by Sadness. Joy tries to get rid of the memory but this results in her and Sadness being sucked out of the emotion's Headquarters and into the other parts of Riley's brain. As Joy and Sadness try to get back to Headquarters, Disgust, Anger and Fear are driving Riley's emotional life and everything is going haywire. This is Pixar tackling a very heavy topic but in a way that kids might not scared of. Essentially Inside Out is a film about a pre-teen who is suffering from pretty severe depression. This sounds like I didn't like it but this is where the brilliance of the film lies. Children getting an understanding of depression and mental illness at an early age is a step in the right direction for removing the social misunderstandings and stigmas associated with mental illness, and this film does it with such a deft hand that it would be easy for a parent to refer back to if a child or someone they knew was suffering from depression. It also has brilliant vocal acting and animation but the reason this one need to be remembered is its themes. I applaud the Pixar team for going there in a way that will not make children uncomfortable or too scared.

6. Still Alice

Dr Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) starts having memory lapses. When she sees her doctor, she is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. As the disease rapidly progresses, she forgets larger and larger things up to and including at one point, the identity of her daughter and she makes plans to commit suicide before it gets too bad. There is a reason that Julianne Moore won pretty much every award under the sun for her performance in this film as she is amazing. This is very good film on most fronts (Alec Baldwin as John Howland is also particularly good) but without Moore's performance the core of the film would be gone. She holds the film together and she does it flawlessly, so flawlessly in fact that this film was almost higher in my countdown.


5. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is a failing actor who was once famous for playing a superhero, Birdman, and he is now trying to regain his fame and change his public perception by appearing in an off Broadway play which he is also directing and wrote. Riggan hears the voice of Birdman following him and critiquing him as he seeks to stage the play with a disfunctional group of actors including his current girlfriend with the help of his assistant who is both a recovering drug addict and his daughter from his former marriage. There is a lot that has been said about this film and I agree with all of it. It was without doubt a worthy best picture receipt. The performances by all involved are outstanding especially those of Keaton who is paying his Batman dues, Emma Stone (as Riggan's daughter), and Edward Norton (as one of the actors in the play). The direction is masterful and the idea of shooting the film as one continuous take drags the viewers into the action and carries them through it. Finally it is worth mentioning the film's amazing soundtrack which is considering it is only drums is very effective. From a standard of film quality it was the best film of the year, but I did enjoy three of the four I've ranked above it more and feel the fourth is too important to be ignored.

4. Ex Machina

In the not too distant future, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a programmer at Bluebook (think something between google and Facebook). He mysteriously wins an opportunity to spend a week with the company's genius founder and CEO, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), at his remote home. Caleb is unsure of why he has won or what this prize entitles but when he arrives, it turns out that Nathan has selected him to form the Turing test (yes Turing as in Alan Turing from The Imitation Game- it is a test for Artificial Intelligence) on an A.I. he has created. Caleb soon meets the A.I., Ava (Alicia Vikander), and then he spends his days talking with Ava, and his nights drinking with the more than mildly obnoxious Nathan whilst the only other member of the house, Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno), acts as Nathan's mute servant/sex slave. Caleb's days with Ava seem weirdly idyllic but it is sketchy acts are afoot in the house. This film explores so many things- the nature of life, the nature of humanity, the prospect of A.I., ideas about uses and abuses of technology, ideas of gender, and ideas of power- and it does this brilliantly. Gleeson (as I said I was getting to Brendon Gleeson's son), Isaac, and Vikander have all had AMAZING break out years in 2015- yes Gleeson was in the Harry Potter films but in a very minor role, and Isaac has been around for a few years (I was first impressed by him in Balibo back in 2009) and got great reviews for his role in Inside Llewyn Davis, but this year was something else again for all three of them (I might not be done with the men yet on this countdown and I also loved Vikander in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. which was some delightful guilty pleasure viewing). This is the directorial debut for Alex Garland who wrote The Beach (a novel that first made me want to travel and then by its conclusion terrified me to ever go out my front door again) and the scripts for 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Never Let Me Go, and it is very solid. The script, also the work of Garland, is very smart, and I hope the script and quality of the direction are the sign of more good films to come from Garland. This is what you want from serious sci-fi thriller- a smart script, deftly handled direction, and some amazing performances as Gleeson perfects Caleb's every man wounded puppy naivete, Isaac Nathan's odd combination of charisma and repulsion, and Vikander (hers is I think the strongest performance and considering how much I'm loving Oscar Isaac's work right now that is saying something) Ava's knowing but unknowing innocence (or is that non innocence?). I'm hoping that 2016 brings much more from the three leads in this film, particularly keen to see Vikander in The Danish Girl, and Isaac in X-Men: Apocalypse (not sure what Gleeson actually has lined up for this year but hopefully it is brilliant). Final word on this film goes to the fact it has the most brilliant dance sequence on screen this year performed by Isaac and Mizuno (she is a former ballet dancer making her film debut and she is effective if silent in her small number of scenes). So here that is:

 3. The Hunting Ground

I saw a few terrifying documentaries this year and this one counts as both the most scary and the most important. This film focus on the rape culture on American college campuses and the ways in which victim blaming is par for the course as colleges, college sporting teams, and fraternities fight and pay to hide all rape accusations. As someone who has spent her entire life in or around universities campuses in Australia, this was to say this least scary stuff. The statistics on the rape culture at American colleges are ridiculous and the money that is funneling into making rape accusations disappear is astronomical. The film confirmed my view that fraternities are truly one of the circles of hell, and that a college system that values the revenue stream of its sporting teams over the safety of its students (not just female students because as this film does make clear and as people should know, rape isn't something that only happens to women even though women are the bulk of the victims of this abhorrent crime) is heinously evil. As with all documentaries there are biases involved and some people have attacked the filmmakers as if this is unique to this film, but the fact remains one rape anywhere ever is too many, and any power structure that enables rapists and humiliates victims needs to be destroyed. Scarily for the US tertiary education system, the filmmakers of this documentary were sued by multiple colleges and associated organisations before it was even in distribution and none of the current employees of any institutions were willing to appear on camera- in contrast to their last documentary about rape culture in the US military where the Pentagon and other high level agencies opened their doors to that film's scrutiny, no-one was sued for what the film portrayed, and in fact it lead to government reforms that will make the military a safer place to work. I cannot stress enough how important this film is. Rape culture is rampant anywhere young vulnerable people congregate and tertiary institutions are internationally a prime place for rapes and sexual assaults to occur. The US with its special brand moneyed interests may be particularly awful (if you want to have your skin crawl, look at any of the sites or comment boards that question the film's depiction of particular scenarios or statistics- I've not seen such vitriol leveled at a documentary that wasn't by Michael Moore and when you consider the topic of the film, yikes is all I can say) but this is a film that law makers and tertiary institution employees need to see regardless of where they are. The film has not had a wide distribution anywhere (again I saw it at the Sydney Film Festival) but I expect that it will be screened on TV and available on DVD here soon.

2. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Greg (Thomas Mann), a 17 year old who has worked hard to develop bland surface level relationships with his classmates, is told by his parents to befriend Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a girl in his year at school who has been recently diagnosed with leukemia. Both teens do not want this friendship which has been engineered by their parents but soon enough they start talking a genuine friendship starts to develop. Greg soon introduces Rachel to his "associate" Earl (RJ Cyler)- when Rachel later asks Earl about being Greg's "associate", Earl confirms that they are friends but Greg doesn't do friendship. Rachel soon discovers that Greg and Earl make awful parody films together, and the films help her cope with her illness. At the suggestion of a girl he has a crush at school, Greg with the assistance of Earl starts to make a film for Rachel. I don't think most people would rank this film as highly as I did but I just loved it. It is endearing, it is funny, and obviously it is sad. The performances by the three young leads are delightfully unaffected and they got some solid support from the rest of the cast, young and older (I particularly loved Nick Offerman as Greg's Dad and Molly Shannon as Rachel's Mum). Now the teen with cancer film (or anyone with cancer film actual) is becoming a bit of a trope but there is something here that is stronger than the others and that is the combination of humour in the face of death with honesty about death, along with a very reduced level of sap (when compared to say last year's The Fault in Our Stars which was good but just a heart string tugger without pause). Also one of this film strongest points is that it isn't a teen romance and in fact romance takes a backseat to teens developing healthy relationships with adults (be that parents or teachers- Jon Bernthal is quite good as Greg's history teacher) but most importantly to a quest for genuine friendship between the three main characters. It is a film about the hard things in life but it is the core of friendship instead of romance that reduces the sap, made it a healthier film for teens, and made me love it all the more. Also I envy the people who got to think up Greg and Earl's punny film titles- my favourites were Sockwork Orange and A Box of Tulips Now.


And now for my number one film of 2015....

Wait for it...

Actually you didn't need to wait as you can probably guess...

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Have you seen it yet? It was my actual last film of 2015 (but wasn't seeing it for the first time that day) and I know most people have seen it but I will try for the sake of the small number of people who haven't seen it to give a spoiler free synopsis. It has been 30 years since the fall of the Empire and in its place, the First Order, a Nazi-like regime with ties to the dark side, has arisen to stop the efforts of the new Republic. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) has gone missing and the Republic sponsored, First Order fighting Resistance led by his sister, Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), is looking for him. Leia sends her best pilot, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), to Jakku to retrieve information that will hopeful lead to Luke. Unfortunately Poe is captured by the First Order led by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), but fortunately before this happens he is able to store the information in his loyal droid, BB-8, and send him rolling away from the chaos and destruction of the First Order in hopes that they can reunite later. Aboard the First Order's ship, Poe is tortured by Kylo Ren until he is rescued by FN-2187 (John Boyega), a shell shocked stormtrooper quickly renamed Finn by Poe, and they make an escape back to Jakku in hopes of finding BB-8 only to be shoot down and for Finn to assume after the crash that he is the sole survivor and Poe has died. Meanwhile back on Jakku, a lonely young scavenger, Rey (Daisy Ridley), who is struggling to make ends meet runs into BB-8 and befriends him. Soon enough they connect with Finn and the three of them are fleeing for their lives on the way to the Resistance's base.

To start all I can say is...thank you J. J. Abrams...thank you so much! I don't remember a time when I didn't love the original Star Wars films and The Empire Strikes Back is one of my all time favourite films, so to say the pressure was high on this film was an understatement in the extreme. I remember when I was at Uni going along to midnight screenings of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith with friends, and all of us leaving with that slightly sick taste that the prequels left in the mouths of long term fans of the franchise (Revenge of the Sith isn't actual that bad but when you get lumped with Phantom Menace and especially with Attack of the Clones it doesn't do you any favours). The prequels were too heavy handed with the CSI, too heavy handed with the complexities of the Galactic Senate, too heavy handed with making the Force itself too complex, the scripts dragged, and the acting...don't get me started on the acting by the two leads and I'm normally a big fan of Natalie Portman. I'm not going to attack Jar Jar here as he is an easy target but he was the symptom not the disease in the prequels. So I was cautious when I bought my midnight screening ticket for The Force Awakens and I said going in that I set the bar Attack of the Clones low and if it exceeded this I would be OK. When I walked out of the film, I was shocked to find that I would have placed it slightly below if not on par with aspects of the original trilogy. My long held love of the work of J. J. Abrams had once again paid dividends and the hand of Disney was not as powerful as I had feared. So thank you again J. J. Abrams, and weirdly thank you George Lucas for finally completely giving up the reigns (now if you can go back and remove your edits from the original films, I'll finally completely forgive you for all the mess you did to your biggest legacy in the late 1990s/early 2000s). 

So what did I love about The Force Awakens? It would be harder to say what I didn't love as that amounts to pretty much nothing- the giant hologram of the First Order leader bugged me a bit so that is my one negative for you and it is minuscule. I loved seeing so many of the original cast back again and it appears enjoying the ride. I loved the pathos of the Han Solo/Leia relationship after 30 years. Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford's performances near broke my heart as the older version of these characters whose romance we all rooted for in the original films, and who with great degree of subtlety (which wasn't Ford's strong suit back in the originals but if you see Age of Adeline, a film I sadly didn't have space for in this countdown, is something he clearly can do nowadays) bring a high degree of a realism to a couple who are separated by tragedy (sorry unavoidable spoiler) but still deeply love each other in the midst of the high stakes world, space cowboy world of Star Wars. I felt I was going to miss my two old favourite characters from the original series (and technically the prequels too) as they are long since dead in the world of the film (and one of the actors is too) but low and behold voice cameos by both Obi Wan and Yoda! Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, and Kenny Baker who have spent SO long now in costume as Chewie, C3PO, and R2D2 respectively that they deserve medals and are still delivering on these roles. Also good to see many of the minor characters from the original films pop up in unobtrusive ways that just enhanced the fan experience without detracting from the first timer experience.

What of the new cast members? Oscar Isaac's charisma as Poe could have risked leaving everyone in its wake- it was so strong it changed the script after all. The adorable but not to the point of cloying ewok level adorable nature of BB-8 could have stolen the show. Adam Driver nailing the combination of internal conflict, anger issues, parental issues, and dark side leanings as Kylo Ren could have made us all want to don black masks and cloaks, and sulk in the shadows. Lupita Nyoung'O's quality voice work as Maz Kanata which aged her many years could have made us forget Yoda. BUT the thing is none of this happens! When everyone could steal the scene, it turns out no-one does (well Oscar Isaac still almost manages it in his scenes) and everyone ups their game, and the newer talents on the block rise to the occasion. When I say newer I don't mean the actors I just listed but instead I mean the two with the least credits to their names who are tasked with being the core of the film- John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. Unlike pretty much all of their cast mates, I had seen these actors in absolute nothing before The Force Awakens, and being the core of a Star Wars film is a heavy weight to be given for two actors whose previous roles were so very minor (both mainly have experience from guest spots on UK TV shows). Boyega and Ridley managed to make their characters the believable glue at the heart of the film, and to give Rey and Finn real emotion and real chemistry both with each other and with the other characters (I suspect that there will be a romance between Rey and Finn in the future films and though that would break some boundaries for Star Wars land as a mixed race couple but I feel the strongest potential chemistry was the bigger boundary breaking chemistry between Finn and Poe...sadly I doubt anyone but the denizens of tumblr will go there). Also a good word needs to be put in for the supports especially Domhnall Gleeson (I did say he got another mention) and Gwendolen Christie as the non force enabled First Order buddy cop to Kylo Ren, and a stormtrooper general respectively.

Finally the two things that I'm going to gush about and you can guess the first one...

The gender politics! Oh my goodness! I have long felt a bit weird that I love the Star Wars films so much when, even though Leia was an amazing role model of young girls, the cast otherwise just wall to wall white blokes for the most part (Lando is pretty much token), and that is without mentioning the slave bikini (that said Leia is can still kill Jabba the Hutt even in a slave bikini so what of it!). The Force Awakens turns it all on its head and goes even further. The "princess" that can't rescue "herself", Poe! The person who need to have everything explained four times (normally a woman in sci-fi/action films), Finn! The person who cries the most, Kylo Ren! Whereas Leia is now a general who has thrown off all the associated silliness of being a princess, and Phasma (Gwendolen Christie's character) has earned herself the role of general along with a shiny chrome outfit. In fact, Phasma was original written as a man but then they decided to ignore gender in casting. And all of this is before we get to Rey. Rey is essentially all of three main characters of the original series combined- the lost orphan on a dessert planet (Luke), the woman with power that society might limit (Leia), and the sassy natural pilot (Han)- and that is without spoilers as it is all in the trailer. From Rey's first introduction with her face covered in close up to make her appear to possibly be an androgynous man, to her donning of a pilot's helmet, to her saving of BB-8 from another scavenger, to her insistence of running without Finn's help all say loud and clear that traditional gender roles are not what defines our favourite galaxy far, far away. Much of same could be said of the race politics as instead of wall to wall white guys, you have a black man (John Boyega as Finn) and a Latin American man (Oscar Isaac as Poe) as two of the heroes, while new white male leads are evil (Adam Driver and Domhnall Gleeson). There is more when you look at the background casting which is super diverse in both gender and race- if you have seen the film, because spoilers, check out www.screencrush.com/star-wars-diversity-casting for interesting comments on this. Disney may have screwed up the toy marketing (there are very limited numbers of Rey toys) but I feel little girls seeing this film will definitely walk away knowing that they can be a hero and that they have just as many rights as men to be whomever they want to be- also children who aren't white will be able to see the film and think the same things except replace the word "men" with the words "white people".

The last thing to gush on is the issue for a lot of people with this film. Many people have said it is too familiar. I will admit I agree it is very similar to A New Hope but I say this isn't an issue. In fact this is another brilliant thing about the film. After the prequels and George Lucas messing with the originals, we all need a brain cleanse and to remember what we loved about Star Wars in the first place. This is just that. It is effectively cinematic comfort food and that makes it perfect for the fan who has felt let down by the recent efforts in the series, the child who is being introduced for the first time, and just for holiday viewing in general. J. J. Abrams left just enough questions to keep you going without overwhelming the viewer or bogging them down in the details. Now that we all have our heads on straight again, we can prepare for hopefully more adventurous fare in Episodes VIII and IX, and considering they are scripted by (and Episode VIII is also directed by) Rian Johnson I doubt they will have the same issue. For those not familiar with Rian Johnson's work, I strong recommend you take time to watch Looper and Brick before the next Star Wars episode, and I'll also let you know that you may be familiar with some of his work as he directed a small number of Breaking Bad episodes too. If you want to discuss my theories on a few mysteries from The Force Awakens, I wouldn't discuss them here because of spoilers but chat to me in person or elsewhere online as currently I'm pretty sure I'm the only one with my unique wacky (and likely untrue) theory on the biggest one of them.

So that is all on The Force Awakens (I did write much more than I expected). I've seen it three times so far (which is the most times I've seen a film in a long while) and if you need a buddy to see it with I will more than happily see it again as obviously I love it and also because I'm deeply hoping that this FINALLY is the film to knock one of my least favourite films of all time off the top of the list of highest grossing films (the un-adjusted for inflation list that is as I do love me some Gone with the Wind which is the top of the adjusted list). That's right Avatar, hopefully your awful reign will soon be OVER!!! The Force Awakens will likely take the number 4 of all time spot by the end of the week and as it hasn't opened in China yet. Even conservative estimates are saying it will almost certainly knock Titanic out of number 2 by the end of its run but the big question is Avatar, so go out and help prove that humanity does have better taste in films than the blue cat people of Avatar!

So those were the best films of 2015 in my opinion.

What of the worst? For the first time in a few years, I don't have a Peter Jackson version of The Hobbit to hand that title to. This year had some tragic disappointments. I felt really let down by Jurassic World as the trailers had looked so good but it had nowhere near the intelligence of Jurassic Park and slightly questionable gender politics. That said, it was an OK action film if you forgot Jurassic Park existed- but it definitely wasn't great. I was also really disappointed by Crimson Peak as the trailers looked good and the cast was all actors I love but it couldn't decide what kind of film it wanted to be and it just suffered because of that and because it was highly predictable for a ghost or mystery house film. That said, despite this it had good performances (especially Jessica Chastain who deserved a better film) so you couldn't write it off it completely even if it wasn't great. Neither of these were my least favourite film of 2015. My least favourite film goes to...

Focus

All style and absolutely zero substance. The script was awful, the chemistry between the leads near non existent, and the pacing tedious (a crime and a half in a con film). As a fan of con films, Will Smith, and Margot Robbie (I really looking forward to both of them in Suicide Squad), this is one large question of why isn't this better. It missed every mark.

Just to cleanse your mind if you watched the Focus trailer, I'll finish with this....

 

See there is a lot to be said for the familiarity of The Force Awakens as a palate cleanser..

Spring TV times...

So I know I'm greatly behind in my posts on books (I have been reading them, just haven't had time to post...by and large... I also have been slower reading them than I would like), I do promise I'll get back to them soon (maybe tonight if I have the time). Instead I have some recommendations on the new season of TV on screens at the minute. Now my predictions may not work out...if you read my last TV show related post, an update... Broadchurch season 2 good but not as great as I was expecting, and I still haven't been able to find Mad Men season 7 part 2 legally as I got Foxtel just after it finished (if you know of somewhere to get in legally in Australia, PLEASE fill me in as its absence from both Foxtel boxsets and Netflix saddens me). Anyhow onto the current TV season, which I know is half over but with catch up you can still get there... two recommendations are very serious adult drama, one is just awesome, and one is very silly but huge fun... so let's begin with the serious...

The Affair

This is the season 1 trailer and season 2 is the current season but not going to share that trailer for fear of spoilers. Plot summary is that Noah, a New York based school teacher who has published his first novel, travels on a family holiday with his wife, Helen, and their four children to visit his wife's parents in Montauk on Long Island. On arrival in Montauk they stop at a diner who Noah meets Alison, a waitress who lives in Montauk and who is mourning the lose of her and her husband, Cole's child. The attraction between Alison and Noah is pretty much automatic and since the show is called The Affair you can guess where this is going. There are myriad things that count in this show's favour...the outstanding score including a hauntingly beautiful theme song by Fiona Apple, the cinematography, the performances especially Ruth Wilson as Alison because she was the "new" actor in the mix as I've long been a fan of Dominic West (Noah), Maura Tierney (Helen), and Joshua Jackson (Cole...yes those who grow up in the 90s, Pacey from Dawson's Creek), the complex characters (not all unlikable, though I profoundly dislike Noah, just honestly complex), the writing, and just well everything....but to single one thing out, the thing that marks this show as different is the format. What do I mean by format? Each episode is in two halves one told by Noah and one by Alison (in the first season), and just as people's wouldn't in real life their memories (it is quickly shown that they are conveying past events to a police officer as part of an investigation) don't quite synch- different things are emphasised and each character is even dressed in the way they are viewed in the other character's eyes (there was a moment in last week's episode where Alison saw herself as Noah sees her...as in it is exactly how she appears in his version of events and it completely threw her off kilter). I couldn't recommend it more strongly and there was a clear reason that it came out of nowhere to win a truckload of awards for its first season. The first season in its entirety is on Foxtel boxsets (and probably on DVD by now too) and the second season airs on Tuesday nights on Showcase (all of the second season is still on Foxtel Go for catch up folk).

The Beautiful Lie

Now for something that is in its first season, actually probably only season as it is based on something, and no I'm not obsessed with shows about affairs it was just happenstance. Plot summary, Anna is married to Xander, they were once the dream couple of the Australian tennis world, and they are happily married; Anna's brother Kingsley has just cheated on his wife Dolly with their nanny/aupair; Dolly's sister Kitty has just got engaged to Skeet; and finally Kingsley's best mate and long time family friend of Dolly and Kitty's family is pining for Kitty. This all goes spinning out of control when Anna meets Skeet, and the two of them start an affair. Does that sound familiar at all? If you have read Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, it should as The Beautiful Lie is a modernised Australian version. I have long wanted a modernised Anna Karenina and though this isn't quite how I would have done it, it is amazing and most of my issues with it relate to odd things like characters being too likable  (I really dislike Anna, Karenin, and Vronsky in the book, as for their TV counterparts, I find Anna mildly sympathetic, Xander I really like, and Skeet...well I don't like him and what grown man willingly goes by Skeet), or the show not being political enough (Tolstoy would agree I think). The show has captured the lust, the chaos, and the internal conflict of the characters perfectly, and the performances, especially as many are delivered by actors known for comedic roles, are amazing. I also love that they kept the depth, if not the politics and agricultural economics, of the Levin (Peter in the show though Levin is his surname still) plot as that often gets lost in interpretation as it is my favourite part of the book. The Beautiful Lie is on Sunday nights on ABC and on iView for catchup (yes it is all still up in spite of the normal two week shelf life on iView).

Dr Who

Moving on from all the affairs, and yes this is the current season's trailer as Dr Who is something you can jump on the band wagon of at any point. Plot summary...are you kidding me this has been on the air for over 50 years?!?! OK basic premise but this is sci fi so you likely won't get it unless you watch it...the Doctor is a hundreds of years old Time Lord (read alien) who has a blue police box circa 1960 something that is actually a ship that enables him (there is yet to be a female doctor but after last season's development with one of his nemeses I hold out hope that maybe one day) to travel through time and space, and he usually take a companion or two along for the ride (they are normally human but not always). The Doctor also regenerates every few seasons hence all the different actors who have played him...no we aren't supposed to forget he used to look different, he isn't James Bond. I have been a Dr Who fan still before I can remember as in I grew up on it and have always loved it. This said the show has been in recovery mode of the last few years. After the departure of the amazing combo of Russell T Davis as show runner and David Tennant as the Doctor, the quality dipped. There are myriad reasons and I don't want to lay to hate in the direction of the new show runner, Steven Moffatt, as I've long been a fan of his work (Press Gang, Coupling, Sherlock, and some of the best episode of Davis era Dr Who were scripted by him). The issues were myriad...plot lines were too convoluted, some characters LONG outstayed their welcome (River Song I mean you which was unfortunate as you were so interesting to begin with), the main companions were too manic pixie dream girl (I loved Rory though as the secondary companion), and Matt Smith's version of the Doctor was about a billion times too daffy. I persevered with the show because of my long endearing love for it and since the casting of Peter Capaldi, it has gone on a marked upturn and this current season is shaping up to be the best since the departure of Davis and Tennant- possibly even better than some of their work. Capaldi brings the perfect blend of bluntness, ego, confusion, comedy, and at times compassion to his version of the Doctor, and it is outstanding. Also Jenna Coleman's Clara who waded through manic pixie dream girl land throughout most of the time she was opposite Matt Smith has finally emerged as a complicated and strong character in her own right- with a highly enviable wardrobe at times. The writing quality has also improved again, probably aided by the move away from season arcing complex over-the-top impossible-to-follow plots back to the traditional two episode blocks. All in all a strong return to form from an old favourite. Dr Who is available on iView from about 5am each Sunday morning and airs on Sunday nights on ABC- sadly the two week shelf life on iView does impact Dr Who so not all of the current season is up.

Jane the Virgin

The first season of Jane the Virgin has just arrived on Australian Netflix in recent weeks and I completely binged it. Now it is highly silly and based on a telenovela but don't let that stop you...pretty much if you were addicted to Passions in the 90s (and which teenager wasn't) or you liked Ugly Betty, this is a more ironically self aware show in that vein as in it is MUCH better. Plot summary, Jane at age 10 promises her grandmother that she will not lose her virginity until she gets married- partly on childhood religious grounds but mainly because she loves her grandmother and does not want to be a teenaged single mother as her mother was. Jump forward 13 years, Jane aged 23 is living with her mother and grandmother and working on her teaching degree whilst working as a waitress at a local hotel, and she is still keeping her promise to her grandmother which her boyfriend is thankfully fine with. Jane goes to get a routine pap smear but the doctor is having a very bad day and gets Jane confused with another patient and inseminates her. To add to all the confusion, the doctor was supposed to be inseminating her sister-in-law (she doesn't know it is her) with the last sample of her brother's sperm (he is a cancer survivor so has no more ability to produce viable sperm and yes he also doesn't know his wife is going to use the sperm as it is a "surprise" to save their toxic marriage). Further complicating things, the brother is both Jane's boss at her waitressing job, and the man who five years ago she met and had a moment with. Can you feel the drama? Also there is a character in a wheelchair, a druglord on the loose, and a telenovela star who keeps appearing to Jane. DRAMA! If you are currently playing through in your head all the extreme ways this could play out, you are probably getting an idea of where this might be going. Now if you are thinking that this sounds like pure soap, I will throw a spanner in the works and let you know that this show walked away with the best actress in a comedy award at the last Golden Globes and was nominated for best comedy series at the Globes and won it at several other award ceremonies. The reasons people are actually raving about this could be that Gina Rodriguez gives a gorgeously unaffected performance as Jane, Justin Baldoni who is too attractive for his own good as Rafael the father of Jane's baby, the other performances where all the actors seem to know when to tone it down and when to overplay it like nobody's business because it is based on a telenovella after all, the production quality which is far and above what you would normally see on a show like this, or the writing which is hilarious. Personally my biggest rave about it is the narration which is so tongue in check, ironically self aware and detached that I challenge people not to love it and embrace the way it turns the whole show into a delightfully, not too biting satire of the telenovela (from what I understand the satire is what was added to the originally telenovela plot to make it appeal to a broader audience). Just go with the silly, there is much to love here especially if you are looking for something light (I strongly recommend it as post exam viewing for anyone needing some down time). The first season is now on Netflix, and the second starts on Fox8 in a few weeks.


 So there are my new season recommends. Enjoy...

Another day...another prime minister

What times we live in, people of Australia...we have a new prime minister and just right the Premier of our most populous state is live tweeting a reality show (this fact entertains me quite a bit...check the tweets out at https://twitter.com/mikebairdMP)

I don't know how you felt on Monday night/ Tuesday morning morning when you discovered we had a new PM. Maybe it is a bit like this...

 

Or maybe like this...

  

Maybe you were a bit meh about it...

 

Or maybe you live overseas it was a bit confusing...

As for me...

 

Only kidding...well about the insect part anyway. 

Every time there is political change or upheaval in this country, I find myself surprised...not because some people don't care or feel impacted by it as much as we political nerds do, that is completely par for the course. No, the surprise for me is the number of people who do show an interest in it, but then utter phrase like "but I didn't vote for [insert leader here]" after our now quite frequent leadership spills. Spills are becoming so frequent that it caused this awesome edit to the Australian sport wikipedia page on Monday night...

 

The question of who you voted for unfortunately does not come into play in a leadership spill. You voted for the person you felt it was best to be a voice for your electorate and after the votes were tallied whether that person got in or another candidate did your electorate had spoken. You may have voted based on the leader of a party but you did not vote for that leader (unless you live in his or her electorate), you voted for the particular member of their party who ran in your electorate. The person your electorate put into parliament then goes into their party room, and that party room drives the decisions of either the party in power or the opposition assuming your electorate elected an MP from a major party. The party room elects a leader, and leader of the party is the mouth piece for the party room, and therefore your voice via what your representative says in the party room is heard. This is how representative democracy works in Australia. This means that if there is an issue with the leader, such as the fact that they frequently ignore the opinions of the party room and make "captain calls" with the assistance of their chief of staff more than their parliamentary colleagues (yes I am describing our erstwhile PM), then the party room is well within its right to replace that leader because he/she is not longing representing the party room which means she/he is no longer representing the views of the elected representatives of the people.

Unfortunately for us, we have been fed spoonful after spoonful of watered down US politics from TV and film that we incorrectly apply it to our Australian context. In America, they do directly vote for their President. This leads to a cult of personality about the leader and also a leadership race to effectively eats up at least half of each presidential term. Their leaders can spend more time campaigning than they do governing. And before you think I'm cribbing this from The West Wing, I will point out that I did do one semester of politics with a US focus and two semesters of US history at University, and am a bit of a politics nerd, so yes I do know a little about it and when the President complains about the amount of campaigning involved in presidency on the The West Wing that is a completely legitimate concern. This is also why it is super hard for the US to drop a President mid term and is why shorter term presidencies were due to resignation, assassination, or death on the job not due to party changes.

Which is to say even if they are a bit too frequent in recent years and sometimes on shaking reasoning (not this last one- I think that reasoning was solid), I'm actually thankful to live in a land of leadership spills because it means that the politicians are actually looking out for concerns of the country and trying to make their voices as our representatives heard. Leadership spills are rarely about the cult of personality (though some are), as those rarely get the votes. 

As to our particular brand of new leadership...well they aren't going to call on me to pick Liberal leaders (Liberal= right of centre, for those outside Australia...yes strange I know) since I'm very far left of their base being as I'm left of Labor, but this might to a solid choice. Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop represent what the Liberal Party was designed to be i.e. right of centre, and the Party had in recent years, under Tony Abbott's leadership, veered so far to the right that it was deeply scary not only those of us on the left but also to those in the centre. Being as left as I am there are very few right wing politicians I have any time for but, aside from our Bachelor watching Premier, our new PM and continuing Deputy PM round out that very small list. Does this mean that they will be able to enact much change on a very conservative party room? Probably not, but it is at least a step in the right direction...no pun intended especially as this team will pull them left towards just right of the centre (not past it though, all you concerned Liberal voters out there). This may mean that meaningful discussions can finally be had around climate change and becoming a republic, and maybe even some loosening and changing of asylum seeker policy once the new cabinet is in place. Sure Liberal is still Liberal, and I don't want them winning next election but if we can actually have some good discussion and bipartisan work come out of the rest of this term then I'm happy for the leadership change as an interim step.

What else good comes of this leadership change... A while ago I blogged about the fact that the Abbott government was scaring the political centre and scattering it to the four winds. In just the last few days, I've seen hopeful signs of its return. Come back out of hiding, you centre types, because we need and miss you. I feel like we might be heading back to being a place where bipartisan discussion may actually be something that could again be meaningful. You doubt me? Let me give you a real life example... Today I had lunch with my Dad and our politics do not align in the remotest most of the time, so we engage in what we call healthy discussion/debate, or what my mother calls arguments, over politics all the time and have done for many a year. Today at lunch however, we had a chat about the leadership change, about who might be in the new cabinet, and about what policy changes this might bring without any disagreement because we were on the same page, I may not vote for the same party as he does but we could both agree on the fact that we thought the spill had a good result and that the new leadership was good for the Liberal party and might be able to make good changes for the country. When you can get someone who is centre right and someone who is far out left on the same page, you are demonstrating that you are actually leading a whole country of complex individuals- though time will tell when the new leadership honeymoon period is over.

If this does end poorly, my suggestion for the next spill...

Christians and viral videos...attacking Buzzfeed isn't the answer

So this isn't about books by women and I have a massive backlog of those to type up for you, but instead I thought I'd put a few words down about the viral Buzzfeed video, "I'm a Christian, but I'm not..." that is currently doing the rounds- it has dragged me down an internet wormhole that is detracting me from the theology essay I'm supposed to be writing. If you haven't seen it, the link is here...

The video features a bunch of Gen Y types talking about how they are a Christian but they don't fit particular stereotypes regarding Christianity, and it is currently being torn to shreds by most every Christian in the blogosphere/on twitter/on YouTube/on facebook/everywhere on the interwebs. Whilst I agree that a video about Christians that doesn't mention Jesus is not really ideal and that yes you could ask question of the brand of Christianity these young people practice, I think maybe we shouldn't be so quick with the flaming torches and pick forks.

Firstly, we need to own that some of the things said in this video are completely true. Every Christian should be able to say "I'm a Christian, but I'm definitely not perfect" because that is the whole reason we need Christ in the first place. It is one of those stereotypes about Christianity that we should be fighting against because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:10). The same can be said about the video's statement that "I'm a Christian but I do not put myself on a pedestal" as we are called to be humble, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6), and the video's statement that "I'm a Christian but I'm not judgmental" because we should be in constant awareness that judgment belongs to God alone and we are all under that judgment not the judgment of other people (Luke 6:37)- I would suggest that homophobia as spoken of by the video also falls into the category of judgment*. Also we all live in the awareness that the world and mysteries of it are at the present time hidden from us (1 Cor 13:12), so we can join the video in its statement "I'm a Christian, but I don't have all the answers".

Secondly, we can acknowledge that some of the things in the video aren't anathema to the gospel and are spaces that many Christians occupy whilst also holding onto biblical truth. There are myriad Christians who are not uneducated, not politically conservative (I assume this is what the video means when it speaks of being conservative), not ignorant, love Beyonce, love wine, and have friends from different walks of life and love them. I'm one of them (assuming again that the conservative is political not theological). I'm also a Christian who is a feminist which is one of the comments in the video (aside from the sexuality comments) that the most pitch forks are pointing at- Jesus was an equal opportunity saviour and he choose to reveal his resurrection first to whom...that's right to women even though their testimony was of no value in that day and age. Even if you are a Christian who has issues with Christians being feminists (which is such a complicated and simple term that it should require unpacking before you use it as an insult), you surely will agree that Christians are stereotyped for better or worse (mainly worse) as being uninformed fun haters and it is about time that we acknowledge to the world that we comes from a mix of educational and political backgrounds and that we have a vast variety of opinions on things like alcohol and popular culture. Also we could definitively put it out there that we love science too because as the video says "science makes God look really cool" (as a Christian with an biology degree I say, "yes, ain't that awesome! I completely agree with you, random Buzzfeed gen Y person!").

Third and finally, we can ask is hating on this video the best use of it? This video has gone pretty viral over the last few days and a landslide of comments that say, "let me tell you why this video is so very wrong" merely serve to demonstrate the point that the video seeks to make for those who believe the bulk of Christians to be hypocrites. I agree that there are issues with it, but just remember the video isn't about spreading a Christian message (it is from Buzzfeed for goodness sakes!), it is about breaking down stereotypes. Why can't we engage with the ideas and views it presents in a way that leads to a positive discourse instead of just attacking it? Most Christians are aware of the stereotypes about Christianity that are held as true by our society, and most of us are aware that these stereotypes don't hold much water when you look at the diverse community of broken sinners that Christ has called to himself. So instead of looking at this video and tearing it to shreds for what it never intended to be, why don't we recognise that it might be worth exploring with those we know who aren't Christian what their beliefs and stereotypes about Christians are and starting to break these down if we can.

That is me just chucking some thoughts into the internet void and I'm happy for you to disagree if you wish to. I will end where the video ends with love, because it is the heart of the gospel- the Father's love for humanity even in its sinful state, Christ's love for humanity and the Father shown in his death, and the love of the Holy Spirit that Christians are called to act in whether speaking to God, to fellow Christians, or to non-Christians- not a mild watered down emotionless love but the all expansive love described in 1 Corinthians 13 that "never ends".

*You may notice I don't comment on the video representation of sexuality. This is because unlike their love of Beyonce, I believe that a person's sexuality is best discussed with them in person if they wish to share it with you, and that attacking people's sexuality on the internet does little to love or support them. So the Buzzfeed twenty somethings may have shared it, but I feel it is not my place to comment on it (or especially to invite the comments of other on it) one way or the other in the toneless void of the internet.

Are books better with pictures?

I have a confession to make people of the internet...are you ready? I'm a grown woman and I like to read comics. Let that sink in...

Now if you know me in the real world or even if you just read this blog on occasion, that comes as no shock at all. However to most of the world out there, it might. Some might forward me one of those "entertaining" geek girl memes of a few years ago...assuming that I might be as clueless as she was:

Oh wait did I say entertaining I meant offensive have some improved versions which thankfully is mainly what you mainly find on a google search nowadays (I like the old ones in a weird ironic way but they do play into an awful culture):

 

 

Or you might assume that my love of comics comings from a) comic book  movies (see above meme...the sexist one) or b) the fact I have brothers. Oddly the latter is in part true as my younger brother and I got into superheroes and the like at the same time via the amazing cartoon versions of X-Men and Spiderman in the 1990s, but this was mainly because they started on Australian TV at a time when we were both old enough to appreciate them- I was already a big Transformers, Voltron, and TMNT fan so them being marketed to boys was not a problem and lest we forget one of the other amazing cartoons of 90s based on a comic book was marketed to girls, that's right GO Sailor Moon! By the time I was born my older brother was already through his comic phase (if he had one) and into the car phase that has coloured his life subsequently (now over 30 years later he works with cars...his dream job), and my little brother whilst still loving the movies based on them never delved too deeply into the comic world after he entered his teen years or even prior to that. SO there goes the brothers theory...

In my teen years I got into the Batman: Animated Series and discovered characters I liked outside of Marvel (I'm still a Marvel girl but I do like some DC nowadays, though mainly just Batman). I had a few X-Men issues but not many, and for some of my early teen years a large collection of X-Men collector cards (I wonder where they went...they'd probably be worth something nowadays). All of that said I felt like I couldn't go into a comic store without being nerd shamed and looked with either pity or awkward nerd boy lust which wasn't something I was keen on at all (the latter was a bad stereotype on my part, sorry nerd boys from teenaged me). Ultimately going to comic stores or reading comics just wasn't something girls did as far as I could ascertain, especially in Wollongong. It wasn't until I moved to Sydney years later that rediscovered my sidelined love of comics (that weren't on the big screen) thanks to Neil Gaiman being an amazing novelist whose writing was of good enough quality to inspire me to buy my first graphic novel (Sandman Volume 1). My graphic novel collection has slowly grown over the subsequent years and I also have a few single issues (mainly of Buffy Season 8- I prefer graphic novel to single issue format as single issue is too short for me) and I think it was ridiculous that I ever felt shamed out of entering a comic store. Contrary to the geek girl meme many of my favourite comic characters are actually yet to appear on the big screen... Rogue (my favourite) has though I have long term big issues about her portrayal, ditto Kitty Pryde (though in Days of the Future Past she wasn't bad) and my only favourite who I've liked in all of her screen time is Mystique, BUT Psylocke and Harley Quinn are only due to make their cinema debuts in films due out in the next few years (I loved both castings, though I have concerns about Olivia Munn delivering an English accent (a non English Psylocke is no Psylocke!) and the publicity shots of Margot Robbie as Harley left me cold (the leaked shots of her in Harley's pre Harley days, they looked good)), ditto Gambit (yes of course I liked male characters too...he is the one I'm most worried about because Channing Tatum is WRONG for the part and I doubt he can do a Cajun accent)...and sadly I actually don't anticipate my favourite DC hero (Barbara Gordon though more as Oracle than Batgirl) ever making a proper appearance in a film...wheelchair bound characters are a hard sell. Anyhow where am I going with this rambling...first to say, girls out there it is OK to like comics! Secondly it was supposed to be a short segway to more books by women...whoops.

Oh well...a heads up next post about books by ladies is about a graphic novel and a non fiction book on the creation of Wonder Woman so much with the comics.

In this ramble, I will chuck in some words about Avengers: Age of Ultron. Avoiding spoilers as much as possible...

I loved it! It wasn't as good as Avengers or as Captain America: Winter Soldier but it was still pretty great. Whedon managed to make believable, relate-able characters out of two of Marvel's hardest sells- Quicksilver is an easy sell and X-Men:Days of the Future Past sold him already (I prefer Avengers Quicksilver as he was more annoying), I mean Scarlet Witch and Vision (granted Vision got very little screen time), and with one moment he sent the shippers of internet land wild (well those who know the comics, know that Whedon had to go there)....so keen for more of them if it is coming. I liked all of the newbies, and I liked Maria Hill appearing as a regular feature again. I would have welcomed more complexity from the buff guys- Thor and Captain America but also Iron Man- in the set up for Civil War, Tony Stark is becoming too much of a jerk a little too quickly, Cap had some lovely character development in Winter Soldier and it could have been hit harder (I LOVED the character development so much in Cap 2...it made me like a character I've always disliked), and Thor...poor Thor...no-one really knows what to do with him when Loki isn't around. My highlights from the old round up were Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow. Mark Ruffalo rose to the challenge of doing the motion capture for the first time and he really gave a big heart to both aspects of the character, also let me go out on a limb and say canon be damned, I really liked the Hulk/Black Widow romance because I do think they have similar issues to work through. Hawkeye was so wonderfully humanised and expanded from the bit part in the first film and you felt this was all Whedon and his love of this character.  Now to Black Widow...you know I love Joss Whedon's work and I will defend him against anything. That said, do I agree with statements that he could have done more with Black Widow, yes...should we demonise him for this or call into question his work because of this, absolutely not! The thing is you cannot leap an alp in a single bound as much as you want to or as much as Whedon is the male writer/director most likely to pull it off. But think about this, Age of Ultron is still a comic book film and as much as I love them, comic book films often suffer the same plight as women used to in comics...limited back story, mainly eye candy, skimpy costumes and ineffectual powers...think all the women in Batman and Robin. When you think how far Black Widow has come from that, she is rich developed character now thanks to Whedon's work in Avengers and all the good work of Cap 2, she can hold her own in a fight and none of men question her presence in the fight or her ability to kick butt, AND she gets more screen time then half the men. The other things I loved were the development her relationship with Hawkeye in the way that it was just well they are best friends and that is normal and need not be about one of them getting into the other one's pants; the heart ache Johansson conveyed in the scene where Black Widow talked about her inability to have kids and her inability to fully reconcile her past; her sacrifice to save the day at the end of the film...she has the power there and she chooses for the good of the many not for her own desire; the flashback...it made me want a Black Widow film all the more; and just for minute pause and remember this, she has power over the Hulk!!!! Take that in...The HULK! None of the other Avengers can calm him down and Iron Man destroys a whole city in the attempt...but she can with just her voice and the touch of her hand! She is the hero in the romance between her and the Hulk...he is the Princess who is often mentally in another castle. So I say, yes people of the internet more could be done but for a moment recognise that what was done was still great. Big problems...as a long time Whedon nerd, I felt the hand of the studio in many parts of the film more than I would have liked or was necessary (before Whedon spoke out about it), and I didn't love that Loki ended up on the cutting room floor. Worst line of the film, Black Widow's about being a monster...didn't love that. Best line/ collection of lines, Iron Man and Thor talking about what their smart and successful girlfriends are up to whilst they put on silly costumes, and Maria Hill proposes that they skipped the party because it was a sausage feast (sadly can't find the exact lines online to quote). Other script highlights..."Language" and "Excelsior".

In closing have the best response to girl geek shaming I've seen...as Cap would say "Language" so you have been warned...

 

Happy Two Weeks Since International Women's Day!

Another detour from my posts about books by women...to wish you all a belated happy International Women's Day (for those unaware, IWD is 8 March each year)!

Why the belated post? In part, it is because we shouldn't limit discussions of gender equality/ lack there of to one day a year! Then again, you know that I would never do that. It is actually because I have some interesting things that tie in nicely with IWD to share with you of blog reading folks but that they only came on my radar post IWD so I thought I'd add a "Happy IWD" edge just for fun.

Firstly, an online petition. As you may be aware (if you are a women over 13 or 14, you almost certainly are aware), tampons, sanitary pads, and other items associated with at least 4 days of every woman's month (between the ages of 13/4 and 45-55ish) are lumped with a good and services tax as the Australian government has deemed them "luxury" goods. Now on IWD this year, people in the UK launched a online campaign to ask the UK government to remove a similar 5% tax. Inspired by this and considering the tax here is 10%, an online campaign was launched here shortly thereafter. If you want to check it out on twitter or Instagram, look for #taxicshocksyndrome and on Instagram, you will find some vague entertaining posts under #blingonastring which are photos of women and men retooling pads and tampons as accessories (which surely they are if they are luxury items).

Now I know tampons and pads are things people are uncomfortable talking about 99.99% of the time, but having a tax on them is akin to having a tax on toilet paper and considering that there is no GST on men's razors (that said, in Australia like most places, we are still also faced with the other horrifying fact that women's razors, though not taxed higher, are a chunk more expensive), this is just a farce that shows up the fact that taxation system in this country is clearly designed by men.

So please (whatever your gender is) go to https://www.change.org/p/susan-ley-stop-the-sanitary-tax-it-s-unsanitary and sign the online petition to the Health Minister (one of the few female front benchers) asking for this tax to be removed!

Now that you are good and uncomfortable, moving on...

The other thing to bring to you was the movie I saw today...Big Eyes. Trailer below...

 
For those not aware, Big Eyes is the newest film from Tim Burton- I have to say it is very understated film considering its director (I love Burton and I loved this film but it doesn't have many of the Burton hallmarks). It focuses on Margaret Keane and her place in art history. Keane's story is one that oddly isn't as remembered as it should be, though her art style is instantly recognisable and especially when you look at the influence of it that can be found to a degree in animation (this was openly stated by the creator of the Powerpuff Girls). As an example of her work, look at these:

That is right she is the originator of those slightly creepy, slightly mournful big eyed children paintings that were so popular and so wide spread in the 50s and 60s that the "proper" art world dismissed them as kitsch and without artistic merit (except Warhol, he spoke up for them). The story behind them is some much more than that and is why I need to link it to IWD, and it isn't just because I do weirdly like the art.

Margaret Ulbrich (nee. Hawkins) was a young housewife who left her husband (taking their daughter with her) to pursue her artistic dream in San Francisco. When she arrived in San Francisco, she soon met Walter Keane- a realtor who claimed to desperately want to be an artist though his very bland landscapes of Paris did not sell at all (as depicted in the film, they reminded me of the kind of art one finds hanging on the walls in high schools but worse). They married soon after her divorce came through and initially planned to work beside each other as an artistic couple, until he started to claim that he was the artist behind her work. He ultimately claimed to paint all her work whilst never lifting a paintbrush himself and pushing her to churn out more and more work at greater and greater speed. Walter Keane then realised that he could make more money mass producing the work in the form of posters and selling it at a cheaper cost, and soon every household in America had a Keane poster on the wall and age of the mass production of art was born (many think Warhol as the first artist whose work was mass produced but it is actually Margaret Keane). Meanwhile Margaret Keane struggled with her identity as an artist, a wife, and a human being in general, and started trying to paint in a new style to at least be able to have an answer when she was asked if she painted (Walter Keane tried at one stage to claim credit for that work as well, but in this case, she denied him and held her ground).

I will stop there because though this is all historical fact, some people might want to watch Big Eyes and not know where it was going. I think the film is definitely something everyone should watch and not just because it is a great film, but because of the questions it poses. I walked out and thought "wow that is so shocking and yet so historically close to us" but then I realised that sadly I would not actually be shocked if a fraud similar to that done by Walter Keane occurred today especially when you consider how undervalued work by female artists often is. Simply the subject matter asks the audience to think about things such as what is the value of men's art versus the value of women's, what are suitable subjects for art, should power relations ever be permitted to be manipulated as Walter Keane did to Margaret Keane, does something being popular art make it not "proper" art, and should art ever be mass produced and what effect does that have on it being "proper" art...among many others.

So as your post IWD film to see, that is my recommendation. Just to end, another piece of art by Margaret Keane...one of her later ones that her second husband never claimed credit for and which speaks to her personal struggle with identity during the period in which he was claimed credit for her art (I think it is of that era...people can correct me if I'm wrong...I still think it speaks interestingly to identity regardless).