Diverse trio of films

By Rama Gaind

CONDENSED from a BBC television series, State of Play is a taut thriller which stars Russell Crowe as an investigative reporter who gets embroiled in a political scandal that centres on his former college mate, Ben Affleck, whose personal life is in total disarray.
Rachel McAdams is the eager reporter who is greedy for a ‘scoop’ story.
Helen Mirren is the curt editor of the Washington Globe and Jason Bateman also has an important role to play.
Featuring excellent acting, the film has been well written and director Kevin MacDonald has done a superb job in holding the reigns.
Complete with mocking commentary on US administration, State of Play will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
THE suburban gamut of life involving family and children makes for a special viewing in My Year Without Sex.
Life’s rollercoaster ride with sad and happy moments is outlined perfectly by Australian writer/director Sara Watt (Look Both Ways).
After mother of two Natalie (Sacha Horler) collapses with an aneurysm a few days after her husband Ross’s (Matt Day) 39th birthday, the shock is very real, but everyday living has to go on. Domestic situations have to be tackled, despite personal hardships.
In a year that sees upheaval and recovery, this family handles disruption with calm ingenuity that’s not only touching, but captivating as well.
IT’S a rather distressing thought that young children today could well associate important historical figures with outrageous portrayals as seen in Night at the Museum 2.
However, this is one sequel, directed again by Shawn Levy, which could have the youngsters clamouring to visit the museum – only to be disappointed when they learn that some exhibits are not ‘alive’.
The original Night at the Museum was imaginative, had a mischievous premise and was most amusing. This follow-up is on a large scale, full-on and all the exhibits are talking!
These include Abraham Lincoln, Rodin sculptures, aviator Amelia Earhart, astronauts, cavemen, bobble-headed Einsteins, evil Pharaoh Kahmunrah, Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon and Al Capone.
There’s a lot happening at the world’s biggest museum – the Smithsonian.
There are also some precious moments watching classic statues, paintings and characters come to life, namely, Oscar the Grouch and Darth Vader. Even watching those planes take to the skies gives the film a lift.
While the film is cluttered with funny characters, heroes and villains and special effects galore, there are also some appealing touches.
Ben Stiller does not appear comfortable in the role he reprises.Robin Williams is back as Teddy Roosevelt, but isn’t given too much to do and Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan stumble their way through silly dialogue and situations.
Faring much better is Amy Adams as the feisty Earhart, Ricky Gervais as Larry’s old boss and Jonah Hill as a bumbling guard.
 

In today’s modern business world, computers tend to rule our lives and while most of us know how to turn one on and operate it on a daily basis, when things go horribly wrong the cry around the office is usually: “Who we gonna call?”

Anthony Garbin of PC Connections is confident that the next time your business is experiencing technical difficulties, the number on the tip of your fingertips will be 1800 MYTECH (1800 698 324). Anthony has been in business in Weston Creek for 16 years servicing a wide range of computers and technical needs.

“One of the most frustrating issues facing today’s small to medium sized businesses is knowing who to call when the computers stop working,” Anthony said. “When your business has groaned to a halt because the computers have crashed or been infected with the latest virus, the last thing you need is to spend hours trying to find a technician whom you can trust.

“As someone who has been working in this industry for many years, I know only too well how difficult it is for small to medium sized businesses to find a technician they can rely upon. There is nothing worse than having a computer technician arrive, treat you like a complete idiot and then walk away from a problem unsolved.”

Anthony has joined the growing number of professional technicians throughout Australia who have become partners of Itensity, a brand new concept for the IT industry designed to assist businesses and residents with their growing technological needs.

Itensity Chief Executive and founder John D’Agostino said the aim of Itensity was to provide every small to medium business and residential customer in Australia with a friendly, efficient IT service, under an association brand similar to that of the MTA, CPA or Law Society of NSW.

“Through the 1800 MYTECH number, small to medium businesses and home computer owners can be assured that the technician who walks in their door has been carefully selected and met our strict criteria in order to provide quality assured service,” Mr D’Agostino said. “Customers will be able to contact us and have a local technician who is intimate with their technology and the issues they are facing visit their premises and speak to them in plain English in order to fix the problem.”

Mr D’Agostino said 1800 MYTECH was available to everyone, irrespective of the brand of computer or operating system they may have, or the size of their operation.

“Customers are offered a range of fixed fee packages and are assured of receiving top quality service for the best available price,” Mr D’Agostino said. “Regardless of whether you require immediate troubleshooting to fix a specific problem or require ongoing maintenance and preventative systems to help your IT environment run smoother, by simply calling 1800 MYTECH you will have access to one of our Itensity technicians who can provide quality assured professional assistance.”

Customers can provide feedback to Itensity over their level of satisfaction with their technician by calling 1800 MYTECH and are also able to receive regular IT industry information and updates through an e-newsletter facility available exclusively to 1800 MYTECH customers.

To discuss your computer needs, contact 1800 MYTECH today.
 

Walking to Parliament House on the morning of World Environment Day (5 June), a group of concerned Canberra residents hoped to show the government what they think of the proposed CPRS.

Voted through the House of Representatives yesterday, the Rudd Government’s proposed CPRS will allow big companies to go on polluting and won’t reduce Australia’s greenhouse pollution.

Speaking outside Parliament House, local mother of two, Cindy Eiritz, said “Our Government is suggesting a 5-25% reduction in CO2[e] emissions by 2020. It is strongly suggested by the majority of climate scientists that to stop the Earth becoming more than 2c warmer, we need reductions of at least 40-50%.

“Given nearly 75% of our emissions come from the Energy sector, to get this we must invest in renewable energy – and now. We have the technology to do this; the Prime Minister needs to know that we would support his decision if he made this move.

“We can’t allow the government to decide on this without hearing what ordinary Australians think. This is an issue that affects us all, but unfortunately we don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on marketing and we don’t get to have meetings with key government figures.” said Eiritz.

“We can change all the lightbulbs we want, but this isn’t going to make a blind bit of difference if the Government doesn’t make drastic changes to how we create our energy. “

Concerned residents will be walking to Parliament on the 7th of every month in the lead up to the Copenhagen agreement in December 2009.

A World Environment Festival and Climate Change Rally is being held in Garema Place on Saturday 13 June. Local bands Astro-Chem and Pleased to Jive you will be performing from 12.15pm and the rally will commence with scientific speakers from 1pm. It will be a family friendly event with speakers, bands, stalls and performers.

ACT Health Minister, Katy Gallagher MLA, today launched the “Pennies for PatCH” campaign which aims to raise $50,000 for Paediatrics at the Canberra Hospital (PatCH).

Westpac banks in the ACT and Queanbeyan will support the campaign by aiming to collect one million five cent pieces during the month of June.

“PatCH is grateful for the support shown by Westpac throughout the ACT and Queanbeyan in helping to raise $50,000 for children in hospital. This campaign is a fun way to raise additional funds for what is already a great service,” Ms Gallagher said.

“PatCH delivers an excellent service for the children of the ACT, Queanbeyan and the surrounding region of New South Wales. While Government funding covers the majority of the hospital’s needs, with the support of local businesses and the general public, we are able to provide a quality of service not seen in many public hospitals.”

The community is being encouraged to support the campaign by depositing their five cent pieces in the collection cans at Westpac branches during the month of June in an attempt to eliminate the silver echidna.

“This is a fun community-wide promotion to get rid of those pesky five cent pieces from our pockets and purses and assist in raising funds for PatCH,” Ms Gallagher said.

Westpac Regional General Manager, Julie Elliott, said the bank was pleased to be involved in a community fundraiser for PatCH and hopes it will become an annual event.
 

A woman said she saw her tiny toy poodle crushed in the jaws of a Siberian husky as they walked at Jackadder Lake in Woodlands.

A second dog was jumping at her pet, she said.

"My dog was yelping and yelping and when he was half-dead the husky literally spat him out," Matti Dickinson said.

But the owner of the husky said the poodle provoked the incident by running towards his two dogs, which were on leads.

Tony Cousins (70) said his eight- year-old husky Tova mouthed the dog and was reprimanding it, as it would with a puppy, for running into its space.

"Unfortunately, it was so small and frail it was injured," he said. "When Siberian huskies play, they grab each other by the neck and shake." He said he called police after Ms Dickinson phoned him and turned up at his house.

"She was pounding on the door," he said. "It is something that has shaken us very much." Ms Dickinson said she looked him up in the phone book and called to tell him her dog was dead.

"I asked him, ‘what if it had been a child?’" she said.

Ms Dickinson (45), who owns a manufac- turing company, said she was walking her dog Pucci, a toy poodle hauhau, at Jackadder Lake at about 5pm on Wednesday last week.

She had left her two daughters, aged 11 and 15, at home nearby.

She said police arrived at her house while she was at the vet’s.

She bought Pucci as a puppy two years ago for $1200.

"He was my little boy ," she said. "He fitted inside my handbag." Ms Dickinson said after the attack a man drove her and her dog to a vet. ‘crossed with a chi-

Somebody is poisoning Claremont’s birds.
They have been seen snoozing around town in recent weeks – after it is believed they ate poi- son-laced cereal grain intended for the local pigeon population.
Claremont chief executive Arthur Kyron said the council was receiving phone calls from con- cerned residents who saw “doz- ing” birds around the town cen- tre, and they wanted to know if the council had a hand in it.
“It’s not us doing this to the birds,” Mr Kyron said.
“We don’t have an issue with them. “We have in the past had prob- lems with pigeons in the town cen- tre, but we are not involved in any pest-control operations affect- ing pigeons at the moment.” One central Claremont business owner said he had seen several “zonked out” birds in Bay View Terrace in recent weeks, but was unaware of any initiative among businesses in the town cen- tre to kill off the pigeons.
Mr Kyron said Claremont’s manager of environmental health, Elizabeth French, told him the likely cause of the sleepy birds was a pest-control substance called alpha chloralase, an anaes- thetic agent that immobilised pigeons.
A local pest-control operator told the POST alpha chloralase was a narcotic and a registered product.
A bird that consumed alpha chloralase would soon experience a reduction in body tempera- ture and appear to be dozing.
This made it easier for pest con- trollers to pick up the birds and remove them, before euthanising them in a humane way, the pest- control operator said.
Alpha chloralase was applied to pigeon mix – a variety of grain and cereal particularly tasty to the birds – to form a bait.
The bait was usually moni- tored by pest controllers to en- sure no birds other than the tar- geted birds took the bait.
But it seems this may not have happened this time. suspended at a height that meant he simply knelt, placed his head through the noose and pretend- ed to hang.
But in the performance, the noose had been suspended too high, meaning he had to stretch saw the boy was unconscious, and quickly brought him down from the noose.
He called the school nurse who performed CPR, and an ambulance arrived four minutes later.
The boy’s relatives said they attempted suicide.
The school had phoned the boy’s mother and told her he had been winded, the relatives said.
When she arrived at the hospi- tal to pick up her “winded” son, she was shocked to find the true nature The boy was released from hospital on Thursday with a prominent scar from ear to ear – the mark of the noose.
His relatives said he was mak- ing good progress and expected he would make a full recovery.

New Car Warranty Protection

next to Claremont Oval.
The plans stipulated that all new multi-storey buildings in the de- velopment would have to have below-ground and basement parking for occupants.
Claremont this week released its much-anticipated blueprint for the 9.4ha area north of the rail- way line that will set Claremont’s shape for the next century. Structure plans for the precinct will be shown to the public from this week, after the council voted to advertise the plans and seek public comment on them at this week’s council meeting.
The council has a statutory obligation to advertise the plans for a minimum of 21 days, and commenced this 21-day period from Friday this week. “The release of the Proposed Structure Plan is a significant mile- stone which will pave the way for transforming the poorly-utilised north-east precinct into a vi- brant centre with excellent access to public transport and improved pedestrian connectivity with the town centre,” Claremont’s mayor Peter Olson said.
“We look forward to further in- volving the community in refin- ing the plan as we head towards the final planning approval.” Widespread advertising of the plan would ensure that members of the community had the oppor- tunity to present their views and give input via public submissions before the plan was presented to Claremont’s councillors for formal

Cottesloe’s push to curb anti- social behaviour and hoon driving along the beachfront has earned the town a presti- gious award from the Office of Crime Prevention.
The scheme includes a suc- cessful lock-down experiment at local hotels, even though Northbridge has rejected a trial of the scheme.
While the WA Crime and Safety Awards cannot be hand- ed out until the new government is sworn in, the council has been notified that the award will be going to Cottesloe.
The community safety pro- gram includes extra ranger pa- trols, CCTV, a 9pm lock-out at both hotels, and three-hour parking restrictions applicable 24 hours a day to both major beachfront carparks.
“If you leave (a pub) after 9pm on a Sunday you don’t get let back in,” said senior ranger Neil Ferridge.
“That way the crowd starts dis- persing and at 10pm closing time you don’t get so many peo- ple in the streets.” He said the three-hour limit at No. 1 and 2 carparks was also playing its part.
“The carparks also start emp- tying by 9.30, so you don’t get peo- ple going back to their vehi- cles and drinking alcohol … and causing trouble,” he said.
Reports of anti-social behav- iour have reduced dramatical- ly in the two years the program has been running.
It all began when a commit- tee was formed to tackle the prob- lem. The group included local res- idents, business proprietors, councillors, council staff, po- lice liquor licensing, hotel man- agers, council rangers and the officer-in-charge of Cottesloe Police Station.
They agreed peak time was Sunday evenings during the summer, with activity concen- trated around the Cottesloe Beach Hotel, the Ocean Beach Hotel and associated carparks.
The awards will be present- ed as part of Crime Prevention Week on September 25 at Fraser’s Function Centre in King’s Park.

Energetic celebration by the Merchants of Bollywood

By Rama Gaind

From stage to the big screen, a concert film of the colourful and energetic celebration of song and dance titled The Merchants of Bollywood is screening at Canberra’s Greater Union Cinema for a limited season.
The lavish stage production has toured the world and tells the story of the Merchant family dynasty that holds the responsibility to uphold the ancient tradition of the Kathak dance, the dance of the Gods.
The story intertwined through dance is the fictional version of Vaibhavi Merchant’s life, who is now known as ‘choreographer to the stars’ in Bollywood, but was born into a family of kathak dancers from Jaipur. She is the granddaughter of pioneering choreographer Shri B. Hiralal, who was dancer and choreographer during the ‘golden era’ of Hindi cinema.
She choreographed the musical The Merchants of Bollywood which was written by Toby Gough. Her sister Shruti has been directing the musical both in the UK and Australia.
In the stage version captured on film, the main role is played by Carol Furtado as the rebellious Ayesha and Dipender Singh as Uday, her childhood sweetheart.
This particular dance tradition is about to die out with the last of the gurus, Shantilal Merchant. His granddaughter Ayesha goes against his wishes, goes to Bollywood and applies a more modern version to dance routines in films and is now ‘choreographer to the stars’ in Bollywood.
From hip-hop and classics to disco, the vivacious moves by the dancers carry the audience with them. With an irresistible beat, the music has been written and arranged by composers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant
The concert in this movie was filmed at Barcelona’s Tivoli Theatre and features 40 dancers on stage, who change into more than 1000 costumes and wear 2500 pieces of Indian jewellery.
There are 800 films made in Mumbai every year, and the grandiose backdrop of the show replicates some of the most popular movies including a handful of classics from 1955 to 1974. Indian cinema fans will recognise the parodies of stars of today and yesteryear and references of such gems as Mughal-e-Azam and the legendary dance by actress Madhubala.
Vaibhavi continued to choreograph selected numbers in prominent films such as Devdas, Baghban, Fida, Dhoom, Veer Zaara, Aaja Nachle, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.
She also choreographed one of the most popular songs of 2005, ‘Kajra Re’ from Bunty aur Babli, winning several awards.
Where does she get her inspiration? She draws it from music itself, admitting to being aware of her traditional musical roots coupled with following the works of Kylie and Beyonce, to name a couple of young singing sensations.
Vaibhavi has been a judge on popular dance shows on television in India – Nach Baliye 3 and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa – which has further pushed her profile into the limelight. If you missed the stage show, then now is your chance to see, and re-live, an unforgettable Indian musical experience!

Samson & Delilah, the low-budget feature film debut from Australian director-writer-cinematographer, Warwick Thornton has stunned the film world by taking out the Camera d’Or (Golden Camera) at the Cannes International Film Festival this week.
The prize – one of the most coveted in film – was awarded by an independent jury to the best first feature film presented in any of the three Cannes selections – Official Selection, Director’s Fortnight or International Critics Week.
French actress Isabelle Adjani awarded the prize to what the jury described as "the best love film we’ve seen for many a year.”
Samson & Delilah screened in Official Selection in “Un Certain Regard” – a category reserved for films that express a personal vision, with an emphasis on special cultural expression and cinematic innovation.
“Thank you for believing in our first born baby,” Thornton said as he accepted the award. “I don’t know what to say. Viva Cannes, viva le cinema.”
The Camera d’Or prize puts Thornton and his film in esteemed company. Previous winners of the Camera d’Or since its creation in 1978 include Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise); Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay!); Miranda July (Me and You and Everyone We Know) and Steve McQueen (Hunger).
The prize was last won by an Australian in 1996 when Shirley Barrett won the award with her debut, Love Serenade.
Since its Australian theatrical release on May 7, Samson & Delilah has become a genuine word-of-mouth sensation, growing its audience every week.
The film will continue to expand onto more cinema screens over the coming weeks.
Samson & Delilah tells the love story of two Aboriginal teenagers in a remote community in the Central Australian Desert and features stand-out performances by newcomers Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson.
Samson & Delilah was co-produced by CAAMA Productions in association with producer Kath Shelper’s company Scarlett Pictures.
Developed and Financed by the Indigenous Branch of Screen Australia.
Financed by the NSW Film and Television Office, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Adelaide Film Festival and the NT Film Office.
Distributed in Australia by Footprint Films / Transmission Films / Paramount Pictures Australia.
Samson & Delilah is in cinemas now