'Dorian Grey' rates 1/2*

this 2009 film went virtually unnoticed when released in the fall of 2009. and no wonder. 'the picture of dorian grey was always a dark tale. this version goes beyond dark. it is now a lurid tale with absolutely no merit whatsoever. run as far from it as you can.

my only question is what the hell was colin firth thinking when he took the second lead in it. really i ask seriously who the hell did he owe a favor. this is the biggest piece of junk i've seen in a long time and that includes every anne hathaway movie i've ever suffered through.

Get Out and Vote on November 2nd

Song of the Day: 'What If'

happy birthday kate and yes you are the 'song of the day' although i sing your praises everyday

Happy Birthday Kate

Rejoice Rejoice for on this date in 1975 a new star burst forth that would  shine with beauty and brilliance and she would be called Kate

Well I'm rejoicing. I first came to Kate by way of 'Sense and Sensibility' in 1995. I was impressed. So in 1996 when 'Jude' was released I went to see it. I am becoming more impressed. Also in 1996 I went to see 'Hamlet' because it was a sort of Julie Christie comeback. And there was Kate playing 'Ophelia' and I know longer needed more impressions. I knew then and there that Kate would be an actress to be reckoned with.

Then comes 1997 and the titanic 'Titanic'. The STAR was born. From that moment on Kate would rise to the heights of super stardom. But Kate would also amaze. Being offered a lot of major Hollywood movies Kate opted to do smaller independent films. This is how she really learned the craft. Kate became an actress not a "movie star". Thank god.

She had five Oscar noms with no win. I could quibble with three of them. I can really accept one: that being Jennifer Connelly in 2001. Kate in 'Iris' lost to Jennifer's 'A Dangerous Mind' and even I say that was correct. The lose to Helen Hunt in 1997 was a sham. Truth be told Julie Christie and Judy Dench also should have won over Hunt that year.

The real robberey was in 2004. Kate lost for 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. WHAT? And to Hillary Skank, typo intended, for 'Million Dollar Baby'. Ridiculous, Absurd, Embarrassment. MADDENING!. Hillary snuck in with the rest of the Clint Eastwood's film awards. Highway Robbery.

I do have things to say about her 2006 lose for 'Little Children' but I'll deal with that another time.

But Finally At Last Kate won the Oscar for 'The Reader'. Just desserts justly served.

Happy Birthday Kate. Thanks for acting. Thanks for the choices. Thanks for the Work.

revisiting two videos i made awhile ago on her birthday

   

Meet award-winning debutant crime writer Donna Malane in Wellington next week

Those in or near the Wellington area have a chance to meet hometown crime writer and award-winning TV scriptwriter and producer Donna Malane next Monday evening. Malane already had a few awards on her mantelpiece thanks to her involvement in high quality TV productions like Until Proven Innocent, when earlier this year she won the inaugural NZSA Pindar Publishing Prize for the manuscript of her debut adult novel, the crime thriller SURRENDER.

Although SURRENDER (read my review for the New Zealand Herald here) is Malane's first foray into book-based crime fiction, she does have quite a true crime and crime fiction pedigree on the small screen. During her years researching and writing re-enactments for television’s Crimewatch series, Donna had unprecedented access to police files and cases. During that time she formed enduring relationships with police, forensic scientists, lawyers, victims and their families, as well as with the odd (and some not so odd) criminal.

Then, while continuing to write and produce a wide variety of prime-time television dramas and documentaries, Donna continued her interest in and enjoyment of writing crime drama. She wrote for the television police drama series Shark in the Park, the international doco-drama series Indelible Evidence, crime drama series Duggan (for which she won Best Drama Script at the New Zealand Film and Television Awards in 2000) and in 2008 co-wrote and produced the film for television Until Proven Innocent, the story of the wrongful conviction of David Dougherty for the rape and abduction of his 11 year old neighbour. Until Proven Innocent won seven major awards at the 2009 Film and Television Awards, including Best Drama. You can read my review of that telemovie here.

I was fortunate enough to meet Malane at the Auckland launch of SURRENDER in late September. Along with being a very good writer, she's also an interesting person - so I would heartily recommend any readers who are in or near Wellington to head along to the event next Monday evening. It should be a lot of fun.

Meet the winner of the 2010 NZSA-Pindar Publishing Prize

Monday 11 October

at Thistle Inn, 3 Mulgrave St, Thordon

starting 7.30 pm

NZSA members $2

non-members $3

Just a reminder that you can also go into the draw to win your own brand new copy of SURRENDER here. The Crime Watch giveaway is open worldwide, and thanks to the good number of entries already, I will now be giving away multiple copies of the book. So if you haven't entered yet, make sure you head here and get yourself in the draw!

Song of the Day: 'Midnight Blue'

i really like this melissa manchester classic. melissa was a chart topper for quite awhile. where is she?

'Caprica' Returns October 5 on SYFY

get the first season on dvd. 'caprica' is the best that syfy has to offer