midnight kiss
Originally uploaded by redbarren

So in my university search for indie meaning epoch, where directors would be followed, special screenings visited, circa 1992-5 : I’d like to get myself a bit of Miff. Not the Miff Coady who i worked with at ninemsn, who is a Melbourne legend, but rather the Melbourne International Film Festival. These days with torrents and webstreams, I watch the same if not more number of films, but there is a large quality trade off : I often watch quarter screen so I can alert thingy-twhirl-google reader, the films tend to be the latest blockbusters or c-grade schlock, and there’s no interesting2say the least company or y do we eat so much and stop upselling me diet coke popcorn.

So I reacquainted myself with Miff tonite and it was more than worth it. The movie was In Search of a Midnight Kiss, which I did my usual research of comparing it to the other 15 films that were on tonite at Miff, and looked at the imdb ratings (8.5/10) and read the reviews of the flick (4/5 average, few to none under 4/3.5) It was pitched as a Clerks meet Woody Allen, for the Craigslist dating set of the noughties. And it pretty much was, in a good way. Recommended if you can see it. Or anything else at Miff, but do your research on the selection, because it’s movie choice overload. Sometimes u just gotta get back on the bike. Look Ma, no hands….

Miff : “With 14 hours until the New Year, and every intention to let it pass without fanfare, Wilson wants to forget the last 12 months ever happened. Since moving to LA his relationship has ended and his career as a writer has been on a downward trajectory. Broke and alone, Wilson is pressured into placing a dating ad on a website in a last-ditch attempt to end the year on a high note. When ‘fellow misanthrope’ Vivian answers his ad he gets more than he bargained for. Chaotic, strong-willed and enigmatic, she takes Wilson on a sometimes touching, sometimes hilarious journey through the streets of LA. A streetwise black & white flick pitched somewhere between Manhattan and Clerks, Midnight Kiss comes fresh from screening at the Tribeca Film Festival.”

Also : aiming to do a podcast with The Cam with @fibendall + Amnesty International on Chinese Censorship of the Nets, check out uncensor.com.au - check out this article on theroar.com.au to get up to speed (as im doin:) “The predictable public outcry that followed saw the IOC and the Chinese authorities feverishly unblock sites that hitherto had been deemed corrupting and dangerous to the Chinese citizenry, over one-fifth of the world’s population. These included the BBC’s China page, Chinese Wikipedia and Facebook. But sites that remain blocked include the United Nations, Radio Free Asia, MySpace Videos, Daily Motion and Falun Gong.. It is incumbent upon the rest of the world to have China uphold “Olympic values” before, during and after the Beijing Olympics. Otherwise, this glorified athletics carnival stands for nothing.”"