Poetry In Motion Picture Criticism

And so it was, it came to be
I (Stephen) wrote reviews in rhyme
To keep the diary fresh (and see -
I really do have too much time).

I’ll try to keep it up throughout
I’ll keep the lines a-coming strong
The rhyme’s OK, though I don’t doubt
The scansion’s where I may go wrong.

You’re all on tenterhooks to find
What films we’ve watched in the last week
Well wait no more, if you don’t mind
I’ll say which shine, and which ones reek.

Samedi nous avon regarder
Un movie dans la cinema
Read My Lips - un film Francais
Quoi je dit? Je ne sais pas?

C'est un film mal? C'est un film bon?
C'est tres bon est jamais mal!
C'est un movie interessant
Et je declare quatra etoiles.

One film down we saw another
Also rating above par
This one: All About My Mother
Helmed by Pedro Almodovar.

A strange tale set in Barcelona
That twists your mind and never bores
Involves a dead young organ-donor
A nun, and some trans-sexual whores.

This European film is great
It makes you sad and makes you laugh
See it tomorrow - don't you wait
Number of stars: four and a half.

Thought we'd hire a film on Sunday
But, of course, it's two-for-one
So two films more for us - I must say
That is my idea of fun!

Kissing Jessica Stein was first
A lesbianic tale it spins,
Quite different, funny, I've seen much worse
Three stars - a decent ninety mins.

Second was a yarn by Oscar
Wilde, and not one of his sternest
From the rhyme you may guess it's The
Importance Of Being Earnest.

Colin Frith (ex Mr Darcy)
With old Judi Dench he spars
In a tale that's pretty farcey
Once again, it gets three stars.

And so that’s it – that’s all we saw
Four and no others (yes – it’s sad)
Same time next week I’ll write some more
On this week’s films – both good and bad.

A man of leisure?

So I don't have a job - you'd think I'd be bumming around in the gorgeous weather we're having at the moment. However, I got up on Monday morning and, after a jog, the chores began. Anne had left me a list of things to do (I'm not kidding). First I went and joined our local library - not so much a chore, more a way to save money on books. I also went to a second-hand book shop and bought a book on walking in Sydney (saved ten bucks on the price we nearly paid for it new!)

OK, so those two things weren't too much slog, but when I got back to the flat I cleaned it from top to bottom! Our flat's pretty small (think slightly above-average hotel room) so that took about an hour. It needed doing - you know you're in trouble when your feet stick to the kitchen floor.

Then it was off to do more chores outside. (After a pleasant picnic lunch, read and sunbathe in the park.) I went to book a youth hostel for a weekend hike we planned to do in the Royal National Park near Sydney, only to be told there are no beds available at weekends until the end of May! I booked it for then, but if we're both out of work at the same time we may be able to do it in the week sometime. We're looking around for other outdoorsy trips to do in the meantime. In nice weather going for long walks can be lovely. We've realised that the fact that we're lazy and unadventurous in the UK isn't our fault - it's the climate.

Then off to Woolworths Metro to do the weekly supermarket shop. That was slightly hellish. Just trying to stop the checkout girl giving you three times as many plastic bags as you need is a challenge. They're terrible at wasting plastic bags here. There's murmurings of introducing a tax on use of these bags, as has happened in Ireland. After visiting Dublin last November I'm a strong supporter of this small tax - it's had a great effect there.

So you see - I hardly sat down all day! Poor me. The weather's nice again today (Tuesday) but is forecast to get worse as the week goes on. Therefore I hope to find a job soon. (One day off work and I'm getting edgy!) It's Easter weekend the weekend after next and Anzac Day on the 25th April so we have a four-day week followed by a three day week. I'm a little concerned that people won't be recruiting contractors as they'll be taking holidays. We'll see.