Blogs, birthdays, and the big lights!

We've had a busy couple of weeks, and some fun out and about in Melbourne. James' birthday, last weekend, coincided with the many delights of the Italian Film Festival.

Here we are, heading to the cinema:

No? Then how about this picture of us coming home again?


Nice corduroys, James, great hair, Bev. (But I think he'd get a better snuggle than that, since he's clearly wearing a scratchy home-made jumper....)


So, this film festival. Last year, we clocked in at five movies in the week, and this year's attempt was not too bad at four. We had a few - minor - hiccups, vis:

1. Forgetting that one of our 'top picks' was on. - forfeit 1 popcorn point for forgetfulness
   
2. Failing to remember daylight savings, and turning up one hour late. - forfeit 3 popcorn points for stupidity!
3. Buying tickets, an hour early (organised: gain 1 popcorn point), only to discover that the film reels have not arrived from Sydney and they will be showing the movie we accidentally missed instead (see 2 above) - Gain 4 popcorn points for excellent karma!
   
4. Opting to stay at the cinema for a second film, only to run out of cash because the card payment machine is broken. Skip dinner, eat popcorn, paid for with handfuls of coins carefully pooled together and counted across the counter. This is called: Cashing in your popcorn points!
   

Was it fun? Yes! Apart from the extra hanging around the cinema. (It gave us some time for a stroll, and to take some pictures in between features).


What did we see? Ah, that's the really good bit. This year, there were no duds. Everything we saw was good to excellent, and here's the list.

Days and Clouds (Giorno e nuvole)
- Fantastic acting, and a complex, sometimes difficult story about a husband and wife going through a complete change in their circumstances. We both thoroughly enjoyed this film and admired the fantastic acting and writing.

Speak to me of Love (Parlami d'amore)
- A rich picture of the friendship between a young man and a married French woman in Rome, this was colourful and well-acted, but perhaps lacked the depth of the other movies we saw. (It was very good, just not entirely stunning!)

These two were fantastic:

Don't Think About it (Non pensarci)
- A sweetly hopeless punk rocker gives it up and heads home to see his family. Mom, Dad, his brother and sister are all going off in their own shambolic directions. This movie was hilarious, warm, and didn't follow the same old story you would expect when the prodigal son comes home, studs and all. I want to watch this one again!

Her Whole Life Ahead (Tutta la vita davanti)
- Also a commedia Italiano movie, but with bite. This parody of the call-centre life and American-style sales psychology walks a perfect line between serious issues and super silly comedy. We loved this, and I'd highly recommend it.

What a good week!

You can check out the full blurbs and stills on the Melbourne Italian Film Festival web site .

Bev