This morning, there was a very interesting discussion on one of the TV morning shows about food blogging and customers reviews in general, as there are undercover people writing over-the-moon reviews for which they have been paid or bribed by those business or brands they are reviewing.
The discussion is extremely relevant for us, users and regular reviewers of Urbanspoon, Yelp, Tripadvisor, Imdb, Rotten Tomates, or Blogger, just to mention some of the most popular reviewing places out there.
***
When I told a friend that I was posting my blog's posts on Urbanspoon, she told me about a well-publicised case of customer's abuse and untruthfulness, which really gives the bad name to any reviewing place. These sort of isolated case adds to many people's suspiciousness about any reviewing sites. Then, there are other elements I think also contribute to this distrust:
- Isolated cases of online trolls.
- Many reviewers slash or praise businesses without making clear why.
- Many reviewers mix in their head what they like with goodness.
- Many reviews are not based on objective criteria.
- Many reviews are one to five lines long. That is especially a problem when the review is nasty.
- The tone of the reviews is somewhat suspicious to the reader: Too grandiose. Too nasty. Too insubstantial.
- Many reviewing places
offer just a like/diskile button, or five-star rating, which is unfair and misleading because a three-star can mean 6/10 to 7.5/10, which is a
whole world of difference in rating for a restaurant, book or CD.
- Most reviewing places do not demand the use of personal photos to show they are real people, so people suspect that those people without a real photo are hidden trolls or liars.
The thing is that most reviewers do review with the best possible intention, mostly for fun, and are real -in the physical way- lovely people. We all want to be helpful and share our experiences, promote those businesses that do the right thing and have a great customer service, and pinpoint the sins of those that do not do so. After all, we are paying for those services and products. However, we have a responsibility, especially when rating a restaurant, café, shop or business place. Any place has good and bad things about it, so mentioning them is just fair.
On the other hand, I
feel that the reader has a duty of care - care of his/her brain... to use
it. You need to be conscious that reviews are always personal, affected by
our personal tastes and character, and that you have to read a few to
get the enlightenment you are seeking for. In fact, most people
do so while using Tripadvisor before travelling overseas, still forget
to apply the same approach when reading reviews of a camera, restaurant or book on a reviewing site.
I agree with one of the invitees to the TV show about the need of a code of ethics for professional reviewers. Personally, I think this is important even if you are are an aficionado - Ethics are always relevant in life for whatever you do.
After munching my thoughts, I have come with my Decalogue to be a Cool Ethical Reviewer (CER):
- You have a set of pre-established criteria that you apply to the product or place you review. If your criteria is your taste, that is perfectly fine. If your criteria is telling what you were doing today, that is perfectly fine. Just do so and do not pretend otherwise.
- We all have our likings
and passions, and we think they are the best
because are ours. This psychological bias affects
us all us, so we have just to be aware of it and tame it when writing. The fact that I like junk food does not make it good, does it?
- You say at least a good thing about a place you do not like.
- You do not review your own business, or your mum's, or your brother's, or your cousin's or your dearest friend's. That is unethical and unhelpful.
- You do not review your boss' business. That is unethical and unhelpful.
- You do not accept gifts or invitations by businesses to review positively. That is unethical and unhelpful. Accepting invitations to dinners is OK as far as you know yourself and know that you are going to feel OK openly criticising anything bad that you see. That is never ever simple or easy.
- If you suspect that the business is giving you a special enhanced treatment to write a positive review, do no write a review at all. After all, other customers are having a very different experience, and theirs is the norm.
- Try to avoid reviewing restaurants after the first visit. If you do so, update your reviews later on. I have some examples
of restaurants that gave me a bad impression in my first visit, to then prove to me that that day was the exception. And vice versa!
- You write a review that is decently written, structured, and that says something about the place. Sounds obvious, no? The use of colons, semicolons, spacing between paragraphs and numbered or bullet lists do help.
- Try to think about what you would like to know about that particular business, which sort of questions would you be asking, and then reply to them.
This list is also to remind myself of my duties as reviewer in those days in which my plume runs wild or is too lazy!
My main sin is the lack of concision and my constant editing of my texts, but I prefer to be precise to consise. It is just a personal option because, well, this is my blog!!!
***
A fair review is good for the readers, because it gets them to know valuable information about the place they are going to visit, or tell them that a place do exist.
A fair review is good for businesses, because they can get an honest feedback from customers and a highlighting of things that need to be improved.
A fair review is good for the reviewer, because it gets you a reputation, an that is always very rewarding at a personal level.
Reviews and Reviewing sites are needed. Reviews are useful. Reviews and reviewers can be trusted. All the ones I know are! There are some nutties out there, but that happens everywhere!
174-176 William St
(Corner with Roe St)
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9231 9941
Website
Twitter
The State Theatre of Western Australia, is a great addition to cultural scene of the City of Perth and a landmark of the city despite being barely one year old. It is home to the Black Swan Theatre Company and hosts their yearly programs in the Heath Leadge Theatre, which alternate with functions popping up from other states and overseas. They also have screenings for some extreme and winter sports films and festivals, and temporary Art exhibitions, Vintage and handicraft events, and other functions. The underground area has a theatre studio and an events space, and a courtyard that also holds other functions. There is a bar upstairs and a mini-bar downstairs, and two sets of toilets up and down. In a way, the STWA has a "Downtown Abbey" sort of approach to the venue, and you want to be up up up.
When I saw the Kerry Hill' building finished from outside I thought that it was disappointedly concrete-ish square-ish and bland, and not edgy at all. However, once I entered inside my opinion completely changed. It is a magnificent building, very appropriate for what is designed for, has a mix of old and contemporary elements, and it is very edgy, classic, well organised and comfortable - uber-cool. Just the design of the ceiling is wow.
The Heath Ledger Theatre itself is extremely beautiful, spacious and Nordic-inspired style with a very soft sinuous and warm woodiness that swallows you in - like a wooden warm womb. It is not only beautiful, it is comfy. The seats are spacious and the rows placed in a way that people seating below will not impair your view of the stage and show. The toilets attached to this theatre are wow, movie-like. Hyper-clean and uber-classy. I had a movie-star moment when visiting. Dunno about the male ones. Perhaps they are too girlie for men? Men, do share your experience. The toilets downstairs, attached to the courtyard area, are on the contrary, not very appealing or glamorous, still OK.
The killer location of the place makes it super-easy for everybody going to functions without having to take the car out.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
1/ There is an over-presence of elderly and middle aged people in general. That is so because the prices are very expensive for students to venture. Masterminds of the STWA be cooler by being more generous with student prices and memberships. Have a vision of future, and start creating the public of the future by making easy for young people attending and getting interested in Theatre. Do you know what I am saying?
2/ I like the overall whiteness of the bar upstairs, but I think that is too impersonal, boring and uncomfortable. It needs of some good paintings to break the white, and an overall restructuring of the space to allow some extra seating area to be included there. There is plenty of corners and walls to cling to. Eating a snack on a common white table on my feet is not my kind of exciting eating moment. At the moment the upper bar looks more like an airport sort of eating stop, so please fix it.
TIP 1
The ground level has an official BOCS ticketing office retailer. This means that you buy anything without being charged extra for the purchase. The chaps attending to are quite friendly.
TIP 2
Pre-order your drinks and light meal online and save.
DID YOU KNOW?
Previews are about 16 dollars cheaper than the normal shows. You won't notice any difference, as the Previews are for the show team and actors to test that everything goes smoothly and fix little things that you would not notice during a performance.
312/A William St
Northbridge Western Australia 6003
Phone: Helloooooooo anybody theeeeeere?
Email: kurbgallery@westnet.com.au
Facebook
Kurb Gallery is always an exciting place to visit, as it is quite raw in conception, varied in visual languages and formats, and you get the pulse of what is happening in Perth. If you want to know what the young artists of Perth are doing, those emerging and not really known by anybody, those trying to break through and out of traditional art-market scene, Kurb is your place.
Kurb is a bit hit and miss, and some exhibitions are great, even fantastic, and others are not. Still, it is nice having the artists there, as some of them are quite nice and you can talk to them.
The artists pay about 300 dollars per week for exhibition, so it is quite normal having several artists exhibiting at the same time, or exhibitions lasting one week or two. Most guys are really young, so this is a lot of money for them.
The pieces exhibited are for sale, some of them really cheap, and others are, on the contrary, overpriced. However, nobody is there pushing to buy anything. Do as you please.
Kurb is worth a visit or several, especially if you live or hang out around Northbridge. It is an alternative place, and, as such, it deserves, our appreciation. There is no hype or pose about it, and that is always fantastic.
If you live in Perth and move around the CBD and the Cultural Centre you surely have found young people from different charities and NGOs trying to get you to sign as a member.
Two things will catch your attention: They are very good looking, and they seem to have a passion for their cause. They are my kind of hero... However, once the blindness of their beauty and friendliness wanes, and your analytical power switch on again, you start noticing a few oddities.
1/ They are not only good-looking, but they can even flirt with you... Oh gosh I am that gorgeous and attractive to have a guy who is in his early or mid twenties flirting with me? No, Not really. They do the same to everybody. They use reverse psychology techniques and compliments to make you stop. For ex. I love your bag/pendant/dress. Or ask you open questions like, "Do you care for the environment?" They are very friendly, and greet you hyper-friendly at 9am, when most people, or at least me, are struggling to even talk.
2/ They have tons of photos and booklets and that they start talking very fast, like repeating a script without much breathing. Like telemarketers but a bit more paused. They are convincing, as most charities support a good cause, and you cannot deny them that. I think the tactic is to overwhelm your senses so you feel so overwhelmed and trapped that you want to get rid of them by signing whatever they want you to sign. It works. That is why they do it.
3/ They can lie to you... bluntly. Well, most marketers will tell you half-truths or sugar-coat anything on a daily basis. Still, when it comes to charities, I find that really shocking. I have specific examples. Like you have to become a member to sign a petition against concentration camps in North Korea, they swear on their mother's grave that you cannot do so online for free even you tell them that this is not the case. Or give you wrong statistics about nett income going from donations to the cause. Many of them openly criticise Worldvision and their millionaire add, but Worlvision does not pay salaries to people to be on the streets and their adds are very limited. Then you go online, check the website of their charity and see that you were being lied. In fact you are online because you already knew that they were lying to you.
4/ Their
cause.... is a job. Because, as a gorgeous guy put it, "I have
to pay my bills". Well, so do I, sweetie. So I get a job and then I support my
causes with my salary. You can even volunteer, you know. That is passion.
I do give quite a bit of my money to several charities and I have had a sponsored child in Malawi for a few years now. I consider giving to local and international charities an obligation and nothing to be praised about because I am lucky enough to have a good salary, live decently and have my basic needs covered. Still, I want charities to sell me their cause in another way.
Do not take me wrong, I stop most times just to say no in a graceful way, because I think it takes lots of guts approaching unknown people early in the morning despite some people being quite rude at that sort of approaches. As one of the girls told me, "you are the first person who has been nice to me this morning, and I have been here for an hour. I just wanted somebody to return my good morning and be nice to me". It is not an easy job.
Still, I find disgraceful using
flirting and choosing good-looking people or giving me compliments on my bag to get my attention and sell a cause. You sell me the
cause, you convince me with arguments, and you talk to me like a person who has a brain. You are not selling snuggies, are you? There is nothing better than a genuine person telling you how wonderful what they do is because they do it out of passion and love and not because they are being paid to say just that.
The first time I donated to Medicins Sans Frontiers was during one of those infamous international war-food crisis in Africa; there was an item of news on TV, nothing related to the charity, but the logo of MSF was on every medical tent in the field. MSF did not have any add on TV that day or any other day, or gorgeous-looking marketers in the city centre. But their work and their being there was enough reason for me to donate. Nobody was selling me their cause. They were too busy helping those in need. Can you see the difference?
Call me a romantic, but you do not have to sell me a cause, a cause sells itself. My causes, the ones that get my money are those that touch me for whatever reason. The only time I have signed through one of these guys was recently, and despite me believing in their cause, I regretted it immediately, because of all the things I have said above.
The line you have to use with the most insisting guys is "I am already a member", and they will let you go. Be nice to them. After all they are nice guys making a living and working hard for something they believe in. Still, choose your charity and donate to them based on your preferences, not on marketed lies and aggressive marketing practices.
Imagine this case scenario:
You go to a restaurant, get your dish and when you ask the waiter for salt, the waiter looks down at you and, in a tone of disdain, he tells you, "Sorry, Miss, we do not do salt here, salt is really bad for you".
Ridiculous, no?
Now, it is becoming trendy amongst certain cafes, bakeries and restaurants in Perth to reply to my "flat white with a sweetener" in a disdainful flipping tone "we do not do sweetener here" or "sweetener is cancerogenous and kills".
The funny thing is that some of the same people who preach about sweetener would drink huge amounts of fizzy or caffeine-concentrate drinks, smoke, drink alcohol, would not exercise or consume tons of natural products like, say, sugar. In fact, it sounds ridiculous to me that sugar (too much sugar) could be thought a very healthy food at all. But it is not trendy to say so because our culture is very much sugar-coated and we all love our candies, cakes and chocolates.
I am not saying that sweetener is the most natural healthy wholehearted food on the Planet, or that you have to consume it in great quantities without worry. I am saying that there are different types of sweetening products to start with (chemical derived and plant derived), and that having a sweetener with my coffee or having a fizzy sugar-free drink now and then is OK - in moderation. Why? Because the scientific debate -which is the one that matters to me- has been long and inconclusive regarding the cancerogenous properties of sweetener unless consumed in huge quantities. A summary of the debate can be found at the Wikipedia in Aspartame or Stevia or just visit The Cancer Council of the USA.
Having a healthy lifestyle the whole year around does more for your health and for inhibiting your cancer risks than anything else. On the other hand, we do know that if you have a nasty gene, you are prone to develop any disease or cancer no matter how much you take care of yourself. Yes, it sucks, but that is science, not BS or mass hysteria.
The fact is:
Too much sugar do kill even if you do not consume sweetener.
Too much salt do kill ditto.
Too much water, yes water, do kill ditto.
Too much fatty food do kill, ditto.
Too much tobacco do kill, ditto.
Too much alcohol do kill, ditto.
Too much Love do Kill, ditto.
Anger do kill, ditto.
Obesity do kill, ditto.
Sedentarism do kill, ditto.
Depression do kill, ditto.
Religious fanatism do kill, ditto.
Political fanaticism do kill, ditto.
Bad traffic signs do kill, ditto.
Domestic violence do kill, ditto.
Poverty do kill, ditto.
Your inherited genes do kill.
I do no want to die
before my time, and I do take care of my body and soul all the year around, but limiting my
options is not cool or even sensible when it comes from a preaching
patronising position.
Unless the consumption of sweetener is forbidden by the health authorities and proven lethal in small quantities, I do want to have the option to consume sweetener, sugar or nothing when I fancy. I do not want to be treated as a retarded because I order my coffee with a sweetener, preached by people who make of their personal approach to life and food a pseudo-religion. I do not want food Messiahs or a nanny restaurant, just my coffee the way I order it....
On the other hand, if you are diabetic, just tell me what are you going to do without sweetener?
Has StrawberryNET made wonders for your beauty case and your wallet in the past? If the answer is yes, you will receive OzCosmetics with open arms - an Australian version of the Hong Kong giant that sells a huge selection of 100% authentic reduced-prices cosmetics and perfumes to Australia and eighteen other countries.
The philosophy, products, customer service, brands and even the prices of the products sold by OzCosmetics are almost identical to those sold by StrawberryNET: free shipping, order tracking system, friendly customer service, money back guarantee if you are dissatisfied, and super-fast shipping from their warehouse in Honk Kong. I always check the same products on both sites to see which site offers better prices; sometimes the prices are the same, some others are cheaper in one of them. The same can be said of the availability of brands and products within a brand, which are sometimes available in one place but not in the other. Most times there are not noticeable differences.
Two main things made me prefer OzCosmetics to StrawberryNET.
Firstly, their website is very clean and tidy, less colourful and with less images and, therefore, less visually overwhelming and much more professional and contemporary. Perfect if you are just searching for specific brands and products and want to go to the point without browsing much.
Secondly, OzCosmetics shipes using express Post courier and Post Office, and the parcel goes to your nearest Post Office, which is always my fav system of transport, as commercial courier companies tend to deliver during working hours, when you are working, so you have the hassle of rescheduling. If you are a mum at home, this surely does not affect you, but for working professionals it is a nuisance.
It took my last parcel, containing some of my staple expensive cosmetics, three working days to be delivered and collected. Great! They are all authentic and as the ones I used to buy from Myers or David Jones minus 20-50% the price.
Trenery is an Australian brand and online shop managed and operated by the same firm that created Country Road, of which is a sort of spin-off. Trenery, like its sister, offers simple, almost minimal, women and men fashion clothing and accessories. They do have a limited selection of items and styles for sale, smart casual mostly, something that you can wear for more than a season, but nothing really wow or daring, still that sort of chic staple you want to have in your wardrobe for seasons to come and match with the trends in vogue. The quality of what they sell is good and the pricing medium.
Trenery's website is clean and no-fuss, easy to navigate, well organised with a good viewing system. You have to register to order, and they offer free shipping to Australia and order tracking. Your purchase is sent by courier, but will be taken to your nearest Post Office if you are not at home. I love this, as it saves you the nuissance of having to reschedule the delivery with the courier.
Their Phone Customer Service is very friendly and helpful, and it is managed and operated from Australia and by Australians.
Returns are allowed within 14 days from receipt, and you can return the item by Post or via any Trenery shop in your city, if there is any.
I purchased the Juniper Satchel in Caramel and I am very satisfied with Trenery's service and the bag itself. The quality of the leather is good but not heavy, and it is very versatile as it can be worn and used as a small tote, as a cross-body or as an oversized foldable clutch. They have it in the very trendy royal blue and red. The downside is the mediocrity of the lining. The bag comes with a dust bag.
Trenery is not daring or avant-garde, but it is perfect for timeless trendy pieces that you will be wearing for more than a year. They have a simple practical website, fast free shipping within Australia, and a friendly customer service. They also deliver internationally.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
They need to improve the photographic views of the bags, showing at least one photo of the interior of the bag, and one on a person or mannequin (Nordstrom's style) to show how the bag falls on your body, and how big it is.
Cold Souls is a comedy of the absurd with some surrealist and existentialist touches, and a philosophical query on the nature of the soul.
The film departs from a quote from Descartes that says that the soul is located in a little place in the brain, a premise that leaves out one of the most interesting aspects of the nature of the soul. The script is more interested in asking and answering the following questions: What exactly is the soul? How affects the soul to the building of the self and defines who we are? What would it be not having a soul and being just a corporeal being? What would it be living with the soul of another person? Why would anybody want to empty out his/her body from his/her soul?
Paul Giametti plays himself, better said, a version of himself - an actor in crisis, burdened by the weight of role he's playing on his mood and spirit -even though this is just created by his job-, who goes to a clinic where the soul can be extracted and stored, restored and exchanged, whatever you like. What happens Giametti in his quest to be soul-lighted without his soul is the core of the story.
Giametti shows once again what a great actor he is. Russian actress Dina Kurzun, who plays a "mule" of souls between Russia and the US is OK in her role. The other actors are all mediocre in their respective roles.
The tone of the film is somewhat depressing and grey, which goes well with Giametti's character. In fact, all the characters in the movie are very serious and grey, as if all souls in the world had that same defect. I think that it is the best part of the movie, i. e. the depiction of a world of grey souls always unsatisfied about being human, always wanting to be perfect. Humans avoiding everything that makes us humans. The unwillingness of humans to see within, to deal with our emotions, feelings and problems, our past and present. The soul as a product of trade, like our society, in which everything is for sale, and bogus people are everywhere. These elements are openly and clearly presented in a successful way through Giametti's dialogues and part of the storyline.
On the other hand, I see a contradiction, a deep one, between what the director wants to portray and what actually the characters in the script portray. If the soul is undeniable linked to our emotions and feelings, and their weight makes us what we are, how is possible that a person without soul, empty, can be aware and suffer from not having a soul? If your soul is not yours but that of another person, how do you know (from an emotional point of view) that the soul is not yours? If the soul is located in a part of the brain, how can the brain work normally after the soul has been extracted? The movie does not success at offering response to these questions, and in fact mixes things up a little bit.
Despite the serious tone of the film, the main concepts that the movie deals with are examined superficially. Perhaps, a lighter story an characters and a deeper analysis of the philosophical elements of the script would have produced a more engaging film. I am thinking, for example, in The Truman Show, which did just that without losing any depth, and being an entertaining movie at the same time.
There is a problem with the music too, at least to me. A couple of songs in French appear from nowhere halfway the movie. They are beautiful and very much of my liking, but they do not fit with the rest of the music and the general music ambience of the film. In fact they were a shock and a distraction from the scene that they were paired with.
The film has an excellent starting point and some very original ideas, but the tone of the film is too serious on one hand, and too descriptive in the other. It is not a drama or a comedy either, an ambiguous mix instead.
I think that, still, that this is a daring and original film.
'I love the movie poster. It's great and pretty much sums up the main concept of the film in just one shot.
Nobody Knows tells the story of a group of four siblings before and after their abandonment by their mother.
The movie is magical and poetical, but also heartbreakingly hard, from the first scenes to the ending. It has great lyric moments combined with very lovely light ones.
I was surprised that the director and the script did not use such a hard story to make the viewer sob, or to make the viewer mourn for the children. That would have been not only predictable but make the script mundane, and not the lyric piece it is. Instead, the viewer witnesses the children's hopes, hunger, despair, acceptance, survival, union and happiness, despite everything. Although the story of the misery of the children is explicitly told, what catches the viewer's eye is the emotional positive outcome that misery brings to these kids. One of the things that shows this clearly, is the part related to the secret garden that the kids start to grow in their balcony, and the enthusiasm and effort that they put into it.
Sometimes you feel so immersed in the life of the siblings, that you feel as if you were there, enduring the heat, the bad odours, the hunger, the playfulness, and their problems. That is so because the director creates a very intimate connection with the viewer, something really special.
The children actors are UNBELIEVABLE, especially the leading young actor, Yuya Yagira, who delights us with a moving mature strong performance. You do not feel they are actors performing, giving life to a script, but real children abandoned and filmed. That says a lot about the art director, too.
I did not like the title, which does not convey what happens in the movie. Nobody Cares would have been a more accurate one.
Not easy to watch, but extremely beautiful.
Irreversible is a very confronting raw and violent French movie that tells the story, in reverse chronological order, of a serious of violent events happened during the return home of the female protagonist Alex. The least you know, the more shocking and though-provoking the movie will be.
Three main themes are explored in this movie.
1/ The
movie is an exploration of Sexuality - Sex as mean of human
communication and love, versus love as a mean of hatred and subjugation.
Sex as pleasure versus sex as abuse. The intimate scenes of
Alex and Marcus are all sensuality, playfulness, joy and love. The
conversations about sex between Alex, Marcus and Pierre explore the
matter of pleasure and human connection, of what makes humans click
sexually. The rape scene is an antithesis to all of that.
2/ The movie reminds the viewer that there is nothing to forget or forgive about rape. The movie is a brutal depiction of the brutality that any rape against any woman is. One of the most
asked questions regarding this movie is, did the rape scene need to be so brutal and 9-minute long? Despite how hard was watching it, especially if
you are a woman, I think the answer is yes, for several reasons:
- Because (too) many
people out there consider rape a second-rate crime and somewhat blame
the victim or excuse the perpetrator. There are judges around the world
saying that the victim somewhat provoked the rapist with her sexiness or behaviour.
- Because the effects
of rape are very damaging, emotionally and mentally, and some people
cannot understand them unless they have been raped or seen a rape.
- Because the erotic industry somewhat glamorises women being raped. Rape is
always a brutal act, even if the rapist does not beat you, but there are
rapists doing nasty brutal things to women, something worse than anything depicted in this or any other movie.
3/ The movie is a successful reflection on the double-side of human nature and of the two faces of violence. The messages embedded
in the story are important and offer a glimpse of what is having a
normal life full of hopes and joy, to found it completely turned over
and ruined by violence in a matter of hours. Telling the story backwards makes the story not only more interesting and intellectually engaging (or is it puzzling?!), but also a very successful way of exploring this theme as we feel an instant repulsion and disgust towards the characters that appear at the beginning of the film, and towards their language and behaviour. Some of the ethical questions posed by Noé are: Even if there is a good reason for such acts, is violence justified? Who is more ethically an morally reprehensible, the nasty person who does a nasty thing, or the good person who does a nasty thing? Does nastiness and violence have class or gender? Noé's message is that violence is always repulsive no matter the reasons (or lack of them) behind and that normal
people can be as violent as violent people in certain circumstances. If we had seen the events narrated in chronological order, we would have, perhaps, justified them.
The atmosphere of the movie is excellent, as well as its hues and music. The use of strobist images is sickening, but it helps to unsettle the viewer since the beginning. However, there wasn't any need to use so many strobist images and for so long as, by doing so, the movie becomes a little bit hallucinogen and the viewer loses focus; to be honest, I would used strobist images quite differently and with a different timing.
I found Monica Belluci great as Alex both in the sweet and playful scenes, and it the harsh ones; she demonstrates here that she is not just a pretty face. Jo Prestia is superb as the disturbing disgusting rapist Le Tenia. Vincent Cassel is just OK as Alex's boyfriend Marcus, while Albert Dupontel is good as Alex's best friend Pierre.
Among the downsides, beyond the overuse of strobist effects, I would mention two. The first is the opening scene, which is irrelevant and does not add anything to the story. Moreover, All the gay thing was really unnecessary as does not add anything to the story and is very negative bordering homophobic. There are heterosexuals who would have similar sort of clubs and behaviour.
This is not an easy film to watch, and it really gets you upset. In that regard, it achieves what aimed, as it makes you think and react against the motto of "an eye for an eye", violence confronted by violence, and reminds you that rape is a brutal act of violence, not just an act of sexual abuse.
If you can stand the whole ordeal and reach the last minutes of the movie, you will get to the start of a relaxing bright day that was full of promises, which is how most of our days start before something bad happens. That is life in its full splendour and nastiness.
222 William St
Northbridge Western Australia 6000
9228 8822
Website
Hours:
Tue-Sun 11:30am til late.
THE PLACE - Centrally located in William St, just steps away from the Culture Centre, Flipside Northbridge has a small, simple and luminous shop, with three seating areas: a few communal/group tables, a long decked table facing the wall and a three-seat table facing the street. I love this one, which is perfect for people watching
if you are on your own, On the other hand, who is watching whom? You are
being watched, too! I love their bulb lamps and the background music they have! On a more practical level, you can see the guys cooking the burgers, so nothing is hidden and everything looks clean and properly managed.
If the place is full, it can be noisy even loud, especially when there are boisterous men - the
"Me-Tarzan-eating-Burger" species. Other days, though, the place is very
quiet at lunch, and more enjoyable if you are with your partner or
eating alone. If you want a quite place and having a romantic affair
with your burger, take it away.
THE FOOD - I am sure that you, like me, have a sensual relationship with your burgers. To me, for them to be fully enjoyable, they have to be nicely sized (yes, size does matter), tender, juicy, tasty, easy to bite and masticate, and manageable with my hands without the thing falling apart or stuff flipping out after the first touch. If this is so, you can do what any burger lover does when facing a good burger - look at it in love and eat it with an expression of unbeatable happiness. You are with me, right? Well, I had just that experience the first day I visited Flipside Northbridge, and, to the date, remains my best experience at Flipside.
This is not a place for fussy eaters, so you get a burger on a plate without any adornment - simple god big burgers. You can adorn them with a bucket of chips :O. They have gluten free rolls, though (paid as an extra).
Their Garden Party Veggie burger is light but flavoursome, very fresh ingredients, and with a delicious fluffy bun and chickpea patty, and I did not feel heavy despite its size. The best one I have eaten at Flipside regarding preparation, textures and assemblage.
Their hot beef burger is my favourite in flavour, despite its simplicity, because the chilly sauce/jam they use is really full of flavour, but not overwhelming in hotness. A hottie!
The classic burger is simple but nice, and not heavy on your stomach, but, for whatever reason the meat patty was a bit on the small size and the cheese unnoticeable...The mini-flip is decently sized for a snack and perfect for a light lunch if you add some chips.
Their chips are thick and crunchy. Simple but nice.
Your burger can take a
while to be prepared, even if they are not full. On the other hand,
this is a guarantee that the food is being prepared in the way it should
be and not rushed out.
THE SERVICE
The staff taking your orders and the waitress are really friendly and smiley, and eager to please.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
- They use iceberg lettuce in many of their burgers, which is very crunchy but not tasteless, so I would replace it with a more flavoursome variety of lettuce.
- I would provide customers with a small knife -Just Burgers's style- to half their burger if they want.
THE DOWNS
- The cooking and assembling staff changes from day to day at lunch (I guess also for dinner), and you will soon notice that the burgers are some days better assembled and prepared than others, and the patty can be on the small side (as in the photo).
- Their chicken burgers are, like in other Perth burgers bars, a fillet, not a burger. Me like burger chick, no fillet chick.
- The long walled table facing the wall is not very inviting. Nobody wants to eat looking at a beautifully empty white wall.
***
Flipside Northbridge is becoming increasingly popular due to its killer location, the friendliness of the staff, and because, really, who does not like a burger? Still, the burgers are simpler and less tasty than at Grill'd, to which the place reminisces the most in burger philosophy. Their burgers are good-sized, good-prized, very fresh, juicy, easy to eat and move with your hands, and some of them really nice. To be honest, these are the sort of burgers that anybody could prepare at home, which is kind of cool if you are out and feel like eating decently-prepared food.
Location 9
Layout 6
Ambience 6
Food 6.7
Drinks 6
Service 7
The Grave of the Fireflies is the story of survival of two Japanese brothers: 4y.o. girl Satsuko and her 14y.o brother Saita, at the end of the Second World War in Japan. It is based on the semi-biographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka.
Grave of the Fireflies is one of the saddest stories and movies I have ever seen. It puts a face to the children of any war, those who lose everything and are left with nothing, those too easily forgotten and so easily neglected. What makes the movie sad is the verisimilitude of the story, that something like that happened and is happening any time that there is a war anywhere in the world.
The animation is marvellous, colourful, attentive to the detail, scenic and intimate, with a lyricism that only Ghibli’s Studies are able to create. The drawing of the Japanese countryside is simply superb, and the same can be said of the city destroyed environments. The atmosphere is great. The colours are precious - a little more saturated than usual for Ghibli’s. The music by Michio Mamiya is extremely subtle and beautiful, perfect for the story.
The characters of the two brothers are wonderfully drawn and dubbed by the Japanese actors. Some of the intimate scenes of the two brothers are really magical, especially the ones involving the fireflies that give tittle to the movie.
What is great about this movie is that, very soon, you forget that you are watching animation, as the story is so strong, captivating and engaging, that those drawn characters become real - alive. Please watch it in Japanese with English subtitles, otherwise you will miss a bit of the essence of the film.
A classic animation movie difficult to forget, soulful and marvellous in every possible way. One of those movies that should be in any bucket movie list. So good it is. One of the best animation film I have ever seen and ever made. No doubt. No perhaps. Go and grab it.
Cultural Centre
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9227 6288
http://www.fringeworld.com.au
Three and a half weeks of entertainment, fun and cultural activities featuring Australian, European and American artists In boring Perth? Perth? Boring?
The FWF has dramatically transformed Perth's cultural scene for good, with a varied, interesting and independent (stress independent), offer of Music (all styles indie!), Theatre (comedy, drama, burlesque) and Films (independent & World films). The Cultural Centre really comes alive when the "Fringers" set their feet in our city and with the many activities and temporary spaces set and come alive in this space.
It is remarkable that the festival, despite its quality, has decent pricing. From the medium-high (mostly for music events) to gratis (free!) for some open-air shows. You could attend an event for less than the price you expend eating out. Is that for real? Yes! Yelp!
The festival attracts a great number of people of all ages, allured by a cultural offer that is relatively new in suburban Perth and allows us experiencing what is happening beyond our shores. We like it because we are citizens of Planet Earth, right? Aliens also like it. So good it is.
The colourful vintage ticketing caravans, the super-friendly staff, and the program were excellent in 2012. I went to four shows this year, and I reminded myself that I should had gone to many more.
DOWNS
I find a disrespectful towards Artists and the public locating their shows in places that are not well prepared for a paid show. Example - the Treasure Chest Chamber was especially opened for some of the FWF shows, and the event much publicised. I attended a theatre function there. The place did look ugly, the antithesis of an artistic-minded place, did not have any ventilation (being a Southern girl I always have a hand fan with me, that was the only ventilation I got), the room was really hot for the public, can you imagine for the actresses under the lights? Moreover, the movable grades were not steep enough, so people looked like a bunch of geese swinging their bodies to see over other people's heads. I hope they are a bit more mindful next year.
I am looking forward to next year's program and to Perth becoming, again, a cheery princess with a fringe.
Merida is the oldest daughter of Fergus and Elinor. She is a tomboy, a bit of a rebel, opinionated and wild. She happily lives with her parents and triplets until she is asked to fulfil her destiny, comply with her clan's tradition, and choose a husband from the allied clans' suitors. In constant conflict with her mother, Merida visits an old witch in search for a potion to help her escape her destiny. However, what she finds is a curse of cosmic proportions. How is Merida going to save her mother, herself and the kingdom?
Pixar lost a bit its essence and idiosyncrasy when was engulfed by Disney. Since then, every second Pixar movie we get a real Pixar movie in conception, ideas and originality. The in-between years are for movies like Brave, which follow a template with structured predefined characters, values and jokes that are very much modern Disney.
Brave's animation is amazing from a visual point of view: the colours, layouts, backgrounds, the rendering of the landscapes and characters movement, the camera angling, the 3D design and even the movement of Merida's hair are spectacular. Still, a good animation movie needs of a good script with a sound story and narrative to be successful: what it tells and how it tells it are always more important than how it looks like.
Brave's script -by Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman and Irene Mecchi- is, a priory, a winner. It mixes many European folk legends and human archetypes (like the ones we see in Anderson or the Grimm Brothers' tales) with modern attitudes and sensibilities. Moreover, Merida is in a way, a combination of all old Disney's heroines.
The film is entertaining and beautiful to watch, and some of the characters are very funny. There are many funny moments especially those involving the witch, Merida's triplet brothers, and the lady bear.
All the cast of actors do a good job at dubbing their respective characters: Kelly Macdonald as Merida, Billy Connolly as Merida's father, Emma Thompson as her mother, and Julie Walters as the Witch. To be fair, Billy Connolly's dubbing always sounds like himself not as the character he plays.
Still, Brave does not deliver beyond the artistic qualities of the animation, because the story sends contradictory messages. It feels as if the writing team had done bit and pieces separately, and then stitched them together without further adjustment and polishing. Being so, the movie can be labelled, depending on the moment, as feminist, sexist, retrograde, modern, advanced or conservative. Two main messages are sent to the world. 1/ "Obey your mother". That can be a revolutionary message in a world in which children are spoiled-rotten and disrespect their parents. However, going from there to deciding that everything mammy says is good for your future and that the tradition has to be respected no matter how senseless it is, it is a bit reactionary. 2/ On the other hand, the story tells us that you can be brave and daring, but until certain point - bravery is subversive, and subversion is not good. What?! Be brave and make your own fate, free will do exist, but fate is fateful and will crash you if you subvert the status-quo. What! What? What?!
Too much is always too much. Brave is a beautiful senseless sermon that gets lost in its own wordiness and senseless preaching. It is perfect for small children, as it has lots of action and some funny moments that the little ones (and your inner child) will enjoy. More sounded boys and girls, our just your sound self, could get a bit puzzled at the moral of the story and the wordy ending.
Kiki's Delivery service is a Studio Ghibli's traditional hand-drawn animation movie loosely based on Eiko Kadono's eponymous book, but with important additions by Miyazaki. It tells the story of Kiki, a 13's y.o. witch who leaves the family home with her cat Jiji to get a life of her own and start her training as a witch in a big city away from parents and friends.
It is a Ghibli's trademark the detail and artistic drawing of the scenery and cityscapes, and Kiki's is no exception. It has a precious and colourful drawing. The European city where Kiki goes is a mix of Northern European architecture and Southern European lighting and mood. The time frame is an imprecise point in time, a golden-era of peace and tolerance, set around the 1950s, but with elements that go from the 30s (the zeppelin) to the 60s (B&W TV), with other elements that can be placed in between.
Three elements stand out in this movie beyond the hand-drawn precious animation. The first one is Kiki's story - a metaphor of the changes that take us from childhood to adulthood, from being in the family's womb, many times taking for granted what we have, to being alone, unprotected, standing by ourselves, defining who we are and want to be as individuals. Jiji's evolution with regards to Kiki is just the result of Kiki's transformation into an adult, not of the cat's changing ways!
The second element is very Miyazaki's - the presence of magical and non-magical elements combined harmoniously in a world of good-natured tolerant humans that accept magic as a natural thing, like Kiki's flying her broom through a city making courier deliveries.
Thirdly, this is a movie about women, female nature and sisterhood. Except for Tombo -Kiki's admirer and good-natured inventive friend- the main characters are powerful savy women: Osono, the pregnant baker, represents acceptance without questions, maternal care, the City, hard work and determination. Ursula the painter, on the contrary, represents freedom, personal independence, individuality, the wild, the follow your heart and explore your soul message. Finally, the two old ladies in the blue-roofed house -Madam and Bertha- are examples of kindness, carefulness, attention to the detail, old manners and class. In fact, Kiki finds a mother, two grandmas and a big sister in the city. Miyazki's Europe is, it seems, a a matriarchal society.
There a few points that I would have liked further explored with extra footage, as the movie is enjoyable, and the ending was unnecessarily hasted and leaves you with a big sweet and sour after-taste. Still, Kiki is an adorable
story with lovable characters, that is entertaining and good for both
children and adults, especially if you love magic realism and Ghibli and Miyakazi's magic worlds.
A warning - Some of the DVDs come with several dubbing versions and several captions. Beware, the original first dubbing of the original was done without respect to the original, and changes and mutates the dialogues without respect, changes the tone of the movie and even transforms Jiji into a sarcastic adult cat. It is not a proper dubbing but an interpretation with additions to the original made by Disney. It is shameful and disrespectful and you better ignore it. There is a second American dubbing that is truthful to the original. Watch the original Japanese with captions, and choose the captions that follow the Japanese script not the invented superposed American. Who wants to watch an adulteration when the original is perfect?
Fashion businesses have to make a living out of their trade and get some profits for their hard work. I am fine with that. However, we are paying too much for almost everything in Australia. Our wallets are assaulted every day with a charming smile and a discounted label.
In a time in which most of what we consume is mass-produced in China using cheap labour working on hard strenuous conditions, there is no excuse for paying what we pay for fashion items, many of them of bad or mediocre quality. Even if they are of good quality, they are still overpriced.
1/ Just look at the sales. Two examples. Last year, I bought a pair of sandals by Donna Karan from David Jones (no fakes, no damaged, good!) for 17 bucks. Yep. 17! The original price was close to 100! That is the tenth of the original price less, and they are still making profits out of it!
Yesterday afternoon, I bought a lovely sequinned Alannah Hill's cardigan, also at David Jones, valued at 200 dollars, for 64 bucks!
2/ On the other hand, there are perennial discounts and sales in stores like Myers, Ojay, Jacquie E, Review, to mention some places I visit often. Products are priced way over what they are worth, and after two days or two weeks on the racks at impossible prices they are discounted - 20 or 30%. Discounted? Or is it more rightly priced?
3/ There is a more dangerous trend - tested by me and my two eyes. You go to your fav shoe store because you fancy, say, a pair of shoes valued at 109 dollars. Being the bargain hunter I am, I drop by often to see if the price is reduced. Then, yesterday, I drop by again at seeing the sale sign. I enter. I check the price of that very same pair, and the sale sticker says.... 109 bucks. Isn't that insulting? Isn't that unethical? Isn't that a complete lack of respect towards the same very hand that feeds you?
These shops and chain stores are still making lots of money out of their discounts and sales. I am not saying to they have to sell below cost, but perhaps 5 times more instead of 10 times the price they sell. The workers in China are not becoming rich from their work, if you know what I mean.
We are living in the Matrix of a shopping retail
fantasy. The harsh truth is that we are not getting
a discount. What they call discount is something closer to what I call the ethical price of a product. I call ethical prices to those prices that provide a good revenue to the business,
but do not overcharge consumers; in other words, the consumer pays what
the product is worth (quality and real value) plus the business' profits and wages, plus a bonus for the exclusivity of the brand.
Ethical prices are missing in action in our normal non-luxury stores. Why are overcharged five, ten or twenty times the price of a product? Why do they overcharge us, and then complain that sales are not going well and that people are shopping online too much? Ahhhh, yes. It is called greediness and a short-sighted approach to business.
I rarely buy anything full-priced unless it is well-priced, something I really need, or something hand-made locally that is worth my hard-work-earned money. The interesting fact is that those people crafting unique pieces in Western Australia are still producing affordable and even cheap items, despite their producing costs being higher. How can that be possible? Perhaps they are less greedy and have their craft more at heart and treat their customers with a bit of more respect not just like a money-making number.
661 Hay St
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9321 2522
http://www.portmans.com.au/
THE GOOD
+ They have very girlie trendy classy stuff, with lots of colour, plus a good selection of work clothing.
+ Their accessories section is small, lovely and well priced, with pretty trendy pieces. Their scarves are among my favourite things here because, unlike other chain stores, they have texture, volume, the right length, and awesome fabrics. They always have a huge selection of belts.
+ The staff are a bunch of no-fuss, friendly and helpful girls, no matter the day or the hour you visit. I always prefer this shop to the one on Murray St just because of their terrific service and friendliness.
+ They open before 10am.
+ They have nice changing rooms.
+ They have an exchange policy of 14 days, so you can drop by, grab something without trying, and return it if the size or style does not suits you. This is especially convenient if you work most shopping hours and take advantage of your lunch break for shopping! So very convenient.
THE SO-SO
- The quality of the apparel and most complements is poor to medium, with a few exceptions. The fabrics are very thin and not good quality, although they look fantastic on. I have bought many
things there, and except for the scarves, they tend to deteriorate soon.
For example, I bought a couple of stockings this year, and they torn
apart quicker than the ones I bought from Coles! Their belts are
synthetic and very "plasticky" and the same can be said of their wallets, bags, and so on. They are so pretty, though!
- The prices are a too high for the quality of the products sold.
***
Good for fashion fixes and emergencies, Portmans at Hay St offers what other Portmans shops sell, but the shop is smaller and the service way better than in other branches of the chain.
