Hey check out THE US VERSUS JOHN LENNON on Wed Aug 20 9.30pm.
It's on Movie EXTRA.

If you like the music of the time, the then-radical thoughts of the peace movement, docos that tell you what really happened from the mouths of the people who were there and if you like John Lennon - you'll get a real kick out of it.

Yeh sure he comes off sounding paranoid - but he had every right to be.
Back then, phone tapping was easy to do and questioning the government's authority was still 'novel'.

My parents remember where they were when JFK was shot and when Elvis left the building.

I remember where I was when Lennon was killed.
December 8, 1980.
It was near the end of the school year and I was in a car that had run out of petrol.
The day was hot, the road was dusty and 3 of us pushed the old yellow Datsun into the only petrol station for many miles.
We got some cold drinks and lolled about with all the car doors open, talking about how good surfboard wax smelled these days as we picked it out from under our fingernails.
Then over the tinny AM radio, the news broke.
John Lennon had been murdered outside his New York home.
One of the guys I was with got out of the car, started to cry and fell down in the dust.
He was inconsolable.
I think this was the first time I had grown-up feelings of shock, bewilderment and fear for the future.
If they were knocking off people like John Lennon - peace didn't stand a chance.
For me, it was the summer where everything changed.
The rose-coloured glasses fell off and got stomped in the dust.
I would never see the world the same way again.

Do you remember where you were when Lennon was shot?
Or when the Berlin Wall came down in '89?
Or when Mandela was freed?
and of course - when 9/11 exploded on screens worldwide?

Let me know...

This is one of the funniest films this year - up there with some of the funniest films ever made.

Don't believe the anti-hype flying about - that they mis-use and over-use the word 'retard'.
They don't.

All cast and crew do a fine job in lampooning many aspects of the filmmaking process, the people that make films and the films that get made for less than good reasons.

When you see Ben Stiller performing in a movie called 'Simple Jack' (within 'Tropic Thunder') you may be reminded of the Oscar-winner 'My Left Foot'. When you see Robert Downey Jr's character, you may be reminded of Daniel Day Lewis (and Russell Crowe).

What Stiller is getting at here, is that Oscars go to well-abled actors playing less-abled characters and we treat these depictions as entertainment.

Is that a bad thing?

Spielberg made 'Schindler's List' which is about the Holocaust in a fictional film format.

Does that mean he was treating genocide as entertainment?

I think not.

So pious rubbishers of 'Tropic Thunder' could be over-reacting over-zealously.

'Tropic Thunder' proves Ben Stiller can do it all - and he will be offered action movies to direct in light of this latest box office success.

Here's a tip - don't be late to a screening of 'Tropic Thunder' because the trailers before the film are part of the film - you'll know what I mean when you see them so don't miss them or you'll miss out on some vital info about who's who in the zoo.

And Tom Cruise rocks.
He almost steals the show and that's no mean feat up against the likes of Downey Jr, Stiller, Jack Black and Steve Coogan.

This movie may not get an Oscar but it'll score heaps of other awards worldwide.
And it should.

See it.
Then see it again.

WANTED - A BETTER SCRIPT?

Wanted is the new movie starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy.

It's a good SFX movie.

It's a bad drama.

And Angelina has to beware of typecasting. The high grade weapons-trained touch chick routine is getting old. She pretty much just reprised her role as Mrs Smith.

The Loom Of Fate was a fairly stupid concept that had me and my buddy laughing about the porno version of this movie when it comes out. I'm sure someone will need to consult with The Lube Of Fate.

Wanted started well with the highlight being the face-getting-smashed-with-a-computer-keyboard scene - now that's great filmmaking.

But the dramamtic moments were unintentionally laugh out loud.

And we did.

Echoes of other movies include Star Wars, Fight Club, Mr & Mrs Smith, Matrix and Minority Report.

Not a bad pedigree but perhaps all too closely related as the resultant offspring - Wanted - is slightly retarded.

RENEE WANTED A RE-WRITE

I love MIFF - the Melbourne International Film Festival.
They do it better than any other city in Australia.

This year was a celebration of the genre pic - guys, guns, girls 'n' gore dominated the selection.
The opening night film is a documentary masterpiece that'll be a great study aid in the history of Australian cinema - Ozploitation.
I spoke with director Brian Trenchard-Smith about that 10BA period and 2 of his highlight films - Turkey Shoot and Dead End Drive-In.
Quentin Tarantino dedicated the 2003 Australian premiere of Kill Bill to Brian.

Another highlight was my long-awaited interview with the godfather of the zombic pic - George A Romero.
Be still my beating heart.
No really - I'd rather be deliriously undead in a Romero movie than one of the living humans.
Being a zombie takes a lot of pressure off.
Living isn't for everyone y'know.

Rusty Nails is a cat - he's made Dead On which is a definitive look into the man, the mind and the movies that is George A Romero.

And it was great to see Mad Max's car get a spot on the red carpet.
It's seriously sexy.
Muscle cars rock.
I must gets me one...

But the bad news is how bad the red carpet was handled.
Some interviewers got long chats with stars, others didn't.
After watching a colleague put a pile of questions to Eric Bana, I was told I'd get 2 questions - and then the publicist interrupted my 2nd question to haul Eric away.

Why?

To stage a stunt with fire.

It turned out to be an expensive stunt - for us.

Paying a crew and allocating program time for an interview that gets canned while it's being shot isn't great.

I normally don't do interviews on red carpets and this was one opening night I made an exception for.

Not again.

In saying that though - get along to any screenings you can at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
The films there are outstanding.

RENEE A BIT MIFFED

...in a rare win for the independent owner-operated cafe

Starbucks has failed in Australia. And I couldn't be prouder.

First up - the bad news about this multinational toppling over is the resultant job losses. Around 685 people are employed by the crap coffee chain and their unemployment is a tragedy for them and their families.

Out of 84 stores, 61 will close.

One reason for the failure laid the blame on Australia's entrenched cafe culture.

But the real reason was summed up this morning by The Dr on TripleJ breaky radio, 'nah mate. It's just shit coffee.'

And it is.

I can't help but be gleeful for the rare victory this is. All too often all over the world, the small independent owner-operator gets squeezed out by the big guns. But not this time. Not in Australia. And not in the name of great coffee.

Bye bye Starbucks.

We won't miss you.