Recently in The Arts Category

For a long time (ever since I've been in Auckland) my preferred video store has been Videon. No matter where in Auckland I have lived, I have always used them. They've a great range (more than just block busters) and really well informed staff.

Recently, the moved from 654 Dominion Road in Balmoral, to 244 Dominion Rd, Mt Eden

it's a move of only about 1.5 Km, but I worry about the impact it will have on the business.

Here are some of the reasons why I think the move might be less than successful for Videon:

• When we visited the store on Saturday only one other person came into to browse while we where there. In the old location, at a similar time, I would have expected around a dozen or more customers.
• The new store is almost invisible from the street. The store is now very narrow and provides little street appeal. The signage--what there is--looks unappealing and doesn't echo the previous location's style. We nearly walked straight past the store even though we were looking for it.
• Insider, the store is very long an narrow. There is little room to browse (which is worrying given that it was just my wife and I for most the time). There is no ambiance; it feels very sterile. The fit-out of the store is looks cheap. In fact, our impression that from the outside that it was a cheap DVD outlet store was reinforced by the inside.
• Although we decided to walk to the store, parking seems to be a problem when compared to the old store. At the old store, Videon had its own parking and it was relatively easy to find street parking. This isn't the case in the new location.

Now it may be that the extra foot traffic will compensate for the invertible drop off in customers (who can't be bothered to go the extra distance). But I'm not sure. Perhaps the managers at Videon have examined their records and know how many people were very local to the store and how many are actually traveling some distance to the store (and thus may not be bothered by a little extra distance). I don't know.

What I do know, is that the store didn't feel 'alive' and that might be fatal. This move could be the end of Videon. It may be Vide-gone.

Lisa and I went to see The Pillowman tonight.

It was marvellous. We both enjoy a black comedy and this was very black and very fun. The crucification scene was particularly well done--and particularly harrowing. Hat's off to Brooke Williams for a great performance.

I also thought that Jonathan Hardy was very drole as the policeman Tupolski.

All in all, I recommend this play.

We went an saw the Oscar winning The lives of others this evening. As Mark Kermode said, its good but Pan's Labyrinth is better.

Both of these films are well worth seeing.

This was the last file that we sent to see at the film festival. Maybe I don't get French comedy, but I found the end of this film incompressible. It started off with a good premise, and some interesting ideas, but overall it is a stinker.I'll give it one star out of five.

Last movie of the weekend was Keane. Overall, I found it slow and overly long (maybe the two are connected).

Two out of five stars.

So, having watched The Method we rushed down to the Civic for the 21:15 showing of The Science of Sleep. As we were waiting for the film to start, I made the comment that the seats at the Civic are much more comfortable than those at the Sky City Theatre. The people sitting next to us piped up and agreed. Talking with them, it seems they are going to 35 films during the festival. Wow! What stamina. However, they reported that there is someone who is seeing over 60 of the films.

Back to the film.

With films late in the evening you need something that is going to keep you attention, and this one did.The "TV Studios" set where Stéphane plays out/creates his dreams was wonderfully kitsch. I also liked the way the film drifted between French and English in quite a seamless way.

Being a French film, it did have the French J ne sais quoi about it, which I always find endearing.

For this film, I'll go with three out of five (worth seeing).

One of my favourite film genres is "get the guest". I also enjoy films that have a few twists in the plot. So is it any wonder that I really enjoyed the Spanish Argentinian co-produced El Metodo (The Method). I wonder how long it will be before Hollywood does a remake.

At times the film felt a bit like a play (as does Six Degrees of Separation) but that doesn't stop the movie from holding your interest for the full two hours of running time (as did Six Degrees).

The plot revolves around a group of managers who are applying for a job at a corporation and the novel selection method they use to decide who will be hired (and, of course, who won't).

I'll give this movie five out of five.

For an OB perspective or a HR selection perspective, this film could be the basis for a whole course.

As it happens, we me Natalie at the theatre (those seats are awful). Anyway, Natalie is doing some work for the festival and as we went in, she laughingly suggested that perhaps she should be doing Recruitment and Selection as her MBA research project. Having seen the film I can understand what she was getting at.

It's going to be a busy weekend. We're seeing five movies over the weekend. Today started off with more animation at the film festival.

The two best films were Der Propellervogel and Moongirl. Kazkaheutte was pretty good too. The audience (mainly children) seemed to enjoy them all (and enjoy them immensely).

Still at the festival ...

This movie is a semi-autobiographical piece by Richard E. Grant recounts a his life in Swaziland. Not only did he write the screen play, but he also produced and directed it. Apparently, his real mother (played in the movie by Miranda Richardson) thought is was a good movie too (if I remember the Five Live interview). There is some really fine acting in this movie. I particular enjoyed seeing Emily Watson as Ruby -- but the whole cast was pretty good.

Oddly, the cinematography of Swaziland (I think it was filmed there) reminded me of the Wairarapa on a hot summer's day. But then, I've often thought that the Wairarapa was a bit like the African veld (and yes, I've never been to the African veld, but I have been to the Wairarapa).

Overall, four out of five stars.

I should start by saying (no pun intended) that I was already warm to the idea of global warming. So, this film (doco) about Al Gore and his crusade to inform the world about global warming fell on fertile soil. Judging by the applause at the end of the movie, most of the audience were also 'converts' (or had their opinions re-enforced).

Al comes across as an excellent speaker (and would you expect anything less of a presidential candidate) and someone who is passionate about the topic. He's also a Mac user -- perhaps that's why he never got into the Whitehouse.

Anyway, I enjoyed the movie. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.

Having said that, it was emotionally laden and I know that I (and others) would have liked a bit more science and perhaps a bit more of a debate -- but then again it didn't really set out to be an unbiased discussion of the issue.

Despite my average rating, I do think that this move is an important work and probably should be seen.

The website that is mentioned in the movie is www.climatecrisis.com