Thursday, August 28, 2008

Casino culture, and another movie

Gig of the week has to be Johnny Casino & the Secrets, who are doing an in-store at Off The Hip at 6pm on Friday, and a freebie down on the floor of the Greyhound front bar on Saturday- which is also free.

Word about Not Quite Hollywood- a history of Ozploitation movies has been around for a while, and now it's in cinemas. Lots of cinemas, but sadly, no drive ins. A labour of love, it fills in the gaps of teenage memory, detailing a particular but not exclusive or hidebound slice of Australian movie history.
Free-wheelin’ sex romps! Bloodsoaked terror tales! High-octane action extravaganzas! They’re the main ingredients of NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD, the first detailed examination and celebration of Australian genre cinema of the 70s and 80s.
In 1971, with the introduction of the R-certificate, Australia’s censorship regime went from repressive to progressive virtually overnight. This cultural explosion gave birth to arthouse classics, such as PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK and MY BRILLIANT CAREER, but also spawned a group of demon-children: maverick filmmakers who braved assault from all quarters to bring films like ALVIN PURPLE, THE MAN FROM HONG KONG, PATRICK, TURKEY SHOOT and MAD MAX to the big screen.

As someone who grew up with Barry McKenzie, Alvin Purple & Max Rockatansky, I can only applaud. Screening times are in that link, with a wealth of other stuff.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Some culture

It's not all rock and roll here, you know.
There's an interesting exhibition on at the Block Projects Gallery until September 9, called The Aliens Can Smell Our Blood. Here's a sample:

Provocative yet still pretty low-key, it's worth a look. Directions are in that link.

The Astor Theatre in Windsor makes me feel guilty every time I go past it- because I'm usually going past, not going in. Though I did see "Iron Man" there a few weeks back. Anyway, they are hosting the inaugural Swedish Film Festival this weekend. No, not that sort of Swedish film- real ones.

I mean, how often do you get a chance to mingle with the Swedish consul-general?

Thursday, August 21, 2008

This weekend

Hmm, shaping up as a bit of a quiet one.
X and Dollsquad are playing at a relatively new place in Lygon St. Carlton called the Curtin Bandroom, which is upstairs at the John Curtin Hotel. Not sure what that costs. I've heard some of the tunes X's Steve Lucas has just produced for Dollsquad's (hopefully) forthcoming new album, and they sounded pretty good to me. X fans can get a double dose this week, of course- see the post below.
Also on Saturday, the Ooga Boogas are at the Great Britain in Church St. Richmond, with Super Wild Horses. I haven't seen SWH, but I want to. Of course the Oogas are playing tonight (Thursday) at Bar Open, with the Useless Children and while it's probably too late to get there now, I do like the poster:

What else...hmmm, I plan to go on a Vietnamese food safari in Springvale this weekend, and watch some DVDs, but that's not of great interest to anyone but me and my stomach. And eyes.
But there are some great things on the horizon- like this:

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Benefit show

Local snapper Melynda needs some money to stage a couple of photographic exhibitions. She's pulled together a pretty awesome line up for this Sunday at the Tote, for a benefit show that will hopefully raise her the cash.
X, GUT and the Losers on one bill is probably worth $10 of anyone's money, any time. Get along if you can.

Friday, August 15, 2008

A month off

So, I took a month off from this, and a few other things, for various reasons. But I'm back, and as of next week will have some shit hot new portable wi-fi tools to play with, so may end up posting even more.
Anyway- THIS:

Really, nights like this come along all too rarely. Get there if you can.
On Saturday, if you rug up warm you can probably trot up and down Johnson St. and catch some of this, too: