Oh my goodness, heart palpitations!

I just received an email from the Melbourne Theatre Company for a pre-sale to their new production, The Importance of Being Earnest.

I knew I would crawl over broken glass to get tickets when I saw this picture.

Geoffrey Rush as Lady Bracknell. I swear, it makes my heart race just a little.

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When you see the words "2 Million Copy US Bestseller" on the cover of a book, it tends to raise your expectations somewhat.

2 million people can't be wrong, right?

And then you remember that 62 million voted for George W Bush.

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Last week, Mr K and I went to a preview for a new movie, Easy A, to be released on the 16th of September.

Watching the trailer, I thought, "Oh, another American teen high school flick… same old". But the last line in the clip was so brilliant, I needed no other convincing that this movie was worth seeing.

Watch for yourself.

Poor old Tom. Classic!

So, Emma Stone plays Olive, the kind of insouciant "adultescent" that only seems to exist in Hollywood movies, a teenager with the kind of confidence, self assurance and personal ease that many people only gain by 30 – or older – and can only wish they'd had in high school. 

Given Olive's maturity and bemusement toward the stereotypical small mindedness of high school life, the course of action she chooses seems blindingly out of step with her nature. And I never felt that – apart from purportedly having a "kind heart" – her motivations were ever adequately explained.

So, as the trailer showed, her reputation is ruined by her choice to essentially prostitute her character, if not her body. The movie's tagline "Let's not and say we did" refers to her allowing nerdy boys to spread rumours that she engaged in various acts with them – from innocent kisses to "deflowering" – in return for compensation.

Naturally, this problematic premise is handled with all the levity you would expect from a movie in the teen comedy genre.

I wanted to be able to shrug off all the issues I had with an ostensibly whip smart, level headed teenage girl from a happy, stable family, who would otherwise be a fantastic example of how the right attitude and sense of humour can get you through the worst bits of high school (and life), choosing not only to embrace her damaged reputation but to profit from it too.

I tried to see it from the movie-maker's point of view… was this supposed to be a cautionary tale? A commentary on modern teen sexuality? A mere diversionary piece of "fluff" entertainment with an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" flavour?

Heaven forbid, a tale of female empowerment?

Or maybe it was just a movie-length advertisement for La Perla corsets (presumably purchased on a teenager's allowance).

***

Even now, a week after seeing the movie and time spent considering what I would write about it in this review, I still haven't been able to figure out the point Easy A was trying to make.

I think it's about not listening to gossip.

And how, apparently, even if you willingly encourage people to think you're the town bike, your parents will just crack a few witty jokes about it, and the hottest guy in school will want to be your one true love, not a customer.

And, that if you save up for the next decade for a wardrobe of La Perla corsets, you too can look as hot as Emma Stone.

Hey, if there's just one reason to see this film, it's for one of the last scenes when she's wearing a black and red corset, and a stunning (STUNNING!) luscious red-with-black-tips feather boa.

Like this.

No really. It's not as drunken-hens-night cheap and tawdry as it looks, I swear.

***

Anyway, is Easy A worth seeing? Yes, I think so. It's funny. It's entertaining. It gives you something to debate about with your movie buddy afterward.

At the very least it makes you reminisce about all that high school angst and feel so much better about wherever your life's at now… cos it definitely can't be worse than high school.

xx Kiki

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A few months ago I mentioned I was reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

Well, I finished it ages ago but only now remembered that I said I'd review it.

Overall, I was sadly disappointed.

I really, really wanted to like this book because it held so much promise.

Stop press! Disclaimer ahead…

Okay, I know some people get very passionate about the books (and authors) they love, and very defensive when they're criticised, so I'm just going to preface this post by saying that whatever I thought of the book, Sara Gruen is obviously a successful, bestselling novelist beloved by millions worldwide, and I'm not trying to take that away from her.

However, if I'm not going to sugarcoat what I think of a brand of mascara, I can't really refrain from giving an honest account of my feelings about a novel, can I?

But I'll try not to be unnecessarily brutal.

Okay. So if the setting for Water for Elephants – a travelling circus in America during the Great Depression, during Prohibition, when ordinary Americans were actually dying of starvation, when the concept of 'political correctness' was beyond comprehension, and so on – isn't simply bristling with fodder for the most colourful, fascinating, grotesque, comical, diabolical, heart wrenching and compelling characters, and equally seductive and absorbing plot lines and scenarios, I honestly can't think of one that is.

The richness of Jacob's story should have tumbled off the pages, sweeping the reader up in a cacophany of sensory experiences… the gaudy array of costumes and blinding stage lights, the smell of greasepaint and animal dung, the hammering of workmen. The endless, monotonous clatter of train wheels on tracks.

I wanted to be transported, to lose myself in Jacob's world and deeply engage with the characters and their unfolding stories.

Instead I found my imagination having to work, actively required to imagine the scenery and conjure up mental images to pad out and fill the gaps the author left gaping.

As a result, I quickly tired of doing the work the author should have, and the effort of trying to find anything about any of the two-dimensional characters to engage with quickly gave way to irritation, and indifference.

Water for Elephants, however, is saved from being a total disappointment by Gruen's shifts to Jacob's narration as a 93 year old.

Now this was a character I could feel empathy for and whose account of his circumstances deeply moved me.

If only Gruen's handling of Jacob's recounting of his youth was as skillful as the voice she gives him to express his experiences as a geriatric patient.

Contrary to my expectations of gaining insight into the fascinating life of travelling circuses, this novel instead gave me a better understanding of what it would feel like to be at the very end of your life, looking backward.

It also challenged my belief that, at 93, life is just about waiting for death, and that moving forward is only an option for people with a few decades – rather than a few months, or years – up their sleeves.

***

Sara Gruen being hugged by an elephant on the Water for Elephants movie set

It's interesting. At the start of this post, I was quite disillusioned about Water for Elephants, and wondered how I could review it and keep my desire to pan it in check.

But it writing it, I'm surprised to find that the elderly Jacob's story touched me and changed my perceptions much more than I had realised. And isn't that one of the reasons why we choose to read books about subjects we're interested in learning more about – to change our perceptions?

It reminds me of that saying I heard many, many years ago, and that has always resonated with me – "How do I know what I think until I see what I write?"

So, overall I would give Water for Elephants 3 stars out of 5.

If you have read it, what would you give?

xx Kiki

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Remember my excitement last week about the new mini-series of Ken Follett's novel The Pillars of the Earth?

I know everyone who's read the book is as eager as I am to see how it translates into film. Very, very jealous of American residents right now.

So I was absolutely thrilled to be invited to interview Molly Barton, Director of Business Development at Penguin Publishing in the US, about the new Amplified Edition of The Pillars of the Earth for the iPad that they developed in conjunction with the TV mini-series.

You can view part of our chat here, and listen to Molly explain how the Amplified Edition app works, and this exciting new direction for the publishing industry.

I have to say, the only drawback I found while reading the novel is that I didn't understand, and had difficulty picturing, certain parts of the cathedral, such as the nave, flying buttresses, transept roofs, portals etc.

The thing I love most about the Pillars app is that it gives readers a full visual understanding of cathedral architecture, and the immense skill involved in creating these breathtakingly magnificent buildings, using what we would now consider very primitive technology.

I think Penguin's app is a fantastic tool for readers to fully appreciate the sheer scale of Knightsbridge Cathedral and the beauty of Tom Builder's skill as a cathedral designer and master builder.

The other thing the app offers that I'm particularly interested in is the interviews with Ken Follett, and the behind-the-scenes look at the making of the mini series.

I don't know about you, but I just love seeing making-of footage from movies and series that I've particularly enjoyed. It's like having an on-set pass, seeing the actors, their costumes, set design, cameras etc.

And I'm dying to learn more about Ken Follett's thoughts on the whole project. He waited twenty-one years to sell the rights to his international best-seller, so I'm very curious to know more about his involvement in the whole project.

So, lucky Americans, if you've read or are reading The Pillars of the Earth, or have fallen head over heels in love with the mini-series, check out Penguin's Amplified Edition for the iPad app at the Penguin website, or your iTunes store.

Now, I wonder which Aussie network is going to buy the mini-series? I have to know when it's going to screen here.

xx Kiki

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I've yet to meet anyone who's read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett who didn't enthusiastically exclaim afterward, "It's one of the best books I've ever read in my life!"

If you're one of them, I bet you're nodding your head in agreement right now.

My enthusiasm for this book is quite ironic, given my staunch refusal to read it when Mr K first insisted that I should.

He bought me a copy, and I returned it.

Undeterred, he bought me a second copy. I left it knocking around in the boot of the car for about two years.

One day, about 6 months ago, he picked up a copy in Borders and, yet again, told me I'd love it. And I, yet again, refused.

Why did I resist so much?

For two reasons.

1) It had the words "Epic" and "Saga" on the cover. And there's nothing I loathe more than "A sweeping tale of Love, Betrayal and  Family Secrets spanning 87 generations, set against a desolate backdrop of war/famine/slavery in the 1800s/one of the Revolutions/the Middle Ages…" I blame Gabriel Garcia Marquez, fairly and squarely.

2) The people on the cover were wearing hooded capes, and I mistook it for fantasy fiction, another genre I loathe. Apart from The Hobbit (and I'm guessing The Lord of the Rings, although I long ago tried and abandoned any desire to read it).

So it wasn't until Mr K finally, somehow, got through to me that the capes were just historically accurate clothing for a book set in the 1200s, that I relaxed a little of my determination not to like it and started to read.

I don't think my head surfaced from that book for about two weeks.

It's 973 pages long, and you will wish it was double.

When it ends, you'll mourn losing your "friends", the characters you grew to love so much.

You'll think William Hamleigh was the greatest villain ever written, and wonder how it's possible to feel such palpable hate for a fictional character.

You'll give thanks that Ken Follett exists in order to bring those people to life.

You'll come back here and thank me for recommending it to you!

***

So what's it about?

In a nutshell, Tom Builder is a master stonemason in England in the mid-12th Century. His life's dream is to build a cathedral. Phillip, the prior of Knightsbridge monastery, supports his dream. Everyone else – bad monks, bad Earls, bad people in general – do their best to stop it from happening. Around this central theme, Follett weaves such a rich story of love, ambition, politics, religion, corruption and power, you simply won't be able to put it down. And you definitely won't ever forget it.

***

Mr K and I are very, very excited because on July 23rd, twenty-one years after it was written, the 8-part mini-series of The Pillars of the Earth debuts on US television.

This $US 40 million production holds out great promise because it was produced by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator, The Good Wife), and most importantly, in collaboration with Ken Follett (so hopefully less bastardisation of the original story).

The cast includes some recognisable faces, such as Donald Sutherland (above) as Bartholomew.

Matthew McFadyen (Sheriff of Nottingham in recent Robin Hood, Mr Darcy opposite Kiera Knightley) as Prior Phillip.

Rufus Sewell (Paris, je t'aime, The Holiday) as Tom Builder.

Ian McShane (Al Swearengen in Deadwood) as Waleran Bigod.

This is the most brilliant casting. Although I imagined Waleran as a thinner, beakier man, McShane is the perfect malevolent fit for this compelling character.

Although I'm sure one of the Aussie networks will pick up this series in time, hell or high water couldn't stop Mr K from… er… acquiring it by other means on July 23.

***

So if you're wondering what to read next, or just need another book to add to your to-read pile, The Pillars of the Earth simply will not – cannot – disappoint.

You won't have your copy for long… you'll be thrusting it into the hands of your partner, mother, best friend, sister, brother, hairdresser, dog walker…and insisting that they read it as soon as you're finished.

I can even make it easy for you… Book Depository has it for $11

xx Kiki

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Last night, Mr K and I were invited to another movie preview, this time Adam Sandler's new flick, Grown Ups.

I knew nothing about it except for a fleeting glimpse of the poster on a bus shelter.

To be honest, I wasn't particularly champing at the bit to see it, because it appeared suspiciously from the same mold as American Pie or Role Models, and other films firmly in the 'for teenage boys' camp.

Even Mr K (who, I'm embarrassed to admit, regresses to age 14 and declares American Pie and Role Models "hilarious!") wasn't that keen, because he believes Adam Sandler has only made two good movies – Happy Gilmore and 50 First Dates.

I actually quite like Adam Sandler, and after I googled the preview and saw it also stars Chris Rock and Kevin James, who I've had a soft spot for (ok, a semi-crush on) since his King of Queens days, I was sold. Add David Spade and (of course) Rob Schneider to the mix and it was actually starting to look quite promising.

Well, I think Mr K will add a third Sandler movie to that list.

We loved Grown Ups.

Chemistry between a movie's leads is always going to lift an ok movie to good, and a good movie to fab. Well, Sandler, Rock, James, Spade and Schneider have chemistry in spades.

You can just see that those five guys are having an absolute ball making this movie, and genuinely enjoy and appreciate each others' humour.

Guys will automatically love this film because they'll relate to pretty much everything. And every girl will be able to relate to the whole boys-being-boys things that they probably won't ever grow out of.

And really, do we want them to? The stupid, funny, crazy, blokey and even boyish things guys do are often the most endearing things about them, and part of the reason why we love them.

As with any Happy Madison Productions film, it's fairly safe to leave any intellectual snobbery at home, and just go along for some easy going entertainment, a bit of puerile humour, a few sight gags, a couple of squirms, but most importantly plenty of genuine laughs.

Grown Ups is a feel-good film that will have you leaving the cinema smiling.

You may even be inspired to do as Mr K and I did afterward, and embrace being a grown up kid by going to the pub next door and having a beer, while playing vintage Pac Man.

I think it's inspired me to do big kid stuff more often.

If you see it, I reckon you'll think it's a lot of fun too

xx Kiki

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On Wednesday night, Mr K and I were invited to a preview screening of a new Australian film, Animal Kingdom, due for release in a couple of weeks, on June 3.

Now, you know from my previous post about Clinique that I don't give biased reviews just because I get something for free, or recommend something based on incentives dangled before me. It's a principle I feel pretty strongly about.

So when I say I really enjoyed this film, it's because I actually did. Despite my reservations before the screening.

I enjoy crime drama as much as the next person, but I can't say that Underbelly has appealed to me in the slightest. In fact, the celebritizing of people who are essentially bottom feeding, knuckle-dragging thugs disgusts me no end.

So I wondered if Animal Kingdom – also about a crime family, and set and shot in Melbourne – was going to be just another sexed up, glamourised tale of small-time wannabe Mafiosi for the big screen.

It was quickly evident, however, from the performance of newcomer James Frecheville in the opening scenes, that Animal Kingdom is subtle where Underbelly is sensational; lower class grubby rather than cashed up, coked up crims playing at being mobsters.

You are immediately immersed in a world with people who are as recognisable and familiar as the men and women you see on the street, public transport, down the shops, at school or – depending on the circles you move in – perhaps as familiar as your nearest and dearest. The kind of film where you easily forget you're watching actors in a movie.

This sense of familiarity reminded me why I've loved Australian films. And why I need to watch more of them. If the name Guy Pearce doesn't make you decide on the spot to go see it (as it would me), Ben Mendelsohn's, Joel Edgerton's (drool) and Jackie Weaver's performances completely outshine his. Now do you want to see it?

If Weaver doesn't win an AFI for her role as Janine 'Smurf' Cody, the supportive mother of three criminal sons, it will be one of the greatest injustices of 2010. Her portrayal is by turns intriguing, deplorable, touching, and utterly convincing. I'd see Animal Kingdom again just for her.

And of course, Joel Edgerton.

James Frecheville is every awkward, monosyllabic 17 year old boy you've ever known, and I have a sneaking suspicion there's a lot more talent bubbling under there, to be seen in future roles I'm certain are coming his way.

The Australian film industry has long produced directors, actors and movies that make Australians proud rather than cringe, and with the talent to rival anyone or any film produced by larger, more moneyed film industries. I think Animal Kingdom has the potential to stand among our most celebrated Aussie films.

If international approval is still a stamp needed by the average Aussie punter, the New York Times recently named Jackie Weaver as one of five breakthrough performances of the summer season. Oh, and it won the World Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

So if you enjoy crime drama and are even a little bit curious to see if lesser known Australian actors have as much, if not more, talent than Cate, Russ and Guy, I highly recommend checking out Animal Kingdom from June 3.

xx Kiki

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