Mel Campbell
The Pundit 2006 Articles »
It’s a shame George Romero isn’t in town for the Festival, because Melbourne has become a city of zombies.
In a way, it’s heartening that Melburnians throw themselves into cinema spectatorship with such gusto. No casual ‘How about a fillum tonight, dear?’ for us. Oh no. We have MIFF schedules, and we plot them with the steely resolve of battle-hardened army generals.
But some people take it too far. When the only topic of conversation is what films we’re seeing, when birthdays are forgotten and dinner parties skipped, when rent cannot be …
The Pundit 2006 Reviews »
Like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, short films can be delicate and discomforting in equal measure’and that’s just what we got.
The atmospheric The Dance follows a teenager’s flirtation with suicide and immersion in music. Its use of light is hauntingly beautiful, but the wobbly camera does little to dispel the stereotype of short films as training grounds for inexperienced directors.
Despite its heroic focus pulling, I felt similarly ambivalent about Look Sharp; although, l did appreciate its punning title. Seemingly inspired by Melbourne photographer Carol Jerrems, it’s a claustrophic character study …
The Pun 2006 Articles »
You know that moment of excitement when you first find out this year’s Comedy Festival line-up, and there’s one act that you really, really can’t wait to see? Well, I’m sad to say that for me, that moment came when I read two words: Pauly Shore.
Of course, nobody I know seemed to share my excitement. I was all, ‘Come on! Don’t wee-eeze the jui-uice!’ and, ‘Buuuuuuddy!’ and, ‘He dated Kylie Minogue during the filming of Bio-Dome, you know.’ But no biscuit. It doesn’t help that Pauly’s playing Little Vegas, aka …
The Pun 2006 Articles »
Spruiking your show outside the Town Hall. It’s a terrible job, but with so many shows on at the Festival and so many punters milling about looking for ideas, it’s one of the best ways to get bums on seats. So someone has to do it. And if you’re an up-and-coming local comedian, that someone is usually you.
Every year there’s a story in The Age about the sorry lot of small-time local comedians. The way they run up horrendous credit card debts and support themselves with menial part-time jobs. The …
The Pun 2006 Articles »
Every Comedy Festival I seem to see people I recognise. Opening night, I’m in the Trades Hall bar. There’s that cabaret critic. The comedian I’ve seen around since his Law Revue days. The guy who knows my housemate’s ex-boyfriend. And the barman? Used to date one of my friends.
But you won’t see me schmoozing. You see, I am not a comedy groupie.
You’ll know comedy groupies when you see ‘em. They aren’t in a show, but they get into the Festival Club for free and start disgraceful dance floor pashing scenes. …
The Pun 2006 Interviews »
I know a lot about hip hop. How many licks it takes ’til you get to the centre. The right moments to drop it like it’s hot. And how do I know? Because the crowd went, ‘Ho!’
But according to Canadian hip hop posse the Grafenberg All-Stars, I have much to learn. And in Hip Hop 4 Dummeez, Vowel Movement (Eli Batalion) and Bushman (Kevin Gillese) plan to get their teach on. ‘We like to call it edu-tainment,’ says Vowel Movement.
‘Everybody out there has got hip hop in their blood,’ adds …
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