Reviews

Last Sunday I just watched the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 which was held in Ukraine. On my initial reaction I was glad because although I had missed the semi-finals, I had the chance to experience what European music feels like.

Ever since I went to Europe 2 years ago, and recently studying French, European culture had suddenly become my obsession. Countries that are so diverse but yet united in a single continent. I fell in love with it as it gave my life a new purpose. After being constrained by Asian culture even after working overseas now, I finally found something to break my barrier and expand my views on everything.

Now on to the review, the final started on 7.30 -11.00 pm nighttime with more than 30 minutes for counting the votes. The contestants came from 24 countries, each I hope to bring their own flavour to the show. However after watching everyone, I realized that half of the performance wasn't good at all. The reason being that half of them was using the 80s rock/punk style which is very outdated and embarrassing to look at. One of them even dressed like a transvestite and singing a lousy rock song. I can't believe this is the music they chose to represent their country. What the hell were they thinking?!

My personal disappointment lies with Germany in which the singer Gracia sang Run & Hyde. She wasn't a bad performer but her song choice was very boring and didn't keep my interest. As a matter of fact, plenty of the bad singers were plagued by a bad song choice rather than bad performance.

On the plus side, half of the other performances were good. I really like the ones from Malta, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia and few others because they tried their best and sang well. However the top three performers according to my taste are: 1. Hasheket shenish'ar (The silence that was left), by Shiri Maimon form Israel, ranked 4th in the final score. Opinion: Very unique and well carried out 2. Call me, by Feminnem from Bosnia & Herzegovina, ranked 14th in the final score. Opinion: Very 80s style but sweet & catchy 3. Cool vibes, by Vanilla Ninja from Switzerland, ranked 8th in the final score Opinion: Nice rock song, and I love the melody

Okay I admit, those 3 above are very pretty girls but they're also great singers. After all, their songs are the only ones I can remember when the show finished. I even sang "Call me" on my way to work today.

The winner of the contest was Helena Paparizou from Greece who sang "My number one". While she's not my favorite, at least she has great voice & strong vocal control so I guess she deserved to win.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show despite its shortcomings. It's hilarious to see the lousy performers making fun of themselves on the stage whilst the good ones are there to take the glory.

And for those in the world languages group who happen to read my review, it wasn't meant to be offensive since I merely reviewed from my point of view after watching it. The criterias are based on my taste so yours will probably be different from mine. Even my co-workers who are from Italian & Spanish descendant, who had previously seen the 2004 one, agreed that it sucks big time and the song style never change. I sincerely hope they do in the future.

If you want to catch the show, both the semi-finals and finals are available on DVD (double-disc) with plenty of extra materials on Sydney stores on 20th of June, along with CD containing most, if not all the songs performed.

I'll definitely look forward for 2006 contest, and thank the current contestants (the good ones only) who gave me their best.

I've just seen this film yesterday and jamesraeburn2003's opinion reflected much of my impressions. However I would like to add few of my comments.

First off, despite the silliness of Strange Love song, I found it to be creepy and was really right in the mood for the making love sequence. Don't get me wrong, they don't need to insert a song in there but I never felt that it harmed the film in any way.

Next, Suzanna Leigh as Janet Playfair was great in her role. Her brash personality really steal the show (especially in the headmistress scene) whenever Steensgard is not around.

Steensgard on the other hand did not "suck" as many people believed and even if her voice was dubbed (she was Danish in origin), she didn't have much line to say other than "I can't", "I love you" and those sort of sentences. It was her non-verbal performances that became the highlight. The scenes where she walks, moves, and stares took a great effort that made her memorable, second only to Christopher Lee.

The only objection I have is the finale during the castle fire where Mircalla tried to prevent Lestrange from saving her. As she did so, Karnstein mentally influenced her to attack Lestrange. Lestrange threw her away and as she tried to attack again, she's killed by the falling block. That was my complaint because she died not as a woman who loved Lestrange (which she really did) but as a monster who wanted to kill him (outside her own will). I sympathized with her a lot and in her final scenes, they should have shown Mircalla crying to Jonathan as a last goodbye, confirming her love to him.

My only other wish was to see more of Yutte Steensgard in other Hammer films but she quit soon after and moved to America because she was felt "unappreciated" by the industry. I do hope she made a good living whatever she's doing now.

Okay that's it for my comment. This comes from a sentimental man who loved watching horror movies and tries to find a meaning behind every film. And Lust for a Vampire would make a great film to me provided that they extended the ending.

This is the third German movie that I watched. Previously I've seen Goodbye Lenin & Vaya Con Dios, and I really enjoyed them. These recent movies have helped the German film industry away from the "all-sex" stigma it has been associated with all this time. Instead it improves the plot and characterization on the same level as French cinema, perhaps even surpasses it.

The movie tells the story about the chubby girl Mareike Falken (Marie-Luise Schramm) who aspire to become a model to escape her own insecurities: she had just recently lost her stepfather (whom she loved dearly), constantly clashing with her mother, jealousy with her younger siblings and disliked by most of her friends at school.

And to make things worst, she suffered from a disease which cause her hair to fall out and threaten her dreams. How will she survive this? Is she fated to be unhappy forever?

I really like they way the conflict is portrayed. Some of them might be a little harsh but in real life, that's what most likely to happen. This will not be complete without the role of Mareike's mother Jutta that was portrayed fantastically by Birge Schade. She has to cope with her daughter's rebellion and needs to have her own life at the same time.

Overall, I found the movie to be very emotional, not only because I can relate to every single issue, but the fact that despite all their differences, Marieke was the one her mother's loved the most in the end.

Everyone was clapping hands when the movie ended. It was a great experience for me. Look forward to watch more German cinemas in the future. And please release the DVD in Sydney. Danke schön und tsusch!