There’s always sadness and violence in the news, crappy days at work, and other issues that everyone can relate to. It’s hard not to think about, and even harder to ensure you can keep seeing the positives that far outweigh the negatives.

My friend, the uber talented Kelly Zarb through her talent with colour, and craft (and love of chick flicks & chocolate) can cheer me up when I need it most. I have a few of her pieces (still yet to adorn my walls – need to find the right frames!) but this is another piece I think I must own, to be found in her Etsy store.

Soar is a piece representing getting rid of anxieties, and breaking free from the gilded cage that these negative feelings can feel like. I love Kelly’s use of bold, bright colours, as well as with this particular piece a small, vintage paper heart cut from a French novel. How cute is that?

Take the time to look around Kelly’s store – she makes adorable handcrafted singlets, brooches, bags – the sky is the limit. (And she’s teaching me a few things along with crafty gal Em!)

Just a bit of eye candy. For the girls and guys. I think Miranda is the only model currently that I think ‘supermodel’. She seems to have so much of a ‘star-like’ quality, and I know Gisele, Heidi, Karolina, Doutzen are present day big names but honestly.. know nothing about them except oh, isn’t Gisele dating Leonardo DiCaprio? Or is that so last year?

She’s the epitome of the girl next door, yet looks wondrous with little to no makeup (who can claim that?!) and has dimples. She’s quite renowned for the dimples, and being cute, sexy, adorable and can work such a range of different types of fashion shoots. From David Jones to Victoria’s Secrets, through to Roberto Cavalli, to Betsey Johnson. She can rock any hair colour and she contributes to charity, posing naked on a recent cover of Rolling Stone magazine in an effort to save koalas.

Maybe its a bit of Aussie pride. Miranda is the first Australian addition to the Victoria’s Secret Angels, and the annual parade in recent times has been quite the event with different musical guests, and the parade of hot women flouncing down the runway in little to nothing on. So, its a TV event with guys and girls watching for different reasons.. ah, the spectacle!

Then, there’s Orlando Bloom. Miranda hasn’t been all around town, cavorting with different hearthrobs of the month, and well known actors or rock stars. Oh, actually there was that random guy ‘Jay’ who was momentarily famous for being on ‘The City’ and dating Whitney Port, but I think he became more infamous for being an Aussie, being a player, and once dating Miranda Kerr. And his real name is actually Brent! Random fact I thought I’d share with you. Because I’m helpful like that. :)

If you could ‘be’ any model, who would you be? Leave me a comment and tell me why. Fashion sense? Stunning looks? Who their current arm candy is?

Hmm. A dilemma. After being apalled by her live performance, vowing not to be impressed by anything she would release, I may have changed my mind. As I wrote here after seeing Lisa Mitchell live as a support act to Jason Mraz earlier this year, it’s quite funny that I’m quite (reluctantly) enjoying her album Wonder. From the first audition on Australian Idol in 2006, she definitely has a unique style and I think the songs on the album really epitomise who she is as an artist (I could have been the next Australian Idol judge!)

If you haven’t been introduced yet, check out her first single Neopolitan Dreams that featured on an advertisement and garnered more popularity via TV more than radio airplay.

Her new single called Coin Laundry, singing a sweet tale of having a laundromat crush is damn catchy, I have to say. Odd videoclip but apparently that’s the norm with ‘alternative’ artists. Also – does the guy in this not look completely like a less sullen Michael Pitt? Dead ringer!

Last week on Australian TV, the finale of True Beauty went to air. (I believe this race was run and won in February in the U.S) But this became the talk of Twitter on a Thursday night. It was television watching that could replace comfort eating. It was comfort watching. Bad for you but it feels so right! The premise of the TV show were that ten contestants who thought they were going to be honoured with a ‘True Beauty’ trophy or honour – were actually going to be tested on outer and inner beauty, via hidden challenges in order to show the judges if they were also beautiful on the inside.

Pageant contestant, and queen of the oh-so-faux (or is it?) smile Julia Anderson won. The judges commented that she was under the radar, and nobody ever saw her coming on the show. Well of course not. She was nice. She always passed the challenges. She was decent, honest, charitable, compassionate. In TV terms that equates to ‘boring’. She wasn’t 100% perfect, and she still had some bitchy things to say about some contestants, but nowhere near on the scale of the other contestants – far more memorable because of how nasty, how vain, or how mean they were to even little kids.

Ray, who was my eye candy favourite in one challenge ignored a portly child sitting on his own, instead preferring to sit with the ‘cool kids’ and upon the loner kid walking away said ‘That kid’s going to grow up to be a sniper’. Shocking. But it was a scene that you couldn’t turn away from! The other kids at the table (actors) were offended. The judges were shocked.. and inevitably, Ray got booted with that particular comment served up to him after asking him ‘Do you think you’re a truly beautiful person?’

What does that say about just what keeps us entertained? Or how the winner of a TV show may not actually be that memorable? It just goes to show that being a villain or villainess may be a better option if you want more than 15 minutes of fame (though the picture above was published in People magazine’s Most Beautiful People issue as part of the prize). Just look at Heidi Montag. Look at Kristin Cavallari. They get invited out SO often because publicity is what they’ll get. Perez Hilton. Look at him. Surely he only has so many acquaintances because celebrities are far too afraid of incurring a child-like drawn on penis on a photo of them splashed across his website. Ah, fame.

Yes, I am going to be a ‘Gleek’. I work in IT, I can already be classified as a geek.. but after a single episode of Glee – I am a gleek. A fully fledged fan. And yes, a musical tv show that encourages the ‘Glee’ club of a high school, featuring a Breakfast Club-esque melange of characters can make it big with a preview episode. Two songs from the episode already feature on iTunes and I can’t stop singing along. With a cast featuring Cory Monteith (as the jock who can sing – doesn’t that sound like Zac Efron’s character in High School Musical..) Lea Michele as the musical/glee club superstar looking for her leading man, Matthew Morrison as the encouraging teacher, its the feel good musical comedy that will brighten up everyone’s days. Who needs another CSI? Who needs another Law & Order?

The first episode introduced us to Cory Monteith (formerly from Kyle XY) as Finn, being discovered singing in the shower to Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon. Its fantastic! Then the first of the songs featured on ITunes is a competing Glee club singing Rehab by Amy Winehouse. Its a joyous cover, and a must watch here and then the finale song that proves the Glee club of dysfunctionally memorable characters are going to be a hit – Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey. Check it out here if you know what’s good for you!

Officially, it premieres in the U.S on September 9th, and for Australians, we only have to wait til September 17th! (Believe me, that’s pretty instant for us) I certainly can’t wait, and its sure to be another water-cooler tv show that will be joyous to watch, and a highlight of any week.

Here it is. My favourite dance of Season 5 – So You Think You Can Dance. Without spoiling who the winner is (and this dance airs tomorrow, on 15/8 here in Australia) I think its okay for me to share this with you now. After seeing all of the episodes, and agreeing with a lot of the judges picks in the finale – this, Travis Wall’s debut as a choreographer (runner up from Season 2) is my favourite. He choreographed a contemporary in which Jason and Jeanine just take my breath away and make my heart race all within a minute and a half to this song, an accoustic version of If It Kills Me by Jason Mraz.

What kills me about this – is that later on, you find out that the kiss that closes it, oh so sweetly, was not even choreographed. Be still.. my sentimental heart.

As prefaced in this post, this review has been quite difficult to put together. I generally find the more I love something or the more I relate to it, the harder it is to passionately and eloquently convey that feeling in words.

What I want to ensure is that whilst I will briefly describe why this film is close to my heart; the review itself will be as objective as I can write it. This is because it deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible; with or without knowing about my own personal connection.

I was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1981. However, my mother and two older sisters were born in East Timor, where my Mum met my Portuguese father who had gone to East Timor in 1969 to join the resistance. My father was a part of Fretilin, where he fought alongside Jose Ramos Horta and many others against the advancing Indonesian militia. Besides Horta, my father was one of the few who spoke English quite well, and spoke publicly on behalf of the East Timorese, and the freedom fighters fighting to keep this small country safe.

Whilst the story of the Balibo Five, as they were collectively known, is close to Australia’s heart, the film manages to convey it in an open manner, so that it can resonate with an international audience.

A major flaw of many Australian films is that they seemingly try so hard to convey the ‘uniqueness’ of Australian living, or stereotype it so massively that it polarises and antagonises any audience outside of the Australian coastline. The fact that this film manages to overcome that stereotype is such a relief.

Robert Connolly, and co-writer David Williamson treat the story of the Balibo Five with sensitivity, having researched it closely with historians, and consultants that know their subject matter.

The movie does not hold back in portraying what most people outside of Government understand; that these journalists were gunned down not by accident, but with the Indonesian militia fully aware that they were journalists trying to make the world aware of what was happening in this small and troubled nation.

The ensemble cast is led by Oscar Isaac (Body of Lies) in the role of now President Horta, and Anthony LaPaglia (Without A Trace) as Roger East – the sixth and lesser known journalist who travelled to East Timor to investigate the disappearance and murder of the Balibo Five.

LaPaglia, who played a key role in bringing this story to screen is strong, yet understated in playing a jaded journalist, close to retirement that does not think he’s got the stamina to be tracking down missing journalists. Despite his attachment to the film and lead role; the ensemble itself immerse themselves in their roles. Damon Gameau as Greg Shackleton had the possibly tougher role in portraying the best known of the five; his iconic editorial pieces still representative of the loss felt by their families, and Australia as a nation in 1975.

For Gyton Grantley and Nathan Phillips as Garry Cunningham and Malcolm Rennie respectively, setting aside the notoriety that came from appearing in Underbelly or Snakes on a Plane instilled more of a pressure on them to portray the journalists in the best possible manner. Cast and crew subsequently have acknowledged that being in Dili, being the first feature film to be shot there has been life changing. The five actors stayed in the same place of those they depict – making it more than blindly reading from a script. This was real; there was a real loss, felt by more than one nation.

This sensitive characterisation as the young, passionate journalists are so believable and so intrinsically nuanced and considerate to the story that the viewer is with them. In Dili, in Balibo with their wide-eyed excitement and sense of adventure we are there with them thanks to an authentic looking 1970s East Timor and Darwin backdrop, shot by Tristan Milani (The Bank, Three Dollars)

With an authentic, and stirring score – contributed to by the wondrous Lisa Gerrard (whose hauntingly distinctive voice has featured in Black Hawk Down, Man On Fire, and Ali to name a few) – this has to be the most compelling, confronting Australian films I can recall.

Aside from personal association, and the memories of family and stories conjured by those directly related to the production of this film; it’s a hard movie to watch. For all the right reasons.

I can quite confidently say that many times movies encourage me to look up history books (okay, Wikipedia) and research what is real and what is fact – whether the movie be based on fact, or be ‘loosely based on a true story’ as some like to disclaim across opening titles. I’m not quite sure what Sofia Coppola had in mind when taking on the project of Marie Antoinette, but it certainly wasn’t to capture more than the materialistic whims and petulant behaviour of an Austrian teenaged duchess put into an arranged marriage to a French prince.

Its undeniable that this film is quite visually stunning; the palette of colours on display is breathtaking and likely to lift anyone’s spirits as well as the costuming; designed by Milena Canonero which won the Oscar award for this film. The lush, colourful and playful designs were quite easily the highlight – as such even at the British Oscars (BAFTA awards) costume design, make up & hair, as well as production design were nominated. Where it is important – categories such as screenplay, best film or best acting – they would never come into it.

At my best assumption, Coppola wanted to be able to portray the notoriously divisive young monarch and dauphine to be angst ridden, conflicted, and a victim of circumstance; but without having seen a larger portion of Marie Antionette’s life, It leaves us with more questions than when we entered. What we are pushed to care about is Marie Antoinette’s failed seduction of her husband, and the fact that he is either so disinterested (or possibly just not attracted to her) that it takes seven years for them to have a child, something which her sends letter after letter coaxing/demanding her to do in order to cement the ‘bond’ between Austria and France. This seems to be the most important aspect of the film, of the plot; the attempts at lovemaking between Marie Antoinette, and husband Louis XVI (played very statically by Jason Schwartzman) and the great ability for her to ‘comfort shop’, spending more money than she or the monarchy can afford. Which is oh, so realistic. Kudos to Kirsten Dunst for acting that out so well!

One of the aspects of this film that grates on me is the soundtrack/score – whilst of course its great to be able to blend what is traditional music for the period of the film it represents, clashing it with loud and brash punk/pop music just doesn’t work.

As pretty and cutesy this is (visually); it really leaves me feeling empty which shows beauty is only skin deep. Or.. ‘screen deep’ in this case?

To mark the start of my inagural ‘Hot Man Movie Marathon’ on the weekend with my squimpering kindred spirit Jenna (Squimper = squeal and whimper in one!) Ryan Gosling was our first pick of the night. Who can forget him in The Notebook? But as we’d both seen it many times, and didn’t want to start the night with tears, Jenna introduced me to Lars & The Real Girl, a movie I’d definitely heard all about especially with the premise involving this.

A delusional young guy strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.

It sounds completely bizarre, and like it would be entirely ‘arthouse’ doesn’t it? After watching the film, or even throughout it I realised that whilst the premise on the surface was entirely ‘far fetched’, Lars & The Real Girl could be one of the most touching, heart-warming films about the difference between first impressions, and truly understanding someone.

Ryan Gosling completely immerses himself in the role. From the first moments where he is introduced as Lars, the extremely shy, nervous brother-in-law of a compassionate and coaxing sister in law (played beautifully by Emily Mortimer) who just wants him to come to dinner, you forget its Ryan Gosling. You forget that he was Noah in that unforgettable role alongside Rachel McAdams in The Notebook. And that role, that film is iconic. So.. that is saying a lot!

Lars lives in the garage of his family home; where his brother Gus (played by an understatedly stoic Paul Schneider) and pregnant wife Karin live, increasingly concerned that Lars is spending too much time on his own, as he’s painfully shy and avoids any sort of physical touch or human contact. Despite this, he has an admirer in Margot at the workplace.

Via another co-worker who seemingly has no trouble in sharing internet porn with Lars on any given weekday, he introduces Lars to the Real Doll website; anatomically correct life size ‘dolls’ that can be just as good as any girlfriend! (Note the sarcasm here..)

Here comes the quirky part. Lars orders a real doll, names her Bianca, and adopts her as his girlfriend. The scene where he introduces it/her to Gus & Karin is priceless. Because to Lars, she isn’t a doll. She’s a real girl. And she has a back story, a history, oh my; her luggage was stolen, she has no clothes and so forth. Patricia Clarkson, as the Dr/Psychologist is brought in to help Lars, under the guise of ‘treating’ Bianca medically in order to understand the delusion Lars is believing and this relationship is developed so subtly and wonderfully.

Whilst this movie could have turned into some obscure, bizarre play on a premise which involved a guy in love with a ‘doll’ which in any other movie might have just been a ‘sex doll’ – the warmth and beauty of the film that envelops the viewer as they’re watching is that they become as much a part of Lars & Bianca’s relationship, as much as the townsfolk do- all for the love of Lars. What makes this film such a lovely surprise and why I urge anyone to see this quickly is that the ‘doll’ itself isn’t the focus. Don’t make that mistake. Don’t be so quick to judge. Quite soon what you will realise is that the film is about the mistakes that can be made from first impressions, and that no small deed goes unnoticed.

Go. Rent or buy this movie now!