Genre: Teen Culture in Film and Television

I've almost graduated out of the system. That is, out of the bewildering, all-consuming years they call adolescence. Being a teenager means everything, and then nothing. Your world is a thin strip of moonlight from a door cracked just slightly open. And what is beyond that? You don't know. So of course being young and curious, you are fucking obsessed with it. It's an ideal world where freedom runs wild, happiness is choice and you're free to dance with danger.

Representation of teen in media is tricky business. Naïve portrayals of teenagers are ridiculed yet sensationalised ones are criticised and dubbed "dangerous" and "inflammatory". It is the realistic ones which reign over these. They are masterpieces which portray the bittersweet experience with a brutal honesty, capturing the fragility of our worlds and enthusiasm for the forbidden. 
Below are my five favourite depictions of teen culture in media: 

(please note that I have excluded all Sofia Coppola works from this post as I intend to do write-up on her soon)

A Week in Winter

This week I experienced new, more prominent forms of pain. I was let go, let down, put down, left behind. I gained insight into quiet absences, the fragility and condition of everything and the ready dark of this lying world. I was struck out into spaces alone and drifted about aimlessly, desperate to grasp something still, strong and constant. Experience destroys imagination. What dark things I use to paint with my mind with creativity, was ascertained yet cleanly eliminated by real events. Desolation and lunacy once romantic notions of justified angst were suddenly useless, meaningless and childish. Whims were scavenged in worlds away. Solace found form in the graceful words of John Green, the stark isolation of Sofia Coppola's visions and the ruthless escapades crafted by George R. R. Martin.

In Conversation with Jeffrey Katzenberg: CEO of DreamWorks

I live in a the cultural capital of Australia, Melbourne. The first ever feature-length film was filmed in Melbourne, The Story of Kelly Gang. Although, aside from this fact, Melbourne is not a city known for its contributions to the film industry. Recently, however, DreamWorks studio celebrated its 20th anniversary and the Australia Centre for Moving Image (ACMI) stepped in to help honour the occasion. Debuting on the 12th of April, ACMI opened a DreamWorks animation exhibition. The show itself is a lively archive of storyboards, props from the film sets, concept-drawings and interactive displays of the animated delights. On its opening night, a very special guest was invited to participate in a Q&A session: none another than CEO of DreamWorks, the man himself Jeffrey Katzenberg. And this is the legend I found myself seated before on that very night. 

Jeffrey Katzenberg is no mere businessman. He is the co-founder of DreamWorks, known for his tenure as co-chairman of the Walt Disney Studios during its Renaissance Period and his time as President of Production at of Paramount Pictures. But he is also a notable film producer, having conceived the early ideas for The Lion King, Kung Fu Panda, The Little Mermaid and Madagascar and served as executive producer for The Prince of Egypt, Shrek, Shark Tale and Chicken Run. The night was hosted by Channel 10's Executive General Manager and panellist of The Gruen Transfer, Russel Howcroft. 

Blogathon: Favourite Movie Titles

This is my first entry into a film blogathon. Brittani over at Rambling Film is hosting her first ever and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make this my debut participation. The idea is brilliant yet simple: choose your favourite movie titles from A-Z. She also specified that it isn't necessary to like the film you have chosen. I thoroughly enjoyed putting this post together: I was reminded of some golden oldies, struggled to choose between some (so many good ones for letter "G" and "D") and realised that there are less than 20 films made that start with the letter "X", most of which are taken by X-Men. In identifying which film titles I deemed to be the best, I looked not only at originality and concise articulation, but humour, irony and at times, simple appropriateness. A perfect film title not only provides eloquent summation but can push intrigue across to a potential audience. 

Trailer: Magic in the Moonlight + Clouds of Sils Maria

The last 24 hours have transpired two very promising promos of two highly anticipated films: Magic in the Moonlight - Woody Allen's film for 2014 and French director, Olivier Assayas' film Clouds of Sils Maria which is set to compete for the coveted Palm d'Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Both trailers exhibit the films to be simply sparkling with potential. 

"The World Is Not A Wish Granting Factory"

Exams are fast approaching. A constant level of insanity is beginning to descend on everyone at uni. Manic stress is commonplace and people are scrambling for some form of solace. Of course rather than focusing on my massive contracts law textbooks I am doing anything but. I've had a pretty crazy week: I attended a benefit concert at my high school and a live show by legendary band Rüfüs. This week wasn't all hooray though: I got fired from one my jobs by text and had the opportunity to attend a preview screening of The Rover with director David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) in attendance but realised it was the night before one of my exams. Sanity, for me, was retrieved via an exciting and indulgent week in film. 

I managed to score tickets to an exclusive preview screening of The Fault In Our Stars. I feel that I need to explain the upending anticipation for the release of this film: 

John Green, the author of the source material, is easily one of the most eloquent writers we have today. As a movie buff, a cinephile I harbour a certain contempt towards sickly sentiment. But the novel - The Fault in Our Stars - is anything but. It's spiky, electric, ingenious and realistic emotion. The characters, so patently crafted are real creatures of this world. The film is directed by Josh Boone (remember his debut work Stuck in Love) and is adapted by the writers of The Spectacular Now and 500 Days of Summer. The cast is lead by Shailene Woodley whose naturalistic performances have garnered much praise and attention. And top this all off, the soundtrack is phenomenal - with tunes from the likes of M83, Grouplove, Lykke Li, Birdy, Jake Bugg and Kondaline. 

Preview Screening: Healing

Soft and lightly paced, Healing takes it sweet time telling you its story. Its a cinematographers dream - Academy award winning cinemagician Andrew Leslie is given much artistic license in this film. The shots are never short and sharp but rather are quiet, lingering moments. We hear the wind, we absorb the august, illustrous views and we can almost feel the thick, cold smog kiss our skin as eagles soar through the blue of the wild morning. It's a refreshing piece of cinema which deviates away from generic storylines and whilst it is not exactly unpredictable, it is a clean, modern beautiful feature forwarding profound notions which are worth considering. It was once again a true privilege being able to meet the director, Craig Monahan and lead, Don Hany at the conclusion of the film.   

Healing introduces a small circle of prisoners who have just been transferred to minimum security prison in rural Victoria, Wron Wron. In particular, we have Viktor Kahdem (Don Hany), an Iranian man whom utters few words and is hard bent on remaining isolated. It is case worker Matt Perry (Hugo Weaving) who endeavours to incite some opportunities for rehabilitation via the introduction of an innovative new program. In collaboration with Healesville Sanctuary, Matt Perry brings injured raptors - proud creatures such as eagles, falcons and owls to the prison. Viktor Kahdem fronts the program, and we gradually come to see how it is actually a paradigm for his own Healing.  

Revelation.

I had something of a revelation. In the midst of all the preview screenings, of creating film collages, of drafting reviews and pouring over online production notes - I came to a sudden realisation. I realised why I love film. It's one thing to finally identify something that you can integrate into your identity, a hobby - an interest which comes wholly and incontrovertibly you. It's another to finally appreciate why it means so much to you.

As a young girl, my interests would flit briefly from one obsession to another. I dabbled in the simple pleasures of photography, delved shortly but deeply into the world of cooking and spent months obsessing over classic authors such as Oscar Wilde and Jane Austen. I was constantly being inspired and motivated to write stories and poems, to spend hours cooking dinners on whim, dressing to look like someone or other. I even had a brief stint of being overtly dedicated to the idea of going into the world of politics. I loved shouting about injustices and the idea of having the power to do something about it seemed somewhat delirious, fantastical. But nothing ever lasted. It was when I was thinking about this that I realised why I love film. Because film endorses each and every one of these. 

Upon watching The Darjeeling Limited, Under the Tuscan Sun and The Endless Summer I would be filled with wanderlust and spend hours dreaming about travel. Julie and Julia inspired something of a long-time hobby of cooking, just as The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover did. The controversial Lions for Lambs was responsible for my brief love affair with politics. My phase of period dramas of Jane Austen, Brönte sisters and Charles Dickens adaptations had me convinced I needed to write a novel. 
The irony of this all is when I watch films about films. The Purple Rose of Cairo for instance or more specifically we come to Hugo. 

For those of you that have seen the dazzling Martin Scorsese film then you will understand this. It was this revelation which lead me to finally deciding on a Favicon for Cinema 13. A Favicon is that tiny icon located at the start of the URL. And here I would like to acknowledge two great men:
Martin Scorsese: a man who continues to inspire a generation.   
Georges Méliès: a man who inspired the world. 

Easter Break. Cinema Inhabitant.

I visited the cinema 5 times over Easter break. I saw Divergent, The Invisible Woman, The Lego Movie, L'épreuve D'une Vie and Noah. On my trusty laptop I saw Nyphomaniac Volume 1, The Cove (again) and had some fun with my Woody Allen classics. I also spent about half a day watching the extended trailer for The Fault In Our Stars again and again and well... again. Scroll down to read 4 short reviews. 

Preview Screening: The Invisible Woman (Ralph Fiennes in Attendance)

The preview screening of Ralph Fiennes' second film The Invisible Woman was, without a shred of doubt, the most extraordinary cinematic experience I have ever partaken in. The film itself was a quiet, subtle masterpiece with beautiful nuances: from Dickens, the man himself, to the love story that bloomed so naturally (and realistically) to the intriguing portrayal of life as a writer. Ralph Fiennes is an actor distinguished by a long line of high-calibre performances. First establishing himself in the film industry as an actor willing and able to take on roles of any nature, he has now engaged in film making. The Invisible Woman is his second outing as a director and it proves to be a masterful feature; subtle, brilliant and entirely watchable. The thrill of being able to see a terrific film then meeting the man principally responsible for its creation was not one which went by unappreciated. 

The Invisible Woman is a biographical film, based on the Claire Tomlin novel "The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens". It chronicles the infamous affair between a young actress, Nelly (Felicity Jones) and the British author, Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes).