Film Review: Daybreakers courtesy of @reviewbrisbane
Anyway, the movie. Daybreakers is set in 2019, and almost all humans in the world have been turned into vampires. A large corporation™ is harvesting humans kept in suspended animation for their blood, but blood stocks are running very low which means there are plenty of starving vampires (or “subsiders”) around, causing more and more social problems. Ethan Hawke‘s character is in charge of finding a blood substitute that the corp can sell to keep the vampire population fed and the corporation rich. Unlike most vampires, Hawke refuses to drink human blood for ethical reasons and doesn’t like the idea of the human race being totally wiped out.
Hawke bumps into some renegade humans, led by Claudia Karvan and Willem Dafoe who are hiding from the vampires. Dafoe’s character used to be a vampire, but he stumbled on a cure for vampirism, and Hawke realises that rather than search for a substitute for blood, the world can be rid of vampires altogether.
The rest of the film shows the humans fighting back, set against the background of blood getting scarcer and scarcer, leading to blood riots and a fascist crackdown against the hungry subsiders. This side of the story was interesting, and could have been played out in a lot more detail if the film was turned into a novel (or series of novels) – there would be lots of scope for alliances and double-crossing between the powerful vampires, the subsiders and the humans.
Since a lot of Daybreakers was filmed in Brisbane, it was good to see familiar places posing as Any Generic American City. Some of the places I recognised were the Old Museum, the Riverside Expressway, Adelaide St, the subway running between Central Station and Anzac Square, the GPO and the large apartments next to it, and one of the big foyers on the Riverside Plaza near Creek St. Oddly enough, the Batman Building didn’t get a look in.
If you like vampire movies, or if the story appeals to you, see Daybreakers in the cinema.
Brisbane Film Making: West End Film Festival is looking for movies
You can download the entry form here (pdf file). I had a quick look at the terms and conditions and they seem OK (of course, I’m not a lawyer) – you don’t give up your rights to your film, the festival just gets the right to use your film to promote the festival. You can also follow the West End Film Festival on Twitter, or become a fan of the Festival on Facebook.
Brisbane Rocky Horror: Movie and live floorshow at the Globe Theatre, Fri Jan 15
The cult musical movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show is coming to the Globe Theatre, at 220 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, on Friday January 15th at 7pm – click here for a Google Map.
The screening includes a live floorshow by the Cards 4 Sorrow troupe: here’s some examples of their work at previous Rocky Horror shows at the Globe:
A big part of the fun at Rocky Horror screenings is the audience participation – a whole family of different audience responses to yell at the screen when certain things get said have grown up. If you visit this page you’ll find a link to a script showing some of the things the audience yells (although every place has its own traditions). There’s also more information here. And if you know all this and want more, you might be interested in this link, where you can download songs recorded of the original 1975 Broadway production.
It’s a good idea to book tickets – if you turn up at the door there’s a good chance all tickets will have sold out. You can book tickets here – they’re $17.50 unreserved or $30 for reserved seats. This is definitely an 18+ event only. If you like using Facebook to keep track of what you’re going to, there’s a Facebook event here.
If you’re getting to the Globe Theatre by public transport, you can catch a train to Fortitude Valley station, walk out from the station onto Brunswick St, turn right and the theatre is literally about 100 metres away. Or you can catch a 370, 375 or 379 bus from the bus stop on Adelaide St in the city near the corner of Ann St, and get off at stop 211 on Brunswick St. You have to cross Brunswick St and then keep walking the same way the bus was going – you’ll be at the Globe Theatre after only 200m or so. All these stops are shown on the Google Map, and you can use Translink’s journey planner to find bus and train timetables.
Brisbane Film Festivals – Palestinian Days
The Justice for Palestine group is presenting the Palestinian Days film festival from this Friday, October 16, to Sunday, October 18, at the Schonell Theatre at the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus – click here for a Google Map.
There are seven sessions over the weekend. The opening session at 6.30pm on Friday October 16 costs $20 or $12 concession, and includes food and will be opened by Ambassador Izzat Abdul Hadi, head of the Palestinian delegation to Australia. All other sessions are $10, or $8 concession. Tickets for the entire festival are $50, or a day pass is $15 or $15 concession. If you can’t afford a session, please book and let the organisers know and they’ll be able to arrange a discount or free entry for you.
The features at each session are:
Friday October 16, 6.30pm
Lemonade – Palestinian brothers try to transcend their predicament as refugees by selling lemonade in their school break.
Arna’s Children: a film about a children’s theatre group in Jenin run by Arna Mer-Khamis.
Saturday October 17, 11am
Letter from Sarah – a 12-year old Palestinian girl writes a script about her life.
Palestine Blues – looks at how the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and the building of the Wall, has affected the Palestinian people. By Nida Sinnokrot.
Saturday October 17, 2pm
Frontiers of Dreams and Fears: looks at the life of Palestinian children living in refugee camps.
Jerusalem – the East Side Story: about the Israeli efforts to drive Palestinians out of East Jerusalem.
Saturday October 17, 7.30pm
Palestine, Summer 06: Captures the mood of Palestine as Israel attacked Gaza and Lebanon.
Arus el Jaleel (Bride of Galillee): Story of Fatma HAwari, bombed by Israeli forces in 1948 and left in a wheelchair.
Sunday October 18, 11am
Sunday October 18, 2pm
Jenin Jenin: The Palestinian side of 2002′s Battle of Jenin.
Since You Left: Mohammed Bakri visits the graveside of his mentor, Emile Habibi and reflects on what has happened since Habibi’s death.
Sunday, October 18 6pm
My Beloved Homeland: Features music from Palestinians, including warsinger Rim Banna, Jawaher Shofan, the El-Funoun Popular Palestinian Dance Troupe, Mustafa al-Kurd, and the Sarayett Rammallah Troupe for Performance and Dance.