Another weekend of high and low culture

Harvie Krumpet: The Arts Channel put this claymation gem that won the 2003 Oscar on after their fascinating series on the painter Raphael.
Harvie Krumpet is the life story of a Polish immigrant to Australia, and a very sad but horrifically funny tale it is.
But that doesn't prohibit anyone from laughing with the really black humour involving personal misfortune, accidents of history and of your own making, grandparental home schooling, depression and its cures, Alzheimer's and its mercies, magnetic skull plates and nudism (don't ask).
It was great fun and highly recommended if you can find it in the DVD shop!
The 2003 Oscar was absolutely well-deserved.

Favourite "Fakt": In nude dancing, after the music stops, not everything does.

City of God: Altogether not much of a laughing matter there, but nonetheless riveting stuff.
It was amazing that I didn't really notice I was watching a film instead of a documentary about the Rio slum city of that name.
At times it was extremely painful to watch, as in the scene where one of the gang members is forced to choose which of the two captured children-gangsters he has to shoot dead. Sophie's Choice was almost pathetic in comparison. But glamour was far from it all.
Terrific acting by several dozen of assorted hoodlums, and you can't but think that legalising trade and sale of all drugs, plus encouraging gang members to get a proper girlfriend instead of hanging out in single gender gangs, would do something to that depressing situation they are stuck in.

Hot Nurses 2: I'm beginning to appreciate straight porn, even if it is largely from an anthropological perspective (I like to read the articles about it!) than for sexual arousal, or, godess forbid, sexual satisfaction. But during research for an update of my Auckland guide for sexually active guys, this particular video was playing for the punters' delectation. It's produced by Larry Flint of the Hustler empire. I haven't seen episode 1, nor the other 6, but I couldn't help notice that the actresses were quite well groomed and presentable if you were to introduce them in polite company. This compared to older porn material where most actresses looked like they had just finished a stint at the local brothel before getting on the set. Maybe Mr Flint specialises in slightly more upmarket production, who knows.
I was most pleasantly surprised by the calibre of the male actors, who usually play second fiddle in str8 porn scenarios. The guys were quite sexy (Alex was my favourite, great bod, big shoulder tattoo) and were not just there to provide a massive erect member for the girls to feast on. Is this to make porn more watchable for women and thus instantly double your potential market?
Unfortunately, still no male-male touching - there was enough of that between women - or almost acknowledging each other they were even there at separate ends of the women. Some frontiers evidently still exist.