Oi, "Doctor Who" collectors!

The April 2007 edition of Brit mag "SFX" comes bagged with a sheet of spiffy "D/W" fridge magnets. Attach those bills, invitations and "Far Side" cartoons to your favourite whitegood using images of the 10th Doc and Martha Jones, the TARDIS, K-9, a Dalek, a Cyberman and the "Doctor Who" and "SFX" logos. Orstraylians can purchase air-freight copies from the larger newsagencies for ~$15.95. The magazine itself is tops, too.

Oi, Sydneysiders!

Don't forget Earth Hour on Saturday from 7.30-8.30pm. Help reduce greenhouse gas pollution by switching off your lights and any appliances on "stand-by". Says who? The WWF, mate! No, not the WWE, the WWF. Completely different bunch of animals.

It's a living

Just finished a phone interview with UK pin-up Danni Wells. She was a sweetie. Among other things, we talked about TV's "Friends", those little Santa chocolates, girls' football, serious expressions, Thomas Harris novels, preferred hair colour and latex.

Big Tuesday

Went to a preview screening of "300" at the IMAX cinema (dumb fun - but more fun than dumb). It was ridiculously chilly inside, so I had to activate the hood of my jacket and wear it for the duration of the flick. I then drank pints of passionfruity James Squire Hop Thief Ale at the Malt Shovel Brewery with LA and his mate D., who organises the visual effects at major rock concerts (eg. Black Eyed Peas). Man, could he dish some backstage goss. When those two did the sensible thing and called it a night, I did the stoopid thing and headed to the Pure Platinum strip club to ogle naked ladies. Stayed out until idiot o'clock flattering a petite Thai beauty (aren't they all?) who said her name was Alissia. In the words of Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, "If I believed it, it was my business." No ill effects except a morning headache, tiredness...and my Poindexter conscience reminding me of the videogames plural I could have had with the money :-)

Illuminating

Living within ambling distance of a university (in my case, UNSW) makes public lectures such as Professor Helmut Tributsch's "Solar Energy: Everlasting, Environmentally Friendly Energy" a convenient substitute to prime-time telly.

Here's the gist of the multi-credentialed scientist's speech as I recall it. Any errors are mine and due to either fatigue or the geological deposits in my cranium.

* We should base our energy technology on the processes evolved by nature (seeking to increase their efficiency where possible).
* Solar hydrogen offers a virtually limitless, "clean" solution.
* However, photovoltaics is currently too expensive and photocatalytic water splitting - which has the benefit of turning saltwater to fresh - requires further research to find a stable catalyst.
* In the meantime, we need to begin harvesting wave and wind energy.
* Hydrogen produced by the former (in "wave buoy fields") could be used to create a biomass upgradeable to the same fuels and chemicals required by the existing infrastructure - but in a more environmentally friendly way.
* This continuity would allow for a smooth transition from fossil fuels.
* We also need to simultaneously pursue other bio-analogue and innovative systems, eg. tensile water technology.
* Nuclear reactors alone won't work as they produce electricity but not fuels!
* Following the above model, with sufficient political backing and funding, sustainable energy will become cheaper and available worldwide.

Rockin' horror pictures show

A free ticket got me to Paddington RSL for the final session and prize-giving of the A Night Of Horror short film fest. Delightfully disturbing productions from Australia, North America and Europe kept me there. Copious amounts of wine'n'cheese at the after-party didn't hurt either. But seriously, the quality of mini-movies was so high, I hope to be present for the whole three days next year (I'm damn sorry I missed the Lovecraft stuff). The only downer was the 11th-hour no-show by the winner of the Search For A Scream Queen component - sponsored by our magazine - due to illness. Still, that gives us a great excuse for a follow-up article/saucy photo shoot.

My definition of irony

A pub band covering Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way".

Noble reprise

There are two easy ways to wake up with a sore jaw: enter a biker bar and question the sexuality of someone's beverage or watch comedian Ross Noble perform live.

I first saw the English-Aussie jester (a proud Geordie, he now spends 50% of his time here after marrying a local gal) on April 5 last year on his Randomist tour.

CM, AM and I caught him again yesterday at the crumbling Enmore Theatre. Ross's latest string of shows is entitled Fizzy Logic, not that that means anything...

Except for bits of the final half hour, I don't think any of his spiel was prepared. Most of the time he just questioned audience members and riffed off their replies.

And it was hilarious.

It boggles my brain how anyone can improvise an hour-long stream of sense within nonsense, take a 15-minute break, then do another 90 minutes - and never pause or fall flat.

Even more impressive is the way Noble goes off on tangent after tangent, then suddenly resumes the original story, leaving us stunned by his oral misdirection.

Elvis Costello is quoted as saying, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." I think the same applies here, so I'll cease my deconstruction.

If you want surrealism, lightning wit, wacky accents and actions, punchlines ya won't see coming, and can handle an aching mandible, get to a Ross Noble gig.

Joker poker

The only games I've ever programed were text adventures I wrote in BASIC many moons ago on the Commodore 64. Essentially "Choose Your Own Adventure" books made electrons, they rarely offered the user more than two options, at least one of which would lead to a grisly demise. The closest these things got to number-crunching was in a karate sim I co-authored with my schoolfriend WD (now MIA), where a random number was secretly generated to determine if you passed your grading and rose to the next rank. As much fun as I had creating these corny quests, I was well aware of their shortcomings. They had zero replay value, so as soon as I'd convinced a pal to sit through the various in-jokes and insulting remarks whenever an incorrect option was chosen, it was deletion time.

Long story short: it's beyond my ability to write a decent computer game, but that doesn't stop me recognising when one's lame.

Which brings us to "World Poker Tour" on the Xbox. Initially, it seemed no different to the many Texas Hold 'Em Poker titles I've encountered, apart from the fact the competitors had groan-worthy names like Tim Buck II and Mandy Lifeboats. I had little trouble winning the satellites or super satellites, but the best I could manage in a tournament finale was second. (When it's only virtual money at stake, I tend to get impatient and take unnecessary risks.)

Eventually, I abandoned my customised character's lacklustre career and decided to give one of the pros a shot. I chose Evelyn "Evybabee" Ng for the simple reason that she's a hotty. Selecting a Quick Draw tourney against the WPT All-Stars, I was horrified to see, among my five opponents, a second, identically dressed Evelyn. "That's even worse than when Blogger says '1 comments'," thought I.

The lovely Ms Ng didn't triumph at that table, but my newfound contempt for "World Poker Tour" gave me an idea. I switched to Antonio "The Wizard" Esfandiari. That wasn't the idea - I just felt like a change. Again selecting a QD showdown against the pros, I went all-in on the first hand with crappy cards. The famous five folded and I won a small pot. In round two, I repeated the manoeuvre. And they folded. It took 11 hands before my bluff was successfully called with pocket aces. It didn't matter - by then, I was far enough in front to sustain the loss.

After 30 hands and as many all-ins, I'd won the tournament (having collected 24 pots and directly knocked out three opponents). Despite being on the highest difficulty level, the AI had spectacularly failed to detect that I was using the same strategy every single time and had to be fibbing my fundament off. Now, we all know that as your stack grows it becomes easier to bully, but surely even imitations of world-class players should have realised what was happening.

What a joke! Next time I want a challenge, I'll hunt down a C64 and that classic trial'n'error text adventure "Deadlands". I must have given a copy to someone...

Blue versus red

The 2006 A-League and J-League winners - Sydney FC and Urawa Red Diamonds - met earlier this evening at Aussie Stadium in an AFC Champions League game. I was there, near enough to smell the grass, with CM (who'd had the foresight to purchase an extra ticket in my absence), AM, PB and his fiancee S.

Those who care will have already watched the highlights or read an online report. In summary, SFC scored almost immediately and were soon 2-0 up. But URD gradually shut down their opponents' attack through a combination of skill and - it must be said - sneaky simulation. They pegged one back before half-time, fluked a second after a goalie spill and finished the stronger in a 2-all draw.

While 7/8 of the 21k crowd were cheering the Aussies in light blue, we were drowned out by the singing, war-drumming visitors in red. I've honestly never been more impressed by a band of supporters - and so many banners to lug overseas! They can take a slab of the credit for their team's recovery. I don't envy Sydney playing the return leg in front of the vocal Urawa locals.

I'm not complaining about the tied result. Considering SFC only finished fourth in the 2007 A-League comp (behind my team, Newcastle - hehehe), it was heartening as an Oz soccer fan to see them match it with Japan's top club.

I also spotted a funny T-shirt while making a beer run during the break. Worn by a guy, it read: "Tell your boobs to stop staring at my eyes." Made me chuckle.

Home bittersweet home

It's good to be back - though, alas, I only have 4.5 days of freedom left. Let's see how much I can cram into them :-)

Dispatch #6

I'm back in Adelaide, sitting in a darkened Internet cafe, waiting for the Hilton Hotel to mobi me to say my executive suite's ready. Why am I wasting money on hoity-toity accommodation? 'Cos the World Police And Fire Games are now in progress and the cheaper motel/hostel rooms were taken weeks ago (when I booked).

Filling in the gaps...

Saturday (St Patrick's Day) in Alice saw me perusing the Old Ghan Museum And Heritage Railway and the National Road Transport Hall Of Fame before returning my refuelled and unscathed rental car.

J. and M.'s wedding - the original reason for this trip - commenced at 5pm at the Desert Park. The service was due to be held in an outdoor amphitheatre. However, a terrific storm blew in and everyone had to be shuttled back to the restaurant. With vows exchanged, the alcohol flowed, sumptuous food was served and the DJ earnt his money. I cannot confirm or deny rumours that, at one point, I danced and sang along to Garth Brooks :-)

As the D/P is a proper nature reserve, the plug had to be pulled by 12am. The oldies and I grabbed a cab to Lassetters before the inevitable rush. Having not gambled once during my stay, I played pontoon for half an hour only to finish $15 down (there's no point trying to keep a high/low count when you're the only player at the table!). Sobered up with bottles of water while having an enlightening chat with an off-duty (so he said) drug cop and watching English soccer.

So much rain fell that the Todd River went from dry sand to a torrent that was still flowing on Sunday morning, when I rocked up to the Greyhound bus terminal.

Although 19 hours long, the journey here wasn't horrible. We watched a few old movies and got a fair glimpse at Coober Pedy, where countless giant sandcastles attest to the wealth of opals previously unearthed.

Tamara, I catch the Indian Pacific to Sydney. I won't be sitting up like I did the first time (to Perth!); I've got a first-class, single-sleeper cabin.


Random Alice Springs fact: Just as in Darwin, you're as likely to see someone drinking a carton of iced coffee as you are a cup of the hot stuff. It's hugely popular and there are brands we don't get in NSW - even "extra-strong" varieties.


Three bobs of trivia I couldn't cram into previous dispatches:

1. Around the Yulara (Uluru/Kata-Tjuta) area lives a creature called the itjaritjari, an eyeless marsupial mole that "swims" beneath the sand, eating lizards and insects. It's tiny, gold-furred and too cute.

2. While Mum (with whom I did most of my sightseeing) and I were standing outside the Macdonnell Hangar, chatting to the bloke in charge, we saw a willy-willy form and head our way. The fella told us to point our little fingers at it to make it go away. He was right!

3. The pub/restaurant Bojangles is the main Alice nightspot, with an amusing gents that must have freaked out many others before me. The door swings the opposite way to what the handle and hinges suggest. Inside, the taps don't correspond to the basins and the drier buttons have also been swapped. Do not attempt to operate while drunk!

Dispatch #5

Friday the 16th went entirely according to plan. The Reptile Centre was particularly memorable - I got to handle and hold a blue-tongue lizard, bearded dragon and so-called two-headed lizard. I also "wore" an olive python. It felt like a coil of garden hose resting on my shoulders.

It won't be too long before I finish "Daemonslayer" (the third Gotrek and Felix "Warhammer" yarn by William King), so I thought I'd better buy another book for the long trail home. Opted for Terry Pratchett's "The Last Continent", which lampoons our land down under.

Dispatch #4

It was worth the bum-numbing 450km(x2!) to experience the wonders of Uluru and Kata-Tjuta (aka The Olgas). From every angle, they were an oil painting waiting to happen. You don't expect so much flora'n'fauna - or so much water. Not only did we bushwalk past sizeable catchments at both formations, IT RAINED TWICE! First while we were at the excellent Uluru visitor centre, then again at the conclusion of our BBQ tea, as we watched the sun set on the iconic Aussie rock.

Today, I confined myself to tourist attractions around town:
* The "Cultural Precinct" (Albert Namatjira Gallery, Museum Of Central Australia, Connellan Hangar Aviation Museum, etc.)
* School Of The Air
* Bush Telegraph and the original "Alice Spring"
* Anzac Hill and the RSL War Museum

Tomorrow, I plan to check out the Reptile Centre, Royal Flying Doctor Service and whatever natural sights such as Standley (sic) Chasm I can fit in.


Random Alice Springs fact: Newspapers from the capital cities, eg. "The Australian", can cost double the cover price.

This is my 200th DorkGeekNerd post.

Dispatch #3

Mum and Dad flew in today. Spent time with them and Uncle J., Auntie L., cousin J., her fiance M., and their baby G.

Hired a car from Budget for the rest of my stay... The little hatchback they'd promised me over the phone was found to have a mechanical problem, which meant I got a free upgrade to a Commodore Executive.

Tried camel meat! At a place in the main mall called the Red Ochre Grill, I had a camel steak sandwich. The flesh was sliced thin and seemed quite red even after char-grilling. Mum and I both agreed it tasted like beef rump.

Tomorrow, I go to Uluru - or as we knew it at school, Ayers Rock. I'd always imagined it was located right next to Alice (or vice versa). Not so. The tour bus is swinging by here at 6am and I won't be back 'til midnight!

Can't wait to visit one of earth's natural wonders. However, I don't plan to climb it as apparently that's frowned upon by the local Aboriginal tribe.


Random Alice Springs fact: Grasshoppers abound!

Dispatch #2

Made it!

Am typing this entry at one of those coin-operated Pie Link terminals in the lobby of the Lasseters Hotel Casino in Alice.

The Ghan (pronounced like "can" not "khan") took 20 hours and was very bumpy! I had a first-class, single-sleeper cabin that included dinner and brekky in the restaurant. Probably not worth the moolah, though.

Finished Wm King's next G&F adventure, "Skavenslayer".

Also had a drinking sesh (Coopers Stout) with a German bloke my age named Michael whose company makes high-end automotive parts. An interesting dude with a knack for quoting figures on any business topic.

Was unexpectedly picked up by relos from the station and am going to my cousin's place for dinner shortly, so I should probably sign off.

PS. I did make it to the Adelaide Oval yesty. Saw a couple of 50s reached and a pair of wickets fall. Such a pretty ground - and only $6 to get in (it was SA vs WA).

Dispatch #1

Greetings from Adelaide!

I arrived yesterday after a 24-hour bus ride from Sydney (not the longest I've ever done; that honour still belongs to my Newcastle-Darwin road trip).

We came via Canberra, Yass, Gundagai, Griffith, Mildura, Renmark, Berri, Gawler and a bunch of other places you mightn't know - through the ACT and rural NSW, Vic and SA.

Half the journey was in darkness, but during daylight hours I read the first novel in William King's "Warhammer" fantasy series about Gotrek and Felix, "Trollslayer". Suprisingly thoughtful for what basically amounts to hack'n'slash. On par with Dan Abnett's 40K stuff, if not the Genevieve books of Jack Yeovil (Kim Newman).

I spent the night re-humanising at the Mercure Grosvenor Hotel in the city, which wasn't too shabby. Ordered room service for the first time in my life - and the second :-)

Was hoping to do something cultural this morning. Alas, there were no temporary/travelling exhibitions at the state gallery, museum or library that I hadn't already seen elsewhere.

Still have five hours to fill before the train leaves for Alice Springs. Maybe I'll go watch the cricket...

Blokes' night in

PB (not the one I go to the soccer with) invited me to a poker game/pay-per-view screening at his mate JW's house. I'll give ya the bad news first: I made an unwilling donation of $20 at cards. The upside is I had fun sittin' round talkin' sports with four top fellas, partook of an unfamiliar beer (Monteith's Celtic Red, from NZ), chomped on spicy-nicey, non-chain pizza and - beautest of all - witnessed Anthony Mundine knock Sam Soliman out (in the ninth round) on a 60-inch TV screen. Getting a lift part of the way home in a Mazda RX8 (aka the "huggy car", for those who remember the advert) was just a bonus.

Lost in the past

Regardless of my having conclusively flunked a computer science degree and, years later, been laid off after a brief stint as a technical writer at an imploding Internet company, I periodically enjoy reading about matters IT.

So, anyway, I stumble onto the web site of Aussie software firm Atlassian... impressive-sounding products (which I don't pretend to fully comprehend), world-class client list, plaudits from the business community, groovy work environment...

The funny thing is, I'm sure I recognise one of the co-founders, Mike Cannon-Brookes, from a Magic: The Gathering tournament circa 1996.

If I'm not mistaken, it was at the City Of Sydney RSL Club and we met in the penultimate round. I was playing mono-black discard (colourless damage from Aeolipiles and Walking Walls; four Guerrilla Tactics in the sideboard as a surprise for other hand disruptors). He was using the Titania's Song deck that George Baxter had just piloted to second at the US Nationals. My homebrewed pile utterly failed to deal with the mana denial. Mike finished in the money (well, booster packs), while I got nada despite winning my next round.

Following the Atlassian saga, it's hard to reconcile my memory of a fellow student/card gamer/slacker with the IT star of today, but then I'm sure there are plenty of underachievers who say that about Bill Gates et al.

I wonder if he still plays?

Archibalderdash and the manga master

I found this year's batch of Archibald Prize portraits uninspiring - even more so the finalists in the accompanying Wynne (landscape painting or figure sculpture) and Sulman (genre or subject painting/mural) competitions.

I never agree with the winner of the Archie and 2007 was no different. The experts chose John Beard's monochrome depiction of fellow artist Janet Laurence, which I think looks like a square cut from a flawed photograph. There was no portrait that really blew my doors off, however Michael Mucci's "The Power And The Passion" was at least striking - rendering former Midnight Oil singer and Labor politician Peter Garrett as a literal giant.

The Wynne and Sulman Prizes were just depressing. Admittedly, I've always been intolerant of abstract art, but several of these pieces weren't worth magneting to a Kelvinator let alone being hung in the state gallery. One exception was Alexander McKenzie's densely wooded, darkly inviting scene "The Double Island" (Wynne). Oleh Witer's "The Cup" (Sulman) also caught my eye each time I walked by, though I haven't yet puzzled out the reflections.

The Art Gallery Of NSW is charging $8 to view the finalists in the aforementioned contests. For a couple of bucks extra at the same venue you can see what I believe is a more worthwhile exhibition: "Tezuka: The Marvel Of Manga".

Even those who don't know the name Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) will be familar with his anime series "Astro Boy" (known in Japan as "Tetsuwan Atomu") and "Kimba The White lion" ("Jungle Emperor"). But it's not until you see the manga versions - this presentation intersperses black-and-white facsimiles with original inked pages and watercolour/gouache paintings (usually covers) - that the man's genius becomes evident.

He did more than illustrate cute, big-eyed characters - he built ambitiously complex, alien, familiar, beautiful, offensive, whimsical, morally challenging worlds whose pleasingly aerodynamic inhabitants glide across ever-rearranging panels.

Tezuka unashamedly explored sexual identity with a gender-swapping robot ("Metropolis"), a transvestite princess ("Princess Knight") and an orphan able to switch between childhood and womanhood with magic pills ("Marvelous Melmo").

In a more cultural vein, he adapted Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel "Crime And Punishment" and translated into comic form the lives of Buddha ("Buddha") and Beethoven ("Ludwig B"), though he never finished the latter project.

His darker inventions include Black Jack, a rogue surgeon who charges squillions to cure the ailments no-one else can, and the insatiable Tomura Toshiko (in "Human Metamorphosis"), who continually sleeps/steals/whatevers her way to the top.

The exhibition also features excerpts from "Wonder 3" (alien agents exploring Earth in horse/duck/rabbit bodies), "Apollo's Song" (a rumination on love's many forms) and "Eulogy For Kirihito" (mutated, doglike humans face discrimination). While the anthropomorphic examples may sound silly, like all of Tezuka's work they contain images of remarkable poignancy that put me in mind of Western greats such as Jean "Moebius" Giraud and Paul Chadwick.

Given almost as much floor space as "Astroboy" is Osamu's magnum opus, "Phoenix". Its meaning is more elusive than that of his other creations and its form more challenging...until you give in and go with it. Then the mythical bird of the title carries you back and forth between ancient history and science fiction in a flight of glorious artistic indulgence.

Absolute Bargain Centre

The "Doctor Who: Travels In Time & Space" tin contains unabridged audiobooks of the three original novels - "...And The Daleks", "...And The Crusades", "...And The Zarbi" - read by William Russell (who played the First Doc's science teacher chum, Ian Chesterton).

Each adventure comes in its own double-ended case, with proper front and back covers plus a background/picture booklet, just as if you'd bought them separately. New interviews with Bill have also been recorded. There are 15 CDs in all, which run for a stupendous total of 17 hours and 20 minutes!

This nifty collectible was retailing for $160 in Oz, but I scooped one up today (sealed and mint) from the ABC Shop discount table for $30! Talk about being in the right part of space at the right time!

Anthony Mundine vs Sam Soliman 1

Foxtel's Main Event channel has the above boxing match on repeat, free of charge, to generate interest in Wednesday night's rematch.

The first meeting between "The Man" and "The King" took place in Wollongong on September 3, 2001. The IBF Pan-Pacific Super-Middleweight Title was on the line and the fight went the full 12 rounds.

When the split decision favoured Mundine, sections of the crowd began jeering and pelting stuff. He was rushed from the building by minders while Soliman stood on the ring ropes, arms raised as if he'd won.

The bout has since acquired "controversial" status, so I was interested to rewatch it today to see whether the victory was truly deserved. I sat down with pad and pencil and scored the rounds myself.

There's no question it was close - just listen to the commentators, who switch sides and contradict themselves repeatedly. But my unofficial card says Anthony pipped Sam 117-116.

I can understand why the spectators got upset as Soliman was constantly on the attack and seemed to finish the stronger (or at least the fitter). However, his punches rarely connected and never seemed to inflict any serious damage.

When Mundine stopped dodging, deflecting and trapping his opponent's arms, his counter-flurries almost always included at least one clean blow. He visibly rocked Soliman on a couple of occasions.

I've got nothing against The King personally, but The Man's the superior boxer and I hope he proves it once and for all in Sydney this week - and claims the WBA Super-Middleweight World Title.

"23"

Seen on the jerseys of sporting megadudes such as US basketballer Michael Jordan, Aussie cricketer Shane Warne (who passed it on to Michael Clarke) and English footballer David Beckham.

The title of a German true-crime flick about two '80s computer hackers who spied for the Russians. One, Karl Koch, was obsessed with the significance of 23 - thanks to reading Shea and Wilson's conspiracy-linking "Illuminatus!" novels - and met a suspicious, fiery end. (I have a VHS copy somewhere, taped off SBS.)

Also the name of the 2005 debut album by American singer-guitarist Tristan Prettyman, though she writes it "Twentythree". (As pop-rock goes, it's a bit undercooked - TP was way hotter when I saw her live at The Basement.)

Is the number of days in my vacation, which began today!

Not a movie review: "Hot Fuzz" (2007)

Lacking the energy to give this buddy cop spoof a proper write-up, I'll make three comments:

1. It's as inventively funny and violently graphic as Simon Pegg's earlier work, 2004's "Shaun Of The Dead".

2. Paramount contacted the mag to see if we had any snappy lines that might be suitable for their advertising. The best one I came up with was: "Judge Dredd" meets "Hamish Macbeth".

3. The cast is CHOCKERS with well-known (contemporary) British comedians.

[Australian cinema release date: March 15]

Movie review: "Curse Of The Golden Flower" (2006)

Assuming "Curse Of The Golden Flower"’s historically accurate, then every woman at China’s imperial court in the 10th Century – from lowly servants up to the Empress (Gong Li) – dressed to emphasise her cleavage. The only thing more prominent was the will of the Emperor (Chow Yun Fat), which was beyond questioning even by members of his family.

Therein lies this story’s conflict, as a sham royal marriage and three princes with differing ambitions leads to poisoning, plotting, incestuous affairs and, ultimately, rebellion. Unlike in other recent Chinese epics, the action’s mainly confined to one location – the palace – and, with a couple of exceptions, bloody mass combat replaces lengthy, super-acrobatic duels.

You won’t miss the usual array of picturesque landscapes, though, as the imperial furnishings are blinding in their opulence and the daily precision rituals of the court are fascinating. When it comes time to celebrate the Chrysanthemum Festival (the flower of the title), prepare to be astonished by the magnitude of the decorations – and of the destruction that follows.

Final word: A tragic spectacle. Almost too tragic.

[Australian cinema release date: April 12]