Crowdfunding Convert

Have you ever backed a project financially? Flashback ten years ago and this would have meant you were an investor with thousands to splash about on things like property development. 

But now, thanks to the magic of crowdfunding, you can contribute even just $5 towards something you think is worthy. 

I must admit I have always been a but sceptical about the begging-bowl aspect of people launching a crowdfunded project. I must have seen it as a bandwagon upon which every struggling artist and tech entrepreneur had jumped. "Give me money to make my amazing app a reality!" "Cash me up & I'll put on an exhibition!" I imagined them shouting. 

And sure, there are thousands of projects out there I wouldn't fund because of disinterest, but also because I judge that the person or group doesn't "deserve" my money. 

Last night, after watching a partially crowdfunded movie, I'm willing to review my opinions. Why? Because I'm always whinging about the lack of original content in film and on tv. Sure, I'll go and watch the lastest sequel in a big franchise but I'm also wanting to hear new stories, about new characters in new worlds. 

And the reality is, tv and movie studios just don't like gambling their money on things they aren't 100% sure will make a profit. Thus, we get a lot of stuff on our screens that has always proved to be a sure-fire hit formula in the past. 

The beauty of crowdfunding is people who normally wouldn't get a cent of studio backing can ask the general public if they'll pay for them to create their content. Genius! Especially when it's people who are already known good performers or creators. 

In this case, I watched the Veronica Mars movie. Previously a tv show that was canned, the star Kristin Bell got a big-screen sequel off the ground with the power of crowdfunding. Without this revenue-raising platform, the project would have been almost certainly dead in the water. Fans were willing to pay to have another story created for their favourite character. 

Another great crowdfunded project I'm looking forward to is Alan Tudyk's Con Man. This is going to be a web series - a medium along with streaming services that I think may eventually 

 kill commercial tv. Funded by thousands of dollars of Firefly (Alan's previous tv show) fans' money, the series is filming at present.

So, I'm a total convert. If crowdfunding can help creative people put great movies and tv shows in front of my eyeballs, I say we should put our hands in our pockets occasionally, instead of paying studios and watching advertisements. 

Have you ever backed a crowdfunded project? What was it? 

Movie review: Divergent

On Monday night, I was lucky enough to secure tickets to a preview screening of Divergent. It's the latest in what I hope will be a new genre - the young adult action movie. Many people seem to want to compare it to The Hunger Games, but I'd like to say at the outset - this is not Panem!

Divergent's story centres on a girl named Tris. She lives in a post-war dystopian future, in the remains of the city of Chicago. Society is split into "factions" based on personality, in an attempt to foster peace and cooperation. When children come of age, they get to choose whether to stay in the faction they were born into, or leave their families to join another.

Tris (or Beatrice, as she was born) comes from a faction called Abnegation, which idealises selflessness. She makes the decision to leave and join Dauntless, the warrior faction, who value bravery. She soon finds herself caught up in what may become a faction war.

The movie is based on the first of a series Young Adult fiction novels by Veronica Roth. As a fan of the books, I was happy to discover that the movie is very book-faithful. I believe fans of the novels will be happy with both the casting and also the screenplay. But non-book viewers will also enjoy it, because it is a damn good movie - lots of action and even a little romance.

I took my husband along so I'm using him as a yardstick for the general audience. He went in expecting to see something along the lines of The Hunger Games and came out quite surprised and impressed that it wasn't. We spent ages in the car on the way home debating the lessons and morals of the movie, not coming to any firm conclusions!

The standout in this film is the performance of Shailene Woodley as Tris. She really is fantastic - I couldn't take my eyes off her every time she was onscreen. I predict she may be the next big thing - look out for her in the upcoming adaptation of John Green's hugely popular YA novel The Fault in Our Stars.

And I also have to make mention of the music - yes, I'm a soundtrack geek. I really loved the music in this movie, it was beautiful.  Ellie Goulding's "Beating Heart" is a standout. Watch the lyric video with added movie goodness below.




So, go see this movie if you like stories about strong girls who make their own choices, or if you like a bit of post-apocalyptic action, or both!

If you've seen it, let me know what you think! Are you a fan of the book? 

*Disclosure: not sponsored, but I received a free double-pass to the film thanks to Review Brisbane. 

 

What's up with dystopia?

What is our obsession with a bleak future for humankind? Seriously, can you name any books or movies that depict a beautiful utopia?

Nope, we love ourselves a dark and oppressive dystopia. Books and cinema have a long history of it (1984, Blade Runner, Total Recall, 12 Monkeys, Children of Men et al) but lately a fad seems to be developing.

It started for me with The Hunger Games. I loved it, loved that a young adult fiction novel could deal with teen issues and set it against the downtrodden existence led by the people of Katniss Everdeen's world.

Then this year, Oblivion has been the first in a number of films to be released this year that deal with a dystopian future. And I'm looking forward to all of them!

Out now is After Earth, Will Smith's dad-and-son adventure on a long-abandoned Earth.

[source]

World War Z is nearly out - and you can bet I'll be there watching Brad Pitt battle zombies. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire continues Katniss' adventures in Panem. Then there's Pacific Rim, a film about giant robots battling sea monsters that I've been anticipating about for a whole year now (seriously, the trailers make me so excited. I just think this idea is SUPER COOL).

Just lately we've seen the trailer for Matt Damon in Elysium, set in a future where the rich live in paradise in space while the poor battle it out in ruined apocalyptic Earth.
 

 [source]

And don't forget Ender's Game - another book-to-movie adaptation that's sure to do well.

Why do we love these horrible futures? Who knows. I think it's because we all love seeing heroes triumph over adversity, whatever the setting.

The wikipedia page on dystopian film is a good read, have a look.

I leave you with the latest trailer for Pacific Rim. Just because I think everyone should see it :)

Do you have a favorite dystopia?

A year of wedded bliss

Today, C and I have been married one year. 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days. Many hours. Lots of minutes.

To be honest, to me, time has flown. It seems only yesterday I was cramming my gigantic train into the truck (our wedding car was a F150) and trying to calm myself before walking down the aisle.

Our wedding celebrant sent us a card, isn't that nice?

I have little to say about the institution of marriage that hasn't already been said. Except perhaps that it is quite different on the inside than it appears on the outside. Same goes for long-term relationships: whether you're married or not, it's always about love and compromise. The love part gets tested by the compromise part. I asked hubby if he had any wisdom to share about marriage for this blog post and he shrugged and grunted. So there you go.

For our anniversary I tossed up going out to a fancy dinner. Then I realised that would be something C wasn't into but I was. So in the end I settled on a movie date - but a posh one.

So Gold Class it was. I must admit the Gold Class lounge was pretty intimidating - all top shelf alcohol and dim lights. There were couples sharing bottles of Champagne. But then some more folks showed up in shorts and thongs so I relaxed a bit. After all, if you can buy a ticket to it, it's not that an exclusive club is it?

We saw the new Die Hard movie. It was pretty good. I thought the action sequences were some next-level stuff. And the fact we could enjoy it from the comfort of big puffy armchairs and have a waiter being us fries with truffle aioli made it just that much more enjoyable!

What was your best date ever? Do you celebrate anniversaries?

Happy Moments

Image: mine

My happy moments for this week:

- Hearing about my mum's experience singing at the Sydney Opera House with Chorus Oz. Amazing that she gets to do that.

- Answering truthfully to several people who asked that yes, I am enjoying my new job. It's much better than my old one and I'm so much less stressed!

- Having a girl's night out to see Bridesmaids. I laughed, I hooted embarrassingly, I loved it. What a great movie - I loved the themes about female competitiveness and friendship.

- Catching up with our friends for pizza on Friday night. A simple thing but so much fun, and we never run out of things to talk about.

- Actually getting some housework done. Because I haven't been away the past two weekends I've been able to maintain a level of orderliness that fills me with satisfaction!

What's Your Number?

Something very exciting has happened. No, I'm not talking about Lady Gaga's latest music video, it's a movie trailer!

Many years ago I read a book that has become very important to me, namely Karyn Bosnak's "Save Karyn". It was one woman's story about how she realised she was a shopaholic, not being afraid to ask for help and crawling her way out of debt to a better life. I still re-read it from time to time because it reminds me that there's always a way, no matter how desperate things seem to be.

Well, I've followed Karyn's blog, Pretty in the City, for many years now and so when she broke the news her second book, "20 Times a Lady" was going to be made into a movie, I clapped and whooped.

Today the trailer premiered... and it's bloody funny. So many familiar faces too. I heart Martin Freeman, by the way.

Check it out - it's now named "What's Your Number?"