There's something a little bit lovely about sculptures of varying sorts scattered on a beach, especially with blue sky and crashing turquoise waves supplying the backdrop.
This arvo we made our second trip to Sculpture by the Sea - a dynamic and innovative array of visual artistry at Cottesloe beach. The idea, brought to fruition by David Handley - was inspired by a sculpture park in Pragues' Northern Bohemia and encourages kids, adults, grannies, dogs etc to get amongst the structures, talk about their meaning and vote for favourites.
It's rare to see such a large group of people enjoying open art like this in Perth - in fact it's rare to see a large volume of people anywhere really, but there they were in mass numbers photographing, voting, swimming, exploring and discussing these exciting creations.
Bay loved the colourful contraptions on the beach and enjoyed picking out her faves. Fin, on the other hand was too busy complaining about the post-swim sand in his trollies to have much of an opinion. Hey-ho...it's on until 19 March so perhaps he'll be a little more inspired next time.
With the afternoon free today Mr G and I took Master F to the movies to see Hugo - a splendid example of film-making that's set in late 1930's Paris.
Armed with 3D glasses, we settled into our seats for a two hour session of visual delights encompassing glorious views of Paris, stunning scenery, old fashioned machinery and a beautiful set of characters that charmed the socks off the three of us. Moreover, it exemplified the passion that can come through a film when the people behind it are truly dedicated to creating something unique and special.
Everything - from the heart shaped key that Isabelle carries as a pendant and the automaton that Hugo is trying to fix; to the splash of character sketches that glide through the air when the children unearth a hidden box - is created with one big dose of love that's often missing from modern day movies.
This is first and foremost a movie about making movies and doing them with such creative charm that they lie embedded in the memory for decades to come. It's also brimming with tons of great British talent - Emily Mortimer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Christopher Lee and a great American actress - Chloe Grace Moretz whose British accent well and truly kicked ass...
I wasn't quite sure how the master of film-makers planned to work the 3D format into his plan, but un-surprisingly it was nothing short of perfect - adding drama, intensity and surprise in equal measures. As with any 3D movie, I often wonder how they transcribe when they end up on the shelves in Blockbuster and are taken home to be viewed on normal TV's, but can now see that with a great story line, thoughtful and surprising character development and a great big dose of charm (which Hugo has in equal measures) the small screen version will be equally as delightful.
So to summarise, us Greens give Hugo a great big fat 10/10. This movie is a prime example of true cinematic brilliance. But with Scorcese at the helm, it couldn't be anything other than perfect really could it?
