It’s Film Festival time

Last night a select group of over 500 people at the Paramount were treated to the launch of this year’s Wellington Film Festival programme. Following a brief-ish introduction from returning director Bill Gosden, those present were treated to a delightful animated film called Persepolis – an adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s graphic-novel-autobiography which is available in some local stores. Satrapi grew up in pre and post-revolutionary Iran and the film is a vivid and witty portrayal of the way totalitarianism of all extremes can squeeze human beings beyond recognition.

The programme is in a different format this year (A4) which makes it a bit easier on the eye as you scour it for gems. It also has to do double duty this year as the lack of a principal sponsor has meant the elimination of the glossy souvenir guide book.

I woke up this morning to find that last night I had ticked something on every page which is obviously not a sustainable strategy, but I do have until Tuesday (when tickets go on sale via Ticketek outlets) to slim my list down. The programmes are available now at all the Festival venues: Embassy, Paramount, Te Papa, Film Archive and Penthouse and across town over the next few days. The web site seems to be up and down under the load this morning but has a cunning calendar feature to allow you to build a personalised screening schedule over the two and a half weeks between July 18 and Aug 3.

Funerals & Snakes will have a few Festival preview posts over the next few weeks but I also commend you to The Lumière Reader, whose online coverage of the Festival is likely to be unequalled.

Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

As we move through the election year, we’re going to start getting plenty of invites to “Meet the candidates” type events. We wanna know about the nefarious ins and outs of invitations you receive. Are they unsolicited? Do they provide you with instructions on how to get there using public transport or are they purely for the car-drivers? Are they encouraging healthy debate or unhealthy drinking? Or are they, as one invitation the fly spotted recently, suggesting that you park in nearby supermarket carparks, perhaps because they’re working in an unholy alliance with a towing company?

Spill your guts. Keep us in the know.

Mystery bar!

In another of this shamelessly unoriginal series, I’ve just been stuffing my abdomen with seriously good snacking and some tasty cocktails at this brazenly Europhile little place.

The wine list is designed to tempt you out of your vinous rut, since while each section is “inspired” by a style or varietal, it branches out from there into less obvious wines. For instance, the “Riesling” section also lists Grüner Veltliner and that unusual Moscatel/Gewürtztraminer concoction known as Viña Esmeralda. The cocktail list is extensive and inventive, including such delights as the “Spanish Inquisition”: raspberry, cinnamon, amaro and Amontillado (I never expected that).

But it’s the food that really stands out. You can have a full meal, but the concept is really a sort of pan-Mediterranean tapas, with moreish and occasionally Moorish morsels that include skordalia with Catalan “chastity bread”, truffled Jerusalem artichokes, pistachio couscous and Ouzo-flamed saganaki. Combine that with pleasantly Old World décor, reasonable prices and some serious eye-candy among the waiting staff, and you’ve got a recipe for more than one happy barfly.

Winter tidbits

1. Plum is now doing 2-for-1 for small plates on Tuesdays
2. It’s 1994 all over again with the new plaid shirt uniforms at the Southern Cross
3. There is a Lonestar opening in Petone. Get your big plates of meat in the Hutt without a surcharge on public holidays!
4. Mojo Bond St have mulled wine, as does the Green Room.
5. Cafe Italiano is offering 2-for-1 pastas for $15 on Mondays and Tuesdays.

That’s all we’ve got for now.

Goodbye Rialto, we hardly knew ye

I ask you now to take a moment to reflect on the loss of that great crime against cinema exhibition, Rialto Wellington, and perhaps raise a glass to celebrate it’s final day of screenings. If I can be there to witness it’s imminent crumbling beneath a hundred wrecking balls I will (however, I should confess that in need of a few dollars I was the publicist for it’s opening back in 1994).

The disastrous architectural and building choices that wrecked many a potentially interesting film should not reflect on many excellent and committed staff who worked there over the years. The Paramount’s Kate Larkindale managed the place for a while, as did current San Fran Bathhouse manager Chrisana Love. The first manager was Barbara Sumner, now known as crusading columnist Barbara Sumner Burstyn, who, as legend has it, once faxed a picture of her own naked rear end to a competitor.

[More on Rialto Wellington, after the jump]

knit one, purl the other

Saturday 14th of June 2008 is Worldwide Knit In Public Day. As we all know knitting is not a crime, but very much an activity people mostly do on their own.

In Wellington why not fully embrace the outdoors and head along to the Bucket Fountain in Cuba Mall where the lovely Tash will be from 2pm with her needles (or at the Southern Cross if it’s raining).

Yay for knitting in public!

And speaking of knitting in public, how much are we all loving, loving, loving the urban knitting that is appearing around town. Finally Wellington is experiencing a fashion renaissance of the woolen variety. Every day I keep hearing and seeing reports of subversive knittyness around the city, and honestly I don’t think Wellington has ever looked more beautiful.

Sadly someone disagrees as nothing seems to stay up for too long.

Which makes me wonder, if you could see subversive knitting anywhere, where would it be?

Road safety: ur doing it wrong

Just look at these young galahs hijinksing it along the road. In MY day we did School Patrol purely for a milo in winter, and yet these kids get a parade? Shocking. And what kind of message are we sending them that it’s okay to walk on the road. It’s PC GONE MAD, THAT’S WHAT IT IS!

Weta Cave goes all “Narnia” in Miramar

A visit to The Children’s Bookshop in Kilbirnie with Meg this arvo had me staring at (and snapping on my mobile) a poster advertising Weta Cave’s first event – Narnia Day, Sunday 15th June, 1pm-4pm

The details* after the break:

It ain’t easy being Green (Cabs)

Our favourite cab company has expanded to Auckland and Christchurch and are doing pretty well in both. But it’s not all expansion and increasing profits. Recently the eco-friendly cab company has had to defend itself against statements from the head of the Taxi Federation. Then they had to fend off spurious claims from other taxi companies (Combined in this case) that they were also "green".

The Commerce Commission began investigating Wellington Combined Taxis in March after receiving complaints about claims on its website. The website suggests the company’s LPG taxis reduce carbon dioxide pollution by up to 25 per cent, and its Nissan Maxima engines are 20 per cent more fuel efficient than traditional automatic transmissions.

And then today I heard another mean story. Green Cabs received a call for a big job: 9pm, 40 people, 10 cars. They naturally accepted. But 10 cabs is a lot out Green Cabs’ fleet so it was also a gamble. You know what’s coming don’t you? That’s right, nobody showed. The cars didn’t wait around for long but it was long enough at that time to miss out on a large number of jobs. Green Cabs have an idea who was behind the prank but we’ll let our readers make up their own mind. Something else that is interesting to note: the average cab driver spends approximately $80 a day on petrol, the average Green Cabbie spends approximately $20 a day on petrol.