The Alternative Body Of Work

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday March 6, 2004

Sacha Molitorisz

Bored of the Rings?

The winners of Pop Tart's inaugural Alt.Oscars are ... Best Dressed: Harvie Krumpet director Adam Elliot, for rehabilitating the neckerchief. Worst Dressed: Oprah Winfrey, who publicly battled the bulge only to augment her rear with a huge bow. Best Hobbit Other Than Peter Jackson: Phil Collins, whose appearance was (mercifully) as short as your average Hobbit's trousers. Best Ponce: Sting and his comedy guitar - despite stiff competition from Elvis Costello and his comedy guitar. Best Song: Jack Black and Will Ferrell, who - unlike Sting and Elvis - were intentionally funny. Best Thank You: Blake Edwards, for saluting the assistant on The Party who shovelled elephant droppings while singing There's No Business like Show Business.

The fog of victory

Meanwhile, Errol Morris wins Best Speech for animatedly describing the rabbit hole into which the US government is plunging. Two days before accepting the best doco Oscar for The Fog Of War, Morris was considerably more subdued. "I talk about this disease, Oscarosis," Morris told Pop Tart. "I've never been nominated before, and this is a very odd experience. Actually, I'm a member of the Academy now myself. After The Thin Blue Line wasn't nominated, so many members were outraged that they voted me in. But I've been fine without Oscars or nominations in the past. I can survive if I don't win." Let's see how he survives now that he did win.

Polaroid rage

Dave McCormack and the Polaroids are back in the studio recording the follow-up to Candy, their 2002 album. "It is almost done," says the former Custard frontman, aiming for an April/May release. "I'm mixing the final few tracks with Wayne Connolly in Kings Cross. Another six tracks have already been signed, sealed and delivered by Magoo - we did the Magoo tracks down in Bendalong. The basic drum and bass tracks were put down in the city last September." This approach constitutes a radical departure from Candy, which was recorded and mixed in one studio in six days.

Porter's hard act in old Dart

London is a tough town, says Sydney's Susie Porter, who moved there two years ago. "I've been doing little bits and pieces, including fringe theatre and a BBC radioplay," says the star of Two Hands and Better Than Sex. "It has been a bit slow, but you cannot expect it to be any other way. In some ways, I walked away from a great career in Australia to being completely unknown here." Her recent work includes a part on State of Play, the Paul Abbott mini-series which premieres tomorrow night on the ABC, and a role in the first episode of the new series of Silent Witness, which starts Friday.

Lack of outrage

Irreversible, Gaspar Noe's thriller, has shocked even the Chauvel's Alex Meskovic ... for its failure to shock. "Generally, there's been no reaction," says Meskovic. "I'm amazed how tough people are in this town. Some people even say, 'It's not as violent as I thought it would be.'" Having screened for a month, Irreversible will probably run for another three weeks, says Meskovic.

De Heer and now

Rolf de Heer's The Old Man Who Read Love Stories will finally be released next week. Completed in January 2000, it's a Dutch/Spanish/French/Australian co-production starring Richard Dreyfuss and Hugo Weaving. "It will be lucky to ever see the light of day, not because it's a bad film, but because of the politics involved. After that I was seriously thinking I don't want to make any more films," de Heer told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2002, shortly before the release of The Tracker. A year later, shortly before the release of Alexandra's Project, de Heer was more upbeat. "There is a chance now that it may see the light of day. I've made two complete films since."