movie: Nightcrawler

Movie: Nightcrawler (2014)

Jake Gyllenhall produced and stars in this action/drama. A tale of a drifter who finds the thing he’s passionate about. In his case, it’s being a nightcrawler – someone who drives around taking video of crime scenes to sell to TV stations’ news programmes.

Gyllenhall’s performance is really great: creepy, persuasive, and filled with the rhetoric of self-help books and websites – a critique of all that’s wrong with LA and the shallows of the news cycle.

If you’re a fan of Taxi Driver, or gritty but beautiful shots of cities at night, it’s worth a look.

Central Roasters, Sydney CBD (near Town Hall)

Central Roasters, Sydney

Central Roasters Coffee (and a range of single origins from different roasters). Shop 4, Central Lane, Sydney (near Pitt St, but essentially an unmarked shop in an alley). This is one you’ll only find if you know what you’re looking for. Central Lane runs from George St to Pitt St, opposite the giant Event Cinema complex. Head down the lane, and near the Pitt St end you’ll see some big windows and a glass door, and spot a small table with some water glasses, a cake display, and a selection of coffee-making gear.

Order a coffee or two from the counter, and if there’s a spot at one of the tables, take a seat. You’re in for a treat. They are making some great espresso-based coffees, and I’ve had there some of the best filter coffee in Sydney. Worth seeking out. Bring a friend, but not a crowd of people: they won’t all fit.

Central Roasters, Sydney

 

movie: gone girl

Gone Girl is the latest David Fincher movie. Brilliant visually, in the vein of the old Dirty Harry movies. A mix of creepy, mysterious, funny, and over-the-top in terms of its violence and other content. Not for the faint of heart.

media: Grand Piano

Grand Piano is an obscure team-up between Elijah Wood and John Cusack. The premise is ridiculous, and it’s clearly a short film stretched out to feature length. Elijah Wood is the virtuoso piano player, back to the stage for the first time in five years after an embarrassing case of stage fright. Cusack, a disembodied voice for much of the film, is a sniper who will end his life if he plays a single wrong note. How will it play out? You’ll have to watch it to find out. 

book: Mindset: How you can fulfil your potential

Mindset: How You Can Fulfill Your Potential

On a parenting course, this book was recommended: it makes the distinction between two kinds of mindsets, and explains how to move from one to the other. On the one hand, the fixed mindset – where your response to failure is to blame yourself, and avoid the situation that led to the failure. On the other hand, the growth mindset, where failure is a chance to learn, and expand what you’re capable of doing.

There’s a mix in the book of content: some is helpful in raising children with a growth mindset, the rest is targeted at developing your own mindset. Full of practical examples, it’s worth a read.

videos for art or profit

I haven’t tried something like this before, but I’ve seen two separate Honda videos this week in a way that might normally be considered “viral”.

Today’s one pushed me over the edge: it’s a clever piece that combines two short films in one: the Other Side (you’ll likely need a desktop or laptop to experience the two videos together). As a fan of the Transporter series of films, it’s a guilty pleasure.

The one earlier in the week was for a somewhat more obscure product. And it was in an OK/Go video clip I was watching for the fun of it. I was a bit surprised to see how much Honda sponsorship (for the Uni-Cub mobility device) seemed to be involved.

A few more clicks looking into the creative team behind the video, and I saw this amazing wooden xylophone

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One last piece: this older older OK/Go video, for the Writing’s on the Wall:

Which has a few more optical illusions that this one:

Which in turn reminded me of this Honda ad – “the cog”.

These are impressive videos – to create them took hours and hours of effort, and often teams of people working on them. It’s not an analogue for what a single person could create, but it’s a reminder to dream big when planning out a digital piece. Even stretching 10% from your original idea can reap rewards in how impressive the execution might be, and how much the piece is shared.

There’s no “silver bullet” when it comes to making a highly shareable video, no “viral” button that can be pushed. But if your intrinsic motivation is to make great things for the sake of it, there are cases here of big, complex things being shared.

Sifter Espresso, Wollongong

Sifters Espresso, Wollongong

Various different coffees. 82 Market St, Wollongong. Follow them on instagram and you could be forgiven for thinking there’s an indoor cafe at play here, but in fact, this is a combination of shipping containers and portable furniture. Sadly there was too much full sun in play for us to linger too long, but the stay we had (sitting on astro-turfed cubes) was fun. 

Sifters Espresso, Wollongong

There are plenty of different single origins to try (and some simple advice on how to have your coffee that manages not to be condescending), but it was the pour over that won the day for me.

A shipping container with a difference - Sifters Espresso, Wollongong

Great to see such passion for coffee in such a humble environment as a modified shipping container. Part of the emerging coffee scene in Wollongong, and well worth a visit. They even have brewnuts somehow (a daily round-trip to Newtown, I’m reliably informed)!

The Foundery, Port Kembla

The Foundery, Port Kembla

Wild Fox coffee. 142 Wenworth St, Port Kembla. There are a number of coffee roasters cropping up outside of Sydney, and this cafe first came up in conversation because of the roasters. More interesting, though, is the ownership and raison d’être of the cafe. It’s run by the Salvation Army as a way to give long-term unemployed people a set of skills they can build up to get back into the workforce.

Entryway - the Foundery, Port Kembla

There’s a lot of reclaimed timber in the fit-out, and a second hand bookshop with an enviable collection of books for very reasonable prices.

Where the magic happens - The Foundery, Port Kembla

Coffee is well put together – certainly well above what you might hope for out of a cafe in Port Kembla, and would stand well on its own. There’s cold drip on offer, and a range of hot or cold espresso drinks. The menu is simple (sandwiches and wraps for the most part), but well put together. It’s a venture worth supporting.

Movie: The Equalizer (2014)

The Equalizer is the new Denzel Washington action film from the director of Training Day. It’s a little over 2 hours long, with a slow build, some well orchestrated set pieces, and a truly disquieting bad guy – some scenes are uncomfortable viewing.

It’s a muted performance from Washington, but this well suits the character in question. If you’d like to watch Denzel Washington be a nice guy with a dark past, and you don’t mind some uncomfortable scenes, this is your film.