Two Lost Kids – Evan O’Dwyer

Is she sodium chloride incarnate? Is she the second coming of Lot’s wife? Of course not – this is Hollywood. She’s a woman with balls to burn, played by Angelina Jolie, in the new action flick from Aussie director Phillip Noyce.

Evelyn, as her friends call her, works for the CIA. Come to think of it, you never get to meet Evelyn’s friends. No time, you see. The edict from Columbia Pictures is obvious: In every scene, action trumps emotion. Sheesh. Even the chick in Alias had buddies.

Salt has a stable career, good hair, delicate bone structure, a happy (and plot satisfying) marriage to an arachnologist and a dog. Don’t know what strata would make of that but the shaggy bugger seems well-behaved enough.

Things suddenly take a turn for the worse when a Russian defector names her as a double agent. Then things take a turn for the obvious. There’s a series of high-octane chases that the ingenious Salt escapes, barely intact. Well, her hair escapes intact but one would assume she sustains substantial bruising and soft tissue damage – especially in the highway sequence.

After about four plot twists that screenwriter Kurt Wimmer probably found written on the back of a coaster at a bar while he was thinking of ways to develop Salt’s character, we reach a conclusion that isn’t a conclusion but instead an open invitation to potential investors to fund Salt 2: Bigger and Saltier.

The action is good, but much of it is also implausible. Jolie is good, but her role isn’t. The plot is convoluted and sometimes threatens to be interesting but doesn’t really work on any level. One thing Salt does have going for it is that its villains aren’t of Middle Eastern descent; it is nice to see some relics from the Cold War going after freedom and the American way of life for a change.

You’ll leave the cinema and make the obligatory comparisons to the Bourne movies. Sure, there are a few; both are fast-paced action-flicks with political undertones and stoic titular characters who possess freakish physical abilities. The one major difference, however, is that while the Bourne trilogy is great, Salt is not.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the Vibewire team sat down and brainstormed ways to promote youth talent. Having already acknowledged the amazing stream of talent coming our way via Portal, the team decided it was time to further promote this talent by publishing the best of each genre in the format of a print anthology – giving our young contributors BETTER EXPOSURE and MORE RECOGNITION! 

We believe there’s nothing quite like seeing your name and your work in print, let alone having a fresh copy to flick through and carry with you everywhere!

How does it work?

Each month Vibewire puts out a call for contributors to submit their best work. It can be poetry, fiction, opinion, reportage, photography, illustration or review - so long as it relates to that month’s Portal theme. At the end of each month the Vibewire Anthology committee selest the best works to be included in the Vibewire Quarterly Anthology. Three themes prevail in the final anthology, making the work diverse, insightful and engaging.

There are two options to submit your work:

1. submit directly onto the Portal dashboard when logged in or

2. simply email your work and full name to editor@vibewire.org

We will review your work and get back to you with helpful feedback. Remember, the 1000 WORD LIMIT still applies. For images, please submit in 300 DPI format.

The theme for September is ‘things change?‘, and the deadline for submissions is Tuesday the 28th. 

Upcoming themes and deadlines will be listed below as they are finalised (got an idea for a provokative theme? Send it to editor@vibewire.org).

Where can I buy it?

The good folk at Blurb have harnessed their entire technological prowess to make the anthology available to purchase online.

Simply click here and you can have a browse through our pages with the nifty preview function or if you’re super keen, buy it straight away and then wait patiently for it arrive at your doorstep.

Start submitting your work now for a chance at being published in the third anthology and keep your eyes peeled for the Vibewire Quarterly Anthology: the Sequel.

Watch this space for more details on when we will be planning our launch party. That’s right, you read correctly. LAUNCH PARTY! It’s going to be a riot of fun!

Bonds produced a high energy show that was not just about the product, but the brand. It was fun, young, and funky, and wasn’t about take itself too seriously. The audience was assaulted with bright colours and 80’s prints, offset by abundance of studs and spikes, and witnesses the launch of the label’s first unisex range – made to share.  A unique concept, it’s a line that only Bonds could do, and pull off as they did.

 For my first runway show, it was a blast.  But amongst the crazy-good dancers and thumping music I found myself most intrigued by the models. As they strutted past me on the runway, they looked beautiful, but more importantly, they looked normal. Not unlike the everyday chesty bonds blokes, the regular models had wobbly bits, tattoos, hair and even some cellulite (gasp! ). They were just like normal people, just like me!

I had to wonder, was this a move by Bonds to join the real model revolution alongside labels like Camilla Franks and retailers like City Chic? Or are all runway show regulars aware of this normalcy and just don’t want to tell us, everyday magazine readers, about it?

Looking up at the images that were being filmed and reprojected onto the backdrop, I saw something completely different, the models were a picture of polished perfection. And that, right there, was my full realisation, my ah-ha moment if you will – nobody looks like that.

Thanks to women like Kate Ellis, Mia Freedman, Sarah Murdoch, Jennifer Hawkins and Rickie-Lee Coulter,  most of us understand on an intellectual level at least that models are slathered in makeup, sometimes from head to toe, and then retouched, stretched, and embellished by computer software before we they reach the pages of a magazine. But it was not until today, sitting in the third row of the Bonds 2010 Summer season launch  behind Paulmac (the only other celebrity I spotted other than Sarah Murdoch who opened the show) that it went beyond an intellectual acknowledgement. It was like a real life Dove commercial, and I finally got it.

 Don’t get me wrong, the event still made me want to join a gym. But it also made me realise that even though my bum in Bonds might not look like the models’ in the in the ad do, it still looks pretty damn good as it is, and that’s ok.

Sometimes we long for change, we dream of it and imagine what the future could be. Sometimes we initiate change, making life better for ourselves, those around us and for those who are yet to exist. Sometimes change is unwanted, and we fight against it – it is sometimes a painful realisation to learn that try as we might, we can never make things as they once were.

It may be that there is some splendid force or being guiding us through life to our destined future, or perhaps it is simply a combination of choices – wrong and right – and random occurrences that see our lives become what they are. Either way, we have to accept that things change, and simply enjoy the ride.

This month at Vibewire it’s all about change. Originally the theme ‘things change?‘ was chosen to coincide with a change in Australia’s politcal landscape – a new government. Instead, this event stalled and Vibewire itself started going though some massive changes. As some key behind the scenes players say their goodbyes, Vibewire has started recruiting some fresh faces to move the organisation forward from here. Youthscape has launched, electionWIRE has wrapped up, and our first Vibewire Quarterly Anthology is also available for purchase!

So for the month of September we want our talented conributors to share their experiences, opinions and musings on change.

Make sure you submit the very best you have to offer and make an impression on us. Your time and energy will be repaid by seeing your name and your work published online and in print in our third Vibewire Quarterly Anthology.

There are two options to submit your work:

1. submit directly onto the Portal dashboard when logged in or

2. simply email your work and full name to editor@vibewire.org

We will review your work and get back to you. Remember, the 1000 WORD LIMIT still applies. As per usual, we will be publishing submissions online and sending our contributors helpful feedback but now the best submissions will gain BETTER EXPOSURE and MORE RECOGNITION, whether the creator’s talent lies in creative writing, journalism, photographs, artwork, interviews, poetry, you name it! For images, please submit in 300 DPI format.

You have until 28 September so start writing/creating now!

Main page image “close shave” by dotbenjamin at Flickr.com 

On 21st September 2010, come on down to the funky Factory Theatre in Newtown to watch the best mobile phone films and photos of the year – all shot on mobile for Australia’s 1st Mobile Screenfest.

Celebrity judges like Logie nominated actress Victoria Thaine, rugby legend John Eales, Queensland Reds and Wallaby star Quade Cooper, leading talent agent Mark Morrissey and 2Day FM presenter Geoff Fields have picked their favourites from this year’s entries and are giving you the chance to watch their shortlist. Sharing the limelight with Australian talent will be some of the best global videos from mobile film festivals across the world. You will also have the chance to vote for your entry for the biggest prize of them all – People’s Choice Award.

HOW TO ENTER:

Vibewire and Mobile Screenfest have double passes to give away for the finalists screening and
awards night on the 21st September. For your chance to win, tell us what you would like to capture
on your mobile in 25 words or less.

Email your answer to editor@vibewire.org or use that funky phone of yours and tweet to @vibewire on Twitter.

Dead easy! So channel up your inner film-maker and entertain us with your ideas. Competition ends 14 September.

Check out www.mobilescreenfest.com.au for more info.