The collected works of ScottyB

25th of April - so much more than just a day off work. Anzac Day is probably Australia’s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

When war broke out in 1914 Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only fourteen years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the allied navies. The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops’ actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an “Anzac legend” became an important part of the national identity of both nations. This shaped the ways they viewed both their past and their future.

Well, beating out TMNT and Sunshine for our weekly cinema visit this week was the thriller; Disturbia.

I had heard very little about this film before I found out we were going to see it tonight. Reading the IMDB review, it sounded alright… “A teen living under house arrest becomes convinced his neighbor is a serial killer.”

Apart from the spelling of ‘neighbor’ which irked me slightly, the tag line sounded okay, any suspenseful thriller is worth a watch in my opinion, so ‘What the hell’, I thought and went along to see it.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. I had assumed it was going to be a real ‘teen thriller’ if you know what I mean - but as soon as I saw David Morse (of The Green Mile, The Rock, 16 Blocks etc..) was in it, I knew this was going to be something a little different - a departure from the usual thriller aimed at the younger generation movie-goer.

Reading about the trivia, I was unsurprised to read this little tid-bit; While David Morse (Mr. Turner) was filming a scene with Shia LaBeouf (Kale), he slammed his hand into a wall, breaking three fingers. LaBeouf said, “You could see that they were broken. They were all mangled. But he didn’t say a word about it. Everybody’s asking him what they can do to help, and he just says, ‘I’m okay. I’m okay. Let’s go again.’ It was intimidating, to say the least.”

Awesome.

It’s always a good feeling to leave the cinema knowing your money was well spent. And even better when you can add another notch to the ‘must-buy on DVD’ list. I’ve seen quite a few movies lately and with the exception of the new Mr. Bean film, I’d honestly say they were all movies I’d love to see again and own on DVD. And Disturbia is no exception.