Posts by Rob Stowell
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Hard News: Hope and Wire, in reply to Sacha,
One disappointment is no character who’s a musician/a band and so far nothing much relating to that scene.
It’s named after a song by The Eastern, and the band appear from what I’ve read.
There’s a moment of them playing at Pomeroys. And the song over the end credits was great.
Just #notenuff :) -
Hard News: Hope and Wire, in reply to Creon Upton,
I haven’t seen it, and I won’t, so I’m arguably not entitled to judge, but I will.
I’m unsurprised by the tenor of the comments appearing above. It sounds positively dreadful, and in a dreadfully predictable way.Hiya Creon. Seems a shame you'll never know how right- or wrong- you are :)
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Hard News: Hope and Wire, in reply to B Jones,
I’ll be watching Hope and Wire as a Treme fan
It ain’t Treme. Worth knowing that from the start :)
One disappointment is no character who’s a musician/a band and so far nothing much relating to that scene. Maybe that’ll happen if/when we get to Lyttelton. -
Hard News: Hope and Wire, in reply to andrew gunn,
there is enough drama to be found simply in these events.
A fair bit of the set-up felt contrived. If the stories play out predictably, it'll be a shame. I'm hoping there'll be some twisting of stereotypes. (FWIW I've met mean-spirited, misanthropic socialists - and generous, philanthropic lawyers :))
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Hard News: Hope and Wire, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
the latter is docu-drama, which engages with notions of memory, reconstruction, perspective and dramatisation.
Quite a few people seem to be confusing the intentions of Hope and Wire. It’s not a documentary in any sense – I wouldn’t call it docu-drama, as I’m pretty sure none of the main characters are directly based on any real person (unlike, say, Bread and Roses.)
It’s a drama, a fiction, and it’s purely on those terms it will succeed or fail. (Yes, it’s set at the time and looks at the effects of real events, but it’s no more a docu-drama about the Chch quakes than Saving Private Ryan was a docu-drama about D-day.)
When a City Falls is in a league of its own.
Perhaps less than the quakes themselves, it really captured some of the feeling of the days and weeks after – everyone speaking softly to each other, a palpable gentleness; along with numbness, boredom, apprehension and exhaustion. Getting by and making do without basic services and amenities. And struggling to find a new balance in a changed and still-changing world. It was raw.
[And sad to hear that as well, Alice. I have another friend who shares your birthday, and a daughter who just scraped in the day before. Unforgettable, not in a good way :(] -
Hard News: Hope and Wire, in reply to Sacha,
a wise understanding of people beyond stereotypes.
We'll see how that goes, I guess. The first half-hour, I felt almost all the characters were verging on caricature. But most, by the end, had more depth. Still not enough if the development isn't well-conceived and the story arcs have everyone reverting to stereotype ...
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Swimming against the stream here, but on balance I thought the first two hours were pretty good. Yes, some of the character cliches were painful (racist skinheads/ego-centric fendalton lawyer/genial old-school socialist etc.) Some of the dialogue didn’t work, occasionally the drama seemed bit over-cooked, and the acting wasn’t uniformly natural.
But by the end there was room for most of the characters to grow. I didn’t expect it, but I liked the to-camera bits. Sometimes I just felt they were better acted. As a technique, it worked (for me) to convey feelings/thought that way.
The blending of actual footage with the drama was scarily effective (apart from one scene). The story arcs are well-launched- still plenty of time to go silly or wrong, but so far, despite some wobbles, I thought it worked ok.
ETA: I do understand this is hard for many. I was able to watch with a little distance, as a rare Christchurch-based kiwi drama (how many of those have there been?) and from a personal point of view that's both bloody lucky, and more-than-a-little interested in television-making. -
Access: Paying Family Carers - What was…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Surely that is a crime against humanity in and of itself?
It's remarkable in the way it restricts courts. The Law Society is not impressed, and planned to take the issue to the UN.
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Speaker: How is Government evaluating…, in reply to Marc C,
The reports and evaluations may well reveal how rather simply COST focused the reforms are, and how questionable science has been relied on, to simply use as a justification of certain measures, like moving sick and disabled from certain benefits.
If I were to bet on it, I’d say no, MSD are not at all worried about being exposed as callous about the health issues or the ethics of forcing people off benefits.
Rather I’d bet analysis would reveal the whole cruel stupid exercise has cost more. Just that instead of going to beneficiaries who need help, it’s gone to experts and managers and change consultants.
Easier to spin that after the election, where it will be brushed aside as a ‘one-off’ cost of ‘valuable structural change.’
(ETA: the 'liability projections' used are complete and utter tosh. Another GFC, for example, and they'd be meaningless. But you can bet if there's any way to dodge behind an 'expert' it'll be touted the reforms have 'saved the country billions'.) -
It's a horrible piece of legislation. Hope you are able to get on day to day. Because change is way too slow.