Last week (but for what seemed like five years) 774 invited callers to promise good deeds.
Remember the last time a neighbour popped by with lemons from their tree? Or when you pitched in at the local childcare centre's working bee? Then you'll know that warm glow you get from helping out.
Listen in on stories of good deeds done and call in with your Day of Love pledges.
One little girl even rang through to say she was going to give her pocket money to a homeless man. Awww. She also promised not to punch her little brother. Awww. Awww.
Dunno who thought up this sickening, sanctimonious, saccharine suck-fest, but look out if you are an ABC listener in another state; this kind of virus spreads faster than ebola at a Congan mission, and it's twice as toxic.
Speaking of pledges, here's the Green Guide's Movie of the Week.
Sadly, though, The Pledge is a little ponderous, its great and serious intentions lost in a desire by Sean Penn to make a muted slow-burn movie that will explode briefly into an agonised grief (rather like his big scene as an actor in Mystic River). One of the finest philosophical detective stories ever written is here a dirge with more artifice than depth. It is an American adaption of a European book.
If that's the Movie of the Week, what's the Turkey of the Week?
Sean Penn: has he ever made a good film? The Indian Runner: snore. The Crossing Guard: snore. Into The Wild: "After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness." I haven't even seen it and already I'm asleep.
We hijacked their Fed Square do to hand out our own promo material. There was about 15 people there and half of them were freaks.
Posted by: Adam 1.0 | 01 December 2007 at 14:00
Only half were freaks?
Posted by: Tony T. | 01 December 2007 at 14:16
Actually, I've got to go in to bat for Jon Faine. All week he sounded like he wanted to kill whoever came up with Love Week. He gave a point-perfect demonstration of Barely Concealed Contempt.
Posted by: Tony T. | 01 December 2007 at 14:20
Actually, actually, The Pledge is OK.
Posted by: Tony T. | 01 December 2007 at 14:21
You reckon he tried to conceal his contempt? You musta listened at a different time to me.
Posted by: Francis Xavier Holden | 01 December 2007 at 18:00
Pity he never took his hockey stick to work and smashed the phones. And smashed the Aunties that talked up the idea. And smashed the CD player whenever it played yet another nauseating love song.
I would have loved that.
Posted by: Tony T. | 01 December 2007 at 19:45
Faine wavered in his commitment to contempt, but didn't Red Symons mostly refuse to have a thing to do with it? Either way, I missed every single second of the ridiculous concept - oh okay, perhaps a few nanoseconds as I lunged at the wahless to shut it off.
Good on you for spreading the warning interstate T. Question is, what levels of asinity are the Aunties who dreamt that shit up capable of for next time? Can we get the keys to the Marketing Cupboard and piff them in the Yarra?
Indian Runner + Crossing Guard - very fine films both IMHO. More about the mood than the clear-cut narrative action I'll admit, but dug both in the 35mm format. I'm dubious about the new one, but will jump into it this week sometime I would hazard a guess.
Posted by: via collins | 01 December 2007 at 21:42
I'm off Red lately, VC, and you know what? I think Red's off Red lately, too. Mind you, I don't give him much of a go these days, so he more than likely has good spells when I'm not listening. Still, he doesn't seem as sharp as he once was. And that Saturday repeat at 11:00 is just daft.
Got around half way through both those fillums, but pulled the pin. Sorry, pulled the penn. It was probably something to do with Bill Collins' maxim: "You get out of fillums what you put into them." I didn't put too much in.
Posted by: Tony T. | 01 December 2007 at 21:58
Has he ever made a good film?
No.
But he has been IN a great film.
Fast Times At Ridgemont High
of course.
Both his debut and Cameron Crowe's screenwriting debut I think.
His character had a pizza delivered
to him in Mr.My Favourite Martian's class.
any of your students do that sorta thing?
Posted by: Ann O'Dyne | 04 December 2007 at 13:53
In fact, just last week a bloke rocked up late with a slice of pizza dangling from his gob. But his name's not Spicoli.
Posted by: Tony T. | 04 December 2007 at 13:58