Pizza and the Alexandria Summer Movie Festival

When Ian says “Let’s have Pizza!”, he doesn’t mean call Pizza Hut or Dominoes. He doesn’t mean take out a frozen base and cover it, either. He means he’d like one of my specials from scratch, you know, with yeast, flour, gluten and the full performance. So, since it is my sole duty in life to spoil him rotten, that is what he gets, with buffalo mozarella, two other cheeses, artichoke, mushroom, pepperoni, sun-dried tomato, anchovy and olives. He even left some for me!It’s been so stinking hot this week, with 150 percent humidity, that it hasn’t really been outdoor weather. So it’s been summer movies at home festival time. I’ve seen two superb films and one sort of good film this week. The first was “Amacord” which I’ve already talked about and which went straight into my all-time favourites treasure-chest along with several other Fellini favoutites. It joins ” 8 1/2”, “Juliet of the Spirits”, “la Strada” and “Nights of Cabiria” in my never to be forgotten basket. Then came another film which I’d heard of, but never made much effort to see. More fool me! It was the astonishing Yugoslav film, “Underground”. What a funny, horrifying, moving extravaganza. It, like Julie Taymor’s “Titus”, owes a lot to Fellini but in a different way. “Titus” takes a lot from Fellini’s extravagant visual style but is cool and ironical. “Underground” also references Fellini, but it is hot and humane. It’s an attempt to explain and celebrate the passionate, loyal and frequently murderous soul of the Balkans. It also barged straight into my list of all-time favourite films.“The Hours” was a less satisfying experience for me. Nicole was fine but role of Virginia Woolf was underwritten. Virginia Woolf was a lot more than a mental-illness. Julianne Moore was better, (I’ve admired her ever since seeing her perform on TV the Beckett piece in which all you see is her mouth). Her scene with the always excellent Meryl Streep was very good. I’ve loved la Streep ever since “Evil Angels” (US title “A Cry in the Night). Meryl was criticised here for having a lousy Australian accent. What these morons failed to realise was that Lindy Chamberlain was originally from New Zealand and that Meryl impersonated her with a FLAWLESS Kiwi accent.However my favourite moment in “The Hours” was the small, heartrending cameo by Toni Collette, my favourite Australian actress. Nicole can be good, Rachel Griffiths always impresses, Judy Davis is a very distinguished actress, but for me Toni Collette is always perfection.At least this movie has encouraged me to embark on a detailed biography of Virginia Woolf, and to promise myself to re-read some of her novels. I suspect I was too young the first time round.One good effect of the lousy weather is that the birds have been very active. I saw nine magpies in a tiny park yesterday and the koels have been in a noisy delerium for days. The insects have been amazing too, as androkles’ post will affirm