Uber's car crash

If people have been wondering why we Aussies have been on the receiving end of a flood of TV commercials for the car ride app and service Uber the mystery has been revealed. Below is the latest featuring Kim Kardashian and Magda Szubanski (as her character Sharon Strzelecki from 'Kath & Kim") Other s have featured a host of local TV and music stars from Ray Martin to Jimmy Barnes.

# The rumored fee for the Kardashian appearance is $1Million while Szubanski was paid $100,000 the fee that mostof the Australian celebs who appear in the adverts receive.
Also while the Uber car share service appears to be doing well in Australia, authorities in the UK have just refused to re-new Uber's license there after  a series of incidents in London:Transport for London says Uber has not been granted a new license to operate in London after ‘several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk’ were identified. Uber has confirmed it will appeal against TFL's decision to strip it of its license describing the action as ‘extraordinary and wrong’.

 Uber's use of secret software, called Greyball, which can be used to block regulators from monitoring the app, was another factor, according to TfL”. Uber has claimed “We have fundamentally changed our business over the last two years and are setting the standard on safety".

What the world needs now..

In an event organised by stage star Trevor Ashley at the Sydney Town Hall, fellow thespians lined up to appear in a concert to aid the victims of the terrible Orlando shootings :  From Sydney With Love – A Concert for Orlando. Among the performers :  Magda Szubanski, Joel Creasey, Bob Downe, Paul Capsis, iOTA, Emma Matthews, Simon Burke and Virginia Gay.
Her is the finale What The World Needs Now.

Sunburnt Superstar

 Tropfest 2013 was held for the last time yesterday in The Domain. In it's 21st year founder John Polson announced a change of venue- Centennial Park and date- December.
100,000 viewer turned up for the evening of short films and this year's judges included a sunburnt Sam Worthington, Magda Szubanski , Richard Roxburgh and Rebecca Gibney

 Nicholas Clifford's We've All Been There  won first prize while second prize went to the only documentary, Better Than Sinatra.

Indiana Evans

Josh Thomas

Magda Szubanski

Richard Roxburgh and Silvia Colloca

Kate Miller Heidke

Rebecca Gibney

Another Day..Another AACTA

a red dog

This is becoming repetitive. Not a week seems to go by without a new film award. Just a few days ago Geoffrey Rush was in Los Angeles helping hand out AACTA gongs to the Gumleaf Mafia and LA locals like Meryl Streep. That was followed by the SAG Awards a few days later.

Cate Blanchett shines

Miranda Kerr

Megan Gale

Last night he looked bright eyed and bushy tailed at the Sydney Opera House handing out more AACTAs to those in the local film industry.
He had some help from colleague Cate Blanchett. Actually that is the Samsung AACTA Awards. It's the re-incarnation of the Australian Film Awards and Samsung have put a hefty sum behind the whole deal hence the media were invited inside to the Opera House instead of being, as is film publicist's wont, bundled into some pen alongside the red carpet out in the elements. So we in the meejah are now very fond of Samsung and almost as happy as actor Simon Baker who keeps popping up on television promoting Samsung products for a reputed $3M a year.

The "Australian equivalent of the Oscars" went off without a hitch and anyone who has done anything in an Aussie film was there including some who haven't like Miranda Kerr. And there was a bar for the media.

The big winner was the film Red Dog judged Best Film. It's a charming feel good movie that was inexpensive to make which should delight the producers as not only has it been a box office success, animals don't get residuals.

The LaPaglia Brothers

And Judy Davis-who Woody Allen reckons is the "best actress in the world" won Best Actress for Eye Of The Storm which is based on the book by the crankiest ever Nobel Prize winner Patrick White. Olivia Newton John, Anthony La Paglia and Magda Szubanski were there as was  Shutle pal Jaqui Weaver who was up for an Oscar last year. She spent a few hours regailing us in the bar and roaring with laughter over some very risque tales of Jacqui's after Oscar party experiences, plus Claudia Karvan who is still having difficult recalling how the Shuttle bounced her on our knee in her dad's bar Athurs in Kings Cross (innocently of course!) when she was seven. Miranda Otto and her sis Gracie Otto and their dad Barry Otto attended. And Barry is the man that Sir John Gielgug once said was the best actor in the world.

SNOWTOWN picked up a gong and qute right too. It's a pretty gruesome true life tale but well made and  based on the shocking serial murders where ten bodies were found dumped in barrels of acid n a disused bank vault in Snowton in South Australia.  Done wonders for the tourism trade I'm told.