Googlefest 2009!

What is Googlefest, you ask? Is it a brand new alternative music festival? Nope. Is it a costume-based nerd convention? Getting warmer. Is it Google Sydney's first annual film festival and costume party? You bet your collagen-injected lips it is.

This past December we welcomed the first annual (maybe) Google Film Festival to the grassy green fields of Fox Studios. Sparing no expense, we had a star-studded evening filled with glitz, glamor, and...Googliness.

The evening started with a red-carpet welcome, complete with paparazzi and previously-unknown (to me) Aussie celebrities, Larry Edmur and Zoe Naylor. Later on that evening for the film judging, we were joined by YouTube celebrity Natalie Tran.

Zoe and Larry count down to game time. Or

maybe just wonder how long until they can

get the hell out of there.

The real highlight of the evening was that attendees were encouraged to dress up as their favorite film character. With a veritable smorgasbord of personalities from which to choose, I eventually settled on Bruce Willis' John McClane from the Die Hard films. So did someone else.

To save face in light of this party faux pas, I came

up with a solution, by reminding people that John

McClane still had hair in Die Hard 1&2, making

my similarly-dressed friend here Die Hard 3 &

Live Free or Die Hard. Problem solved...WITH

A VENGEANCE.

There were some spectacular costumes present during the evening. Here are just a few of my favorites:

Ed Rooney from Ferris Bueller's Day off.

"I did not achieve this position in life by

having some snot-nosed punk leave my

cheese out in the wind."

Clark Kent meets Morpheus.

Audrey Hepburn has breakfast with a

Twilight vampire.

Sister Mary Clarence from Sister Act.

"We want you to give us this day, our daily

bread. And to the republic, for which it

stands, and by the power vested in me, I

pronounce us ready to eat. Amen."

Little Miss Sunshine

"I'd like to dedicate this to my grandpa, who

showed me these moves." "Aww, that is so

sweet! Is he here? Where is your grandpa

now?" "In the trunk of our car."

(Two)mb Raiders, Lara Croft. There were

actually quite a few duplicates that evening.

Marge Simpson and Neo. She deserved first

place for covering her entire body in yellow

paint (she got it, don't worry).

Tinkerbell! Classic.

The Dude.

"That rug really tied the room together."

Snow White. Not pictured: the seven

little people she hired to follow her around

for the evening.

Mary from There's Something About Mary.

Awesome.

Helpful costume instructions.

Edward Scissorhands. Best male costume

winner.

"Kevin, you wanna play scissors, paper,

stone again?" "No!" "Why not?" "'Cause

it's boring. I always win!"

Cher from Clueless.

"Searching for a boy in high school is as

useless as searching for meaning in a Pauly

Shore movie."

'Chopper' Read (Chopper) and Raoul Duke

(Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).

"One toke? You poor fool. Wait 'til you

see those goddamn bats."

After much mingling and drinking and eating, we were brought to the main event of the evening: the film competition. We had outdoor lawn seating, blankets, cushions, and a massive inflatable screen. Oh, and popcorn. We were ready.

Ooo - professional!

I had gotten together with a ragtag group of scoundrels to make our film, The Cloudtrix (a Matrix-themed exploration of the online-based 'cloud'). In a word, it was epic (specifically because the length of the films were meant to be 3-5 minutes and ours was 7). Will let the film below speak for itself.

Groundbreaking. We ended up winning first place.

The winning team - by the end of the evening

I totally had the Bruce Willis smirk down.

At the Movies

So, I went to the movies for the first time in Australia today. First things first, I saw Hellboy 2. It was awesome and a lot of fun, great action, and imaginative characters.

Second, the movie theaters here put those in the U.S. to shame. They are in a whole other playing field. Here are some fun facts:

• It costs $17.50 to see a movie
• They have assigned seating, and you get to request front, middle, or back
• The movie theatres look like a fancy hotel or nice playhouse
• The seats are very comfy, and the armrests are at least 3 times as wide as normal (so no elbow sparring)
• The armrests have little tiny accent lights on top of them (they don't interfere with the movie)
• If you feel like forking over the extra cash, you can pay ~$34 to get a Gold Club seat. These are special showtimes where you get a more intimate theatre and food / wine service at your seat. Oh, and the seats have footrests.

I think I'll be going to see more movies.