Cyber-Cinema

Note: This is a movie-review like blog to be part of a popular films review website like Rotten Tomatoes. This is to be viewed as one in a series of compilation-reviews: reviews that look at more than one film in a review, all of which have something in common, like the “Best Of”, “Worst Of” series.

One of the most interesting repercussions of the whole world wide web and the internet revolution is the way it has infiltrated and been used in popular films. Hollywood is never too late in cashing in on any new trend or phenomena that hits the world. But what’s most peculiar is to see how the internet’s role in popular cinema varies so drastically from one film to another. It seems like filmmakers are still negotiating with the technology, its protocol, common usage and loop holes in order to use it almost like a protagonist, paramount to the central plot! What’s crucial to note that the films are not “about” the internet or telecommunication devices or technology.

Nora Ephron's You’ve Got Mail was really a re-make of Ernst Lubitsch's 1940 movie, The Shop Around the Corner, but with a modern twist. The “destiny” element that Ephron added to this routine “rivals-who-fall-for-each-other” was e-mail and chat romance: a view of "cyberManhattan". It effectively explored, rather early in the day (standard Hollywood anachronism), the estrangement factor of modern telecommunication: the idea that two people who exchange intimate e-mail, or who chat in a virtual chat-room, could pass each other unknowingly on the street, or worse still be arch business rivals! With all of the cyber affairs begun in chat rooms across the world, it was only a matter of time before a mainstream movie used on-line romance as a plot device. But like a blogger to an article, The Best and Worst Movies About the Internet, aptly put it, “To call You’ve Got Mail, a movie about the internet, is like saying Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid is a movie about horses!”

The Net was a 180 degrees the opposite of You’ve Got Mail. A Cyber-thriller, Cyber-crime, Cyber-terror story, if you’d like. What I found most fascinating about this film was how much it relied on assumed technical knowledge of its audience. The central idea in the film is about cyber security and encryption, the ramifications of which are not even completely explored and understood by IT professionals. The Mainframe computer is supposed to be the most robust, secure platform and hence is used to store highly confidential data. (The Green text on the screen that you see in this trailer of The Net is the Mainframe. It’s aptly called a Green Screen!)



Usually government, defence, immigration departments rely on the Mainframe. But is this something everyone who watches a film knows? It’s not like e-mailing or social networking!

I think Perfect Stranger was probably takes the cake when it comes to employing multiple strategies. It had everything: undercover investigative journalism, rivalry, child sexual abuse, virtual chat room, cyber sex.

Who I feel bad for? The archetypical lovelorn hacker and stalker tech-geek! What I find also very amusing while watching films like these is how the camera has to focus and show the actual screens of the various devices being used, the typing, and the screen-time that all this takes to advance the plot, like in this clip of Perfect Stranger at 1:20 minutes!



I’m still trying to give this new genre a name. Cyber-flicks, Compu-flicks, Web-centric films? Incidentally, I can’t seem to find an equivalent term definition or description in Wikipedia! I’m waiting to see James Bond grapple with it.

Tramming Melbourne

Note: This is a memoir-like travelogue blog to be part of a website that introduces aspects of Melbourne that will be easily (in terms of cost, time, effort) accessible to and of interest to prospective overseas students or overseas students who have recently come to Melbourne to undertake some form of university education. The site (like the IDP site) will be maintained by the organization that helps overseas students with the application process, etc. The site can be interactive and help students network with others for accommodation, etc. Hence the site can create a community of overseas students. Article contributions can be made by ‘veteran’ overseas students who may need to be given some form of incentive for contributing.

One of the most striking features of Melbourne, whether the CBD or in suburbia is the extended network of public transport that is primarily composed of trams, or buses on rails on the road, as I call them. It is a very unusual sight for someone who has not been exposed to extensive public transport, especially rail tracks on road. It took me a long time to get used to them. But, once you do, Yarra Trams inevitably becomes a part and parcel of your life, especially as a student. Here’s a nice little video made by Yarra Trams to commemorate a century of electric trams in Melbourne.

Tram Trivia
Melbourne is actually quite famous, world-over for its extensive tram system. The television program 20 to 1: Musical Milestones telecasted on Channel 9, listed “16. The Beatles – Performs All you need is love”, an event that marked a milestone with relation to satellite broadcasting history, Melbourne and its trams. Seems out of the blue. Here’s the story. Our World was the first live, international, satellite television production, which was broadcast on 25 June 1967. The two-and-half-hour event had 14 countries participated in the production that was transmitted to 31 countries with an estimated audience of 400 million people around the globe: the largest television audience ever up to that date. It is most famous for the segment from the UK which had the Beatles performing their song All You Need Is Love, at 8:54 p.m. GMT. The equator was crossed for the first time in the program when it switched to the Australian contribution at 5:22 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). The segment dealt with Trams leaving the Hanna Street Depot in Melbourne with Australian Broadcasting Commission's Brian King explaining that sunrise was many hours away as it was winter there!

Where to start?
City Circle: There is a special tourist tram called the City Circle tram which is free. It just goes around some important places in the CBD.

Metshop: The metshop is a good place to start if you are not an “online” sort of person. I picked up all the brochures, route maps of every single available tram in Melbourne. I always carry these around and they are so useful if you have to get from one point to another and are not sure about the routes, the stops, the availability of trams, etc. Another extremely handy item while travelling in Melbourne is the Melway. Do pick up your copy and have it with you always. It’s a detailed road-map like directory that has every street and suburb of Melbourne on it.

Yarra Tram: The one stop to get all the information you want online regarding routes, timetables, stops, fare, etc, is the Yarra Tram website. Today, they have this really cute quiz: “What’s your favourite public transport-inspired song?” The options are Locomotion by Kylie Minogue, Last Train to Clarksville by the Monkees, Morning Train by Sheena Easton, C’mon ‘n ride it by Quad City DJs!

Metcards: There are different types of tickets called metcards available and are based on certain eligibility criteria, your travel and cost-cutting needs. It’s worth having a look at the brochure or in the metlink site. You can purchase metcards from the vending machines in all the train stations, inside the tram (only coins are accepted), at the metshop, in news agencies, and any other store that sells them! Keep your meetcard safe and do not crush or fold it, because you will need to “validate” it once you are inside the tram and a metcard with creases usually doesn’t work.

Tram Tracker: Every tram stop has a unique Tracker Stop Id (not the same as stop number!). Using this, you can track at precisely what time you can expect a particular tram to show up at your stop. The Tram Tracker is available online on the Yarra Tram site. You can also call customer support at 131 638. You can also get them to post you the detailed timetable brochures of the trams you most frequently use. I got my timetables this way. So, I can plan my journey based on what time my tram can be expected at my stop.

Getting-on a tram
To avail the tram, all you have to do is get to the tram stop (indicated with a bright fluorescent green board) and stand there. All trams passing by, on seeing a passenger, usually stop. You don’t really have to stick your hand out or anything. Do follow a queue, if there are others waiting. You don’t have to rush and fight your way through. Trams usually wait for all passengers and are not in any rush!

Inside the tram
Once you are inside the tram, you must “validate” your ticket in the validating machines located inside the tram. What this does is, based on your ticket, it punches an expiry date. Not validating your card is an offence and you will be fined, if tram inspectors happen to check you (and they do check and they do fine; and before you ask, no you can’t validate the ticket the moment you see them, because one the moment they step into the tram, they invalidate the machine and two, many times they don’t have on their uniform and catch you by surprise!). There are special seats near against both ends of the tram. These are usually for the physically handicapped or the elderly. You can occupy them. But in case you happen to see a disabled person or an elderly person, do give up your seat.

Getting-off the tram
Getting-off the tram has another procedure. You can do one of two things. If you don’t know your stop number and only know some landmark or the street intersection name, then when you board the tram, you can request the driver (provided it’s not on auto-pilot, in which case, it stops at every stop!) to announce your stop. The drivers are usually very nice and are happy to oblige. Speak to them when they are not driving (before they start or when they stop at a signal). Their door is always closed, but there is a little opening through which you can interact with them. This is all to ensure safety. The other way is when you know your tram stop number of the stop at which you want to get-off. In this case, you have to be attentive and “pull the trigger” as I call it as soon as the tram has crossed the stop just before your stop. There is a cable running through the tram - on top. Just pull it and you will see a light glow, a buzzer sound and an indicator that says “Next Stop” in red in the digital display. Some trams also have a button located in the handlebars. You can also just press the button. When you get-off, you don’t usually have to watch your step, because there is a driving rule here in place which prohibits other vehicles to overtake a tram, especially near a tram stop. Most drivers follow this. But you can’t be too sure! Just ensure that you don’t wander off and walk on tram tracks on the road, like I did! Above all, try and make some friends on the tram, enjoy the conversations, observe others and have fun tramming through Melbourne!