I picture Grethe has being the type of person to give me an actress. She seems to like Australian TV shows. So, I'll be surprised if I'm wrong.
I'm right! And this means I get to reunite with IMDb. I'm so happy!
I wonder if I'm beginning some kind of codependent relationship with IMDb. Maybe I should be worried.
Lord Wiki says that baby Claudia was born in Sydney, on 19 May 1972. She's six months older than me. In about two weeks, she'll be turning thirty-eight. I hope she has a nice birthday.
I'm going to leave the career info for IMDb. I'm wading through a few bits of personal information here.
Karvan attended SCEGGS in Darlinghurst. I've encountered this school before. I'm thinking MAYBE it's the school that Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts went to.
Nope. This time I'm wrong. Those girls both went to North Sydney Girls High School. Oops.
Gillian Armstrong went to SCEGGS. Who else? I know I've done this school before.
Virginia Bell....That's another name I know.
When Karvan was eight, she moved to Bali with her mother and brothers. I guess her parents were separated?
They stayed in Bali for a year. I wonder why they were there. Did they enjoy it?
Lord Wiki says that Karvan's dad owned a nightspot in King's Cross called Arthur's. I tried to google it, and kept getting King Arthur stuff. But then I found something about Karvan's dad's Arthur's. It's mentioned in an Andrew Denton interview with Karvan. So we have that to look at later.
Karvan's romantic partner person is a guy named Jeremy Sparks. They have two daughters together. The oldest is about Jack's age, and the younger one was born in 2006.
Karvan also has a stepdaughter who is the lead singer of a band called Bridezilla. Holiday Sindwinder is Spark's daughter.
I wonder if Karvan and Sindwinder have a good relationship, or is it strained in that typical stepparent way?
I'm now on Karvan's IMDb page.
The first thing on her filmography was from 1983. So I guess she was a bit of a child star....or maybe just a child actress. I'm not sure we could call her a star.
Karvan had the role of Disgruntled Child in a movie called Going Down. The movie is about Australian girls who try to make a memorable good-bye to their friend who's moving to New York. Maybe while partying, they managed to make a child feel disgruntled.
Also in 1983, Karvan was in Molly. Her name is listed first in the credits, so maybe she had a big role. An IMDb user, says it's about a dog who howls to music. Oh....one of those movies. Ruth Cracknell was in it. I wonder if I wrote about the movie when I researched her.
We have a few hiatus years and then Karvan returned to the screen in 1987 with Echoes of Paradise. This sounds familar. Did I write about it before?
Oh, yeah. I was looking through the cast for a name I knew, but it's the director I've written about before; Phillip Noyce. He's the Clear and Present Danger guy.
Also in 1987, Karvan was in the Gillian Armstrong movie, High Tide. I wonder if Karvan and Armstrong talked about their time at SCEGGS while doing the film. I've written about this movie before; probably twice. It stars Judy Davis, and I've done a post on her. Maybe Karvan plays the daughter that Judy Davis finds?
Karvan earned an AFI nomination for the film. That's pretty impressive. She was only about fifteen.
Lord Wiki says she does play the daughter. Judy Davis' character befriends her, not realizing she's the daughter she had given up earlier.
In 1988, Karvan was in the TV movie Touch the Sun: Princess Kate. One of the writers was the playwright David Williamson. I remember him.
The movie is about a girl who learns that she's adopted, and searches for her biological mother. Karvan doesn't play Kate. She's Amanda. Maybe a friend? A new sister?
In 1990, Karvan was in The Big Steal. It's about a boy who wants to impress a girl, and he feels he can do this by getting a Jaguar. It doesn't sound like my type of thing. I'm so not into cars.
Karvan earned another AFI nomination for the movie.
Lord Wiki says that Ben Mendelsohn plays the teen in this movie. For some reason, I thought he was much older. I mean I know it's been twenty years since he played a teen. So now he'd be in his early forties, probably. Well, I guess that makes sense. I probably pictured him about that age. And I don't really know why I pictured him at any age. I've seen his name before. I don't know if I've ever seen him.
Here's a trailer for the The Big Steal. It looks kind of okay.
In 1991, Karvan was in Holidays on the River Yarra. This was the year I graduated high school.
An IMDb user named Sutcal thinks it's one of the worst Australian movies ever. He says, The characters are shallow and the dialogue is very "dumb aussie". I'm not quite sure what dumb Aussie refers to.
This New York Times blurb says the movie is about teenagers who get offered a chance to go to Africa with some racist mercenaries but first they have to raise their own money for the trip.
It sounds like it would be an okay movie....thought-provoking. But Sutcal wasn't the only IMDb user to not like it.
In 1992, Karvan was in a thriller called Redheads.
Karvan received yet another AFI nomination. That's the third I've seen for her. I'm guessing eventually she wins one. But for now, I'm impressed enough that she's been nominated so much.
Blockbuster's website has a synopsis of the plot. It's about a young woman having an affair with an older rich lawyer. While she's at his apartment, he gets murdered. She has it all on videotape, probably because they had been using the camera for something else....prior to the murder.
Someone has made a video of Redheads. I think it may be a summary of the whole movie. There might be spoilers, so beware.
It looks like Karvan may be a prostitute.
I'm not sure if the weird lighting and color is part of the movie, or the person who edited it for YouTube put it in. And what about those scene break things? Was that part of the original movie?
Karvan's character is in a teen prison. I guess she ended up there after her guy died? Or was she there, and allowed out sometimes?
This is pretty suspenseful.
In 1993, Karvan was in Touch Me. It sounds like it might be porn...or soft porn. Erotica. Is there a difference between soft porn, and erotica? Anyway, it's a film short. I usually skip those. But I thought this was worth mentioning. From what an IMDb user says, I'm getting the idea that it might be a lesbian thing.
Karvan was in that movie with Noah Taylor, John Noble, and Miranda Otto; The Nostradamus Kid. She played the character Beat Girl. It sounds like a small part, but maybe I'm wrong.
Next we have Broken Highway. It earned Karvan her fourth AFI nomination. Besides that, I can't find much about it. Have any of you seen it?
This is kind of funny. Karvan was in The Nostradamus Kid in 1993. That same year she was also in The Heartbreak Kid.
I thought this movie sounded familar. Then I looked it up, and I remembered writing about it. I remember mentioning that it has the same title as a 2007 Ben Stiller movie.
Lord Wiki says The Heartbreak Kid later became the TV show Heartbreak High. I wrote about that when I researched Abi Tucker.
Here's the beginning of the movie. Karvan plays a Greek woman. I wonder if she's Greek in real life.
Who is that guy watching from the outside of the party. What does he want?
Louis Mandylor is one of the stars.
I wouldn't want to be a teacher in that classroom. Nor would I want to be a student interested in actually learning. I really don't see how people can believe schools like this might benefit society. The movie scene illustrates one of the popular arguments I've heard for homeschooling: A large chunk of classroom time is not used for learning. It's used for classroom management. Homeschooled parents are often questioned about their child's lack of learning and socialization. But what homeschooled kids probably mostly lose out on is watching other children get disciplined. This is just a movie, of course, but I know scenes like this play out in real life.
Let me guess. Through the rest of the film, the teacher manages to reach the heart of all the teams. She learns something. They learn something. They become model students and realize that formal education is extremely important.
I could be wrong. I'm kind of curious about how it all plays out. But I'm not going to watch the whole movie right now.
In 1994, Karvan was in Exile with Hugo Weaving. Also in the film, was Aden Young, who had starred with Karvan in Broken Highways.
The Yahoo movie site says Exile is about a man who steals sheep, and is punished by being sent to an isolated island. A young woman hears of his situation and goes there to be with him. That sounds kind of romantic.
In 1996, Karvan was in Lust and Revenge. I can't really find much about it.
Well, actually some IMDb users give a little insight. The movie deals with the art world. Karvan plays the spoiled and lonely daughter of a wealthy art lover. It might be interesting.
In 1996, Karvan was in Dating the Enemy with Guy Pearce. I think I remember this movie. A man and woman switch bodies.
The movie earned Karvan another AFI nomination.
Here's a short trailer. It looks cute.
Here's the beginning of the movie.
I didn't realize Valentines Day was a big deal in Australia. It seemed kind of ignored when we were there. Well, maybe we looked in the wrong places.
Wow. What a sweet attraction-at-first site scene at 2:49.
This is all very romantic. I'm liking it so far.
The characters played by Pearce and Karvan both seem very sweet to me. I hope they find love and happiness together.
Pearce's line at 6:59 gave me a little tear.
Karvan is adorable in this movie.
I love the part at 8:54. That is SO something that would happen to me.
Oh! Christine Anu is in the movie. I didn't see her in this clip. I just saw her name on the IMDb credits.
I'm going to have to watch more of this movie someday.
In 1997, Karvan worked with Guy Pearce again in Flynn. This was a biopic about Errol Flynn. It deals with his early life before Hollywood.
The IMDb reviews of the film aren't exactly positive. There' s a lot of talk of it being based on speculation rather than fact.
In 1998, Karvan was in Two Girls and a Baby. I wonder if it was a lesbian thing.
It's a short. YouTube has it. I'm going to watch some of it....or maybe all of it.
The part at 1:04 makes me stop and think. Traditional baby books aren't exactly made for lesbian parents. Are there baby books available for homosexual couples?
This baby website has information about baby books that would work for gay and lesbian parents. That's cool.
For some reason, these women want sperm donated from Chicago.
With lesbian couples, how do they decide which partner will have the baby? I guess it's different for each couple. Do they sometimes flip a coin? I'm guessing sometimes it's about who's healthier, maybe?
I love the conversation at 5:54. A guy questions the women about having a baby. The kid will be teased at school. Karvan's character replies that all kids are teased at school. It's true. But yeah. Some kids are teased more. I think that's the problem of the bullies not their target. I mean it IS a problem for the victim. But I don't think we should mold our world into something we don't like simply to avoid being teased by jerks.
I love some of the next lines too. The man says children need fathers. Karvan replies that they need LOVE. I think that's so true. Does it matter what gender the love comes from?
Now they're talking about the sperm bank. Do they not have those in Australia? I'm so confused.
Lord Wiki is helping me out a bit here. He says countries have different laws regarding donation. Some are more strict than others. This is to prevent too many children being genetically similar. It seems the United States has more lenient laws than Australia.
This recent article says that a new law in Australia says that children now born in this matter, must be told of their biological heritage when they turned eighteen. Some men aren't interested in adding this complication to their lives; so the amount of sperm donated has been reduced. Because of this, some Australians are looking to America for sperm. I wonder, though, if Americans have to follow that law. Maybe I should suggest that Tim donate. That way Jack can have an instant sibling in about twenty years.
So anyway, that's now. I wonder what was going on in the late 1990's....the time of this movie.
I'm watching part two now. It's interesting to see the reaction of the different parents. I wonder what percentage of parents these days are accepting and loving towards their children when they've come out of the closet. I wonder if anyone's ever done a study. What percentage of parents completely reject their child...throw them out of the house. What percentage grudgingly accept it? We won't throw you out of the house, but let's not mention this ever again. And don't you dare embarrass us. And what percentage are supportive?
Wow. Now the movie has an interesting twist..... Things might not happen they way they expected.
I don't want to give too much away....in case you want to watch it.
Some aspects of this movie make me a little jealous.
Now I'm on part 3. This is a really beautiful movie. I highly recommend it.
The line at 3:23 cracked me up.
Karvan did a biopic about the athlete Janine Shepherd. It's called Never Tell Me Never. It's almost like a John Locke thing.
Lord Wiki is telling me about Shepherd. She sounds like a really amazing women. She was a cross country skier. But then while cycling, she was hit by a truck. She has massive injuries and was expected to die. She lived. Doctors thought she'd be in wheelchair for the rest of her life, and they thought she'd never have children. She walked again, and she had three kids.
The movie earned Karvan another AFI nomination. Is she ever going to win one of these? I hope so! I mean I hope she's won already, and I just haven't come across it yet.
Next we have a miniseries called The Violent Earth. This Aussie TV website says it's about people in New Caledonia. Where is New Caledonia?
Lord Wiki says it's in the south-west Pacific.
It's East of Australia. I'm seeing it on Google Maps.
Well, I'm done with that geography lesson. I'm going to move onto the next movie.
In 1999, Karvan was in Paperback Hero with Hugh Jackman. Jackman plays the romance writer who is too embarrassed to admit he writes such stuff. He gets Karvan's character to pretend that she's the writer.
Here's a trailer. The video quality isn't so great.
Also in 1999, Karvan was in a biopic about Percy Grainger. Miranda Otto's ex-boyfriend played Grainger.
Does it mean something that the two Australian pianists I know of are/were a bit odd. Is that a coincidence? Is it something about piano playing? Piano playing in Australia? Or is it that the strange folks get more attention?
Karvan plays a woman that Grainger falls in love with.
Guess what. Here's a huge surprise. Karvan was nominated for another AFI award.
Please win already!
Speaking of piano....Jack wants me to help him practice. So, I'm going to do that. Then I'll come back, and do more of this work.......
Karvan was in Strange Planet with Hugo Weaving and Naomi Watts. I've probably looked at this movie before, but I don't really remember it.
The plot SORT of sounds familar. It begins on New Years Eve, and ends on New Years Eve a year later. That's kind of clever.
This film website has a review of it.
Wait. Actually, it's not a review. It's an interview with Karvan regarding the movie.
They talk about how she's not yet gone overseas to further her career. This is 1999, though. By now, she might be in American and British movies....or other stuff. I think I saw a Star Wars film on her filmography.
In Strange Planet, Karvan plays a young woman trying to break into the TV industry. And she has a thing going on with Hugo Weaving.
The interview says that during part of her childhood, Karvan lived in her father's nightclub. That would have probably been interesting.
In 2000, Karvan was in a crime thriller called Risk. IMDb users say it's about white collar crime. That's about all I can think of to say about it.
In 2001, Karvan was in a TV movie called My Brother Jack. The plot sounds really confusing to me. I think it's about brothers, a war, a Catholic girl...... I'm not sure.
Lord Wiki says it's based on a novel by George Johnston.
Also in 2001, Karvan did three episodes of Farscape. She played a character named Natira.
Lord Wiki's cousin says that Natira had blueish skin. I guess Karvan had to endure a lot of make-up for this role.
She sounds a bit wicked. I don't think Natira was a nice creature.
Here's a scene with Natira. It's alien sex. Interesting.
This website talks about some of the make-up process. Karvan says she enjoyed working on the show, and wouldn't have minded working more on it....if she didn't have to play a character that needed so much make-up. And she says if the Star Wars folks had offered her a nonhuman role, she might have turned it down. I can imagine the make-up isn't too much fun.
Either before or after Farscape (I'm not sure), Karvan started working on The Secret Life of Us. She played Dr. Alex Christenson, and was on the show until 2003.
Here's a scene. Dr. Alex farts. Fun.
This website says that Dr. Alex is an emergency doctor.
For the TV show, Karvan was nominated every year for an AFI. She never won. But she DID win a Logie! That's good.
I wish I could find more clips of the show...maybe beyond YouTube. Let me check.
Here we go! The Australian Screen website has some scenes. Thank you. They're playing dirty world Scrabble. It sounds fun but a bit confusing. Dr. Alex and her playing partner debate about which words are dirty or not.
Here's another scene.
And another.
I just want to say that twice today I've heard people on clips say good on ya. When we were in Hawaii, our Australian friends told some guy where they were from. To show that he knew a little bit about Australia, this guy said good on ya. Our friends told him that Australians don't say that. This was news to me. I wasn't sure if they meant: a) Australians don't say that period or b) they were trying to explain that it's not used as a greeting. Though I don't think the guy was trying to use it as a greeting. I think he was just trying to say, Look! I know an Australian phase. I thought it was impressive that he said that, instead of G'day mate. Let's throw a shrimp on the barbie.
In 2004, Karvan was in the TV movie Small Claims with Rebecca Gibney. It's a crime thing involving working moms.
Yes. Karvan was nominated for an AFI for this movie. What else is new?
Also in 2004, Karvan started working on the TV show Love My Way. I don't think I've encountered this one before.
Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! I'm so excited!!!!!
Karvan WON the AFI this time!!!! Finally! And she won three times....2005, 2006, 2007. I'm so happy for her.
Although as they say, it IS enough to be nominated. I think being nominated is actually the best. That way you get validation for your career and talent. But you don't have to go up and make a speech.
Towards the end of the show's run, Ben Mendelsohn was in the show. Remember he starred with Karvan in that car dating movie.
Lord Wiki says the show was basically a drama about people in their thirties. Hey, that's where I'm at now. I think it's probably a good age to base a TV series on. I was just thinking. The thirtysomething years have probably changed a lot. I think it used to be primarily people raising teens. Now a lot of us have much younger kids, or we're just starting to try and make babies. When my mom was my age, she had a sixteen-year-old, a thirteen-year-old, and an eight-year-old. I'm in my late thirties and have an eight-year-old. My sister is forty, and her oldest is close to nine. My younger sister is in her early thirties and has a young toddler.
When I was on Livejournal, though, I had some friends in their twenties who had kids around Jack's age. So I guess when they're in their thirties, they'll have teens. And one of my thirtysomething friends has a teen. So people ARE still having kids in their twenties. I think it's just that now it's getting more and more common to wait. I even know people in their forties with very young children.
I'm rambling, aren't I. Oh well.
Here's a clip from the show. This is compelling drama, although I don't see Karvan yet.
This reminds me of the fights I have with my sisters.
Well, actually we don't usually get that physical.
Oh. I might have been wrong about never seeing this show before. Sam Worthington was in it. So I probably wrote about it when I wrote about him. I have vague memories of a show like this. I'm going to look at my old post and see if I mentioned it.
Yep. I did. And it matches my vague memories.
Here's a promo for the show. It looks very intense.
In 2005, Karvan was in the 6th Star Wars movie; Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith.
I guess this was Karvan's first American movie. She played Sola Naberrie. Lord Wiki's cousin says she's sister to Queen Amidala. And that makes her aunt to Luke and Leia.
I can't find any videos unfortunately. Sorry.
Also in 2005, Karvan revisited her Small Claims role in the follow up Small Claims: White Wedding.
The Sydney Morning Herald has a review of it. The reviewer really likes it. She says, It has everything going for it - character-driven plots, great scripts and two red-carpet stars playing ambitious career women sidelined by domesticity.
I'm right! And this means I get to reunite with IMDb. I'm so happy!
I wonder if I'm beginning some kind of codependent relationship with IMDb. Maybe I should be worried.
Lord Wiki says that baby Claudia was born in Sydney, on 19 May 1972. She's six months older than me. In about two weeks, she'll be turning thirty-eight. I hope she has a nice birthday.
I'm going to leave the career info for IMDb. I'm wading through a few bits of personal information here.
Karvan attended SCEGGS in Darlinghurst. I've encountered this school before. I'm thinking MAYBE it's the school that Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts went to.
Nope. This time I'm wrong. Those girls both went to North Sydney Girls High School. Oops.
Gillian Armstrong went to SCEGGS. Who else? I know I've done this school before.
Virginia Bell....That's another name I know.
When Karvan was eight, she moved to Bali with her mother and brothers. I guess her parents were separated?
They stayed in Bali for a year. I wonder why they were there. Did they enjoy it?
Lord Wiki says that Karvan's dad owned a nightspot in King's Cross called Arthur's. I tried to google it, and kept getting King Arthur stuff. But then I found something about Karvan's dad's Arthur's. It's mentioned in an Andrew Denton interview with Karvan. So we have that to look at later.
Karvan's romantic partner person is a guy named Jeremy Sparks. They have two daughters together. The oldest is about Jack's age, and the younger one was born in 2006.
Karvan also has a stepdaughter who is the lead singer of a band called Bridezilla. Holiday Sindwinder is Spark's daughter.
I wonder if Karvan and Sindwinder have a good relationship, or is it strained in that typical stepparent way?
I'm now on Karvan's IMDb page.
The first thing on her filmography was from 1983. So I guess she was a bit of a child star....or maybe just a child actress. I'm not sure we could call her a star.
Karvan had the role of Disgruntled Child in a movie called Going Down. The movie is about Australian girls who try to make a memorable good-bye to their friend who's moving to New York. Maybe while partying, they managed to make a child feel disgruntled.
Also in 1983, Karvan was in Molly. Her name is listed first in the credits, so maybe she had a big role. An IMDb user, says it's about a dog who howls to music. Oh....one of those movies. Ruth Cracknell was in it. I wonder if I wrote about the movie when I researched her.
We have a few hiatus years and then Karvan returned to the screen in 1987 with Echoes of Paradise. This sounds familar. Did I write about it before?
Oh, yeah. I was looking through the cast for a name I knew, but it's the director I've written about before; Phillip Noyce. He's the Clear and Present Danger guy.
Also in 1987, Karvan was in the Gillian Armstrong movie, High Tide. I wonder if Karvan and Armstrong talked about their time at SCEGGS while doing the film. I've written about this movie before; probably twice. It stars Judy Davis, and I've done a post on her. Maybe Karvan plays the daughter that Judy Davis finds?
Karvan earned an AFI nomination for the film. That's pretty impressive. She was only about fifteen.
Lord Wiki says she does play the daughter. Judy Davis' character befriends her, not realizing she's the daughter she had given up earlier.
In 1988, Karvan was in the TV movie Touch the Sun: Princess Kate. One of the writers was the playwright David Williamson. I remember him.
The movie is about a girl who learns that she's adopted, and searches for her biological mother. Karvan doesn't play Kate. She's Amanda. Maybe a friend? A new sister?
In 1990, Karvan was in The Big Steal. It's about a boy who wants to impress a girl, and he feels he can do this by getting a Jaguar. It doesn't sound like my type of thing. I'm so not into cars.
Karvan earned another AFI nomination for the movie.
Lord Wiki says that Ben Mendelsohn plays the teen in this movie. For some reason, I thought he was much older. I mean I know it's been twenty years since he played a teen. So now he'd be in his early forties, probably. Well, I guess that makes sense. I probably pictured him about that age. And I don't really know why I pictured him at any age. I've seen his name before. I don't know if I've ever seen him.
Here's a trailer for the The Big Steal. It looks kind of okay.
In 1991, Karvan was in Holidays on the River Yarra. This was the year I graduated high school.
An IMDb user named Sutcal thinks it's one of the worst Australian movies ever. He says, The characters are shallow and the dialogue is very "dumb aussie". I'm not quite sure what dumb Aussie refers to.
This New York Times blurb says the movie is about teenagers who get offered a chance to go to Africa with some racist mercenaries but first they have to raise their own money for the trip.
It sounds like it would be an okay movie....thought-provoking. But Sutcal wasn't the only IMDb user to not like it.
In 1992, Karvan was in a thriller called Redheads.
Karvan received yet another AFI nomination. That's the third I've seen for her. I'm guessing eventually she wins one. But for now, I'm impressed enough that she's been nominated so much.
Blockbuster's website has a synopsis of the plot. It's about a young woman having an affair with an older rich lawyer. While she's at his apartment, he gets murdered. She has it all on videotape, probably because they had been using the camera for something else....prior to the murder.
Someone has made a video of Redheads. I think it may be a summary of the whole movie. There might be spoilers, so beware.
It looks like Karvan may be a prostitute.
I'm not sure if the weird lighting and color is part of the movie, or the person who edited it for YouTube put it in. And what about those scene break things? Was that part of the original movie?
Karvan's character is in a teen prison. I guess she ended up there after her guy died? Or was she there, and allowed out sometimes?
This is pretty suspenseful.
In 1993, Karvan was in Touch Me. It sounds like it might be porn...or soft porn. Erotica. Is there a difference between soft porn, and erotica? Anyway, it's a film short. I usually skip those. But I thought this was worth mentioning. From what an IMDb user says, I'm getting the idea that it might be a lesbian thing.
Karvan was in that movie with Noah Taylor, John Noble, and Miranda Otto; The Nostradamus Kid. She played the character Beat Girl. It sounds like a small part, but maybe I'm wrong.
Next we have Broken Highway. It earned Karvan her fourth AFI nomination. Besides that, I can't find much about it. Have any of you seen it?
This is kind of funny. Karvan was in The Nostradamus Kid in 1993. That same year she was also in The Heartbreak Kid.
I thought this movie sounded familar. Then I looked it up, and I remembered writing about it. I remember mentioning that it has the same title as a 2007 Ben Stiller movie.
Lord Wiki says The Heartbreak Kid later became the TV show Heartbreak High. I wrote about that when I researched Abi Tucker.
Here's the beginning of the movie. Karvan plays a Greek woman. I wonder if she's Greek in real life.
Who is that guy watching from the outside of the party. What does he want?
Louis Mandylor is one of the stars.
I wouldn't want to be a teacher in that classroom. Nor would I want to be a student interested in actually learning. I really don't see how people can believe schools like this might benefit society. The movie scene illustrates one of the popular arguments I've heard for homeschooling: A large chunk of classroom time is not used for learning. It's used for classroom management. Homeschooled parents are often questioned about their child's lack of learning and socialization. But what homeschooled kids probably mostly lose out on is watching other children get disciplined. This is just a movie, of course, but I know scenes like this play out in real life.
Let me guess. Through the rest of the film, the teacher manages to reach the heart of all the teams. She learns something. They learn something. They become model students and realize that formal education is extremely important.
I could be wrong. I'm kind of curious about how it all plays out. But I'm not going to watch the whole movie right now.
In 1994, Karvan was in Exile with Hugo Weaving. Also in the film, was Aden Young, who had starred with Karvan in Broken Highways.
The Yahoo movie site says Exile is about a man who steals sheep, and is punished by being sent to an isolated island. A young woman hears of his situation and goes there to be with him. That sounds kind of romantic.
In 1996, Karvan was in Lust and Revenge. I can't really find much about it.
Well, actually some IMDb users give a little insight. The movie deals with the art world. Karvan plays the spoiled and lonely daughter of a wealthy art lover. It might be interesting.
In 1996, Karvan was in Dating the Enemy with Guy Pearce. I think I remember this movie. A man and woman switch bodies.
The movie earned Karvan another AFI nomination.
Here's a short trailer. It looks cute.
Here's the beginning of the movie.
I didn't realize Valentines Day was a big deal in Australia. It seemed kind of ignored when we were there. Well, maybe we looked in the wrong places.
Wow. What a sweet attraction-at-first site scene at 2:49.
This is all very romantic. I'm liking it so far.
The characters played by Pearce and Karvan both seem very sweet to me. I hope they find love and happiness together.
Pearce's line at 6:59 gave me a little tear.
Karvan is adorable in this movie.
I love the part at 8:54. That is SO something that would happen to me.
Oh! Christine Anu is in the movie. I didn't see her in this clip. I just saw her name on the IMDb credits.
I'm going to have to watch more of this movie someday.
In 1997, Karvan worked with Guy Pearce again in Flynn. This was a biopic about Errol Flynn. It deals with his early life before Hollywood.
The IMDb reviews of the film aren't exactly positive. There' s a lot of talk of it being based on speculation rather than fact.
In 1998, Karvan was in Two Girls and a Baby. I wonder if it was a lesbian thing.
It's a short. YouTube has it. I'm going to watch some of it....or maybe all of it.
The part at 1:04 makes me stop and think. Traditional baby books aren't exactly made for lesbian parents. Are there baby books available for homosexual couples?
This baby website has information about baby books that would work for gay and lesbian parents. That's cool.
For some reason, these women want sperm donated from Chicago.
With lesbian couples, how do they decide which partner will have the baby? I guess it's different for each couple. Do they sometimes flip a coin? I'm guessing sometimes it's about who's healthier, maybe?
I love the conversation at 5:54. A guy questions the women about having a baby. The kid will be teased at school. Karvan's character replies that all kids are teased at school. It's true. But yeah. Some kids are teased more. I think that's the problem of the bullies not their target. I mean it IS a problem for the victim. But I don't think we should mold our world into something we don't like simply to avoid being teased by jerks.
I love some of the next lines too. The man says children need fathers. Karvan replies that they need LOVE. I think that's so true. Does it matter what gender the love comes from?
Now they're talking about the sperm bank. Do they not have those in Australia? I'm so confused.
Lord Wiki is helping me out a bit here. He says countries have different laws regarding donation. Some are more strict than others. This is to prevent too many children being genetically similar. It seems the United States has more lenient laws than Australia.
This recent article says that a new law in Australia says that children now born in this matter, must be told of their biological heritage when they turned eighteen. Some men aren't interested in adding this complication to their lives; so the amount of sperm donated has been reduced. Because of this, some Australians are looking to America for sperm. I wonder, though, if Americans have to follow that law. Maybe I should suggest that Tim donate. That way Jack can have an instant sibling in about twenty years.
So anyway, that's now. I wonder what was going on in the late 1990's....the time of this movie.
I'm watching part two now. It's interesting to see the reaction of the different parents. I wonder what percentage of parents these days are accepting and loving towards their children when they've come out of the closet. I wonder if anyone's ever done a study. What percentage of parents completely reject their child...throw them out of the house. What percentage grudgingly accept it? We won't throw you out of the house, but let's not mention this ever again. And don't you dare embarrass us. And what percentage are supportive?
Wow. Now the movie has an interesting twist..... Things might not happen they way they expected.
I don't want to give too much away....in case you want to watch it.
Some aspects of this movie make me a little jealous.
Now I'm on part 3. This is a really beautiful movie. I highly recommend it.
The line at 3:23 cracked me up.
Karvan did a biopic about the athlete Janine Shepherd. It's called Never Tell Me Never. It's almost like a John Locke thing.
Lord Wiki is telling me about Shepherd. She sounds like a really amazing women. She was a cross country skier. But then while cycling, she was hit by a truck. She has massive injuries and was expected to die. She lived. Doctors thought she'd be in wheelchair for the rest of her life, and they thought she'd never have children. She walked again, and she had three kids.
The movie earned Karvan another AFI nomination. Is she ever going to win one of these? I hope so! I mean I hope she's won already, and I just haven't come across it yet.
Next we have a miniseries called The Violent Earth. This Aussie TV website says it's about people in New Caledonia. Where is New Caledonia?
Lord Wiki says it's in the south-west Pacific.
It's East of Australia. I'm seeing it on Google Maps.
Well, I'm done with that geography lesson. I'm going to move onto the next movie.
In 1999, Karvan was in Paperback Hero with Hugh Jackman. Jackman plays the romance writer who is too embarrassed to admit he writes such stuff. He gets Karvan's character to pretend that she's the writer.
Here's a trailer. The video quality isn't so great.
Also in 1999, Karvan was in a biopic about Percy Grainger. Miranda Otto's ex-boyfriend played Grainger.
Does it mean something that the two Australian pianists I know of are/were a bit odd. Is that a coincidence? Is it something about piano playing? Piano playing in Australia? Or is it that the strange folks get more attention?
Karvan plays a woman that Grainger falls in love with.
Guess what. Here's a huge surprise. Karvan was nominated for another AFI award.
Please win already!
Speaking of piano....Jack wants me to help him practice. So, I'm going to do that. Then I'll come back, and do more of this work.......
Karvan was in Strange Planet with Hugo Weaving and Naomi Watts. I've probably looked at this movie before, but I don't really remember it.
The plot SORT of sounds familar. It begins on New Years Eve, and ends on New Years Eve a year later. That's kind of clever.
This film website has a review of it.
Wait. Actually, it's not a review. It's an interview with Karvan regarding the movie.
They talk about how she's not yet gone overseas to further her career. This is 1999, though. By now, she might be in American and British movies....or other stuff. I think I saw a Star Wars film on her filmography.
In Strange Planet, Karvan plays a young woman trying to break into the TV industry. And she has a thing going on with Hugo Weaving.
The interview says that during part of her childhood, Karvan lived in her father's nightclub. That would have probably been interesting.
In 2000, Karvan was in a crime thriller called Risk. IMDb users say it's about white collar crime. That's about all I can think of to say about it.
In 2001, Karvan was in a TV movie called My Brother Jack. The plot sounds really confusing to me. I think it's about brothers, a war, a Catholic girl...... I'm not sure.
Lord Wiki says it's based on a novel by George Johnston.
Also in 2001, Karvan did three episodes of Farscape. She played a character named Natira.
Lord Wiki's cousin says that Natira had blueish skin. I guess Karvan had to endure a lot of make-up for this role.
She sounds a bit wicked. I don't think Natira was a nice creature.
Here's a scene with Natira. It's alien sex. Interesting.
This website talks about some of the make-up process. Karvan says she enjoyed working on the show, and wouldn't have minded working more on it....if she didn't have to play a character that needed so much make-up. And she says if the Star Wars folks had offered her a nonhuman role, she might have turned it down. I can imagine the make-up isn't too much fun.
Either before or after Farscape (I'm not sure), Karvan started working on The Secret Life of Us. She played Dr. Alex Christenson, and was on the show until 2003.
Here's a scene. Dr. Alex farts. Fun.
This website says that Dr. Alex is an emergency doctor.
For the TV show, Karvan was nominated every year for an AFI. She never won. But she DID win a Logie! That's good.
I wish I could find more clips of the show...maybe beyond YouTube. Let me check.
Here we go! The Australian Screen website has some scenes. Thank you. They're playing dirty world Scrabble. It sounds fun but a bit confusing. Dr. Alex and her playing partner debate about which words are dirty or not.
Here's another scene.
And another.
I just want to say that twice today I've heard people on clips say good on ya. When we were in Hawaii, our Australian friends told some guy where they were from. To show that he knew a little bit about Australia, this guy said good on ya. Our friends told him that Australians don't say that. This was news to me. I wasn't sure if they meant: a) Australians don't say that period or b) they were trying to explain that it's not used as a greeting. Though I don't think the guy was trying to use it as a greeting. I think he was just trying to say, Look! I know an Australian phase. I thought it was impressive that he said that, instead of G'day mate. Let's throw a shrimp on the barbie.
In 2004, Karvan was in the TV movie Small Claims with Rebecca Gibney. It's a crime thing involving working moms.
Yes. Karvan was nominated for an AFI for this movie. What else is new?
Also in 2004, Karvan started working on the TV show Love My Way. I don't think I've encountered this one before.
Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! I'm so excited!!!!!
Karvan WON the AFI this time!!!! Finally! And she won three times....2005, 2006, 2007. I'm so happy for her.
Although as they say, it IS enough to be nominated. I think being nominated is actually the best. That way you get validation for your career and talent. But you don't have to go up and make a speech.
Towards the end of the show's run, Ben Mendelsohn was in the show. Remember he starred with Karvan in that car dating movie.
Lord Wiki says the show was basically a drama about people in their thirties. Hey, that's where I'm at now. I think it's probably a good age to base a TV series on. I was just thinking. The thirtysomething years have probably changed a lot. I think it used to be primarily people raising teens. Now a lot of us have much younger kids, or we're just starting to try and make babies. When my mom was my age, she had a sixteen-year-old, a thirteen-year-old, and an eight-year-old. I'm in my late thirties and have an eight-year-old. My sister is forty, and her oldest is close to nine. My younger sister is in her early thirties and has a young toddler.
When I was on Livejournal, though, I had some friends in their twenties who had kids around Jack's age. So I guess when they're in their thirties, they'll have teens. And one of my thirtysomething friends has a teen. So people ARE still having kids in their twenties. I think it's just that now it's getting more and more common to wait. I even know people in their forties with very young children.
I'm rambling, aren't I. Oh well.
Here's a clip from the show. This is compelling drama, although I don't see Karvan yet.
This reminds me of the fights I have with my sisters.
Well, actually we don't usually get that physical.
Oh. I might have been wrong about never seeing this show before. Sam Worthington was in it. So I probably wrote about it when I wrote about him. I have vague memories of a show like this. I'm going to look at my old post and see if I mentioned it.
Yep. I did. And it matches my vague memories.
Here's a promo for the show. It looks very intense.
In 2005, Karvan was in the 6th Star Wars movie; Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith.
I guess this was Karvan's first American movie. She played Sola Naberrie. Lord Wiki's cousin says she's sister to Queen Amidala. And that makes her aunt to Luke and Leia.
I can't find any videos unfortunately. Sorry.
Also in 2005, Karvan revisited her Small Claims role in the follow up Small Claims: White Wedding.
The Sydney Morning Herald has a review of it. The reviewer really likes it. She says, It has everything going for it - character-driven plots, great scripts and two red-carpet stars playing ambitious career women sidelined by domesticity.
In the movie, Karvan plays a former detective who is now mothering a young boy. It sounds like one of those stories where people have retired from their intense crime fighting job but then get pulled back in again. They remind me of Julie Kenner's demon-hunting mom books, but without the supernatural stuff. Oh cool. There's a new book out in the demon-hunting series. I need to look out for it.
In 2006, Karvan did an American-Australian movie; Aquarmarine. I think it was a teen thing. I kind of remember hearing about it.
It was filmed mostly in Australia.
The movie is about teenagers finding a mermaid.
Here's the trailer. The characters are American. One of them is having to move to Australia. She's not happy about it. Karvan plays the mother wanting to move. She reminds me of me. I thought the movie looked dumb at first but then it kind of touched my heart at the end. It reminds me of my family—some of us wanting to move, and some of us not wanting it. Although I did manage to get Jack to like the idea of moving to Hawaii in about a decade. He was even resistant to that! But I won him over....for now. Hawaii would be nice, because we'd be much closer to Australia. We'd have cheaper plane tickets and a shorter flight. Plus, Hawaii is great in it's own right.
In 2006, Karvan was in Small Claims: The Reunion. As the title suggests, it's about a school reunion.
Also in 2006, Karvan did the sports movie Footy Legends. The movie is about a Vietnamese-Australian who's obsessed with football. He's having a rough time in life, and one way to maybe fix things is get his old football team back together. I'm guessing it's one of those inspirational feel-good movies.
In 2008, Karvan was in the Australian-Israeli animated film 9.99
I remember liking the trailer. I'll watch it again.
You know, maybe I never saw the trailer. I don't really remember it. I think I just read about the movie. Maybe.
Lord Wiki says it's about a man's search for the meaning of life.
Also in 2008, Karvan was in the horror movie Long Weekend. She, and one other actor, were the only people in the film. Wow. Although from the plot description, it sounds like there's more people. I think IMDb is trying to mess with me.
It's basically a man against the wilderness thing.
Here's the trailer. Karvan's fictional husband sounds American.
What is that....a horror movie made by PETA?
In 2009, Karvan was in the TV movie Saved. Karvan plays a woman who becomes very passionate about helping an Iranian man who faces deportation. She fights for the man, falls in love with him, and then begins to question if he's as innocent as she initially believed.
Is he innocent? I don't know. I wonder how it turns out.
Karvan was in that vampire movie Daybreakers. She played Audrey Bennett. Lord Wiki says she's the leader of the humans. For those who don't know or forgot, this is the movie where only 5% of the population remains human. Therefore the vampires are running out of food.
Here's the trailer. Karvan appears at 1:10.
This year, Karvan started working on a show called Spirited. I'm not sure if it's still on, or not. It's a supernatural comedy thing. Karvan plays a woman who meets the ghost of a rock star.
This website says eight episodes were made. It sounds maybe like it was supposed to be that short, rather than it being something that failed and was canceled.
I'm going to read the IMDb trivia page about Karvan.
They say here that she began her work at the age of fourteen, but she did her first movie in 1983. She'd have been about eleven then.
Karvan met her partner when she was 22. That would have been around 1994. They've been together a pretty long time.
She IS Greek, from her dad's side. His last name was Anglicized from Karvaniardos in order to avoid discrimination and prejudice.
One of her big causes was asylum seekers. So I bet in Saved, the Iranian guy ends up being innocent. I can't imagine Karvan being in a film which makes asylum seekers look guilty. I'm guessing the message of the movie is we should have more faith in people, and treat refugees more humanely.
She does yoga.
Here's a video with Karvan called Tools of Performance. I think it's acting advice.
She's talking about the value of rehearsals. It sounds like they don't always rehearse for movies. Really? So they just get up there and start filming the scene? I can't imagine.
Karvan believes that writers and actors should meet with each other. I think that would probably be a good idea. A fictional character is really made up of the writer and the actor. For example, I really love Sookie Stackhouse. I look at Anna Paquin, and know she's partly her. I mean she makes up a huge part of who Sookie Stackhouse is. But then another huge part of Sookie Stackhouse comes from Charlaine Harris.
I think it's hard when you really love a movie or TV character, and you have to face the fact that the person you see is an actor. They may not be anything like the character you adore. Maybe that's why people are liking reality TV so much these days. They want to know the character they're seeing is real. But then the person they see has been heavily edited to create a character. The real live person may be very different from the one we see on the reality TV show.
Here's a Claudia Karvan fansite. They have pictures from some of the movies I haven't seen images of yet. They say she was supposed to be in Star Wars II also, but her scenes were cut.
Here is the Andrew Denton interview with Karvan. From what I'm seeing, she was on the first episode of Enough Rope.
She describes being eight-years-old in Bali. It sounds like the experience was both enchanting and frightening. Then she had her life in Kings Cross. That sounds a bit wild; not a typical childhood. But Karvan says, It certainly didn't feel dangerous. You kind of felt like the street was my backyard, I guess. It never was dangerous, funnily enough, luckily.
Karvan says that on the SCEGGS intercom, they told the students that they must not go to Kings Cross. Yet, this is where Karvan lived. That would probably feel weird....being warned not to go somewhere. And it's where you live.
I don't know why I think this story is connected. Maybe it's not. But I just thought of it, and it SORT of reminds me of the same thing. This person was telling me about a school they looked at for their child. They complained that it was too relaxed and the clothing was too casual. They talked about this as if they expected me to agree and say, oh yeah. That sounds awful. But we're unschoolers! That's a very relaxed educational philosophy. So, a school like that sounds pretty okay to me. The conversation felt awkward. It was hard to know how to respond....without being confrontational.
I guess we've all had moments like that. Someone is griping about something, and what they're saying fits us pretty well. And I've probably been on the other side...griping about something and then realizing I've totally stuck my foot in my mouth.
I'm thinking now that this story really is NOT connected to Karvan's story. Oh well. Let's just move on.
She says she finds crying scenes very difficult....even more difficult than sex scenes. I think both would be hard.
Karvan doesn't like crying in front of people. Does anyone?
I don't like it, especially if I'm crying over a book, movie, or TV show. That embarrasses me. I'm not one of those people who look all cute and beautiful when they cry. I look awful. My face gets all red and splotchy.
Okay. This made me laugh out loud. Karvan says she was in a rural small town. Some guy asked her if she was from Heartbreak Kid. When she said she was, he said, Oh, God, you actors! I don't know how you do it. I could never do that, what youse guys do — get up and make a fool of yourself.
I love that. It's funny when people try to compliment you, and they insult you instead. Or maybe it wasn't supposed to be a compliment.
Karvan says she did go to Hollywood when she was in her twenties. She didn't like it. There were too many meetings, and she didn't like having to try and sell herself. I can TOTALLY relate to that. I hate interviews. I hate writing query letters, trying to get someone to read my novel. I'm SO bad at all of that.
They talk about motherhood. Karvan's experience was better than she imagined it would be. She expected it to be boring, and she ended up loving it.
I found some of it boring....at least in the infancy months. The way Karvan describes loving her daughter reminds me of how I have always loved Jack....wanting to hug and kiss him all the time. But still. I was bored sometimes. I think that might be a SMALL part of why Jack is advanced, although I think most of it is a genetic thing. I've never had interest in infants and toddlers. I had been a preschool teacher. I was so excited for Jack to do preschool stuff, so I had him do it early. I had him painting when he was about a year old. When he was two, I started teaching him geography. And there were other things. BUT to my defense, I never pushed things on him. I'd introduce stuff and if he was interested, we'd do it. If he wasn't interested, I'd let it go.
Back to parenting....It sounds like for Karvan it was easier than she expected. For me it was harder. When I was pregnant, I imagined still having a lot of freedom. I thought we'd put Jack in a little bassinet, and he'd stay there all day. I'd pick him up to feed him, and to change his diaper. And of course I'd play with him too. But the rest of the time, he'd stay safe in his sleeping place while I did housework and fun stuff.
That didn't quite happen. That first year of mothering was EXHAUSTING and intense. Jack went through several months of loving pretty much only me. He wanted to be held almost all the time, and very frequently wanted to drink from the great fountain of breast milk. I didn't have many breaks, and I struggled to get stuff done. I couldn't understand those parents who managed to do stuff like go to school while taking care of an infant....Or those who work at home.
But although I was stressed and sometimes bored, it was all okay because I was madly in love. And I still am....even more so.
Read my novel: The Dead are Online
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