An exploration of South Eastern Australia by Clem Byard.
You can follow HookTurn on Bluesky (the account was previously called “WeirdMelbs”).
Contact: clem.byard@icloud.com
Header image: Melbourne Hook Turn Signs (collage) by the author.
Now You’re Just Some Creature That I Used to Know
This weekend I watched the 2025 version of Frankenstein directed by Guillermo del Toro (spoilers incoming).
Charles Dance and Christoph Waltz together at last! Unfortunately the script doesn’t give them much to work with here; their characters are mere ciphers.
Frankenstein (2025) is a live-action movie the heavy use of special effects gave the film a heightened, almost cartoon-like feel. Several preposterous scenes made it difficult to maintain a suspension of disbelief: one scene sees a massive stone castle detonate like a modern-day petrochemical plant, while in another, Jacob Elordi’s creature frees an icebound ship with this bare hands, and looks like he could do ten more reps before moving on to cardio. This is the Frankenstein movie for the superhero franchise era.
The film’s runtime is longer than Milton’s Paradise Lost; its dialogue is melodramatic and clichéd; and worst of all the film has is sub-zero narrative tension.
In del Toro’s defence it would be difficult to make Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein into an exciting film. The original novel is innovative, thought-provoking and full of memorable images, but a thriller it is not.
. . . and as to the Jacob Elordi markup that apparently took ten hours to apply . . .
Moonlight Grevillea
follow the path
to the supermarket carpark
moonlight grevillea
Shandygaff
I popped into the KFL Asian Supermarket in Newmarket yesterday and came across cans of Anglia “The Real Shandy” (less than 1% alcohol).
Drinking shandies, a mix of beer and lemonade, was once common in Australia, but it is decades since I last heard someone order one. These days people looking for low alcohol alternatives have a range of low-, mid- and alcohol–free beers to choose from.
Unfortunately, the canned Anglia shandy is not much good — not enough beer. Try making your own at home instead: a ratio of two-thirds beer to one-third lemonade should be about right, but tweak the recipe to suit your own taste.