Pic of the Day (above)
Kambiri, a baby pygmy hippo calf, explores her den at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. The hippo calf is the first to be reared by its mother at the Taronga Zoo in over 20 years. Kambiri is a Nigerian name, meaning ‘allow me to join this family.’
Mood Swingometer
Today JOE has been feeling…slightly jealous.
Another week, another rundown of bargain breaks from JOE’s Last Minute Travel, and of course, another photo within the piece featuring ladies’ bums. Yet here we JOE writers are once more, stuck in the oul Wesht of Ireland with no bikini-clad ladies, no sunglasses, and no crippling sun stroke. If you’re looking for a last minute break to sun yourself over the weekend, be sure to click on our travel feature, and don’t worry about us – we’re sure the JOE top brass will eventually let us leave the office to have our own holiday/visit our families/engage in human interaction sometime soon.
Tonight’s Telly
Pick of the night: Spartacus: Blood and Sand, TV3, 10:00pm.
If you haven’t yet got a chance to sample the utter ridiculous and hammy acting of Spartacus yet, there’s no excuse now. Featuring “graphic violence, strong sexual content, and coarse language”, this 300-rip-off is delirious fun. Grab some popcorn tonight, switch off your brain and don’t ask any questions regarding plot logic or historical accuracy – you’ll enjoy Spartacus a whole lot more.
Movie pick: Face/Off, Sky Movies Action & Adventure 10:50pm
Two Nicolas Cage recommendations in one week?! Hold on, hold on, let us defend ourselves. Hong Kong legend John Woo’s (Hard Boiled, MI:2) breakthrough US release, Face/Off, is one of the best action movies of the 90s, not to mention ridiculous. How does Nicolas Cage’ character share the same height and weight as John Travolta after each have swapped faces? How many flying doves can director Woo cram into his slow-motion action sequences? What really sells Face/Off are the fantastic performances from Cage and Woo, who both appear to revel in roles which require them to play both hero and villain at alternating points during the action.
Live Like JOE
Avoid Tom Cruise
After his 2005 couch-jumping antics on Oprah, Tom Cruise has found it difficult to reascend the peak of Hollywood stardom, as pretenders such as Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio’ stars have risen. His latest release, the action-comedy Knight and Day has received a decidedly mixed response from US critics, and worse yet, disinterest from US audiences. JOE loves a comeback story as much as anyone, and actually found Cruise’s Valkyrie a suprisingly tense, enjoyable watch – yet it would appear such goodwill will not be reserved for the actor’s Cameron Diaz collaboration, which recieves quite the kicking in JOE’s review today.
