Category: Articles
Mad Max and the Man With No Name
In many ways, it’s entirely appropriate to describe George Miller’s original Mad Max trilogy as Australia’s equivalent to Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy. Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns are innovative reworkings of the American Western that permanently changed the landscape of the genre. But Leone’s films were also a surprising and positive result of an Italian industry largely…
Remembering Six Unforgettable Films About Amnesia
Such is the nature of memory. Many years ago, probably when I was in my teens, I caught the tail end of a melodrama on television. I remember a courtroom scene, a question of amnesia and identity, and a chilling finale. For the longest time, that’s all I could recall. But like Citizen Kane’s Mr.…
Criterion Discoveries: Five Gems from the Cinematic Vault
This is the first in a series of articles about Criterion Discoveries for CURNBLOG. Over the last 30 years, Criterion has established themselves as the benchmark for curating classic, art-house film. As the years have passed and media delivery has changed from video to laser disc, DVD, Blu-Ray, and now digital streaming, they’ve remained relevant.…
The 100 Greatest Australian Films of All Time: Part 5 (2005-2014)
In this final entry in our five part series on the greatest Australian films of all time, we focus our attention on the best Australian movies made since 2005. While the financial challenges of local film production continue to this day, a brief look at the output of the last ten years reveals an impressive…
First Encounters with a Spike Lee Joint
The first time I laid eyes on a Spike Lee Joint was by marvellous chance, and I haven’t looked back since. I was a young movie lover, not particularly well versed in the film canon when I finally saw Lee’s critically acclaimed Do the Right Thing (1989). My mind was completely blown, and to this…