My favourite movies of 2023

In a clear reflection of my own shifting priorities, duties, and, admittedly, a lack of enthusiasm in the writing of film critique (feeling less and less relevant and more like a raisin in a giant fruit salad), this year’s selection of my favourite films has almost no corresponding reviews [shakes head in self-disappointment].

The lack of published reviews in no way reflects a lack of interest in movies and filmmaking, far from it. But maintaining content on this site (and my prior blog) is a labour of love, and has been for twenty years, and this year marked the tenth anniversary since the launch of Cult Projections, and thirty years since I started writing published film reviews.

My enjoyment of sharing my years’ favourite films dates back some thirty years. My desire to continue the listmaking is evident. Hopefully I will find the enthusiasm to write more full reviews (and not just the occasional capsule) in the new year, but I’m not counting my chooks. Apologies for the glum attitude, but I’ve had better year’s endings.

As has been the case for some years now, my twenty favourites are compiled from films I saw on general release in the cinema, in international festivals, and films I saw on their 2023 release on streaming platforms. Of course, as per usual, several films I had intended to see slipped through the net, c’est la vie.

I’ve included a bunch of additional close contenders, and a few special mentions too.

Late night with the devil

THE COFFEE TABLE

BIRDEATER

WHEN EVIL LURKS

THE MOOR

EVIL DEAD RISE

NIGHTSIREN

TALK TO ME

VENUS

SOFT & QUIET

DID I?

WHAT YOU WISH FOR

MOTHER SUPERIOR

INFINITY POOL

BIRTH/REBIRTH

GODZILLA MINUS ONE

THE KILLER

CAT PERSON

RED ROOMS

TÁR

Other close contenders: Saltburn, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Sisu, Aftersun, Violett, The Devil’s Work, Caligula: The Ultimate Cut

Special mentions: Black Mirror (season 6), Beef (mini-series), The Fall of the House of Usher (mini-series)

My favourite movies of 2022

In the third year of COVID the landscape of movie-watching has changed irrevocably.

The impact streaming services, pandemic apprehension, and the cost of living have had on cinema attendance has been huge. There is a 20% increase each year in the number of films released around the world, both theatrically and on digital platforms.

With my own home and work commitments - Life - it’s been very hard keeping up appearances. As such, this year I managed just two full reviews and another two short reviews. Sigh. Very disappointing.

My actual movie-watching ratio wasn‘t that impressive either. Double sigh. But, I managed to see enough to still throw my two cents worth into the EOY lists, as I have been doing with Cult Projections since I started the site nearly ten years ago.

Of course there were numerous films I really wanted to see, but didn’t get to, which may, or may not, have made my final selection for the year, including The Menu, Megalomaniac, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, Flux Gourmet, Millie Lies Low, and, perhaps, All Jacked Up and Full of Worms. I’ll get to them all eventually.

So, here then, in no particular order (or maybe they are?), my twenty favourite movies I saw in 2022, some in the cinema, some on streaming platforms, some featured in international festivals, and some were on general release down under. It felt like it was a good year for horror flicks. I have honorable mentions too.

Seek them out.

ZEBRA GIRL

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

FOLLOW HER

WHAT JOSIAH SAW

FEED ME

PREY

SISSY

EVIL EYE

YOU WON’T BE ALONE

THE STRANGER

I LOVE MY DAD

ALL MY FRIENDS HATE ME

YOUR LOVE IS MINE

NANNY

MOONAGE DAYDREAM

THE elderly

SMILE

BARBARIAN

PIGGY

X

Honourable mentions: Fresh, Elvis, Blonde, The Batman, Curse of Aurore, The Harbinger, Dashcam, Two Witches, The Ones You Didn’t Burn, Emily the Criminal.

My favourite movies of 2021

Where do I start?! If 2020 was a bad dream, 2021 was a nightmare. Surely, we can wake up in 2022? I don’t mean “woke”, that bullshit can stay in 2021, but hopefully the awful elements of the past two years – mostly the result of the global pandemic – can be put behind us. Of course, that’s still yet to be seen, as the Omicron variant (and whatever mutations lie beyond) continues to infect millions. Only time will tell, as they say.

The pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the film industry, especially film festivals and release strategies. We have to roll with the punches.

Putting an end-of-year list together has been difficult once again as I sift through films I saw (mostly at home) and ones I didn’t see.

But the most notable factor is how few I reviewed for Cult Projections. Back at the end of 2018 I mentioned that moving forward I would make an effort to review more films, especially the ones I really liked, so that my end-of-year list would have more click-through links to full reviews, but the truth of the matter is, it has not happened.

This year I took over the reins as festival director & programmer for A Night of Horror International Film Festival, something I have wanted to do ever since I first started supporting the festival, back in 2008. This year proved a real challenge, as I made the decision to take the festival online due to the limitations the pandemic had placed on Sydney.

There were other factors that hindered my viewing capacity as a film critic and movie lover, in particular, homeschooling. I won’t even begin to explain that situation, suffice to say, that the pandemic impacted my family – as it has millions of other families – and caused a lot of frustration, exasperation, and duress.

But enough about the damn pandemic.

What about the movies? A real mixed bag. There was no film that spoke to me in the same way SAINT MAUD did, no film that I knew would likely be my absolute fave of the year. Even as I write this introduction, I still don’t know what film to single out. Go figure.

I’ll be straight up, and apologies to those expecting a more descriptive list, but I just want to get this year behind me, and I don’t feel an awful lot of enthusiasm in writing about all the films in my end-of-year list, as 90% don’t have full reviews already written and posted. Not sure if this is a culminative effect, or simply a case of wanting to have 2021 done and dusted. It’s even possible that moving forward I will be reviewing films less and less on this site, especially considering it’s been a labour of love for many, many years, and keeping in mind my role as a festival director & programmer.

Instead, I’ll let the movies speak for themselves, and just display the film’s poster art, in no particular order. Some of the titles are available to stream, some are available to rent, some are available to purchase, some are screening in cinemas, some are due for release next year.

Here are my twenty favourite movies (and a few honourable mentions) I have selected as part of my 2021. You should make some or all of them part of your 2022. Happy New Year.

SPENCER

KRIYA

THE DEEP HOUSE

MASKING THRESHOLD

THE SADNESS

RIDERS OF JUSTICE

ROADRUNNER

LUCA

COME TRUE

VIOLATION

THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES

PAUL DOOD’S DEADLY LUNCH BREAK

COMING HOME IN THE DARK

WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED

HUMAN ANIMALS

STRUWWELERROR

BLOOD RED SKY

ARMY OF THE DEAD

WYRMWOOD: APOCALYPSE

ZOLA

Honourable mentions: Dune, Behind Her Eyes, Black Widow, Nitram, My Cherry Pie, No Time To Die, The Night House, The Brilliant Terror, The Unsettling, Memory, Promising Young Woman, Shot in the Dark.

My favourite movies of 2020

It’s been a tough year. To put it mildly. Hardly “perfect vision”. More like dazed and confused. As many have remarked, if 2020 was a movie it would be like a risible disaster flick, too ludicrous to be taken seriously because of its implausible plotting, chaotic direction, and over-the-top performances. 

But, it delivered a bunch of great movies, none-the-less. Many of them were in the can before the pandemic shut down productions. The true level of “damage” won’t be felt until next year and beyond. No doubt film festivals will be struggling with programming in 2021. Which includes me. 

Back in March I saw my last movie in the cinema before COVID-19 caused the closure of cinemas. It wasn’t until late September that I was back inside an auditorium, and that was as one of the directors of A Night of Horror International Film Festival, one of the first festivals to embrace the precariousness of a physical festival in the wake/midst of the pandemic ruin. 

I’ve been back inside a cinema since then, but only a couple of times, and more recently, with the NSW restrictions returning as Sydney deals with a new and potentially ruinous Northern Beaches outbreak, it doesn’t feel as safe to venture inside a cinema - even with social distancing in place - as it did a few weeks back. 

Most of the movies included in this year’s favourites - and there were quite a few feature debuts - I have watched on my television screen or my home computer, and many films I had intended to see slipped between the cracks. As a result, due to a combination of time constraints and, admittedly, a lack of motivation and/or commitment, I have reviewed far fewer films this year (less than half the movies in my year’s favourites, I’m afraid). I feel bad about that, apologise for my lack of effort. 

So, I have chosen to compile my list of favourites from a wider playing field. A crazy year holds no frontiers. Included are films completed as early as 2018 that finally popped up on streaming platforms this year, films that had only a single screening at a small film festival, films that went straight to VOD, and films that should have got a release down under, but had limited international distribution.

I was still surprised that when it came to putting my list of twenty together I had more than enough movies to choose from, and many were battling for inclusion. There was a clear top favourite, which happened to be one of the last movies I saw in the cinema before the initial cinema closures.   No other movie has come close to touching it. It joins a small clutch of movies from the past twenty years that have edged their way into the pantheon of my all-time favourites.

So, without further adieu, here are my twenty favourite movies I watched in 2020, with another twelve close contenders. 

Saint Maud

Writer/Director Rose Glass’s debut feature is a work of blistering art, dangerous and dark like the shadows of one’s crippling anxieties, yet exquisite in its restraint, its suggestiveness. This is a masterful portrait of madness, soaked in the brine of despair, blinded by the light of redemption, shocking in its denouement. A kind of first cousin removed of Joker. It ramifies how curiously flawed the human race is; “humankind”, a kind of anomaly, as we’re so embroiled with power, manipulation, corruption, yet so desperately fragile and frightened, searching, clutching, searching, clutching.

The Painted Bird

Jerzy Kosinski’s controversial novel/autobiography about the horrors of the Holocaust, as seen through the eyes of a young Jewish boy, finally gets adapted into a tour-de-force of direction, cinematography, and performance. The screenplay is by Czech director Václav Marhoul, and it is quite faithful to the book, which views like a nightmare travelogue, shot through with a brutal, piercing poetry. A difficult film to recommend, as it is close to three hours long and there are many confronting scenes. But, like Come and See, it is a powerful study of both humanity and inhumanity. Peppered with small, but terrific support from Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands, Udo Kier, and, even Aleksey Kravchenko (the boy from Come and See).

Possessor

Brandon Cronenberg’s second feature is a shocking work of art, a rupture and a rapture of ultraviolence, unlike anything you’ve seen in recent years. Taking inspiration from his father’s virtual reality game thriller eXistenZ and the techno-horror of Shinya Tsukamoto’s nightmarish Tetsuo: Iron Man and Body Hammer movies, Possessor ends up a tragic tale of human error in a world of increasing corporate possession and manipulation. It’s a mind-rape about the primal senses; rage and the libido, but also about memory, empathy, and rejection.

The Dark and the Wicked

Bryan Bertino delivers, easily, his best film to date and the creepiest movie of the year. It’s a real shame I didn’t get to see this on the big screen, but it sure as hell provided genuine thrills on the small screen, and in many ways, that is a much harder feat to achieve. Superbly shot, edited, and scored, with great performances from the husband and wife, but also the few support players, as this is almost a chamber piece, set on a small, terrorised farm. Keep your eyes peeled, as they say.

Color Out of Space

Richard Stanley returns to the feature director’s chair with a stunning adaptation of one of H.P. Lovecraft’s most beloved short stories, and allows Nicolas Cage the perfect platform to let loose his inner cosmic crazy. Fantastic cinematography, production design and special effects and a terrific cast and support performances - especially Madeleine Arthur as the teenage daughter - make this hugely anticipated addition to Stanley’s oeuvre an instant cult classic. We wait with bated breath for his promised next Lovecraft adaptation. 

The Golden Glove

This is a German true crime horror movie dressed as a period piece character study. It’s as sordid, nasty and hideous as Mike Leigh’s Naked, and also just as provocative, fascinating and truthful. It is also exceptionally well made; meticulously recreated, decorated, and retro-fitted. A chipped and cracked mirror held up to the depths of depravity the human condition can sink to, a true reflection of darkness. Jonas Dassler’s performance is one of the standouts of the year, if you can handle it. But, it’s not just Dassler, the entire cast are uniformly excellent. 

Relic

A stunning debut feature from Aussie Natalie Erika James, and it is her direction, both mise-en-scene and the performances of her small central cast, that really stand out. It’s a slow-burner, but it emanates strong from the start, the dark embers smouldering, keeping much of the nightmarish essence, whilst providing intrigue and appeal to those that normally wouldn’t watch a horror movie. If an atmosphere is powerful enough, it informs the narrative, permeates all themes, and lingers long in the cracks of the mind.

Swallow

First feature from Carlo Mirabella-Davis is the kind of nightmare where everything appears to be normal, perfect even, yet something is horribly, horribly wrong. Pica, the compulsion to consume inedible, often sharp, objects, is very real. As bizarre and horrendous as it sounds the director treats the condition and its effects on those around the victim with elegance and formalism, yet the infuses it with just enough stylisation as to create a similar sense of unreality, similar to a David Lynch study of fetishism and perversity. Haley Bennett shines in the lead role.  

The Nest

Sean Durkin finally follows up his brilliant sect thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene with another superbly made exploration of family dysfunction, in this case a nuclear family imploding within the confines of a crumbling English mansion. Jude Law and Carrie Coon are exceptional as the troubled husband and wife. It’s a fascinating and enthralling portrait of greed and deception, directed with consummate skill. Durkin’s screenplay plays with audience’s expectations, flirting with the supernatural, creating something akin to a merger of the atmospherics and aesthetics of Nicolas Roeg and David Fincher. 

Uncut Gems

The Safdie brothers give Adam Sandler, arguably, the best role of his career, thrusting him into a Scorsese meets De Palma meets Cassavetes urban crime flick that builds tension with the precision of an architect. A brilliantly executed portrait of an inherent loser struggling to break free of his shackles, and how his behaviour effects his relationships and dealings. Rambunctious and utterly compelling, capturing a sense of urban, material despair that permeates every frame. Julia Fox as Sandler’s wife is equally as memorable.

Gretel & Hansel

Osgood Perkin’s third feature is as striking and unique as his first two features, even with an adaptation of a famous Grimm fairy tale. As rich and ornate as it is dark and mysterious, the twisting of the story’s characters add a powerful contemporary element, lifting the juvenile innocence into something more adult, intricate and affecting. Amazing performances from Sophia Lillis as a teenage Gretel, and Alice Krige as the elder Witch, with Aussie actor Jessica De Gouw delivering a striking, silent turn, as the Witch in younger form. Perkins’ imagery continues to mesmerise.

We’re Not Here to Fuck Spiders

We’ve all seen the spiralling descent of junkies splashed across the screen in all their hideous squalor. But you’ve never seen anything quite like the razor sharp portrait of suburban hell that is Josh Reed’s “found noir”. The results are shocking and addictive like watching a train wreck. Essential viewing for contemporary horror fans, and those that admire unorthodox filmmaking methods. This is a nightmare like the urban disease and decay of Bad Lieutenant, with shards of Dogs in Space moral destitution and chaos, a vicious, ruinous slap in the face of humanity, right here, right now.

The Trouble With Being Born

A challenging journey through fabricated truths, unreliable memoirs, and the deep scars of loss and guilt. It deals with a fractured, corrupted psychology, and it refuses to piece all the parts of the jigsaw. Beautifully made, it is subversive, transgressive, even. A strong dream-like atmosphere, Lynchian in its creepiness. The starkness and desolation of Ulrich Seidl and Stanley Kubrick’s films, the slow-burn tendrils of Andrei Tarkovsky, and the tenebrous mood of Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin. Powerful, thought-provoking stuff for those prepared to unplug their knee-jerk sensibilities.

He Dreams of Giants

This is a fabulous portrait of the artist. Terry Gilliam’s plight to complete his pet project: the story of Don Quixote. Beautifully put together, and cleverly juxtaposing scenes of the younger Gilliam, the earlier attempts at filming the novel, behind the scenes and on location as Gilliam struggles, perseveres, resigns himself. A delightful study of the creative process, with all its hurdles, is essential viewing for anyone remotely interested in how making art is not just about the big picture, it’s about keeping keeping a sense of humour, no matter how dark it gets.

The Rental

Actor-turned-director Dave Franco (younger brother of James)’s debut feature. A screenplay co-written with indie stalwart Joe Swanberg. It doesn’t try and invent the wheel, instead delivering an engrossing psycho thriller based on a well-worn, but truly frightening scenario: the weekender from hell. The protagonists are well-written - yes, we’re all capable of making stupid decisions - and all performed very convincingly. Despite the movie’s far-fetched development in the second half, and the villain’s identity kept a secret, the suspense is handled superbly, Franco proving he is surprisingly good at delivering the necessary horror chops with terrific pace and execution. 

The Beach House

The best horror surprise of the year. Location manager-turned-director Jeffrey A. Brown tackles the concept of virulent infection with a genuinely fresh perspective. The kind of small movie dumped on a streaming subscriber platform and is disregarded by most as filler, but on closer inspection turns out to be a creepy, weird apocalyptic thriller reminiscent of the coastal desolation found in cult fave Messiah of Evil. An American movie with solid performances - especially Liana Liberato in the central role - and an increasingly surreal Euro vibe, I love these kinds of random discoveries. 

Underwater

Love me a good Lovecraftian monster flick, and William Eubank delivers the goods. Haters will hate, but Kristen Stewart is terrific, and the production design is worth the price of admission alone, Eubank has such a spectacular eye for detail and authenticity. This is a consummate Hollywood production, with some serious “Yikes!” Was awesome on the big screen, at the start of the year, and, although not horrific, it’s a much better horror movie than those trashy, gory late 80s ones that come to mind, Leviathan and Deep Star Six. 

Marlene

The apartment building psycho neighbour. Yep, it’s a classic thriller scenario, but this one transforms existing tropes into a horrifying, all-too-real nightmare. Directed with gripping skill, and superbly acted, in particular Cordula Zielonka in the titular role, Andreas Resch’s debut feature is part of an emerging European slow-burn horror movement and presents the all-too-real horror with a surprising and most curious twist in the tail.   

Rot

Riffing on David Cronenberg’s Shivers, this astute, dysfunctional relationship drama takes rejection and the fear of strangers and plunges it into an alarming - and outrageously topical - pandemic scenario, with a truly shocking denouement. Indeed, the working title was “A Place Called Hell”, and that’s putting it mildly, as what unfolds with straight-forward dramatics soon escalates into an apocalyptic threat, and finally explodes into horrifying confrontation. A seemingly ordinary low-budget indie flick that lingers long after the final scene.  

Druk (aka Another Round)

One of Denmark’s great directors, Thomas Vinterberg, continues on from his exceptional Mads Mikkelsen-starred The Hunt with another powerhouse drama, albeit with a more effervescent edge, with Mads upfront again, and once again delivering all the goods. Four teacher friends initiate a study of the effects alcohol has on their productivity and temperament, with suitably damaging results. Vinterberg certifies he is a master of authentic inter-relationships on screen. And what an ending!  

Honourable mentions: Ema, Babyteeth, The Other Lamb, The Mute (aka Sword of God), Climate of the Hunter, Suicide Tourist (aka Exit Plan), Nobadi, Vivarium, The Dead Ones, A True History of the Kelly Gang, Fisheye, and Soul.  

Ten for ten! My favourite movies of the decade: 2010 - 2019

Black Swan, Monsters,

Bellflower, February,

Bliss, Mother!,

The Invitation, Evil Dead,

Cheap Thrills, Mandy.

My favourite movies of 2019

I referred to last year as a cracker year. So if last year was a Double Happy, this year’s a Thunderbolt! My fellow Gen-X New Zealanders will know what I mean. 

I’m very happy that I managed to review all of the movies that really tickled my fancy. However, as we hit the very end of the year there were a few movies released during the hectic festive season which I didn’t get to seeing in the cinema, or even the time to watch on the small screen. 

2019 was definitely the first proper year of streaming content being considered alongside the cinema experience. The two mini-series that stood out head and shoulders for me were Nicolas Winding Refn’s hugely indulgent, but utterly mesmerising Too Old To Die Young (a second season was intended, but Refn wasn’t given the green light, so it pretty much becomes a stand-alone 10-episode movie). The other much more concise, superbly written, acted, and directed, was the story of Fosse/Verdon, with Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams delivering career performances. I’m sure Chernobyl would’ve been in my top three, but alas, it continues to elude me … 

It was a year of fabulous documentaries too; Friedkin Uncut, Memory: The Origins Of Alien, Fuck You All: The Uwe Boll Story, What She Said: The Art Of Pauline Kael, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, Underground Inc: The Rise & Fall Of Alternative Rock, and the long lost Aretha Franklin concert film, Amazing Grace. But one extraordinary piece of restoration and editing features in my top three for the year … 

As per usual, the darker colours illuminated my predilections and aesthetics. Black comedies were strong this year, as was smaller budget independent filmmaking, and women dominated my favourite performances. 

For a second time this decade a vampire flick climbed out on top. But to be honest, it was hard ranking the top five, they were all worthy of my top spot. 

So, here we go, my twenty favourite movies released in Australia during 2019, plus honourable mentions. 

BLISS

Bliss is one of the most fierce horror movies dealing with bloodlust I’ve seen in many moons. A study of desperation and addiction, of the inexorable bind of emotional fragility and creative genius, channeled as a phantasmagorical descent into madness, gritty and filthy, drenched and sodden with sweat and blood. A blistering performance from Dora Madison who utterly owns her character, foul-mouthed and sassy, vulnerable and alone, itching, scratching, tearing, gouging, gulping blood, screaming for life. Bliss is sexy and uninhibited, yet shackled and depraved. It is a perfect little nightmare for those that seek pure horror cinema of an unbridled, transgressive nature. 

BRAID

Delving deep into the realms of fantasy and illusion from narratives gone by, writer/director Mitzi Peirone has fashioned an exquisite-looking study of fractured identities, unreliable memories, and desperate remedies, a danse macabre. Indeed, an oneirdynia of voluptuous abandon and violent repercussion told with a masterful control of the elements, a la 60s and 70s cinema; the paranoia/madness of Repulsion and The Tenant, the deception and duplicity of The Ballad of Tam Lin, the exotic allure and sensuality of Daughters of Darkness, the Gothic textures and unhinged logic of Suspiria and Inferno, the chaos and fetishism of Daisies. It’s a melting pot of cinema magic.

APOLLO 11

Seriously, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more thrilling movie from this year. That director Todd Miller has made a documentary that we all know the ending of, yet operates and resonates more effectively than most dramas or thrillers is a brilliant achievement. Much of this is due to the judicious and expert editing, but also the punctuation of Matt Morton’s fantastic electronic and percussive score, and, of course, that beautifully restored archival film footage. Apollo 11 is the perfect time capsule, the ultimate date stamp. 

JOKER

Joker is an extraordinary film, a powerful and compelling drama, a nightmare movie for the now and here. Superbly filmed, with Joaquin Phoenix delivering a career performance, director Todd Phillips stays close to the character, he’s in almost every scene, we watch him brood and lurk, we watch him fidget and slow dance, oh yes, the dancing. It’s creepy and morbidly mesmerising, like a train wreck in slow motion. Joker is confronting and disturbing, yet there’s the darkest kernel of comedy lurking in the bowels, like a kidney stone.

ALICE

Alice is a truly wonderful film. An amazing example of a taut screenplay that doesn’t feel over-written, perfectly cast and given excellent direction, with production values that fit like hand in glove. An absolutely brilliant performance from Piponnier who totally owns the movie. But superb work from Boreham, who provides a wonderful sassiness, and perfect contrast to Alice’s rigidity and earnestness. Alice is the kind of narrative that could easily have felt like a play being filmed, but never once suffers from that kind of staged unreality. In fact, there is a real sense of docu-drama to the film.

FRANCES FERGUSON

In what is probably my favourite performance for the year, Kaley Wheless plays the titular character in this dry-as-a-bone satire on small-town prejudice and disaffection. Indie director Bob Byington has fashioned a fascinating and very funny narrative, developed with Wheless, and penned by Scott King. The cast are uniformly excellent, but it’s Wheless and her subtle, almost deadpan reactions to everything that cements this film into something special. I didn’t want it to end, I loved peering into this quirky window, and I was so keen to keep following Frans’ curious journey through her home life, the school, court, prison, community service, group therapy sessions, and the immediate beyond. 

ANIMALS

Sophie Hyde’s adaptation of the novel by Emma Jane Unsworth is a beautiful slice of life. The resemblance to Withnail and I can’t be ignored, but from a female perspective. The central performance from Holliday Grainger is terrific, and one of my faves for the year, but all the acting is top notch, and the dialogue bristles with loose precision.  A movie that captures those delicate moments between the moments, that reckless confidence and awkward naivety that follows some of us well into adulthood. 

GREENER GRASS

Imagine if David Lynch and John Waters had got stoned and written and directed a mash-up of Square Pegs and Soap. This is a comedy of manners painted in cartoon-rich pastels, yet the tongue in cheek is black as soot. It’s a satire sharper than a bread knife, a parody of prime time domesticity, informercials, and self-help books. It’s an Acquired Taste, but joint writers/directors/stars Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe have created an absurdist masterpiece that skilfully eviscerates with astute comic chutzpah the trappings that have made their daytime/primetime shows the butt of the joke over and over. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR, COLIN BURSTEAD

Ben Wheatley is one of my favourite contemporary directors. With his latest he employs the darkly humorous hand to great effect, taking a fantastic ensemble cast and letting them have a right old go at each other. You could refer to this as Festen In England, as it takes place on the year’s most anticipated let’s-get-plastered-day-and-night, almost entirely in one location, and features the extended relations in full attack and defence mode. Terrific, very funny stuff. 

A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND

One of those small, character-driven films. Superbly written and directed, with stand-out performances from Sarah Bolger and Andrew Simpson, director Abner Pastoll doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, instead plays the genre tropes with consummate skill and still bringing a fresh edge. With Scorsese-calibre violence, and a taut level of suspense, there hasn’t been a crime drama/thriller flick this confident, resonant, and dark since Dead Man’s Shoes. 

VOX LUX

For his second feature actor-turned-director Corbet delivers an enigmatic, curious fictional biopic that works like an adaptation of a non-existent novel. It’s a compelling, intriguing tale of struggle and perseverance, of human frailty, and familial bonds. The movie has cult favourite written all over it, from its intense melodrama, ramblings, and wayward angst, through to its extended concert performance at movie’s end, and Natalie Portman delivers yet another career performance. 

TONE-DEAF

Writer/director Richard Bates Jr returns with his fourth feature, and it’s another doozy. The dark comedic elements are firmly in place, as is the deliberately over-the-top use of sound design and some truly jarring imagery. This is one hell of a satire on generational dissatisfaction. With his striking visual flair, rebel attitude to conventions, a gift for witty dialogue, and penchant for shock imagery Bates keeps things in check for awhile, allowing his two leading actors to really work their magic.

THUNDER ROAD

One of the year’s true delights, essential viewing for anyone who has struggled with grief, struggled with the role of parent and provider, struggled with recognition, struggled with connection to those they love, and those they might have lost. Struggled with always having to put on the happy face. Thunder Road will provide the perfect emotional release. Writer/director/star Jim Cummings’s take on life’s wee ironies, the delicacies of maintaining relationships, his insightful window into the soul is very impressive. Jim Arnaud is one of the most complex and rewarding characters I’ve seen in a long while; awkward and at times pathetic, but tenacious, compassionate, and utterly endearing.

ONCE UPON A TIME … IN HOLLYWOOD

Hollywood is Tarantino’s most relaxed movie since Jackie Brown, and in many ways, it’s his most endearing, most personable, probably his funniest. Pitt and DiCaprio give terrific performances, a natural chemistry, with DiCaprio’s improvised meltdown in his studio trailer an hilarious highlight. It’s a languid, incidental ride through vintage Hollywood, seen through rose-coloured glasses, with all the trimmings and trappings. Reckon it’ll age like a fine tequila.

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL

One of the surprises of the year, in terms of blockbuster movies. James Cameron’s other pet project was eventually put in the hands of director Robert Rodriguez, who did a sterling job at merging the intense visceral action and emotional core of this stunningly designed and executed cyberpunk Manga adaptation. Darker in tone, and much more violent than audiences were anticipating, with a great central performance - albeit mostly voice - from young Rosa Salazar. Solid support cast too. Fingers and toes crossed they make the hugely anticipated sequel.

DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE

Dragged Across Concrete is not just about police brutality, racism and sexism also rear their nasty heads. The insidiousness of prejudice, the mechanics of corrupt masculinity and bravado. This is a world seemingly without hope, and director Craig S. Zahler relishes the darkness before the dawn. But what makes the film so much more interesting than most of the other crime thrillers that attempt similar narratives is Zahler injects a palpable sense of menace and impending doom, right from the beginning, and he sustains that tension, an implicit violence, through the course of the movie, releasing it a few times in sudden, shocking punctuations of explicit violence. 

THE BEACH BUM

Harmony Korine’s latest indulgence feels like it dated his previous flick, Spring Breakers. It has a similarly lush and charismatic feel. The cinema verité stylistic he’s employed on all his films is in firm position here. There’s no plot, it’s all fabricated, but much of it feels like a documentary. Featuring a huge cast of support players in small roles, I was totally disarmed and completely immersed. French cinematographer extraordinaire Benoît Debire has captured Matt McConaughy’s Moondog and company’s antics in stunning light and colour, while editor Douglas Crise would’ve had his work cut out for him, and he does a fabulous job.

COME TO DADDY

Come to Daddy feels pulled from the pages of an unknown pulpy paperback fished out at a garage sale and savoured like rare and precious booty. Come To Daddy is more than just a strange tale of a boy and his dad; it’s an emotionally resonant portrait of loneliness and the anxiety of confrontation. It’s the age-old dilemma of trying to reconnect with the past, picking the scabs off old wounds. It’s also about the fear of the unknown. It delicately balances a sense of mystery and menace with the shackles of crime and punishment. It’s a gloriously unctuous stew, as compelling in its poignancy as it is fetid in its detail. 

HOMEWRECKER

This is a blackly comic pearler. The emphasis is on the contrasting personalities, a delicate, finely-tuned character study at play, and one of those delicious ones that descends into ugly territory indeed, yet still remains a comedy at dark heart. Whilst a nod to the shenanigans of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? it’s also lifts from the psycho-drama and thrills of movies such as Single White Female and Fatal Attraction. A disquieting dig at fidelity and loneliness, sporting a cracker of a script, which feels partially improvised. Alex Essoe and Precious Chong deliver terrific performances. The escalation is a mischievous joy to watch. 

ALBANIAN GANGSTER

Only his second feature, but Matthew A. Brown has the command of a seasoned filmmaker. Like his debut, Julia, Albanian Gangster is another powerful hybrid; part brooding character study, part slow-burn, pared-back thriller, and it rewards through its dramatic intensity, its ugly truthfulness; that gangland honour is steeped in brutal vengeance, always and forever. Combined with a mostly non-professional cast, the movie has a strong sense of realism. It’s what lifts the movie into something that feels authentic, that resonates, as if you’re watching a gripping documentary, rather than a crime drama. 

Honourable mentions: Border, Arctic, Destroyer, Werewolf, Parasite, Ad Astra, Knives Out, Dogs Don’t Wear Pants, The House That Jack Built.

And special nod to a couple of stand out family movie sequels: The LEGO Movie: The Second Part and Toy Story 4. 

My favourite movies of 2018

What a cracker year!

I had a list of twenty faves a few months back. My honourable mentions was almost as long. 

With a large number of debut features, and a lot of savage revenge at play, it was a darkly colourful selection, leaning heavily into the grim shadows, much of it requiring a strong sensibility, even an acquired taste.

The rare lightest hue coming in the form of a dysfunctional relationship searching for identity, yearning for freedom, whilst the most tenebrous, an expressionist nightmare of grief that has held my top spot from the moment the final image faded from the screen at its phenomenal Sydney Underground Film Festival Closing Night screening.

Note to self: I need to make more of an effort next year in reviewing ALL those movies that tickle my fancy with a heavy feather [Ed: excuses, excuses], so apologies that only half my selection have accompanying (click through) reviews in full. 

Let the good darkness prevail.

Here are my twenty favourites from the past year. 

Mandy

Polarising audiences with the ferocity of a bad acid trip the second feature from Panos Cosmatos, featuring Nicolas Cage in Full Cage mode, is a tale of vengeance as studied and deliberate as it as free-form and expressionistic. Melding aching, romantic lament with supernatural, visceral horror, it’s a revenge nightmare that pushes the boundaries of tone, takes no prisoners, is stylistically demanding and drenched in atmosphere, with a powerhouse metaltronic score from the late Jóhann Jóhannsson. An acquired taste of pure cinema, that melted like exotic cured meat in my mouth. 

You Were Never Really Here

Just as Lynn Ramsay has done with previous adaptations she has possessed a novel and made it her own, tackling the implosion of the psyche due to external forces, framing trauma as catharsis. It’s a disturbing, but stunning portrait, with Joaquin Phoenix at the top of his game. The violence seethes, both implicit and explicit, the tone grim as nails. Like a new millennial mutation of Taxi Driver a searing, blistering study of violence and fractured retribution that is, quite simply, a masterclass in cinematic technique.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Niggling issues over the time line of songs, and the use of dramatic licence are cast asunder, as the sheer heart attack ferocity of Freddie Mercury and Queen thunders across the screen. It’s an absolutely thrilling promo for the band’s history, and champions their brilliant singles - and concerts - with gusto. Rami Malek might have initially seemed a poor substitute for Sacha Baron Cohen, but he commands the movie, nailing the legendary frontman’s body language and personality. 

Annihilation

Alex Garland continues to prove his talents behind the camera, having already proven his mettle on paper, as novelist and screenwriter. Tackling the existential cosmic darkness of Jeff VandeMeer’s superb novel and delivering some of the most frightening scenes of horror seen on the screen in ages - that bear scene, that intestine scene - with a beautiful, haunting beauty reminiscent of Tarkvosky’s Solaris and Stalker, and a deliberately enigmatic, yet disquietingly satisfying denouement. Another acquired elixir. 

Leave No Trace

In much the same way Debra Granik did for Winter’s Bone, this is a slow burn drama, with a quiet intensity that smoulders like a camp fire. Where the movie excels is in the naturalistic performances - terrific work from Thomasin McKenzie - and the gentle, perfectly nuanced pace and tone of the narrative, much of it dialogue-free. A mediative, reflective, and deeply affecting study of unhinged souls, a kind of al fresco chamber piece. Not everyone’s chipped enamel mug of black gumboot tea, but ultimately one of the most emotionally resonant and rewarding movies in years.

Pet Names

For her third feature young director Carol Brandt has fashioned a beautifully understated observation on the search for closure and acceptance that charms effortlessly with wonderful, naturalistic performances from her two leads, Meredith Johnston and Rene Cruz. Johnston’s screenplay resonates with an authenticity that gives the movie a truly endearing edge. I do love a dysfunctional indie romance that captures the listlessness of summer, the fresh scent of desire, the sour odour of heartbreak, but especially those moments between the moments, that elusive, awkward poignancy.

Piercing

Nicolas Pesce takes the guts of author Ryū Murakami’s sadomasochistic proclivities, sexual anguish, intense neurosis, acute anxiety, and exquisite agony, and fashions an utterly gorgeous and deliberately frustrating paean to the giallo movies of the late 70s/early 80s, especially the work of Dario Argento. It’s hard candy for cinephiles, and for anyone else, it’s likely to leave a sour taste in the mouth. A kind of psychosexual chamber piece, but a blackly comic (oh, so dark) study of deviance and duplicity with a precise command of mise-en-scene, cinematography, and heavily stylised production design.

Holiday

Isabella Eklöf’s debut, Holiday, doesn’t become a revenge movie, though is it a study of violence. It is an observation, and a harrowing one at that, of the ghastly glamour bruising of the gangster underworld. How naïveté can lead to co-dependence - a kind of Stockholm Syndrome at play - how corruption can operate on an insular level. Certainly not for everyone, it has the uncompromising, savage, and realistic edge of Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible, with the cold precise vibe of Ulrich Seidl and Michael Haneke, and the beautifully sustained tension and release of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy.

Hereditary

Employing a narrative slow burn, dripping with dread, this supernatural tale of the disintegration of a scarred and vulnerable family is one of the most genuinely nightmarish horror movie in ages. Conjuring the atmospheric intensity from the best of the 70s, armed with a most tenebrous resolve, Ari Aster’s debut feature projects a darkness that sears holes. A domestic drama riddled with dysfunctional behaviour that soon unravels into a full-blown phantasm of hellish ancestral vice. Toni Colette delivers a central career best performance.

Whitney

Kevin MacDonald is one of the great modern documentary filmmakers. With his latest he has fashioned a documentary about the life and career of one of pop’s brightest flames, Whitney Houston, a teenage ghetto girl pushed hard by her industry-worn mother Cissy, held fast by her family ties, especially her two older brothers, held even closer by her confidante and secret lover Robyn, championed by the world, and ultimately brought down by the personal demons and drugs that overwhelmed her. It’s one of pop culture’s great tragedies, brilliantly told. 

Revenge

Forget the implausibilities - the movie is riddled with them - this is one of the most stylish and engaging exploitation flicks in ages. With charisma to burn, star Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz owns the movie. Directed with an equal abundance of chutzpah Coralie Fargeat is yet another French writer/director chewing the horror scenery and delivering the raw, delicious goods. Revenge pings off the screen, becoming more and more outrageous as it travels, until the OTT final confrontation. The kind of bubblegum cinema you keep on chewing until the very last bit of flavour is gone. 

Overlord

Australian director Julius Avery, on his second feature, whacks the genre hybrid into the middle of next week with a violent World War II actioner that halfway through mutates into an even more violent zombie horror flick. The set-pieces are awesome, especially the harrowing opening paratrooper drop, and the production values, especially the mostly practical gore effects and zombie design, are fantastic. Mostly unknown cast are solid, but Wyatt Russell (Kurt and Goldie’s son) is a standout. A surprising, big budget, kick-arse horror movie. 

Beast

A highly accomplished debut feature from writer/director Michael Pearce, who weaves the machinations of a macabre psychological thriller with the poignant, delicate elements of an illicit romance, ultimately creating a hybrid creature that slinks and slithers slyly, then bites savagely. Its slow burn technique belies its truly dark heart. Beast plays with familiar tropes and conventions, whilst it gently tugs the rug from under your muddy feet. Gorgeously shot, a bristling, captivating score, and terrific performances from the entire cast.

Calibre

Debut feature from writer/director, Matt Palmer is a Scots/English co-production, and is an absolutely nail-biting thriller about a friendship tested to the very limits. It’s the kind of realistic scenario - old buddies on a hunting trip - turned onto its terrifying head, and once the deed is done, every moment becomes more and more desperate and ghastly. Jack Lowden and Martin McCann are superb in the dual lead roles, but are provided with excellent support from the locals, including Tony Curran. Perfect ending. 

I, Tonya

The kind of dynamic biopic that re-iterates what I mentioned with Bohemian Rhapsody. There are the facts, and then there the half-truths and then there’s the hearsay. Leave all the cold hard facts for the documentaries. Craig Gillespie delivers a thoroughly entertaining portrait of disgraced champion ice-skater Tonya Harding (career performance from Margot Robbie), with her abusive mother - an extraordinary, scene-stealing performance from Allison Janney - threatening to steal her daughter’s wayward thunder every step of the way. 

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

It often takes an outsider to extract ugly, accurate truths from another country’s guarded foibles. British writer/director Martin McDonagh tackles small-town American hypocrisy and prejudice with expert narrative ease, eliciting top shelf performances from an awesome cast, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Caleb Landry Jones, to name a few. McDonagh weaves his way through Coen Brothers territory, but paints his own uniquely high contrast picture, brilliant and dark in equal measure.

Hold the Dark

Contemporary master studier of violence, Jeremy Saulnier, has his actor muse, Macon Blair adapt the novel by William Giraldi into a cold, blistering murder mystery that provides no easy answers. Jeffrey Wright is the wolf expert pulled into a small Alaskan community to help solve the vanishings of several children, presumed taken by wolves. But there is a human darkness below the animal fur, and there will be much tears spilled before the cold dawn of truth is exposed. As much a perilous odyssey as it is savage tale of vengeance, demanding and frustrating, but superbly made with top notch performances. 

Widows

Based on the novel by Lynda La Plante, and scripted by director Steve McQueen and Gillian Flynn, this is a crime-drama-thriller made with consummate skill; superb direction, cinematography, and a terrific central performance from Viola Davis, Widows packs a punch, the narrative unraveling with expert control. It’s a heist movie where an inevitable heist is not the important dramatic element, but the elements that bring a group of wounded, wary women inexorably together. McQueen creates the kind of striking visual and narrative style that feels part Tony Scott, part Martin Scorsese, part Martin McDonagh.

Wobble Palace

Eugene Kotlyarenko’s egocentric take on a fizzled relationship and the couple’s sexual misadventures is ripe indie fruit worth biting into. Co-written with his co-star Dasha Nekrasova, it’s a comedy of manners - or errors, to be precise - shot through an endearing gauze of melancholy, enhanced by Sean William Price’s gorgeous cinematography, a wash of vibrant colour and retro flare. Though its characters might likely irritate the pants off of some, the movie is poignant, engaging and frequently amusing, with genuinely memorable performances, especially Nekrosova, she’s one to watch for sure, and effervescent dialogue.

The Night Comes For Us

Forget The Raid, or its sequel, writer/director Timo Tjahjanto’s tour-de-force of combat violence is the action thriller of the decade, a no-holds-barred Indonesian blitzkrieg, which sees a gangland enforcer (Joe Taslim) embroiled within a Triad clusterfuck of treachery and insurrection. Basically it’s kill or be killed, using all manner of ballistic and blade weaponry and martial arts know how. Iko Uwais and Julie Estelle co-star, delivering the vicious goods, but big nod to Hannah Al Rashid and Dian Sastrowardoyo as Elena and Alma, formidable foes. This is ultra-violence on an astonishing, outstanding scale. 

Honourable Mentions (I restricted myself to ten):

Mission Impossible: Fallout, Blackkklansman, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Tully, An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn, That Summer, Mega Time Squad, Luz, Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex, Disco & Fashion, Totem.

My 25th Anniversary as a Film Critic

Today marks twenty-five years since my first publication as a film critic, which were a couple of capsule reviews of the 1993 Wellington Film Festival. 

I’ve loved the movies since I was a lad, especially after seeing Star Wars, aged nine. A few years later dad took me to see 2001: A Space Odyssesy. Around the same time my mates and I watched a bunch of cult/classic pre-cert “adult” movies on VHS (The Omen, The Changeling, Alien, An American Werewolf In London, Dressed To Kill, Midnight Express, Scum, The Deer Hunter). From my mid-teens onwards I started attending the Wellington Film Festival. At Victoria University I studied Film History, Analysis, and Production. In late 1991 I worked on Peter Jackson’s Braindead, and in the mid-90s I worked for two years as a script assessor for the New Zealand Film Commission.

In April of 1993 an independent weekly newspaper was launched, City Voice. Mark Cubey was the arts editor and David Geary was the film and theatre reviewer. It was leading up to the annual Wellington Film Festival and Mark gave me the break, inviting me to step into David’s role, as he was stepping down to concentrate on his own playwriting. Wisely, I opted out of taking on the theatre reviews.  

I remained City Voice’s resident film critic until December ’97 when I moved to Australia. In early ’98 I joined the team of Sydney weekly street press Revolver magazine, with the support of arts editor Oscar Hillerström. I stayed with Revolver, chiefly as film reviewer, but also the occasional interview and club review, until mid-2000. It’s curious to note that I joined both City Voice and Revolver four months after they were each launched, and three years after I left they either folded (City Voice) or were re-branded (Revolver evolved into The Brag). 

I continued to write reviews for lifestyle website RushTV.com, until the dot com explosion imploded, and then for the next few years I freelanced, writing reviews for other street press, including FilmInk and City Hub, and long-gone glossy mag DVD Now (later Total DVD). For a couple of years I must have been in the wilderness, as I don’t have any archived reviews. In August of 2006 I joined the blogosphere of Orble.com and started Horrorphile – The Pleasure Of Nightmares, where I indulged in horror movies and beyond. For the next six years I wrote hundreds of reviews on cult classics and contemporary flicks, mused on the art and artifice of the genre, and occasionally interviewed filmmakers and the like. But in the second half of 2012 disaster struck when the umbrella site suddenly crashed and burned, taking with it hundreds of blogs and creating thousands of dead links. I lay low for about six months, nursing my wounds.

In April 2013 I opened an account with Squarespace and launched Cult Projections, my parlour of vivid ciné dreams, focusing on genre movie recommendations, past and present, and continuing to interview industry shakers and movers. 

To mark the anniversary I’ve selected twenty-five [Ed: twenty-six, actually] essential viewings, personal favourites from each year I’ve been a film critic, 1993 - 2018. 

Romeo Is Bleeding, Crumb, Living In Oblivion, The Funeral, Another Day In Paradise, Black Cat, White Cat, The Limey, Memento, The Anniversary Party, Morvern Callar, Oldboy, Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind, A History Of Violence, Ils, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead, The Children, The Disappearance Of Alice Creed, Monsters, Young Adult, Killer Joe, Kiss Of The Damned, Nightcrawler, 99 Homes, The Eyes Of My Mother, I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore, You Were Never Really Here. 

My favourite movies of 2017

The introduction of my original draft was the cynical, frustrated, and disappointed rant of a grumpy old man. I decided positivity was a better direction as we end the year, with a hint of acceptance and resignation. 

As hugely important as the story and script is, I’m a champion of movies that engulf you with the singular, pure elements of cinema: rich atmosphere, imaginative use of sound and/or score, and striking use of mise-en-scene. Many of the movies on my list this year are examples of this kind of artful, more abstract and expressionist cinema. The kind of movies that demand repeat viewings, in some cases, again and again. 

My selection is a mix of film festival screenings, general theatrical, and a bunch that were given a belated Australian release (usually on BD/DVD/VOD). Increasingly I find less time to see movies and even less time to write reviews, as parental duties, work commitments, and other projects take prescience over what has essentially become a hobby, and at the end of each year I make a promise to myself to watch more features and deliver more content in the new year.

Apparently nostalgia is heroin for old people, and many of the movies on my list this year are retro-vibed in one way or another, so I’m definitely a nostalgia junkie. 

So, here are my twenty favourites from the past year.

Mother!

Dream-nightmare as cinema art. Darren Aronofsky has conjured something beautiful and grotesque, one of the most immersive, at times overwhelming, portraits of dream-logic I’ve ever experienced, exploring the nature of creation, tackling xenophobia, wrestling with faith, fucking with the fabric of time and space. As enigmatic and obscure as David Lynch, as visceral and symbolic as David Cronenberg, as studied and precise as Stanley Kubrick, as chaotic and sensorial as Dario Argento. 

Blade Runner 2049

Denis Villeneuve is a true visionary, a brilliant stylist, capturing much of what makes cinema so delicate and powerful. Blade Runner 2049 is a truly beautiful thing. It is far-fetched and it is immediate, it is intimidating and gorgeous, it is perfect and flawed, it is immense and detailed, epic and intimate. It is a rare creature indeed, a sequel that can exist on its own, but also expands gently on the original, capturing the same sense of melancholy, loneliness, futility… and hope. As rich and frustrating as Scott’s original, soaked in the aesthetics of design, with an epic electronic score-scape. 

Jackie

Pablo Lorraín’s speculative biopic on the first few days of Jacqueline Kennedy’s life immediately following the assassination of her husband is an acquired taste, at once artfully removed and elusive, yet utterly intimate and immersive. Natalie Portman, in a career performance, is spellbinding in the titular role, as is the overall mood, sombre, almost bewitching. Indeed, it is a harrowing portrait, but captured with exquisite elegance. 

War for the Planet of the Apes

It is rare for a re-imagining, that also happens to be a sequel, to have such a profound effect, but Matt Reeves’ third (and final?) part to the Planet of the Apes series re-boot is a brilliantly told tale of megalomania, retribution, and resignation, with stunning production design and cinematography. Andy Serkis commands as Caesar, but also equally excellent are Woody Harrelson, and Karin Konoval as Maurice, Caesar’s faithful friend. For a science fiction blockbuster, it’s dark and confronting, but it brings the trilogy to a fitting and emotionally-charged end.

Fashionista

One of those disquieting drama-thrillers that smoulders away, threatening to fully ignite. It catches, and singes, and it’s those surface burns that always seem to linger the longest. Clothing obsessions and nightmares don’t always mix, but Simon Rumley has fashioned a terrific low-budget piece that razzle-dazzles in a way those big budget affairs could never hope to pin. Inspired by the films of Nic Roeg, especially the fascination with femininity vs. masculinity, the hallucinatory, surrealist touches, and the obsessive-compulsive natures of the central characters.

Una

Benedict Andrews has done an exceptional job of turning David Harrower’s play Blackbird, essentially a two-hander, into a powerful piece of dramatic cinema. It’s a dual character study that burns with the ferocity of a psychological thriller. A provocative and delicate tale of manipulation,  and sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse, but also a story of damaged love. The fragility and resilience of character, the nuances of trust and betrayal are exposed with intelligence, but not without risk of controversy. A sombre and disquieting film, indeed, with two outstanding performances.

Free Fire

If there was ever a prime cut example of a movie that excels and succeeds brilliantly on a very simple premise, then Ben Wheatley’s nod to the great 70s exploitation shoot ‘em ups is the one. It's an unbridled genre joy. The comedy is dark as motor oil and most of it is pooled from the humour school of Bruce Robinson; the Withnail and I character-based cumulative-style that builds through behaviour and interaction, with short retorts, pithy wisecracks, not lengthy pop-cultural referential monologues. Oh, and it’s violent and foul-mouthed as all hell. 

Prevenge

The kind of perverse vanity project that completely blows that hairy pretence to pieces. Written as a direct result of finding it incredibly difficult to get work as a pregnant actor, and as a sly slice of irony, Prevenge is as much an adult fantasy as it is a comedy-horror, dark and hilarious, and entirely original. It crackles with savage wit and warbles with absurd clarity; one woman’s descent into pre-natal and post-natal madness. Alice Lowe delivers one of the most entertaining, perfectly pitched performances I’ve seen in a while.

Axolotl Overkill

Floating with the aloofness of Bret Easton Ellis and anchored with the ennui of Tom DeLillo, Axolotl Overkill moves and feels something Fellini might have made if he was a young contemporary. It’s La Dolce Vita in the jaded modern world, Christiane F. with the nihilism kept in check. While the title appears to be an obscure reference to being trapped in excessive youth, the movie is bracingly fresh, achingly awkward, deliciously sensual; a real cocktail of fervour and affectation.

Orange Sunshine

William A. Kirkley has fashioned a superb documentary, as both date-stamp and cultural history piece, it is a beacon of the strength of friendship and community and a sobering reminder that as curious and good-hearted as humans can be, we are not invincible, but we are resilient, and we are industrious, to a fault. Tracing the social and cultural history of the hippie movement, and the creative influence of LSD on the arts, Orange Sunshine, with all its wonderful Super-8-flavoured recreations, is as endlessly fascinating as it is, ultimately, moving.

I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore

Actor Macon Blair (Blue Ruin, Green Room) turns his hand to directing and delivers a surprisingly affecting first feature about a strange relationship, infused with criminal intrigue, and spiked with black comedy. It’s as eccentric as it is unpredictable, with terrific performances, and intense graphic violence. A wacky cup of tea, not to everyone’s taste, but more refreshing than most brews of the same quirky intent. Think Coen Brothers meets Jeremy Saulnier. Then don’t. This one doesn’t play by the rules. 

Horror Movie: A Low Budget Nightmare

One of the funniest, most heart-warming stories of tenacity, fool-hardiness, desperation, and perverse joy within the often cruel, relentless, and unforgiving realm of DIY, independent, low-budget filmmaking. The horror genre is full of these endeavours, but few, if any, have been captured from go to woe to hey-ho with such grotesque charm, cringe-inducing outrageousness, and sheer championship, as Gary Doust’s fly-on-the-wall, take-no-prisoners, warts-and-all account of making Red Christmas, Craig Anderson’s feature debut as writer and director. 

Get Out

Jordan Peele’s screenplay is an absolute cracker. His understanding of horror tropes is bang-on, and he knows exactly how to ply them within his own take on the “everything seems right, but there’s something horribly wrong” scenario. Get Out plays a fresh game on an age old nightmare; the hapless good person being pushed back and trapped by a steadily tightening screw of evil. Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. A fantastic cast, tight direction, and Peele has woven is keen sense of humour through the movie with expert control. 

Raw

Ducournau has fashioned a sleek, minimalist relationship drama with a sharp spine of horror, and a sense of humour as black as pudding. It burns slow like a thriller, and peels back the layers of a dysfunctional sororal bond that eventually snarls like an angry dog and bites like a vicious snake. This is not your average visceral horror movie, not conventional in the way it shocks, for there is something intrinsically - psychologically - disturbing with its primary theme - cannibalism - and the section it tears off and chews feverishly on. Beautifully composed in widescreen, alternating with quiet moments of clean, elegant lines, and then juxtaposing those with intense, claustrophobic moments of anarchy and brutalism.

Alien: Covenant

Taking the successful elements of Alien, Aliens, and Prometheus, and stirring the pot of extraterrestrial stew fast and furiously. There’s the nightmarish claustrophobia and suspense of the first movie, the action-orientated military shoot-em up of the original sequel, and elements of the prequel’s intrigue and mystery. There’s no doubt about it, Ridley Scott makes superb movies, that frequently rise above their script issues. Yes, Alien: Covenant is flawed, but it’s still beautiful and awesome cinema. 

Good Time

Josh and Benny Safdie’s followup to their bleak, lo-fi heroin caper Heaven Knows What further indulges their convincingly naturalistic docudrama-style of storytelling with this gripping, wayward, coal-black comedy of errors, following two brothers and their botched bank robbery. One brother (played by co-director and editor Benny Safdie) is mentally handicapped, whilst the other brother (played by Robert Pattinson, in his best performance to date) is the manipulative, street-not-so-smart criminal. Stunningly shot, with a dynamic electro score from Daniel Lopain, credited as Oneohtrix Point Never to boot. 

Wind River

Taylor Sheridan’s Contemporary Western followup to the brilliant Hell or High Water, only this time Sheridan is directing as well as writing, and doing a fine job behind the camera. It’s a vehicle for Jeremy Renner who holds fort as a seasoned tracker pulled in to help a rookie FBI agent solve a murder on frozen Native American ground. A murder mystery in the Gorky Park mold; cold, poetic and brutal, with great work from co-star Elizabeth Olsen, and a mostly unknown support cast. The stats at movie’s end are heartbreaking. 

Thor: Ragnarok

There are two kinds of superhero movies; those that take themselves very seriously, and those that don’t. Taika Waititi’s take on the Mighty Thor is the most refreshing and purely entertaining superhero movie since 2008’s Iron Man, but with tongue even more firmly lodged in cheek. It’s designed like a flamboyant cartoon, all bright fluorescent colour and hammy delivery, Flash Gordon (1980) for Millennials and X-Gen geeks. Waititi voices a rock dude named Korg, and steals every scene he’s in (why are we not surprised?), whilst Cate Blanchett chews scenery as the Goddess of Death, Tessa Thompson spunkily owns the role of Valkyrie, and Jeff Goldblum channels Jeff Goldblum with aplomb. 

The Evil Within

There are dream projects and there are nightmare projects, and then there is The Evil Within,  trapped somewhere in between. Andrew Getty’s only feature (he died before post-production was completed) is a surrealistic, chaotic horror tale seen from the perspective of a desperately lonely, mentally handicapped, and psychologically tortured young man who is driven to extreme measures in order to keep his inner demon at bay. It took fifteen years to make, with Getty supervising the $6m self-funded production fastidiously. The central (dual) performance from Frederick Koehler is extraordinary. A damaged, but truly original and visionary descent. 

T2: Trainspotting

Boyle is the English Scorsese, a master of mise-en-scene. T2 is proudly a sequel, working alongside the first movie, and interweaving with it too, but it is also a bold stand-alone tale of opportunity and betrayal, of stories told, remembered, re-lived, discarded, treasured. John Hodge’s superb screenplay subversion is a very clever manipulation of giving audiences that nostalgia fix, yet also playing on the universal angst and ennui of “What the fuck have I done with my life?” The soundtrack is bang on, and the cinematography is fantastic too. Another stone cold instant cult classic. Well, definitely for us nostalgians. 

Honourable Mentions: Berlin Syndrome, Ingrid Goes West, American Made, Morgan, Whitney: Can I Be Me, 78/52, Wonder Woman, The Lego Batman Movie, Hounds of Love, Logan. 

Slipped Through the Net: Detroit, Shot Caller, The Florida Project, The Disaster Artist [Ed: I feel I need to watch The Room first]

My favourite movies of 2016

Now in the second year of combining my long-standing end-of-year list (dating back to 2006) of favourite “nightmare movies” with favourites from other genres, this merger returns my critic’s so-called “best of” selection back to when I first started as a professional film critic (admittedly, “pro” doesn’t quite carry the same weight it used to back in 1993). 

I re-iterate, each year, a couple of caveats. Firstly, that I use the word “favourites” instead of “best of”, simply because no matter how savvy, witty, or insightful you are as a film critic, at the end of the day, your e-o-y list is really just a list of what movies tickled your fancy. Of course, the film snobs want to rant on about how dreadful one of the plethora of superhero movies is, or wax lyrical about the brilliance of a particular concentration camp perspective, but, really, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. 

The other admonition is that as a film critic I see many movies in advance of their commercial release. As such, there are a few films not on my list for 2016, because I saw them in 2015. My favourites list is made up of movies I saw either at film festivals, or during their Australian theatrical or, if they were denied a cinema release, then their respective BD/DVD/VOD release in Australia. Admittedly, there are a number of movies I had hoped to see, but missed, for whatever reason. Two stand-outs that slipped through the net this year were Raw and Train to Busan, two horror movies that, by all accounts, were amazing. 

This year I ended up with a long short list, and as such it was difficult to make the cut off. As has been the case for the past four years, since becoming a father, it has been harder to find the time to review all the movies I want to. This year, I didn’t even get around to reviewing the movie that took out my top spot! I had fully intended to watch the film a second time on the giant IMAX screen in Darling Harbour (sadly, now gone), but I missed my opportunity. I will remedy that in the new year, and post a review. 

If it's not on this list, it’s because either I haven’t seen it yet, I saw it and didn’t like it, or I saw it, but didn’t like it quite enough. Pretty simple. 

So, without further adieu, here are my favourites from the past year.

The Revenant 

Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s tale of frontier survival is a searing, uncompromising study of violence and retribution, that also happens to be one of the most beautifully filmed of the past twenty years. It is gruelling, but utterly mesmerising, savage, but profoundly poetic. A monumental piece of rugged, sensory cinema. 

The Invitation 

Karyn Kasuma’s nightmarish thriller is a steadily darkening, slow-burn study of deception and duplicity that takes the best elements of Polanski, and combines them with the mysterious malevolence of Lynch. A top-notch, relatively unknown, ensemble cast all delivering excellent performances within the assured direction of a superb screenplay. 

Trash Fire 

Richard Bates Jr.’s third feature is a pitch-black comedy of relationships that eventually twists into a kind of perverse horror movie. It’s an exceptional hybrid; a romance on the wrong side of bittersweet, and some deep, unsolved family issues, sporting some of the wittiest dialogue all year. Adam Grenier gets my pick for surprise favourite performance.

Hell or High Water 

David MacKenzie delivers the best contemporary Western in twenty years or more. Outstanding work from the three leads, Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges. It’s one of those movies where there’s nothing new on the screen, but everything is done just right. A blistering script, cracking dialogue - an instant classic indeed.

Blood Father 

This is the action flick of the year, hands down. Whilst The Revenant is more of an expressionist nightmare, Frenchman Jean-François Richet takes the vengeful, protective American spirit by the horns and drives the beast full tilt down the highway. Mel Gibson delivers the kind of authentic intensity and believability not seen since his work in the early 80s, while Michael Parks almost steals the show. 

Suburra 

A slick, modern Italian gangster movie with more brazen sensuality and visceral brutality than you can shake an olive branch at. Director Sefano Sollima knows his shit, and he takes no prisoners. A provocative, sumptuous, tenebrous affair with enough tension and betrayal for even the most jaded mob movie lover, plus a most handsome and gorgeous cast. 

10 Cloverfield Lane 

Forget what the haters say, this is a sensational movie with a brilliant central performance from Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and great support from John Goodman. It’s a chamber piece, with a kick-arse (controversial) twist. If you run with the rug pull, as you should, it’s the best piece of late 70s/early 80s-style shock cinema.

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople 

Aoteoroan Taika Waititi delivers the feel-good flick of the year. It’s a term I loathe to use, but I can’t help but apply it here. Based on legendary bushman Barry Crump’s adventures it features a career performance from Sam Neill, upstaged by Julian Dennison as the hilariously cheeky young Ricky, and riddled with enough Kiwi references to warrant instant cult status. 

Rogue One

The True Believers know where it’s at. For his third feature Gareth Edwards channels the tone of the original movie, otherwise known as Episode IV: A New Hope, and nails its distinct atmosphere and style (sans wipes). Sure, it’s packed full of nostalgia, but that’s unavoidable, what’s most important is its genuine sense of thrill and adventure, which it has in spades. Great fun. 

The Neon Demon 

Nicolas Winding Rein throws caution to the wind and rather than making another Drive, he makes another Only God Forgives; an enigmatic, egocentric thriller saturated in stylistics, immersed in a superb synthetic score courtesy of Cliff Martinez, with enough lurid, fragmented dream/nightmare logic to make Lynch and Argento froth uncontrollably. Ravishing stuff. 

The Eyes of My Mother 

In stark contrast to Refn, but cut from the same nightmare cloth, is this monochromatic, abstract fable of loneliness and desire from Nicolas Pesce. Early David Lynch crouches in the darkened corners as inspiration, whilst an elusive American Gothic tone burns like overproof bourbon. A hypnotic, psychotic realm that lingers with intent. 

American Honey

UK maverick Andrea Arnold makes audacious studies of female desire, plucking a complete unknown and eliciting a stunning performance. She tackles the wild, unfettered heart of the American ingénue, with a long, rambling road movie, shot through with a gorgeous, natural (albeit unconventionally framed) eye. Itching with raw charisma, it rewards and frustrates in equal measure. 

The Man From Mo’ Wax

My favourite documentary of the year follows the tumultuous career of one of Britain’s pioneering figures in contemporary electronic music, James Lavelle, the founder of the legendary “Mo’ Wax” label. It’s a warts and all study of genius and ego, of the influence of hip-hop culture outside of rap music, and the double-edged sword of control vs. creativity. Fluid and compelling. 

Green Room 

I first saw this at Sitges last year, but I was too drunk and tired to remember much of it, and after watching it again I was surprised at just how smart and succinct Jeremy Saulneir’s thriller is, a worthy follow-up to his brilliant debut Blue Ruin. It definitely requires a second viewing to fully absorb the movie’s nuances, many of which are obscured the first time by the extreme brutality. 

Carol

Admittedly, I’m not familiar with Douglas Sirk’s period melodramas, but I thoroughly enjoyed this deliberately stylised romance between two women who are seemingly bound by the restrictions of their society. I’m a big fan of Rooney Mara, and, along with Cate Blanchett, they nail the intense restraint with aplomb. There was something undeniably sensual and rewarding about their sad predicament. 

The Girl on the Train

It polarised the critics, but I was gripped from start to finish. Emily Blunt delivers my other favourite performance of the year, as the pathetic alcoholic who finds herself dangerously embroiled in the machinations of a troubled marriage she has observed from her daily ride to nowhere. Great work also from the two other female leads. A genuine nail-biter. 

Tonight She Comes 

One of only three truly conventional horror movies on my list, yet this one plays with the genre’s tropes with such fervour and abandon that it ends up being the most surprising horror movie of the year. It takes a talented and bold director to deliver the first half an hour with really annoying characters and silly direction and then shove all expectation through the roof with a loud fucking banshee screech ... and and lots of dark (menstrual) blood. 

Aaaaaaaah! 

Cultivating a taste so acquired you’ll probably wonder why anyone would bother attempting such absurdity, director, writer, and actor Steve Oram has captured something that almost defies description, for fear of alienation and ridicule. An extreme “study” of human behaviour, it’s a brilliant, hilarious, social satire filmed as crude, low-brow hi-jinks. Leave ALL sensibilities behind. 

The Autopsy of Jane Doe 

Norwegian director of Trollhunter goes down a much darker hole with his follow-up feature and it’s an intensely suspenseful two-hander. Great performances from Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch (but not forgetting Ophelia Lovibond as the titular corpse), entrenched in a sensationally ominous, creepy-as-fuck atmosphere. The tinkle of a small bell will never sound as innocuous again. 

Hush

Basic cat-and-mouse fare made bold and memorable with striking, punchy direction, great performances, and excellent and effective use of violence. It’s Mike Flanagan’s strongest movie to date, brisk and tense as hell, co-written with and starring his wife Kate Siegel. It's the scariest home invasion flick since Ils. 

A few honourable mentions:

Arrival, De Palma, Don’t Breathe, White Girl, and The Night of the Virgin.

And I want to throw The Shallows in there too ... Just because. 

Top 10 favourite short films

As a companion piece to my 250 favourite movies list on my new Letterboxd page I decided to share some of the short films that have impressed me along the way. Of course, there are too many short films I've seen over the years for me to recall, and it's nearly impossible to try and find them. 

In any case, this selection have stuck with me. As a short film programmer for A Night Of Horror International Film Festival I see so many short films that are too ambitious. I find myself telling people over and over that short films that clock in over fifteen minutes in length rarely succeed in achieving what they want to do. Keep in mind also that most film festivals (unless its specially designed for short films) don't have a lot of time allocated for short films, so if the short is long, then it has a slimmer chance of being programmed, no matter how good it is. 

It's curious, because several of the shorts films in my top ten are half and hour, or longer. Go figure. 

Click below to check out my faves (from what I can remember).

Top 10 Favourite Short Films

Favourite movies - The films that have inspired me

In 1993 I became a professional film critic. Ten years ago I launched my first website, Horrorphile - Pleasure Of Nightmares. In 2015 the umbrella host site crashed and burned, creating hundreds of dead links. From the ashes I created Cult Projections. 

To mark the tenth anniversary of being a raisin in a giant fruit salad of online film critique I created a profile page on Letterboxd, and shamelessly offer a peek into the deeper realm of my very personal movie appreciation. 

Keep in mind, the true essence of cinema art lies behind the eyes of the viewer - not in the mind of the filmmaker. 

Click on the link below for an extensive list. I hope it provides some enlightenment, enjoyment, and perhaps a little edification. 

Favourite Movies - The Films That Have Inspired Me

Top 20 horror remakes that slap and tickle my fancy

Ten years ago today I launched my own website, Horrorphile - Pleasure Of Nightmares. I posted hundreds of reviews and musings on the "high art and deep trash" of horror movies and beyond until Halloween 2012. For another three years I maintained the site as an archive, and answered readers comments. Unfortunately half-way through last year the umbrella host site crashed and burned, taking with it hundreds of blogs and creating thousands of dead links. Six months later this site rose from the ashes.

To mark the tenth anniversary of that site - Rest In Peace, Horrorphile - and ten years of being a raisin in the giant fruit salad of online film critique [Ed: Easy Roy!], I have finally opened a profile page over at Letterboxd. 

Here is my first public list. Click on the link below. Let the shit hit the fan!

Top 20 Horror Remakes That Slap and Tickle My Fancy! 

My favourite movies of 2015

As the father of a soon-to-be three-year-old it is very difficult to find the time to watch the number of movies I used to watch pre-parenthood. I’m still struggling with this reality, and the number of titles on my To Watch list increases each week, paying no heed to my limited viewing time. 

2015 has been the hit the hardest so far, with numerous movies that I missed either its festival screening, its theatrical run, or I haven’t got around to renting. First World problems, I know, but as a self-proclaimed cinephile, this hurts my credibility immensely.

But enough griping; on the plus side, there have been plenty of amazing films that screened this year, either at festivals or in local cinemas, or that were released straight-to-video. My favourites’ list is eclectic that way, with its parameters extending to exclusive festival screenings as well as those that were released in Australia belatedly.

I decided this year to merge the two separate lists of twelve I have been doing for the past three years, into one single list of twenty.

So here then are my favourite twenty movies of 2015, with an additional bunch of honourable mentions/close contenders, and a selection of ones I missed with great regret. Unfortunately time has not permitted me to write reviews for all of these, as yet.

Ex Machina

Alex Garland’s debut as director is a stunning piece of work, all mood and ambience, suggestion and restraint. It drips with a seductive science fiction premise, full of literary references, drenched in atmosphere. The vibe is lush and elegant, hard, smooth, and yet beautifully fragile.

February

Anthony Perkins’ son Osgood delivers a debut shrouded in the kind of dreamy, nightmarish fabric that would make David Lynch proud, and exuding the kind of sensual dread and mystique that permeates the best Euro shockers. This shadows Ex Machina for top spot.

Birdman, or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance

From arguably the most consistently impressive of those three crazy film school Mexicans (Inarritu, Del Toro, Cuaron), this is an instant cult classic, bristling with quotes, searing with truths, floating on fantasy, finally set free by the rapture that is one’s soul torn asunder by love and acceptance; the triumphant gratification of human frailty.

The Gift

Sparking off an exceptional screenplay that bristles with some of the best sequences of suspense and three beautifully realised characters (each performed superbly), Joel Edgerton’s debut as writer/director (as well as one of the three leads) is an absolute cracker.

Sicario

French Canadian Denis Villenueve’s extraordinary track record includes Maelstrom, Incendies, Prisoners, and Enemy. He can notch this brooding, brutal, and darkly beautiful thriller on his belt too. Exemplary work from DOP Roger Deakins, a stunning performance from Emily Blunt, and great work from Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin.

Mad Max: Fury Road

An utterly exhilarating experience, aging visionary George Miller’s is a unique piece of cinema, a $100m action extravaganza painted in bold and vivid strokes that looks plucked straight from the lurid pages of that glorious science-fantasy magazine Metal Hurlant (Heavy Metal).

Tangerine

The camp chaos of Pedro Almodovar, the sarcasm and bitchiness of Greg Araki, the swagger and bravado of Doug Liman’s Swingers, and the dreamy summer antics of Evan Glodell’s Bellflower. Such a melting pot of influences, simmered to perfection by Sean Baker.

Cop Car

It’s been a year of great screenplay writing, and this one, by director Jon Watts and Christopher D. Ford is no exception (It would make a great black comedy double feature with Cheap Thrills.) Kevin Bacon in fine villain form in a true dark blue American indie gem.

Goodnight Mommy

A perfectly disquieting nightmare, playing on that age-old childhood terror of your parents being imposters, whilst delivering a steadily horrifying portrayal of a truly damaged psyche, and the gruesome consequences of harbouring secrets from the disturbed. Great original work from co-directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz.

99 Homes

Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield spa beautifully in this dialogue-heavy (including a searing capitalist monologue from Shannon), but enormously satisfying thriller about greed and corruption from director and co-writer Ramin Bahrani. Real estate acquisition and eviction has never been so compelling.

Macbeth

For his sophomore feature Australian director Justin Kurzel tackles the bard’s darkest tragedy and delivers one of the most rugged and tenebrously beautiful cinema adaptations (up there with Polanski’s 1971 production), whilst his brother Jed delivers yet another blisteringly evocative score.

Goddess of Love

Embedded with a cool, sensual style, awash with colour and dynamic movement, director Jon Knautz’s narrative, both in mise-en-scene and character, is compelling. Alexis Kendra (star, co-writer, co-producer, and production designer) bravely rides the rollercoaster of emotions, laid bare, being thrown around the arena of love’s cruel intent. 

Amy

I knew little of the Brit legend’s music, and almost nothing of her troubled life and short career, suffice to say, she intrigued me a lot, and this wonderful tribute (read: eulogy) from director Asif Kapadia, which utilises many hours of video footage from friends, family, and the media, and punctuates with the lyrics to her songs, is both endearing and heartbreaking.

The Survivalist

Stephen Fingleton’s feature debut is a minimalist, post-apocalyptic fable sporting the stark efficiency of a slow burn thriller and the dramatic intensity of a chamber piece, harnesses three stellar performances, and delivers a quietly devastating denouement.

Hellions

A brilliant original score by Todor Kobakov & Ian LeFeuvre soaks director Bruce MacDonald’s dream piece in a truly nightmarish atmosphere. Think Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava trapped in an American cul-de-sac on All Hallow’s Eve. There’ll definitely be tears before bedtime, and there will be blood.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Shot in Los Angeles, but doubling as the fictional Iranian small town of Bad City, writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour fashions an eccentric vampire piece that channels the dark magic realism of David Lynch and the minimalist pop culture of Jim Jarmusch.

Baskin

Turk director Can Evrenol's debut feature kicks such nightmarish ass in its second half, with a killer ending to boot, that it’s easy to forgive the sluggish first half. If you’re after heinous witchcraft spell this surreal flick delivers in the most gruesome of spades.

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

Alex Gibney’s powerful, and ultimately very disquieting, exposé on the inner workings and devastating consequences of this complicated belief system that has seduced so many. This is required viewing for anyone who is fascinated by the question of faith, and/or the insidious influence of cults.

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead

Injecting his own furious take on the zombie sub-genre with a suitably ludicrous science fiction plot device, Kiah Roache-Turner (along with his brother Tristan) straddles the instant cult classic mantle with brazen confidence, the kind of party flick that demands to be consumed with as much beer, pizza, and blunts, as you can scoff.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

It’s A New Hope for the iGeneration. Take it with a grain of Jakku salt (including all the glaring inconsistencies, narrative conveniences, and sillyisms) and enjoy the cosmic ride for its sheer unabashed interstellar fun. Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver are certainly enjoying themselves, as is fanboy director J.J. Abrams, who is basically making a cover version. 

Honourable Mentions:

Bound to Vengeance, Black Souls, The Hallow, Love & Mercy, Be My Cat, Cat Sick Blues, Unfriended, Victoria, Deathgasm, It Follows.

Notable Absences (movies I really, really wanted to see, but missed):

The Invitation, The Witch, Bone Tomahawk, Horsehead, Hard to be a God.

My Favourite Movies of 2014

What a year in film! Some bona fide modern cult/classics indeed!

I must reiterate that I no longer use the term “Best Of”. It’s been an academic dilemma of mine for awhile, and in the last two years I arrived at the firm conclusion that despite having been a published film critic for more than twenty years, I cannot comfortably spout what I think are the year’s best movies, or even what I think are the greatest in their respective genres. I can only offer my favourites, and trust that my informed and educated opinion carries the appropriate weight.

I also have to take into account the release date of a movie, or to be more specific, when it was available for me to see it. There are a lot of movies screened each year, some enjoy theatrical seasons, others have select screenings at film festivals, and the rest are shunted directly into the domestic straight-to-video market. There are many movies that I don’t get to see in the calendar year, for whatever reason, with a couple that I’m sure would’ve been real contenders, Inherent Vice, The Dark Horse, and Birdman, I’m looking at you.

My criteria for selection is based on what I saw in Sydney during the year, whether it was during its theatrical run, at one of the many local film festivals, or at home on BD/DVD/online screener.

So, here then are the twelve movies that tickled my dark fancy. In some kind of order? Perhaps.

Julia

Exuding a dark sensuality this is a ferociously brooding piece of Euro-Asia styled cinema, and one of the most impressive debut features I’ve seen in a long time. Operating within its own nefarious underworld, the dark corners of a New York seldom seen, it’s a kind of tenebrous adult fable with a stunning central performance from Ashley C. Williams.

Cheap Thrills

This small, morality tale has more stings than a fierce wasp. A black eye comedy as perverse as it is entertaining, as clever as it is simplistic. It slaps your funny bone and kicks yer ass into the middle of next week. Boom! Whack! Thunk! Crack! Vulgar and gruesome, it’s the most reckless, hilarious, twisted night you’ve had in a long time. Pass the tequila.

Blue Ruin

A drama that burns with the quiet ferocity of crawling lava, it’s a tale of wretched revenge soaked in sadness, mired in melancholy, a tragedy of errors, Murphy’s Law incarnate. A stripped-back, slow-burn thriller from Hell, mesmerising and powerful in its simplicity, as gripping as a wrestler’s handshake, and packing a serious visceral punch.

Guardians of the Galaxy

The first movie that comes the closest to capturing the look and vibe of French adult-orientated science fiction/fantasy comic-strip magazine Metal Hurlant (Heavy Metal), the vivid cyberpunk and steampunk designs, the Chris Foss-inspired spacecraft, the sassy sex appeal, the menace and the misfits. James Gunn has whipped out a fancy-dancy, interstellarockin’ phantasy for the adolescent in us all.

Her

There is a remarkable astuteness to Spike Jonze’s portrait. Artificial intelligence is not to be taken lightly, and whilst Her floats on a poetic cyber-feather, there is an inherent sadness that, like an emotional weight, steadily brings it down to earth. A crowning achievement in terms of direction, a brilliant study of love’s fondness and love’s fickleness, but quite simply, a wonderful tale of melancholy.

Starry Eyes

One of those great horror movies that spends much of its time building character and vibe, edging its story arc along, tugging the tension threads, tightening the thriller element. It exudes a 70s and 80s vibe, and a deliciously twisted one at that. The occult and naïveté, the oh-so blackly comic tone, the body-horror, the nightmarish craving for perfection, all converging on a tinsel stage of black magic realism.

Jodorowsky’s Dune

One of the most fascinating and inspiring documentaries in a long time, it is the story of Mexican director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s attempt to make the ultimate science fiction movie from what is often regarded as the ultimate science fiction novel. One can’t help but feel utterly inspired about the creative process, despite how utterly disappointing it is that his extraordinary vision never came to cinematic fruition.

All Is Lost

J.C. Chandor directs with a mighty hand, never once over-stepping into anything other than serving the action as simply and effectively as possible. There’s a rare European grace and lack of pretension that exudes from this tale of one man’s increasingly desperate plight. Robert Redford is the sole actor and is amazing. He barely utters a word the entire film.

Enemy

Featuring a superbly nuanced performance from Gyllenhaal, this is an elusive and elliptical portrait of infidelity, deceit, corruption, and betrayal. The excellent screenplay by Javier Gullon takes the basic elements of the novel The Double by José Saramago and twists them into a parable of fear and desire, a creeping nightmare bathed in jaundiced daylight.

The Dirties

A pitch-black comedy aimed squarely at high-fiving those who have been bullied at school and slapping the mugs of those who bully, a satire that steps into docu-drama territory, one foot in the truth, one foot in the fiction, the reality is rendered askew. This is the freshest, most original, and dangerously entertaining, low-budget indie flick in several years.

Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhaal is fast becoming the Sean Penn of his generation. In the last couple of years his movie choices and subsequent performances have defined him as an intense, charismatic talent. The pitch-black satire of this reportage study of corrupt morals and damaged ethics is as right now as yesterday’s news. As compelling as it is dangerous, this sly snake slides with supreme confidence.

These Final Hours

A thoroughly gripping, visually stunning, powerful drama-thriller that slaps you around, and yet, ultimately embraces you in an apocalyptic gesture of doomed romance. It’s one of the most affecting Aussie releases of the past few years, a vivid, captivating, nihilistic drama, at once sensual and sweaty, urgent and uncompromising. It takes no prisoners.

Close contenders:

Teenage, Whiplash, Dom Hemingway, Frank, Boyhood, Filth

Exclusive! All-time favourite movies from directors, critics, tutors, and actors!

To mark one year of Cult Projections I have taken inspiration from the poll BFI’s Sight & Sound magazine conducts every decade. However, rather than selecting what one considers are the ten “greatest” movies ever made, I’ve asked my guests to compile their twelve favourites movies of all time. There’s a huge difference, of course.

I selected twelve director friends and acquaintances, twelve film critic and tutor colleagues, and, for good measure, six actor friends and acquaintances. Thirty lists in total, and twelve favourites in each, not the usual ten.

Each person was asked to clarify how his or her list was compiled. Most are in no particular order, a clutch are ranked from #1 to #12, and whilst some are purely fancies of the moment (loathe to be definitive), others have had their favourites locked in for years because they watch them over and over again. 

Some of the interesting results: Ridley Scott features the most frequently with just two of his movies (Blade Runner, Alien). Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Casino) comes in at second place, and Stanley Kubrick (The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, Dr. Strangelove) and the Coen brothers (The Big Lebowski, Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, Fargo, No Country for Old Men) share third place - with the Coens’ enjoying most comprehensive listing.

The other most popular directors were Sergio Leone, Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, David Lynch, Tobe Hooper, Michel Gondry, and Peter Jackson. The most popular decade was the 70s (why am I not surprised?)

Curiously, only one Quentin Tarantino-directed movie gets a mention, and just five female directors made the cut. 

If anything these lists will provoke renewed interest in some cult/classics, remind you of some you have yet to see, and perhaps spark fascination with a few you've never heard of. So to get in amongst it, here’s my own list, which has remained more or less unchanged for more than fifteen years.  

In order.

Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)

8½ (1963, Federico Fellini)

Apocalypse Now (1979, Francis Ford Coppola)

Withnail and I (1986, Bruce Robinson)

Down By Law (1986, Jim Jarmusch)

Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)

Cul-de-Sac (1965, Roman Polanski)

Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)

Fallen Angels (1995, Wong Kar-Wai)

Blood Simple. (1984, Joel & Ethan Coen)

Come and See (1985, Elem Klimov)

Monsters (2010, Gareth Edwards)

THE DIRECTORS

Jason Bognacki

Bognacki is an L.A. filmmaker, musician, photographer, and designer, whose evolving “Live Cinematic” music+film project Loma Lynda, was the first feature of its kind at the Sundance Film Festival. Followed by “Loma Lynda: Episode II”, and the featurette The Red Door (2008), which won numerous awards on the festival circuit, and garnered him a cult following. He’s currently finishing Another, a giallo-esque feature.

“This is a mix of current and past favourite genre films.”

 In no particular order. 

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, Sergio Leone)

Le Cercle Rouge (1970, Jean-Pierre Melville)

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970, Dario Argento)

Scorpion Prisoner 701 (1972, Shunya Ito)

Torso (1973, Sergio Martino)

Obsession (1976, Brian De Palma)

The Brood (1979, David Cronenberg)

Possession (1981, Andrzej Zulawski)

The Devil’s Rejects (2005, Rob Zombie)

Headhunters (2011, Morten Tyldum)

Kill List (2011, Ben Wheatley)

Dean Bertram

Bertram is the co-founder and director of Australia’s A Night of Horror International Film Festival and Fantastic Planet Film Festival. He rants on politics, culture, and film regularly in The Spectator, Australia, and has a PhD in American History from the University of Sydney. Currently in America, developing a feature.

“It’s a painful labour to whittle down one’s favourite films into a top twelve list. Are these twelve of my favourite films? Absolutely. Did I struggle over the selection? Of course. What films do I revisit again and again (or have revisited again and again) was the question that guided the formation of this list. They are all films that I know like old friends. I never tire of watching them. Each one feels like a part of me.”

In no particular order.

Citizen Kane (1941, Orson Welles)

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)

The revenant (2009, Kerry Prior)

Bottle rocket (1996, Wes Anderson)

Dawn of the dead (1978, George Romero)

Halloween (1978, John carpenter)

True romance (1993, Tony scott)

Red Dawn (1984, john milius)

American movie (1999, Chris smith)

Withnail and I (1986, Bruce robinson)

Phantasm (1979, Don coscarelli)

Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)

David Blyth

Blyth, from New Zealand, has been directing films and documentaries for over thirty years, with ten feature credits including Angel Mine (1978), Death Warmed Up (1984), Red Blooded American Girl (1990), Grampire (AKA My Grandpa is a Vampire, 1992), and Wound (2010). His latest feature, Ghost Bride, a supernatural horror with a Chinese-New Zealand cast, is due for release later this year.

In no particular order.

Enter the void (2009, Gaspar noe)

Lacombe, Lucien (1974, Louis Malle)

Lost highway (1997, David Lynch)

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972, Luis Bunuel)

India Song (1975, Marguerite Duras)

A Snake of June (2002, Shinya Tsukamoto)

Juliet of the Spirits (1965, Federico Fellini)

El topo (1970, Alejandro Jodorowsky)

The tenant (1976, Roman Polanski

Fallen angels (1995, Wong Kar-Wai)

Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, Werner Herzog)

Uncle Boonmee Who can Recall his past lives (2010, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

Adrián García Bogliano

Bogliano is a Spaniard who divides his time between Mexico and Argentina, with a cult following, and numerous horror and thriller features under his belt, including 36 Steps (2006), I’ll Never Die Alone (2007), Cold Sweat (2010), Penumbra (2011), Here Comes the Devil (2013), and his latest Late Phases.

“There are so many films I love, but these are the most influential to me right now.”

In order.

Dust Devil (1992, Richard Stanley)

The texas chain saw massacre (1974, Tobe hooper)

Obsession (1976, Brian de palma)

Abwarts (1984, Carl Schenkel)

Onibaba (1964, Kaneto Shindo)

Looker (1981, Michael Crichton)

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992, James Foley)

The big chill (1983, Lawrence Kasdan)

Do the right thing (1989, Spike Lee)

Tokyo Fist (1995, Shinya Tsukamoto)

Arrivederci Amore ciao (2006, Michele soavi)

Alison’s birthday (1981, Ian coughlan)

Taika Waititi

Waititi is a Kiwi, and according to him his career highlights include ten years to the week of shooting Two Cars, One Night (2004) on b&w 25mm film, he got to shoot a Two Cars inspired psa for NZTA on b&w 35mm film with the same DOP. It was even on the same camera and was the last 35mm job processed in New Zealand. He also shot a Superbowl ad. He’s worked with Donald Trump who is everything you’d imagine. And fucking tall. Shooting his feature Boy (2010) in his hometown and getting his family and community involved. And actually finishing the movie was a highlight.

In no particular order.

The graduate (1968, Mike Nichols)

Badlands (1973, Terrence Malick)

Stalker (1979, Andrei tarkovsky)

Spirit of the Beehive (1973, Victor Erice)

Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg)

Aliens (1986, James Cameron)

Ghostbusters (1984, Ivan Reitman)

In the Mood for love (2000, Wong kar-wai)

Akira (1988, Katsuhiro Ohtomo)

Punch-drunk love (2002, Paul Thomas Anderson)

Up (2009, Paul Docter & Peter Anderson)

Ursula Dabrowsky

Dabrowsky is an independent horror writer/director, originally from Montreal, Canada, but is now based in Adelaide, South Australia. She completed Family Demons in 2009, the first part of her “demon” trilogy. The sophomore effort, Inner Demon, is currently in post and due for release later this year. She’s currently developing Demonheart, and is also working on an online horror game called Demon House.

“My faves so far, this century. That was bloody hard to do! I have so many!!!”

In order.

Martyrs (2008, Pascal Laugier)

High Tension (2003, Alexandre Aja)

Inside (2007, Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury)

Them (2006, David Moreau & Xavier Palud)

Eden Lake (2008, James Watkins)

The Devil’s Rejects (2005, Rob Zombie)

Wolf Creek (2005, Greg Mclean)

Buried (2010, Rodrigo Cortés)

The Silent House (2010, Gustavo Hernandez)

Ju-on (2002, Takashi Shimizu)

The Descent (2005, Neil Marshall)

Enter the Void (2009, Gaspar Noe)

Steven Kastrissios

Kastrissios began filmmaking in Queensland, Australia, in his early teens. Over the next decade he worked towards his first feature film by way of directing several award-winning short films, music videos, and a variety of other productions. At age 24 he wrote, produced, directed, and edited the award-winning revenge feature The Horseman (2008), and has since been developing a slate of genre.

In order.

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980, George Lucas)

Dances with Wolves (1990, Kevin Costner)

Braveheart (1990, Mel Gibson)

Heat (1995, Michael Mann)

Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)

Jaws (1975, Steven Speilberg)

The Thin Red Line (1998, Terrence Malick)

Aliens (1986, James Cameron)

Ghostbusters (1984, Ivan Reitman)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002, Peter Jackson)

JFK (1991, Oliver Stone)

Predator (1987, John McTeirnan)

Jennifer Lynch

Lynch has several features to her name, most notably Boxing Helena (1993), Surveillance (2008), and Chained (2012). In 1990 she wrote the best-selling Twin Peaks tie-in book The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, and in 2008 she made history at the New York City Horror Film Festival as the first female to win the Best Director award in the festival’s history. Oh, and her father is David.

In no particular order.

Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg)

Sunset Blvd. (1950, Billy Wilder)

Read window (1954, Alfred Hitchcock)

The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick)

Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, Stanley Kubrick)

Santa Sangre (1986, Alejandro Jodorowsky)

Sightseers (2012, Ben Wheatley)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968, Roman Polanski)

Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)

Fargo (1996, Joel & Ethan Coen)

Adaptation. (2002, Spike Jonze)

Kerry Prior

Prior is an American special effects whizz turned director who worked on the Silver Sphere for Phantasm II (1988), but is best known for writing and directing the cult classic black comedy horror The Revenant (2011). Currently he is working on a top-secret project the details of which cannot be revealed, entitled Super Alphakill 666.

“I can’t really narrow it down to twelve favourite movies, I just can’t, so here are twenty. [Ed: Sorry, buddy] And if you asked me next week this might change.

In no particular order.

Sunset Blvd. (1950, Billy Wilder)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966, Sergio Leone)

The tenant (1976, Roman Polanski)

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977, George Lucas)

Citizen Kane (1940, Orson Welles)

RoboCop (1987, Paul Verhoeven)

The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick)

Apocalypse Now (1979, Francis Ford Coppola)

American Graffiti (1973, George Lucas)

Unforgiven (1992, Clint Eastwood)

No Country for Old Men (2007, Joel & Ethan Coen)

Doug Turner

Turner is a writer/director hailing from the UK, but has called Sydney, Australia, home for the past thirteen years. He won the coveted Best Comedy award at the (yet unheard of) Chichester Film Festival for a little 2004 short, and decided to delve into a feature film. Five ardous years later a satirical slasher I Know How Many Runs You Scored Last Summer (1008) was released on DVD worldwide after some festival success. He’s currently in production on a 3D found footage “choose your own adventure creature feature.”

“Faves in the history of ever.”

In no particular order.

This is Spinal Tap (1984, Rob Reiner)

Friday the 13th Part III (3D) (1982, Steve Miner)

The Blair Witch Project (1999, Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez)

Turkey Shoot (1982, Brian Trenchard-Smith)

Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)

Cube (1997, Vincenzo Natali)

Primer (2004, Shane Carruth)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968, Ken Hughes)

Salem’s Lot (1979, Tobe Hooper)

Theatre of Blood (1973, Douglas Hickox)

Lifeforce (1985, Tobe Hooper)

Jovanka Vuckavic

Vuckavic was a visual effects artist for five years, then spent six years as editor of respected Canadian horror in art and culture publication Rue Morgue. She is now devoted to making movies, with three award-winning shorts – The Captured Bird (2012), Self Portrait (2012), and The Guest (2013) – under her tattooed wing, and an upcoming documentary.

“Today’s list.”

In no particular order.

Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)

The Thing (1982, John Caprenter)

The Night of the Hunter (1955, Charles Laughton)

The innocents (1961, Jack Clayton)

Hour of the Wolf (1967, Ingmar Bergman)

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981, George Miller)

Deathdream (1974, Bob Clark)

The Entity (1982, Sydney J. Furie)

Session 9 (2001, Brad Anderson)

The Exorcist III (1990, William Peter Blatty)

The ‘Burbs (1989, Joe Dante)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978, Philip Kaufman)

Richard Wolstencraft

Wolstencraft is the founder and director of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival. He has several features to his name, including Bloodlust (1992), The Beautiful and Damned (2010), and the documentary The Last Days of Joe Blow (2013). The Second Coming, his next feature, is … coming. 

“I am not a fan of lists and twelve leaves out so many, yet here is mine. A list of say one hundred might fit everyone and the breadth of my taste in [Ed: I feel your pain, but there are no exceptions!]”

In a rough order.

Barry Lyndon (1975, Stanley Kubrick)

If… (1968, Lindsay Anderson)

The Devils (1971, Ken Russell)

Blue Velvet (1986, David Lynch)

Fitzcarraldo (1973, Werner Herzog)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968, Roman Polanski)

Apocalypse Now (1979, Francis Ford Coppola)

The Deer Hunter (1978, Michael Cimino)

Casino (1995, Martin Scorsese)

Manhunter (1986, Michael Mann)

To Live and die in L.A. (1985, William Friedkin)

Harold and Maude (1971, Hal Ashby)

THE CRITICS AND TUTORS

Tone Egan

Egan is primarily a film and script editor, and frequently an in-demand teacher of screenwriting and editing, but he’s done the lot across all formats of the Australian film and television industry, and he has the battle scars and wild tales to prove it.

“Some represent guilty pleasures, others I admire for various technical and creative achievements … Just films I can watch over and over.”

In no particular order.

The Taking of Pelham One Two three (1974, Joseph Sargent)

Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg)

Deep red (1975, Dario Argento)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962, David Lean)

The Beyond (1981, Lucio Fulci)

The Killer (1989, John Woo)

Hard Boiled (1992, John Woo)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966, Sergio Leone)

M (1931, Fritz Lang)

Lifeforce (1985, Tobe Hooper)

Life of Brian (1979, Terry Jones)

Simon Foster

Foster is the Australian managing editor of Screen-Space, also a film reviewer and features contributor to SBS movies, and host of 92.5 ABC-FM’s Fishbowl Film Show.

“I’ve got fifty-plus films that drift in an dout of these lists, demanding that the twelve be in no order. Citizen Kane (1940), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) are landmarks in film history, but I’ve kept my dozen very personal … Martyrs took horror honours from The Fly (1986), Cat People (1942), The Thing (1982), The Exorcist (1973), The Shining (1980), Dawn of the Dead (1978), and The Howling (1981).” [Ed: What, so Alien isn't a horror movie?!]

The Party (1968, Blake Edwards)

Die Hard (1988, John McTeirnan)

The Breakfast Club (1985, John Hughes)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Steven Spielberg)

To Kill a Mocking Bird (1962, Robert Mulligan)

Martyrs (2008, Pascal Laugier)

All the President’s Men (1976, Alan J. Pakula)

Alien (1979, Ridley Scott) 

Reds (1981, Warren Beatty)

Tootsie (1982, Sydney Pollack)

Whale Rider (2002, Niki Caro)

Ghostbusters (1984, Ivan Reitman)

Michael Helms

Helms circles Australia and New Zealand visiting horror film sets for the likes of Fangoria and L’Ecran Fantastique. He is currently editing a second compilation of his cult zine Fatal Visions. He is looking to die as violently as possible in as many films as possible from here on in, and willing to wear prosthetics and doing his own stunts.

“The following list of films is not presented in any order because the most compelling films present disorder and chaos in a way that makes them endlessly attractive. Personally I need to eyeball all of these films on a regular basis, which makes them favourites. You should see them all too. The world and you will be better off because of it.”

Natural Born Killers (1994, Oliver Stone)

Blue Sunshine (1975, Jeff Liebermann)

The Legend of Hell House (1973, John Hough)

The Lost (2006, Chris Sivertson)

Ebola Syndrome (1996, Herman Yau)

Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre (1995, Tun Fei Mou)

Visitor Q (2001, Takashi Miike)

Spider Baby, Or The Maddest Story Ever Told (1969, Jack Hill)

Stone (1974, Sandy Harbutt)

Faceless (1987, Jesus Franco)

Meet the Feebles (1989, Peter Jackson)

Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1973, Bo Arne Vibenius)

Oscar Hillerstrøm

Hillerstrøm is the co-founder of Sydney’s Revolver magazine and Empire Australia. He is host of Popcorn Taxi, The Sci-Fi Show, and guest critic on ABC702. In short he is an encyclopedic cinephile compleat.

“Top 10s are a dime a dozen [Ed: Which is why I made it 12]. I wanted to provoke some viewing of awesome movies. These all left a mark. Tough to get it to twelve.”

In no particular order. [Ed: Chronological by coincidence?]

The Wages of Fear (1953, Henri-Georges Clouzot)

Rififi (1955, Jules Dassin)

The Sweet Smell of Success (1957, Alexander Mackendrick)

Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)

Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)

Miller’s Crossing (1990, Joel & Ethan Coen)

Groundhog Day (1993, Harold Ramis)

Amores Perros (2000, Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu)

Downfall (2004, Oliver Hirschbiegel)

Into Great Silence (2005, Philip Groning)

Martyrs (2008, Pascal Laugier)

Incendies (2010, Denis Villenuve)

Adam Lovett

Lovett is certified movie nut. He was afflicted with cinephilia at age five after witnessing Star Wars (1977). He worked in a video store, as a cinema usher, and eventually descended into screenwriting hell. He studied journalism and currently pursues the wayward addiction of passionate film critique via his site Film Frak. He has an eclectic portfolio of film credits in the writing and producing capacities, including an upcoming  definitive 90s indie rock documentary, Underground Inc. He resides in Boston. 

“Is observing the difference between “best” (objective as possible) and “favourite” (completely subjective) …”

In alphabetical order.

Apocalypto (2006, Mel Gibson)

Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)

Boogie Nights (1997, Paul Thomas Anderson)

Cool Hand Luke (1967, Stuart Rosenberg)

Donnie Darko (2001, Richard Kelly)

Fight Club (1999, David Fincher)

Miller’s Crossing (1990, Joel & Ethan Coen)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975, Milos Foman)

The Thing (1982, John Carpenter)

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977, George Lucas)

The Wild Bunch (1969, Sam Peckinpah)

Stefan Popescu

Popescu is associate lecturer in Film & Digital Arts at Sydney College of the Arts, co-director of the Sydney Underground Film Festival, and a filmmaker. Having completed his PhD in 2007 he has written and directed three feature films – Rosebery 7470 (2007), Nude Study (2010), and Zombie Massacre 3 (2012). His latest, The Performance Artist, is in post-production.

In no particular order.

Decasia (1998, Bill Morrison)

The Big Lebowski (2002, Joel & Ethan Coen)

Happiness (1998, Todd Solondz)

Begotten (1990, E. Elias Merhige)

Sex and Zen (1991, Michael Mak)

The Wayward Cloud (2005, Ming-laing Tsai)

Irréversible (2002, Gaspar Now)

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010, Banksy)

Buffalo ’66 (1998, Vincent Gallo)

Bad Boy Bubby (1993, Rolf de Heer)

Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970, Werner Herzog)

Gummo (1997, Harmony Korine)

Brita McVeigh

McVeigh studied drama and film at university, then worked in various capacities within the New Zealand film industry, then in script development in New York City for many years before returning to NZ to create a unique and successful position as an acting and directing coach, and script editor.

In no particular order.

Five Easy pieces (1970, Bob Rafelson)

Festen (1998, Thomas Vinterberg)

Stalker (1979, Andrei Tarkovsky)

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001, Wes Anderson)

A Woman Under the Influence (1975, John Cassavetes)

Days of Heaven (1978, Terrence Malick)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975, Milos Forman)

Badlands (1973, Terrence Malick)

Together (2000, Lukas Moodysson)

Tootsie (1982, Sydney Pollack)

Chungking Express (1994, Wong Kar-Wai)

Jack Sargeant

Englishman Sargeant is the author of numerous books on underground film, including Deathtripping: The Extreme Underground and Naked Lens: Beat Cinema. He contributes to various publications on numerous areas of culture, primarily focusing on eroticism, transgressive philosophies, and the human body, and he programmes Perth’s Revelation Film Festival, as well as advising and assisting on various underground film festivals, both in Australia and internationally.

“An ever-shifting list, that will not be the same tomorrow, let alone when people read this, but here are the twelve movies that mean the most to me today. My twelve visions that remain.”

Eraserhead (1977, David Lynch)

The Holy Mountain (1975, Alejandro Jodorowsky)

Fingered (1986, Richard Kern)

Hold Me While I’m Naked (1966, George Kuchar)

Puce Moment (1949, Kenneth Anger)

The Beast (1975, Walerian Borowczy)

Aguirre: Wrath of God (1972, Werner Herzog)

Hated: GG Alin & the Murder Junkies (1993, Todd Philips)

Salo, or 120 Days of Sodom (1975, Pier Paolo Pasolini)

What Is It? (2005, Crispin Glover)

Un Chein Andalou (1929, Luis Bunuel)

If… (1968, Lindsey Anderson)

Karel Segers

Segers is a licentiate in Germanic Philology from the University of Louvain. He wrote a short script at age 17: it was produced and ran many times on national TV in Belgium. Now he works in Sydney as a story consultant, writer and producer, with experience in international film and television rights acquisition, script development, and film production, and is a globally-traveled teacher, founder of The Story Department and logline.it, and ranks in the world’s top ten most influential people for screenwriting on Twitter.

“Braindump, really – these are the movies I would like to see again right now.”

In totally random order.

Tampopo (1985, Juzo Itami)

Touch of Evil (1958, restored version, Orson Welles)

Groundhog Day (1993, Harold Ramis)

The Last Picture Show (1971, Peter Bogdanovich)

The Parallax View (1974, Alan J. Pakula)

The Sugarland Express (1974, Steven Spielberg)

Bowfinger (1999, Frank Oz)

The 400 Blows (1959, Francois Truffaut)

Shadow of a Doubt (1943, Alfred Hitchcock)

Barton Fink (1991, Joel & Ethan Coen)

The Night of the Shooting Stars (1982, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani)

Bullhead (2011, Michael R. Roskam)

Stephen Thrower

As a journalist Thrower has written three books, including Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci, and Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents, and recently completed a fourth, about the Spanish filmmaker Jess Franco, which is due for publication later this year. Thrower is also the co-founder of the experimental music group Cyclobe, alongside partner Ossian Brown. Sulphur-Tarot-Garden, the most recent album, comprises soundtrack music written to accompany three silent Super-8 films by the late Derek Jarman. Previously Thrower has worked with Coil, Skullflower and Matmos, and also records with David Knight in the kosmische group UnicaZürn.

 In chronological order.

Last year at Marienbad (1961, Alain Resnais & Alain Robbe-Grillet)

Performance (1970, Nicolas Roeg & Donald Cammell)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper)

Female Trouble (1975, John Waters)

The passenger (1975, Michelangelo Antonioni)

Martin (1976, George Romero)

The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick)

Possession (1981, Andrzej Zulawski)

Dead Ringers (1988, David Cronenberg)

Dogville (2003, Lars Von Trier)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry)

Inland Empire (2006, David Lynch)

Graeme Tuckett

Tuckett is a regular film reviewer for Fairfax New Zealand, contributes to RNZ, has a regular music show on Wellington’s Radio Active, and writes for several magazines. He also works in the film industry as a dolly and crane grip, and has directed several documentaries on NZ artists and filmmakers. Currently he’s “fucking exhausted.”

In no particular order.

Once Upon a time in the West (1969, Sergio Leone)

Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012, Benh Zeitlin)

This Must be the Place (2011, Paolo Sorrentino)

Songs from the Second Floor (2000, Roy Andersson)

Children of Men (2005, Alfonso Cuaron)

The Killer (1989, John Woo)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975, Sidney Lumet)

The Deer Hunter (1978, Michael Cimino)

Raging Bull (1980, Martin Scorsese)

Kill Bill (Vol. 1 & 2) (2003/04, Quentin Tarantino)

A Prophet (2009, Jacques Audiard)

Yasmin Vought

Vought works as an entertainment producer at ninemsm’s MovieFIX. She grew up in the small Australian country town of Lithgow with a love for the silver screen born mostly out of boredom, and her mum’s epic film collection. She started reviewing movies during university in Sydney, mostly for the sake of the free cinema admission. She also writes features for Rotten Tomatoes, pens travel yearns, and loves interviewing A-listers.

In order.

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Irvin Kershner)

Edward Scissorhands (1990, Tim Burton)

Repulsion (1965, Roman Polanski)

Brazil (1985, Terry Gilliam)

A Clockwork Orange (1971, Stanley Kubrick)

Band of Outsiders (1964, Jean-Luc Goddard)

Amélie (2001, Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

The Fifth Element (1998, Luc Besson)

Eraserhead (1977, David Lynch)

The Science of Sleep (2006, Michel Gondry)

Metropolis (1926, Fritz Lang)

Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)

THE ACTORS

Jed Brophy

Whilst at Otago University to become a PhysEd teacher Brophy took a Drama 101 paper and his career path was forever changed. He moved to Wellington in 1986 to attend the New Zealand Drama School, with the intention of teaching Drama and Physical Education, but got bitten by the acting bug and has made a living doing so ever since. He has worked on more than thirty features, and twice as many stage productions, most notably in several Peter Jackson movies; Braindead (1991) as Void, The Hobbit trilogy as Nori, and also King Kong (2005), Heavenly Creatures , and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011).

“My list is composed of movies that remain in my library and haunt me with images.”

In no particular order …  except the first one.

Heavenly Creatures (1994, Peter Jackson)

The City of Lost Children (1995, Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

Cool Hand Luke (1967, Stuart Rosenberg)

Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977, George Lucas)

Once Upon a Time in the West (1969, Sergio Leone)

Bullitt (1968, Peter Yates)

La Femme Nikita (1990, Luc Besson)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002, Peter Jackson)

The Magnificent Seven (1960, John Sturges)

Vigil (1985, Vincent Ward)

Two Hands (1999, Gregor Jordan)

Irena A. Hoffman

Hoffman is a thriller/horror genre darling, a former Miss Romania, and can be seen starring opposite Christopher Lambert in the vampire drama Metamorphosis (2007), which she received the Best Actor award at the Estepona International Fantasy and Horror Film Festival in Spain, also as a hunchback student in the National Lampoon comedy Transylmania (2009), as a twisted children’s book writer in the arthouse cult psychological horror House of Flesh Mannequins (2009), and as guest on various TV shows, including Two and a Half Men and Dark Blue). She is currently filming a psychological thriller/horror modern adaptation of the story of Carmilla, in the role as the sultry burlesque dancer vampire love interest. 

In random order.

Dances with Wolves (1990, Kevin Costner)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Frank Darabont)

Unfaithful (2002, Adrian Lyne)

Dog Soldiers (2002, Neil Marshall)

The Descent (2005, Neil Marshall)

Briar Patch (2003, Zev Berman)

Cool Hand Luke (1967, Stuart Rosenberg)

Interview with the Vampire (1994, Neil Jordan)

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006, Tom Tykwer)

Legends of the Fall (1994, Edward Zwick)

Out of Africa (1985, Sydney Pollack)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966, Sergio Leone)

Linda Kennedy

Kennedy has been in the acting world for the last decade, working on feature films, commercial projects, and live theatre. Visited Australia when The Taking (2013), an arthouse horror film, premiered at Sydney’s A Night of Horror International Film Festival. She plans on keeping busy working on the craft and hustling for the next world premiere.

“Funny thing is, I’ve always considered myself to be a thriller junkie, but after I finished my list I realised it was comprised of mainly comedies that have had a strong impact on my current sense of goofy humour, hinting at my love for cannabis and sappy love comedies that stand the test of time (being able to watch them over and over again!) Each movie says a little something about me.”

Groundhog Day (1994, Harold Ramis)

You’ve Got Mail (1998, Nora Ephron)

Dinner for Schmucks (2010, Jay Roach)

The Hunger Games (2012, Gary Ross)

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985, Tim Burton)

The Big Lebowski (1998, Joel & Ethan Coen)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, Blake Edwards)

The Beach (2000, Danny Boyle)

Half-Baked (1998, Tamra Davis)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005, Tim Burton)

The Cable Guy (1996, Ben Stiller)

The Island (2005, Michael Bay)

Emma Lung

Lung went to Sydney’s Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, then completed dramatic studies at New York City’s Professional Performing Arts School. She has worked solidly in television and cinema for more than ten years, most notably Peaches (2004), 48 Shades (2006), The Jammed (2007), Triangle (2009), Crave (2012), and the current TV series Wonderland.

In no particular order.

A Separation (2011, Asghar Farhadi)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry)

Annie Hall (1977, Woody Allen)

The Goonies (1985, Richard Donner)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975, Milos Forman)

Stand By Me (1986, Rob Reiner)

Amélie (2001, Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993, Woody Allen)

Being John Malkovich (1999, Spike Jonze)

Notting Hill (1999, Roger Michell)

Mood Indigo (2013, Michel Gondry)

Bridget Jones Diary (2001, Sharon Maguire)

Erik Thomson

Thomson’s soul lies in Scotland, his heart in New Zealand, but his body and mind is very much in Australia where he is one of the most respected actors across film, television, and theatre, most notably in the award-winning television series Packed to the Rafters, and All-Saints. Notable film work includes The Boys are Back (2009), The Black Balloon (2008), Accidents Happen (2009), and Somersault (2004) for which he won the AFI for Best Supporting Actor. 

“A bit of an eclectic mix there, but that’s me … All good films, even Forrest Gump!!” [Ed: If you say so Erik]

In no particular order.

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977, George Lucas)

The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick)

Lenny (1974, Bob Fosse)

Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)

Annie Hall (1977, Woody Allen)

Apocalypse Now (1979, Francis Ford Coppola)

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991, Fax Behr, George Hickenlooper & Eleanor Coppola)

Avatar (2009, James Cameron)

Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)

Forrest Gump (1994, Robert Zemeckis)

Raging Bull (1980, Martin Scorsese)

There Will be Blood (2007, Paul Thomas Anderson)

Najarra Townsend

Townsend made her screen debut at the age of eleven, and has since gone on to appear in over sixty-five titles (shorts, features, and television). In the Sundance and Cannes-winning Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) the L.A. Weekly named her role in the Top 10 Great Small Performances for “frankness, innocence, snarky humour, vulnerablility, and girl-power defiance.” She has played the titular character in various indie movies, such as Tru Loved (2008), Marin Blue (2009), Betty I Am (2012), Good Mourning Lucille (2014). Contracted (2013) has garnered her plenty of attention in the indie horror scene.

“I hate having favourites. It makes me fell like I’m neglecting so many other amazing films. Every one of these films impacted my life in some way. And I could watch each and every one of the on repeat (which I pretty much already have) so that makes me feel like they deserve a place in my top twelve.”

Pretty Woman (1990, Garry Marshall)

The Notebook (2004, Nick Cassavetes)

American Beauty (1999, Sam Mendes)

Shaun of the Dead (2004, Edgar Wright)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry)

Crazy/Beautiful (2002, John Stockwell)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962, Robert Aldrich)

West Side Story (1962, Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise)

Digging to China (1997, Timothy Hutton)

The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming)

Death Becomes Her (1992, Robert Zemeckis)

Gia (1998, Michael Christofer)

My favourite movies of 2013

This year has been a very different year for me as a film critic. My son, Phoenix, was born on January 28th, and as I embarked into the role of parent, as much as I had tried to prepare myself, I was unprepared for the lack of time I would have for my role as film critic.

I launched the re-boot of Cult Projections in April. But I was unable to see many movies over the course of the year. For my list of favourites of 2012 I compiled twenty-five. This year it’s pared down to just twelve.

I did not see Prisoners or Rush, which were excellent according to everyone I’ve spoken to. And I really wanted to see Blue Is The Warmest Colour.

Then there are the movies that have polarised audiences, such as Stoker and Trance. That they have received such a mixed response only makes them even more interesting to me.

I will catch up with them all eventually. 2014 will be a more “productive” year in terms of my Cult Projections content, I promise.

I don’t particularly like making “Best Of” lists, because the whole nature of movie appreciation is completely personal, and film criticism is, for the most part, just an informed and intelligent opinion. So I compile lists of favourites.

So here are my favourites for this year, of the movies that were released in Australia either on the big screen or on BD/DVD, in no particular order (or maybe they are?).  Included are honourable mentions, and a couple of movies that rubbed me up the wrong way.

KISS OF THE DAMNED

The sexiest, most original vampire movie in yonks. Period.

EVIL DEAD 

The most kick-ass remake in almost ten years, but it could almost be a perfect sequel.

THE HUNT

The year’s most powerful drama, hands down, from the director of Feston.

SPRING BREAKERS

A spunky, sly, sunburnt satire that was the year’s biggest surprise (I normally can’t stand Harmony Korine’s movies).

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

Epic in narrative and emotion, this was like reading an amazing novel.  

UPSTREAM COLOR

The year’s most pretentious movie doubles as the year’s most sublime, Shane Carruth is a creative force to be reckoned with.

RESOLUTION

A wholly original nightmare, with a killer ending, this was superb low-budget horror.

MAN OF STEEL

Haters will hate, and as an atheist I found the religious analogies amusing, but boy, I found this to be an utterly superb superhero adaptation on the big screen.

ELYSIUM

Slammed by critics for being xenophobic, racist even, but there’s no denying this was brilliantly executed science-fiction action. That’s all that mattered.

IT FELT LIKE LOVE

One of the year’s small wonders; a low-budget indie flick soaked in a vivid atmosphere, and charged with emotional conviction.

ONLY GOD FORGIVES

Another one from a respected director that received wide panning. The mood and style resonated long after my issues with its screenplay, and so often for me it is the atmosphere that is paramount.

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA

A Soderbergh triumph! Matt Damon gives a career performance, Michael Douglas is terrific, and yet, it’s a shame that it’s a movie that many won’t touch with a bargepole, simply because it’s a biopic about Liberace and his chauffeur lover.

Honourable Mentions:

White Reindeer, Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla, Blackfish, The Crash Reel, Sororal, The Way Way Back.  

Pet dislike:

The Lone Ranger for its outrageous pomposity, pantomime credibility, and inordinate length.

Biggest irritation:

Gravity for the fact that it is such an anomaly; a movie that had such awesome cinematic potential*, but was ultimately a special effects marvel irrevocably marred by over-exposed actors spouting corny dialogue in a movie you knew what the outcome would be. And everyone went and saw it and loved it. 

* Oh, how I wished it had been a big-budget art movie, with unknown actors and almost no dialogue. 

My favourite movies of 2012

For me it was a year of mostly American film, with only one genuine foreign movie making my selection (although a couple were co-pros). There were two remakes (well, one re-envisioning and one re-interpretation), and just one documentary.

My overall favourite turned out to be the movie I knew absolutely nothing about (initially avoiding the screener as I didn’t like the title!), yet it resonated more strongly in the days following than any other movie has for a long time, and may very well turn out to be an all-time favourite in the long run.

Unfortunately I failed to get reviews for several movies on my list (due to a rather hectic year), but I plan to review them in 2013. So here then are my 25 favourites movies, ordered in some curious fashion.

BELLFLOWER

Bursting with the colour of a sunburnt summer’s edge, drifting with the curious irresponsibility of a dog off its leash, resonating like a tequila hangover after you’ve sculled the hair of the mutt that bit you, Bellflower is the cure for romance you never want to find, it’s the answer that never had a question, the kiss that leaves a scar you’ll cherish.

MANIAC (2012)

Beauty through the giallo prism, imagery infused with an almost abstract aesthetic; darkness and subjective perspective shot through with a vivid eye for texture, shape, and colour. But more importantly, Maniac is one of a rare breed of modern horror movie: it’s genuinely horrifying and uncompromising. It does not pander to any kind of poetic licence, but it does write its own nightmare poetry.

SHAME

Steve McQueen’s second feature after the harrowing prison movie Hunger, also starring Michael Fassbender, is just as simple, just as confronting, just as powerful. Whereas religion and survival formed an uneasy relationship in Hunger, in Shame sex and love share the same bed, as entwined as they are at each other’s throats.

DREDD

Dredd kicks proverbial arse into the middle of next week. Forget that overblown disingenuous tripe that Sylvester Stallone made nearly twenty years ago (you probably had anyway), this is the real deal, or at least as close to the dark ruthless spirit of the original 2000AD comic series … The action movie of the year.

LORE

Cate Shortland’s follow-up to Somersault is an altogether far more accomplished drama that looks just as ravishing, but penetrates just as deeply as a thriller. Succeeds at being the least Australian movie of the year, and simultaneously the best foreign movie of the year.

PROMETHEUS

Ridley Scott's return to science fiction polarised audiences, but was championed by the quiet few hardened sf cinephiles that admired how damn good it looked and felt. Admittedly the most disappointing movie of the year in terms of screenplay, yet still a masterful display of cinema on its purest level.           

SKYFALL

Another audience polariser; those who prefer their Bond with tongue-deeply-lodged in cheek and with more gadgets than you shake a stick at vs. those that dug director Sam Mendes’ dramatic approach. Easily the best-looking Bond movie in yonks (thank you Mr. Deakin), and Daniel Craig owning the role.

EXCISION

Richard Bates Jr. wears his influences on his sleeves, and that’s fine with me. Excision starts with a shock dream/nightmare sequence and ends with a reality check guaranteed to reverberate with horrific intensity for those looking for something a little left of centre. A fantastic moody score from Steve Damstra II and Mads Heldtberg pins the movie harder to the cult board. Excision cuts deep to the marrow of the funny bone, and lets the artery spray hard.

SAMSARA

Ron Fricke’s follow-up to the magnificent Baraka is essentially Baraka Part 2, albeit more confrontational. Sublime use of music and some of the most stunning imagery of the natural world, the civilised world, and the not-so-civilised world, in all its beauty and karmic tragedy. Demands to be seen on the biggest screen you can find: shot in 70mm.

LOVE

Love exudes sophistication, yet remains unpretentious, despite its overwhelming dependence on musings and ponderings. There is a strange chemistry at work in this tale of the pursuit of meaning in life. But this isn’t a theological exercise, or purely existential in study. Love radiates music, literally – in sound and noise – and figuratively, in rhythmic structure and acoustical grammar.  

CRAWL

Slithering haphazardly across the filthy floor like a snake blitzed on the booze-addled blood of a desert drifter who pulled up the wrong rock, Crawl (2011) is the nightmare thriller that slides down the throat like a shot of Black Crow bourbon; potent and oily, like a viscous bad dream, this tale of fucked-up vengeance will slap your pretty ass into the middle of next week (again).

ARBITRAGE

A career performance from Richard Gere, this is one of the best thrillers of the year, which no one saw (admittedly the “Huh?” title would have put off many people). Great support from Susan Sarandon and Laetitia Casta, for a 25-year-old director’s debut, this movie kicked proverbial arse! [ed: enough with the arse-kicking, already!]

LOOPER

Bordering on too clever for its own good Rian Johnson delivers a highly original causality concept movie that slaps time and identity around for good measure. I'm a sucker for time travel movies, especially retrograde ones, and when Emily Blunt co-stars, then I’m home and hosed.

FRANKENWEENIE

Frankenweenie is the feel-good movie for the horror-challenged, Tim Burton’s welcome return to prickly, wicked form, and the perfect all-rounder … it’s only a PG, but there is more than enough sly adult humour coursing through its veins to keep parents entertained. I’d even go so far as to recommend Frankenweenie as a date flick. There’s more than enough to keep both the boy and the girl charmed and amused in equal measure.

YOUNG ADULT

Comedy of the year, albeit black as a bruised eye. Diablo Cody might have fucked up with her attempt at a horror movie (Jennifer’s Body), but she nailed the dysfunctional character study brilliantly, knocking her adolescent, over-rated quirk Juno to the curb with this searing anti-romance (and joined by the same director, Jason Reitman). Charlize Theron should be nominated for an Oscar.

KILLER JOE

How you like your fried chicken? Rammed down your throat ‘til ya gag on all that spicy seasoning? Yup, so guzzle that pissy beer, and shut the fuck up! You’s gonna get some sweet apple pie later on, sweet as forbidden fruit, you know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout. But before you git any kind of lip-smackin’ satisfaction, I’s a gonna slap your ass in ta a middle of next week [ed: for the third time!]. Knock you outta yer filthy, lyin’ boots, so wipe that grin offa yer face. This here, is the dark heart o’ Texas.

KILLING THEM SOFTLY

Performances are all on the money, the dialogue crackles. Killing Them Softly reeks of flat ale, stale cigarette smoke, hair lotion, sweat soiled shirts, and gunmetal. Oh, and blood. And that’s just the way we like it around here. Oz director Andrew Dominic achieves the rare trifecta. 

DREAMS OF A LIFE

A documentary that burns deep into the soul. At once an utterly compelling and contentious look at how no one really knows anything about anyone, how all relationships are ultimately superficial. It is also a damning indictment at how modern civilisation is crumbling, how, with savage irony, in the age of a communication revolution (keeping in mind Joyce died before online social networking exploded) someone as “memorable” as Joyce Carol Vincent can slip between the tracks and her disappearance not noticed for three years.

WISH YOU WERE HERE

One of the best mysteries of recent years, and like another superb Aussie flick Burning Man, it operates with a non-linear narrative. This is the holiday from hell, a nightmare slowly unfolding with expert control. Featuring sensational performances, especially Joel Edgerton and Teresa Palmer, and co-written by husband and wife team Kieran Darcy-Smith and Felicity Price (another great performance), truly nail-biting.

WE ARE THE NIGHT (Wir Sind die Nacht)

There’s nothing original here, except that there are no male vampires, and there’s an undeniably Euro-trashy ambience, but somehow We Are the Night rises above itself and resonates in a most curiously satisfying way. Yes, no surprises, but lots of fun, and it oozes style like it’s going out of fashion. Vamp on!

THE AVENGERS

I haven’t seen The Hobbit, yet, so I’m quite happy to declare The Avengers as the most spectacular entertainment on the big screen this year. Joss Whedon outdid himself with a wham bam thank you ma’am rollercoaster comic book flick. I enjoyed all the origin movies (Iron Man,Thor, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk [ed: well, the first fifteen minutes]), but The Avengersdelivered in spades, and then some.

THE GREY

The Grey bays into the icy wind under a pale moonlight and then tears your throat out. Easily the best movie Liam Neeson has made in years. He chews the scenery, he commands the screen, he owns the movie. Forget about those bitchin’ grey Arctic wolves, this oil rigger with a torn conscience is a man to be reckoned with. The Grey barks hard, bites harder.

THE RUM DIARY

The director of my favourite comedy of all time finally returned behind the camera! Bruce Robinson was coaxed back and made his first movie in nearly twenty years! Adapting Hunter S. Thompson’s early memoirs with a stellar cast including Johnny Depp (his second time as the gonzo journalist), Amber Heard, Giovanni Ribisi, and Aaron Eckhart. Comedy soaked in fermented sugar cane! Puerto Rico, yeah!

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

One of the most blatantly entertaining horror movies I’ve seen in a while. Yes, there are shameless nods to countless other horror movies (by the end of the movie you'll have lost count!), but these hat tilts are worn like badges of serious flair. The movie works exceptionally well as a balancing act, between genuine horror and horror comedy. The comedy shifts between visual gags and darker cerebral humour. 2012 was Joss Whedon's year alright! 

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2012)

Despite all the flack, David Fincher delivered an excellent adaptation of the original Swedish novel, rather than being a remake of the Swedish movie. I’m a hypocrite I suppose, as I dissed Matt Reeves’ Let Me In for being totally unnecessary, and one can argue the same point here, but Fincher gets an amazing performance from a fearless Rooney Mara in the role made famous by Noomi Rapace.

Notable contenders:

LOVELY MOLLY, SLEEP TIGHT, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, MEN IN BLACK 3,HEADHUNTERS, JOHN CARTER, ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER, and PROJECT X. 

Worst movies of the year:

BAIT and PIRANHA 3DD gave horror a very bad name (in the worst possible way), and Julie Delpy dropped the ball so profoundly with TWO DAYS IN NEW YORK that I literally choked on the humourless void.

NB: All movies I saw were either screened at a film festival, or had a theatrical or domestic release down under, in 2012.