Film Shapes

The first film at the cinema in 106 days was, again, thanks to the wonderful folk at Luna Cinemas in Leederville. The Booksellers is a documentary, directed by D.W. Young, about the seismically shifting world of antique book dealers. Set mostly in New York, it centres on the annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, which is filled with literary curios and weirdos of the highest order. It starts at this fair and then expands out to take up the stories of various sellers and collectors, each one on their own thread, until they converge again at the fair and a satisfying 'round table' meeting of some of the dealers. There's a guy called Dave, who comes across as slightly fatalistic about his lot in life. There are three sisters (above) who own a multi-storey bookstore, The Argosy in Manhattan. An independent appraiser called Stephen, who started at Christie's of London in the 1960s. And probably the pick for me, noted author and humourist, Fran Lebowitz (...

It's been a while, but here's another Top Twenty. This time, my favourite Australian films. There are quite a few recent Aussie films I haven't seen, so I'd be happy to hear recommendations, but this is the list I've come up with. Once again, aside from the number one, the ordering was difficult, not to mention the beauties that missed out ( Mad Max 2 & 3 ,  Lantana ,  The Dressmaker ,  Muriel's Wedding ,  The Tracker ,  Don's Party ,  Look Both Ways, Newsfront, The Sum of Us  and  Bad Boy Bubby , just to name a few). So, in ascending order, have away at it. 20.  The Boys  (Rowan Woods - 1998) An uncomfortable watch but really well-acted with David Wenham in fine form. Based on the real life case of Anita Cobby, this film creeps to its ugly finale. I foolishly took a girl to see this at the cinema back in 1998. A great movie but not a date movie. 19.  Mad Max: Fury Road  (George Miller - 2015) Simply struc...

The sixth film in the "You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" pod series is John Huston's 1941 detective drama, The Maltese Falcon . Parizad came aboard for this one and there were quite a few talking points, including this odd ' table lighter '. And I probably should apologise in advance for the atrocious Peter Lorre impression. Listen to "The Maltese Falcon" on Spreaker.

The fifth episode of "You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" gives us Nicolas Roeg's 1976 sci-fi Bowie oddity, The Man Who Fell to Earth. Dave picked up a mic and waded into the discussion for this one. Listen to "The Man Who Fell to Earth" on Spreaker.

So, here's the fourth episode of "You Mean You Haven't Seen...?". This week we watched the Argentine political thriller/legal drama, The Secret in Their Eyes , directed by Jean Jose Campanella in 2009 and starring Ricardo Darin, Soledad Villamil and Guillermo Francella. Merv joined Roly and I in the virtual pod booth and I think it's fair to say, I liked it more than they did. Next week - The Man Who Fell to Earth. Listen to "The Secret in Their Eyes" on Spreaker.