After a cocktail fuelled movie listing session with some new friends on the weekend, I have decided to list my 5 favorite Australian films just for fun. This is in no particular order:
1. Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em – Post nuke party in a leaky fallout shelter featuring Blue Ruin playing the tunes! Introduced the world to the “Bong and Bang Cocktail”, which involves sticking your head in a microwave oven for 10 seconds of “defrost” after pulling a bong.
2. Bliss – Could be because I loved the book so much. I thought this adaptation was fine, preserving the bamboozling nature of the novel. So many famous moments, so I’ll only mention the elephant sitting on the Fiat Bambino for a taster.
3. Lantana – After making Bliss (his first film), it took Ray Lawrence 16 years to come up with his second. And it’s a corker – balanced, sympathetic and deeply moving.
4. Bad Boy Bubby – Rolf De Heer’s excercise in strangeness. Glad-wrapped cats. 32 different DOPs on one film. Whew. It works. It’s funny, scary, wearying and elating.
5. Mad Max – “I am the Nightrider. I’m a fuel injected suicide machine. I am the rocker, I am the roller, I am the out-of-controller! “