There can be sometimes too much choice. How many times friends insisted you have to watch a particular TV series but you don’t have the host streaming services? Yes, it’s frustrating. However, don’t discount the free-to-air stations. Along with new series and reality shows, the commercial stations often repeat childhood favourites, while ABC iview and SBS on demand have whole catalogues of movies, dramas, comedies and documentaries to fill in an idle hour or two.
MICHELE FRANKENI
Australian Catholics editor / Madonna associate editor
ABC iview features a show that inhabits the 1980s world so thoroughly that it can be a shock to return to the here and now. The Newsreader is an Australian series that first came to our screens in July 2022. Ambitious reporter Dale and ‘difficult’ newsreader Helen are thrown together in the cutthroat world of commercial TV news. Using well known news touchpoints, such as the launch of the Challenger space shuttle, return of Halley’s Comet, Lindy Chamberlain’s imminent release, to set the scene for each episode we followed the careers and personal lives of Dale and Helen and others in the newsroom. The second series which screened late this year again uses real news stories as a base for the storylines. The ’80s styling is impeccable and while the newsroom might be less anglo centric than in reality, the characterisation is spot on. William McInnes is a revelation as newsroom chief, and I swear I attended the same Christmas party depicted in series two.
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During Covid a friend gave me a bag of books that included a number of crime thrillers by Australian authors. I was delighted to be introduced to Garry Disher, Jane Harper and Chris Hammer. Hammer’s 2019 novel Scrublands is now a TV series screening on Stan. Because of problems hinted at, journalist Martin Scarsden has been given some time out from his high-flying career. He has been ordered to a Riverina town at the height of the drought to do a follow-up on how the town is coping a year after a charismatic and dedicated priest killed five parishioners. There is a leisurely pace to the four-part series, but it is not dull. Rather, it seems to take its speed from the weather. The townsfolk know it’s dangerous to rush about in the heat. It’s best to adapt oneself to the surroundings and work with what you have, and of course there is much more to the story than meets the eye. The leads are immensely watchable, including Robert Taylor, who also appears in my above choice The Newsreader.
LAURA KINGS
Assistant editor – education and youth, Australian Catholics
Bill Bailey might be considered a national treasure back in the UK, but he’s equally loved by Australian followers. He’s also doing a bang-up job of showcasing some of the renowned cultural and geographical landmarks Western Australia has offer and he’s doing it with his usual dose of charm, buffoonery, musicality and intelligence. If you haven’t had a chance to watch Bill Bailey’s Wild West Australia please tune in to ABC iView before it disappears. Bailey highlights the frontier nature and fascinating history of a vast state home to the most remote city in the world. He’s brash and brave, jumping into underground caverns without a second thought, popular and kind as he greets the fans who wander through his pieces to camera, cheeky and comical as he adds a musical touch to every episode. Keep an eye out for the Sea Shanties. A must see for fans of travel, comedy and music, but especially for those who love all three.
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If you are already a Gardening Australia devotee, Gardening Australia Junior on ABC/ABC iview is not only all the things you love in a package for little people, it’s also a chance to see some of the presenters showcase their softer side. Costa and a selection of familiar faces team up with young actors to introduce children to the wonders of growing things, going green and appreciating everything the natural world has to offer. It’s a good mix of hip, fun and informative aimed at the whole family. It is heart-warming to see established presenters, like Clarence, share knowledge and to witness some of the newer presenters reaching out to a fresh audience. The bonus – they distracted my kids from the big commercial properties and influenced them to grow some vegetables. The next step is convincing them to eat them.
DAVID HALLIDAY
Eureka Street editor
There’s a certain comfort that comes with knowing a filmmaker approaches an adaptation with a deep reverence for the original literary work. Case in point: Wes Anderson’s latest venture on Netflix. The Texan filmmaker has created a quartet of short films, each an adaptation of a lesser-known gem by Roald Dahl, with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar the standout. Note the 39-minute runtime – a peculiar length that’s neither a short nor a feature, but somehow it feels right. Here, Anderson is carving out a niche all his own just because he can.
The story centres on Henry Sugar, an unskilled gambler who stumbles on a method to see without using his eyes. He devotes himself to mastering the art of seeing through playing cards before greedily taking advantage of the world’s casinos. What follows is an unlikely transformation of the heart; a story marked by human grace and redemption where no one gets their just desserts. Very un-Dahl.
The narrative structure – a story within a story within a story – is archetypally Anderson, and the tone is predictably twee, mystic and whimsical. But there’s a quality reminiscent of his best work; a poignancy evident in his more relatable films of sadness and longing such as Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. In these, his stylistic flourishes were perfectly counterbalanced by something much more deeply felt.
Benedict Cumberbatch delivers a standout performance in the title role with impressive support from Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, and Richard Ayoade. The actors all break the fourth wall, addressing the camera in rapid-fire deadpan, speaking Dahl’s words that Anderson mostly leaves unchanged. Weird, but delightful.
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Some really hip shows were released in 2023. Bosch: Legacy on Prime definitely wasn’t one of them, but hear me out. The crime procedural series Bosch (2014-2021) was gripping over seven seasons, and this sequel series tries desperately to emulate the success of the original. Detective Harry Bosch, portrayed with an effortless cool by Titus Welliver, returns as the spiritual successor to Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe – a rule-breaking sleuth with a knack for unravelling the most confounding of cases and on the odd occasion, managing to be a semi-passable father.
Bosch: Legacy plunges again into the murky depths of LA crime noir, brimming with a gritty realism that is as jazzy as it is dark. However, this iteration begins at a languid pace, and the writing in several early episodes is wobbly, sometimes bordering on laughable. Now as its second season progresses, there is a redemption of sorts. It begins to offer glimpses of what the original Bosch was at its zenith – crime noir par excellence. It even makes tolerating its uneven first season almost worthwhile.
The series spotlights Harry Bosch’s daughter Maddie (Madison Lintz) who has herself joined the Hollywood police force. While Lintz delivers a commendable performance, her character lacks the depth and intrigue of her father. It’s not quite Bosch, but the end of season two is a tantalising hint at a return to form.
MICHAEL MCVEIGH
Jesuit Communications head of publishing and digital content
Graham Yost (Justified showrunner) has a history of writing characters that viewers love spending time with, so when I heard about his new science fiction series Silo on Apple TV I came in with high expectations. While this 10-episode season takes its time unravelling its central mysteries, the great performances and dramatic conflict between the various characters makes the journey worthwhile. The series takes place in a multi-level silo that has been converted into an underground bunker for thousands of refugees. Just what led them there, no one knows. It has clearly been generations since people arrived, and all records of the outside world have been destroyed. All people know is that the outside world will kill them. There are also embedded class structures in the silo – the wealthy in the upper levels, the poor in the lower levels – that create an extra layer of conflict.
If you like complex mysteries, exploring new worlds, and wrestling with moral dilemmas, then Silo is worth watching.
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I’m a science fiction and fantasy nerd from way back, and there are so many great shows out now it’s almost impossible to narrow down which one to write about. My favourites this year included a great second season of Foundation (Apple TV), and enjoyable shows based on one of my favourite book series (The Wheel of Time – Amazon Prime) and one of my favourite animated series (Ahsoka – Disney Plus). But perhaps the most refreshing science fiction show was one that showed how ‘old school’ science fiction still has something valuable to offer the streaming generation.
Strange New Worlds (Paramount Plus) follows the crew of the Starship Enterprise, before the time of the famous Captain James T Kirk (who appears as a recurring character in the series, although as a lieutenant). It’s very much classic Star Trek – each week there’s a challenging new encounter with an alien race/world/phenomenon, which the characters have to work together, use their ingenuity, overcome their own personal challenges, and wrestle with difficult decisions, in order to overcome. It’s Star Trek, Jim, and exactly as we know it. With some recent series like Picard and Discovery ditching the old formula (generally to their detriment), that’s a good thing.
Also worth mentioning: Jury Duty (a hidden camera show that might restore your faith in humanity) and Poker Face (a fun weekly mystery show inspired by Columbo).
JULIAN BUTLER SJ
Julian is a contributor at Jesuit Communications
It might be nostalgia, but I find myself desiring what I consider as a lost aspect of my Sunday morning Australian political fix, Insiders (ABC TV and ABC iview). The feeling of being let into the political process by those who are in the midst of it. The personalities and procedural realities driving decision making. I feel a bit spoilt since being put onto Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart’s runaway success British politics podcast, The Rest is Politics, a couple of months ago. What I like is that as issues of the week wash up, they are discussed thoughtfully within a policy framework but also with the sense of how political process works and the people animating it. Insiders seems to have lost this. It had shifted even before Barry Cassidy gave way to David Spears in 2019 after 18 years hosting the program. There’s a greater range of panellists, which is an ostensibly good thing. Spears is an excellent interviewer, and the show still provides the best digest on the Australian politics of the week. But in seeking to meet a broader audience over time with a more generalised content, it’s lost the gritty detail the politically junky craves.
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It’s not often a film demands the big screen, but Killers of the Flower Moon, Paramount Pictures does. It’s an epic in every sense. Not least because it has a run time of 206 minutes, but that should not be the most talked-about aspect of Scorsese’s latest. Its mammoth running time is matched by the beauty of its cinematography and an epic theme – America’s relationship with its First Nations, and more deeply the problem of evil. As members of the Osage tribe becomes wealthy when oil is discovered on their reservation in the early 20th century, many have fancy cars with white chauffers. There’s a visual inversion of expected race relations. But many of the Osage are legally required to have white guardians to manage their oil rights income, and in all sorts of other ways chancers seek to do the Osage out of their free-flowing cash. Soon many start dying of a wasting disease. William King Hale (Robert De Niro) positions himself as a friend of the Osage, but with nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) under his wing, he proves a malevolent enemy. Both men give extraordinary performances, and their relationship is complex. But maybe most mesmerising is Lily Gladstone, playing Mollie Kyle, Ernest’s Osage wife and her mother, Lizzie Q played by Tantoo Cardinal. Both women give haunting performances, appallingly victimised, mournfully strong.
FR ANDREW HAMILTON SJ
Jesuit Communications editorial consultant
Imagine a movie about a boy from a fishing village who enters a seminary and later returns to fishing. Not the most gripping of plots. In Cairo Conspiracy, however, the seminary is the Al-Hazar University in Cairo, a political as well as a religious centre, where a world-weary security agent makes the seminarian Adam a pawn in a plot to rig the election of an Imam. This is no ordinary story of a vocation tried and declined. The fine actors in the leading roles bring the plot to life. Much of the action is set in the square of the majestic white stone Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, where the students gather in their black robes and taqiahs with broad white headband and red skull cap. This contrast between this ceremonial setting and the sordid plotting taking place makes the film memorable.
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Movies about girl meeting boy, parting, meeting again and living happily ever usually stay on the surface. Past Lives, with dialogue in Korean and English, is an entrancing meditation on memory. It describes two childhood friends, Na Young and Hae Sung. When they are 12 Na Young migrates to the US, changes her name to Nora, and establishes a life and career as writer. Twelve years later Hae Sung who remains in love with her contacts her online. They rebuild a deep relationship which Na Young, torn between her budding life in the United States and her ties to Hae Sung, ends abruptly. After another twelve years, in which Nae Young has married fellow writer Arthur, Hae Sung visits the United States. He and Na Young speak intimately by the river, and then at home with Arthur, after which Na Young farewells Hae Sung. The richness and pain of memories shared and diverging are delicately evoked in Past Lives.
PETER W SHEEHAN
Australian Catholics movie reviewer
Many excellent movies came out in 2023. It seems apt to talk about movies of quality in 2023, which raise similar themes in their own distinctive way.
First is The Old Oak, which is a movie directed by Britain’s Ken Loach. We live in an age with a lot of racist sentiment and we are constantly exposed to evidence of unjust and discriminative behaviour. The Old Oak has come to us from a director who is known to be concerned with the morality of human attitudes and human behaviour. The film is an immensely compassionate movie that is entirely respectful of different cultural beliefs and attitudes. It is about the closure of a mining village in northeast England and examines the stresses that closure brings. Into the midst of it all, comes a busload of Syrian refugees looking for support, comfort, and help. Racism rears its ugly head, but the townspeople learn how to cope, and to provide a welcome for those in need. In compelling naturalistic style, the film makes a strong plea for open-hearted compassion and Christian understanding.
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Second is Paris Memories, which is an uplifting French film about trauma, coping, and resilience. It is about the reaction of a woman who became an unsuspecting victim of assault. It deals with her attempts to recall the details of a terrorist attack in a Paris restaurant that emotionally traumatised her. The film highlights the significance of hope in dealing with trauma. This is an inventive drama, that relates to real experiences of the film’s director. The movie offers a moving meditation on trauma, memory, and recovery. It is well acted and directed, and is highly relevant to major contemporary stresses. It celebrates the human capacity to bond and it does that in an unusual way. As with The Old Oak, the film emphasises the relevance of searching for, and finding, hope.
PETER MALONE
Australian Catholics movie reviewer
We love movies. India loves movies more. The Last Film Show, India, directed by Pan Nalin, is a pleasing love-letter-movie to us all. It is 2010 in Gujrat, India, and young Samay discovers a love for cinema. He is delighted with the light – playing with it and finally wanting to study light and make movies. As we gaze at the close-ups of Samay’s delighted face, rapt in the films, we might wonder what we would have looked like had anybody taking photos of ourselves when we were young and delighted with watching the films. Samay and his friends use old film stock and light to make their own stories. And then comes digital, old stock and projectors recycled into cutlery and bangles. There is great pathos as the film comes to an end with Samay venturing off to the city and to a career. Who would not enjoy this pleasing film?
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Disconnect Me, Australia, directed by Alex Lykos is a film that will do its audiences good. A documentary about disconnecting oneself from one’s phone, it raises many themes that challenge the audience. But, not only is it interesting, it is entertaining. Writer-director Lykos is personable, inviting the audience into his film and to share his experiences. Lykos is concerned about our reliance on our phones, their being in our hands and therefore part of an extension through our arms to the total body. The IT is practically physically part of us, in our hands, and then at our ears, and our eyes fixated on our screens, heads bent, bodies stooped. It is the way that we live hours of our lives every day. The movie is about Alex’s experiment to go without his phone for 30 days. Suffering, Alex talks with parents, children, experts – and we learn a lot about how we live so dependent on our phones.