Down Under Flix 2017 Review

Published 2018 on Down Under Flix

Due to a spot of travel these past few weeks I’m a bit late assembling my Best of 2017 list. But this isn’t a particularly conventional Best of 2017 list either. Instead, this piece is divided into three parts. Firstly, I list the top 10 films covered on Down Under Flix in 2017. Secondly, I list my top five new Australian releases of 2017. Finally, I list the top 15 films I watched – both old and new, Australian and non-Australian, and excluding any films I’d seen previously – in 2017. Without further ado…

Best films covered on Down Under Flix in 2017:

1. Lonely Hearts (Paul Cox, 1982)

2. Mister Johnson (Bruce Beresford, 1990)

3. Careful, He Might Hear You (Carl Schultz, 1983)

4. The Year My Voice Broke (John Duigan, 1987)

5. Hoodwink (Claude Whatham, 1981)

6. The Big Steal (Nadia Tass, 1990)

7. The Getting of Wisdom (Bruce Beresford, 1977)

8. Youth on the March (Mike Retter, 2017)

9. High Tide (Gillian Armstrong, 1987)

10. Manganinnie (John Honey, 1980)

Best new Australian films of 2017:

1. Jasper Jones (Rachel Perkins, 2017)

2. Lion (Garth Davis, 2016)

3. Mountain (Jennifer Peedom, 2017)

4. Youth on the March (Mike Retter, 2017)

5. Australia Day (Kriv Stenders, 2017)

Best films overall of 2017:

1. A Town Called Panic (Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar, 2009)

2. The Thin Man (W. S. Van Dyke, 1934)

3. Lonely Hearts (Paul Cox, 1982)

4. Mister Johnson (Bruce Beresford, 1990)

5. Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017)

6. Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017)

7. Mephisto (István Szabó, 1981)

8. Careful, He Might Hear You (Carl Schultz, 1983)

9. Amateur (Hal Hartley, 1994)

10. Paterson (Jim Jarmusch, 2016)

11. Tie: The Year My Voice Broke (John Duigan, 1987) & Jasper Jones (Rachel Perkins, 2017)

12. Lion (Garth Davis, 2016)

13. Elle (Paul Verhoeven, 2016)

14. The Decline of Western Civilisation Part II (Penelope Spheeris, 1988)

15. Take this Waltz (Sarah Polley, 2011)

Ben Kooyman

Malcolm (1986)

When penning my review of Black and White , starring Robert Carlyle, I was reminded of my two theatrical viewings of The Full Monty : one in a packed theatre with patrons lapping up the film, the other a few weeks later in a large theatre with less than a dozen, far more polite punters. As a dumb teen, I took away the wrong lesson: that the film didn’t work/wasn’t successful outside a packed auditorium. As an adult, I have a more rounded appreciation of the film and its grace notes that aren't dependent on an enthused opening weekend crowd — the thoughtful, non-condescending working-class milieu it sketches (much more effective and less caricatured than the likes of Billy Elliot ), the lovely work from Lesley Sharp, and so on—but the two distinct viewings remain an instructive lesson in the role of an audience in galvanizing each other and collectively elevating a film experience [1]. Malcolm (1986) is a film I’ve also watched twice—albeit at home and with a much longer interva...

Six pack: Furiosa (2024), Force of Nature (2024), No Escape (1994), The New Boy (2023), Mary and Max (2009), and Sweet As (2022)

There used to be a nerdy adage—at least until contrary instalments countered the point—that even-numbered Star Trek films were better than their odd-numbered counterparts. I wouldn’t be surprised if a similar adage emerges about the Mad Max films: while the obviously odd-numbered original was a trailblazer, it’s The Road Warrior and Fury Road that have commanded universal acclaim, while Beyond Thunderdome and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) have proven divisive. There are striking moments—as expected in both a George Miller film and a Mad Max film—in Furiosa , and Miller remains the most idiosyncratic generator of sequels: Furiosa (technically a prequel) is his sixth, after a Babe sequel, a Happy Feet sequel, and three other Mad Max sequels, with none of these offshoots feeling the same. However, if you’d told me Furiosa was based on a five-part prequel comic book series, I’d believe you, based on its chapter structure and the narrative dead end it arrives at. As it stand...

John Hargreaves double feature: Hoodwink (1981) and Sky Pirates (1986)

Published 2017 on Down Under Flix Discounting the film Blackfellas , in which he plays a minor role as a racist policeman, I’m surprised it’s taken this long to cover any John Hargreaves films on Down Under Flix. A six time AFI Award nominee (including for Hoodwink ) and triple winner, Hargreaves is one of the best leading men to emerge from the Australian New Wave, and I have particular regard for his work in Don’s Party, Long Weekend , and The Odd Angry Shot . Hargreaves was a natural performer: gifted and charismatic, but not unnecessarily flashy; handsome, but not movie star handsome, and slightly crumpled like a creased jacket. He was a quintessential Australian everyman ala Jack Thompson and Bryan Brown, though he’s less familiar to young filmgoers today, partly due to his untimely passing in 1996 at age 50. This article looks at one of Hargreaves’ best films… and one of his other films…

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