Down Under Flix

  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...

  It’s been a while since I reviewed a Christmas movie on Down Under Flix. Though billed a Stan ‘Original’, Christiaan Van Vuuren’s A Sunburnt Christmas (2020)— about an escaped convict who poses as Santa Clause and takes refuge on a farm teetering on foreclosure—is pretty boilerplate, sharing DNA with Christmas movies previously discussed here on DUF. Like Bush Christmas , it partners crooks and kids with both vested and mutual interests in an outback setting; like Crackers , characterization and performance are delivered in broad, splashy brush strokes. While the film isn’t a slog, and features likeable work from the talented Daniel Henshall and Tatiana Goode, there’s nothing special about this seasonal offering.  While I suspect A Sunburnt Christmas will contract on repeat viewings, Henri Safran’s Storm Boy (1976) —for this viewer at least—only expands with each subsequent watch. With age, Greg Rowe’s deceptively simple performance becomes richer, Peter Cummins’ deceptiv...