Very Good Films

One of the most memorable late 90s rom-coms to date. So many iconic scenes: Julia Stiles flashing the teacher on detention, an iconic Prada backpack conversation, a paintball first date, the black underwear discovery, duck liver and Heath Ledger on the bleachers at soccer practice. This is a great feel good film that takes us back to different times.

Heath Ledger iconically singing into the microphone on the bleachers. Joseph-Gordon Levitt. 90s style. Julia Stiles. Prom. Paintball. Having awkward conversations about sex with your parents. Detention. Sister rivalry. Duck liver.

Emma

Amazon Prime (US + AU) + Vudu (US) + Disney (US) + iTunes

This documentary was so powerful in validating that desire to want to be somebody else at different times in our lives. It exposes what inner turmoil looks like, what grief looks like, what turning yourself on and off looks like. By the time you’re done watching this film, you will realize that all of the austerity of Nick Cave’s public personality seems to have melted away, the barriers to feeling deeply demolished. We go through a therapy session with him, recording in the studio, time with his family, breakfast with a best friend, a live concert and scattered personal encounters. What I love about this documentary is how poetic it is—it shifts respectfully through the landscape of his own legacy.

Madonna. Reading poetry. Therapy. Unconventional ways of thinking. Transforming yourself.

Emma

Amazon Prime (US) + DocPlay + iTunes + Lido (AU)

This is a film about family, about generational gaps, about coming-of-age, but mostly just relationships—of all kinds. It reminds you how hard it is to be young and perhaps makes you better understand your mum. When you look at the set and the composition of the shots, it makes sense that this is a film directed by a graphic designer turn film director. The colours and characters sing in every frame; somehow each shot feels both effortless yet considered. The trailer, in itself, is like a short film.

The 80s. Communal living.

Beth

Netflix (US) + Amazon Prime + iTunes

Not to be confused with Luca Guadagnino ‘A Bigger Splash’ (which is also excellent), this documentary features iconic British painter David Hockney. I first watched this film at the 4pm showing to an empty cinema at The Metrograph. I was reminded that it’s rare for a great painter to be successful in his or her own lifetime, and as someone who battles with the creative process daily, this film really unpacks the 1970s narratives of self-hatred and self-pity in a relatable way. It acts as a record of artistic creation that is itself a work of art. The way Hockney talks about love does remind me of Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Call Me By Your Name’—how difficult it is to move on from. Hockney says, “when love goes wrong, there’s more than two people that suffer.” I loved this film because it really opens up the inner world of David Hockney, his friends and his agonizing and lingering affair with his muse Peter.

1970s. Documentaries. Buying expensive art. Loud parties. Spying in on the neighbors.

Emma

Amazon Prime

There are all the ingredients for the perfect summer holiday: a remote Italian villa, a swimming pool with a view for miles, karaoke and Tilda Swinton. And there are all the ingredients for one that’s doomed to end in disaster: your partner invites their ex to join you, their ex needs a lot of attention, you’ve lost your voice. This film is the ultimate Luca Guadagnino European getaway with a light drizzling of sex, drugs and rock and roll.

Summers in Italy with Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton. Complex dynamics on family holidays. Éric Rohmer.

Beth

Amazon Prime (US) + iTunes + ACMI (AU) + Lido (AU) + Golden Age Cinema (AU)

In the 1960s, a professor mourns (played by a very handsome Colin Firth) mourns the death of his longterm boyfriend. At stake for him? The meaning and resonance of relationships… and life itself. The impeccable taste of fashion design-turn-director Tom Ford is all over this film: the interiors, the clothes, the shots… Every frame is cinematic perfection.

Mid-century interiors. Alvar Aalto. Organising your wardrobe.

Beth

Netflix (US) + SBS On Demand + Stan (AU) + Golden Age Cinema (AU)

A classic case of writer’s block has never been so surreal (or satisfying). The film follows a brilliant Nicolas Cage as Charlie Kaufman—not to be confused with the IRL Charlie Kaufman, credited for this screenplay, along with ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ and ‘Being John Malkovich’—a hyper-self-conscious L.A. screenwriter on a deadline. He’s been tasked with adapting (real-life) writer Susan Orlean’s book ‘The Orchid Thief’, though here she’s portrayed by none other than Meryl Streep. (Need I say more?) As this Russian Doll of a story unfolds, Kaufman’s life and Orlean’s story become uncannily entwined. A film about passion, narrative, creative anxiety, and rare blooms that asks: where do we draw the line between The Real and The Cinematic?

Life imitating art. Obsession. Paranoia. Self-referential surrealism. LA v. NY.

Olivia

Criterion Channel + Amazon Prime + iTunes

‘Amélie’ is a fanciful comedy about a young woman who discretely orchestrates the lives of the people around her, creating a world exclusively of her own making. Shot in over 80 Parisian locations, acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet invokes his incomparable visionary style to capture the exquisite charm and mystery of modern-day Paris through the eyes of a beautiful ingenue.

Wandering through Paris. Self-growth. Colorful imagery. Crème brûlée. Imagination.

Stephen + Amanda

Hulu + Amazon Prime + SBS On Demand

‘American Beauty’ is an incisive, deliriously funny and profound vision of the “American Dream” hitting meltdown. It’s about male empowerment and self-discovery. A suburban dad is falling for his teenage daughter’s flirty friend, his wife’s having an affair with a real estate agent, his daughter’s being videotaped by their new neighbour through the window and in amongst it all are these now iconic vignettes of rose petals raining on Mena Suvari’s naked body. A plastic bag floating in the wind will never look the same again.

Understanding what ordinary means in America.

Beth

Amazon Prime + iTunes + Stan

I’m not easily sold on a neo-Nazi gang film, but this film is something else. It reminds us that everyone has a back story and people are capable of change.

Understanding people.

Beth

Hulu + Amazon Prime + Netflix (AU)

This film should be required watching for every woman—ever. As someone who has always wrestled with finding and understanding who I am—perhaps this will be my life’s work—this film was pivotal. ‘An Unmarried Woman’ is communal; it speaks to finding and losing. I chuckled thoroughly listening to Jill Clayburgh rant on with her therapist—also, please note her therapists outfit in these scenes. After seeing the beginning I kept wondering how Paul Mazursky was going to end the film, and he did not disappoint. The last scene should be printed, framed and hung in a gallery wall forever. Also this classic line is a great back pocket mantra.

“Balls, said the Queen—
If I had ’em I’d be King.”

Being the bigger person. Moving on and getting over breakups.

Emma

Criterion Channel

Woody Allen drove me nuts in this film. He is the template for getting on one’s nerves: neurotic, wisecracking and kvetching. Diane Keaton is unforgettable and iconic, especially for her beloved style. I started reading Diane Keaton’s memoir ‘Then Again’ on a recent trip to Mexico and was so moved by her relationship with her mother. I had to re-watch Annie Hall when I got home and only saw her mother watching it. Before you re-watch this classic, read this book—it will only enrich the experience. The book begins with. “Mom loved adages, quotes, slogans. There were always little reminders pasted on the kitchen wall. For example, the word THINK. I found THINK thumbtacked on a bulletin board in her darkroom. I saw it Scotch-taped on a pencil box she’d collaged. I even found a pamphlet titled THINK on her bedside table. Mom liked to THINK.”

Diane Keaton. Breaking romantic rules. Unsettled endings. Wearing menswear.

Emma

Amazon Prime + Criterion Channel + iTunes + Stan

This is a very mystical film with a ghost-like moodiness. The films begins with a group of young boys from Senegal who argue over unpaid wages and set off in the middle of the night by boat for the coast of Spain never to return as themselves—only ghosts demanding retribution. It’s an abstract, poetic coming-of-age ghost, love story. What makes Mati Diop’s work so moving for me, personally, is her desire to tell the story of the underdog, and the forgotten—those who have been marginalized by mainstream society. It can be easy, especially with coming-of-age stories, to feel culturally alienated when you don’t see anyone like yourself represented on the screen, but Mati did this beautifully. I hope more directors continue to do so.

Ghost stories. Tweeting about capitalism. Advocating for marginalized groups of people. Films that feel witchy.

Emma

Netflix (US + AU)

For some reason, while in the middle of a global pandemic, Brooklyn has decided tis the season for bread—dough is being kneaded, twisted, stretched, pummelled and manipulated, all in the name of social distancing. To know just how that must feel, put yourself at the mercy of ‘Beaches’, the story of an abiding friendship between two very different women over a very long period of time. This is for anyone who loves flashbacks, long enduring friendships, Bette Midler and a smidge of jealousy.

Occasional jealousy. Long distance friendships. Atlantic City boardwalk. Having a pen pal.

Emma

HBO + Amazon Prime + iTunes

I do think Richard Linklater really launched the 90s indie film movement. I recently learned this film was inspired by Linklater’s own experience encountering a woman in a Philadelphia toy store—how charming. This is a great trilogy for anyone who has been in a relationship for a long time and understands how love evolves over time; it begins, begins again, deepens, and strains the longer you’re in it. It’s a trilogy based on one brief encounter that feels entirely genuine.

Trilogies. Missed connections. Listening to the Modern Love podcast. Following the @90sanxiety Instagram account.

Emma

Amazon Prime + iTunes

This film is about loneliness and the nature of love. If you’ve ever been to a party and still felt lonely, you’ll like this film. It has one of the most beautiful opening sequences ever made. It is rich with history, honesty and beautifully charged emotional moments: recollections of budding romance, a father coming out in his 70s, finding yourself at a dress up party. Now that I am older, I love watching films that speak to the complexities of modern relationships: love, obligation, change, sadness, honesty, and mourning. Mike Mills has done a great job of is showing the internal and external fears of a father and son. Hal fears death and homophobia, World War II and being 25 and Oliver suffers the more internal fears of being in your own head and the unedited chaos of everything that floats around in your own mind.

Realizing that parents have the capacity to change. Dogs. Talking to your dogs. Looking at other people’s dogs. Explaining ‘house’ music to your parents. Feeling sad. Meeting people at parties.

Emma

Amazon Prime + Hulu + iTunes + Vudu

Based on the 1928 novel, ‘Belle de Jour’, by Joseph Kessel, the film is about a young woman who spends her midweek afternoons as a high-class prostitute while her husband is at work. Starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel and Michel Piccoli, it won the Golden Lion and the Pasinetti Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival in 1967. A warning that some scenes may be confronting.

Immaculate eyeliner. Perfectly restored 60s cinema. Observations on the complexity of sex.

Leah

Amazon Prime + Criterion Channel + iTunes

I don’t have a dog, so I feel like I am able to say this, but I think that dogs almost always look like their owners, as is the case with this film! I would say that the cure for almost any blues is to laugh at a Christopher Guest film and, as my friend Alexandra Madden suggests, probably start with ‘Best In Show’. This film is about a dog show and the neurosis of their owners. It’s impossible to choose a favorite couple between the neurotic yuppies who dump their marital baggage on their demoralized pup, the gay couple who over groom their toy Shih Tzu or the doltish husband who was born with two left feet and a millionaire trophy wife. Every couple is an affectionate caricature of middle America exaggerated but, then again, maybe not?

Going to dog shows. Mockumentaries. Laughing uncontrollably. Middle America.

Emma

Amazon Prime

If you ever wondered when the Golden Age of Porn was, it was the 1970s. And it was in L.A. Enjoy 2.5 hours of an all-star cast dancing between pool parties, discos and velour couches on rollerblades and on coke. It’s one big party in full saturated colour with the best in 70s suits, hoops and bikinis.

Heather Graham on rollerblades. Julianne Moore as your favourite 70s dreamboat. Pool parties. Making movies at home.

Beth

Amazon Prime (US) + iTunes + Vudu + Netflix (AU)

I’m reading ‘Godard on Godard’ right now; the book has been sitting on my desk with a thousand others waiting to be finished. You can’t talk about cinema or lists of films without including Godard. ‘Breathless’ is very important to me because it was the first film I ever saw that actually surprised me and deeply impressed me. Godard did say, “all you need for a movie is a gun and a girl”. I love Jean Seberg in this film… (SPOILER ALERT) How in the final minutes of the film, she sells him out to the police to prove she’s not in love. Instead of running, though, Michel stays with her, waiting to be caught—a perverted version of the Romeo-and-Juliet story she cherishes. He dies. She lives. The movie ends.

Black and white films. Paris. Breakfast in bed. Avoiding paying your parking tickets.

Emma

Amazon Prime + iTunes + Golden Age Cinema (AU) + ACMI (AU)

This film is drenched in everything that makes spending a summer in Italy a dream: fruit trees, piazzas, bike rides, swimming, reading and… a summer romance. This is the love story of Elio and Oliver unfolding in and around a fairytale-like Italian villa where Elio plays Bach on the grand piano in the lounge room and everyone drinks freshly-squeezed apricot juice for breakfast. There’s a scene towards the end of the film where Elio’s dad speaks to him about love and life—the film is worth watching for those few minutes alone. But really, every scene is magic, dappled in the fruity, tender and lush touch of Luca Guadagnino.

Summer in Italy. Nosebleeds. A dance floor. Being reminded of the first time you fell in love.

Beth

Amazon Prime (US) + iTunes + Netflix (AU) + Vudu

After running away from his negligent parents, committing a violent crime and being sentenced to five years in jail, a hardened, streetwise 12-year-old Lebanese boy sues his parents in protest of the life they have given him. Directed by Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki, and featuring non-actors, this Cannes Jury Prize-winning film is like not other.

Kids who fight against all odds. Female filmmakers. True stories.

Celsy

Amazon Prime + Netflix (US) + iTunes + Lido (AU) + Golden Age Cinema (AU) + Kanopy (AU) + SBS On Demand (AU)

I was in New York when I first saw this film. It was pelting down rain and I arrived at The Paris Theatre drenched. There was something romantic about being tucked inside that single screen cinema in Manhattan knowing that same city that was on the screen was just outside. Only ‘Carol’ is set some 60 years earlier; it’s a very different New York. It’s the 1950s and everything is beautiful in that nostalgic kind of way—the cars, the clothes, the streets—except these two women who fall in love can’t be together. Cate Blanchett is sublime. Every frame of the film is like a perfectly-composed photo washed with a mysterious green hue.

1950s New York. Christmas. Snow.

Beth

Amazon Prime + Netflix (US + AU) + SBS On Demand + Kanopy (AU)

Watching this film is like taking a Valium and having a troubled elderly woman stroke your hair. It’s based on three short stories by Maile Meloy, set in a sleepy town in Montana. Its pace is slow, and its stories meander. So pour yourself some herbal tea and wrap yourself in blanket.

When Laura Dern plays a lawyer.

Katy

iTunes + Amazon Prime + SBS On Demand

Translating to “the lonely wife”, ‘Charulata’ tells a story of just that: a young and beautiful woman who feels neglected by her husband in 19th Century Calcutta. In their grand home, she spends her days—where time never seems to be a factor—getting lost in thought and engaging in artistic pursuits as a means to discover her true self.

Satyajit Ray. Poetry. Millennial Mambo (2001).

Beth

Amazon Prime

A beautifully perceptive film that explores childhood, the unique nuances between siblings and their shared experiences, and the unwavering hope, resilience, and determination that can be found in children.

Bicycle Thieves (1948). Childhood innocence. A good running race. Getting a new pair of shoes.

Lacey

Vudu + Google Play + Prime Video (AU) + Amazon Prime (US)

Every day, Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) buys a can of pineapple with an expiration date of May 1, symbolizing the day he’ll get over his lost love. He’s also got his eye on a mysterious woman in a blonde wig (Brigitte Lin), oblivious of the fact she’s a drug dealer. Cop 663 (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) is distraught with heartbreak over a breakup. But when his ex drops a spare set of his keys at a local cafe, a waitress (Faye Wong) lets herself into his apartment and spruces up his life.

The Cranberries. Fish tanks. Apartment living.

Amy

Criterion Channel

My favorite movie of all time. The ultimate coming-of-age film for people who love movies. This story follows young Salvatore during a post-WWII Sicily where he finds escape through his local movie theater, Cinema Paradiso. The middle-aged projectionist, Alfredo, teaches him the power and magic of film and the unlikely pair become close friends. As Salvatore grows up, he must decide whether to stay in his small town with the people he loves or leave to pursue his dream of filmmaking. Be prepared to feel some feels. And don’t get me started on the score…

Movies about movies. Going to the cinema by yourself.

Danielle

Amazon Prime + Hulu + HBO

I would tell you what this film is about but I think that would take something away. I’ll just say it’s probably the most human film I’ve ever seen. It’s about the people who we dream of being but never will be because, ultimately, we are all born into different worlds. It’s about escape. It’s about forgiveness. It’s about class divide. Don’t read too much more about it, just watch it and then read about how it was made afterwards. A piece of cinema like no other.

True stories. Filmmaking. Forgiveness.

Beth

Amazon Prime + Criterion Channel

Cold War is an artfully crafted, flawlessly acted meditation on love, memory and invented history. It’s a love story between two people who often can’t stand to be together, but can’t bare to live apart. It uses the European political turmoil in the decades just after the Second World War to show us how love can be affected by such events, by borders enforced harshly, by time that is not kind on those who struggle, by a world split in two by a line of political difference. There’s no real happiness, and no real answer to their problem; people change, cultures change, but can love stay the same?

Black-and-white cinema. Drunk dancing. Hearing about your parents’ love stories. Polish music. Joanna Kulig singing. Old love and old memories.

Beth

Kanopy (AU) + Amazon Prime (US) + SBS On Demand (AU) + Golden Age Cinema (AU) + Lido (AU)

You never know when a work of art—whether it’s a sculpture, book, mural or photograph—is going to punch you in the gut with inspiration or understanding or emotion, and with an impact that will last the rest of your life. ‘Daughters of the Dust’ did that for me; it’s a work of spellbinding visual beauty. There is a tangible pressure in the choice to either preserve one’s culture or migrate to the mainland and risk giving it up. The imagery in this film is so poetic, imaginative and somehow both embraces the historical idea and converts it in the sharp specificity of personal experience.

Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’. Shakespeare’s Tempest. Dreams. Preserving culture and history.

Emma

Criterion Channel + Amazon Prime

I own this film on DVD (ha!) and rewatched it only recently and had forgotten just how good it is. It should be mandatory watching for any young person growing up so we can all feel unafraid to carve our own path. It shows us the joys of friendship, the collective power of a club, the beauty of books and the importance of standing up for what you believe in.

Robin Williams. Books. Poetry. Secret clubs.

Beth

Amazon Prime + Beth’s DVD collection

This is a Spike Lee sensation. It’s the late 80s and it’s the hottest day of the year in NYC. The sun is out, fire hydrants are bursting, boom boxes are booming. The first two thirds of the film feel very similar to ‘Dazed and Confused’ (made just a fews later, Linklater was no doubt influenced by Lee) as we spend a full 24hrs following a bunch a locals go about their day in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. The intermittent sax, the occasional slow-mo shot (there’s one at around the 30 min mark that is instantly unforgettable), the fashion shoot-like angles, the color that bursts out of every frame… it all feels very cool. Until it’s not. The film (spoiler alert) feels as relevant as ever with its eerily similar and heartbreaking storyline to the present day killing of George Floyd, ultimately urging us all to step up and do the right thing.

Spike Lee. Samuel L. Jackson as a radio host. Dazed and Confused (1993). Understanding the complexities and injustices of racial discrimination in America.

Beth

iTunes + Amazon Prime

This is a film that finds new life the older it gets. There is a sort of universal weirdness to being a teenager; regardless of when it was, there are these thresholds that never go away. A boy becoming a man, a girl becoming a woman, confronting painfully awkward things. Imagine the end of the world… Imagine 28 days until the end of the world? Imagine sleepwalking and seeing a demonic looking rabbit called Frank. This is a film that balances mental illness and a parallel universe with emotional intensity and a complex plot.

Elections. Internal anxieties. Pet Shop Boys. Debating the sexual habits of the Smurfs. Time travel. Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Beth

SBS On Demand + iTunes + Amazon Prime (US) + Tubi + Lido (AU) + Kanopy (AU) + Golden Age Cinema (AU)

This is probably the most beautiful, sexy (but not in a conventional sexy kind of way) and subtle thriller you will see. Even the car chase scenes are beautiful and I’m not into cars! The chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan is sensational, as is the score (Clint Mansell). Even the font on the movie poster felt iconic the moment it was released.

A man of few words. Driving fast to good music.

Beth

Netflix (US) + Amazon Prime + iTunes

Have you ever been in love with someone and felt so heartbroken afterwards that you wish you could erase them from your mind so you didn’t have to deal with the pain? Well in this world you can. Clementine (Kate Winslet with interchanging bright blue and orange hair) and Joel (Jim Carrey in perhaps his best performance to date) are in love. They break up and decide to remove each other from their memories with the help of some strange, very DIY Michel Gondry-esque technology. In this otherworldly, trippy, sci-fi romance, we discover that perhaps we don’t want to erase the pain after all. Maybe there’s some good in the bad that we want to keep. And perhaps it’s okay to feel sad.

Tripping. Sleeping on the beach. Memories.

Beth

Hulu + Amazon Prime + Netflix (AU)

I walked into this doco knowing just a little about Nora Ephron (the woman writer who made her name writing for men’s magazine Esquire before writing films like ‘When Harry Met Sally’) and I left thinking she was my hero. If you’re a writer, you should watch this film. If you are a woman who wants to take control of your life, you should definitely watch this film.

Words. Women who don’t let men determine their future or happiness.

Beth

HBO + Amazon Prime (US) + Binge

No one arrives at the conclusion that your twenties are for figuring it out until you’re entirely out of that decade. This film is a triumph in capturing shared experiences and the agony of being in your twenties. When you can’t fake it, you’re forced to either confront it or ignore it. If you’ve ever had $4 in your bank account, crashed on a friend’s couch for an extended period of time or had your card declined at CVS for shampoo, this film makes you feel less alone.

Coming-of-age films. Being unsure of where to go next. The weekly Manhattan dance class Moves.

Emma

Amazon Prime (US + AU) + Netflix (US) + SBS On Demand + Kanopy (AU) + Stan

The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mob. The cast, soundtrack, pacing and everything in between delivers a shocking, funny and poignant story about what it means to be a gangster. Not a Godfather-like old Italian family, these are dirty street-smart gangsters. Joe Pesci is especially funny as hell.

Scarface (1983). The Godfather (1972). Pulp Fiction (1994). The Departed (2006). The Usual Suspects (1995).

Mark

Netflix (US + AU) + Vudu + iTunes

Those leather jackets, those school rivalries, those summer nights. Full of 1950s teen love, cliques and peer pressure, this is the musical love story of wild boy Danny and a squeaky clean Australian tourist Sandy complete with doo-wop’s and hand jive. Thanks to Rizzo and the pink ladies, a catchy soundtrack, colorful cinematography and endlessly quotable lines, it’s truly no wonder this musical is such a well-loved hit.

Drive-in theatres. Olivia Newton John. John Travolta. Musicals. Great soundtracks.

Beth

Amazon Prime (US + AU) + Vudu (US) + Netflix (AU) + Stan (AU)

Shoulder-padded blazers, knee-high socks, tartan, primary colours, scrunchies and, of course, Winona Ryder. I love any film that acts as a general ‘how to’ for what it means to be a teenager, navigating high-school cliques, and the ability to break free of stereotypes in order to discover who you really are. Winona plays the high-school outcast, and Slater plays the guy who teaches that revenge is a dish best served with an attitude. Sign me up.

Weird endings to films. Prom. A pastel pink wardrobe. Looking for ways to get revenge.

Emma

Amazon Prime + iTunes + Kanopy (AU) + Lido (AU) + Stan

This film is about life and labor— something I have been thinking a lot about lately. It feels like you are watching a poem being read aloud. A documentary about a Macedonian beekeeper’s conflict with her neighbors, which turns into a lyrical environmental parable. She’s the last in a long line of Macedonian wild beekeepers, making a living farming honey in small batches.

Beekeeping. Documentaries. The Lorax. Talking with animals.

Emma

Hulu + Golden Age Cinema (AU) + Lido (AU)

This film was recommended by my friend Peter at the very beginning of the coronavirus quarantine, a time when all I wanted to watch were films that made me feel good. This film is a drama masquerading as a comedy about an unloved boy who nobody wanted until he got lost. Raised on hip-hop and foster care, city kid Ricky gets a fresh start in the New Zealand countryside. Equal parts road comedy and coming-of-age drama, this touching story reminds us about the journey that growing up is (at any age) and those who help us along the way. Ricky charms us with his hip-hop threads, bolts from the blue, and the bad-boy haikus.

Getting lost. Understanding the strange quirks and charms of children. ‘Wild Pork and Watercress’ by Barry Crump. Dangerous animals and equally threatening people.

Emma

Hulu + Amazon Prime + iTunes + Kanopy (AU) + SBS On Demand (AU)

A portrait of an upper-class family in Milano centered on the story of the mother: Tilda Swinton, speaking both Italian and Russian beautifully. A film about how she is set free in love.

Tilda Swinton. Italian high society. Really good sex scenes.

Elie

Amazon Prime + SBS On Demand

James Baldwin was a connoisseur of words—a novelist, essayist, playwright and poet. His work had a depth of perception to dismantle the racial assumptions of America and the English language. Based on his unfinished manuscript ‘Remember This House’, this is an important film documenting his life and work. It allows us to form a portrait of the artist through his own words and fully appreciate his unmatched eloquence.

‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ (the 1974 novel by James Baldwin). Reading ‘Giovanni’s Room’ (1956). Understanding the Civil Rights Movement in America. Reading literature and poetry.

Beth

Amazon Prime + iTunes (US) + Stan + Kanopy (AU) + Lido (AU)

Can a love story exist without even a kiss, not even a touch? Only in this Wong Kar-wai masterpiece. Set in 1960s Hong Hong, ‘In the Mood for Love’ is both a love song to a city and a piece of art that eloquently captures epic intimacy, romantic longing and fleeting moments. With its aching musical soundtrack and exquisitely abstract cinematography of Hong Kong’s eerily romantic alleyways, diners and tiny apartments by Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin, this film has secured a place in the cinematic canon, and is a milestone in Wong’s redoubtable career.

Hong Kong by night. Forbidden love. Carol (2015).

Beth

Criterion Channel

‘Jackie Brown’ is about being smart. In this film, if you are smart, you will live. Also it’s about scamming. I could watch these characters live, talk, deceive and scheme for hours and hours. Nominating Pam Grier, AKA Jackie Brown, as one of the coolest female leads on the big screen in 97.

Bail bondsman. Samuel L. Jackson. Quentin Tarantino.

Beth

Stan (AU) + Hulu + Amazon Prime

‘Kramer vs. Kramer’, which has a mum (played by Meryl Streep) and a dad (Dustin Hoffman) fighting it out in court at great expense, was ahead of its time for the way it challenged our expectations of motherhood and womanhood. Few films pull on the heartstrings like ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’—it is a film of immense sensitivity where ideas around parenthood, gender roles and the process of getting a divorce, are closely intertwined and in a state of flux.

Navigating single parenting. Corduroy suits. Meryl Streep. Seeing what custody battles looked like in the 70s.

Beth

Amazon Prime + Netflix (US + AU)

For decades, her work pushed boundaries that often alienated her from both her peers and those in power in the art world. Kusama was an underdog with everything stacked against her: the trauma of growing up in Japan during World War II, life in a dysfunctional family that discouraged her creative ambitions, sexism and racism in the art establishment, mental illness… Most of us know her for the work she produces today, but this woman has been pushing boundaries from the day she landed in New York in the 60s with very little money but enormous will. In fact, probably from the day she was born. Every woman who has ever felt afraid to fight for something should watch this doco.

Overcoming impossible odds. Dots. Japan. New York in the 60s.

Beth

Hulu + Amazon Prime + iTunes + Golden Age Cinema (AU) + Lido (AU) + Kanopy (AU)

There’s an unsolved murder at a downtown Los Angeles coffee shop set in the early 1950s. But with an all-star cast that sees Danny DeVito, Russell Crowe, Guy Pierce, Kevin Spacey and a very seductive Kim Basinger all playing each other against one another, who will come out on top? ‘L.A. Confidential’ has all the essential ingredients of film noir: glitter, decadence and illusions in post-World War II Hollywood dream factories; endemic corruption in the police department; a cynical point of view by a sleazy Hollywood tabloid editor; a gorgeous femme fatale prostitute; and a morally ambivalent ending.

Los Angeles. Police corruption. Sleazy tabloid editors. Fancy, mid-century LA homes.

Beth

Amazon Prime + Netflix (US + AU)

One of Agnès Varda’s most provocative films, ‘Le Bonheur’ examines, with a deceptively sunny palette and the spirited strains of Mozart, the ideas of fidelity and happiness in a modern, self-centered world. Set in a tiny suburb near but oh so far from Paris, ‘Le Bonheur’ depicts the events leading up to the collapse of a seemingly perfect marriage and the aftermath of this collapse. It begs the question, what really is happiness? And is the answer different for men and women?

Sunflowers. The Stepford Wives (2004). Scenes from a Marriage (1973). Picnics in the French countryside.

Emma

Criterion Channel + Mubi

This is a story of very different worlds intersecting: Leon’s (a hitman with a gentle soul) and Matilda’s (his teenage neighbor played by a young Natalie Portman). Leon lives the perfect hermit life. Cut off from the world, he lavishes his time and energy on his cherished houseplant—carefully watering it, polishing its leaves, and arranging it on a sunny ledge. Leon alternates between his hit man role and an awkwardly affectionate father-figure role. In a way, Matilda needs to be even stronger than Leon. But she has seen so many sad and violent things in her short life, and in her dysfunctional family, that little of the hitman’s life can surprise her. Truly love this film.

Introverts. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Living alone. Killing Eve (2018).

Emma

Netflix (US) + SBS On Demand (AU) + Stan (AU) + Kanopy (AU)

Although it’s one of those bleak comedies, ‘Lost in Translation’ has a great romance at its heart. It really captures what it feels like to be traveling somewhere completely unfamiliar and wanting a connection (aren’t we all, always?). It’s simple but poetic, quietly reminding us of our shared loneliness while making us smile with quintessential Bill Murray humour dotted throughout. Pour yourself a whisky before watching. And then book a karaoke session with friends for afterwards, if you’re still feeling lonely.

Traveling solo. Karaoke. Tokyo. Hotel bars.

Beth

Hulu, Amazon Prime + Netflix (US)

‘Magnolia’ is a film that defies logic with the effective use of deus-ex-machina at the end of the third act, but also brutally defines the undoubted existence of life at its nucleus. That definition is genuinely summarized in a surreal sequence where all major characters sang in nervous parallel, possibly one of the highlights of the 3-hour saga. ‘Magnolia’ is a quaint masterpiece that will be remembered time and again for its ambitious narrative for a modern-day, character-driven opera, one that is wrapped with allegories, chances, concurrences, divine interventions and the F-word spoken roughly 190 times.

Chance and coincidences. Ensemble piece. Long takes. Tom Cruise in underwear.

Ahmad

Amazon Prime (US) + iTunes + HBO + Netflix (AU)

When a young widow is raped and and her cattle are stolen, she fights back and kills several of her attackers. She embarks on a journey of redemption and empowerment, but the ghost of one of the men she killed returns to haunt her. Described as a ‘sate western’ and filmed across the sweeping plains of the Indonesian island of Sumba, ‘Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts’ is a visceral drama.

Woman At War (2019). Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. Getting even.

Grace

Amazon Prime + Kanopy + Stan (AU)

A planet is headed towards Earth and two sisters, unconsciously, have been preparing for this moment, with acceptance or fear. The opening scene is slow and operatic and moving, like a disclaimer that the movie will require patience, both for its characters and others around you. If isolation has also allowed you to think about mortality, then this movie might be a trigger.

Operatic shots. Co-dependent sisters. The sublime. Prime Kirsten Dunst.

Jessica

Vudu + Tubi + iTunes + Lido (AU) + Kanopy (AU) + Our Golden Age (AU)

Stevie is a 13-year-old teenager who lives in LA with his mom and abusive brother and meets a group of skater kids. The film explores class privilege and is a very realistic look at skate culture in the 90s.

The Florida Project (2018). Skate Kitchen (2018). Skate communities and culture in Los Angeles.

Deepti

Amazon Prime Video (US) + Kanopy (US) + iTunes + Lido (AU) + Netflix (AU)

This is a film about going out, staying out and the apartments we come home to. A very seductive film about youth culture and a submersion into the techno-scored neon nightlife of Taipei. An aimless bar hostess drifts away from her blowhard boyfriend and towards a suave, sensitive gangster—structured as a flashback to the then-present from the then-future of 2011.

Blurry nightclub nights. Barry Jenkins’ ‘Moonlight’.

Emma

Amazon Prime (US) + Tubi

‘Moonlight’ is a coming-of-age story based primarily in Miami in the 1980s. The movie is centered around one character, who we come to know by three different names in three different parts of the movie, each name representing a different period of time and a different iteration of the character as he tries to grow, explore, cope and survive.

Human stories. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018).

Allie

Netflix (US + AU) + Vudu + Amazon Prime (US) + Lido (AU)

Set in 1965 on the fictional island of New Penzance, ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ follows misfit orphan Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) as he escapes his scout camp in search of adventure with his love interest, the bookish Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward). A ragtag crew of dysfunctional adults (including Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis and Edward Norton) and increasingly-militant scouts (including Lucas Hedges) start their search for the missing lovers, encountering rival camps, government bureaucracy and natural disasters along the way. Everything in this parallel version of New England is sepia-hued and bursting with analogue invention. There’s also a French New Wave vibe in everything from the chic costumes to the inclusion of Françoise Hardy’s classic pop song ‘Le temps de l’amour’.

Other Wes Anderson films (particularly ‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’). François Truffaut movies. Feeling nostalgic about childhood. Dancing on the beach. Dreaming about running away.

Max

YouTube + Vudu (US) + iTunes

A mind-bending mystery drama. The themes are wild and unconventional: dreams materialised, crazy thought bubbles brought to life. Characters appear and disappear. Late in the running time, after a scene that appears to show her waking from a dream, the protagonist morphs, unexplained, from the optimistic Betty to a haunted-looking, failed actress named Diane.

Amnesia. Twin Peaks (1990).

Emma

HBO + Amazon Prime + iTunes + Netflix (AU) + Lido (AU) + Golden Age Cinema (AU)

Some people classify this film as a comedy, but it feels a little bit more tragedy to me. It’s the tale of Muriel (played fabulously by Toni Collette) who lives at home with her dysfunctional family and desperately wants to get married. It’s a heartbreaking story set in a comedic, quintessentially “Australian” set.

Getting drunk at weddings. Trying on wedding dresses even if you’re not engaged, or even have a partner. Going to weddings. Drinking bad cocktails on daggy beach holidays.

Beth

HBO + Amazon Prime + iTunes + Stan

Arranged marriages, 5 sisters, a misunderstanding, neighborhood gossip and a little family scandal is what makes this Turkish coming-of-age story so unique. Think uncontainable independent spirits in a patriarchal culture.

The Virgin Suicides (1999). Sisters. Puzzles. Screaming loudly at relatives. The ocean.

Emma

Amazon Prime + SBS On Demand + Kanopy (AU) + ACMI (AU)

A farm boy from a midwestern town meets a strange and attractive drifter. After a midnight drive together, he is abducted by her gang of mulleted outlaw vampires (although, like Let The Right One In (2008), the word vampire is never uttered). What follows is a glorious mix of western and horror as the group go on the run. With an electronic score by Tangerine Dream, a young and psychotic Bill Paxton and maybe the best shoot out sequence I’ve ever seen, this is late 80s bliss.

Western Vampires. A-grade mullets. Lost Boys (1987).

Anna

SBS on Demand + iTunes + Amazon Prime

Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.

Fargo (1996). The Big Lebowski (1998). Wide open spaces. West Texas Desert. The Coen Brothers. Drug deals gone wrong.

Thorsten

Amazon Prime + Netflix (US) + iTunes + Stan

‘Now and Then’ is coming-of-age 90s classic. An essential watch for any girl growing up. It’s a film that does justice to the power of female friendships and the way they help us to cope with life inside the home and all the challenges that come with “growing up”. It will make you want to roll up the sleeves of your oversized shirt and paint your garage door with a bunch of friends while singing to the radio. Or ride your bike down to the river together. Or be there for them when they need a friend.

Seances. Nostalgia. Riding your bike with the radio attached. Summer holidays. Stand By Me (1986).

Beth

Amazon Prime (US) + Netflix (AU)

A cubicle classic with standardized office routines and some incredibly quotable lines you’ll never forget. Great for anyone who loves to engage in office speak, office politics and spying on your coworkers. Highlights include Milton’s iconic red stapler, the smashing of the printer outside, Jennifer Aniston’s lack of flair and, obviously, Lumbergh.

Reading Molly Young’s ‘Why Corporations Speak the Way They Do’ article. Office politics. Office personalities. Staplers. Meetings.

Emma

Amazon Prime (US + AU) + iTunes

A wonderful introduction to the production design of Polly Platt. If you haven’t listened to the episode on Polly Platt on the You Must Remember This podcast, please do so immediately. I love all the behind the scenes kinds of people in film, as she is—all the people that have the intuition to turn off a light, the details people who create visual worlds behind newspaper clippings, a postcard, a perfectly curated bedroom, an open field. It’s a wry, dry, very funny, black-and-white road movie that moves along the dusty back roads of the Midwestern flatlands in the depths of the Great Depression. A father daughter con artist duo scamming people with bibles and long drives in between.

Polly Platt. Fathers and daughters. The podcast ‘You Must Remember This’. Con artists. Being on the road. The Great Depression.

Emma

Criterion Channel + SBS On Demand

The first foreign film to win Best Film at the Oscars. Trump didn’t understand why, but we all did. ‘Parasite’ tells the story of a poverty-stricken family, the Kims, who cunningly place themselves in the service of the Parks, an obscenely wealthy household who have been (mini spoiler alert) unknowingly harboring a stranger in their basement for years.

Bunkers. The underdog. Crushing on your tutor. Immaculate South Korean architecturally-designed homes.

Roger

Amazon Prime + iTunes + Hulu + Lido (AU) + Golden Age Cinema (AU) + ACMI (AU) + Stan (AU)

Jennie Livingston’s poignant and illuminating documentary focuses on the underground Harlem drag-ball scene of the late 1980s before it was repackaged for the mainstream. I love documentaries like this: those that explore a unique subculture specific to a particular time and place. It chronicles the period as the LGBTQ community meet at flamboyant balls to compete in competitions. With many coming from broken homes and shunned by their families, this camp and glittering community becomes a means of escape as they live out their fantasies. As they transform themselves for the runway duels they become somebody new and special.

Runway face-offs. Unique slang. LGBTQ underground subculture.

Emma

Amazon Prime (US) + iTunes

This is the very poignant tale of a man seeking redemption. It follows the enigmatic Travis as he searches for lost love, place and time. Nothing in this movie feels partial, every shot is so beautifully composed, each moment so considered. I remember watching it as a child laying on the floor in my parent’s lounge room and not understanding its themes but finding the music and imagery compelling enough to make it through 2.5 hours. Now I sometimes rewatch it for its pace alone, and to see the alluring buoyancy of Nastassja Kinski’s bob.

Pausing the movie to take screen shots. Minimal, soft spoken dialogue. Looking for loved ones. Twang.

Aisha

Amazon Prime + Kanopy (AU) + iTunes + Criterion Channel

This is a documentary that focuses on Peggy’s role as a connector and a curator more than a creator. And if you’re curious about scandals, lovers and her personal friendships with Duchamp, Cocteau, Beckett and Rothko, then you’ll be hooked.

Gossip and the personal lives of famous artists. Archival tapes. Robert DeNiro. A devotion to 20th Century Art.

Beth

Lido (AU) + iTunes + Amazon Prime (US) + Golden Age Cinema (AU)

Spooky Aussie classic. A group of girls from an all-female college vanish, along with a chaperone, while on a St. Valentine’s Day outing. Less of a mystery than a journey into the mystic, as well as an inquiry into issues of class and sexual repression in Australian society. Perhaps I loved it so much because I went to an all girls boarding school and it feels so appropriate to be reminded of the spookiness that surrounds Valentine’s Day in a large group.

Boarding school girls. Mystery. Lovers. The Virgin Suicides (1999).

Emma

Amazon + iTunes

The soundtrack and score is mesmerizing. I left the theatre and went home to read the screenplay. The last scene is eerily similar, emotionally, to Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Call Me By Your Name’. Also I love Claire Mathon as a cinematographer. A fake chaperone, a witchy fire dance scene, a blind painting, long evening dinners and an abortion.

A scandal. The midnight margarita scene in Practical Magic (1998). Timothée Chalamet.

Emma

Amazon Prime + iTunes + Lido (AU) + Stan (AU) + Golden Age Cinema (AU)

A tale of three girls who are torn away from their Aboriginal mother and sent to a training camp for domestic workers as part of a government policy to integrate them into white society. Linking the camp and their distant home territory is a vast rabbit-proof fence, which stretches from one coast to another and just might help the girls find their way back. It’s a heartbreaking look at the Stolen Generation and Australia’s harshest policies affecting First Peoples in the last 100 years. Also Kenneth Branagh’s performance is so perfectly evil.

Historical dramas. Australian cinema. Aboriginal history. The resilience of children.

Liz

Amazon Prime (US) + Vudu + iTunes + Lido (AU) + Stan (AU)

This is a great depiction of all the people who keep our families running. Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men) returns to his home country to pay tribute to the women who nurtured him. In a polarized and violent world shaped by childhood memories, Alfonso Cuarón’s masterpiece offers a pure message of human solidarity that transcends class and race, shot in monumental black-and-white cinematography, with its roots firmly grounded in the historical specificity of 1970s Mexico City.

Mexico City. Black and white films.

Beth

Netflix (US + AU)

This is one of the greatest documentaries about the creative process and one of the most important artists of our era. Ryuichi Sakamoto has had a prolific career spanning over four decades and quickly established himself as one of the most original and intuitive composers of his generation. But, never content to rest on his laurels, Sakamoto’s life journey eventually led him to find musical inspiration in the unlikeliest of places: the Fukushima nuclear disaster and a personal battle with cancer, both of which gave way to a late-life shift in his artistic process. ‘Coda’ is the crafted portrait of the artist as an ageless man, one who can turn the worst news into the most refined and purposeful moment of productivity in an already storied career.

Creative process. Finding your path. Enjoying simple pleasures like the sound of running water.

Beth

Mubi + Amazon Prime (US) + Golden Age Cinema (AU) + Kanopy (AU) + Lido (AU)

Alone, adrift and unwanted in the Central Australian bush, Aboriginal teenagers Samson and Delilah set off towards Alice Springs and a new life. This film has little dialogue and speaks to the marginalisation of Indigenous people. It is a film with an unflinching mix of humour and grim realism—a damning indictment and painful reminder of the treatment of Aboriginal peoples by the Australian authorities for too long.

Uluru. Indigenous history. Grim realism. Teenage love stories. Minimalist cinematography.

Beth

Stan + Amazon Prime + Mubi

I think Lloyd is possibly one of Cameron Crowe’s best restless dreamers. He’s surprisingly relatable, all doubt but no fear. He’s the beginning of the very familiar John Cusack persona—nerdy, wisecracking, anxious, but also self-aware and attractive. ‘Say Anything’ seems to be about very big things, but it tends to shrink them down to very little things, because ultimately people are complicated. I think the most romantic scene in the film is when Lloyd is helping Diane’s father write a letter to her and then, of course, the iconic boombox scene.

90s. Fear of Flying by Erica Jong. Boomboxes.

Emma

Amazon Prime + Hulu + iTunes

An overdue documentary flash backs to the US women’s liberation movement. ‘She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry’ arrives at a time when, despite notable gains, the clock seems to be turning backward on many of the issues—reproductive rights, sexual harassment, equal pay, etc.—that “libbers” fought more than 40 odd years ago. It will make you want to keep fighting. We owe it to them, and to ourselves.

Feminism. Protest.

Beth

Amazon Prime + iTunes

Six individuals who are struggling to discover their place in the world—each rejected or not supported by those around them—find each other and make their own family. But is love enough to survive this world? Living on the outskirts of Tokyo, the family relies on stealing to source what they need. This film makes us question so much—about what family really means, about relationships, about societal structures, and about the assumptions we can all too often make.

Shared living spaces. Breaking the rules of society. Unconventional families.

Tula

Hulu + Amazon Prime + iTunes + Lido (AU) + Golden Age Cinema (AU) + SBS On Demand (AU) + ACMI (AU)

After being discharged from the army, Antoine Doinel centers a screwball comedy where he applies for different jobs and tries to make sense of his relationships with women.

Nouvelle Vague. Eric Rohmer. Woody Allen.

Anna

Mubi + iTunes + Criterion Channel

Set in Baz Luhrmann’s insular world of Australian competitive ballroom dancing, this film is obviously predictable, but that’s why it’s so good. How could you possibly forget the garish neon-hued costumes, the brash Australian accents and the campiness of everything from the ballroom competition storyline to Paul Mercurio? Scott is a skilful but unorthodox dancer with a browbeating stage mother and a timid father. Abandoned by his shrill dancing partner on account of his maverick sensibility, he learns to trust his instinct that free expression means more than competitive glory as he mentors his protege Fran. I won’t spoil the ending, but there is a wonderfully iconic scene of Paul Mercurio dancing under the rooftop coke sign that is imprinted in my mind.

Overbearing mothers. Baz Luhrmann’s weird humor. Australian competitive ballroom dancing. Barry Fife. Underdogs. The song ‘Time After Time’.

Emma

Amazon Prime (US) + iTunes + ABC (AU)

‘Taipei Story’ is a mournful anatomy of a city caught between the past and the present. A former national little league team player finds solace by hanging out with hedonistic youths.

Domestic life. Urban structures. Changing careers. Cultural clashes.

Amy

Criterion Channel

“We have to document our history, and we have to tell the story right.” The Black Power Mixtape is just that—the ultimate mixtape of archival footage from interviews with leaders of the Black Power Movement and commentary by a group of Swedish journalists of the time. Through conversations with Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Huey P. Newton and Eldridge Cleaver all recorded between 1967 and 1975—enriched by contemporary interviews with Harry Belafonte, Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu and others—this documentary is a great history lesson that pays fitting tribute to the power of documentary and, from a contemporary point of view, demonstrates the dividends of documentation in the midst of struggle and political activism.

Angela Davis. Rare archival footage. Erykah Badu. The civil rights movement. Hip-hop. Political activism.

Emma

Amazon Prime + Google Play

I wasn’t allowed to watch TV as a kid—we didn’t have one! I do remember sneaking over to my friend Lauren’s place in the 6th grade to watch this film. I tried to memorize every word, repeating out loud to my brothers, “Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?”

Being stuck at home with your annoying roommates.

Emma

Hulu + Amazon Prime + iTunes + Netflix (AU)

This is one of those true stories that’s almost impossible to believe it’s a true story. We watch the former editor of Elle (Paris) Jean-Dominique Bauby—who once seemingly had everything—spend his days in a rehabilitation clinic paralyzed after a stroke. The only thing he can move is his left eye, which becomes his only means to communicate. I can still hear the speech pathologist going through the alphabet in French.

Resilience. The French language. True stories.

Beth

HBO + Amazon Prime + SBS On Demand (AU) + Stan (AU)

A wicked power struggle between two cousins in 18th century England, vying for the court favour of Queen Anne. In Yorgos’ world, women are the true power players while men are relegated to background pawns. There’s hair pulling, satire and vulgarity—but also an honest emotional depth in each of the three main characters, thanks to genius acting from all three leads.

Bunnies. Candlelight intruige. Quickfire retorts. Rachel Weisz in black leather. The Great (2020).

Stephanie

Vudu + Amazon Prime (US) + Prime Video (UK) + iTunes

Varda’s semi-autobiographical documentary hones in on the often ignored sidelines of human existence and asks the question: what does it mean to glean? Varda is a pioneer of the French new wave; here, her humanitarian focus is highlighted in this handy cam collection of French lives—people who make do, mend, source, recycle, create, define and, above all, collect. A humbling portrait that puts into focus the passing of time, the human capacity to care, and what it really means to live one’s convictions.

Op shopping. DIY. Nature. Human idiosyncrasies. Tenderness. Potatoes.

Caitlin

Amazon Prime + Mubi + Kanopy

After his 65th birthday, a writer living the high life in Rome moves beyond the parties to discover the great beauty he’s been seeking. The trailer says it all.

Rome. Luxury. A good party. Existentialism. To take your time, to stop, enjoy and reflect.

Rinaldy + Georgia + Stephan (on the same weekend)

Google Play + iTunes + Amazon Prime + Kanopy (AU) + SBS On Demand (AU) + Golden Age Cinema (AU) + Lido (AU)

Groundbreaking South Korean auteur Park Chan-Wook, revered worldwide by cinephiles and genre fans alike, gives us a twisty, kinky, 1930s-set period piece constructed of interlocking narratives which come together in an old-dark-house mystery that’s taut with thrills and S&M restraints.

Period pieces. Mystery.

Beth

Amazon Prime + iTunes

Sofia Coppola made this film when she was just 28 years old. It’s a film of stark contrast. It’s equally one of the most beautiful films you’ll ever watch—visually it has this sort of 70s Playboy vaseline-glazed romance to it—but then it’s also one of the hardest films to watch—in terms of the subject matter. Four teenage sisters are stuck at home under the strict gaze of their parents in 1970s American suburbia. The consequences are haunting.

Suburbia. Sisters. French band Air.

Emma

Amazon Prime + iTunes + Stan

Siblings stuck in their Manhattan home reenacting and reimagining the world through films. The siblings had barely been allowed to leave this apartment over the course of their entire existence, raised in a secluded, near-cult family, allegedly driven by father Oscar’s fear of the real world. With an abusive father and no contact with the outside world, the Angulos became obsessed with feature films, writing out scripts for flicks by pausing the DVDs and then recreating them in fine detail. Film became their only portal to the real world, their way to express their fears and desires.

Sibling rivalry. Being stuck inside. Movies about movies.

Emma

Amazon Prime + iTunes + Vudu + Lido (AU) + SBS On Demand + Golden Age Cinema (AU)

Watching this movie is like viewing a natural disaster that you cannot turn away from. It has scenes of terror and poignancy, scenes of ruthless chicanery, scenes awesome for their scope, moments echoing with whispers and an ending that, in some peculiar way, this material demands because it could not conclude on an appropriate note—there has been nothing appropriate about it. Silver miner Daniel Plainview leads a hardscrabble life with his son, H.W. When he hears about oil oozing from the ground near the Western town of Little Boston, Daniel takes his son on a mission to find their fortune. Daniel makes his lucky strike and becomes a self-made tycoon, but as his fortune grows he deviates into moral bankruptcy.

Jonny Greenwood. Films about loneliness. All movies with Daniel Day-Lewis. ‘Oil’ by Upton Sinclair.

Thomas

Netflix (US) + Vudu + Amazon Prime (US) + iTunes + Stan (AU)

This is a wise, dark comedy about a broken America and it’s hero—the fearless and ferocuous Frances McDormand. As a mother whose teenage daughter was raped and murdered without justice, she’s mad and she’s not taking it anymore. It’s a darkly comic series of interactions between people who have long histories shaded by old hurts and grudges. We watch things surface as we watch the characters poke and prod each other’s wounds and bruises. It’s a familiar story in America that feels insular, with its own wrongs that nobody quite knows how to right.

Frances McDormand. Justice.

Adrià

Amazon Prime + iTunes

‘True Romance’ is a story of star-crossed lovers and a super-kinetic joyride. Clarence Worley (a geeky comic store employee played by Christian Slater) meets Alabama Whitman (the most loveable girl you will surely ever meet, played by Patricia Arquette) when she is hired as a call girl as a birthday gift for him from his boss. Their love blossoms. Sparks fly, along with bullets.

Drugs. Love. Californian motels. A woman who can hold her own.

Beth

Amazon Prime + Vudu

A long night out at a bar that ends in a way no one expected. Every single scene is a peek into Berlin’s nightlife culture and it’s all done in one take. No one believed he could shoot a film in only one sequence and he did it; we start in a cafe, move to a club and end at a bank heist gone wrong. Nils Frahm’s soundtrack adds that extra layer of Berlin by night authenticity, and also just makes you want to go out for a dance.

Nightclubbing. Berlin. Staying up all night.

Emma

Amazon Prime + iTunes + Kanopy (AU)

The first and only film made by Barbara Loden—truly a shooting star who abandons her family, in pursuit of some sense of self. This was the only film she wrote, directed and acted in—inspired by a bizarre newspaper clipping she saw about a woman who would rather go to prison than continue on with her life. Each scene feels like a film photograph; the grimy hotel rooms, bar rooms, and bathrooms scattered across Pennsylvania, and the unbathed rawness of Barbara Loden’s performance will not leave you. She is a woman persuaded by what she doesn’t want, killing time and, as it happens, on the fly with a bank robber she barely knows. There is a great little read by Dorothy Publishing Project called ‘Suite for Barbara Loden’ by Nathalie Léger—a great post-film read.

Female writers, actors and directors.

Emma

Criterion Channel

Damiel and Cassiel are two angels who observe Berlin, providing hope to the distressed. Damiel soon falls in love with a trapeze artist, Marion. He yearns to experience life in the real physical world and goes on a journey to take human form to be with his love.

Angels. Love stories. Berlin. Existentialism. Nick Cave.

Renee

iTunes + Criterion Channel + Amazon Prime

Edward Yang’s final feature and his most widely acclaimed film (winning him best director at the 2000 Cannes), ‘Yi Yi’ is a delicate and complex family drama, a plaintive city symphony, and an intricate story of incalculable grief. It focuses on a middle-class family in contemporary Taipei. N.J. is disillusioned with his job at a tech company. His wife Min-Min is seized by an existential panic over her monotonous existence. Their teenage daughter Ting-Ting, who fears her thoughtlessness may be responsible for her grandmother’s stroke, strikes up a friendship with a new neighbor and that girl’s troubled boyfriend. And the eight-year-old Yang-Yang, subjected to bullying at school, retreats into his own imagination. To watch the film is to observe life’s everyday crises, to get a glimpse of Taipei’s cityscapes before the turn of the millennium, and to see the omega point of Yang’s cinema.

Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Yasujiro Ozu. Italian neorealism. Slow brewing emotions. The feeling of crying and not knowing why you’re crying.

Hanchia

Criterion Channel