An Australian Sidebar

I did a bit of an update to the sidebar. If you occasionally glance over to the sidebar you would have noticed that I have neglected it for a couple of weeks. All the regular bits are there with new info. I included a new thing at the top though, where I will keep a guide to the Australian films of this year.


Essentially they're all titles that are either in contention for or are already nominated for Australian Film Institute awards. I have noted next to titles if they are animation (ani), short (sht) or documentary (doc). While, as I said, most of these titles are AFI related I threw in a few extras. The Society Murders, The Silence and Answered by Fire are TV movies and should/could appear in the AFI TV awards. BoyTown is a film that is not in contention for some reason despite it apparently being released in October (apparently) and is sure to become one the most popular Aussie films of the year. Happy Feet arrives too late for the awards, but that comes out in December. And Unfolding Florence missed out on a nomination, but it comes out this week so I put it there. I didn't include titles like Greg McLean's Rogue or December Boys and Irresistable because I'm not actually sure if those are getting 2006 releases. They may be pushed back to next year. And Modern Love is a title that I'm sure when it'll be released, but I have it sitting here on DVD thanks to the director (and Stale Popcorn reader) Alex Frayne. I plan to watch it tonight (hopefully). If some titles that I don't have on here should pop up then I'll add them.

The titles I have already seen have grades next to them.


Unfortunately, some titles don't have IMDb pages. Two features that for one reason or another that don't have pages are Last Train to Freo (which I discussed for that very reason just the other day) and Em 4 Jay. Odd considering the director and cast. Oh well. The others are just shorts or whatever that haven't been created. Shame.

So, yeah, throughout the year I'll try to complete this list. I am seeing 90% of them in the AFI Festival of Film (otherwise I normally would only see about 5 of these probably).

As much as I write about non-Australian films they really don't need the random "publicity" i give them, so I thought this would be a good way to keep the Australian films in people's conscious and if they ever make their way into your cinemas (whereever you may live) that you'll think of them. This year has been a pretty good year as these things go, with at least two titles already getting A grades from me. I gave Ten Canoes an A- and Jindabyne an A and there's still a whole bunch of good-looking films to see. I can't wait to see them all.

BTW, for all you Oscar watchers, keep an eye out for The Safe House. From what I have seen it looks like a viable candidate for the Best Short Animation category. It's animation looks wonderful (as you can see to the left, it's very retro) AND it's set during the 1950s - "...a true story from [director Lee Whitmore's] childhood in 1950s Australia - her brush with the Cold War spy drama known as the Petrov Affair." But I'll get to see them all so I'll let you know. Aussie animated shorts have been Oscar nominated three years in a row so it seems like a good bet to predict one...