The cultural capital of Australia, Melbourne is inarguably the premeire location for film fans down under. These weekly posts will take you beyond the multiplex and highlight the Top 5 movie alternatives worth checking out each week.
1. Psycho // The Birds (The Astor)
The Astor Theatre celebrates one of the greatest directors of all time with a week long double bill featuring two of Hitch’s most iconic thrillers, both of which are every bit as unsettling today as they were fifty years ago. Whether you’re checking into the Bates Motel for the first or just looking to relive the terror, the The Astor is the perfect place to do it. (Mon Jan 7 – Sat Jan 12)
2. Berberian Sound Studio (ACMI)
A festival favourite from 2012, the only place you’re likely to see Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio on the big screen now is at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. And trust me, this is one you want to see in a cinema. A creepifying, claustraphobic tribute to the giallo-style horror films of the seventies, the film stars Toby Jones as a mild-mannered British sound engineer reluctantly put to work on a depraved Italian slasher movie. Pure aural and visual style. (Mon Jan 7 – Sun Jan 13)
3. David Cronenberg Tribute: eXistenZ, The Fly, Naked Lunch (Rooftop Cinema)
Between the sweltering summer heat and Rooftop’s liquor licence, this selection of Cronenberg flicks may not be the best choice for the squeamish. Still, if you can hold your booze, this trio of mind-bending body-horror flicks – including the Canadian maestro’s masterpiece, The Fly – are definitely worth catching with a crowd. (Tue, Jan 8 (eXistenZ). Wed, Jan 9 (The Fly). Thur, Jan 10 (Naked Lunch))
4. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Moonlight Cinema)
Save Ferris! If Naked Lunch doesn’t appeal, you can still relax under the stars this Thursday, in the beautiful botanical gardens no less, with this beloved, infinitely rewatchable John Hughes classic. (Thursday, Jan 10)
5. Bad Behaviour + Q&A (Cinema Nova)
A favourite from last year’s Melbourne Underground Film Festival (where it won awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor), Joseph Stephen Sims’ blackly comedic thriller Bad Behaviour follows the misadventures of two psychotic siblings in a small coastal town in Queensland. A one-time theatrical engagement before the film’s DVD release on January 17, the film will be followed by a Q&A with actor John Jarratt. (Sunday, Jan 13)
2 thoughts on “Melbourne Top 5 (1/7/13-1/13/13)”
Seriously, go watch some Cronenberg with people! That would be fun just to gauge audience reactions. I watched The Fly with a group of film students and the reactions were more fun than the movie was (and I quite enjoy The Fly). I would have loved to watch eXistenZ on opening day in a full theater.
I would love to see Ferris with a whole bunch of people and on the big screen.
Good stuff Tom.