Category Archives: blogs

Our Next Hyphenate Garth Franklin

If you've ever wanted to look up some news about a film, be it a piece of casting info or movement on a long-awaited sequel, the odds are better than not that you made your way to Dark Horizons. And that means you've certainly read the work of Garth Franklin, the site's Sydney-based founder and editor-in-chief, and our first guest of 2016.

Created in January 1997, the now-19-year-old Dark Horizons is now legally able to drink, drive and vote in Australia. But more importantly, it was one of the first real places on the internet to get film news from, and it remains one of the few must-read movie sites anywhere on the web. That's a helluva run, and it's a testament to Garth that the site continues from strength to strength.

Given Garth is someone who writes about every franchise, every release, every film from Hollywood and around the world, we were very curious to find out which filmmaker he would he want to discuss on our show.

The answer? None other than one of cinema's true masters of horror, John Carpenter!

Directed by John Carpenter

Although John Carpenter's work is too diverse to refer to him as simply a horror filmmaker, you can't actually talk about modern horror without talking about Carpenter. After his first film, the seminal science fiction comedy Dark Star (1974) and his second, the legendary action thriller Assault On Precinct 13 (1976), Carpenter cemented his place in pop culture with the terrifying Halloween (1978), the film widely credited with bringing the slasher sub-genre into the mainstream.

As if his first three films hadn't done it already (and they had), Carpenter - who, we note, celebrates his 68th birthday tomorrow! - proved himself adept at any genre he turned his hand to, from the action sci-fi of Escape From New York (1981), to the science fiction romance of Starman (1984), to the high-comedy fantasy of Big Trouble In Little China (1986). If his filmography included only half the classics they do, he'd still be lauded as one of modern cinema's most influential visionaries.

But which of these Carpenters is the one that won over Garth? Was it the horror Carpenter, the science fiction Carpenter, or the comedy Carpenter? Or perhaps all of them combined?

We look forward to finding out on January 31, when the first Hell Is For Hyphenates of 2016 is released!

Our next filmmaker of the month, John Carpenter

Hi4H’s 2015 Year In Review

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Hi4H 2015 Montage

We thought 2014 was pretty big. But 2015 made it look like 2013! True story. This year we reached our 5^th anniversary; we were joined by guests such as Appropriate Behaviour writer/director/star Desiree Akhavan, The Woman star Pollyanna McIntosh, 52 Tuesdays director Sophie Hyde and The Cell screenwriter Mark Protosevich; Paul left; Sophie joined; Lee moved to London. All told, it was pretty eventful.

With 2015 at an end, it's time to take stock and all that. Below are links to some of the Best of the Year lists from our previous guests, and below that, Sophie, Lee and returning prodigal son Paul quiz themselves over the year that was. Scroll onwards! Also, happy new year. But mostly scroll onwards.

Best Ofs (Blogs)

Luke Buckmaster's Top Ten Films of 2015

Thomas Caldwell's Favourite Films of 2015

Concrete Playground's Ten Best Movies of 2015, featuring contributions from Hi4H alum Tom Clift & Sarah Ward

Rich Haridy’s Best Films of 2015

Blake Howard’s Best Films of 2015

Drew McWeeny's Ten Favourite Films of 2015

Paul Anthony Nelson’s “What a LOVELY DAY!” or, 2015 in the Rearview Mirror

SBS Movies’ the Ten Best Films of 2015, featuring contributions from Hi4H alum Rochelle Siemienowicz & Anthony Morris

Lee Zachariah's Best Films of 2015

Best Ofs (Podcasts/Broadcast)

ABC News Breakfast, featuring Zak Hepburn’s top films of 2015

The Parallax Podcast's Best Films of 2015, featuring contributions from Hi4H alum Rich Haridy, Zak Hepburn, Tom Clift & Paul Anthony Nelson

Plato's Cave's Favourite Theatrical Releases of 2015, featuring Hi4H alum Josh Nelson, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Cerise Howard & Thomas Caldwell

RTRFM’s Movie Squad counts down the Best & Worst of 2015, featuring contributions from Hi4H alum Simon Miraudo

SOPHIE, LEE AND PAUL LOOK BACK ON HYPHENATES IN 2015:

Top five Hi4H film discoveries (that you hadn't seen before)?

Sophie: Mainly as evidence that there *are* some films on Netflix UK (a previously unsubstantiated rumour): Michael Mann’s The Keep. Also as evidence that this most confident and assured of filmmakers occasionally ventures off his beat and into pulp territory. Deliciously bad.

I want to say that Jack’s Wife was so bad it’s good, but actually it was just great — despite the studio chopping and changing, the bones of a fascinating film from a mind that runs deep on American culture. So yes, the non-zombie George Romero film. I guess I like the outliers.

Lee: To try to make this easier, I'm sticking to a minimum of one film per filmmaker. But it's still damn tough. There was a lot of joy in rediscovering films such as Vincente Minnelli's The Bells Are Ringing (1960) and Jane Campion's The Piano (1993). But the five big new discoveries for me were: ClÃ©o de 5 Ã¡ 7 (1962, Varda), Harakiri (1962, Kobayashi), In the Cut (2003, Campion), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952, Minnelli), All That Jazz (1979, Fosse).

Paul: 2015 was the year Hi4H led me to rediscover my love for David Lynch — my born-again fervour for his work bordered on the evangelical, as he went from a director who I had always loved and/or been intrigued by already, to one of my top 5 all-time favourite filmmakers. This was also the year I discovered (way overdue, some may say — not me, but some might) French New Wave dynamo Agnes Varda. Her films are beautiful, inquisitive, funny, poignant and crushingly human at every turn. My other major Hi4H discovery this year — somewhat more unexpected — was Japanese auteur Masaki Kobayashi. While his filmography is more uneven than Lynch’s or Varda’s, his peaks are incredible: 1962’s HARAKIRI and his truly epic 1959-61 trilogy THE HUMAN CONDITION are two of the greatest works I’ve ever seen. The latter, in particular, was a huge influence on Kubrick’s FULL METAL JACKET, among other things. (1967’s SAMURAI REBELLION ain’t too shabby, either.)

Which new filmmakers to emerge in 2015 are you most excited about?

Sophie: Deniz Gamze ErgÃ¼ven (Mustang), Sydney Freeland (Drunktown’s Finest, Her Story), Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl): unbelievably great first films from all three. Coming of age stories like you’ve never seen them before, which feel like parallels to the directors’ careers: calling cards for artists breaking free. I know that Sydney has a great project in the pipeline, about teenage train robbers, and I have fingers crossed for Mustang’s chances at the Oscars…

Lee: Selma wasn't Ava DuVernay's first film, but we'll look back at it as the film that put her on the map. And I'm desperate to see what she does next. But in terms of newcomers, I'll be first in line for the sophomore efforts from Robert Eggers (The Witch), Ariel Kleiman (Partisan), Alex Garland (Ex Machina).

Paul: Interestingly, to me, 2015 was more a year of older filmmakers being invigorated with new material — Spielberg returning to classical brilliance with BRIDGE OF SPIES, Ridley Scott finding levity with THE MARTIAN, Roy Andersson returning with the bruising, sardonic A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH etc — so newer filmmakers weren’t quite my jam this year.

By far, my biggest find of the year was the shaggy, improvisational, darkly comic charms of Sebastian Silva. While I loved his 2013 psychological freakout MAGIC MAGIC, I saw a retrospective of his films at this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival and became quietly obsessed with his work. His NASTY BABY was one of my top 10 films of 2015, and 2010’s OLD CATS is a little rough diamond worth seeking out.

I’m also keen to see what Alex Garland — always a great screenwriter, but his excellent modern riff on the FRANKENSTEIN narrative, EX MACHINA, immediately marks him as a potentially great director, too — and *deep breath* Miroslav Slaboshpitsky — whose excoriating debut, THE TRIBE, was a IF…-meets-MEAN STREETS-via-Gaspar NoÃ© set in a school for the deaf thunderbolt like we’d never seen before (even if it didn’t quite know when to quit) — do next.

(Seriously, though: how do you follow up something like THE TRIBE?!)

Also, while SELMA felt a bit heavy-handed for me at times, I feel like Ava Duvernay might just be shaping into one of America’s greatest new directors of the next decade or more. Keep an eye on this one.

Five filmmakers you'd like to see us cover on the show?

Sophie: Let’s Brit it up! Lynne Ramsay is a must (and just makes the cut with three features — and some fantastic shorts). Some hyphenated configuration of Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger and/or the Archers, without whom British cinema is nothing. Given his renaissance, Terence Davies: seeing Sunset Song made me want to rewatch House of Mirth. Rewatching Derek Jarman is always a treat, and he’s one of the most prolific of the British arthouse filmmakers. (Ahem) Sally Potter, although I may have cheated slightly on the prep for that one 😉

Lee: One of my dream picks from last year actually got chosen, which was exciting. I won't bother repeating the other four though, instead going with YasujirÃ´ Ozu, Vittorio De Sica, Nora Ephron, Orson Welles and Jacques Demy. Come on, 2016 guests! Make it happen.

Paul: I’ve enjoyed listening to the last couple of months as a fan (in fact, Don Herzfeldt’s IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY was up there with Kobayashi’s films as my top older-film discoveries of 2015!), so, without the pressure of having to cram 30+ films into a month or two, I’d love to see you unleash all the unwieldy beasts I wanted to cover on Hi4H but was too frightened to because of time constraints. Deal with these, Lee and Soph! Hahahahahaaaa! (Don’t worry, I wouldn’t wish John Ford on you.)

1) Ingmar Bergman

2) Howard Hawks

(and somewhat kinder…)

3) Mario Bava

4) Orson Welles

5) Stanley Kubrick

Until about October or November, Hi4H was an Australian show. Given that, what were your favourite Australian films of the year?

Sophie: Two of my favourite 2015 UK theatrical releases were Australian: Sophie Hyde’s 52 Tuesdays (I know, we’re slow — and I have Sam Klemke’s Time Machine waiting to watch online as well) and The Dressmaker (Jocelyn Moorhouse). I did like Gayby Baby as well, which showed at the London Film Festival. And I can’t believe that Women He’s Undressed (Gillian Armstrong) doesn’t have a UK distributor… it would have been a great double bill with The Dressmaker!

Lee: 1) Mad Max: Fury Road; 2) Macbeth; 3) Sam Klemke's Time Machine; 4) Partisan; 5) The Dressmaker. All great films. Although if you take issue with Mad Max and Macbeth being considered Australian films, bump the other three up and sub in Gillian Armstrong's superb documentary Women He's Undressed and Tony Ayres' amazing 1970s thriller Cut Snake.

Paul: Jesus, did I see five Australian films this year? I feel terrible. So, this is going to come off like (as Lee and I often joke about) Stephen King’s annual These Are The Films I Saw This Year list. (Well, one of them was my Very Favourite Heavyweight Champion of all films in 2015, so…)

1) MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

2) THAT SUGAR FILM

3) PUTUPARRI AND THE RAINMAKERS

4) PAWNO

5) WOMEN HE’S UNDRESSED

(For the record, I did see 9 Australian films this year, so make of this list what you will. But I did really like and very much recommend all five of these films.)

Most anticipated films of 2016?

Sophie: Ghostbusters (although I’m never quite satisfied by Feig’s films… I’m hoping that Ghostbusters will be 100% like the scene in The Heat where Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock get drunk, dance and decorate each other with napkins and 0% like the tacked-on Chris O’ Dowd romance in Bridesmaids).

Creed (Ryan Coogler). Freeheld (Peter Sollett). Chevalier (Athina Rachel Tsangari).

Films I hope will get to festivals in 2016: Two forthcoming films from British filmmakers shooting overseas: Amma Asante’s A United Kingdom, and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey. Two films from first-time British feature filmmakers: Alice Lowe’s Prevenge. Hope Dickson Leach’s The Levelling. Claire Denis… in… space with Robert Pattinson (untitled project).

And it’s not cinema but it’s my most anticipated film-like object from a now hyphenated director: Top of the Lake II.

Films I’m anticipating that will make me really, really angry in 2016, based on their trailers: the remake of Point Break. The remake of Point Break. The pointless remake of Point Break. And probably Zoolander 2.

Lee: Looking back, two of the films I had on last year's list (Tarantino's The Hateful Eight and Scorsese's Silence) are films I'm still waiting on. So I might ignore 2015 films I haven't seen yet, and go with purely 2016 films.

Paul: Well, it’s hard to go past the first 2/3 months of the year here, as so many of my favourite directors and screenwriters have new films coming out between January and early March:

Quentin Tarantino’s THE HATEFUL EIGHT

Charlie Kaufman’s ANOMALISA

The Coen Brothers’ HAIL CAESAR

Aaron Sorkin’s STEVE JOBS

Todd Haynes’ CAROL

(You can pretty much close the year up after that, I reckon.)

And that’s me done for the last time!

Once again, I’d like to thank Lee for being such a brilliant co-host, tirelessly booking guests, editing the recordings from insane lengths to a manageable form in often even more insane amounts of time, and for — let’s face facts — carrying me for five-and-a-half years of podcasts. It really was one of the most fun things I’ve ever, ever done; I’m not one to endure intolerable situations for too long, and my association with HYPHENATES was the longest semi-professional one I’ve ever had (outside of my own production company), so that speaks volumes about what a blast it was to do. We got to speak to friends, critics, actors, TV personalities and Hollywood screenwriters about their favourite filmmakers, and just enthuse about motion pictures with them for an hour and a half (well, 59 minutes and change once we went online) — who wouldn’t want to do that?

I also wish Sophie all the very best for the future — you’ve already slotted in seamlessly, and bring a wonderful new perspective and humour to the HYPHENATES landscape, ensuring it’s a pleasure to listen to (certainly more than listening to my own damn voice) — the show’s in safe hands, which makes me happy.

May everyone have a happy, healthy, prosperous and cinematic 2016!

Au revoir,

PAN

Clift On Herztfeldt

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â€œ[Don Herztfeldt] sounds like Bill looks like he feels.â€

Animation is the bastard stepchild of cinema: often and mistakenly referred to as a genre, dismissed as kid's fare, and rarely celebrated in the way that live action is. Which is strange, given that animation is, in a sense, pure cinema. Everything you see has been created to be seen. There are no happy accidents, no unanticipated fireworks or weird-looking extras wandering through frame; it is all made.

When guest Tom Clift stepped in at the last minute (again, huge thanks to him), his choice of filmmaker seemed, if we're being completely honest, pleasingly slight. With a dozen short films to his name, Don Hertzfeldt's filmoraphy was clearly one that could be easily tackled with only a week's notice.

The logistical practicalities soon fell away as joy took over. It became clear that Hertzfeldt's films were some of the most imaginative and unusual and deeply funny films we'd seen in a long time. If you want to know what makes them that way, then you either need to watch them, or listen to this month's show. But preferably both.

Before we get to Hertzfeldt, however, we take some time to chat about the key films from this month: Jocelyn Moorhouse's dark comedy The Dressmaker, Todd Haynes's period romance Carol, Steven Spielberg's espionage thriller Bridge of Spies, and Paul Thomas Anderson's music documentary Junun.

We also take a look at the new forms of streaming and distribution. With Don Hertzfeldt self-distributing his films, and Junun released exclusively to online cinema website Mubi, we examine some of the challenges facing filmmakers who are creating content for these new media, and whether it's too early for audiences to be able to clearly curate their viewing habits in this new frontier.

That's a lot for one hour, right? Damn straight it is.

So download or stream us from this website, listen via Stitcher Smart Radio, or subscribe via iTunes. And tell your friends.

The Don Hertzfeldt Cheat Sheet

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Want to become an instant expert in our filmmaker of the month without committing yourself to an entire filmography? Then you need the Hell Is For Hyphenates Cheat Sheet: we program you a double that will not only make for a great evening's viewing, but bring you suitably up-to-speed before our next episode lands…

REJECTED (2000) and WORLD OF TOMORROW (2015)

Let's be honest, you could do the entire Don Hertzfeldt filmography in an evening without ever feeling the need to look at your watch. And we absolutely encourage you to do this. But if you want to stick to our usual two-film tradition, then we've got some absolute doozies for you. Hertzfeldt's films are almost exclusively animated shorts, and it wasn't easy to figure out which two to go with. Thankfully, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made our job a little easier. Kick your viewing off with the Oscar-nominated Rejected, which runs for only nine minutes. This hilarious short film imagines a series of rejected ads and promotions, and is surely the most anti-corporate film to ever be accidentally embraced by the Academy. Once you've seen that, follow it up with his most recent film, World of Tomorrow, in which a little girl is contacted by her future clone/descendent. This is one of the funniest and sharpest science fiction films you're likely to see, somehow deeply scathing and whimsically lighthearted all at once. And literally only sixteen minutes.

Substitutions: Again, it's really strange to be doing substitutions when you should just be watching all of this stuff. But our sub for Rejected is the painfully-funny Billy's Balloon, which we won't tell you anything about because even the setup is too good to spoil. The sub for World of Tomorrow is I Am So Proud Of You, part of his Bill trilogy, and an ingenious recounting of a sad man's life and his family history.

The Hidden Gem: Our hidden gems are usually off-beat or unusual departures from the norm, but that describes every single one of his films. So we're just going to put the five minute Wisdom Teeth here. Of all his films, this is arguably the strangest.

Where To Find Them: Hertzfeldt self-distributes, and DVD collections of most of his shorts can be ordered via his website, Bitter Films. You can also rent World of Tomorrow online for a paltry $5 on Vimeo, and believe us when we say that in terms of cash-to-quality ratio, that's the biggest bargain you'll find this week. Especially given you'll probably want to watch it multiple times and show it off to your friends. There is also a very limited edition blu-ray of his work that will be available soon, but we're reluctant to tell you about it because he’s only producing a finite number of copies, and, frankly, we want them. Oh, all right. Here you go. But don't tell anyone else.

The next episode of Hell Is For Hyphenates, featuring Tom Clift talking Don Hertzfeldt, will be released on the morning of November 30 (AEST).

Our Next Hyphenate: Tom Clift

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Not many people know that the greatest natural threat to the podcast is the volcano.

We'll explain.

Some of you may have read our previous announcement for this month's episode (which has now been taken down), revealing our next guest/filmmaker combo to be Rebecca Harkins-Cross talking Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

What neither we nor Rebecca could have predicted would be a whole bunch of volcanic ash from East Java’s Mt Raung grounding planes in Bali and stranding anyone who wanted to fly out. Rebecca included.

This has left her without the weeks of prep time she'd hoped to have before recording her episode, not to mention the weeks’ worth of actual work that has backed up in her absence. So Bec had no choice but to pull out of this month’s show, a decision we completely understood. (As an aside, this is the first time we’ve had a late cancellation since we started Hyphenates five-and-a-half years ago, which is pretty good when you think about it.) Fear not: both Bec and Fassbinder will be back on the show very soon!

So which guest has gallantly agreed to step into the breach with just over a week before the recording?

It's Melbourne arts journalist Tom Clift!

Tom is the co-founder and festivals editor of Movie Mezzanine, the reviewer of new release films for ABC radio's Overnights, and is a regular contributor to Concrete Playground, FilmInk, Film School Rejects and RogerEbert.com.

We've been chatting to Tom about guesting on the show for a very long time, and although we'd always hoped to give him much more notice than he's getting now, we are both delighted to finally have him on, and grateful for his willingness to jump in at the last minute.

So which filmmaker will Tom be talking to us about?

It's independent animator and award-winning director Don Hertzfeldt!

If you've never heard of Herzfeldt, his 2000 animated short Rejected was nominated for an Oscar, he has won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Short Film twice (the only filmmaker to have done so), and the Austin Chronicle described his films as being among â€œthe most influential and intellectually chewy examples of animation ever createdâ€.

Not a bad resume for a director who hasn't hit 40 yet.

In addition to his many short films, Herzfeldt has only made one feature film so far - 2012's It's Such a Beautiful Day - which would normally put him out of the running given our five drink minimum, but we were swayed by a few factors: Herzfeldt is a truly exciting auteur, Tom is very keen to discuss his work, and, let's be honest, we only have a week to prep for this one. We like to think of it as the stars aligning in such a way to ensure that everybody wins.

But here's the question: how has Hertzfeldt, in such a short period of time, already been hailed as the future of animation? And what is it about his work that so appeals to Tom? Tune in to Hell Is For Hyphenates on November 30 to find out!

Our next filmmaker of the month, Don Hertzfeldt

Howard On Mann

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This month, the new era of Hell Is For Hyphenates begins proper! (If you don't know what this means, you probably missed last month's show. There's still time to catch up.)

We're delighted to be joined this month by guest Blake Howard, who first mentioned his love of Michael Mann to us over two years ago! We made a note of this, and thought this month would be an ideal time to invite Blake onto the show to talk through his love of one of modern cinema's most divisive auteurs.

And that led us to another idea. From the beginning of the show, whenever we'd described our middle segment to people - the part of the show where we would often deal with topical issues facing cinema - we would always cite â€œfilm vs digitalâ€ as the sort of thing we'd debate. Only recently did we realise we'd never actually covered that topic, so this felt like the perfect time.

With film preservation in the news lately thanks to quotes from Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino, and with Michael Mann being one of the pioneering figures of digital cinema, we thought this was the time to finally address cinema's biggest 21^st century debate.

But that's not all! We also look at some key new releases of this month, including Robert Zemeckis's The Walk, Justin Kurzel's Macbeth, and Brian Helgeland's Legend.

So download or stream us from our website, listen in via Stitcher Smart Radio, or subscribe to us via iTunes. No matter how, where or why you consume the show, we hope you enjoy it.

The Michael Mann Cheat Sheet

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HEAT (1995) and COLLATERAL (2004)

There are few filmmakers with such distinct periods to their career as Michael Mann: there's the Celluloid Mann and the Digital Mann. There's also the Running Man, but that was directed by Paul Michael Glaser, and we don't want to confuse you. Of course, there's a lot more to Mann than just film vs digital, but if we're going to give you the complete Michael Mann experience, this is the obvious binary to go with. The first film in your evening's viewing is Heat, the 1995 crime film that finally united Al Pacino and Robert De Niro on screen (The Godfather Part II doesn't count because they never shared a scene, and Righteous Kill doesn't count for a variety of reasons). Heat is one of the great crime epics, the epitome of the Career Cop vs Career Criminal showdown. When you've finished that, follow it up with 2004's Collateral, which is probably the epitome of the Career Criminal vs Cab Driver crime epics. It's the first feature Mann shot exclusively on digital, and the best-received of Mann's 21^st century oeuvre. Clear an evening this weekend, throw these two films on, and you'll be an instant expert in what makes Mann Mann.

Substitutions: Can't get or have already seen Heat? Then check out 1986's Manhunter. This was the first on-screen appearance of Hannibal Lecter, beating Silence of the Lambs to cinemas by five years. And a lot of film fans actually consider Manhunter to be every bit the equal to Silence. Will you be one of them? Find out! If you can't get or have already seen Collateral, check out 2006's Miami Vice. Look, it's not a universally beloved film, but like Collateral it demonstrates the visual and narrative aesthetic that Mann's been so keenly exploring.

The Hidden Gem: Want to see something from off the beaten path? Check out 1979's The Jericho Mile, Mann's first feature (albeit made for TV, so if you don't count those, then, I don't know, don't watch it). It's not talked about as often as his other works, but it's a hell of a debut and will leave you with little doubt as to why his career took off so quickly.

The next episode of Hell Is For Hyphenates, featuring Blake Howard talking Michael Mann, will be released on the morning of October 31 (AEST).

Our Next Hyphenate: Blake Howard

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The new era of Hell Is For Hyphenates is here! What will it sound like? Nobody knows! You'll have to tune in on October 31 to find out. But this is a show all about the guests, so allow us to introduce our October 2015 Hyphenate, Blake Howard.

Blake is a film critic, writer and podcaster based in Sydney. He's the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Graffiti With Punctuation, the popular Australian film and TV website. He began as the co-host of That Movie Show on 2UE, and currently co-hosts the podcasts Pod Save Our Screen with Maria Lewis, and The Debrief with Cam Williams. Thankfully, he's not too podded out, and will be joining us at the end of the month to talk some more film.

But which filmmaker has Blake chosen to talk about?

None other than the master of the modern crime noir, Michael Mann!

Michael Mann is probably best known for the 1995 crime thriller Heat, which pitted Al Pacino and Robert De Niro against one another for the first time, finally seeing the pair share the screen after their missed connections in Godfather Part II. Prior to then, Mann had put himself on the map with the likes of The Jericho Mile, Thief, The Last of the Mohicans, and the first on-screen appearance of Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter.

Recently, Mann has been noted for his foray into digital photography, creating his own aesthetic long before the rest of cinema had gone digital. From 2004's Collateral onwards, his films took on a distinct look that has divided critics and audiences. From Miami Vice to Public Enemies to this year's Blackhat, Mann has established a visual texture that is unlike that of any other filmmaker.

But what is it about Mann that appeals to Blake? Join us on October 31 to find out!

Our next filmmaker of the month, Michael Mann

Nelson On Romero

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When there is no more room in Hell Is For Hyphenates, the Paul shall walk the Earth.

That was a bit of a switcheroo, wasn't it?

If you haven't listened to the podcast yet, you might want to stop reading this and get on it. However, if you want to know the news but don't care to listen to the show, it's very strange you're here, but also: Paul is leaving the show. Five-and-a-half years is a pretty impressive innings. In that time, Australia has had four Prime Ministers, so measured in those terms he's been here for donkey's.

As he discussed in this month's episode, there are a lot of factors. He will be leaving to focus his energies on his filmmaking career - prepping for Hell Is For Hyphenates requires a tremendous amount of time and energy - and decided that Lee moving to the UK would be a good opportunity to change things up. And that's the other piece of news: Lee is moving to the UK.

Because of that, it made sense that Paul's replacement be someone who is based in the UK already, and we've been incredibly fortunate to secure the talents of our next host Sophie Mayer! Sophie is a film critic and author who definitely knows her away around cinema in all its forms and shapes. She's the ideal candidate for the show, and we were totally delighted when she agreed to come on board.

There's going to be a lot of transition over the next few months. Hyphenates will migrate from an Australian-based show to a UK-based show, which will largely impact the film reviews as, out of necessity, we'll start to go by British release dates instead. Our remit for the reviews is that we talk about films our audience has seen, and we hope the makeup of our audience doesn't change despite this practical shift.

We've also got a number of Australian guests who are booked into 2016. We book so far in advance, many of these guests were confirmed before we had any idea this shake-up would be occurring. We will continue to ensure that any podcasts recorded over Skype are mixed in a way that will trick you into thinking we're all in the same room.

But the real transition will be figuring out what the show is now. For the past five-and-a-half years, Hyphenates has been the Paul-and-Lee show, with each episode's feel uniquely impacted by that month's guest. It would be foolish to try to replicate that, and so we'll be figuring out what the Sophie-and-Lee show sounds like. It's going to be the exact same show, but totally different. Trust us on that. It'll be exciting to mix it up, and we hope you stick with us as we figure out what this new iteration of Hyphenates sounds like.

But enough housekeeping. Hyphenates has always been, and will continue to be, first and foremost a show about celebrating films and filmmakers. And this month, as Paul transitioned over the course of the episode from host to guest, we discovered one of his favourite filmmakers was in fact George A Romero.

This came as something of a surprise to those who knew Paul to be a Tarantino-consumed child of 1970s New Hollywood. Surely, given QT has been covered on the show before, Scorsese would be the obvious choice? But although Paul's love for Marty remains strong, it's quite revealing to discover what it is about Romero that appeals to him so much, particularly as Paul embarks upon his own filmmaking career.

We also look at the thematically-titled London Road, Ridley Scott's The Martian, and Susanne Bier's A Second Chance, and, to varying degrees, rave like lunatics about each one. This is a bumper episode - 1hr 32m - due to the fact that it's Sophie's first and Paul's last, and that sort of momentous occasion deserves a bit of breathing room.

So enjoy this month's episode, and maybe leave Paul a farewell message on the episode, if you're so inclined. We hope you enjoy the new iteration of Hell Is For Hyphenates!

Outro music: score from Night of the Living Dead (1968), taken from stock music composed by either Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin, Jack Cookerly, Ib Glindemann, Philip Green, Geordie Hormel, William Loose, Jack Brunker Meakin, Spencer Moore or John Seely!

Those who have listened to the episode and are wondering which shot Lee was referring to when he said

â€œThere is a moment in this film â€¦ I would rate it up there with Spielberg's best shot construction.â€

â€¦the shot in question is embedded below. Antagonist George Stark said that he'd castrate a character and place theâ€¦ cuttings in said character's mouth. But how do you show that in an early 1990s mainstream film? Watch the way he orchestrates the characters, moves the camera, and ingeniously reveals the gruesome display. It's masterful stuff.

The George A Romero Cheat Sheet

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GR Films

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) and MARTIN (1977)

There are two George Romeros: the zombie filmmaker, and the not-zombie filmmaker. The first is the director of legend, the one everyone knows. Romero is, to many people, the filmmaker behind Night of the Living Dead, the independent horror film that brought zombies into the mainstream. This terrifying '60s classic is a world away from the B-movie schlock that defined so much of that period's horror, and so much more identifiable with the serious dramas of the time. It has become a touchstone of horror because of how rawly it reflects everything that's happening in the 1960s, particularly in terms of race relations. There's never an evening when Night of the Living Dead isn't a great watch, and you'll want to follow that up with Martin. This is the non-zombie Romero at play, and although it may seem as if he's taking a side-step into another classic monster trope (this time vampires), Martin is so much more than that. Our protagonist and titular character is deeply disturbed, and has been raised to believe he's a monster. It's a nature vs nurture argument treated like monster A vs monster B, and all contained within this intense character drama. It further reveals Romero as someone who is far from just a horror director: he's a filmmaker who uses horror to explore all sides of human nature, proving that ultimately, these two Romeros are one and that same.

Substitutions: If you can't get or have already seen Night of the Living Dead, try 1978's Dawn of the Dead, which is considered by many to be just as groundbreaking as Night. If you can't get or have already seen Martin, try 1981's Knightriders, the film that's as much about Romero the filmmaker as it is about Ed Harris putting on a suit of armour and riding a motorbike about the place.

The Hidden Gem: Want to watch something from off the beaten track? Check out Season of the Witch aka Hungry Wives (1972), an astonishingly progressive and dangerous film that, like all of Romero's best work, is far more about the human conflict than the supernatural.

The next episode of Hell Is For Hyphenates, featuring Sophie Mayer talking George A Romero, will be released on the morning of September 30 (AEST).