Tag Archives: netflix

Hell Is For Hyphenates – February 2019

David Caesar joins us to talk the films of Bruno Dumont!

Australian film and television director David Caesar joins Rochelle and Lee for a chat about some of the key new releases from this month, including Steven Soderbergh’s backroom NBA drama High Flying Bird (01:34), Mimi Leder’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex (09:50), Dan Gilroy’s high-art horror-drama Velvet Buzzsaw (17:07), and Barry Jenkins’s dramatic James Baldwin adaptation If Beale Street Could Talk (22:36).

Off the back of Steven Soderbergh’s comments on why making movies on your phone and releasing them onto Netflix may be the future of cinema for certain filmmakers, could this model be the very thing needed to inject life into the Australian film industry? (29:48)

Then, David takes us through the works of his filmmaker of the month, Bruno Dumont. Dumont is a divisive figure, whose films are loved and hated by audiences and critics alike. So how does a filmmaker go from making vérité films dripping with realism to high-concept farces, supernatural comedies, and medieval musicals with head-banging metal solos? We take a deep dive into this fascinating filmography to find out. (40:23)

Hell Is For Hyphenates – April 2018

Ming-Zhu Hii joins us to talk the films of Steve McQueen!

Rochelle and Lee are joined by this month’s guest, actor and filmmaker Ming-Zhu Hii! Ming-Zhu joins us to chat about some of the key films from this month, including Steven Soderbergh’s feature-film-shot-on-an-iPhone Unsane (01:21), Rungano Nyoni’s dramatic debut I Am Not a Witch (07:40), Sally Potter’s one-act stageplay-esque The Party (14:47), and Wes Anderson’s stop motion animation Isle of Dogs (20:37).

They then look at the news that the Cannes Film Festival has banned Netflix films from playing in competition. Is Cannes turning its back on the changing nature of cinema, or helping to preserve its traditions? (27:10)

Then, Ming-Zhu takes us through the films of British filmmaker and artist Steve McQueen. McQueen is best known for his feature films Hunger (2008), Shame (2011), and 12 Years a Slave (2013), all of which received high critical praise, and the latter of which won the Oscar for Best Picture. But McQueen had a prolific career before he entered the world of feature films, winning the Turner Prize for his art, as well as making short films, video installations, TV commercials, music videos, and much more besides. Ming-Zhu talks about how she first discovered McQueen’s work, and what it means to her. (35:48)