A friend of mine commented in conversation (WhatsApp) last week that they were having a difficult time scheduling their social activity. With so much by way of online concerts, plays, and movies to choose from, it was hard, they said, to find time for everything. Just about the only thing I’ve done consistently for the last four weeks is to make sure that the projector is turned off before midnight. No exception. The temptation to binge-watch into the wee hours and then spend the next morning catching up on sleep is all too real. There’s so much going on in the world right now that I can’t control, I have to take control of what little I can.
Netflix has converted me to being a huge fan of Australian TV. I’m at the stage now where I spend a few minutes trying to remember what I saw an actor in and what part they played. I can highly recommend the following:
- Rake: “Criminal lawyer Cleaver Greene defends the indefensible – from bigamists to cannibals and everything in between. He is champion of the lost cause, both in the courtroom and in the bedroom.” There’s some wicked humour running through this. Kate Box, who plays Nicole, also shows up in …
- Wanted: Lola and Chelsea have been catching the same bus for 18 months. They’ve never spoken. Until the night they witness a car-jacking and are framed by bad cops. They go on the run. Very clever stuff. And fab scenes set in New Zealand. Robyn Malcolm who plays Lola’s sister, Donna, played the ever-so-scary gangster Kirsty Corella in Rake. And Nicholas Bell, who plays bad cop Ray Stanton, also shows up in …
- Miss Fischer’s Murder Mysteries: “A female sleuth sashays through the back lanes and jazz clubs of Melbourne in the late 1920s, fighting injustice with her pearl-handled pistol and her dagger-sharp wit.” Hugo Johnstone-Burt who plays a young constable grows up to play a politician in Rake. Daniel Wyllie, who plays Gerald McNaster in the episode Dead Man’s Chest also shows up in…
- Secret City: “Beneath the placid facade of Canberra, amidst rising tension between China and the United States, Canberra press gallery journalist Harriet Dunkley forces her way closer to the truth, uncovering a secret city of interlocked conspiracies which will threaten her career and her life and endanger the freedom of every Australian.” Michael Denka, who plays Michael Lavelle also shows up in…
- The Code: “The Code is a six-part Australian drama TV series set in both outback and metropolitan areas of Australia. Hold onto your butts, because this show interweaves several plot lines all involving brothers Ned, a journalist, and Jesse, his hacker brother. There’s murder, kidnappings, fugitives, and surprising twists and turns that would give Black Mirror a run for its money.”
I’d be hard pushed to pick a favourite. They’re all impressive.
The other night, himself wanted to watch an old movie that reminded him a little of current times. I’d never heard of it. V is for Vendetta.
V for Vendettais a 2005 dystopian political thriller action film set in an alternative future where a Nordic supremacist and neo-facist totalitarian regime has subjugated the UK. The film centres on V (portrayed by Hugo Weaving), an anarchist and masked freedom fighter who attempts to ignite a revolution through elaborate terrorist acts, while Natalie Portman plays Evey, a young, working-class woman caught up in V’s mission and Stephen Rea portrays a detective leading a desperate quest to stop V.
There are so many parallels that I found myself tying into Brexit, COVID-19, our illustrious PM, Jeremy Corbyn … It’s definitely worth a watch.
This week, I’m ever so grateful to the nice telecomms company that came through the village a couple of years back and laid a fibre optic cable. We have better connectivity here than just about anywhere I’ve ever worked or lived. The connection is there and my list is long.
Share this:
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
One Response
I find that if I watch TV late in the evening I catch up on sleep before going to bed . . .