Can’t Look Away
by Dave
I was a kid in the 70s, a teenager in the 80s and in my twenties in the 90s — and movies have been part of the ride all the way. From old favourites and forgotten gems to films I’m watching for the first time, I revisit the movies, share the memories and talk about whatever gets me thinking.
Episodes
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Episode 202: The Devils (1971)
After more than 30 years, Ken Russell’s The Devils hit me like a cinematic sledgehammer — with Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave delivering extraordinary performances in a wild, disturbing and often darkly funny collision of religious hysteria and political intrigue. Russell and Derek Jarman make...
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Episode 201: Cache (2005)
I revisited Michael Haneke’s Caché nearly 20 years after first seeing it, and found myself caught up in a mystery that raises some uncomfortable questions about guilt, buried secrets and the past catching up with us. With a terrific Juliette Binoche performance and one scene that genuinely…
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Episode 200: Police Academy (1984)
For my 200th episode, I went back to a film that still has me laughing out loud — proof that a bunch of misfits, a pompous pain in the arse and one very unfortunate visit to the Blue Oyster Bar never get old. It’s gloriously silly, surprisingly warm, and the perfect Friday-night reminder that...
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Episode 199: Comes a Horseman (1978)
I expected a plodding old Western, but Alan J. Pakula’s Comes a Horseman turned out to be an absolute gem — an 8.5/10 surprise. Jane Fonda brings fire, James Caan is right at home in the saddle, and Jason Robards is deliciously nasty in a gripping tale of land, greed and stubborn determination.
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Episode 198: King of New York (1990)
Christopher Walken rules the streets, David Caruso goes gloriously over the top, and nobody seems to have heard of a quiet night in — Abel Ferrara’s King of New York is one hell of a wild ride. But while Walken commands the screen, it’s Caruso’s unhinged antics and Victor Argo’s weary cop who...
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Episode 197: The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
Venice, seduction and four people who really shouldn’t be left alone together — The Comfort of Strangers is a beautifully sinister little nightmare where a holiday romance takes a very dark turn. In episode four of The Wonder of Walken: A Weekend of Wacky, Weird and Wild Walken, Christopher…
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Episode 196: Communion (1989)
Christopher Walken takes us on a wild ride through alien abductions, creepy encounters and some truly bizarre dance moves in Communion (1989). It’s episode three of The Wonder of Walken: A Weekend of Wacky, Weird and Wild Walken — and this one is certainly living up to the weird part!
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Episode 195: Brainstorm (1983)
What do you get when you mix Christopher Walken, a mind-bending sci-fi idea, a pair of golf slacks straight out of Caddyshack and a finale that looks like Douglas Trumbull has raided the cosmic leftovers from 2001: A Space Odyssey? You get Brainstorm (1983) — a film with its foot flat on the...
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Episode 194: The Dead Zone (1983)
Kicking off my Wonder of Walken: A Weekend of Wacky, Weird and Wild Walken is The Dead Zone — a Stephen King story brought to life by Christopher Walken and director David Cronenberg. I’ve watched this one more times than I can count, but Walken’s wonderfully odd, understated performance still…
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Episode 193: Collateral (2004)
Michael Mann’s Collateral is a gripping night-time thriller, with Jamie Foxx caught in a nightmare taxi ride and Tom Cruise chillingly effective as a professional hitman. I revisit a film that keeps me hooked every time, and wonder why Cruise hasn’t taken more chances with roles like this.
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Episode 192: Solo Sunny (1980)
Sunny has the voice, the looks and plenty of spark, but she can’t seem to catch a break as she tries to make it as a singer in East Germany. Renate Krößner is terrific in Konrad Wolf’s Solo Sunny, a film that asks whether it’s a rigid society or simply life itself that makes it so hard to be...
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Episode 191: Hollywood 90028 (1973)
I revisit Christina Hornisher’s cult film to explore its disturbing ideas about obsession, exploitation and urban decay, its remarkable images of early-70s Los Angeles, and how a film so rough around the edges can deliver one of the most unforgettable finales I’ve seen.
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Episode 190: Night Moves (1975)
I thought Night Moves was good when I first saw it, but this rewatch has turned me into a fan — Gene Hackman is magnificent as a private eye who seems to get just about everything wrong, while Arthur Penn delivers a sun-drenched mystery with a very dark underbelly. For me, it’s the ultimate...
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Episode 189: China Moon (1994)
I revisit China Moon, a 90s erotic thriller I remembered rather more fondly than it deserves. Madeleine Stowe is a smoke show, but with wooden performances, dodgy decisions and a plot you can see coming a mile away, this one’s strictly Thursday-night viewing — and probably best left in the 90s.
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Episode 188: Irreversible (2002)
Revisiting Gaspar Noé’s Irréversible was far more confronting than I remembered, but beneath its horrific violence I found an extraordinary piece of filmmaking about time, revenge and the fragility of happiness. Deeply disturbing yet brilliantly constructed, it’s a film that left me thinking long...
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Episode 187: Tommy (1975)
Ken Russell’s Tommy is a gloriously bonkers rock opera packed with outrageous performances, bizarre imagery and unforgettable music. From Tina Turner’s Acid Queen to Ann-Margret’s baked-beans-and-chocolate meltdown, it’s decadent, excessive 1970s cinema at its absolute wildest. And as a gateway...
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Episode 186: The Enforcer (1976)
Harry Callahan is back, and he’s got a new partner, a fresh batch of criminals to shoot and the usual collection of bureaucrats to piss off. I revisit The Enforcer to see whether Clint Eastwood still delivers the goods, even when the plot starts getting a little bloody ridiculous.
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Episode 185: Winter of Our Dreams (1981)
Winter of Our Dreams may be a slight little film, but Judy Davis’s troubled character and the complicated worlds she moves between give it plenty to chew on. For me, though, the real pleasure is revisiting a gritty, long-gone Sydney of old Kings Cross, Balmain and the waterfront — a fascinating...
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Episode 184: Basic Instinct (1992)
Basic Instinct is a film of irresistible style, outrageous behaviour and one of cinema’s most iconic performances from Sharon Stone. But beneath all that sex, violence and San Francisco glamour, the mystery doesn’t always make as much sense as it thinks it does.
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Episode 183: Peeping Tom (1960)
Revisiting Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom after 30 years, I found fewer chills than I remembered, but plenty to chew over in this disturbing tale of a photographer whose obsession with capturing fear comes at a terrible cost. It’s less a straight-up thriller than a deeply unsettling look at how a...
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Episode 182: Belle de jour (1967)
Catherine Deneuve, a secret double life and Luis Buñuel’s wonderfully strange view of desire — Belle de Jour is certainly an intriguing combination. Revisiting this 1967 classic, I found plenty to chew over, from its surreal fantasies to its curious characters and the fine line between what’s…
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Episode 181: Gothic (1986)
I revisit Ken Russell’s gloriously bizarre take on the night Mary Shelley came up with Frankenstein, and discover that nearly 40 years on, it’s every bit as strange as I remembered — although I now have a better idea what the hell is going on. Lord Byron, sex, drugs, séances, demons and Julian...
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Episode 180: Straight Time (1978)
Dustin Hoffman is almost unrecognisable in Straight Time, a tough, gritty 1978 film about an ex-con trying to make a life on the straight and narrow — and slowly finding his way back to the only world he really knows.
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Episode 179: He Got Game (1998)
I revisit Spike Lee’s He Got Game, a film I’ve always had a soft spot for. Denzel is terrific, Ray Allen is a revelation, the music is bloody brilliant and there are some cracking scenes — it’s a really good film, even if a few things stop it from being a great one.
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Episode 178: Proof (1991)
I revisit Proof, a quirky little Australian film from 1991 that I remembered liking but had almost completely forgotten. Hugo Weaving is terrific, Russell Crowe is impossibly young and natural, and Geneviève Picot’s Celia turns out to be far more fascinating — and dangerous — than I remembered.
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Episode 177: The Vanishing (1988)
I revisit this Dutch psychological thriller I hadn’t seen since the early 90s, and discover it’s every bit as unsettling as I remembered. A missing woman, a relentlessly obsessed boyfriend and one of the most chillingly ordinary psychopaths you’re ever likely to meet make this a fascinating film...
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Episode 176: The Bounty (1984)
I can’t believe I somehow missed The Bounty for more than 40 years, especially as an Australian. Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson are brilliantly cast, a very young Liam Neeson and Daniel Day-Lewis pop up along the way, and what I expected to be a history lesson turned out to be one hell of an...
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Episode 175: That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)
Fernando Rey spends the entire film chasing a woman who keeps changing her face, moving the goalposts and driving him completely mad. I had a great time watching Buñuel mix sexual frustration, dark comedy, obsession and terrorism into one wonderfully strange and captivating film.
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Episode 174: All or Nothing (2002)
I revisit Mike Leigh’s All or Nothing, a tough but brilliantly acted look at a family struggling with money, relationships and just getting through the day. Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville are terrific, and while things get pretty bleak, Leigh manages to find a little hope in the darkness.
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Episode 173: Hidden Agenda (1990)
I revisit Ken Loach’s gripping political thriller where an investigation into a murder gradually uncovers something much bigger. Brian Cox and Frances McDormand are terrific as two people forced to decide just how far they’re prepared to go to uncover the truth.
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Episode 172: In the Heat of the Night (1967)
I revisit a film that’s every bit as powerful and entertaining as I remembered. Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger are terrific, but it’s the combination of murder mystery, atmosphere and a searing portrait of racial prejudice that makes this 1967 classic still hit hard today.
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Episode 171: Three Colours: Red (1994)
Three Colours: Red has always been my favourite of Kieślowski’s trilogy, and one of the films I remembered most fondly from the 1990s. With its chance encounters, strange connections and characters whose lives gradually become intertwined, there’s certainly plenty to unpack this time around.
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Episode 170: Three Colours: White (1994)
I revisit Kieślowski’s Three Colours: White, a very different beast from Blue — part revenge story, part romantic comedy and part Polish Mr Bean. Karol’s humiliations, mad schemes and increasingly elaborate plan for revenge make this one of the trilogy’s most entertaining and unpredictable films.
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Episode 169: Three Colours: Blue (1993)
I revisit Three Colours: Blue, a film I’ve always admired but never felt particularly close to. Juliette Binoche is terrific as a woman trying to shut the world out after unimaginable loss, and Kieślowski gives us plenty to think about along the way.
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Episode 168: Romeo is Bleeding (1993)
I revisit a film I’d completely forgotten despite watching pretty much everything Gary Oldman was doing in the early ’90s. With a ridiculous cast, plenty of sex and violence and one of the craziest characters I’ve come across, this is one seriously bonkers film.
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Episode 167: Outland (1981)
I revisit Outland, Sean Connery’s gritty sci-fi thriller set on a mining colony on Io. It’s got great visuals, a creepy atmosphere and Frances Sternhagen stealing the show — but some seriously hammy dialogue and a villain who’d rather work on his golf game stop it from reaching its potential.
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Episode 166: The Missouri Breaks (1976)
I revisit The Missouri Breaks, a film I remembered as a major disappointment from my VHS days, despite Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando being in the same movie. Nearly 50 years later, I found some great performances, beautiful scenery and a very strange Brando, but still wondered what the hell...
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Episode 165: Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
I revisit Eyes of Laura Mars, a film I hadn’t seen for years and remembered very little about. Watching it again took me back to 1978 New York, with Faye Dunaway surrounded by fashion, photographers and some very unsettling images — and I found myself wondering what exactly this film was trying…
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Episode 164: Miami Blues (1990)
I revisit this wildly unpredictable 1990 crime comedy featuring an absolutely unhinged Alec Baldwin, a terrific Jennifer Jason Leigh and Fred Ward trying to make sense of the chaos. A bizarre, violent and hugely entertaining ride that’s definitely Thursday-night/Friday-night movie territory.
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Episode 163: Rush (1991)
I revisit this gripping 1991 crime drama about two undercover narcotics cops who become dangerously immersed in the world they’re investigating. Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh are fantastic, and the film’s raw depiction of addiction, great Texas atmosphere and Eric Clapton soundtrack still...
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Episode 162: Magnum Force (1973)
I revisit Magnum Force, the second Dirty Harry film, with Clint Eastwood back in San Francisco facing a very different kind of threat. There’s plenty to enjoy in the action, the city and the idea at the heart of the story, but I found myself questioning some of the film’s choices as the story...
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Episode 161: Vagabond (1985)
I revisit Agnès Varda’s Vagabond, a grim, strange and incredibly absorbing film about a young woman determined to live completely on her own terms. I found myself fascinated by Mona — her freedom, her stubbornness and the risks that come with living outside everyone else’s rules.
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Episode 160: Freebie and the Bean (1974)
A 1974 action-comedy starring James Caan and Alan Arkin - it’s a wild mix of buddy-cop antics, screwball comedy and spectacular car chases, and I take a look at what worked for me — and what didn’t quite land.
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Episode 159: Five Easy Pieces (1970)
I revisit Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces, with Jack Nicholson delivering a brilliant performance as a man who seems determined to escape every life he’s ever had. Funny, sad and quietly devastating — a genuine 1970 masterpiece.
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Episode 158: Crimson Gold (2003)
I revisit Jafar Panahi’s Crimson Gold, a slow-burning and deeply unsettling Iranian drama about poverty, humiliation and a man pushed to the edge. Hossain Emadeddin gives one of the strangest and most quietly compelling performances I’ve seen.
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Episode 157: Metal Skin (1995)
I revisit Geoffrey Wright’s Metal Skin, a ferocious Australian film packed with cars, violence, emotion and relentless energy. Aden Young is absolutely magnificent as Joe, with Ben Mendelsohn terrific alongside him in a film that throws the kitchen sink at you and never lets up.
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Episode 156: Point Blank (1967)
I revisit Point Blank, the 1967 crime thriller starring Lee Marvin that feels like it somehow arrived several years too early. It’s brutal, strange, stylish and psychologically fascinating — and at the centre of it all is Marvin, barely saying a word but somehow telling you everything.
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Episode 155: Westworld (1973)
I revisit Michael Crichton’s 1973 sci-fi thriller where you can go on holiday, shoot robots and basically do whatever you want — until the robots stop playing along. And James Brolin finds himself dealing with another rattlesnake, just like in Capricorn One — clearly the man didn’t have a snake...
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Episode 154: Hard Times (1975)
I revisit Walter Hill’s Hard Times, and Charles Bronson is the real revelation — a remarkably controlled, stoic performance that might just be my favourite of his. Add in James Coburn, some brutally sweaty bare-knuckle fights and the fantastic grime of 1930s New Orleans, and you’ve got one hell…
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Episode 153: Run Lola Run (1998)
I revisit Tom Tykwer’s wildly inventive 76-minute blast of energy, where one tiny change can completely alter what happens next. Franka Potente is unforgettable as Lola in this stylish, frantic late-90s classic.
About this show
I was a kid in the 70s, a teenager in the 80s and in my twenties in the 90s — and movies have been part of the ride all the way. From old favourites and forgotten gems to films I’m watching for the first time, I revisit the movies, share the memories and talk about whatever gets me thinking.
Hosted by
Dave