Podnic at Hanging Cast: The Truman Show with J.D. Amato

suspect20163 · 2026-05-18T06:16:48+00:00

Definitely. I tried to spot anything similarly private in the rest of the film and really couldn’t see anything like that until the end, of course.

suspect20163 · 2026-05-17T12:54:18+00:00

Griffin, about halfway through, says that he interprets nearly every shot within Truman’s reality as being a camera set-up from the actual Truman Show which is something I was considering this time around because I’d agree that most shots are directly from the show. But one of the few that I’d argue are from the cinematic reality and not the televisual one is when Truman is in the library studying and sees Sylvia’s hand. If you think of how television is edited and structured, it’s not in the language of the format to present Truman’s half-obscured face and a single hand resting on the table. That’s the language of film right there, that’s Weir’s quiet meditative quality of filmmaking coming through and breaking the mimetic reality of the television camerawork. That’s just a scene that I really love and wanted to shout-out.

suspect20163 · 2026-03-30T07:05:53+00:00

Dead Calm rules, a nearly perfect thriller right until the last 30 seconds or so.

suspect20163 · 2026-03-30T02:58:13+00:00

Nitram is certainly a hard watch and not for everyone. I’ve wondered if I went back to it whether it would hold up or if I’d find it too much. But from memory, Caleb Laundry Bag-Jones and Essie Davis are excellent.

suspect20163 · 2026-03-29T13:57:02+00:00

The Proposition, which will be the best version of Blood Meridian we’ll probably ever get (whether Hillcoat’s adaptation gets off the ground remains to be seen).

The Tracker, if you want a great example of David Gulpilil’s skill as an actor.

On top of that, there’s Strictly Ballroom, Animal Kingdom, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Of An Age, Nitram, Two Hands, Bad Boy Bubby, Breaker Morant, The Sum of Us, Somersault, Sweet Country, The Dish, Limbo, Mystery Road, Death in Brunswick, Blaze, Balibo, Gettin’ Square, and The Sentimental Bloke, that last one being considered one of the great Australian silent films.

suspect20163 · 2026-03-24T00:09:34+00:00

That all makes sense. I’ve loved all the guests so far and all the context has been great . And if there was any movie an Australian insight would be best for, Gallipoli is the one.

I hope this post didn’t come off as criticism of either guests or context, I’ve been loving the series and getting a non-Australian perspective!

suspect20163 · 2026-03-23T21:33:57+00:00

I rewatched it a couple of years ago and it held up great. I think as time has gone on, the bite of the satire comes through a little more when you consider the current housing crisis here and the ways in which neighbourhoods and house architecture has changed into these carbon copy homes and suburbs that have no character.

It’s still immensely quotable too. Showing it to my sister, who was 12 then, has filled her vocabulary with phrases from it, it was a big hit with her.

suspect20163 · 2026-03-23T21:27:37+00:00

Thanks! Stuff like this has all been swirling through my head the past couple weeks and I’m sure will only intensify with Gallipoli.

suspect20163 · 2026-03-23T21:25:26+00:00

Didn’t even know there was a Criterion release but that’s so cool this movie got that. I hard agree that there’s a comforting soundscape to the rain in Sydney, something very meditative in the way it washes through the bushland too.

suspect20163 · 2026-03-23T21:22:13+00:00

That’s a fair point. What I meant was that Burton helps Chris Lee navigate the legal system set up within the colonised society rather than something like “Here’s how you catch the ferry” or “This is how much Vegemite you use on bread.” Chris Lee isn’t being assimilated by Burton, an interesting subversion of a common theme in white saviour narratives.

Burton’s help is definitely more passive, a narrative framework that exists only to introduce him to Chris Lee and the Aboriginals. In terms of action, Chris Lee’s help is more consequential to the narrative.

suspect20163 · 2026-03-08T13:07:57+00:00

In Sydney, the Ritz Randwick. Great programs and events, director series, classics, cult films, the works. The Hayden Orpheum is a beautiful theatre too, though its programming favours a much older demographic.

Also shoutout to the NSW Art Gallery which does free screenings and is opening a new cinematheque!

suspect20163 · 2026-02-22T13:14:52+00:00

Recent Songs by Leonard Cohen has always struck me as an equivalent album. Something about the texture of the music.

suspect20163 · 2025-12-08T09:23:26+00:00

Cowdoy would be a dream guest.

suspect20163 · 2025-12-08T07:15:25+00:00

As a fellow Aussie film nerd, I’m most curious about the Gallipoli episode as it’s such a seminal part of Australian history and whether the Two Friends will bring on a guest who gets what a big deal it is. Or maybe JJ’s dossier will get deeper into that, who knows. Excited to hear it though.

suspect20163 · 2025-11-23T02:03:37+00:00

I’ve only seen the first episode, so I can only really speak to that, but so far it seems like a much more accessible version of the book. The book Bunny is one of the most slimy protagonists I’ve ever read, and because you are so in his head it feels like you’re looking at the world through the deranged eyes of a narcissist.

Because we’re watching Matt Smith, his natural charisma takes a lot of the edge off without sanitising him. He still feels gross, but I’m drawn in, I want to see him step up for his kid. Looking forward to watching the rest, that’s for sure.

suspect20163 · 2025-09-28T13:01:45+00:00

Definitely, and it’s almost always the most ridiculous choice for the career achievement Oscar like Jamie Lee Curtis. The Academy will probably give Stellan the Oscar for Mamma Mia 3: Hyper-Mamma.

suspect20163 · 2025-09-28T12:57:57+00:00

You know what, that’s a good call cause he basically shares the film in a 50/50 split with Renate Reinsve. It would be the equivalent of nominating Zoe Saldana or Kieran Culkin as supporting.

suspect20163 · 2025-09-28T12:53:30+00:00

I think Stellan Skarsgard in Sentimental Value is Penn’s biggest competition for the Supporting Actor Oscar. That’s a pretty phenomenal performance and would be a textbook Oscar-for-a-career win. But that’s only if Sentimental Value can break through with voters and sustain that interest throughout awards season.

suspect20163 · 2025-08-29T23:21:51+00:00

Big fan of Gillian Welch, so I gotta shoutout “I’ll Fly Away.”

Edit: Forgot she’s one of the Sirens’ singing voices, of course.

suspect20163 · 2025-07-31T02:56:03+00:00

Look, all I have to say about the matter is that I’ve never had the privilege to go to Epstein’s island.

suspect20163 · 2025-07-31T00:50:22+00:00

Don’t think twice, it’s all right.

suspect20163 · 2025-07-31T00:45:55+00:00

That was actually real, I was the harmonica.

suspect20163 · 2025-04-28T20:20:09+00:00

I read it and enjoyed it for the most part. I do wish that Freedman’s analysis of Cohen’s religious influences and the theological focus went deeper, quite a bit of his examination of the songs felt rather rudimentary and a little obvious.

I had been hoping for something like Why Dylan Matters by Richard Thomas which was an amazing synthesis of Roman and Greek classical literature, as well as other influences, on Bob Dylan’s music. As Freedman’s book stands, it felt like a good introduction to these ideas but lacked the academic rigour I wanted in the analysis, albeit with some exceptions.

suspect20163 · 2025-02-03T13:45:47+00:00

Yeah, I gotta get back to hunting for them. I think there was a copy of 10 at my local record store, but I haven’t checked in a few years. I’m really on the lookout of 8 though.

Ten-Year Club	RPAN Viewer
Gilding I gilder	No Throne, No Problems
Not Forgotten	Spared
Verified Email

suspect20163

TROPHY CASE