The Curb

On this episode, Andrew catches up with Academy Award winning master of stop motion animation, Adam Elliot, and Emmy award and AACTA award winning screen legend, Sarah Snook, to talk about their mollusk-motion flick, Memoir of a Snail.

Memoir of a Snail is driven by the delightfully dark sense of comedy and a relatable pathos, both of which bring the off-kilter world of Grace Pudel (Sarah Snook) and her equally orphaned twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee) to life. It's a film that's resonated immensely with audiences around the world, with each person able to find a little bit of themselves in this tender tale of Grace and her obsession with snails.

As always, Elliot is able to bring forth a welcome sense of groundedness to his characters, and while they may physically appear eccentric, there's something about each and every one of them that makes us feel seen. As with his previous film, Mary & Max, Elliot actively removes stigmas associated with those who live with mental illnesses, while also shining a light on those who try to vilify, condemn, or in the case of Gilbert, cruelly convert them away from their true self.

The authenticity that sits at the core of Memoir of a Snail is not just driven by the characters we see on screen, but also from the empathetic and grounded voice work from Snook, Smit-McPhee, and other Aussie screen icons like Jackie Weaver, Magda Szubanski, Tony Armstrong, Eric Bana, while French icon Dominique Pinon also makes an appearance.

In the following conversations with Adam, then with Sarah, I talk about how they both built that relatability on screen, what it means to show Australian stories in this way, and curiously, the importance of dress up boxes in the homes of Australian kids. There's really something for everyone here.

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Eli Craig smashed onto the slasher scene with his genre-defying comedy event Tucker & Dale VS Evil, and he's back with another slasher that upends expectations: Clown in a Cornfield.

Clown in a Cornfield is based on the first entry in Adam Cesare's Frendo series which chucks a group of teens into the mayhem of a Midwestern American town where they find themselves picked off by a growing group of killer clowns. Eli Craig then takes that terror from the page and supplants it brilliantly with a satirical and savvy stance, making one of the most enjoyably subversive horror flicks of the year so far.

It's also one of the most timely too, as it's a horror film about the flyover states of America, yet it's shot in Canada. That added layer of political devilishness is one of the things that I ask Eli about in the following interview.

This chat is an open one from Eli, with the horror director talking about the journey of Tucker & Dale VS Evil from being an unseen flick to a cult classic which has fans demanding a sequel. Eli also talks about the journey of adapting Adam's books for the screen, before making a statement for horror film fans around the world, myself included: If you want more Clown in the Cornfield films, then go and see the first one in cinemas.

And for Aussie audiences, you'll be able to do that very soon.

Clown in a Cornfield makes its Australian premiere at Fantastic Film Festival Australia on 26 April at the Lido in Hawthorn and the Ritz Randwick. It then is unleashed nation wide on 8 May. This is a film you'll want to see with a screaming audience.

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Charlie Chaplin is best known for his silent films, but quick in the minds of film lovers would be his iconic speech that concludes his Best Picture nominated film, The Great Dictator. Co-hosts of Awards Don't Matter sift through this powerful satire and assess how difficult it is to craft biting comedy that shakes its fists at the powerful. Find out in this episode whether Chaplin's maniacal dictator film still matters or not in this episode.

Featured in this episode is a clip of Daniel Taradash presenting Charlie Chaplin his honorary Oscar at the 1972 44th Academy Awards:

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Andrew F Peirce – @TheCurbAU
David Giannini – @Darnthatdave
Awards Don’t Matter – @AwardsDontPod

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Perth based filmmaker Hassib Kushkaki's feature film Rampage Electra will have its world premiere at the upcoming WA Made Film Festival, which screens at Palace Cinemas Raine Square, Perth, between February 17 to 26. This is a Perth shot action film that features Mikayla Levy as Hannah Electra, a young girl who has a shadowy past that is revealed to her by her father, throwing her into a harsh world of gangsters and guns. Featuring a huge cast and shot in iconic Perth locations like Fremantle Prison and Lancelin, Rampage Electra shows creative ingenuity on a micro-budget.

Hassib caught up with me to talk about the film ahead of its world premiere on February 24 at the WA Made Film Festival. Hassib is also taking part in the free Indie Filmmaker Panel on February 19 at The Globe, alongside producer Stephanie Davis who produced the web series Love Me Lex, filmmaker Aaron Kamp who recently made Thorns & Thistles at the End of the World, Arnold Carter, who made Sun Moon & Thalia, Sarah Legg who made Cherubhead, and has a new short film Impression, and producer Ruby Schmidt, who helped bring General Hercules to life. All of these films, and many more are at the WA Made Film Festival.

Check out the WA Made Film Festival here, and purchase tickets to Rampage Electra here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivgAC7I-oM

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Shahn Devendran is the series creator and producer of the powerful Amazon and LADbible Australia show, UNHEARD. Telling the story of racism in Australia from the perspective of those who live with the impact of racial discrimination, this is a powerful, important series. Andrew interviews Shahn about the creation of the series, the social impact campaigns that LADbible has engaged with, and how to encourage people who might not feel they live in a racist society to watch this show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXp6JXi1F1Y&ab_channel=AmazonPrimeVideoAUNZ

Song featured in this episode: Everything's Fucked - The Dirty Three

Find out more about the series below.

Amazon Prime Video today announced a ground-breaking new six-episode documentary series, UNHEARD, the first feature produced by LADbible Australia Originals and with production funding from Screen Australia. All six episodes of UNHEARD will premiere on Amazon Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand and select countries around the world on 29 October, with the first two episodes also available to stream for free on primevideo.com.

UNHEARD will give Prime Video members an insight into critical issues of racial discrimination in Australia, including Indigenous deaths in custody, the targeting of Indigenous youth, attacks towards Asians during COVID, Islamophobia, the vilification of the African community and the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. The six stand-alone episodes in the UNHEARD series are told through intimate interviews, blended with animation, archive footage, podcasts, photographs, phone conversations and infographics revealing the shocking statistics and complexities behind the larger issues. Each episode is led by the voices of personal accounts, so their experiences and calls for justice are presented without filter.

“The opportunity to program this compelling investigative series is significant to us,” said Tyler Bern, Head of Content, Amazon Prime Video Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. “UNHEARD is a necessary action and awareness series that is globally relevant to Prime members in Australia and makes them aware of social injustice locally. We are very proud to be involved with LADbible Australia on this production and showcasing this important documentary series.”

The UNHEARD documentary series is an extension of LADbible Australia's UNHEARD campaign. Launched in February 2021, the campaign utilises LADbible Group's global audience of almost a billion and Australian audience of 11.8 million to support their campaign partners; the National Justice Project, Human Rights Commission, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, The Refugee Council of Australia, Change.org, African Women Australia, Asian Australian Alliance, Islamophobia Register Australia, Deadly Connections Community and Justice Services and All Together Now.

“The UNHEARD campaign and documentary series not only provides a platform for these powerful stories to be told, but also helps put a global focus on Australian incidents of racial injustice that are often overlooked,” says executive producer, writer and creator, Shahn Devendran, Head of Originals, LADbible APAC. “We are proud that LADbible's first feature documentary series is able to support our campaign partners, and in working with Amazon Prime Video and Screen Australia will help bring these important issues to light.”

UNHEARD was written and produced by Shahn Devendran (LADbible Australia Originals)...