Why I'm leaving triple j...

It’s 1:54 am in the middle of an ABC studio. I just mixed what is very likely to be my last triple j review. 

I’ve been That. Movie. Guy for almost my entire adult life.

Sitting here alone tonight in an empty, cavernous public broadcaster feels somehow both anti-climatic and entirely appropriate.  In the last decade I’ve spent way, way too many nights like this at the ABC finishing off a review after a long week making The Feed,  Download This Show or Hungry Beast before them. So, sitting here for this Major Life Turning Point™  all by myself in the silent dead of night seems... about right. If I were producing this scene, it would need some nostalgic, swelling emotionally manipulative play-off music.

I’ve made roughly 734 reviews over 11 years. I’ve outlived 5 breakfast shows and the entire Twilight franchise. I think now is the time for someone new. 

And I'm pretty sure the next person will be 100% better than me. 

Because that person... is probably you. 

Right now, triple j is hunting for someone who will - I personally hope - rip up the sound and format that I created for myself. You should absolutely go apply. Be that person who decides the way we *should* be talking about movies and TV in 2017. Make it your own. Make it awesome. And, above all, make it better than this dickhead:

One thing you should know: triple j is not like other radio stations.

I will always remember my first exposure to triple j. It was a Hottest 100 party in 2001. I was hooked instantly. Adam and Will had a breakfast show that made being a nerd seem cool. Richard Kingsmill introduced me to my new favourite music but also gave me reasons to appreciate the music I hated. On Sunday nights before the school week, I was glued to Fenella Kernebone and Megan Spencer introducing me to new movies, arts and culture. I’d never experienced radio like that. It made me feel connected to a universe far bigger than my microscopically small community christian high school. It made me feel included. Even in the depths of shitty, shitty self-loathing adolescence, I could see a horizon.

triple j gave me that.

Sure, they played a bit more Jack Johnson than any of us would like to admit, but - look - everyone fucks up occasionally.

I still love film. I’ll still be bringing you the best cult movies on SBS VICELAND. I'm still going to be interviewing the most amazing people in film, music and writing on The Feed. I'm still very much part of the ABC with my other radio show Download This Show.  This week I'm also helping launch something really exciting with Junkee. And I've also helped launch a new not-for-profit called Media Diversity Australia.

But most importantly - I still want to talk with you about movies. I’ve always said that my triple j reviews were the beginning of a conversation that you guys get to finish. Right now, I’m thinking about what the next evolution of that might look like. I have some plans for something completely different and new. I'm also keen to hear what you want. So lemme know in the comments or shoot me a message on Facebook.

I walked into triple j when I was 20 and the fact that they haven't fired me in the last decade has been both an absolute shock and probably a testament to how cheap I am to employ.

It may have only been a little 2-minute piece of radio that I made but I still count myself so lucky. So lucky that I found triple j when I did as a teenager. So lucky to broadcast to the best audience in Australia. Ask anyone: there's no group quite like triple j listeners. You are an engaged, passionate, weirdly-Tool obsessed cohort of sexy motherfuckers and I can't wait to hear which one of you takes over from me. 

But right now - It’s 2:05am and I’m driving home from making my last ever triple j review. The good news is that I found the 2001 Hottest 100 on Spotify and thanks to the number 1 song I finally have...

Thank you triple j.

Thank you for the horizon. 

Quentin Tarantino: Piracy, Learning Curves & Hateful Eight.

You’ll never get an easier job as an interviewer than Quentin Tarantino. He is a total pleasure. He responds to pirates uploading his movie, he talks about his steepest learning curve and, of course, his brand new film The Hateful 8. Enjoy, share:) 

Joel Edgerton on Felony & Exodus

I really don't get enough opportunities to bring up eye make-up in interviews. Joel answers the campaign to boycott his new movie Exodus.  He talks about having Ridley Scott draw eyeliner on him and having a giant sphinx with his face moved to Bondi. 

His labour of love Felony is an exceptionally good film. Here's my full triple j review. 

A great movie that wraps around you until you feel as guilty as the characters themselves

joseph kosinski on oblivion, tom cruise and tron sequels

Imagine walking into a room with Tom Cruise and then pitching him a multimillion dollar blockbuster with no script. Joseph Kosinski did just that with his new film Oblivion. The Tron: Legacy explains precisely what it's like directing the mysterious movie star, why he picked M83 for the soundtrack and he dishes the dirt on Tron sequels and his new adaptation of the 70's classic Black Hole. ​

As for the film itself? Look, I give Oblivion massive props for being one of the few original Hollywood blockbuster script that we are likely to see this year (or any other in the future). They are a dwindling breed. That said the result is something of a mixtape of sci-fi ideas (as indeed was predicted in Coming Sooner). The twists and turns are where Oblivion really sings. The careful mechanics of the mystery and indeed the literal mechanics of the production design are simply stunning. The film wraps around you as a sensory experience with its lush sounscapes and stark Steve Jobsian beauty. Often though the design is used in a beautifully subtle way to shift the tenor of the story.  An object will appear at first to be harmless and utilitarian only to surreptitiously become sinister without you ever noticing the shift. ​

Downsides? There are plenty. Oblivion features one of the worst voice-overs I've ever heard in a film. The film constantly over-feeds you with too much pointless exposition that they go on to explain again​ some minutes later. Also, the Morgan Freeman clan are woefully underdeveloped in terms of their role within the story. 

Still, despite it's flaws I genuinely want to see it again and as a result Oblivion gets 3/5

Danny Boyle on Trance & directing the queen

​Danny Boyle is a champion. He is one of the easiest people in the world to talk to about movies and what makes them so, frankly, sexy.  His latest film is called Trance and he opens up about messing with the audience' head, the hypnotism of movies and what it's like directing the actual damn Queen.

Why I Don't Think Zero Dark Thirty is Pro-Torture

I was invited on to Hack on triple j to talk about the controversial movie Zero Dark Thirty. I face off against lawyer Lizze O'Shea We debate whether the Hollywood blockbuster Zero Dark Thirty is pro-torture and gives a false account of history. Lefty filmmaker Michael Moore is a fan but Republican Senator and ex torture victim John McCain thinks it's a shocker. Here's the audio. Lemme know what you think in the comments.