When I started this newsletter I described it as a cinematic ‘see also’, a space where I could write about the odd things I watch and how they connect to other films, books, songs, smells etc. A movie poster in the background of a scene that becomes a jumping off point to writing about cults, a heavily underlined essay or the perfect pair of loafers. I find it hard not to tack on fifty recommendations when someone asks me for one (or even none). I am a busybody when it comes to an additional reading list, always in the footnotes.
But I like receiving those recommendations as much as I enjoy doling them out – so it was a perfect fit when my friend/author/critic/espresso martini enthusiast Brodie (who took the above photo of me looking smug while a poodle zoomed past) and I decided to launch a culture podcast called See Also together in early 2022, a weekly conversation that started out covering what we were watching and reading, and has since broadened out to incorporate things going on in our lives, and let’s face it, a lot of eating & drinking chat with some additional commentary by Brodie’s cat Carol and my dog Top Chef. It’s been something of a balm for me, an excuse to catch up with a friend almost every Monday evening, something that sits outside of my other work in film – a place where we can go as deep or shallow as we like – and it’s been so nice to find, as it turns out, people actually do listen to it.
We’ve even just launched a Patreon for it with extra episodes, no ads, all that stuff. The bonus episode that comes out this week covers our favourite films, shows and books of the year – so I’ll leave those recommendations to audio. We did give ourselves something of an elastic framework for how we chose the films – essentially not tied to Australian cinema releases – heavy on the festival viewing. But If I was tied to the tracks and made to pick from actual new releases in cinemas here this year it would include films I listed on See Also and elsewhere last year.
That said, in no particular order, my 10 favourites Actually Released In Cinemas In Australia In The Year 2023 : Tár (layered), Sick of Myself (full hoot), Beau is Afraid (demented), Godland (mesmerising), Aftersun (heartrending), You Hurt My Feelings (bona fide), Past Lives (beguiling), Petrol (a curious jewel), BlackBerry (riveting), Of An Age (tender) – with the caveat that I’ve not yet seen Killers of the Flower Moon or Poor Things. We all know that the only top 10 worth reading is John Water’s though.
Rules aside, the best film I saw this year was Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera, which will hopefully get a proper release in 2024. A sublime tale of Italian folklore, death, and desire by way of a charismatic group of Etruscan grave robbers, led by Josh O’Connor with a hangdog expression, a rumpled suit, and a preternatural connection to the underworld. Melancholic magic. Between three festivals, I’ve seen it three times, and loved it a little more with each viewing. Even made a playlist of the soundtrack here.
The best ‘new to me’ film that sits outside of my retrospective programming work (I ain’t telling the other bits and bobs I’m watching!) is Portrait of a Young Woman at the End of the 1960s in Brussels (1993) by Chantal Akerman. Can’t believe it took me so long, particularly when I have seen, read and loved so much of her work but I was sent it while I was recuperating a few months back and I watched it and then immediately watched it again. The anachronisms and her eyes on the dance floor, scanning desire.
All this to say, Abracadabra Dept is back. It’s no longer just a wordy ‘cinematic see also’ but something else too. I’m over thinking overthinking, and back into writing.