the Curb

Let's take a moment to look ahead in 2025 to a few of the Australian films that will get people talking. Two particular films had their world premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2024, where their lead actor and performer, Albert Mwangi, was in attendance.

Kate Blackmore's Make it Look Real is a hybrid-documentary experience that explores the role of intimacy coordination on film sets. Albert features in the documentary as himself, and in the film-within-a-film as a character in Kieran Darcy-Smith's romantic thriller Tightrope. Make it Look Real is a captivating and conversation-starting film about how intimacy has been presented on screen and how it can safely be depicted for all actors involved.

Albert's other film that premiered the Adelaide Film Festival was Kelly Schilling's With or Without You, where he plays Dalu, a migrant worker swept into the lives of Melina Vidler's Chloe and her alcoholic mother, Sharon, played with effortless abandon by Marta Dusseldorp.

With both of these films, Albert holds the audiences focus keenly, asking us to lean in to find out more about his performances. This level of captivation is partly the reason why he was nominated for the Casting Guild of Australia's Rising Star list of 2021.

In the following interview, Albert talks about the balance of working on stage and screen, how he manages his creative journey as a storyteller and a vessel for others stories, and where he would like to see his career progress from here.

Both Make it Look Real and With or Without You do not have announced dates at this stage, but keep an eye out for them.

Follow Albert on Instagram here.

Listen to Andrew's interview with Make it Look Real director Kate Blackmore here. 

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Andrew F Peirce and Nadine Whitney head to prison with Colman Domingo and Clarence Macklin for the powerful drama Sing Sing, before taking a sojourn to the beach for Robert Connolly's adaptation of Alison Lester's children's book Magic Beach. The waters of Australia linger in Nadine's mind as she embarks on a trip through the history of Naples with Paolo Sorrentino's Parthenope.

Film recommendations this week include What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Superman.

Listen to Andrew's interview with Robert Connolly and Alison Lester here.

Find Andrew's 21 Films from 21 Friends list on Letterboxd here.

Clips featured in this episode include:

Sing Sing First Look | Magic Beach trailer | Parthenope trailer

Theme music is the Lantana score by Paul Kelly.

Follow the Curb on Bluesky, Instagram, and Facebook. Follow Nadine Whitney on Bluesky here, and visit the Rotten Tomatoes profiles of Andrew here and Nadine here.

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Andrew F Peirce and Nadine Whitney delve into the darkness of Robert Eggers latest horror Nosferatu, before diving onto the dance floor with Michael Gracey's Better Man. Time gets out of order with John Crowley's latest weepy, We Live in Time, followed by a soapbox chat about the AACTA award nominated adaptation of Paul Kelly's iconic song, How to Make Gravy.

Listen to Andrew's interview with John Crowley here.

Film recommendations this week include the superb documentary I Used to Be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story (watch on DocPlay now) and The Mad Women's Ball (on Amazon Prime).

Clips featured in this episode include:

Nosferatu Once Upon a Time theme | Emma Corrin supporting Babyratu | Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield making Slime Pies | How to Make Gravy trailer | I Used to Be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story trailer | The Mad Women's Ball trailer | Grimelda (fka the Faps) We Make Our Own Gravy

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Die Bully Die is a short film built on the notion of retribution and exorcising the pain inflicted by a high-school bully. Actors and writers Matthew Backer & Drew Weston are directed by Nathan Lacey & Nick Lacey, and collectively they bring forth a horror comedy that shows in bloody fantasy sequences how a victim might just want to throw that pain back at their inflictor. 

Die Bully Die was the winner of the Sydney Film Festival Dendy Award for Best Short Fiction, and is nominated for Best Short Film at the 2025 AACTA Awards. Nick and Nathan also received nominations for Best Direction in a Short Film at the Australian Directors Guild, while Nathan was nominated for Best Editing in Short Drama by the Australian Screen Editors, with cinematographer Patrick Coe nominated at Australian Cinematographers Society for Short Film Cinematography, and the sound team featuring Troy Mauri, Brendan Croxon, Cristobal Penailillo, and Jack Moiseyev, were honoured with a nomination at the Australian Screen Sound Guild.  

In the following interview, Nathan and Nick talk about building a trauma informed horror comedy, what the collaborative process with actors and writers Matthew Backer & Drew Weston was like, how Gaspar Noe's style influenced the production, and a lot more. 

If you want to find out more about the work we do on The Curb, then head over to TheCurb.com.au. We are a completely independent and ad free website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. If you can and have the means to support us, please visit Patreon.com/thecurbau to support our work from as little as $1 a month.

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Welcome to the first episode of The Curb review podcast, where Andrew F Peirce and Nadine Whitney catch up to talk through recent cinema, while also recommending a feature film from the past to catch up on.

In this first episode, we delve into the relationships in William S. Burrough’s Queer, directed by Luca Guadagnino and adapted for the screen by Justin Kuritzkes, with Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Lesley Manville, and Jason Schwartzman.

This discussion flows into talking about Halina Reijn’s latest film, Babygirl, which gives Nicole Kidman the chance to give the performance of her career, alongside Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas, and Sophie Wilde.

Finally, Nadine talks about Pedro Almodóvar’s first English language feature, The Room Next Door, featuring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.

Filmic recommendations this episode are:

Andrew: Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus by Steven Shainberg

Nadine: Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon by John Maybury

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For this final chat in the series, Andrew catches up with prolific Australian director Robert Connolly and celebrated children's author Alison Lester to talk about their new collaboration, Magic Beach.

Magic Beach takes the Alison Lester's much-loved illustrated kids book and brings it to live with a series of vivid, vibrant, and invigorating animated shorts, made by some of Australia's finest visual talents: Lee Whitmore, Anthony Lucas, Marieka Walsh, Eddie White, Susan Danta, Jake Duczynski, Simon Rippingale, Pierce Davison, Kathy Sarpi, Emma Kelly, and Susie Shapones.

Magic Beach takes us on a journey into the ocean through the mind of kids, and it's through their eyes that we're immersed in the waves and ways of the water and the many stories the seas have to tell. From tales of sandcastle battles, to pirate smugglers, to a whimsical tale of a bird laying an egg on a boat, there's something for everyone in this brilliantly inventive film.

In the following interview with Robert and Alison, they talk about that journey into the water together, what it means to be able to tell stories for kids, and the role that the late, great Sarah Watt had in bringing this story to life.

Magic Beach screens as part of Perth Festival on January 7 and 13 at Luna SX in Fremantle, followed by special meet & greet screenings on 11 January at the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace & Ritz Cinema in NSW and 12 January at the Classic Elsternwick & Sun Yarraville in Victoria. Magic Beach then opens wide around Australia on 16 January. Visit Madman.com.au for more screening details. 

If you want to find out more about the work we do on The Curb, then head over to TheCurb.com.au. We are a completely independent and ad free website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. If you can and have the means to support us, please visit Patreon.com/thecurbau to support our work from as little as $1 a month.

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For this chat, Andrew catches up with Irish director John Crowley to discuss his latest drama, We Live in Time. 

We Live in Time is an utterly brilliant drama the follows the lives of Andrew Garfield's Tobias and Florence Pugh's Almut in an out of sequence format. We flit from the past, to the present, to the future, with each moment acting as a new memory laid upon the next. This burgeoning relationship emerges into a family which emerges into a drama that will have you reaching for the tissues like no other, all the while it's underpinned by the gentle direction from John Crowley, which supports and gives space for his lead actors to deliver grounded performances.

It's that journey towards tenderness and empathy that underpins the following conversation with John Crowley, with Andrew asking about how the relationship of time has impacted John's work. This discussion encourages a reflection of John's previous collaboration with Andrew Garfield on his feature film debut Boy A in 2007, while also asking John to consider what he will take from this film going forward. Andrew also asks how aware John was of Florence's innate cooking skills and how that played into her brilliant turn as Almut. 

We Live in Time is, like John's Best Picture nominated film Brooklyn, a drama that slowly creeps up on you, and before you know it, you're wiping away tears from your eyes as the lights come up. It's a style of film that we've almost taken for granted now, but there is a genuine skill to bringing this level of weepie to life. See it with someone you love when it opens in Australian cinemas on 16 January 2025.

If you want to find out more about the work we do on The Curb, then head over to TheCurb.com.au. We are a completely independent website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. If you can and want to support us, please visit Patreon.com/thecurbau to keep our lights on from as little as $1 a month.

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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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Our second discussion is with Academy Award winning actress Kate Winslet who was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her turn as photographer Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller in Ellen Kuras' Lee. We first meet Lee in the months before WW2 commences, where Lee worked as a fashion model before forging a path for women journalists in wartime as she became a war correspondent for Vogue magazine.

Lee's photography from that era is some of the finest work you will see focused on WW2, yet after the war, she sought to hide much of the work she did, with her son eventually finding many of her photos after she had passed away. Kuras and Winslet choose to frame Lee's story with an impossible conversation that sees Josh O'Connor's Antony Penrose sitting down with Lee Miller to talk through her life and her work in a haze of cigarette smoke. There's an emotional truth here that resonates strongly throughout the film that is keenly felt by the original writing by Penrose himself, otherwise known as the son of Sir Roland Penrose and Lee Miller.

In the following conversation, Kate talks about the journey of bringing Lee's story to life, including the importance of engaging in era-specific photography, as well as the need to be able to tell these kinds of stories in todays day and age. This conversation is pulled from two separate discussions, one from a panel discussion, and the second as a one on one interview with Kate. In the first discussion, I was briefly interrupted, which is what you will hear in the following chat.

Lee is now available to view on demand in Australia. It is as good as any wartime biopic that you'll see, with Winslet giving a powerful and impactful performance which is deftly supported by a rare dramatic turn from Andy Samberg, who equally deserves recognition and accolades for his work. They're both supported by a cast that includes Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough, Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, and Alexander Skarsgard. 

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Welcome to the first episode of our summer series of chats where Andrew catches up with filmmakers and creatives who are behind some of the years best films. From Saturday Night, to Lee, to We Live in Time, and Australia's own Memoir of a Snail, we've got some great film discussions to keep you going over this festive break.

First off the rank is a chat with two of the creatives behind Saturday Night, the comedy retelling of the first night of Saturday Night Live. In it, we follow a young Lorne Michaels, played by Golden Globe nominee Gabrielle LaBelle, who attempts to wrangle an unwieldly and chaotic cast of comedians from Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), to Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), to George Carlin (Matthew Rhys), to Jim Belushi (Matt Wood), and Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott), plus many more. What eventuates is a slightly manic, utterly frenetic, yet extremely captivating almost real time night of comedy and chaos leading up to that iconic opening sentence 'Live from New York...' 

In the following chats, I talk with Gabriel LaBelle about how he came to work on Saturday Night, how he has become an almost surrogate historian of American pop culture with his work on The Fabelmans and now Saturday Night, and how he managed to maintain a level of comedy on screen. After my chat with Gabriel, I talk with writer-director Jason Reitman about bringing this all together. I kick off the conversation by confessing how much of a die-hard Young Adult fan I am, alongside the value of physical media, before we flow into talking about creating an energetic vibe on set with a live score by Jon Batiste, plus much more.

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