Death to 2020, WandaVision, every Harry Potter film: what s streaming in Australia in January Luke Buckmaster
Film, US/UK, 2020 – out now
That old saying “comedy is tragedy plus time” makes the point that terrible things can become hilarious with a little bit of distance. Creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones (who also helmed Black Mirror) are hoping audiences don’t need much time to view the – for want of a better word – absurdities of 2020 in a humorous light, packing together a fast-paced recap of the year in the very witty and entertaining Death to 2020.
The presence of high-profile actors playing talking head experts (including Samuel L Jackson as a journalist, Lisa Kudrow as a Kayleigh McEnany-like rightwinger and Hugh Grant as a pompous historian) position the show in the genre of the mockumentary, delivering lots of LOL lines. But the many events it reflects on were sadly very real, making this a “stranger than fiction” true story wit
After an extraordinary year which temporarily closed cinemas, Damon Smith chooses his top 10 films of 2020 Parasite: Choi Woo-shik as Kim Ki-woo, Song Kang-ho as Kim Ki-taek, Chang Hyae-jin as Kim Chung-sook and Park So-dam as Kim Ki-jeong Damon Smith
Soul: Soul 22 (Tina Fey) and Joe (Jamie Foxx)
1. PARASITE (15, 132 mins) Thriller/Comedy/Horror/Romance. Song Kang-ho, Chang Hye-jin, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Jeong Ji-so, Jung Hyeon-jun, Lee Jung-eun. Director: Bong Joon-ho.
WRITER-director Bong Joon-ho mines a mother lode of deliciously cruel intentions in his wickedly entertaining, genre-bending satire, which won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Careening wildly from slapstick and scabrous social commentary to full-blooded horror, Parasite gleefully inhabits the cavernous divide between South Korea s haves and have-nots.
When time stands still and all around you shudders to a halt, we seek inspiration beyond our reality and find refuge in the magic of film. Taking us up into its arms and away into its dreams, film will forever be our saviour. Showing us the light that bursts forth from beyond the storm, film shelters all its children in its warmth and wonder and promise of other worlds. In film, we trust.
And so we take this opportunity to reclaim moments of a broken year and celebrate the films from 2020 that helped us stay safe and keep our faith in a better tomorrow. It’s our annual massive list!
The Very Excellent Mr Dundee
This grim year of misery and misfortune has highlighted the difference between cinema and the movies: it’s been terrible for the former and excellent for the latter. The pandemic-induced closure of theatres across the world took the focus away from big tentpole releases and shifted it to smaller budget, water cooler productions that were wolfed down by homebound audiences.
“Streaming” should probably be listed as the Oxford Word Of The Year, given how much we’ve all been doing of it. There’s been plenty of TV ‘events’ drawing conversation around the proverbial water cooler – such as, to name a few,