A bunch of classic Australian TV shows and films have hit Netflix, let’s take a look at the best of the ocker offerings.
I wrote about my favourite Australian films on streaming services last week before this Netflix press release hit my inbox. I’ll be honest, I don’t want to sound like a broken record and I’m far too lazy to rehash everything I’ve said before. So bear the brunt of my lethargic synopsis.
The Secret Life of Us: Seasons 1-4
A bunch of twentysomethings scrambling to get their lives together, sharing an apartment complex in Melbourne. I started rewatching the show for the first time since I was a literal child last night and god, it holds up. If you’re currently in your mid-twenties take heed: it’ll have you feeling a strange feeling of loss/nostalgia for an Australia that let you fuck around whilst trying to figure your life out. Deborah Mailman is sublime.
Puberty Blues: Seasons 1 – 2
The show that led to a spike in flared Rollas overalls sales. This series did irreparable damage to my teenage psyche. Like Skins had us smoking weed in weird Annandale sharehouses at fifteen, Puberty Blues had us stranded at the beach after missing the last L90. At least it gave us “chuck us the vaso!”
Cosi
God, this movie rules. Ben Mendelsohn? Toni Collette? Rachel Griffiths? What more could you want. A classic indie-comedy romp about an unemployed director tasked with staging a Mozart opera. Go into it without reading anything.
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A Cry in the Dark
The dingo’s got my baby! Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton’s high-profile murder case still haunts. This Fred Schlepsi dramatisation of the story is masterful.
Shine
Scott Hicks’ biopic on prodigious Australian pianist David Helfgott, his domineering father and diagnosis with schizophrenia is quite simply extraordinary.
The Dish
Admittedly I haven’t seen it, but I did a little Wikipedia skim and it looks insane. “An Australian village is thrust into the spotlight when NASA uses its satellite radio dish to serve as a backup transmitter for the 1969 moon mission.” It’s set in Parkes aka the place where they host that Elvis festival. I’ll watch and report back.
Round the Twist: Seasons 1 – 4
Have ya ever, ever felt like this?
Offspring: Seasons 1 – 7
I’ve never watched this show but it feels like I have because of osmosis of all the Channel 10 commercials. “Newly divorced obstetrician Nina Proudman juggles work in a large hospital, new loves and the unusual life choices of her quirky family.”
Heartbreak High: Seasons 1 – 7
Being a teenager sucks.
Spellbinder: Seasons 1 – 2
OH MY GOD. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO REMEMBER WHAT THIS SHOW IS CALLED FOR LITERALLY A DECADE. IT HAS TAKEN UP PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN MY SUBCONSCIOUS BUT I COULDN’T REMEMBER ENOUGH ABOUT IT TO FIND IT ON GOOGLE. THIS IS IT. I STILL DON’T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I THINK IT WAS PRETTY DEMENTED.
ALSO IF ANYONE REMEMBERS A FILM THAT PLAYED ON MAYBE DISNEY CHANNEL BUT MAYBE NOT IN LIKE THE EARLY 2000S AND THERE WAS A SCENE IN A TREE THAT WAS ALSO A HOUSE PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I THINK THERE WERE PIRATES. THERE MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN. I DON’T KNOW. HELP.
Frontline: Seasons 1 – 3
I haven’t seen Frontline but my dad swears it’s good. A satire about three news anchors and their producers.
Kath and Kim: Seasons 1 – 4
You know the drill.
