I caught SBS’ Movie Show last night. I’ve only occasionally watched it since the departure of David and Margaret to ABC. I was half curious because the distinguished Mr Stratton has attracted some negative press in the right wing corners of the blogosphere of late. But the David and Margaret show’s on its summer break, so I thought I’d check out the competition for a heads up on what’s worth seeing this summer.
Is it just me or is Jamie Leonarder really irritating? What is it with arts shows on the teev that there always has to be at least one forty-something male who’s just sooooooo cool? Fenella Kernebone has a very groovy name though…
So with the great game of Oz politix winding down for the summer, anyone seen any good movies lately? And are David and Margaret as good on ABC as they were on SBS? Everyone tells me they’re not but I’ve yet to hear a cogent case made. And what do you think of the oh-so-funky SBS Movie Show?
PS: Anyone looking for political beach wear should check out the latest range from Polichicks, of whom one half is the inimitable Ms Fits.
She does have a cool name, but don’t you think she looks a bit like Roger Waters?
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.
I like Margaret and David and don’t really notice any great difference between their SBS days and their current incarnation. The whole point about them is their camp, “odd couple” quaintness. She of the legendary fringe with her throaty, free-spirited, free-thinking “woman of a certain age” persona, he with all the unbuttoned joie de vivre of someone involved in actuarial services….
It’s the tension between them that’s the real secret of their success. Margaret merrily takes the piss out of David’s ever-present tendency towards profundity, he occasionally chides her for being a bit too impressionable…
and they both know a lot about film. It’s an entertainment and it’s informative.
Forget about RWDB’s getting stuck into David over his Team America (I enjoyed it, BTW) critique. Margaret’s “Oh David!” – followed by 4 stars was the much more eloquent testimony.
Given one of the raisons d’etre (or is it raison d’etres?) of SBS was to present programmes in languages other than Engalish, the new Movie Show is evidence of SBS living up to its charter. However I’ve yet to work out what language the bespectacled lass speaks. Her name Freudianly escapes me, but the one who likes fillums to “speak to her”. Guess that leaves all of Buster Keaton’s work on the cutting room floor.
(Mid comment I looked up the SBS site. Mercifully no transcripts of the Movie Show appear – however there’s an insight into the bespectacled one whose name I now know. “Megan Spencer has continued her own personal journey deep into the heart of film culture.” Yep Megan – and it shows.)
Convoluted language beyond compare. Not sure whether they’re trying to be “hip”, “cool” or “deep”, but out of desperation I can’t wait for the young lad who does the DVD and/or video run down to do his stint. He’s enthusiastic and for the most part cuts to the chase … think he might the Hillsong kiddy what won the last Pop Idol bar one?
I don’t doubt your knowledge, research and enthusiasm for fillums, and I don’t give a toss about your political orientation but please kiddies do remember, let’s be careful out there and communicate with both the audience and each other. You don’t need to engage in navel gazing, too clever by half commentary and oneupmanship – God created bloggers to do that.
Don’t think the Movie Show entirely beyond the pale, a spot of tweaking, direction and sub-editing and it could be so much more watchable. So why do I continue to watch then? For the trailers.
(And Margaret and David are going O.K. on the Yabby Sea. Predictable but still O.K.)
Jamie’s work with the Mu-Mesons is legendary, but I’m afraid for SBS that I loyally followed David and Margaret over to the ABC. Where the ABC, thank God, didn’t screw a winning format and kept it just the way it should be (I do miss the old theme though). Who’s saying that they aren’t as good – I haven’t personally heard that.
As for the SBS show, I tried to watch it once but it seemed way to try-hard for my liking. It stinks.
Oh Ive stopped watching Movie show long ago, its just so terrible. Actually when I watched the shallow, underqualified, clueless tripe that was “My Favourite Book” it reminded me very very much of the new Movie Show. The new presenters honestly dont have a clue when compared to their predecessors. Its very dissapointing to see a once good show destroyed like that.
The problem with the SBS Movie Show is not so much that the presenters are ignorant or irritating, but that they are too similar in outlook. As Geoff says, the old Movie Show works because of the David and Margaret differences.
Is the Movie Show still on? I thought it had moved to Channel 2.
Anyhoo, check out Spiderman 2.
I sometimes wonder why anybody bothers to make films let alone review them. Sergio Leone has already made every film worth making.
Speaking as someone that knows Jaimie Leonarder to a slight extent, I can vouch for 1) his knowledge of film and the vastness of his film collection and 2) the fact that the SBS Movie Show is completely the wrong venue for him to express that knowledge.
Possibly because of his work with the Mu-Meson Archives I associate him too closely with the trash end of the cinematic spectrum, but I don’t think the fact that he has to talk about mainstream stuff on the Movie Show is the reason I think he’s wrong for it. Basically I think it comes down to his co-hosts, both of whom have worked on Triple J together for years and come with a certain built-in rapport. Jaimie is perfectly good, I think, but he doesn’t gel with them. He’d have been much better off on Mondo Thingo (for which he supplied a fair bit of video footage and with the producers of which he is less than 100% pleased cos he didn’t get enough credit for it or something), which was much more in his vein.
On top of that I don’t think the two girls (particularly Megan Spencer) work as well on TV as they do on radio. Nice of SBS to carry on the Movie Show brand minus David and Margaret, but the Pomeranz/Stratton shoes would’ve been hard to fill anyway and SBS didn’t really make the best choices either. And what Andrew says about their similarity of outlook doesn’t help either; on the few occasions I’ve tuned in (which is not often as I have a radio show of my own to do at the exact same time as them, and I rarely remember the repeat screening) I don’t recall there being any major disagreements over anything. Maybe a star here and there, but nothing more.
As for David and Margaret on the ABC, apart from obvious cosmetic details like the new theme music and the new set, I see no real differences. I did think his criticism of Team America was misplaced, for what it’s worth.
Most film reviewing in Australia sucks. David and Margaret work, basically for the reasons that Geoff pointed out above. The new movie show team are awful – the only thing they have going for them is the youth & beauty factor, but they don’t even do that incredibly well. Their reviews are horribly pretentious.
Then again, perhaps you shouldn’t expect much more from a medium (reviewing) which elevates the opinions of a tiny group of people over those of everyone else. I’ve written a couple of reviews from time to time, and increasingly, I find myself more interested in the ‘style’ of film reviews than in their substance. To write another film review, in the style of Stratts, Pomo, et all, seems pointless.
Yes, Margo and David have to bring back the theme music from Fellini’s “The Clowns” its just not the Movie Show without it.
James, you could be right – it might be the interaction/dynamic between Jamie and the two women that’s causing me to think he’s irritating – there’s something about the way he talks when conversing with them. Can’t quite pin it down – and I don’t think I’ve seen enough of the show overall to judge them as reviewers. But I agree with Sedge that the dvd reviewer’s good value…
I second Geoff’s comments on Marg and David.
And regardless of the current SBS Movie Show team’s credentials, they still bring on an uncontrollable desire to wade onto the set and whack them about the ears with a rolled up copy of IF magazine.
Now Paul Harris has a good voice for TV.
Fernella’s cute. is there an award for dumbest comment somewhere?
Oh, you read IF, do you Nabs? I did a brief volunteer writing thing for those guys once…
Mark Fennell (DVD reviewer) is crap too. All he does is start off with a snappy one-liner (usually of the variety, “What do you get if you mix A. with B. and a little of C.?”) and follows it up with a few cursory comments about productions values, etc.
Little known blog thecelestialempireofbenevolentknowledge.blogspot.com nailed it by quoting one line from the show –
‘Shrek 2 exorcises the fractured demons of Hollywood’.
How could you take anyone who comes up with that shit seriously?
Not sure if Nabs reads IF magazine, Tim, or just smacks sbs presenters with it?
Btw, Zoe, I’m still wondering about the Roger Waters resemblance… most odd!
Agree with yellowvinyl: Fenella’s v. cute, and endowed with a phenomenal name (and probably cruel parents). The Roger Waters reference is unspeakably harsh.
Jaimie Leonarder may be very knowledgeable, but comes across as a try-hard wanker and Megan Spencer takes the fillums far too seriously. She also has some very large moles on her face, which obviously shouldn’t matter one jot, but which I find extremely distracting.
All three are not a patch on Dave & Marg.