Reviews

All the people I know who love watching Aussie comedy on TV agree there are only two things worth watching at the moment - Chris Lilley's 'We Can Be Heroes' and this sketch show, which is frankly even funnier than 'Heroes'.

This show has lasted long enough on air (now in its 3rd series) to finally become a fantastic show. Comedy fans seem to agree series 1 was one of the absolute worst things ever on Aussie comedy television. Series 2 was a lot better but still patchy, which is pretty surprising given it was only about 10 episodes long.

Finally, they've got it right in this series. Everything about it has improved, the acting and the production quality, but most importantly the writing. It's just so consistently well written and clever I sometimes can't believe it, especially when the series is so long. I loved 'Fast Forward' and some of the other commercial station comedy shows, but even though some of them had great casts and stars like Shaun Micallef ('Full Frontal' for example), none of them had writing as good as this. My favourite would have to be 'Ernest the Engine Car', which is one of the most scandalously funny things I've ever seen on any TV show, but there's plenty of other great stuff besides.

Hope there's a DVD of this series soon, can't wait for it.

I only started getting into this show after catching some one hour specials that aired this year. I wasn't expecting much from a commercial network comedy show. But it turns out to be incredibly funny, with a few performers who appear certain to end up staples of comedy television in Australia. Rebecca De Unamano, whose impersonations of Indira Naidu and Lee Lin Chin are uncanny, has already gone on to great things with 'CNNN'. Chris Lilley's 'Tommy Lee', and Mr G are also corkers, along with almost anything by Andrew Dyer (eg Johnny Tapp, Jim Waley) and Andrew O'Keefe (now the host of Deal or No Deal). Top direction from 'Roy Hollsotter Live's' Matthew Saville also features. The show was spun off into a woeful program 'Hamish and Andy' that occasionally featured some of the Big Bite performers, but seems to have been made by a totally different production team, and lasted just a few weeks before being axed. If like me you enjoyed this original show, consider checking out 'CNNN' (featuring some of the same writers) and the very underrated and very funny film 'The Honourable Wally Norman', co-written by the Big Bite's head writer, and directed by the legendary Ted Emery of 'Kath and Kim' and 'Fast Forward' fame. This show has made me a big fan of lots of the people on it, and shows there is real hope for the future of Aussie comedy TV.

Very reminiscent of 'The Searchers', probably the best of the John Wayne-John Ford teamups, 'Missing' plays better as a thriller set in the West, than as a 'mystical Western' (which is what I think it was really going for). Predictably excellent performances from Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones, and a fantastic performance from Eric Schweig as the Apache witch doctor. I was surprised to discover the film was mostly dumped on by critics in the US, and bombed there. It's had a much better response here, as I think it should have. Look out also for Evan Rachel Wood, so good in 'Thirteen', as the older of Blanchett's two daughters. This ranks as Ron Howard's best.

This is a very funny movie, with hilarious performances from a host of famous Australian comedians, especially Kevin Harrington, HG Nelson, Micallef and Brian Dawe (of the Clarke-Dawe interviews series on '7.30 Report). I'm very surprised by the film's low score on IMDB. As some critics pointed out at the time of the film's release, the scene between Micallef and John Singleton (Micallef's fake political ad) is just about the funniest thing I can remember seeing in an Australian comedy. The film copped some flack when it came out, but I think most of that was tied up with the very bad rap most Australian comedies got in 2003. There was also a bit of controversy when the film was chosen to open the Sydney Film Festival (a pretty snooty affair usually reserved for 'arthouse movies'). Over time, I really hope this one will be up there, with 'The Castle', 'Big Steal' and a few others, as a classic example of laid-back, Aussie comedy. If you get a chance, don't miss it! Ted Emery (Fast Forward, Kath and Kim) has done it again.

I was nervous about this film, in view of its widely publicised delay in release. But having seen it, it's actually well worth checking out. The film goes in very hard on the US military, making its delay after 9/11/01 understandable. Joaquin Phoenix is superb in the lead role, as is Scott Glen. It's only disappointing that NZ's Anna Paquin is, again, left with little to do as a token love interest. Looking increasingly doubtful she'll score a decent role after 'The Piano'. On the plus side, it's a much better made film than Gregor Jordan's first 'Two Hands', which launched his career in Australia, but which actually wasn't so great. This one isn't either, but it's still worth seeing.