Movie Review: These Final Hours (2014)

These Final Hours

Released: 2014

Directed by: Zak Hilditch

Starring: Nathan Philips, Jessica De Gouw, Angourie Rice

Synopsis:  It's the last day on earth, twelve hours before a cataclysmic event will end life as we know it. James makes his way across a lawless and chaotic city to the party to end all parties. Along the way, he somewhat reluctantly saves the life of a little girl named Rose who is desperately searching for her father. Stuck with the unexpected burden of responsibility, James is forced to come to terms with what really matters in life as the final hours tick away. (Via Roadshow and IMDB)

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About a month ago Tom and I were watching TV and saw a trailer for a seemingly big-budget Australian end-of-the-world film. If you're American I'm sure you're used to seeing trailers for your films on TV all the time, but Australian films rarely have much screen presence, unless they're a co-production with America (Daybreakers for example). A lot of other countries (especially around Asia) are very nationalistic when it comes to their home cinema but if you ask most Australians they'd say Australian cinema sucks, but that's because we so rarely see it unless we hunt it down. Instead it silently slips into cinemas and only makes a splash when it then makes waves at overseas film festivals. Which is ridiculous because we have some of the best funding schemes for filmmakers in the world, and have some of the best production and VFX companies in the world and yet your average Australian probably could only name The Castle if they were asked to name an Australian film*. But enough of a rant about film consumption and production in Australia, none of you care about that and it has zero to do with this review. Basically, Tom and I were shocked to 1) see a trailer for an Australian film on TV, 2) see that it looked like a big budget blockbuster (rather than the art house or broad comedy that usually gets made here) and 3) that we had heard absolutely nothing about it. While a lot of Australians may not know much about the films made here, we pride ourselves on getting out and seeing a lot of them. So to have never heard of this one was a little mind-boggling.

These Final Hours is basically an end-of-the-world film quite unlike most end-of-the-world films. Where most usually involve scientists or politicians or some honest hard-working American who just wants to keep driving his truck and listening to good ol' country and western music trying to thwart the coming disaster (volcano, meteor, global warming, sharknado), this movie has accepted the fact that we are fucked. We can't send some crack team of astronauts to blow up the meteor or force it to change course, we can't survive the impact and we can't even rest easy knowing that Australia is a million miles from everywhere else on the planet. Instead, because of our relative isolation we end up watching the world die. A radio announcer visits us in voice over at certain parts of the film to let us know that Canada is gone, all of South East Asia, South America. It adds a level of hopelessness that's rarely seen except in post-apocalyptic films (The Road is a perfect example) - what the hell do you do for you final 12 hours when most of the world is already dead? How do you do anything when you know that your death is looming heavily above you and that you can't do anything to change it?

For James (Nathan Philips - Wolf Creek, The Bridge), the answer is to go to one final party and get so hammered that you don't even see or feel the end coming. Others turn to suicide, to looting, to God, to living out the deviant acts that they repressed (or perhaps always did, but did under the cover of night) before they knew the world was over. The first 10 minutes of the film shows James driving through Perth to get to his party and passing over-turned cars, dead people lying on the road, people clutching each other in prayer circles and desperate attempts to survive the impending doom (wrapping the house in aluminium foil - to stop the heat?). James ignores the people calling for help as he drives to his destination, until an altercation with a mad man with a machete forces him to ditch his car and run to find a new one. This is where he finds Rose, a young girl who has been abducted by two of the grossest men you'll ever see. These are the guys who have chosen to live their final hours by ruining the final moments of others. James may be apathetic to the situation at large, but even he can't ignore the cries of a small girl about to be viciously attacked. The rest of the film is part road film, part drama, part thriller and a lot more nuanced than I expected. It's a film of choices. James has to choose between his original plan for oblivion or to help Rose find her father so she can face the end with him. Does he leave her at her dad's car and hope he returns, or does he take her with him? Does he leave her with his sister, or does he take her to her aunt's? How exactly does he want to end his life and does it even matter? All the while the end of the world is creeping closer.

This movie, especially the opening 10-20 minutes made me think of the film The Purge. The Purge is incredibly lopsided and while the basic conceit is interesting (one night where crime is legal a year) it is handled really poorly. You just cannot make me believe that people who are so happy to go out and murder and rape would be willing to hold off for 364 days of the year. Nor can you make me believe that the effects of this free for all, vandalism and looting and the destruction of homes and businesses doesn't cripple local economies. Unlike The Purge, These Final Hours places that basic concept into a more believable setting. Are people necessarily going on murder sprees? No, but when you know the world is ending and you life has a very clear expiration date your emotions would be boiling over. Would you maybe go to far when you fight with someone over a petrol pump? Maybe someone throws a bottle at you and you react instinctively, releasing all of your frustration and fears as you punch the person over and over. Rather than have people just randomly moving past the moral taboo of murder without a second thought, you show the very likely events that transpire when people are being ruled by fear and fuelled by alcohol or drugs or whatever they choose to use to cope with the world crumbling around them. It's raw and ugly and depressing as hell, but it made for a compelling film.

From the trailer (placed at the end of the review for anyone interested) I hadn't expected this film to be as Australian as it was. But despite the bells and whistles it's still as depressing as all Australian drama. I mean, if you find The Road depressing, welcome to Australian cinema. We defined the concept of bleak and our landscape helps reinforce that. It's desolate and sparse and if you expect anyone to be alive at the end of an Australian drama... ha ha you're cute. But they always manage to raise some intriguing ideas and questions, usually unique to Australia. Isolation is a common theme in Australian films because we are a very isolated country. We're cut of from the rest of the world by oceans and we're cut off from each other by distance. People aren't lying when they joke about their nearest neighbour being 5 kilometres away. If you aren't in a Capital city, you're surrounding by a whole lot of space and not a lot else. So the fact that this film takes that inherent truth of our national identity, that we're alone, and magnifies it so we literally become the last people left on the planet hits incredibly hard. Can you think of anything that would make you shut down faster than knowing every other country, every island, every person on the planet is gone?

These Final Hours is written and directed by a relative newcomer and is remarkably tight considering that. There are a few hiccups with pacing and some of the dialogue but for the most part the film is a remarkably sombre and thought-provoking thriller** with some absolutely gorgeous cinematography. I have no idea if or when this film will be released overseas, but if you get the chance I'd highly recommend giving it a watch.





If you want to know a little more, the interactive website is really well made and definitely worth a visit. It adds a little context to the film's setting as well, which isn't crucial to viewing the film but definitely adds some extra dimension.

*So if an Australian tells you there aren't any good Aussie films slap them in the face and tell them to do their homework. I could give them a list of 50 films off the top of my head that are made in Australia and shit all over anything else made worldwide. 

**Is it a thriller? That's how it's classified on IMDB but I think it actually falls closer to drama.

Movie Trailer: The Giver

The Giver is one of those books that I always notice people give 5 stars to and list among their favourite books, but until I saw this trailer I don't think I'd ever questioned what it was even about. Since I haven't read the book I don't really know what to expect from the film, does it look like a decent adaptation? Does it look good? I dunno, it kinda looks like every other grey-toned dystopian YA making headlines at the moment. What I do know however, is that I know the lead actor. Or rather, he grew up down the street from me and I know his name is Brenton and that's about it. BUT YOU GUYS, HOW INSANE IS THAT! I think that technically makes me famous by association right? Tom Hiddleston has no excuse to ignore my emails any longer!

The Giver hits cinemas in America in August. I'm guessing it'll have a similar international release. Maybe.

Book Review: Snake Typhoon! by Billie Jones

Snake Typhoon!

Written by: Billie Jones

Published: 2014

Synopsis: When unseasonable weather hits the sunshine city of Brisbane, a freak typhoon terrorizes the citizens. It’s not just any typhoon though, it’s a snake typhoon! And the deadliest snakes in Australia, with venomous fangs are flying straight for Kez.

Kez is the new girl in the office and she’s desperately fighting to prove herself, but what’s a girl to do when faced with a typhoon of snakes coming straight for her helicopter?

These flying diabolical snakes will stop at nothing to kill their victims and Kez only has one option: Figure out how to stop a snake typhoon and save the world... or die trying!
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I like a lot of different genres of films, but the films that give me perhaps the most joy are terrible, terrible B grade action/horror films. There are bad movies and the there are the so-bad-they're-actually-amazing bad movies. Some are filled with A-list stars with a primo budget while others are basically passion projects made by amateur filmmakers with wannabe actors rounding out the cast. The things they all share though, is how wonderfully awful they are. The Room, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, Raging Sharks, Super Mario Brothers are some of the best example of these, and seriously, if you've never seen The Room or Raging Sharks then hop to it, because they will make your ribs crack you'll laugh so hard.

And shockingly, these sorts of films actually turn out to be quite profitable. If you make a bad movie bad enough, you end up with a cult following, midnight screenings across the globe and doors opening where they really shouldn't. Sure they won't land you the Oscar these filmmakers probably think they deserve, but they'll make you into a household name, and sometimes that's good enough. This is why we get the bad bad movies, films like Sharknado and Birdemic, films that set out to be terrible and succeed in being terrible because they are far too self-aware and therefore miss that crucial ingredient that flips them back over to awesome. This is all a very complicated way of introducing the book Snake Typhoon, which falls somewhere in between the so-bad-it's good and bad-bad categories.

I originally accepted this book for review for two reasons. First, the whole premise is an attempt to parody a so-bad-it's-good movie in book form and second, it's set in Brisbane, which is where I'm sitting right now. I will help Brisbane represent itself any way I can. I think the book delivered on both fronts, although since most of the book takes place around the red heart of Australia maybe I should expand my Brissy reppin' to the more general Aussie reppin'. The book utilises a lot of the bad movie tropes; terrible dialogue, clunky transitions, nonsensical plot progression, stereotypical characters, sign-posting for an awful sequel, deus ex machina and unscientific science, but it does these things on purpose. It was a fun and silly read and because of the purposeful attempt to replicate bad movies it was almost impossible to predict where things were going. There were some genuinely good tongue-in-cheek moments, like when the pilot points out to our protagonist Kez that we call typhoons cyclones in Australia, and she shoots back that "Snake Cyclone" doesn't sound as good, or when a character dies Kez is told not to be sad because he "believes in the afterlife". It's over the top and ridiculous and it’s laugh out loud funny at times.

But it isn't all good-bad. Like I mentioned before, when something sets out to parody or replicate the good-bad movie it's usually too self-aware and completely misses the mark. I felt like that was the case here unfortunately. Some of the jokes and bad movie tropes were just too on the nose. Like the sudden shift in romantic interest for Kez or the repeated comments saying things to the effect of "don't worry, we can't die, they need us for the sequel". It takes you out of the moment and forces you to acknowledge that it's a bad-movie imitation rather than just overwhelming you with its nonsensical passion and hilarity.

But if you've always wanted to read your bad movies, and go into this knowing it's a parody of the B-grade movie genre then I think you'll probably have a pretty great time reading it. Kez is a strange protagonist, she kind of feels like the "ugly" version of the female lead in those early 2000s movies like She's All That. She has terrible self-esteem, is nervous about her job but a complete over-achiever, talks too much and seems a little dorky. But as the book goes on she gains more confidence (but probably shouldn't, she makes some terrible judgement calls) and takes charge of the situation. It's completely ridiculous but she's still kind of kick ass, and I'll take my kick ass females where ever I can, bad movie parody or no.

"I Am Compelled Into This Country," Australian Fiction Post 2

Bet you thought I'd forgotten about this series. But how could I possibly deny you lovely folk the literature of my people? I couldn't, not in good conscious, so here you go an entire post about Australian contemporary literary fiction.

Everyone loves a good Carlton dance.

But in truth, this series is more difficult that I'd thought it'd be. Do I just list a bunch of awesome books with mini-synopses? Do I write full reviews for a collection of the ones I've read? Do I write a historical/biographical approach? So that's why this post has been so long in the pipes, it's been written and rewritten about a dozen times and I'm still not sure if it's going to be interesting and/or helpful for any of you. But oh wells, it is what it is. After this I'll be posting a genre fiction post and then a really huge list of books to read and awesome authors. I'll do my best to post the others so there aren't 10,000 years between this and the next post. Scouts honour.

First things first, I need to introduce you to Patrick White.

Guys - Patrick White, Patrick White - guys

So this sunny faced guy right here is the only Australian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. It was his book The Eye of the Storm which was credited by the Nobel committee as introducing "a new continent into literature". He was also a hell of a grump. At some point early in his career he decided he wanted nothing to do with awards, turning down a bunch of the more prolific Australian titles and didn't even attend when he won the Nobel prize. He was also an openly gay man at a time when it wasn't so great to be an openly gay man in Australia. All in all he was the kind of dude who had no time for your shit, and I love him. David Rice wrote a fantastic piece last year which goes into great detail about White and his books (I recommend Voss as a starting point).

White might seem elitist, fascist even, in his hatred of ordinariness and celebration of a chosen few, but you can feel the compassion and sadness underneath: it wasn't ordinary people he hated, but the cowardice with which people turn their backs on the extraordinary potential of our shared world in order to become ordinary.

Patrick White is sort of the patient zero for Australian literary fiction. Without him you can't have writers like Peter Carey or David Malouf and Australian fiction would be a hell of a lot poorer without these three dudes. Peter Carey is now based in America and a few of his more recent novels have been set in America, but his earlier and most celebrated books are all set in Australia. His 2000 novel The True History of the Kelly Gang is a semi-factual novel told from the perspective of bushranger Ned Kelly. It's HUGE and can be a little tricky to get a hang of the writing style but it's worth the effort. Another of his books, Oscar and Lucinda, was made into a film starring Cate Blanchett and Ralph Fiennes in the 1990s, so if you want to skip reading you can always go down that route (BOOOO). David Malouf is a Brisbane author (REPRESENT!) and best known for his short story fiction. His book Remembering Babylon is a striking full-length novel about identity and isolation and is just beautifully written. It's all about a white boy who was abandoned and then raised amongs Indigenous Australians before finding himself back among white settlers and struggling to identify and fit it. It's basically mandatory reading in any Australian fiction class and for good reason.

Bryce Courtenay and Thomas Keneally are probably more commercial and less literary than White, Malouf and Carey but since when is that a marker of greatness? Courtenay is actually South African by birth but emigrated to Australia after studying in England and meeting his to-be wife. You may have heard of his book The Power of One which takes place in South Africa during WW2 but as far as I'm aware none of his other novels, and there are plenty, are readily available overseas. Which is a crying shame because he's an epic storyteller who favours multi-generational bildungsroman narratives. As far as I'm concerned his greatest achievement is Four Fires, a book which meticulously represents 1950s Australia and is just SO GOOD. Thomas Keneally's writing is definitely available overseas, likely due to the fact that he wrote the book that the Spielberg classic film Schindler's List is based on. It was originally published as Schindler's Ark, and the story about how Keneally came to tell Schindler's story is fascinating in its own right and worth a read. Keneally writes a combination of non-fiction and fiction, though regardless of format they typically explore the human condition. His writing isn't limited to Australia (as Schindler's Ark attests) though he's written plenty on our people and culture as well.

Most of Australian literary fiction centres around two things. Either they're studies of family, or they're focused on the Australian landscape-either the bush, coast or suburban environments - or a combination of the two. Two prime examples come to mind. First is Christos Tsiolkas. Tsiolkas tends to focus on the family side of Australian life. His book The Slap (which I still need to read) is about the repercussions of a family friend slapping a child for misbehaving at a barbecue. It's also been made into a television series, which again I still need to watch, but I've heard pretty great things about it.  Tim Winton's books typically take place on the West Australian coast and the environment becomes a critical character in his work.

"The place comes first. If the place isn't interesting to me then I can't feel it. I can't feel any people in it. I can't feel what the people are on about or likely to get up to" (Tim Winton on writing)

Cloudstreet is probably Winton's most well-known and well-regarded novel, and it combines the place and the people to great success. Taking place on (you guessed it) Cloud Street between 1940 and 1960, the book focuses on two specific families and how they contrast and conflict with each other when they move into a house together.

In a sense all Australian fiction is about outsiders. We arrived in a country completely incompatible with our previous way of life. The environment was seen as harsh and aggressive, the weather was fierce and intense, and - save an Indigenous population - we were all alone and far from everyone else. Since then we've alienated and turned against just about every culture/sexuality/religion/race at some point in time, and while we've learnt from our somewhat turbulent history we've still got some ways to go. There has been an increase in migrant fiction here over the past 10 years or so, and it often presents a confronting picture of life in Australia as a migrant. The Eastern Slope Chronicle by Yu Ouyang touches on China's Cultural Revolution, life in Australia, multiculturalism and post-colonialism. Benjamin Law touches on some similar themes in his autobiography The Family Law, but writes it from a much more humourous and intimate perspective. Law has a bit of David Sedaris to his style of storytelling, and his recollections of his wild and crazy family provides a neat glimpse into the lives of an Chinese-Australian family.

There was a brief period of grunge youth writing in the 1980s/1990s that seemed to flourish here in Brisbane. It's hardly unique to Australia - it's the style of writing which you find in books like Trainspotting - but as they're often semi-autobiographical it's a fascinating window into the lives of people my age 20+ years ago. Andrew McGahan's Praise and 1988 (debut book and prequel) and John Birmingham's He Died With A Falafel In his Hand are perfect examples of this trend. They're about distinctly unlikable characters, sharehouse dramas, budding and waning relationships, drugs, alcohol and apathy. They're definitely not for everyone, but I unabashedly love this style of writing and the Gen-X whining so I'll always recommend them.

He Died With A Falafel was made into a movie in the late 1990s, and joined the ranks of the many, many Australian books that make that transition. One of the most famous is the Peter Weir helmed Picnic at Hanging Rock. The 1967 novel by Joan Lindsey is the perfect mix of haunting landscape and girls in white dresses. The book is a light mystery about a series of disappearances during a girl school's day trip to Hanging Rock. The events are left very up in the air, is it dreamtime magic, a rip in the space time continuum, murder? Another fantastic Australian novel that was adapted to screen is Luke Davis' Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction. The film starred the gorgeous Heath Ledger and Geoffrey Rush and was a very condensed interpretation of the book. Both the book and the film are emotionally charged, but the book will tear your heart out and stomp all over it. It covers 10 years in the life and juxtaposes the narrator's (he's never named) turbulent relationships with heroin addiction and his girlfriend Candy, and explores addiction, obsession and loss.

So I realise I look pretty bad right now, what with not mentioning any female authors (Joan Lindsey aside). But hold your horses, because that was intentional.

Australian ladies are wicked good, and deserve some proper space of their own. Sonya Hartnett is the first that comes to mind. She's one of those crazy people who has a book written at 13 and been published at 15 (you know, the type that makes you feel like you're wasting your life) and writes some of the most unsettlingly good stuff I've ever read. She's pretty controversial, you'll find a lot of sex and abuse and incest in her books, which is doubly controversial when you consider many people think of her as a YA author. Personally I think there's a difference about having young protagonists and writing YA, but regardless of that distinction you check out Sleeping Dogs (super bleak and incesty but gorgeous) and Of A Boy (about mysterious neighbours and loneliness).

Thea Astley is another fancy Aussie lady you should read. I've only read It's Raining in Mango, but she's well regarded as a compassionate and delightfully funny writer here in Australia and I've been meaning to read more of her for years. It's Raining in Mango takes place in 19th Century Australia and it's about so much. It's about people (Australian-born and immigrant), sexuality, racism, Australian culture...and it's done well. It's not an easy read, but I think it's a brilliant one if you're looking for some insight into Australia.

Representing the ladies in fiction and non-fiction, is Geraldine Brooks. I haven't read any of her books (for shame Kayleigh!) but from what I gather she's basically an Australian Hilary Mantel, fictionalising real life people and events to tell or add depth to a story that wouldn't be told otherwise. Actually, a few of you who like Little Women probably do know her. She's the author who wrote March, the book about Mr March's absence from the family during the war. Basically, she writes historical fiction with a literary bent and I'm not sure if Brooks has actually written about Australia or Australian history, but she's Australian so that still counts right? And as a final little nod to Australian lady authors I have to mention Hannah Kent. Her debut novel Burial Rites is blowing up internationally so this is an Australian author you can get in with on the ground level. Like Brooks, this isn't actually set in Australia - it's set in Iceland - but who even cares. READ IT.

So this is probably long enough for the time being. Obviously I haven't even gotten close to mentioning all the amazing Australian authors out there but these were the ones who came to my mind first and I'm pretty sure if you give any of them a shot you'll end up finding similar authors recommended to you on Goodreads or wherever, which is what this is all about right? RIGHT?
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Want to see what you've missed so far?

Learning To Love A Sunburnt Country - Australian literature history
Fill Your Ears With Australians - Australian music


*Title quote from Voss by Patrick White

Fill Your Ears With Australians, Or: A Guide to Australian Music

My next post on Australian contemporary fiction is taking a really long time to write because, as it turns out, there is a shit load of fiction out there and condensing it into a decent sized post is HARD. So to placate the masses and keep you all from hopping on board a QANTAS flight and arriving at my door with pitchforks (although if you do this with cupcakes instead of pitchforks I will greet you with open arms) I'm going to give you a post on Australian music.

What! Australians have music?! OF COURSE we have music, what do you think we listen to while we ride around in kangaroo pouches and eat vegemite?

So I'm guessing you've all heard this song...



When I lived in Hong Kong everyone, and I mean everyone would sing this when my family arrived to things. I mean I get it, it's like the most Australian music video ever made while also being the silliest and most stereotypically Australian thing EVER. Now this might shock you, but not all of our music is about vegemite and chunder and not all of our musicians rock out in school uniforms. In fact, when we music, we music WELL.

So here are a bunch of bands that I love that herald from Australia. Some of these you'll have probably heard of, some you'll have heard without realising it (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds- the band playing on the radio when Harry and Hermione dance in DH), and others that are probably rarely heard of outside of our insular little island home. This list will be way biased by my particular tastes and in no way comprehensive, but I'll try my best to include a wide-ish range. And most of these bands, if not all of them, can be found on Youtube. So grab a Crown Lager (not a Fosters - ENOUGH with that stereotype), open up your ear-holes and get ready for some rollicking good Australian tunes.


 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds



Of all the musicians in Australia, Nick Cave is definitely my favourite. Early Nick Cave (circa The Birthday Party) has a bit of a Ian Curtis/Joy Division sound, although he shed the post-punk style when he got a little older. He's literary, prolific and dark. He's a phenomenal songwriter, and while I love his singing I think I might like the songs that are basically spoken poetry set to music best.

Also listen to: Into My Arms, The Carny, Tupelo


The Angels



The Angels are best known here in Australia for their song "am I ever going to see your face again" which has become something of a pub anthem. Fact of the day: people usually insert "No way, get fucked, fuck off" when the titular line is sung (yeah Australia!). Anyway, they're a really solid pre-grunge, post-punk rock band - just killer music basically. I think they were known as The Angels of Angel City or just Angel City over in the US.

Also listen to: After the Rain, No Secrets, Fashion and Fame


Paul Kelly



 A really prolific singer-songwriter with a HUGE discography that's just solid gold. I guess his sound is mostly a sort of bluegrass/folk cross - he's been named Australia's Bob Dylan - but it also crosses into straight rock. He collaborated with the Indigenous Australian band Yothu Yindi back in the 1990s to produce the song Treaty, a mix of traditional Aboriginal sounds with rock and funk. It ended up way more popular and influential than I think any of them ever imagined.

Also Listen to: Dumb Things, Darling it Hurts, Before to Long


Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu



Speaking of Yothu Yindi, Yunupingu started out in that band before eventually releasing his solo album Gurrumul in 2008. Most of the songs are in his native tounge, and if you buy any of the music I list here make it this album, it's just so unbelievably beautiful.

Also listen too: Gurrumul History (I was born blind), Marrandil, Bayini


Silverchair



Silverchair were MY band for so, so long. They were 15 when their first album was released, which is insane. What were you doing at 15? I know I sure as hell wasn't released a gunge album. They've evolved a lot since they hit the scene in the early 1990s, which is probably why they lasted so long and it's amazing to listen to them grow and develop their style each album. Also, if you try and suggest they're ripping off Nirvana I will rip your head off - seriously.

Also listen to: Ana's Song, The Door, Freak, Israel's Son


Sia



If you've watched 6 Feet Under, Sia's song "Breathe Me" is the song that accompanies that epic final conclusion. She's a fantastic singer in her own right, poppy and bright with the exact right amount of melancholy or pessimism mixed in occasionally, but she's also written songs for or collaborated with international musicians from just about every music genre around.

Also listen to: Kill and Run, Buttons, The Girl You Lost to Cocaine


Midnight Oil 



I'm not a huge listener of Midnight Oil, but they're one of those bands that legally I think you have to include in a list of Australian music. They're a socially-conscious alternative band and their songs are among some of Australia's most iconic protest songs. The clips are also worth watching if only to see Peter Garrett (singer) and his weird body awkwardly dancing.

Also listen to: Beds are Burning, Power and the Passion, US Forces


Gotye



Oh Wally De Backer, you sure know how to make music. I'm sure all of you have heard "somebody that I used to know" but Gotye has been around making amazing music for a lot longer. He's one of those musicians who plays ever instrument ever and god damn if his music isn't the sexiest music my ears have ever heard. Seriously, listen to "puzzle with a piece missing" and tell me it doesn't ooze sex.

Also listen to: Learnalilgivinanlovin, Easy Way Out, Puzzle With a Piece Missing


Powderfinger



One of my only claims to fame is that I once had coffee with Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug on his birthday. He's one of my old housemate's uncles and I was pretty stoked to be dragged along that day. They're one of Australia's biggest rock bands and they're pretty much universally loved here. It's pretty chilled-out rock, perfect for a summer day in the pool with a beer at your side.

Also listen to: My Happiness, My Kind of Scene, Pick You Up


Washington



I'm noticing a bit of a theme on this list, older post-punk or grunge male bands and female vocalists. What can I say, I likes what I like. Washington falls into the female vocalist category, she's got the prettiest voice, dances frequently in spangley jumpsuits and seems like a really cool chick.

Also listen to: How to Tame Lions, Clementine, Cement


The Living End



Ah The Living End. Along with Silverchair, Pennywise, Frenzal Rhomb and (shudder) Korn, these guys were my transition away from the Spice girls and boy bands (all of them - so many boy bands), so they have a special place in my heart. Their punk/psychobilly sound is also wicked fun to dance to, especially if you're as bad a dancer as I am and basically just jump up and down.

Also Listen to: Prisoner of Society, All Torn Down, West End Riot


Other awesome bands worth checking out (the links go to Youtube clips of my favourite songs)
Skyhooks - Australia's ultimate glam-rock band.
The Go-Betweens - brilliant Brisbane indie rock group from the 70s.
The Church - everyone knows "Under the Milkyway" right? Yeah that's these guys.
Australian Crawl - just great 80s music.
The Hoodoo Gurus - another iconic Aussie pub rock band.
Regurgitator - I dare you to sit still while you listen to these guys, awesome techno-y alternative music.
Daddy Cool - iconic Australian band from the 1970s, bluesy rock.
The Easybeats - found these guys when I was going through my Beatles phase.
Frenzal Rhomb - frenetic and jocular punk rock.
Eskimo Joe - alt-rock, reinvent their sound slightly for each album's theme.
The Temper Trap - lyrically strong rock? They're just super great.
Mental as Anything - new wave group, transports you straight into an 80s film.
Matt Corby - ex-Aus Idol contestant with one hell of a voice. Gorgeous when singing acoustic.
Split Enz - Technically from NZ, we like to claim these new wave/art rock dudes as our own.
Crowded House - Ditto. Shares a few band members as S.E but here they're more lyrical and ballad-y.
Seeker Lover Keeper - a trio made up of Australia's best current female singer-songwriters.
The Triffids - A post-punk band with a lot of love for Australian-specific imagery in their lyrics.
The Saints - A crazy influential punk band known internationally, rubbed shoulders with The Ramones and The Sex Pistols.
The Grates - Really energetic band with short, punchy indie-pop songs.
Architecture in Helskini - A really fun band. Energetic pop-dance I guess?
Hunters and Collectors - an artier form of pub rock. Some really stellar songs.
The Jezebels  - Gorgeous female vocals, fantastic drummer, a really tight indie band.
Tame Impala - Super 70s vibes.

Learning to Love A Sunburnt Country, or Australian Fiction for Newbies.

So last week Laura reviewed one of my favourite books, Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner. Ethel Turner is a bit of a hero of mine. At a time when "Australian" children's books were mostly written by British dudes who had never been to Australia and were always about a recently transplanted English kid who tumbles through the bush and finds himself at the pointy end of an aboriginal's spear and does some Boy's Adventure stuff and ends with a rousing game of cricket. Ms Turner called bullshit on this because Australian children are not like British kids, as she details in the intro to Seven Little Australians.

If you imagine you are going to read of model children, with perhaps a naughtily inclined one to point a moral, you had better lay down the book immediately and betake yourself to 'Sandford and Merton' or similar standard juvenile works. Not one of the seven is really good, for the very excellent reason that Australian children never are. 

In England, and America, and Africa, and Asia, the little folks may be paragons of virtue, I know little about them. But in Australia a model child is--I say it not without thankfulness--an unknown quantity. It may be that the miasmas of naughtiness develop best in the sunny brilliancy of our atmosphere. It may be that the land and the people are young-hearted together, and the children's spirits not crushed and saddened by the shadow of long years' sorrowful history. 

There is a lurking sparkle of joyousness and rebellion and mischief in nature here, and therefore in children.

And in a single introduction an entire national identity was born. Well, we had our national identity pretty well sown up before this book was released in 1894 but it reiterates the most important parts pretty spectacularly. And the book only gets better, so read it please. All of this is a long way of saying that it is thanks to Laura and Alley that I'm writing this post because they both said they were devastated they hadn't read more Australian fiction and were weeping rivers of tears and asking would I please help them? Or at least that's how I remember it happening.

I actually touched on this subject earlier this year in an Armchair BEA post about children's literature. I wrote specifically about picture, children and YA books written by Australians, although not necessarily take place in Australia. So I might use that as a jumping off point, and write a series of posts which cover the early history of fiction in Australia (because it's fascinating), as well as looking at more contemporary authors and culminating with the mother of all lists. I'll try to keep from going overboard but I spent A LOT of time at university studying just this so it's possible I'll go too far (sorry not sorry). Also, because I'm pretty proud of a lot of our female writers (did you know the first novel published in Australia was written by a woman?) it's possible this will be a super biased list and you should probably check out the Australian Gov site for a more complete history.

So even if you only really want to read contemporary Australian books you should probably still read some of the writings of our bush poets. Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson are the two main dudes in this category. You've all heard the song Waltzing Matilda right? Well that's a Banjo Paterson poem and along with The Man From Snowy River is probably one of the most famous Australian bush poems.  Paterson and Lawson were pretty different when it came to their writing, Paterson favoured a romantic approach to working and living in the bush, seeing it as a motivating strength to our national identity while Lawson was more of a realist and tended to be a little bit more political with his poems. If you have some time you should check out the shit they used to throw at each other either through their poems or the articles they wrote for Australian papers. Also, Henry Lawson was the son of noted suffragist and feminist Louisa Lawson which is probably why Henry turned out so damn stellar, and is still considered Australia's greatest writer.

Speaking of feminists and Henry Lawson. Miles Franklin (pseudonym for Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin) is probably one of Australia's most noted female authors. She's best known for her 1901 novel My Brilliant Career which she wrote as a TEENAGER. She then passed it on to Henry Lawson who gave it to his publishers and BOOM. She bequeathed her estate to create the Miles Franklin Literary Award which is THE award to win if you're an Australian author, and a pretty good place to look if you're after books that are about Australia and by Australians. And still speaking of feminists and Henry Lawson, READ BARBARA BAYNTON. She's amazing. She basically grabbed all of the bush poets by the ear and said "what about the ladies huh? How do they fit into this idyllic view of life in the bush?" (except Henry Lawson whose short story The Drover's Wife covered similar ground - told you he was stellar). If you read anything in this list make it her short story The Chosen Vessel, (originally titled The Tramp) which is basically a harrowing gothic-esque short story about a woman alone on a bush homestead who is harassed and threatened by a passing tramp. It's terrifying and reminds me a lot of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. If you want to read more of Baynton (and I suggest you do) get hold of Bush Tales which is a collection of short stories that includes The Chosen Vessel and Squeaker's Mate (equally good and terrifying). This review from ANZ Lit Lovers covers more than I could ever hope to.

 Joseph Furphy writing under the name Tom Collins published the novel Such is Life which remains one of Australia's best known and regarded novels. It's written in the vernacular of the day, so it can be tricky to get into (think Trainspotting) but it's a humourous, realistic (realism being the 19th century genre du jour) novel that presents something of an all encompassing look at the Australian way of life. The title, by the way, comes from Ned Kelly's supposed final words as he was about to be hanged. David Unaipon was 1000 kinds of awesome. Not only was he a writer and an inventor (trivia fans -he's on our $50 note) but he was indigenous. And this is a big deal because he was the first published indigenous writer, and he was responsible for breaking through a lot of the "savage native" stereotypes that existed at the time. He was often referred to as the Australian Leonardo Di Vinci which is a killer compliment to give a scientist.

Ruth Park is technically from New Zealand, however she began writing after she moved to Australia to marry author Darcy Niland. She was a prolific author, owing apparently to the lack of books in her life growing up. Her book Playing Beattie Bow was a favourite of my mums and she passed that down to me as soon as I could read. However I think her book The Harp in the South was probably her most famous novel both in Australia and internationally. And because I'm completely shallow, you should check out her picture because dayum the lady was stunning.

Who else needs mentioning? Henry Handel Richardson (pseudonym for Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson) was a novelist best known for her 1910 coming of age novel The Getting of Wisdom. Marcus Clarke's novel For the Term of His Natural Life explored life as a convict in early Australian settlement. May Gibbs wrote the beloved Snugglepot and Cuddlepie children's stories and Dorothy Hewitt was a poet, playwright and novelist followed by controversy. Then of course there is poet Dorothea McKellar whose second verse of her poem My Country gave Bill Bryson the title for his travel book on Australia.

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

And I think I'll end this post here, not only because it is already HUGE but because you can find most of these authors online and for free (especially the short story and poetry writers) and the next bunch will necessitate library and book store searches. But hopefully this has been somewhat interesting and you don't feel like I've just regurgitated a bunch of essays at you. This is actually my favourite era of Australian writing because it's so fundamental to the writing of contemporary Australian authors and contemporary Australian society. I don't think people tend to think of Australia as a place for progressive thought especially early in our history (and for the most part, as a country, we weren't) but the most prolific authors from this era were all republicans, nationalists, communists, feminists and were constantly challenging the societal norms of the day. And that's something to be proud of.

Next week I'll look at authors who published after WW2, and I'll follow it with a final post that'll basically just be a list of books to read I think. If any Aussie bloggers are reading let me know if I've missed anything out or gotten any of the details wrong.

Armchair BEA (day 5): Children's Literature- Reppin' Australia

Sorry for my absence yesterday folks, I had a full up schedule and didn't get a chance to write about non-fiction and ethics but wowzers you all did really well covering it all, so I don't know that I could have actually added anything new anyway!

So children's literature! I LOVE children's lit and it's such an important genre because 9 times out of 10 it's the writing that informs whether someone becomes a reader or not. I was a reader from a young age (I doubt there are many of you who don't share that claim) and I always loved fairytales. I had these two huge compediums of fairytales and nursery rhymes. Both were filled will really beautiful and detailed illustrations to accompany the stories and rhymes from the 16th to the 19th centuries and both are now locked away awaiting the birth of my children, whenever that will be. I loved pouring over the story of Rose Red and the Oranges and Lemons nursery rhyme was my absolute favourite. A couple of years later I was given a book of stories about British and Irish sprites and fairies and pixies. I'd like to say it was this book that lead to me loving to research the subject of my reads and to examining the subtext that is hidden to all but those of us obsessive enough to dig a little deeper.

But the most wonderful books I read as a kid were all Australian. When it comes to Australian children's lit my mum is a book-pusher, I read my fair share of Hungry Caterpillers and Baby-Sitter's Clubs, but it was the books written by Australian authors set (mostly) in our very own country that I read the most often and loved the hardest. And since I know there aren't a huge selection of Australians taking part here I figured I'd introduce you all to some BRILLIANT reads. There are classics stories written by our bush poets (Mulga Bill's Bicycle), books which challenged gender stereotypes at a time when that was unheard of (Seven Little Australians), series that forced ordinary Australian teens to become guerilla fighters (Tomorrow when the War Began) and series which were just delighfully absurd (collections by Paul Jennings). It's an absolute pleasure to present you with my lists of favourite picture, children's and YA Australian books.

Get reading!

Picture Books 
My selection is perhaps a little dated since I don't have anyone to buy picture books for, but I know for a fact that most of these books are still just as popular today as they were when I was a little gal. All are uniquely Australian, and though not listed you should also hunt out the many, many picture books which tell the dream-time stories of the Indigenous Australians.

Wombat Stew by Marcia Kay Vaughn
Mulga Bill's Bicycle by Banjo Paterson, Deborah and Kilmeny Niland
Possum Magic by Mem Fox
Animalia by Graeme Base
The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan
John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat by Jenny Wagner and Ron Brooks

Children's Books 
Since this is an Australian list I can't really include Roald Dahl, but I'm going to pimp him out anyway because ALL of his books should be read, Matilda, George's Marvellous Medicine, James and the Giant Peach, The Magic Finger, The Witches....so on and so forth. Similarly if you don't read The Magic Faraway Tree or The Wishing Chair, both series by Enid Blyton, to your kids then I consider you to have failed in your parental responsibilities. But on to the Aussie contemporaries and classics!

Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner
Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park
Unreal/Unbelievable/Quirky Tales (or any other short story collection) by Paul Jennings
Two Weeks With the Queen by Morris Gleitzman
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs
Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda (a series)
Storm Boy by Colin Theile

Young Adult
If you've run out of Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Divergent books to read then why not turn to Australian YA? This is the bracket I have the least to suggest, but head to this Goodreads list if you're interested in the many, many YA Australian books and series I haven't read. These should be enough to get started though!

The Infernal Optimist by Linda Jaivin
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Tomorrow when the War Began by John Marsden (a series)
Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Deadly Unna by Phillip Gwynne

"Hollywood can not live up to the power of imagination"

In honour of Game of Thrones' return to TV, here is the wonderful Axis of Awesome (the band who brought you 4 Chords - if you haven't seen that yet then what are you waiting for?') and their brand new song Rage of Thrones. 

*headbangs*