One of the big advantages of writing a listicle about the top Australian television shows of the year (for @screenhub.bsky.social ) is that unlike many of the top Australian films, people actually can easily watch the top Australian television shows of the year: www.screenhub.com.au/news/article...

I had someone recently ask me where I got my news from - they’ve known me for decades now and I used to be quite the well-informed gent - and I had to admit that these days it’s a mix of osmosis, vibes, and deranged ultra-local FB groups because the mainstream Australian media is not fit for purpose

Social media really has trained a lot of people into thinking that their every passing thought on a deeply serious topic is not only worth broadcasting, but then repeatedly doubling down on until they've nailed their colours to a take that would get them slapped in polite conversation

Watching a live press conference is a great way to be reminded that there is a section of the Australian media that is dumber than dog shit

Thinking about that period in Australia where TV comedians would make a “wouldn’t it be awful if I did this thing?” joke and the media reported that they actually did the thing and then hounded them about it until they apologised or their show was axed

Now watching CYBER WARS (2003), set in a high tech South East Asian nation where the only white people able to handle a grim future of “simplants” are Australians who say things like “go back to the cop shop”

I'm never sure how to feel about big names from the 90s having faded away - I'm tempted to blame technological and cultural changes, but I have a strong suspicion that unless you're Stephen King or Phillip Roth or I dunno, Ridley Scott, a high profile career in the arts isn't measured in decades

Still wondering exactly what was behind an ABC Melbourne radio producer letting on-air yesterday afternoon a caller who said that their most memorable moment of 2025 was the tragic death of Charlie Kirk, and by the way it was truly disgraceful that some people weren't respectful enough of his memory

A few days back I came up with 95% of an idea for a vampire story that I'm reasonably sure hasn't been done before, but I have zero interest in writing a vampire story so I really wish I could stop spending every waking moment trying to figure out that last 5%

You used to be able to go into any second hand bookshop or well-stocked op shop and find a pile of Footrot Flats collections. Hard to know why they're so rare now - it's not like there's a late surge of interest in Murray Ball, a man who somehow managed to cancel himself in the late 90s

It would need to be titled THE GOAT, and things would turn sour when they began arguing over what the greatest film of all time was

If I was teaching a media literacy class the very first thing I'd do is screen the Dirty Harry movie SUDDEN IMPACT, because for 30 years every time any news report contains the word "we" I automatically quote the line "who's 'we', sucker?" and that is a question people really need to ask a lot more

My Tarantino take is that I saw Pulp Fiction four times in the cinema when it was released and I've never watched it since, because it inspired me to read *actual* pulp fiction which was roughly a billion times more interesting

About 30% of Pluribus is basically just that scene in Neuromancer where Case walks past a row of pay phones and each one rings once as he goes by

I was wondering why I was suddenly seeing a lot of “Best Movies of 2025” lists and then I realised MUZZLE: CITY OF WOLVES was released this week

The Netflix - WB merger is yet another reminder that these giant media monoliths will either become irrelevant in the next 10-20 years, or western society is going to go through such an upheaval that "what are we going to watch on television tonight?" will become a nonsensical question

Yeah it’s been a long week

Help! Sign & share the petition to save the State Library of Victoria from rolling crises, gallery closures, harassment/jettisoning of staff & new cuts to destroy services for children & adults. c.org/Hj9G9WSg2f. (Or change.org, search Save The State Library of Victoria.) #StateLibrary #librarians

Nature integration update: local birds have accepted me as one of their own, constantly flying around and near me when I’m outside. Meanwhile I’ve had three dogs lunge at me angrily while being walked in the last two days.

Always happy to hear from fans of one specific genre of art saying that the effect of digital media / streaming on their chosen artform is complex and layered while it's obviously destroyed all other forms of popular art

Watching a movie that’s about something else entirely but a scene has playing in the background a song forever linked to my worst breakup and I’m like “wait so this conversation between supporting characters *isn’t* meant to feel horribly doom-laden?”

Every day this week I've received notification that a big parcel I'm waiting on will be arriving *tomorrow*, so today I rang up to find out what's going on and they said yeah it's here but as we initially told you it'd arrive next week we don't have to deliver it any earlier even tho it's right here

Longtime readers may recall a while back I spent a summer detailing the conflict raging in my backyard - The War Between Bats and Possums. In 2025 the bats have clearly won, going by the relentless sounds of leather wings flapping, branches breaking and bat sex noises outside my window every night

'Some staff are shocked?' ALL recently forced out staff, & the few experts left, everyone who isn't in the questionable senior management tier knows that the State Library in Melbourne is teetering on the brink of irreparable disaster & the end of this iconic Library as we know it. Inquiry now.

Don’t forget: Annabel Crabb’s Kitchen Cabinet is returning to your ABC in 2026

Body count's in the house, body count Body count's in the house, body count Body count's in the house, body count Body count's in the house, body count Body count's in the house, body count Body count's in the house, body count Body count's in the house, body count

#Victorians! Our State Library is being trashed by a series of executives with no experience or understanding of public collections. Many hired as 'temps' without full process, who then caused scandals & exodus of specialist & librarian staff: a full wreck looms. www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

Saw someone say they wrote a review that was scathing but they didn’t feel bad about it because it was also “completely fair” and yeah, I suspect not everyone involved is going to agree with that

By my count, in 2026 Sam Pang will be appearing on at least five Australian television shows across three networks - including two (Sam Pang Tonight, the just announced sitcom Ground Up) in which he's the star. Who knew that being good at your job pays off in the Australian media?

Buried deep, deep in the announcement of the ABC's programming for 2026 is the news that Kitchen Cabinet is returning, and honestly I don't think anyone would have voted for Labour at the last election if we knew this was the kind of shit we'd get under Albo

There's a moment in the new RUNNING MAN that almost (but not quite) hits the same beat as the ROLLERBALL remake where they say "they're killing them... for the ratings!", which is meant to be grim and futuristic but then you read this: thebaffler.com/salvos/I-Wil...

Was about to make a joke about how pathetic any "Morris Files" would be, but then I realised I actually have seen a lot of wild shit over the years involving critics at preview screenings and I probably should gather it all in one place for ease of scandal after I'm gone

Just a few days until it’ll be possible - more than possible - to have seen both WICKED movies before seeing THE WIZARD OF OZ, and the people who do are going to be very different from those who came before

I probably need to hand in my SF nerd card, but I really haven't had the feeling from Pluribus that it wants me to "engage deeply" with *any* of the world-building stuff - it feels like the bare minimum to stave off obvious questions, not something that's meant to be plausible under a spotlight

Foolishly took a look at the online discourse around Plur1bus and damn, all those puzzle box shows really fucked up a generation. Story elements that are literally explained in the moment are "clearly" signs of deeper mysteries! Character beats are "obviously" distractions from the "real" story!

Someone sat down and worked out the backstory to the Megan Fox killer sexbot movie SUBSERVIENCE (2024)

Every single time I see SHOGUN mentioned anywhere I automatically think "SHOGUN ASSASSIN?" and having my hopes constantly dashed is really starting to depress me

SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE features a sequence where a truck destroys two fighter-bombers, which doesn’t sound that impressive until you find out both times the planes are destroyed while flying through the air

I'm assuming THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 is about how the magazine is sold to private equity, downsizes repeatedly over the course of a month, goes digital-only, replaces all content with AI and then folds and quietly becomes a spam site directing people to an online casino. Run time: 12 minutes

Last night I heard one of Melbourne's best-known - not best - critics tell someone (who hadn't asked) that The Running Man was the worst movie of the year after Predator: Badlands, and the fact society lets this chump act like his opinions didn't just fall out the arse of a passing cow is on us all

The Punisher (1989), The Punisher (2004), Punisher: War Zone, Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Movie

This was stuffed down beside my seat on the train. There’s nothing worse than overthinking in German

Authentic Australian culture on the world stage! Oglaf is 1000 times better than Tim Winton #fact

This just in: billionaires always have an agenda, and when they buy *any* media organisation they make sure it promotes their agenda

Before tonight's screening of PREDATOR: BADLANDS the Disney publicist introduced it by saying "Set in the future! Filmed in New Zealand!" but before it started we got the latest trailer for AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH and I reckon they can pretty much just reuse the same intro when they launch that

Maybe now they can get around to imposing a local content quota on free-to-air broadcasters - pretty sure both Nine and Seven have *zero* scripted dramas or comedies lined up for 2026

There’s a certain highbrow approach to genre film where the director has seemingly thought “what if I made this story really relentlessly grim and unpleasant just to punish the audience for enjoying exploitation films” and whenever people talk those films up I pretty much lose all respect for them

We need a word for when the light hits a youthful friend or acquaintance just right and suddenly you can see exactly what they’re going to look like in 30 years time

Now rewatching THE WILD BUNCH, a movie released by Warner Brothers, a studio about to be sold to Netflix because movies will be replaced by AI slop in a few years so the owners need to cash in now. Which is odd, as there’s zero chance of AI ever creating anything like this (55 year old) movie

I've never seen it but I did a few weeks on rushes for it & I agree with this. Nathan Saidden might be the 2nd best 'Tom Hardy performance giver' that we have, next to Tom Hardy.