Dave’s Movie Diary

A revisit of Halloween and a reminder of why John Carpenter created one of the most influential horror films ever made. More than just a slasher film, Halloween remains a masterclass in suspense, atmosphere, and making everyday suburbia feel genuinely terrifying.

This episode is on Chopper (2000), directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Eric Bana in his breakout role as Melbourne criminal Mark “Chopper” Read. It follows Chopper after his release from prison in the mid-1980s as he tries to navigate life outside, but quickly falls back into the same world of violence, manipulation, and criminal dealings that defined his earlier life. What unfolds is a series...

This episode is about Opening Night, John Cassavetes’ fascinating backstage drama starring an extraordinary Gena Rowlands as an actress spiralling under the pressure of ageing, identity and performance. A raw, emotionally volatile film full of remarkable acting, long intimate close-ups, and a reminder of just how fearless Cassavetes was as a filmmaker. One of the most challenging and rewarding wat...

This episode is on The Doors. I first saw this around the time it came out, when I was heavily into both The Doors and Jim Morrison after reading No One Here Gets Out Alive. Oliver Stone captures the band’s rise through the late 60s brilliantly, while exploring Morrison’s creativity, intellect, self-destructive streak, and the chaotic energy that made both him and the band so fascinating.

This episode is about Terms of Endearment, a beautifully written family drama based on a novel by Larry McMurtry and directed by the always impressive James L. Brooks. Featuring wonderful performances from Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine and an effortlessly charismatic Jack Nicholson, it’s a film full of warmth, humour, emotional honesty and characters that feel remarkably true to life.

This episode is about The Cell (2000). I remember it at the time as one of the more visually striking and disturbing films I’d seen, built around the idea of entering a serial killer’s unconscious mind in order to locate a missing victim. It blends psychological thriller elements with surreal dreamlike imagery and a race-against-time investigation led by Jennifer Lopez’s character and Vincent D’On...

This episode is on Magazine Dreams (2023), an intensely uncomfortable film about obsession, loneliness, and what happens when someone builds their entire identity around a single dream. Featuring an extraordinary performance from Jonathan Majors, it’s a powerful but deeply unsettling look at ambition in its most destructive form.

This episode is on Interiors (1978), a film I hadn’t seen in nearly 30 years and remembered as one of Woody Allen’s more serious departures from his usual style. Revisiting it now gave me a chance to look again at its striking visual style, the family dynamics at its centre, and a very different side of Allen as a filmmaker.

This episode is on The Sixth Sense (1999), a film I first saw in cinemas back when twists like this could still genuinely surprise audiences. Rewatching it now, I was struck by how well it still holds up — extraordinary performances from Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette and Bruce Willis, plus a brilliantly original script that remains just as rewarding even when you know exactly where it’s going.

This episode is about Subway (1985). I hadn’t seen it since the early 90s and what struck me most was how completely wrong my memory of it had been. I’d remembered a tense action thriller, but what I found instead was pure 80s style — eccentric characters, great music, strange energy and a film that feels more like a long music video than a conventional story. Sometimes pure distraction is exactly...

This episode is about The Russia House (1990). What struck me most on revisiting it wasn’t the spy story, but simply spending time in the Soviet Union of 1990. Sean Connery is perfectly cast, but for me Michelle Pfeiffer completely steals the film. A slow, patient spy thriller that puts all its faith in character rather than action.

This episode is about The Hateful Eight (2015). I hadn’t revisited it in about 11 years, and it’s always been the forgotten Tarantino for me. Going back to it now, I was struck by how impressive it looks — that sense of isolation in the blizzard and the widescreen photography really stand out. But I also found it a much tougher watch than I remembered.

This episode is about Manhattan (1979). Revisiting it after thirty years, I was struck again by how beautiful it looks — New York in black and white is still extraordinary. But the film itself now feels more self-absorbed and uncomfortable than I remembered. A hugely influential film, but one that’s become more complicated with time.

This episode is on The Club (1980). I remembered really liking this when I first saw it in the 90s, but revisiting it now it feels much more theatrical and melodramatic than I recall. Strong nostalgia for late 70s Australia, but overall not quite as convincing this time around.

This episode is on Toni Erdmann (2016). A very strange film and one that takes its time — much slower and far less comedic than I expected at first. But once it settles into the father-daughter relationship, it becomes surprisingly funny, moving, and quietly profound about the way we live and what actually matters.

This episode is on The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996). Rewatching it now, I found myself less interested in Larry Flynt the man and more drawn to the film’s bigger ideas around free speech, censorship and hypocrisy. Great performances all round, but a film that feels a little less provocative and a little more exhausting with time.

This episode is on Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007). It’s a simple setup that spirals fast — two brothers planning a robbery that goes wrong in ways that ripple out into everything else. What stuck with me coming back to it is how controlled it feels, even as everything in it is collapsing. It’s a film about greed, family, and the point where bad decisions stop being fixable. Tight, bleak...

This episode is on Scarface (1983). It’s Tony Montana’s rise and fall — all ambition, excess, and self-destruction. It’s loud, violent, and iconic, but underneath it’s really just a straight line from wanting everything to losing everything.

This episode is on Miami Vice (2006), a film I really didn’t get the first time I saw it back in 2007. Coming back to it now, it’s less about plot and more about mood — undercover work, blurred identity, and the emotional cost underneath it all. It’s messy, dense, and better than I originally gave it credit for.

Today I’m looking at Barton Fink (1991), which feels less like a film about writer’s block and more like a surreal pressure-cooker of ego, performance, and atmosphere. What really stands out is John Turturro trapped in this decaying hotel world, with Michael Lerner and John Goodman delivering these unforgettable, increasingly unhinged performances. It’s not a film you solve — it’s one you sit insi...

Today I’m looking at Jaws (1975), a film that never really felt like a discovery because it was already such a huge part of popular culture before I properly saw it. Rewatching it now, what stands out most is just how brilliantly Spielberg builds tension through what you don’t see. A landmark film that still completely holds up.

Today I’m looking at Unbreakable (2000), a film that feels even more fascinating now given what superhero cinema eventually became. What still works is how restrained and grounded Shyamalan keeps it, with Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson building something far more thoughtful than a conventional comic book film.

Today I’m looking at Local Hero (1983), a film I somehow avoided for nearly 20 years before finally catching up with it by chance. What really stayed with me was the warmth of the small Scottish village setting, the incredible Mark Knopfler score, and just how effortlessly charming the whole thing feels. Not sure it’ll become a regular rewatch, but I’m very glad I finally spent time with it.

Today I’m looking at Schindler’s List (1993), a film that takes me back to a time when cinema still felt like a genuine cultural event. Watching it now, what stands out is Spielberg’s ability to create something that feels less like entertainment and more like witnessing history. Still one of the most powerful and important films I’ve ever seen.

Today I’m looking at Q & A (1990), a Sidney Lumet crime drama that feels more interested in institutional corruption than conventional thriller mechanics. Nick Nolte is outstanding as a man who sees his own corruption as completely justified, and the film still feels as raw and morally tense now as it did when I first saw it in the early 90s.