List-mania: Observer Film Quarterly

On the radio show today, Glenn and I discussed the Observer Film Quarterly’s recent list of the top 25 British films from the last 25 years. Here is the list:

• 1. Trainspotting (1996)
• 2. Withnail and I (1987)
• 3. Secrets & Lies (1996)
• 4. Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)
• 5. My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
• 6. Nil By Mouth (1997)
• 7. Sexy Beast (2000)
• 8. Ratcatcher (1999)
• 9. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
• 10. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
• 11. Touching the Void (2003)
• 12. Hope and Glory (1987)
• 13. Control (2007)
• 14. Naked (1993)
• 15. Under the Skin (1997)
• 16. Hunger (2008)
• 17. This Is England (2006)
• 18. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
• 19. Dead Man’s Shoes (2004)
• 20. Red Road (2006)
• 21. Riff-Raff (1991)
• 22. Man On Wire (2008)
• 23. My Summer of Love (2004)
• 24. 24 Hour Party People (2002)
• 25. The English Patient (1996)

Having done no actual research, we said the list felt a bit like it was thrown together by some people in the office, effectively “here are 25 films we can think of”.

Turns out that’s about right – according to The Observer “we asked more than 60 experts – directors, screenwriters, actors, critics – and a few smart “outsiders” (novelist Jonathan Coe, for instance; musician Nitin Sawhney) to name their top 10 British films since 1984″.

So there you go.

Radio Show #2

On Friday’s show:

Acclaimed author Doug MacLeod talks about writing for Young People, Steve from Glitter & Tonic visits the Forever Barbie Exhibition (so you don’t have have to), Narrelle M Harris discusses the CSI Effect, Glenn Dunks looks at what happens when stage musicals go to the cinema, Josh Kinal goes rant-tastic over Masterchef, Almost Fabulous visits the 19th Century, and Adam C’s Crime Against Pop was Filter Section’s singular cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Please do not reveal the secret ending to your friends. All this and our musical challenge too!

And podcasting is now go! You can find the podcast in the usual places or download it directly from here!

The Outland Institute – you know you want it. Every Friday from midday to two on Joy 94.9.

Show notes after the jump…

Radio Show #1

The inaugural voyage of the Outland Institute radio show set sail today – Josh Kinal assures me that the “one show anniversary” is traditionally lined notepad paper, freshly torn. And who am I to say he’s wrong?

On today’s show:

Josh Kinal talks about All Saints and televised eating contests, Narrelle Harris and Mary Borsellino discuss Robin The Boy Wonder‘s place in culture, Our Almost Fabulous feature looks at Neighbours’ Andrew “Macca” Mackenzie, Glenn Dunks picks some hits from this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival, Toby Sullivan tells us the right way to approach football, and our Crime Against Pop is Buckner & Garcia’s Pac-Man Fever:

You can find the podcast in the usual places or download it directly from here!

Show notes after the jump:

Radio Active

Hello, dear reader.

I know it might seem lately that I’ve neglected you. I don’t write as often as I once did, and perhaps you think my love for you has waned.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, that may not true – there’s probably some things that are further from the truth, like “space octopi open convenience store in Geelong”, but you get the drift of my gist. While updates to this site have been – let’s say “sluggish”, shall we? – behind the scenes it’s been all systems go. Or go-ish.

On Friday July the 10th the exciting new radio version of The Outland Institute will be unleashed, and your ears will never be the same. Every Friday from midday to 2pm (Melbourne time) we’ll be exploring pop-culture in audio form on Joy 94.9. There’ll be plenty of exciting guests, plus some boring ones to make up the numbers. And we have a glamorous selection of resident experts, including Josh Kinal from Boxcutters, Glenn Dunks from Stale Popcorn and Anne-Marie Peard from Aussie Theatre. There’s even a theme tune by David Ashton from Destination Moon – take that, ABC 2’s News Breakfast! Not so big now!

So please join us on the 10th of July – you can listen on the wireless at 94.9FM in the Melbourne metro area, or hear it streamed wherever you are through http://www.joy.org.au/listenlive, or download the podcast version from the Joy website (I’ll provide more podcast details in due course). And keep listening after the show for Flip The Tape, Joy’s fantastic indie/eclectic music show hosted by Adam C. It’s grouse.

The website will also continue to function, with both complimentary and new material, plus you’ll be able to comment on the radio show and basically make life just that bit more bearable.

To finish with, let’s look at some Canadian bilingual kite-flying, set to The Free Design‘s 1967 classic Kites Are Fun.

Au revoir!