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The Ring (2002)
9/10
This is what a scary movie should do to you..."Its a videotape of someones nightmare"
10 November 2002
Warning: Spoilers
None of us likes to admit to being scared. Maybe a little uneasy, maybe a little tens, but not scared, not grown up me. The truth is, we all experience fear, embracing that fact is what makes the Ring so enjoyable.

In my view the best scary movies are the ones that really start to get scary after the credits have rolled.

The ones that are at their most frightening in that last moment before you turn the bedside light off... That are at their most frightening when you walk down the darkened hallway to your bedroom after turning the lights off... That are at their most scary when you wake to a noise in the night KNOWING its just the house cooling... That are at their most frightening when their memories come to you in the moments before dawn. Images that take only a few seconds to pass on big screen but have the time to stir languidly in our dreams, making us toss and turn.

The ring may not be a scarefest, nor gory, not lighthearted. But it is un-nerving, a rare treat in this age of the feel good flicks. The kind of movie children should not watch, for it will give them nightmares. The kind of movie that will raise the hair on you back from time to time as another frightening scene is recalled (especially the video of "the nightmare").

As with all great movies there is passionate discussion as to its value, but only a dullard could see no value in the well directed and ultimately disturbing and frightening piece of work.

Spoiler: One point many critics have touched on is the supposed scariness of the tape and why the child would even make a tape. I implore you to watch the film again and listen to what she has to say in her interrogation, and note who her only "friend" in the barn loft is alluded to being. This film does make certain sense, and that is what is all the more frightening.
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Blue Murder (1995)
10/10
Quite simply the best Australian television ever produced.
1 August 2001
Blue Murder is far and away the best piece of television I have ever seen.

Never in my life have I seen a more well acted presentation. Every actor here is in top form, every scene works. This is not TV that tries to emotionally lead the viewer, it shows these brutal and truthful events as they occurred, and thats what makes it so engrossing, and so watchable, never once do we feel patronised by the makers.

Tony Martin is fantastic on every level as Neddy Smith, the seedy Sydney underworld character, portraying him to a tee. Steve Bastoni gives a totally believable performance as Micheal Drury. As Drury he gives Australian television possibly its most powerful scene ever after being shot in the kitchen of his family home. I can honestly say that this scene, where he tries to maintain control of himself while bleeding to death and trying to protect his family is the most anguishing scene of a mans life slipping away that I have ever witnessed.

However, the rest of the production is stolen by one man, Richard Roxburgh as the corrupt policeman Roger Rogerson. Roxburgh is a standout here, his is embued with that tough smoke and beer stained swagger that one associates with the 'old school' style of policing in the 70's and 80's in New South Wales. He and his police mates impeccably re-create the seedy and corrupt feel of tones of that plagued the NSW police through the 80's and 90's, complete with boozey lunches, prostitutes and revenge killings.

Blue Murder was not shown in my home state until 6 years after its production. It was considered too powerful, too close to the truth. It was feared it may influence several court cases that were proceding at the time along with the Corruption Commission set up to investigate such activities. With this in mind it is mind blowing to finally see what the rest of Australia has been privy to for the last 6 years.

Though 6 years old when first screened here, there's no doubt that Blue Murder is a landmark in Australian television. Its just such a shame that our best work seems to sprout from our darkest moments...
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