For whatever reason, Shudder uploaded a bunch of Australian horror movies about a month ago. I’ve watched a few of them (like Coda, 1987). That brought to mind the classic episode of The Simpsons where the family goes to Australia so Bart can apologize for a prank phone call:
Well, that brought to mind another Australian flick I watched recently, The Loved Ones (2009). I would really classify this flick as a “dark comedy,” but it made for a compelling watch.
A film in which the villain is a failed composer—that hits close to home! And it’s the premise (roughly) of the 1987 made-for-TV Australian film Coda (1987). The film is also notable for its use of women in all the lead roles, which would now be a travesty of wokery, but at the time was mildly interesting (it also works because the women aren’t perfectly strong, tough, and smart; the female police detective, for example, seems pretty incompetent, which rings true). Regular readers know that yours portly is an avid supporter of all women, so you can be sure that I approved of this artistic decision.
Coda is very much a 1980s film—the outfits, the haircuts, etc. I imagine Australia is one of those countries that is like Idaho: it’s ten years behind the United States in terms of fashion and pop culture, but it’s still on the same trajectory. I might be completely wrong about that, but that is the sense I got watching this flick.
Regardless, Coda is an enjoyable little thriller. It opens with a women being murdered—gasp!—and a goofy passer-by—the lead character’s ex-husband—is framed up for the job when he attempts to offer the dying woman aid. No good deed goes unpunished, it seems, and the female police detective is convinced the ex-husband is the culprit. Surprisingly, the ex-wife/lead protagonist doesn’t believe her bumbling ex-husband could be the culprit and begins her own investigation.
My new album, PRISM, released Friday, 7 February 2025. Use promo code “photon” to get 20% off this release, my biggest and longest to date! It’s also finally on Apple Music!
Yours portly is back to the grind today, and slowly getting back into my routine. I’ve been woefully negligent of the blog, but hope to get back into the groove soon. I’ve been writing that for what feels like a week, but maybe it will become true—finally!
As it is, this post is late, and I usually do Open Mic Adventures on Tuesdays. Well, you get what you pay for, I suppose. Thanks for bearing with me.
I recently finished working on a new album, which will be something of a cosmic zoological exploration. I’m calling it The Galactic Menagerie, and it releases on Friday, 7 March 2025, so mark your calendars.
This week, I’m featuring one of the two tuba duets from the album, and this one is particularly chunky.
Nine years ago, George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) hit cinemas with an explosive impact worthy of the big screen. It is perhaps the best film of the last decade. I remember seeing it at least twice in theaters, and being totally enthralled both times. My niece, who is now nine, was still in my sister-in-law’s belly at this point; Barack Obama was still president; and the idea that the world would shut down due to a bad case of the flu seemed outrageous. It was a different world.
Indeed, I remember my younger brother scolding me for seeing MM:FR with a colleague instead of him and his wife (and, I suppose, my natal niece by extension). I think I saw it with them for my second viewing, but I cannot remember at the moment. Regardless, that was probably the last time that the three of us could have gone to the movies together—truly the end of an era.
And MM:FR was the perfect film to end that era. Indeed, it was something a vestige of the dying days of practical effects and crazy stunts. Fury Road did use some CGI and digital effects, but it was largely shot practically, which is insane when one considers the dangerous stunts. It must have been grueling to film.
What captivated me so much about Fury Road was the world in which this extended car chase occurred. Miller dribbled in just enough information to give a sense for how this wasteland worked, but left a great deal unexplained. That fueled hours of speculation about the locations and people in this world. How did Immortan Joe come to power? What happened to the Green Place? What is going on with Max’s mental state?
After nearly a decade, Miller released Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), which serves as a prequel to Fury Road. The film did not answer every question, but it does a great deal to flesh out the world of Mad Max, while still allowing it to maintain some of its mystique and mystery. It’s also an excellent film.
As I’m working on Péchés d’âge moyen, my collection of short piano miniatures, I’d be remiss if I didn’t recognize the influence of Telegram user Goth Kilts. She has been a huge source of encouragement as I begin dabbling in composing again, and a friendly sounding board for some of my musical ideas.
Kilts is herself quite a prolific commentator through her excellent Telegram page, The Sandwhich Press (and, yes, it’s spelled with the extra “h,” although the URL for her page spells “sandwich” the normal way). It boasts over 500 subscribers, all of them richly deserved.
As such, I wanted to dedicate today’s edition of Supporting Friends Friday to The Sandwhich Press, and the insightful, humorous, and Goth-inflected TradCath [she’s actually Coptic Christian—oops!] commentary of Goth Kilts.
The Portly Politico 