Eyes on Screen

Fiona, Nat and Haidee are here to unpack a week in watching, and reprise an old catch phrase that’s a classic for a reason. We’ve watched War, a flashy new high-production / low-stakes UK drama about a power couple’s divorce (it even has us taking sides). We’ve checked back in on how Sharon Horgan’s coping (or isn't) in Youth. And we, like many of you, have revisited Emerald Fennell’s Oscar-nominated vigilante fantasy, Promising Young Woman, in the wake of serious gang rape allegations about the so-called 'Cornell 7'. How does it hold up? Plus, there's a very eventful rambling Celebrity Traitors sidebar and a movie ticket giveaway. Let's get into it. Follow Eyes on Screen on Instagram: @eyesonscreenpod or email us at hello@eyesonscreen.com.au

Just Fiona and Sana and we've gone a little bit existential! It turns out that when you leave these two alone, they get reflective. This episode we're discussing two programs that have more in common than we expected: Youth, Sharon Horgan's new comedy series about a divorced, early-50s woman determined to have as much sex as possible before she doesn't want to anymore (Cillian Murphy's son is in it, which we mention approximately once and then cannot stop thinking about); and 70 Up, the bittersweet finale of the world's longest running documentary series — the one that started by asking seven-year-olds what they wanted from life, then checked back in every seven years for over six decades. We get into what Youth gets right about being a woman at this particular age, whether Sharon Horgan's heels are aspirational or terrifying, and what it means that this latest instalment of 7 Up is truly the last one. Class, privilege, the passage of time, the choices you make at seven that shape the rest of your life — we didn't plan to go this deep, but here we are. 70 Up is streaming on SBS On Demand in Australia. Youth is now available to watch on HBO Max.Follow Eyes on Screen on Instagram: @eyesonscreenpod or email us at hello@eyesonscreen.com.au

Three of us this week — Fiona Williams, Haidee Ireland and Natalie Hambly (Sana is taking a break but will be back very soon) — and we are doing a deep dive into the Emmy Awards, because some of our favourites were in the mix, some got robbed, and one phrase has entered our permanent vocabulary: the Matthew Rhys-urgence. Widow's Bay swept 14 awards and we are not complaining — Kate O'Flynn winning best supporting actress in a comedy was the highlight of the night. We also get into why best drama going to The Pitt over Pluribus felt like the one that got away, whether Stephen Colbert's acceptance speech said everything it needed to say just by existing, and why this year's Emmys — however satisfying — felt uncomfortably comfortable. We also have thoughts on Chase Infiniti being the only Testaments nominee, and we have not moved on from the Stadium episode.Then we get into what we've all been watching: Haidee makes the case for The Beast in Me (starring Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys, naturally), Nat has finally finished Five Star Weekend and is ready to give her full verdict, and Fiona has caught up with DTF St Louis and cannot believe it took this long. We also get into Interview with the Vampire season three, and a film called The Rivals of Amziah King that someone absolutely did not forget the name of at all.Follow Eyes on Screen on Instagram: @eyesonscreenpod or email us at hello@eyesonscreen.com.au

Fiona Williams, Sana Qadar and Natalie Hambly are talking Practical Magic 2, now in cinemas and already dividing critics and audiences spectacularly. The critics hate it (30% on Rotten Tomatoes). The fans love it (90%). We land somewhere in the middle, and we have thoughts. We get into what the sequel does well — the hair, the costuming, the chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, Lee Pace being extremely welcome — and what it doesn't. We also discuss the film's quietly radical female-centred storytelling, the very slight but very deliberate queer thread, and Nat's theory about what young women actually want from a witchy movie right now (hint: it's not lifting the love curse). Plus: our favourite witchy films and TV shows, our favourite Sandra Bullock films, and a pitch for Practical Magic 3 that we think Nicole Kidman should seriously consider. If you're going — and you should — take a girlfriend, get some wine, and for the love of all things magical, do not lug your suitcases up three flights of stairs if you don't have to!Follow Eyes on Screen on Instagram: @eyesonscreenpod or email us at hello@eyesonscreen.com.au

While Nat takes a well-earned break, Sana, Haidee and Fiona take listener recommendations and embrace the darkness of Furious. Do you know us well or what, dear listeners? This is the female-centred, trauma-informed, Epstein-adjacent investigative thriller we didn't know we needed in our lives. Elsewhere, Haidee makes a good case at convincing us to watch DTF St Louis, suggesting it's so much more than just sad men on swings, and finally, Fiona has been celebrating the life of Saint Dolly by watching feature documentaries and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (because it's what Dolly would do). Follow Eyes On Screen on Instagram: @eyesonscreenpod or email us at hello@eyesonscreen.com.au.

Sana is back, baby, and joining Fiona, Haidee and Natalie in our cosy virtual recording studio to sip a sunset cocktails and discuss one of our favourite watches of the year: Widow’s Bay. This breakout word-of-mouth horror-comedy crept up on us, delighted us all and is now stalking the Emmys with 19 nominations. We dive into the oddball small-town residents, comedy chops and downright terrifying moments that make this show so good. So plug in your taser to charge, sit down with a warm cup of herbal tea and dive into our inaugural swim around the bay. But be warned, spoilers ahead. Follow Eyes On Screen on Instagram: @eyesonscreenpod or email us at hello@eyesonscreen.com.au.

The video nasty is ready for its close-up. Fiona Williams, Haidee Ireland and Natalie Hambly (*Sana is busy at her own sleepaway camp) unpack the seductive satire of Jane Schoenbrun's Cannes-winning indie hit, Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma. The meta premise of a woke horror franchise reboot gives us a sexy, queer, tender time, courtesy of Scream Queens power couple, Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson. Pack your snacks and choose your own adventure, there's so much to talk about, from the reclamation of problematic movie tropes, to the reverential depictions of franchise fandom, and dippin' into a sly southern drawl. Oh my! Follow Eyes on Screen on Instagram: @eyesonscreenpod or email us at hello@eyesonscreen.com.au

Blame it on the lotus flowers! We've all been to see Christopher Nolan's epic The Odyssey — and we have thoughts. Fiona Williams, Haidee Ireland and Natalie Hambly (Sana is off on her own odyssey, hopefully remembering the way home) unpack a film that is packing out cinemas worldwide and asking some very big questions. Is it a war film? An anti-war film? A midlife crisis film? All three? We discuss Matt Damon as Odysseus — America's most decent man playing antiquity's most complicated one — and whether that's a feature or a bug, the women of the Odyssey and what Christopher Nolan does and doesn't do with them, why all the sex was taken out, and whether Zendaya's Athena is the emotional heart the film didn't know it had. We also get into the stunning score, the sirens sequence, the memes, and what it means to watch a story that was written for men — and find yourself moved by it anyway. Plus: a Margaret Atwood connection you may not have known about, and a teaser for next week when we discuss Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Don't look a big wooden horse in the mouth when you can just use your sense of smell instead!Follow Eyes on Screen on Instagram: @eyesonscreenpod or email us at hello@eyesonscreen.com.au