Share
The Curb
In a Violent Nature Director Chris Nash on His Pure Slasher Horror Experience
In a Violent Nature is one of the most gruesome and gory horror films of the year. It's also a film that Nadine Whitney has called a pure slasher death trip. Director Chris Nash takes audiences on the slasher ride of the year, with his camera following the gnarly Johnny (Ry Barrett) as a silent brute slaughtering an array of college kids who possibly deserve their squishy demise.
In the following interview, recorded ahead of the films Australian release on 1 August 2024, Nadine discusses the film with director Chris Nash, delving into the dark delights that this horror offering has. As Nadine mentions in her review, the death trip that Nash takes his audience on shows a bevy of victims who will all face a gruesome demise.
To find out more about the film, head over to TheCurb.com.au to read Nadine's review, alongside other interviews and reviews. The Curb is a listener supported platform. To keep us independent and ad-free, head over to patreon.com/thecurbau to support us from as little as $1 a month.
More episodes
View all episodes
4. We Live in Time Director John Crowley Talks About Working with Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh in This Interview
20:23||Season 15, Ep. 4For this chat, Andrew catches up with Irish director John Crowley to discuss his latest drama, We Live in Time. We Live in Time is an utterly brilliant drama the follows the lives of Andrew Garfield's Tobias and Florence Pugh's Almut in an out of sequence format. We flit from the past, to the present, to the future, with each moment acting as a new memory laid upon the next. This burgeoning relationship emerges into a family which emerges into a drama that will have you reaching for the tissues like no other, all the while it's underpinned by the gentle direction from John Crowley, which supports and gives space for his lead actors to deliver grounded performances.It's that journey towards tenderness and empathy that underpins the following conversation with John Crowley, with Andrew asking about how the relationship of time has impacted John's work. This discussion encourages a reflection of John's previous collaboration with Andrew Garfield on his feature film debut Boy A in 2007, while also asking John to consider what he will take from this film going forward. Andrew also asks how aware John was of Florence's innate cooking skills and how that played into her brilliant turn as Almut. We Live in Time is, like John's Best Picture nominated film Brooklyn, a drama that slowly creeps up on you, and before you know it, you're wiping away tears from your eyes as the lights come up. It's a style of film that we've almost taken for granted now, but there is a genuine skill to bringing this level of weepie to life. See it with someone you love when it opens in Australian cinemas on 16 January 2025.If you want to find out more about the work we do on The Curb, then head over to TheCurb.com.au. We are a completely independent website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. If you can and want to support us, please visit Patreon.com/thecurbau to keep our lights on from as little as $1 a month.3. Adam Elliot & Sarah Snook Talk About Bringing Heart to their Mollusk-motion Flick Memoir of a Snail to Life
48:18||Season 15, Ep. 3On this episode, Andrew catches up with Academy Award winning master of stop motion animation, Adam Elliot, and Emmy award and AACTA award winning screen legend, Sarah Snook, to talk about their mollusk-motion flick, Memoir of a Snail.Memoir of a Snail is driven by the delightfully dark sense of comedy and a relatable pathos, both of which bring the off-kilter world of Grace Pudel (Sarah Snook) and her equally orphaned twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee) to life. It's a film that's resonated immensely with audiences around the world, with each person able to find a little bit of themselves in this tender tale of Grace and her obsession with snails.As always, Elliot is able to bring forth a welcome sense of groundedness to his characters, and while they may physically appear eccentric, there's something about each and every one of them that makes us feel seen. As with his previous film, Mary & Max, Elliot actively removes stigmas associated with those who live with mental illnesses, while also shining a light on those who try to vilify, condemn, or in the case of Gilbert, cruelly convert them away from their true self.The authenticity that sits at the core of Memoir of a Snail is not just driven by the characters we see on screen, but also from the empathetic and grounded voice work from Snook, Smit-McPhee, and other Aussie screen icons like Jackie Weaver, Magda Szubanski, Tony Armstrong, Eric Bana, while French icon Dominique Pinon also makes an appearance.In the following conversations with Adam, then with Sarah, I talk about how they both built that relatability on screen, what it means to show Australian stories in this way, and curiously, the importance of dress up boxes in the homes of Australian kids. There's really something for everyone here.2. Kate Winslet on Bringing the True Story of Lee Miller to Life on Screen
21:52||Season 15, Ep. 2Our second discussion is with Academy Award winning actress Kate Winslet who was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her turn as photographer Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller in Ellen Kuras' Lee. We first meet Lee in the months before WW2 commences, where Lee worked as a fashion model before forging a path for women journalists in wartime as she became a war correspondent for Vogue magazine.Lee's photography from that era is some of the finest work you will see focused on WW2, yet after the war, she sought to hide much of the work she did, with her son eventually finding many of her photos after she had passed away. Kuras and Winslet choose to frame Lee's story with an impossible conversation that sees Josh O'Connor's Antony Penrose sitting down with Lee Miller to talk through her life and her work in a haze of cigarette smoke. There's an emotional truth here that resonates strongly throughout the film that is keenly felt by the original writing by Penrose himself, otherwise known as the son of Sir Roland Penrose and Lee Miller.In the following conversation, Kate talks about the journey of bringing Lee's story to life, including the importance of engaging in era-specific photography, as well as the need to be able to tell these kinds of stories in todays day and age. This conversation is pulled from two separate discussions, one from a panel discussion, and the second as a one on one interview with Kate. In the first discussion, I was briefly interrupted, which is what you will hear in the following chat.Lee is now available to view on demand in Australia. It is as good as any wartime biopic that you'll see, with Winslet giving a powerful and impactful performance which is deftly supported by a rare dramatic turn from Andy Samberg, who equally deserves recognition and accolades for his work. They're both supported by a cast that includes Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough, Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, and Alexander Skarsgard.1. Gabrielle LaBelle & Jason Reitman on Revisiting American Comedy History with Saturday Night
33:44||Season 15, Ep. 1Welcome to the first episode of our summer series of chats where Andrew catches up with filmmakers and creatives who are behind some of the years best films. From Saturday Night, to Lee, to We Live in Time, and Australia's own Memoir of a Snail, we've got some great film discussions to keep you going over this festive break.First off the rank is a chat with two of the creatives behind Saturday Night, the comedy retelling of the first night of Saturday Night Live. In it, we follow a young Lorne Michaels, played by Golden Globe nominee Gabrielle LaBelle, who attempts to wrangle an unwieldly and chaotic cast of comedians from Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), to Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), to George Carlin (Matthew Rhys), to Jim Belushi (Matt Wood), and Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott), plus many more. What eventuates is a slightly manic, utterly frenetic, yet extremely captivating almost real time night of comedy and chaos leading up to that iconic opening sentence 'Live from New York...' In the following chats, I talk with Gabriel LaBelle about how he came to work on Saturday Night, how he has become an almost surrogate historian of American pop culture with his work on The Fabelmans and now Saturday Night, and how he managed to maintain a level of comedy on screen. After my chat with Gabriel, I talk with writer-director Jason Reitman about bringing this all together. I kick off the conversation by confessing how much of a die-hard Young Adult fan I am, alongside the value of physical media, before we flow into talking about creating an energetic vibe on set with a live score by Jon Batiste, plus much more.2025 AACTA Award Nomination Rundown
29:13|Join Andrew as he gives his candid thoughts on the 2025 AACTA Award nominations.14. In the Trenches Director Benjamin Scotford on Documenting the Muddy Battlefields of Esperance
53:46||Season 14, Ep. 14With his feature documentary debut In the Trenches: The Making of Before Dawn, Benjamin Scotford has made a rare achievement within the Australian film industry: a behind the scenes documentary which follows the muddy and tough production of Before Dawn, Jordan Prince Wright's equally rare achievement, an indie war flick shot in the remote West Aussie landscape. Benjamin dives into the ditches of this WW1 epic, taking audiences behind the scenes for the highs, the lows, and the difficulties that the production faces with pulling off the impossible on a micro-budget.Benjamin is given unparalleled access to the production, capturing honest and open discussions from cast and crew that shows off the strength that it took to bring Before Dawn to life. From freezing cold rain to escaping sheep to earthquake level explosions, In the Trenches captures it all.In the following discussion, Benjamin talks about his entry point into documentary filmmaking, how working as a wedding videographer and on corporate gigs with local legends like Tony Galati aka the Spud King informed his guerilla style filmmaking, and the kinds of behind the scenes docos that inspired his work.In the Trenches is currently available on Bluray and DVD via CaptureBehindTheScenes.com.au.For those who are also keen to check out Before Dawn, head over to Umbrella Entertainment where you can buy it on physical media, or to Netflix where it's available to stream. Before Dawn recently took home the award for Best Sound at the WA Screen Culture Awards, where the film also received nominations for Narrative Feature Film with budget over $1m, Best Cinematography or Visualisation, Best Performance for Myles Pollard, and Best Original Music.13. Nugget is Dead Director Imogen McCluskey on Bringing a True Blue Suburban Aussie Xmas to Life on Screen
37:29||Season 14, Ep. 13Director Imogen McCluskey continues her exploration of suburban Australia with the comedy-drama film Nugget is Dead: A Christmas Story. This delightfully relatable Aussie Xmas tale was written by Jenna Owen and Vic Zerbst, who both act in the film alongside Aussie screen legends like Gia Carides, Damien Garvey, Ed Oxenbould, Steve Rodgers, Mandy McElhinney, Kerry Armstrong, and Tiriel Mora, and more.Steph Stool is a dermatologist in training who has her feet in two worlds. The shiny sheen of Sydney where the pull of her bougie boyf (Alec Snow) sees her drawn towards spending Christmas with his family. Early in the film we meet his mum (Tara Morice) who gives Steph the complicated and intense rundown of what's expected from their family experience. For them, Christmas will be the 'introduce the family to the girlfriend', a factor that further drives a wedge between Steph and her family who she carries a level of shame about.But, Steph's disconnection with home is short lived when she receives a call from her mum (Gia Carides) saying that the family dog, Nugget, is dead. Well, not exactly dead, he's just not feeling that well. Not wanting to miss seeing the pup she grew up with one last time, Steph rushes home to be with her family, all the while thinking she'll be able to return in time for her boyfriends Christmas.What follows is a rapturously delightful and utterly joyous celebration of Australian Xmas, full of a deep reverence for the tackiness of the tinsel strewn households, replete with a Coles bought pavlova and overburnt sausages on the barbecue. There's an emotional honesty and warmth to Nugget is Dead that is found in Imogen's first feature film, 2019's Suburban Wildlife, a narrative that explored the pressing disconnect that younger generations face when they want to seek a life out of the suburbs and in the city where they can grow.That concern is within Nugget is Dead, but it's presented in such a deeply relatable and enjoyable manner that, by the time the climax arrives, you're not completely aware that you're shedding tears of joy and sadness at once.As you'll hear in the following interview with Imogen, I loved this film a lot, and particularly enjoy experiencing the work of Imogen McCluskey and seeing how her perspective on Australia grows and changes on screen. Throughout the conversation, we chat about working alongside actors who are also the writers of the film, what her time at the AFI Directors Conservatory taught her as a filmmaker, and what she hopes audiences will get from watching Nugget is Dead together.Nugget is Dead: A Christmas Story launches on Stan. on 21 November 2024.12. Adelaide Film Festival Critics Round Up Discussion
01:10:11||Season 14, Ep. 12Welcome to a special Adelaide Film Festival round up discussion featuring myself, Virat Nehru, and Nadine Whitney. While we have known each other for years, the 2024 Adelaide Film Festival was our first opportunity to meet up in person, watch some films, and do what film critics do best: talk about them afterwards.The following discussion sees us traipse along a path of the highs and the lows of the Adelaide Film Festival, with each critic highlighting some of their favourite films for the festival, and some of the films that have left them wanting. Films discussed in the following episode include: The Correspondent, Emilia Perez, Lesbian Space Princess, Make It Look Real, Good One, The Wolves Always Come at Night, Anora, All We Imagine as Light, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, No Other Land, and more. There are few experiences which leave a mark on you and change how you experience the world, and yet, for me, the Adelaide Film Festival was one such experience. This is partly because of the festival itself, which provided such a wide array of cinematic, theatrical, and critical experiences that kept poking, prodding, and provoking immense thoughts, excitement, and bolstered my passion for cinema and the arts, but it's also partly because of the connection I have had with the following people you'll hear. Meeting my long time collaborator and friend Nadine was as wonderful as I'd hoped it would be, and getting to meet Virat, another person whose work I admire immensely was equally exciting. I hope you enjoy listening to the following discussion as much as I did recording it.11. Adelaide Film Festival Interview: Shea Gallagher and Daniel Tune on Moviejuice
28:55||Season 14, Ep. 11In the heart of Adelaide, a movement is changing the conversations about film and film culture. That movement is called moviejuice, a ground up driven collective of artists, filmmakers, film theorists and enthusiasts, who commune to watch, experience, and talk about film and art culture together. Created by Shea Gallagher, Daniel Tune, and Louis Campbell, moviejuice was born in the backyards of Adelaide, spotlighting the sonic landscape of the city with live music and films like Tim Carlier's energetic and invigorating Paco.Over its brief existence, moviejuice has made its mark on Australian culture and cinema, showcasing films that would otherwise go unnoticed or underappreciated. Films like Gabe Bath's Ships that Bear or Tim Baretto's Bassendream, unique experiences that genuinely shift the filmic language of Australian cinema.Now, in 2024, moviejuice have teamed up with Adelaide Film Festival to present a must see experience, a cinematic double featuring Jordy Pollock's Wabi Sabi Rendezvous and Audrey Lam's Us and the Night. In the following interview, Daniel and Shea talk about their history with moviejuice, the vision for the collective, what it means to work with an organisation like Adelaide Film Festival, and naturally, the importance of celebrating and amplifying this kind of Australian culture.I am in awe of what the moviejuice team are creating from the heart of Adelaide. They are helping shape how we respond to Australian culture and ensuring that filmmakers like Gabe Bath, Tim Baretto, Tim Carlier, Jordy Pollock, and Audrey Lam, are continually talked about and are part of the ongoing conversation that is Australian cinema.moviejuice presents Wabi Sabi Rendezvous and Us and the Night at Adelaide Film Festival on Saturday 2 November 2024. Tickets are available here.