Click each image to play the film in full at SBS On Demand. Please note that the films on this list expire at various times throughout November (If there is no 'play' button in the image, the film is no longer available).
Tai Chi 0
M
China, 2012
Genre: Martial Arts
Language: Mandarin
Director: Stephen Fung
Starring: Qi Shu, Tony Leung, Stephen Fung
What's it about?
A gifted martial artist protects his adopted village from a villain who wants to build a railroad through the centre of the community.
[link title="Tai Chi 0: Tony Leung Ka-fai interview" url="node/1059"]
[link title="Tai Chi 0 Review" url="node/5990"]
Good Night, and Good Luck
PG
USA, 2005
Genre: Drama
Director: George Clooney
Starring: Alex Borstein, Robert Downey Jr., David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney
What's it about?
Based on the real-life 1950s conflict between the principled CBS television broadcaster Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and Senator Joseph McCarthy, the story documents the impact of McCarthy's discredited and underhand methods of hounding communists and sympathisers, whether real or imagined. With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow and his small team of journalists, including Fred Friendly (George Clooney) defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to unveil the undemocratic nature of the Senate committee's activities.
[link title="Good Night, and Good Luck review: An exceptional film for Clooney" url="node/2646"]
Paradise Now
M, 2005
Genre: Crime, Drama
Language: Arabic
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Starring: Ali Suliman, Kais Nashif
What's it about?
Lifelong friends Said (Kais Nashif) and Khaled (Aki Suliman) lead a normal life, working together in a garage and never discussing politics or religion. Having sometime ago volunteered to become suicide bombers they learn they have been chosen for the next mission and that it will begin in only 24 hours. But the carefully designed plans go awry as the two men are separated and cannot communicate. They have to face their destiny and their own convictions.
[link title="Paradise Now Review" url="node/2679"]
Distant Voices, Still Lives
United Kingdom, 1988
Genre: Drama
Director: Terence Davies
What's it about?
Terence Davies' autobiographical feature has lost none of its power since its release 20 years ago. The film chronicles a working-class Liverpool family dominated by an abusive father (Postlethwaite), against the background of Britain's emergence from the post-war '40s and the promise of a brighter future. Davies' extraordinary achievement is to structure the film as if it had been recalled direct from memory, with all the foibles and half-remembered moments that may entail. The film is full of popular songs, some of which Davies has admitted were only fragments in his memory, which lift the film, as they must have the lives of Liverpudlians.
From the archives: Terence Davies interview
Human Touch
MA15+
Australia, 2005
Genre: Drama
Director: Paul Cox
Starring: Jacqueline McKenzie, Chris Haywood, Aaron Blabey
What's it about?
The relationship between Anna (Jacqueline McKenzie) and David (Aaron Blabey) is tested when Edward (Chris Haywood) enters Anna's life. His worldliness and seductive charm awakens in Anna a consciousness that has a dramatic impact on her relationship with David. She embarks on an intimate journey of self-discovery and physical fulfilment to finally arrive at a deeper, more profound understanding of her inner needs ... and the necessity for human touch and need for love.
Windrider
M
Australia, 1986
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: English
Director: Vincent Monton
Starring: Tom Burlinson, Nicole Kidman, Jill Perryman
What's it about?
An early one for Our Nicole as a rock star who falls for a professionally windsurfer. Yep. As they get hot and heavy, it places their careers at risk.
Puberty Blues
M
Australia, 1981
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Language: English
Director: Bruce Beresford
Starring: Nell Schofield, Jad Capelja, Geoff Rhoe, Tony Hughes
What's it about?
As summer approaches this '70s story of two teens from Sydney's Shire attempting to join the cool kids in the surfing crowd. Kathy Lette's semi-autobiographical story cuts through the myths as we watch the girls attempt to ingratiate themselves into the ‘Greenhill Gang’ calls for long periods of watching the boys surf, collecting Chiko Rolls, and enduring lousy encounters in the shaggin’ wagon.
[link title="Why You Should Watch: Puberty Blues" url="node/103559"]
The Interview
M
Australia, 1998
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama
Language: English
Director: Craig Monahan
Starring: Tony Martin, Hugo Weaving
What's it about?
A thrilling local potboiler keeps you on tenterhooks as a modest man is seized from his apartment and interrogated by the police for what initially is presented as involving a stolen car, but its slowly revealed to involve a serial killing.
[link title="The Interview review: A tantalising, innovative thriller." url="node/3942"]
Dimboola
M
Australia, 1979
Genre: Comedy
Director: John Duigan
Starring: Bruce Spence, Max Gillies
What's it about?
An English journalist spends a wild weekend in the small Australian country town of Dimboola, preparing for the wedding of two locals, with a brodal shower and a bucks’ party. Mayhem ensues with plenty of booze, fist fights, incriminating stripper photographs - and possible incest.
Les Misérables
PG
France, 2000
Genre: History, Drama
Language: French
Director: Josée Dayan
Starring: Gerard Depardieu, Christian Clavier, John Malkovich, Virginie Ledoyen, Charlotte Gainsbourg
What's it about?
The definitive French telling of Victor Hugo's masterwork. This epic tale of Jean Valjean, a galley slave who was sent to prison for stealing food, reborn as a wealthy industrialist, stars who else bu Gerard Depardieu, and an all-star cast of French favourites.
Proof
M
Australia, 1991
Genre: Drama
Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Russell Crowe, Geneviève Picot
What's it about?
A blind photographer with trust issues, is looked after by a housekeeper who is determined to get close to him. When he befriends an amiable kitchen hand, the power balance is disrupted.
[link title="Proof: Cheat Sheet" url="node/79448"]
[link title="Proof review: An impressive and important film" url="node/46853"]
Badlands
PG
United States, 1973
Genre: Drama, Crime
Language: English, Spanish
Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Terrence Malick, John Carter, Ramon Bieri, Alan Vint, Charles Fitzpatrick, Gary Littlejohn, Bryan Montgomery
What's it about?
Terrence Malick's debut film is widely considered one of the best crime films of all time. It typifies the auteur spirit thriving in 1970s Hollywood, for its poetic take on a true crime killing spree by a '50s teen and her greaser boyfriend.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
MA15+
United States, 1974
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Language: English
Director: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail
What's it about?
The original and the best. Five friends visiting their grandfather's house in the country are hunted and terrorised by a chain-saw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals.
[link title="Why 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' is the best horror movie ever made" url="node/17788"]
Erskineville Kings
M, 1999
Genre: Drama
Language: [language]
Director: Alan White
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Marty Denniss, Louise Birgan, Lauren Clair, Marin Mimica, Leah Vandenberg, Aaron Blabey, Andrew Wholley,
What's it about?
Barky (Marty Denniss) returns to his inner Sydney home suburb for his father's funeral. There he is reunited with his brother (Hugh Jackman), ex-girlfriend (Leah Vandenberg) and friends, but the soon discovers those underlying issues which drove Barky away in the first place have not disappeared entirely.
Bonfire of the Vanities, The
1990
Genre: Comedy, drama
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Tom Hanks, Melanie Griffith, Bruce Willis
What's it about?
After his mistress runs over a young teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight, and attracting the interest of a down and out reporter.
THX 1138
M
United States, 1971
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction
Language: English
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Robert Duvall, Jack Walsh, Donald Pleasence, Irene Forrest, Don Pedro Colley, Sid Haig, Maggie McOmie, Ian Wolfe, Marshall Efron, John Pearce, Gary Alan Marsh, John Seaton, Eugene I. Stillman, Mark Lawhead
What's it about?
People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption of drugs that the government uses to make puppets out of people. As THX is without drugs for the first time he has feelings for a woman and they start a secret relationship.
[link title="George Lucas' 'THX 1138' is coming to SBS On Demand to make us all happy and effective " url="node/131013"]
[link title="Why You Should Watch: THX 1138" url="node/148892"]
Lovelace
MA15+
[country], 2013
Genre: Biography, Drama
Language: [language]
Director: Jeffrey Friedman, Rob Epstein
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, James Franco, Eric Roberts, Chloe Sevigny, Adam Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Chris Noth, Juno Temple, Robert Patrick, Debi Mazar, Hank Azaria, Wes Bentley, Sharon Stone,
What's it about?
Deep Throat, the first pornographic feature film to be a mainstream success, was an international sensation in 1972 and made its star, Linda Lovelace (Amanda Seyfried), a media darling. Years later the 'poster girl for the sexual revolution' revealed a darker side to her story.
[link title="Lovelace: interview" url="node/1598"]
[link title="Lovelace Review" url="node/6336"]
A Scanner Darkly
M
United States, 2006
Genre: Sci-Fi, Animation/3D
Language: English
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr.
What's it about?
An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.
[link title="A Scanner Darkly" url="node/227"]
Soylent Green
PG
Genre: Sci-fi
Director: Richard Fleischer
What's it about?Academy Award winner Charlton Heston stars as Thorn, the last honest detective on the undermanned police force in New York, 2022 AD, who investigates the brutal member of a prominent member of the Soylent Company, manufacturers of artificial nourishment. During the course of his probe, Thorn discovers the horrifying main ingredient of the mass-produced food. Caught between personal integrity, the quest for justice and knowledge that could lead to the death of millions, will Thorn expose the deadly secret?
Sirens
Australia, 1994
Genre: Biography, Drama
Director: John Duigan
Starring: Hugh Grant, Elle Macpherson, Sam Neill, Portia de Rossi
What's it about?
A fictionalised account of the scandal surrounding Australian artist Norman Lindsay's 'The Crucified Venus'. In the 1930s, Lindsay was at the centre of a scandal when his painting was damned by the Church as blasphemous for its depiction of Christ as a naked woman. An Anglican minister, Anthony Campion (Hugh Grant), is sent to pay a call on Lindsay (played by Sam Neill) and, encourage him to withdraw the painting from a public exhibition. Campion and his wife (Tara Fitzgerald) spend a few days at Lindsay's remote Blue Mountains compound, where they confront disapproving locals, sensuous nude models and their own inhibitions.
[link title="Sirens review: Naughty and entertaining" url="node/124708"]
Stella Does Tricks
MA 15+, 1996
Genre: Drama
Director: Coky Giedroyc
Starring: Kelly MacDonald, Hans Matheson, James Bolam, Andy Serkis
What's it about?
A confronting story of a 15 year old sex worker, whose life is dominated by her middle-aged pimp. Stella is a child involved in a woman's game, she's vunerable, able to be manipulated - but she's alive. Directed by Coky Giedroyc and stars Kelly MacDonald (Trainspotting), Hans Matheson, James Bolam and Andy Serkis
[link title="Stella Does Tricks Review" url="node/3742"]
Nothing Bad Can Happen
Germany, 2013
Genre: Drama
Language: German
Director: Katrin Gebbe
Starring: Julius Feldmeier, Sascha Alexander Geršak, Swantje Kohlhof, Annika Kuhl
What's it about?
With a title like that, you know things are going to get grim. And how. Inspired by horrifying true events, the film follows a young lost soul involved with an underground Christian punk movement, who falls in with a dysfunctional family and has his seemingly unwavering faith put to the test.
The Last Days of Chez Nous
PG
Australia, 1992
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Language: English
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Starring: Kerry Fox, Miranda Otto, Bill Hunter, Bruno Ganz, Lisa Harrow, Kiri Paramore
What's it about?This post-feminist drama explores the lives of three women of different ages living under one roof. Beth is living with her second husband JP and teenage daughter Annie. Her younger sister returns pregnant after an affair in Italy and moves in, facing abortion. Her presence has an immediate effect on JP, causing relationships in the household to shift. Directed by Gillian Armstrong and stars Lisa Harrow, Bruno Ganz and Miranda Otto.
[link title="The Last Days of Chez Nous review" url="node/58216"]
Hamlet
PG
United Kingdom, United States, 1996
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Rufus Sewell, Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, Julie Christie, Nicholas Farrell, Derek Jacobi, Kenneth Branagh, Charlton Heston, Rosemary Harris, Richard Attenborough
What's it about?
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Everything is Illuminated
M, 2005
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Liev Schreiber
Starring: Elijah Wood, Sergei Ryabtsev, Jaroslava Sochova, Robert Chytil, Boris Leskin, Zuzana Hodkova,
What's it about?
A young Jewish American (Elijah Wood) embarks on a journey to locate the woman who saved his father from the Nazis in a Ukrainian village during the Second World War. Upon his arrival in the foreign land he is met by another young man and his blind grandfather who will be his guides and they soon get lost.
[link title="Everything is Illuminated Review" url="node/4658"]
Travellers and Magicians
PG
Bhutan, 2000
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Language: [language]
Director: Khyentse Norbu
Starring: Tsewang Dandup, Sonam Lhamo, Sonam Kinga
What's it about?
Tells the story of a young man (Tsewang Dandup) who wants to leave behind his country with its quaint ways and simple joys to find a glamorous new life in America. He shares his journey across Bhutan with a group of travellers, including a monk (Sonam Kinga), who annoys him with irritating truths hidden in a mystical story of magic, desire and murder.
John Rabe
MA15+
China, France, Germany, 2009
Genre: Drama, History, War
Language: German, English, Japanese, Chinese, Ukrainian
Director: Florian Gallenberger
Starring: Ulrich Tukur, Dagmar Manzel, Steve Buscemi, Daniel Bruhl
What's it about?
The year is 1937 and German businessman John Rabe has been ordered by the new Nazi regime to close down a vast Siemens plant in Nanking. But as the Imperial Japanese Army storms the region, Rabe defies his motherland and remains in war-ravaged Nanking to protect his loyal Chinese workers.
