The Antipodean thread

[tuppence]

Reminder: Squizzy starts on Sunday. Hope it's better than Razor.

 

[lolly_loisides]

Did anyone else watch Squizzy? I gave up after 10 minutes.

 

[MikeBravo]

Did anyone else watch Squizzy? I gave up after 10 minutes.

OMG Was it that bad?

 

[lolly_loisides]

You didn't watch it?
It was awful, the costumes (not very well done), the soundtrack (all modern music), the plot - I can't honesty comment on that after 10 minutes, but if it held my attention I wouldn't have turned off so soon.

 

[Miss Sabrina Fairchild]

I sat through the whole thing. Thought it was terrible.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

no-true-grit-squizzy-takes-the-wrong-road

 

[MikeBravo]

Yeah, too clean by the look of the ads. I knew it wouldn't be a true depiction of a grubby little sociopath.

I didn't watch the show, I forgot through disinterest

 

[tuppence]

I found myself getting angry and yelling at the T.V., especially at the bad music. I'm just holding on for the really badly choreographed sex scenes, that seem to plague all the Underbelly series.
Has anybody ever seen the original Squizzy move. I'm pretty sure it had Jackie Weaver in it, apparently that was a flop too.

 

[tuppence]

no-true-grit-squizzy-takes-the-wrong-road

Thanks for the link. Good find.

 

[Shangas]

And they wonder why I have a low opinion of Australian historical dramas...

EDIT - I didn't notice the link to the review up above.

My own observations, having seen both starting episodes...

The Music.

The music is absolutely atrocious. It does NOTHING to provide a period setting AT ALL. It doesn't make it sound like Edwardian/WWI-era Australia in the slightest. Not even the incidental music. It suits the show like a tutu on a blue whale.

The Costumes

Interesting, but quite ordinary. Nothing really to comment on.

The Filming

I intensely disliked the constant interruptions. It's one of the same reasons why I also disliked "Razor", which did much the same thing. The repetitive voice-over narrations, the typewriter-captions and freeze-frames introducing all the characters and the little 10-second biographies for every single face on the screen was a huge distraction. Is this a historical crime-drama or a documentary on Australian criminal history? It seems to fail on both counts.

The Setting/Sets

I agree with what others have said about the cleanliness. Horse-drawn transport produces a lot of manure - tons of manure. Think of the carriages, the carts, the hansom-cabs, the wagons, buggys, drays...Yes, it's 1915, but horse-drawn transport is still a big part of life. The streets looked unnaturally clean in my opinion.

 

[MikeBravo]

The question is how can they get this sooo wrong. Have a look at Wikipedia about his bloke. How did this ordinary looking, 5'2" tall nobody come to rule Melbourne's underworld?

The story practically writes its self.

Seriously, have a look at Wikipedia. We complain about the court system these days, back then they must have been totally incompetent! He got off with so many charges. Mind you, he had the police in his pocket.

We can do good television in this period. If you get the chance have a look at Power Without Glory, made in the late 1970s by the ABC. mmmmm Maybe that's a clue, we should leave historic stuff to ABC. They made Miss Fisher and Doctor Blake, which I for one, thoroughly enjoy.

 

[MikeBravo]

Speaking of the delightful Miss Fisher, have a look at the Facebook page: The National Trust of Australia (Victoria) are holding a Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Costume Exhibition at Rippon Lea House in Melbourne from the 7th September to 27th October, 2013.

I recently went to a taping of a show at the ABC studios in Rippon Lea and walked past a room marked "Miss Fisher Mysteries, Wardrobe Department". I wanted to break in and roll around in the racks!

 

[Mojito]

Happened to recently buy a 1920s dress that was used in filming the second season of the Miss Fisher mysteries - I know one of the dealers who has supplied pieces. Don't know what episode the dress will appear in.

Based on "Razor", I won't be watching "Squizzy" (the ads alone made me boggle - looked more like a 1920s costume party than the era it is supposed to be). "Razor" I watched one or two episodes of because my mother was one of the nurses who cared for Tilly Devine in her last days.

 

[Shangas]

I actually enjoyed the Miss Fisher Mysteries. They're different. They don't try to be a "vintage remake" of a modern-style murder-mystery/crime TV show. It has its own style and flair, the music suits the series and it's funny and creative. I don't really see anything about "Squizzy" that makes it stand out. At least, not in any positive way.

I look forward to Season 2 of Miss Fisher.

--- --- --- ---

The Wikipedia entry for Squizzy says that there was a robbery and shooting at Glenferrie Station in 1923, in which he was involved.

Glenferrie Station is literally down the road from my house!

That's the station there.

I don't know about the 1920s, but for as long as I've lived in the vicinity (over 20 years, now), there have been three banks within walking-distance of the station, all on Glenferrie Road.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Thus far, the show has presented the lead as egotistical but charming; I'm waiting to see how he'll turn into egotistical and downright psycopathic. He certainly had 'small man syndrome'. As history goes, well, it's half-half, but I do find it entertaining in a non-taxing way, unlike the American's Boardwalk Empire, the politics of which bores me.

 

[Shangas]

We can do good television in this period. If you get the chance have a look at Power Without Glory, made in the late 1970s by the ABC. mmmmm Maybe that's a clue, we should leave historic stuff to ABC. They made Miss Fisher and Doctor Blake, which I for one, thoroughly enjoy.

Have you seen the TV-movie "Curtin"? It's about the P.M. John Curtin in Australia during WWII, and his struggles with other world leaders regarding Australia's position in the war, the defense of the nation.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Funny I was thinking about Curtin as well, Shangas. Made me really want to break into the ABC's wardrobe department!

 

[Shangas]

It seemed to me like a really budget movie. Perhaps because it was, but I still enjoyed it very much. I think it gave a realistic sense of the panic and uncertainty felt at the top levels of Australian government during the War.

 

[tuppence]

I love Doctor Blake. Are they doing another series I wonder ? Looks like Ballarat was the 50s murder capitol of Australia though.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Haha yeah, like Blue Heelers - a little Aussie country town has a higher crime rates than New york, Los Angeles and Chicago put together! I haven;t heard anything about a Dr Blake second series. Here's hoping!