Guest Curator John Safran selects his SBS On Demand favourites

He's one of our hosts of the new SBS series, Who The Bloody Hell Are We?, and he's picking what you should stream next.

(L-R) The Swimmer, He Died with a Felafel in his Hand, Drive and John Safran Credit: SBS

Explore all of John's picks in the GUEST CURATOR: JOHN SAFRAN COLLECTION at SBS On Demand.

Drive

"I always felt like it made its budget back, but it got dissed a bit at the time. For instance, Quentin Tarantino... put it on his 'nice try' list. So, that's really gotta hurt. 'The Driver', he doesn't even have a name, 'cause I looked it up. If I was in this film, I'd be the character that's just called 'The Driver'. What's his name? Ryan Gosling? Yeah. No, this one's got the good Ryan in it."

Ryan Gosling in 'Drive'. Catch it at SBS On Demand for a limited time.

Nicolas Winding Refn's super stylish and gripping neo-noir thriller, starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan is a must-watch. Driver (Gosling) is a skilled Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. Though he projects an icy exterior, he's been warming up to a pretty neighbour named Irene (Mulligan) and her young son, Benicio. When Irene's husband gets out of jail, he enlists Driver's help in a million-dollar heist. The job goes horribly wrong, and Driver must risk his life to protect Irene and Benicio from the vengeful masterminds behind the robbery.

The Swimmer

"The plot is some guy who's trying to figure out himself and who he is, sexuality-wise. And then he kind of... he finds out. So, you know, that's good. And generally there's a lot of salacious shots of attractive people not wearing many clothes. So, perfect for SBS... some perversion, kind of dressed up as art house."

Credit: Distributor

Erez, a rising star in the Israeli swimming scene, arrives at a training camp held in a boarding school, where the one to win the competition gets a ticket to the Olympics. There he meets the beautiful and talented Nevo, who awakens subconscious desires in him. However, their swimming coach does not believe in friendship between competitors. Warned to stay away from Nevo, Erez is still too attracted to him. In between practices, he attempts to act upon his feelings and understands that winning a medal is less important than winning Nevo's heart.

He Died With a Felafel in His Hand

"The goddamned title's already really crunched it down to enough... The most relatable thing for this film is they asked me to audition for it! But I didn't because this is... Even though you think I'm so vain or something like that, I thought 'I can't act', I'm not gonna waste any of their time. So, therefore I didn't audition for it. Therefore I'm not in it. But I've still got that memory of saying no."

This absurdist Aussie classic is a darkly humorous film about searching for love, meaning and bathroom solitude. Faithful to the cult novel by John Birmingham upon which it is based, the film follows Danny (Noah Taylor) through a series of shared housing experiences in a succession of cities on the east coast of Australia. Together these vignettes form a forceful, sometimes turbulent narrative that leaves the viewer entertained, exhausted and surprisingly reflective.

Ancient Egypt: Top 7 Pyramids

"It's got all that great vibe of watching a conspiracy documentary, except it's all true. So... there's no aliens in this. I'll kind of reveal that now. But it's still like... it's just the pyramids, even without the aliens are pretty goddamn interesting."

Credit: Kayak

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the last standing of the World’s Seven Wonders. Yet, it is less known that to reach this level of greatness, the Ancient Egyptians have in fact built over a hundred pyramids. Among them, seven particularly stand out.

This Is Spinal Tap

This is Spinal Tap (1984) Source: SBS / SBS Movies

This is Spinal Tap is Rob Reiner's (Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally) directional debut that is often named as one of the funniest films ever made and the original rock mockumentary. A fly on the wall look at the comeback tour of the world's loudest heavy metal band that will leave you in stitches.

Monty Python's Flying Circus

One of the most ingenious and imaginative comedy shows ever to grace British television, the series, originally broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974, threw away the rule-book of traditional sketch writing, dispensing with punch-lines and adopting an innovative stream of consciousness approach, pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content.

Select episodes from Monty Python's Flying Circus are streaming for a limited time at SBS On Demand.

Animal Kingdom

Source: SBS / SBS Movies

This Australian classic crime drama walked away with 10 AFI Awards in 2010 and launched careers for the stars and filmmakers, including earning Jacki Weaver an Oscar nomination. Directed by David Michôd this is a powerful crime drama that tells the story of a tense battle between a criminal family and the police and of the ordinary lives caught in the middle. It even produced a US TV series that ran for 6 seasons.

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service. Our flagship nightly bulletin airs at 6:30PM on SBS and SBS On Demand with the latest reports and analysis of major national and international news of the day from Australia's only world news service.

Stream SBS World News at SBS On Demand.

The King of Comedy

An aspiring comedian decides that he can only get a shot at the big time with the help of America's top chat show host. However, when the star fails to cooperate with his plan, the desperate comedian kidnaps him. Martin Scorsese's 1982 classic was reportedly a major influence for Todd Phillip's 2019 film Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix (watch and see the parallels). Hurry it expires 31 August.

Three Colours Trilogy

Kieslowski's triumphant stories of love and loss defined art house cinema in the 90s. Watch them together, right here, for a limited time. Hurry they expire 31 August.

Who The Bloody Hell Are We?

In this playful and revelatory three-parter, John Safran, Cal Wilson and Adam Liaw take us time-travelling to Australia’s multicultural past, and uncover stories not to be found in our history books. The trio focus on the impact of Jewish, Kiwi and Chinese immigration on our nation. What emerges is a welcome and refreshing new portrait of Australia.

Who The Bloody Hell Are We? is now streaming at SBS On Demand.