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JAKE WATT
SWITCH Contributor
Jake has a background in journalism but, after some time working at a newspaper on NSW's Central Coast, he relocated from Newcastle to Sydney and segued into marketing and content roles. A lifelong pop culture fan, rumor has it that he sleeps on a giant treasure trove of books, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and comics.
TOP 3 ARTISTS: PJ Harvey, Beastie Boys, Madlib
TOP 3 MOVIES: Strangers On A Train, Hangin' With The Homeboys, Aliens
BEST CONCERT: The National at the Sydney Opera House in 2014
FIRST MEMORY OF A FILM: Being terrified by the prologue of Ralph Bakshi's animated film, The Lord of the Rings (1978). The music, the voiceover and the live-action silhouettes against a blood-red backdrop were four minutes of pure nightmare fuel for an overly imaginative child.
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'Minotaur' is a somewhat predictable erotic thriller draped over an interesting, borderline satirical critique of Russian politics. It's one of Zvyagintsev's lesser films due to this unevenness, but by no means a fumble from one of Russian cinema's finest living directors.
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'Saccharine' is sporadically enjoyable but ultimately messy and won't leave you feeling completely satisfied.
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The film can't decide what it wants to focus on, and the end result, while still watchable due to the stacked cast and a passable time waster for fans of crime drama, is full of unrealised potential and ultimately paper-thin.
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With 'He Died with a Felafel in his Hand' being screened in 2026, it's actually quite curious how it will be received by modern audiences - how does this cohabitation horror story play in the context of the current Australian housing crisis?
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Even if you aren't a film buff, there are worse ways to spend a few hours than watching an impressive assortment of 90s celebrities interacting with the fashion industry. An exercise in technique over substance, at the very least, 'Prêt-à-Porter' is a demonstration of the directorial prowess of Robert Altman.
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The rodeo is undeniably a different lifestyle. As the sun sets over a rocky copper ridgeline in this industrial outpost of remote Queensland, 'Rodeo Dreams' leaves the audience with a new perspective on a lesser-seen part of Australia and the indomitable spirit of this country's youth.
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A thoughtful, knotty character study that cascades out from inside a polished and well-crafted courtroom thriller, 'Anatomy of Fall' will leave you with a lot to think about.
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Independent Australian and NZ distributor Umbrella Entertainment has launched a new streaming service, dubbed Brollie, specialising in Australian film and TV content. Check out the SWITCH reviews available now available for free.
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It may not be as harrowing, explosive, challenging or feature Arnold Schwarzenegger, like some of Kim Ji-woon's previous movies, but it is a very amusing and watchable mediation on the craft of filmmaking.
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It looks great, it's funny, the performances are fantastic, and the frantic pacing of the story makes the film feel tighter and shorter than it is. Bring on 'Shin Kamen Rider'!
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Tear your shirt off in a phone booth and jump in your invisible jet, because it's time for Jake's list of films from the DC Extended Universe movies ranked, from worst to best.
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The nuanced characters and situations are full of drama, yet never descend into melodrama. It is a film that may leave you exhausted, but also filled with optimism.
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Director Rodrigo Sorogoyen lets the land and the characters, the wide-open spaces and the performances - especially Ménochet and Foïs - speak for themselves in this thriller where the violence feels imminent from the first frame.
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Neil Marshall desperately needs a kick up the pants from a mate or someone who cares, because he has proven many times over that he is capable of so much more than low effort trash like 'The Lair'.
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A sprawling fantasy-horror film that encapsulates loss, love, morality, mortality, regret and contentment, this is a unique and impressively intricate directorial debut from Goran Stolevski.
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Creative and perverse, with gore galore and plenty of quotable dialogue. Crucially, it's never boring, which is the key criterion for watching these kinds of movies with friends and a couple of beers.
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If you ever wanted to watch a film where the Incredible Hulk was a detective who solved crimes, make sure you seek out 'The Roundup'.
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This movie has obligatory high-speed chases, furniture-breaking brawls against multiple thugs, and a protracted gun battle in a warehouse. For a slice of action that hits all of its marks, it's ultimately satisfying.
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As is standard procedure with horror sequels, there are more kills, fewer scares, and an overall emphasis on spectacle over story. Isabelle Fuhrman and Julia Stiles deliver these lines with relish, clearly having a lot of fun with the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
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Like his other films, the visuals, the costumes, the set decoration, the swirling colours, lush cinematography and the soundtrack are stunning. If you have a taste for something a little different, 'Flux Gourmet' is the perfect gateway into the oeuvre of a very unique filmmaker.
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Both an expertly crafted multi-strand, big-swing character drama and a portrait of non-glamorous Taiwan, this is an impressive piece of work from Lou Yi-an.
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Music is a lot more powerful than we think. We just hear an old song and it just takes us somewhere else, bringing back some of those special moments from our lives that we have forgotten. 'Press Play' is a slight but sweet offering that (at a brisk 85 minutes) doesn’t overstay its welcome.
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Yin-Yu Huang's documentary captures the essence, the soul, of Iriomote Island, which, however many parallels it might have with prisons anywhere, was unique in the depths of its experience.
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Even the most helpless victims aren’t safe from the Saddies - the film is incredibly merciless and mean-spirited. But it’s equally as hard not to appreciate how well-oiled the cinematic machinery is that keeps this story racing along at such a frenetic pace.
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The 1982 action-adventure film had everything - warriors, women in medieval bikinis, shrieking ghosts, giant serpents, magic, and lots of gore. It also has Arnold Schwarzenegger for a lead.
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While it's touching at times in its depiction of familial bonds and the death of innocence, it's the creepy atmosphere and brilliant performances that make it truly memorable.
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Jake argues why it's the coolest superhero movie ever with 20 good reasons.
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The reality of what happened in Srebrenica is far more terrifying than any film could represent, but this captures the nightmarish inevitability of a horrific loss of life caused by human weakness.
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From Paul Verhoeven, this isn't subtle - the movie is alternately deadly serious and amazingly goofy, raising intriguing questions about belief and sexuality, then answering them in very silly ways.
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Exploring female identity and revisiting the past with conflicted feelings, this film is a near-perfect mix of the personal and political, ranking among the best of Pedro Almodóvar's films.
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We get to know Amin and, despite the heartbreaking details of his life, his confessional is ultimately as uplifting as it is impossible to turn away from.
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Despite its final sequence, 'The Scary of Sixty-First' isn't scary, and only takes a glancing look at how infectious these paranoid conspiracy worldviews can be.
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While it might the slightest of Christian Petzold's films thus far in his career, 'Undine' is a tranquil and supremely touching relationship drama.
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It's a truly indescribable film, but if you want a gorgeously chaotic and visually rich experience that will wash over you, 'Mad God' is worth seeking out.
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A funny, thoughtful, incisive, overwhelming and frequently pornographic portrait of a fractured country. Difficult to describe, but not difficult to recommend.
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A welcome addition to the fantasy genre, and a nifty showcase for an underused but beautiful animation style.
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It could have been an epic, serpentine film about a whole network of twisted figures who haunt the shadows of a country's history. Instead, it's a crushing disappointment.
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Despite some decent low-budget effects and an unexpected turn of events leading into the final stretch, the screenplay holds it back from being a story that you'll be thinking about the next day.
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Visually arresting but narratively vegetative, 'Gaia' is an eco-horror flick that never takes root.
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There are some great films on Tubi - particularly if you're a horror fan. After patiently scrolling through the catalogue, Jake's found a collection of free flicks to freak you out this Halloween!