Screen Queen TV Reviews: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey, A Man On The Inside

Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary

Friday, streaming on Binge

When I think of my 80s childhood, long car rides come to mind. Dad had a company car and free petrol, so every year my cheapskate family packed up and drove from Perth to Sydney via the Nullabor to visit Nanna — a “free” holiday if you will.

Those trips were tough on my sister and I, left to “rawdog” it in the back with no seatback screens, no iPads, nothing more than a few dot-to-dots and our imaginations for company. One year our bickering got so out of hand, my parents were “forced” to take a detour to Adelaide’s wine country to buy a case of the good stuff to act as a physical barrier in the back. Good times.

Still, it wasn’t all bad: we did have a selection of fabulous cassettes to keep us entertained. Fleetwood Mac, Chris Rea, Roxy Music and Paul McCartney and Wings were all on high rotation, but I always had a fave: Christopher Cross, and his seminal classic Ride Like The Wind.

Haven’t heard it? You have — and I bet, like me, you can sing every single word. Because that song is, without doubt, the best example of yacht rock ever produced and is so ubiquitous, it’s seeped into the collective consciousness of anyone alive at that time.

“Yacht rock” is a term I love, and one I got to thinking about while watching this homage to that very specific genre, which Wikipedia describes as “adult-orientated rock” (it’s so much more than that) from the late 70s and 80s, aka the ENTIRETY of the Rigden family’s Nullarbor cassette collection!

There are some artists — Cross is one — who are explicitly linked with the phenomenon, and they’re interviewed in this great doco (or docko, see what they did there?), which is all about the music that single-handedly defined my childhood.

I’m glad they’re finally getting the props they deserve.

If you’re a fan, or are “fan-adjacent” thanks to some childhood PTSD (hi!), you’ll want to check this out.

Side note: it pairs beautifully with an Adelaide Hills pinot.

Nugget Is Dead: A Christmas Story

Streaming now on Stan

This movie! Not since Muriel’s Wedding or The Castle has an Aussie flick so accurately captured the zeitgeist — and so thoroughly captured my heart. Written by emerging comedians Vic Zerbst and Jenna Owen, who also star, it tells the story of Steph (Zerbst), who forgoes Christmas with her boyfriend and his snooty clan after she gets a call from her mum telling her their family dog, Nugget, is ill. She speeds home to be with them — hilarity ensues. This has everything you’d ever want in an Aussie Christmas flick: gags aplenty, some hilarious performances and a seriously cute pooch, played by certified doggie superstar Reuben. A new Aussie classic is born!

A Man On The Inside

Streaming now on Netflix

Ted Danson is an absolute delight as a retired university professor turned “man on the inside” private investigator in this terrific series from The Good Place creator, Mike Schur. This is the kind of quietly lovely TV the world needs right now.

Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey

Monday, streaming on Netflix

Full disclosure: I can’t quite bring myself to review this series, which re-examines the police investigation surrounding the murder of six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey in 1996. Still, I hope it helps shed light on the troubling cold case.

Pam & Tommy

Wednesday, streaming on 7Plus

If you missed this first time around, now’s your chance to catch this intriguing drama, which details how a botched robbery of a sex tape affected the lives of Pamela Anderson (played by Lily James) and her then husband Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan).