Actors Eric Bana (“Munich”, “The Hulk”) and Mia Wasikowska (“Alice in Wonderland”, “Only Lovers Left Alive”) visit Filmwax to discuss their new film, “Blueback” which is now in theaters. While researching Australia’s deteriorating coral reefs, marine biologist Abby (Wasikowska) receives word of her elderly mother Dora’s stroke. As she rushes to her seaside hometown to care for Dora, Abby recalls her childhood years spent living in concert with the ocean, and her mother’s efforts to protect the bay from greedy developers and invasive fishermen alike, often to the detriment of their own relationship. Among the coral gardens, Abby also befriends a rare fish, an enormous blue groper — affectionately named Blueback — a tether to her environmentalism, and the key to reminding Abby and Dora of their love for each other and the vulnerable waters they call home.
Documentary filmmaker R. J. Cutler (“The War Room”, “Belushi”) makes his first appearance on the podcast to discuss his new docu-series, “Murf the Surf”, which is currently available on the MGM+ streaming service. In October 2019, the New York Times published an article celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Museum of Natural History. One of the most momentous events to take place on site was an epic jewel heist, the biggest in American history, mastered by a band of suave ‘surfer dudes’ from Miami in 1964. The key to the operation was Jack Roland Murphy, otherwise known as Murf the Surf, whose name was propelled into pop culture after the heist—creating a notoriety that would stretch far beyond the caper. What followed Murf’s meteoric rise is a spiraling tale of unspeakable crime, murder, deception, and mayhem which, to this day, remains shrouded in mystery. This four-part documentary series will explore the tumultuous life of the man behind the legendary nickname. Featuring exclusive access to Jack Roland Murphy himself prior to his death in 2020, the series will address the blurred line between fact and fiction, faith and delusion, sanity and madness—raising the timely question of who and how we believe.
