Movie, music and TV reviews by Matt Neal, a Rotten Tomatoes-accredited ABC Radio film critic (also an author, musician, journalist and all-round okay guy).
This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on March 20, 2025.
(M) ★★★
Director: Anthony & Joe Russo.
Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci, Ke Huy Quan, Woody Norman, Giancarlo Esposito, Jason Alexander, Martin Klebba, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Jenny Slate, Alan Tudyk, Brian Cox.
Chris Pratt didn't know it, but he was about to get yeeted.
What do you get for US$320m these days? In filmic terms, the answer is The Electric State. Or, in more general terms, a shit-ton of CG and Chris Pratt being Chris Pratt.
It's always baffling that an imperfect script attracts this amount of money. But what's even more baffling is when a streaming service pays this amount of money for a movie. Leaving out ad revenue and lower level sign-ups, Netflix needs 12.8 million new or ongoing premium subscriptions to pay for The Electric State alone. Is anyone signing up to Netflix just for The Electric State? This is exactly the kind of film that a never-ending stream of new email addresses and seven-day trials are for.
Leaving aside the question of whether it's worth $320m (it's not), The Electric State is an "almost" film. It's almost funny, it's almost emotional, it's almost clever, it's almost exciting. In places, it's almost great. But instead, it's a big-budget mess that's also happens to be a sporadically enjoyable slice of alt-history stuffed full of cool robots and baffling plotholes.
Based very loosely on a highly praised picture book, the film takes place in a version of 1994 where humanity has fought and won a global war against robots, thanks to billionaire tech genius Ethan Skate (Tucci). The remaining sentient machines have been sent to a walled-in exclusion zone in Texas, and the victorious humans now enjoy predominantly living in a virtual reality network, also provided by Skate.
But when troubled teen Michelle (Brown) finds a rogue robot wandering around in her yard, it sparks a journey that will send her in search of the brother she thought was dead, and up-end the whole of society as she knows it.
The Electric State, as is common with so many blockbusters, is either two rewrites short of perfection, or has had two rewrites too many. It's hard to tell which, but the result is akin to a robot that performs its set task, but you know it could have done it so much more efficiently and effectively.
The themes are there - the most obvious being that everyone wastes their lives plugged in and gawping at a screen - and the story is there, but the plot (ie. how it all happens) falls short frequently. Some dialogue stinks, plenty of it is fine, and some of it even sings. Some moments fall incredibly flat, but other sequences are incredible, notably an entire deserted mall inhabited by robots and the final battle. The emotional bits are also hit and miss - a much-touted reunion between humans is so-so, but the death of a quirky robot hits in the feels. There are some laughs but there could have been so many more.
The performances are fine, but nothing amazing. Brown and Pratt are okay, the latter just does what he does in every movie. Quan is largely wasted, and Tucci and Esposito are reliable without being exceptional. Alexander is the most memorable but has only a handful of scenes.
The robots are the bigger standout. Mackie, Harrelson, Slate and Azaria bring life to some wonderfully designed and animated droids, and the cyborg aesthetic is part of The Electric State's biggest strength - its production design. The setting looks incredible and believable, the robots are stunning, and it's this eye-for-detail that creates an immersive world that elevates everything else. It's this world that makes you get to the end of The Electric State, fully realise it's flaws, yet somehow think, "yeah I could probably watch that again one day".
Ultimately The Electric State is okay. There are plotholes big enough to manoeuvre a convoy of cross-country truck-driving robots through and parts of it land with a groan and a thud, but it mostly works, it's largely entertaining, and it looks a million dollars. But not necessarily US$320m.
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Giancarlo Esposito, Tim Blake Nelson.
It was the time of year when the cherry blossoms were in bloom and asses needed whoopin'.
Some films are finely tuned instruments. Some are scalpels, capable of delicate incisions and leaving a very precise mark. Others are Swiss army knives, able to do many things, all with equal levels of skill. And others are nailguns, high-powered devices taking old actions to new heights.
Captain America: Brave New World AKA Cap IV is a blunt instrument. It's basically a hammer, good for little more than hitting things until all the things are hit. It is not about finesse, or sculpting something beautiful. It just hits, in unsubtle but effective ways, until all the nails have been hammered home.
But this is the 35th (!) film in the MCU, and there have been an incredible number of scalpels, Swiss army knives and nailguns there for Cap IV to be judged against. On its own, it's a so-so blockbuster you would quickly forget except for the fact Harrison Ford turns into a giant red rage monster. As part of the MCU, it's bottom-tier stuff, sitting in the lower five or 10 films of the franchise, only noteworthy for having Harrison Ford turn into a giant red rage monster.
Story-wise, it stands alone surprisingly well, despite referring all the way back to the second MCU film (The Incredible Hulk), with pit stops on every major MCU event along the way. For the diehards it picks up after the enjoyable TV series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, which sees Sam "The Falcon" Wilson (Mackie) assume the mantle of Captain America.
Meanwhile Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (formerly played by William Hurt, but here it's Ford) has become US President, picking up the real-life idea that no amount of stupid shit you do can stop you getting elected President. Ross claims to be a changed man, but his past is lurking in the wings as he prepares to negotiate a treaty over a new "island" that has emerged (see the events of The Eternals).
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Cap IV is the missed opportunity - it's literally about having a black man take on the ultimate representative role of a country that re-elected a six-time bankrupt, twice-impeached, convicted felon as president over a black woman. Yet race gets barely a mention here. It's the angry red elephant in the room. And yes, I know filming wrapped on this midway through last year, but it's fair to say race relations in America have been an issue for a while, and this could've been the MCU film to have a real dig into that. Remember when Cap used to punch Nazis?
Leaving politics aside, and Marvel's unwillingness to get a bit of dirt on its hands, Cap IV is fine. It's a familiar mystery punctuated by some fun action sequences - an aerial battle over the Indian Ocean is pretty great, and watching Red Hulk cut loose is undoubtedly enjoyable. It maintains an upbeat tone thanks to Mackie and relative newcomer Ramirez keeping things light in between the deadly serious and somewhat OTT dialogue, while Ford brings gravitas to the late Hurt's role. Lumbly is one of the real highlights, as is an underused Nelson.
If this had come out in the early 2000s, ie. pre-MCU, maybe we would have thought it was a lot cooler. Elements of the plot already make it feel like a second-run at Captain America: The Winter Soldier - sleeper agents, Cap on the run from the government, an unknown villain pulling strings from the shadows - but this lacks the sharp tone or panache of that excellent MCU entry. Cap IV never fully nails its thriller aspects, but when it's throwing punches and blowing things up, it's a good time.
Again, we've been spoilt by the MCU. Cap IV pales in comparison to much of what has come before, but having said that there are far worse superhero movies around.
This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on March 6, 2025.
(PG) ★★
Director: Filip Hammar & Fredrik Wikingsson.
Cast: Filip Hammar, Lars Hammar, Fredrik Wikingsson, Tiina Hammar.
Gramps was dead-set on a Vegas road trip for his buck's party.
Getting old sucks. Being made to do things you don't want to do also sucks. If you put both these sucky ideas together you would have The Last Journey, the highest-grossing Swedish documentary of all time.
Not that The Last Journey totally sucks. It is annoyingly contrived and often uncomfortable to watch, but its heart is in the right place and it does offer up some sweetly sentimental moments. However, the whole thing is an awkward and unfortunately answerless discussion on ageing.
Swedish TV star Filip Hammar is struggling to deal with his 80-year-old dad Lars' decline into old age, and surprises him with a trip to the south of France - the location of their past family holidays - in an effort to spark some life back into the old man.
With his buddy and fellow Swedish TV star Fredrick Wikingsson squeezed into the back of a Renault 4, the trio set about recreating Lars' past glory days on the Mediterranean and revitalising his life.
The Last Journey, like its star Filip, is well intentioned but ultimately misguided. The doco is occasionally successful at hitting you in the feels, but in between it can be a tough watch.
In the early part of the film, Filip's efforts to drag his father along on this final vacation are ill-conceived and even ignorant. While Filip and his mother agree it's the best medicine for Lars, his health and in-built pessimism make it painful to watch him passively try to back out of the project, all the while Filip is manipulating him into staying in.
Some of these awkward vibes continue through-out the doco. Filip is obviously doing this as much for himself as he is doing it for Lars, but there is no self-awareness or revelation for Filip by movie's end. Instead, it feels very self-serving or self-congratulatory when he and Fredrich's contrived plans come together. And Filip regularly seems oblivious to the physical ravages of age, urging his dad to play guitar or chop vegetables or walk without his walker more often than is comfortable to watch.
That's not to say The Last Journey is a waste of time. It has a lot of heart in among the prank show-style set-ups, and the trip genuinely seems to reinvigorate Lars, although it would have been nice to get an understanding of how much pep it put in his step via a more detailed post-script.
But for the most part, it feels about half an hour too long, and gives us no real answers to the questions it poses about living our last days in the best ways.
This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on February 20, 2025.
(M) ★★★★
Director: Michael Morris
Cast: Renée Zellweger, Mila Jankovic, Casper Knopf, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Colin Firth.
Some nights, they could sit and watch the UFOs for the hours.
I honestly don't know if I've seen a Bridget Jones film before. I feel like I have, and watching the inevitable polaroids of past movies flash up amid the credits gave me a sense of deja vu. And it's possible I reviewed one or two of them back in the day. But maybe I haven't seen them. The first film was certainly so zeitgeisty, so embedded in the pop culture consciousness, that maybe I absorbed it by osmosis without ever actually watching it.
Zellweger's Bridget is such an eminently understandable and relatable character - the ultimate everywoman - that she is part of the fabric of cinema now. You know her without having seen (or remembering if you've seen) any of her films. And that also means you don't need to have seen the previous Bridget Jones movies to be wooed by this one.
But watching Mad About The Boy (the fourth instalment in the series) makes me want to watch the rest of them. It's a fun, sparky rom-com with an utterly charming lead, but it's also a beautiful meditation on grief and the ups-and-downs of parenting and mid-life living.
The fourth film finds Bridget as a single mother-of-two, grappling with all the things that come with being a single mother-of-two in 2025. When a much-younger man meet-cutes his way into her world, she wonders if this is exactly what she's been waiting for.
Mad About The Boy's best bits are the surprisingly poignant explorations of grief that swirl throughout Bridget's often chaotic and comedic existence. Yes, it's funny, yes, it's charmingly silly, and yes, Bridget is endearing and easy to identify with. But there is some truly magical writing in here that manages to distil so much about loss into some sparkling and home-hitting dialogue.
And when it's not finding ways to carry on in the face of the ultimate heartache, it's got some sweet things to say about living your best life in the face of modern middle-class pressure. Which brings me to the biggest problem with the film: parts of Bridget's life are too comfortable and good things come to her too easily. Mad About The Boy digs up regular embarrassments to keep Bridget on our level, but when she decides to turn her life around, it doesn't take much for that to happen.
But if you're not here for the life lessons, there are plenty of laughs. Grant returns as her caddish ex-suitor-now-best friend Daniel, and adds spark every time he's on the screen, and Thompson makes the most of her cameo moments.
Zellweger seems effortlessly at home in Bridget's skin. A world away from her last big-screen performance as Judy Garland in 2019's Judy, it's another reminder not only of Zellweger's comedic skill but of her chameleonic abilities. This is the fourth time in the role, and maybe it's all the easier for the repetition, but Bridget Jones never feels anything less than a real and wonderfully adorkable person.
Rom-coms are an oft-derided genre but sometimes they capture something beautiful about the human condition amid the schmaltz. And Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy manages to have the lolz and the love, while also giving us something thoughtful about life.
This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on January 22, 2025.
(PG) ★★★★
Director: Edward Berger.
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati, Carlos Diehz, Brían F. O'Byrne, Jacek Koman, Merab Ninidze.
At any moment, a well-choreographed dance routine was about to break out.
Sometimes a movie makes you feel like you're prying into a world you're not supposed to see.
Such is the case with Conclave, a "political thriller" that's unlike any other political thriller you can probably think of - its politics are unique, and its thrills are mostly lowkey, but no less thrilling for this fact.
The film takes us inside the decision-making process that selects a new pope. It's like the election for a high school class president, but with weirder costumes and more Latin. And it's endlessly fascinating, not just for its peak into a world most mere mortals will never see, but for its considerations about the Catholic Church's strange position trapped between its traditions and the modern world.
While it's thematically about politics, popularity and power, it's very much about the Church - it's about faith, doubt, a higher calling, and the limitations and expectations of tradition, and how all of that rubs up against the very human traits of ambition and greed.
Central to the story is Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes), the man in charge of getting all the cardinals in one room and casting their vote for a new Pope.
Around him are a colourful array of cardinals vying for the position of top dog - Tucci's determined liberal, Lithgow's ambitious moderate, Castellito's fire-and-brimstone traditionalist, Msamati's popular conservative, and Diehz's little-known dark horse.
Peter Straughan's script, based on Robert Harris' book, throws in casual intrusions from the outside world to ensure the intrigue continues, and everything moves at a comfortable pace so you won't even notice you're on tenterhooks.
The great screenplay is heightened by some great performances, but the cinematography really helps us get into the heads of characters. There are a lot of close-ups of Fiennes, and it never ceases to amaze how he can convey so much with so little. His is not a flashy performance - a lot of it takes places behind the eyes. But Berger's camera captures that, giving us another great Fiennes turn in a very long list of great Fiennes turns.
He's ably supported by a cast that could easily have stolen the show, were it not for Fiennes' commanding yet comfortable performance. Tucci, Lithgow and Rossellini are no slouches, and as great as you'd expect, while Castellito, Msamati and Diehz are also excellent.
Volker Bertelmann's score is quite powerful in places, subtle in others, and does a stellar job of enhancing the mood throughout. Also, major kudos to the team that turned Cinecittà Studios into a replica Vatican - you wouldn't know it wasn't the real thing.
Conclave's plot has moments that may tip you out of the reality of the film. The final act will definitely test some people's suspension of disbelief, especially the ending, but it remains fascinating and thought-provoking nonetheless.
All in all, a fascinating sermon on the state of the Church and its place in the world, with a Fiennes performance worthy of being put on an altar.
Anyway, I love the absolute shit out of triple j's Hottest 100. Much like Christmas, it's an occasion that brings people together to argue and drink too much, but with the greatest gift of all - quantifiable statistics about music.
The 2024 countdown is on January 25, and will once again deliver what triple j listeners deem to be the best songs of the past year, creating a musical time capsule for decades to come.
Can we predict the winner? Well, social media-scraper 100 Warm Tunas has been right five out of eight times, but last year it was way off, placing hot favourite Doja Cat's Paint The Town Red at #9, despite the addition of machine learning (ML) to improve the algorhythm (which doesn't appear to be in play this year).
(EDIT: Nick Whyte, the brains behind Warm Tunas, says last year's aberration was due to "spam that got past my spam detection filtering", as detailed here.)
So what happened? Apparently Tik Tok happened, and its influence was apparently a major factor in the wins of Glass Animals' Heat Waves in 2020 and Doja Cat last year, with both songs massive on that platform.
But the influence of Tik Tok doesn't seem to be something Warm Tunas can measure, partly because it's hard to get good data on it. But let's see if we can we throw that in the mix this year as much as we can, along with the other factors I look at each year - the bookies, the ARIA charts, and Spotify and YouTube plays.
Why it will win: Good Luck, Babe! is the only Chappell Roan song in the voting guide. That means all the power and momentum behind the belated success of her massive 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is laser-focused into one mega-hit banger (that's not even on her huge album). For once, the bookies and Warm Tunas are in agreement.
Why it won't win: While it's hard to see anything beating this, stranger things have happened. There are other acts supposedly with a bigger Tik Tok influence, and this might be the moment where we truly see just how significant the whole Tik Tok thing is.
100 Warm Tunas: #1
Sportsbet: $1.68 (favourite)
TAB: $1.75 (favourite)
ARIA: #4
Spotify streams: 1.18 billion
YouTube plays: 72 million
Royel Otis - Murder On The Dancefloor
Why it will win: Ever since The Wiggles won in 2021, all bets are off when it comes to whether Like A Versions can win. This is the LAV to watch (G Flip's Cruel Summer is a close second) if one is going to get up, and the bookies and Warm Tunas agree this is the song with the best shot at giving Good Luck, Babe! a run for its money.
Why it won't win: This Sophie Ellis Bextor cover got some traction outside triple j (which is what got The Wiggles over the line in 2021), but if mainstream crossover appeal is still a thing in the Hottest 100, then we'd need to compare Royel Otis' traction with Good Luck, Babe!'s zeitgeist ubiquity, and it's really no contest.
100 Warm Tunas: #2
Sportsbet: $2.75 (second favourite)
TAB: $4.50 (equal second favourite)
ARIA: #35
Spotify streams: 60.3 million
YouTube plays: 7.5 million
Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us
Why it will win: The Kendrick-Drake beef was one of the biggest things of 2024, and Not Like Us was Lamar's coup de grâce. The diss track not only effectively ended the battle in favour of Lamar in the eyes of the public, but it also turned out to be a killer a tune loaded with zingers. Lamar has won the Hottest 100 before (and finished second too), so there's a really good chance he can do it again given the attention on his war of words with Drake - Lamar is arguably bigger than he was when he won with Humble in 2017.
Why it won't win: The bookies have been spot-on in recent years, and they have four songs ahead of Not Like Us. Could a diss track really win, and is there enough people who gave a shit about the Kendrick-Drake beef to get this song to top spot? It might seem like Not Like Us has the best shot at toppling Chappell Roan, but this track's moment in the sun has likely passed. It's certainly been slipping in the odds with bookies over the past couple of weeks. Also, Lamar had a crazy 14 songs in the voting guide, which could split his vote dramatically. Furthermore, winning the Hottest 100 twice is still a rare feat.
100 Warm Tunas: #3
Sportsbet: $10 (fifth favourite)
TAB: $11 (fifth favourite)
ARIA: #5
Spotify streams: 1.02 billion
YouTube plays: 401 million
Billie Eilish - Birds Of A Feather
Why it will win: If Tik Tok is really such a big deal in the Hottest 100, then Birds Of A Feather could steal Chappell's thunder and give Eilish her second win. This was the eighth biggest song of the year among Aussies on Tik Tok, and only one of two Tik Tok hits that look likely to go high in the Hottest 100. An added bonus is that this is one of only a handful of contenders that has topped the ARIA charts, and that its odds have been getting shorter and shorter by the day.
Why it won't win: Much like Lamar, Eilish had a lot of songs (10!) in the voting guide and is at risk of splitting her vote big time. And between Warm Tunas, Sportsbet and TAB, no one has Eilish winning - just getting really close. Also, much like Lamar, only Flume and Powderfinger have won twice, so that's a tough ask.
100 Warm Tunas: #4
Sportsbet: $6.50 (third favourite)
TAB: $6.50 (third favourite)
ARIA: #1
Spotify streams: 1.9 billion
YouTube plays: 320 million
Tommy Richman - Million Dollar Baby
Why it will win: This was the biggest song on Tik Tok in Australia this year. So the Warm Tunas may not rate it, and the bookies have it back in the pack, but the Tik Tokers will vote for this in droves. It's also spent 33 weeks in the ARIA charts, including two weeks at #1.
Why it won't win: Will the Tik Tok army be enough to send this to the top of the Hottest 100? And does topping the ARIA charts even matter anymore? Probably not and probably not, but it will be interesting to see how much raw Tik Tok popularity can outdo the Warm Tunas and gamblers.
100 Warm Tunas: #65
Sportsbet: $51 (equal 13th favourite)
TAB: $31 (eighth favourite)
ARIA: #1
Spotify streams: 1.05 billion
YouTube plays: 88 million
Charli XCX & Billie Eilish - Guess
Why it will win: Only Kendrick Lamar had more songs in the voting guide than Charli XCX, and seemingly only Taylor Swift influenced pop culture more than Charli XCX and her brat summer. After being overlooked by the Hottest 100 for so long - just two appearances in 12 years, and none since 2017 - it feels like Charli XCX's moment has arrived. Her fans have a lot to pick from, but this one is the biggest of them all. And throw in Billie Eilish, who also had a massive 2024, and it may just be the collab that gets them both across the line.
Why it won't win: Charli XCX will likely get a lot of songs in the countdown - she may even give G Flip's record of seven a shake - but it's really tough to win when you split your vote so much. The bookies don't rate it, though they have Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso higher and it's not even in the voting guide, so what do they know? And Warm Tunas has it at #5.
100 Warm Tunas: #5
Sportsbet: $41 (10th favourite)
TAB: $41 (10th favourite)
ARIA: #1
Spotify streams: 430 million
YouTube plays: 50 million
Also watch out for:
Lola Young's Messy - been rapidly rising up the Warm Tunas chart (now at #6), and come from nowhere to be fourth favourite with the bookies, and has been the big hit of summer so far.
Dom Dolla's girl$ - another hit with the bookies, and top 20 on Warm Tunas, plus Dom Dolla got two songs in the top five last year, so he's got form.
G Flip's Like A Version of Cruel Summer - top 20 on Warm Tunas, top 10 with the bookies, this has the added Tik Tok edge, as G Flip was the 10th biggest artist on Tik Tok in Australia last year.
Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso - not in the voting guide, but the bookies rate this very highly, so maybe there's a strong write-in vote, though it seems unlikely.
Spacey Jane's One Bad Day - they've been in the countdown five years running, plus the bookies and Warm Tunas have this going top 10.
For the record, here are my votes.
And my predictions are usually way off, but here goes:
1. Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!
2. Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us
3. Royel Otis - Murder On The Dancefloor
4. Billie Eilish - Birds Of A Feather
5. Charli XCX & Billie Eilish - Guess
6. Fred Again, Anderson Paak, CHIKA - Places To Be
The 32nd annual triple j Hottest 100 countdown is upon us.
Every year brings with it a new batch of music to be added to the archive, a new (or old) winner to be crowned, and a new bunch of ageing listeners complaining that the Hottest 100 was better in their day.
But the legacy of the countdown means there interesting stats and records that accumulate each year.
Here are some of the big ones to watch this Saturday January 25, 2025, as triple j counts down the best songs of 2024.
Most appearances of all time
G Flip shot up the leaderboard last year with an incredible seven entries, which was a new record (more on that in a moment).
It gave them 21 appearances in the annual countdown over the years (22 if you count them playing percussion in Alex Lahey’s Like A Version of The Black Parade) and took them to fifth on the leaderboard behind only Hilltop Hoods (25), Powderfinger (22), Foo Fighters (22) and Flume (22).
If they’re cover of Taylor Swift’s Cruel Summer gets a guernsey this year, it will put them equal second alongside with the ‘Finger, the Fooeys and Flume - or outright second if we count the Alex Lahey thing… which we totally should.
Oh, and Flume has a song in the voting guide - One More Night with KUČKA - which could move the Sydney producer into clear second place.
It’s unlikely Hilltop Hoods will get knocked off the top of the table this year, but it’s worth keeping an eye on some Hottest 100 stalwarts with a lot of tracks in the voting guide who could make some big moves - Tame Impala (19 appearances over the years), Lime Cordiale (18), Billie Eilish (17), Bring Me The Horizon (15), Rüfüs Du Sol (13), and Kendrick Lamar (13).
Most songs in a year
Few expected G Flip to get seven entries in a year, breaking the record set by Wolfmother in 2005 and equalled by Spacey Jane in 2022.
But could it happen again?
There are a lot of big names in the voting guide with a lot of songs listed, so theoretically G Flip’s record isn’t safe.
In case you’re wondering about the significance of the voting guide, songs that aren’t listed in it rarely place in the countdown (yes, they sometimes do, but "rarely" is the key word there).
Rapper and previous winner Kendrick Lamar has an incredible 14 songs listed in the guide, while Charli XCX (who has only been in the countdown twice previously - her song Boys in 2017, and as a featured artist on Icona Pop’s I Don’t Care, way back in 2012) has 13.
Then there’s Billie Eilish with 10 (counting her Charli XCX collab Guess) and Beyonce with nine tracks.
There are also a heap of acts with eight (Amyl & The Sniffers, fred again, Hockey Dad, Lime Cordiale, Skegss, Sycco), and seven songs listed (beabedoobee, The Buoys, Dice, Gracie Abrams, Northeast House Party, Remi Wolf, Rüfüs Du Sol, South Summit).
Past winners
Flume and Powderfinger are the only acts to win twice, although any time this stat is mentioned we have to point out Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning is a three-time winner thanks to his solo hit Wish You Well.
Flume’s collab with KUČKA could get him into the Triple Crown Lounge with Fanning, but it’s more likely someone will join the Two-Timer’s Club.
So which past winners are listed in this year’s voting guide and are therefore in with a shot for a second win?
The answer is Doja Cat (2023), Glass Animals (2020), Billie Eilish (2019), Ocean Alley (2018), Kendrick Lamar (2017), The Rubens (2015), Macklemore (2012), and Angus & Julia Stone (2010).
By the way, the most previous winners to appear in a single countdown was in 2021, when six champions showed up in the one list - Vance Joy (2013), The Rubens, Kendrick Lamar, Ocean Alley, Billie Eilish and Glass Animals.
Five previous winners appeared in the 2017 and 2022 countdowns.
If we get another two-time winner, then we could start looking at biggest gap between wins - Flume had six years between victories (Powderfinger did theirs back-to-back).
The oldies
The Hottest 100 is a young person’s game, but every so often an elder statesman or stateswoman pops up to remind the young ‘uns what’s what.
Last year, Kylie Minogue dropped in at #48 with Padam Padam, temporarily claiming a record for the oldest woman to appear in the countdown - Australia’s Queen of Pop was 55 at the time, ousting Marianne Faithful from the mantle, who was 51 when she featured on Metallica's The Memory Remains in 1997 (#38).
Minogue’s victory was short-lived - Madonna, 65, swooped in five tracks later to take the crown via her appearance alongside The Weeknd and Playboi Carti on the track Popular (#43).
But that could mean little come January 25 if Dolly Parton’s collab with Beyonce - Tyrant - makes the grade, as Ms Parton turned 79 on January 19.
For the record, the oldest winner of the Hottest 100 is Jeff Phat of The Wiggles, who was 68 when their Tame Impala cover took home the top prize, while the oldest person ever to appear in the countdown was John Lee Hooker, who was either 81 or 76 when he teamed up with Van Morrison on a version of Gloria and reached #100.
Old song, new life
Speaking of Dolly Parton, her track Jolene could manage a rare feat if Beyonce’s cover gets a run on January 25.
It would be only the fourth time a song has had two covers make the countdown - The White Stripes’ live cover of Jolene reached #10 in 2004.
The other songs to achieve this feat to date are Crowded House’s glorious singalong Fall At Your Feet (Boy and Bear got it into the countdown at #5 in 2010, while Peking Duk & Julia Stone followed suit last year 2023 at #64), Men At Work's Down Under (covered by Pennywise in 1999 and Luude - with some help from Colin Hay - in 2021), and Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb (done in full by Scissor Sisters in 2004 and in part by Ocean Alley in 2021).
The streak
If Billie Eilish features in the upcoming Hottest 100, she will have appeared in every countdown since 2017.
Eight years in a row would tie her with Peking Duk when it comes to Hottest 100 streaks, but it’s still two years short of the record.
That’s held by Aussie rock icons The Living End, who never missed a year between 1997 and 2006.
