Australian Films

Muriel´s Wedding
Walkabout
One from about two decades ago with a title like Silhouette, about a strange character.

There were some good TV shows I saw as a kid: The Terrible Ten, Magic Boomerang and the like.

__________________
All secrets are safe with this man, because none are as deadly to him as his own. His secret is that he is Richard Kimble. (The Fugitive - Conspiracy of Silence)

Picnic at Hanging Rock is the greatest Australian film I have ever seen, bar none. Beautiful cinematography, an alluring soundtrack, and impeccable direction. Truly a mystical, eerie, daunting, yet strangely beautiful and poetic journey into our relationship with nature's mythical surroundings. If anybody has done some reading into Aboriginal mythology, you'll notice this film captures the concept of 'dreamtime' very, very well.

This clip contains spoilers but is a testament of its striking beauty:

Some other less well-known Aussie flicks:

Sunday Too Far Away (1975)
My Brilliant Career (1979)
Breaker Morant (1980)
The Castle (1997)
In the Winter Dark (1998)

__________________
“The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson

^ Don't forget the brutal and unforgiving Wake in Fright. One of the great Australian films.

I really like Wake in Fright

One of my favourites 10 Canoes

__________________
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

My favourite is definately Animal Kingdom



Brilliant.

__________________
Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

Those in the UK, who can get the Horror Channel and are interested in Ozploitation should know that they're having an Ozploitation season of films on Friday nights. This week it's Savages Crossing.

__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.

This is one of my all time favourite movies. I was blown away with it.

If you enjoyed it, check out "Snowtown". It's gloomy but brilliant too.

Good shout with Snowtown, ive seen it, decent flick.

An Oldie but a goodie



Bliss

The only film I have on VCD: The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith



It's even got Alf from Home And Away in it.

__________________
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

My top 10 Australian films (since I started giving ratings).

1. Mary & Max (2009) - Adam Elliot
2. Gallipoli (1981) - Peter Weir
3. Kenny (2006) - Clayton Jacobson
4. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) - Stephan Elliott
5. Mad Max II (1981) - George Miller
6. Red Dog (2011) - Kriv Stenders
7. Where the Green Ants Dream (1984) - Werner Herzog
8. Triangle (2009) - Christopher Smith
9. Dark City (1998) - Alex Proyas
10. Mad Max (1979) - George Miller

Have obviously watched lots more but too long ago to rate. One of my goals this year is to watch/re-watch a lot of Australian and NZ films to put together an Asia/Pacific Top 100.

BTW, my rules for where a film comes from are that they need to fulfill three of four criteria - where it is made, where the director is from, who/what it is about and where the production companies are based. That's why I have included the Herzog film and Dark City.

I complete forgot about Mary and Max. A very delightful slice of storytelling, that film. Also, Peter Weir's The Last Wave is an excellent film, too, and quite thematically similar to Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Thanks for the info.

I wonder if they'll show Bad Boy Bubby...

The tv series Underbelly deserves more recognition.

Didn't realise Triangle was Aussie. I enjoyed it.

The setting for this one is only up the road from me and some of it was shot there, but I haven't seen it yet.
I love the Ozploitation genre. Some I have seen:

Razorback (1984)
Long Weekend (1978)
Roadgames (1981)

And there's a documentary about Ozploitation films called "Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild Untold Story of Ozploitation'. Worth a look.

Has anybody here seen Australian Rules? Fairly obscure film, but pretty damn good.

I completely agree with this. TMK, they've only shown the first series of Underbelly in the UK, though I suspect one of the later incarnations did show up on one of the minor satellite channels. For anyone who hasn't seen it, seek it out.

I also second these. I first saw Roadgames a couple of year after it was made and, while I've only seen it a few times since, it's always held up. Not Quite Hollywood is great, not only as entertainment, but as a source for other Ozploitation films.

Yep, that's where I got my list!