NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD
NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD |
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A documentary about the untold story of Australian genre cinema - Ozploitation - of the 1970's and 80's. | score 4 |
moviereview rates films from 1 (unwatchable) to 5 (unmissable) |
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| Cast Documetnary Director Mark Hartley Screenwriter Mark Hartley Country Australia Rating / Running Time MA / 93 minutes Australian Release August 2008 Official Site (c) moviereview
2006-2008
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
In
the battle for the hearts and wallets of cinema goers, Australian
filmmakers of the 70’s and 80’s pursued two options. Some
took the high road to critical glory, others set their sights lower.
Much Lower. And it’s here in the sensationally shocking arena of
low-brow genre filmmaking that Mark Hartley has been digging thought
the dirt. Fed on a rich diet of nudity and violent action, his fast and furiously funny document charts the peaks and troughs of a wild story never told. Sex romps, terror tales and action adventure filled drive-in cinemas and late night TV schedules with unbelievable yarns like Stunt Rock and Patrick (a comatose man kills with telekinetic powers). From a time when gonzo filmmaking was virtually the only kind of filmmaking, Hartley gets it all: the action, danger, blood and lust that went into iconic Ozpoloitation cinema like Alvin Purple and Barry McKenzie through Turkey Shoot to Mad Max, BMX Bandits and beyond. A who’s who of on and off-screen talent – George Miller, Russell Boyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dennis Hopper, Rebecca Gilling, Quentin Tarantino and Barry Humphries among them – reflect on the craziness of their projects, the insanity of the players and the impact it had on society at large. Watch as George Lazenby catches fire! Gasp as the stuntman nearly breaks his neck! Thrill to an exploding car that almost flattened a camera crew! Ahhh, they don’t make ‘em like that any more. In fact, they don’t. The demise of drive-ins and an increase in pesky safety standards matched Ozploitation’s transition to VHS and DVD. “We gave them what the big boys couldn’t,” said Brian Trenchard-Smith. Which translates as big boobs and bigger bangs amid an ocean of gore. All of which is celebrated in one of the most irreverent, insolent and impudent documentaries imaginable. Confident, assured and scholarly, Not Quite Hollywood keeps its tongue firmly in cheek. Which is were it belongs, right? // COLIN FRASER |