:: Wog Blog ::

:: WHAT AM I THINKING ABOUT? ::

:: Tuesday 12 April 2005 ::

What is wrong with Oz movies?

Found the two threads above on the Sydney Morning Herald site today.
Fascinating psychology at work - many many apolgists for bad movies, and a few sane voices who declare a good movie is one that is worth $15 and entertains - just plain entertains - the viewer.

For me, any Oz movie with a story line that obviously meant as some sort of antidote to US cinema or to captialism can go without my time or money.

And I am obviously not alone since the box office for Oz stuff that is earnest instead of entertaining is always bad to lousy to just plain embarrassment.

I am thinking about every Paul Cox movie ever made 'Man of Flowers - kill yourself it was that boring. Cox, a big Dutch bore with a pathological hatred of the US, thinks that cos he makes low budget earnest shite that recovers its pitiful cost, that makes him a solvent profitable enterprise and, as I heard him wank about on the teevee recently "one of Oz's most successful film makers".

O Ya, if by "successful" you mean "watched by hardly any Australians except a very small group who watch them over and over".

Urgh.

It profits no one if all you ever produce is earnest shite of the very worst type of Italian moviemaking indulgence a la Pasolini or Antonioni or Wertmuller - I will wager all three film makers are Cox's heroes to some extent.

But it is not all bad and thank jeebus for that, eh?

Getting in on a bit of Shelly's action, I will go out on a limb - best Oz movies:
Man from Snowy River
The Castle
Crocodile Dundee 1
Malcolm, the cute one with Colin Friels as a tard
Malcolm, the scary one with Robert Helpman as a victim of a psycho
Sunday Too Far Away
The Odd Angry Shot
Breaker Morant
Gallipoli
Romper Stomper
Chopper
The one with the Pelican (Storm Boy?)
The one with the roo shoot, kinda like a Deliverance Straw Dogs horror feel.
Picnic at Hanging Rock

Honourable mention - The Cars That Ate Paris, but just for lovely drunk ol' john Mellion's performance, as the mayor of Paris I think

Worst:
Doing Time for Patsy Cline- who?
The Rage in Pacid Lake - embarrassing
Last Days of Chez Nous - oh, just fuck off
Rabbit Proof Fence - urgh, bullshit writ large.
The Bank - ooh, evil places with money in. Urgh.
Spider and Rose - ...pardon me while I wipe up the puke...
Three Dollars - see above, The Bank (it only launched last night, but I will wager, since the guy who made it made The Bank and has, as his mission, a need to tell stories about 'justice'....puke....that it is insufferable preachy shite.)

Now this is just stream of unconsciousness so do not bother me with email arguments.

Have a look at this list of films apparently being made with yours and my tax dollars and ask yourself is any one of them worth $15? Maybe the one about the bullet in the arse.

And no, WogBloy does not make it on the top list. Greeks.

Nuff said.

....

Kidding, it has some good stuff but I prefer Pizza for horrible wog action that is hilarious and that hurts at the same time. Perfect.

Anyhoo, Oz cinema makes rubbish cos wankers work in the film industry. You do not have to be genius to work that out.

Whateva.

UPDATE:

Here's some top film writing by Joy and by Tony

Oh, and Shelly's linked at left - an oversight to date but all fixed now.
:: WB 4:24 am [link+] ::