19 posts categorized "Australian Cinema"

February 13, 2025

DEAD CALM

Jo JoWelcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Punk heart still beating.

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

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ColeSmithey.com

 

ColeSmithey.comQuentin Tarantino's opinion that the '80s was a terrible decade for films, gets a cold hard slap from Australian director Philip Noyce's intense 1989 thriller.

Between Billy Zane's best Marlon Brando impersonation as a sociopath, Nicole Kidman's break-out performance as a mother traumatized by the death of her young son, and Sam Neil as her experienced sailor husband, is a movie that stands the test of time.

ColeSmithey.com

"Dead Calm" is the only non-3D movie I know of to have a scene capable of making you duck out of the way when it hits.

Wow.

"Dead Calm's" triple climax is a satisfying doozy.

ColeSmithey.com

The action takes place on the high seas where Rae (Kidman) and hubby John (Neil) are sailing on their luxurious sailboat on an extended vacation.

Trouble comes fast and furious when they rescue Hughie Warriner, the lone survivor of six-person crew aboard a still sinking ship.

ColeSmithey.com

The less you know going in, the better because this movie has so many surprises to take your breath away.

Fun, scary and suspenseful from start to finish, get out the popcorn and beer for this white-knuckle thrill ride.

Bon appetite.

Rated R. 96 mins.

5 Stars

Cozy Cole

ColeSmithey.com

October 17, 2023

STRANGE BEHAVIOR — SHOCKTOBER!

ColeSmithey.comColeSmithey.comWelcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

ColeSmithey.comColeSmithey.com

ColeSmithey.com"Dead Kids" was the original title for director Michael Laughlin's '80s new wave inspired homage to '50s era B-Movie horror flicks.

New Zealand stands in for a small Illinois town where a demented, and deceased, college psychology professor is performing experiments on local high school kids that lead to an epidemic of knife inflicted murders.

ColeSmithey.com

The town's sheriff (Michael Murphy) has more than his family at stake to solve the mystery and stop the horror.

ColeSmithey.com

"Strange Behavior" is a crucial link between slasher films like "Halloween" and later "who-drank-the-kool-aid" teen thrillers.

ColeSmithey.com

Here is a campy B-horror movie with some very funny moments.

Ozploitation lives!

Rated R. 99 mins.

3 Stars SHOCKTOBER!

Cozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

April 08, 2017

WAKE IN FRIGHT — CLASSIC FILM PICK

ColeSmithey.comColeSmithey.comWelcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

ColeSmithey.comColeSmithey.com

ColeSmithey.comTed Kotcheff’s “Wake In Fright” is an unsettling, if perverse, psychological thriller unlike any other film ever made. It captures the complete mental breakdown of a character in surreal yet viscerally physical terms, while encompassing economic conditions, prejudices, and the ruthless mindset of men in Australia's lawless Outback environment.

ColeSmithey.com

You might detect a tinge of anti-alcohol propaganda at the core of the narrative’s existential crisis in this unpredictable adaptation of Kenneth Cook’s 1961 novel. Nicholas Roeg’s Cinema is the closest thing you compare to Kotcheff’s fraught social study of Australia in the late ‘50s. Desolation of the human soul comes complete with senseless killing of kangaroos.

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Gary Bond’s John Grant character is a grade school teacher chomping at the bit to escape his Government-delegated job in the remote town of Tiboonda. School is out for Christmas. A reunion with his girlfriend in Sydney promises a return to civilization.

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The problem is that our unreliable protagonist gets sidetracked during a night of drinking and gambling in a mining town populated with reprobates. Grant imagines winning enough money gambling to pay off the education bond that has him teaching in the middle of nowhere. No such luck. Grant’s poor choice leads him on a bitter path toward many more decisions he soon comes to regret.

ColeSmithey.com

John Grant becomes a refugee in his own country, surrounded by alcohol-fueled maniacs who usher him down a spiral of destruction. “Wake In Fright” is a masterpiece of energized social satire. The team of kangaroo hunters who take Grant along for the ride represent the same patriarchy that carry on constant wars and shove guns in civilians’ faces just to see how they handle fear. “Wake In Fright” can be taken as a command or a condition. Either way, this classic picture will make you squirm in fear.

ColeSmithey.com

Ted Kotcheff led a varied career that spanned four decades and many genres and styles. "Fun With Dick and Jane" (1977), "Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe" (1978), "North Dallas Forty" (1979), and "Weekend at Bernies" (1989) were each box office hits. Although "Wake In Fright" died at the box office, it is a truly staggering film that represents an artistic pinnacle for Ted Kotcheff. You can see why it's his favorite of all of his films; this one is special. 

ColeSmithey.com

Rated R. 108 mins.

5 Stars“ColeSmithey.com“ THE BLOOD OF DRACULA THE BLOOD OF DRACULA THE BLOOD OF DRACULA ColeSmithey.com THE BLOOD OF DRACULA THE BLOOD OF DRACULA THE BLOOD OF DRACULACozy Cole

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