A group of actors meet regularly at a coffee shop and talk about auditions, affairs of the heart and life in general. Cappuccino is strange as it wants Australia to seem like big city America. It’s all taxi cabs, saxophones on the soundtrack and a glossy, polished veneer. Unfortunately, the actual material doesn’t live up …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 21- Cappuccino (1989)
Samantha has left a youth detention centre and is trying to go straight by getting her own flat and forging a career as a model. But even though she's doing well, she still feels unfulfilled and finds life on the outside very hard indeed. Hard Knocks is such an interesting slice of life. It was …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 20- Hard Knocks (1980)
A group of ex-hippies reunite. They go to the old house they used to live together in which is due to be demolished. But there’s a more sinister reason why they go back- one of their housemates killed himself and rather than going to the hippie-hating cops, they bury him in the basement. They’re going …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 19- Natural Causes (1985)
15 year old Sarah is deaf. This means that she feels isolated from her peers, family and everyone in the outside world. She has plenty of arguments with her family and comes across as a moody teen. She’s fallen foul of the in-crowd of mean girls at school. But what happens when the hottest jock …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 18- The Still Point (1986)
A hitchhiker is murdered. The killer takes her body to his wheelbound brothers house and plans on disposing of the body. I knew nothing about End Play. I then decided to investigate when I saw that it was on YouTube. Every now and then I strike lucky by doing this. And in this instance I …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 17- End Play (1976)
In 2001, a British couple, Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio are travelling across Australia in a camper van. One night, they are stopped by another driver who turns out to be a cold-blooded killer. He shackles Joanne and throws her into the back of his van. She hears a gunshot but shortly after this manages …
A female passenger leaves her handbag in the back of a taxi. The driver seeks to trace her to give it back which is where the adventure begins. A premise like this requires the one thing this TV movie lacks- an interesting plot. It was good to see which actors would go on to star …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 15- Taxi! (1979)
Muriel Heslop lives in a bubble in the small town of Porpoise Spit. She idolises ABBA, doesn’t conform to the latest 90’s fashions and has no real friends. The girls she tries to hang out with are utterly toxic bitches. She goes on holiday to a resort that these mean girls are also holidaying in. …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 11- Muriel’s Wedding (1994)
Turkey Shoot follows three new inductees to a futuristic totalitarian torture camp for 'deviants'. It's presided over by Thatcher, who organises what he calls a 'turkey shoot' in which a handful of inmates are set free but then hunted for sport by himself and his similarly psychopathic guests. A stellar cast (Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 10- Turkey Shoot (1982)
Two drag queens and a transsexual journey from Sydney to Alive Springs for a fortnight of drag shows on their bus Priscilla. Adventures abound. The first time I saw Priscilla was at a screening in London just after its release. Star Terrence Stamp had videotaped an intro in which he said that the role of …
Meathook Cinema 