Not Quite Hollywood

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Filmmaker Mark Hartley explores Australia's hidden genre in this documentary that casually casts aside "official" film history to celebrate the demented genius of director Brian Trenchard-Smith, and the exciting wave of little-known but supremely entertaining films that entertained adventurous Australian filmgoers throughout the 1970s and '80s. Every film student worth his or her weight in celluloid has seen Breaker Morant and Picnic at Hanging Rock, but what about the lesser-known gems that didn't make the film-school textbooks? In his forward to Tim Lucas' book Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark, director Martin Scorsese states, "We have to keep resisting the idea of official film history, a stately procession of 'important works' that leaves some of the most exciting films and filmmakers tucked away in the shadows." In this documentary, director Hartley explores the films forgotten by "official film history" with the comprehensive eye of a true film buff. As a child watching such films as Snapshot and The Man from Hong Kong, Hartley immediately recognized how wildly disparate they were in tone and execution from the films that comprised Australia's traditional film library. Appearing like American genre films that just happened to be shot in Australia and cast with Australian actors, these so-called "Ozploitation" flicks flourished in the wake of relaxed censorship laws down under. Yet despite constant chatter about the "new wave" of Australian cinema, financially successful films like The Man from Hong Kong and Patrick that were popular both at home and abroad were never mentioned, sneeringly dismissed as "genre" films rather than Australian films. Perhaps in the wake of such successful Australian films as Wolf Creek and Undead -- and looking ahead to such films as the slasher shocker Storm Warning and the eagerly anticipated remake of Long Weekend -- curious filmgoers are finally prepared to discover what they've been missing all these years. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 (Alternate Wide Screen)
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Stereo
• Encoding: NTSC
• Screen: Color, Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Subtitle: Spanish
• Features:
  • cc
  • Commentary with director Mark Hartley and the OZploitation Auteurs
  • Deleted & extended scenes
  • Quentin Tarantino interviews Brian Trenchard-Smith
  • Audio interview with director Richard Franklin
  • Funding pitches from Quentin Tarantino and John D. Lamond
  • Image gallery
  • Original theatrical trailer

AWARDS

• AFI Fest

•     Film Presented - 2008

• London Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Toronto International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Mark Hartley

• Producer:

  Craig Griffin, Michael Lynch

• Screenwriter:

  Mark Hartley

• Cinematographer:

  Karl VonMoller

• Composer (Music Score):

  Stephen Cummings, Billy Miller

• Editor:

  Jamie Blanks, Mark Hartley, Sara Edwards

• Executive Producer:

  Jonathan Shteinman, Bruno Charlesworth, Paul Wiegard, Nick Batzias

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Rob Mackenzie

REVIEW:

• A previously unheralded part of cult movie spectrum finally gets its due with this fun, flashy documentary. Not Quite Hollywood is often as entertaining as the B-movies it chronicles because it never tries to get too serious or analytical. Instead, it works as a free-wheeling and lighthearted chronicle of people who took a stab at putting their own stamp on international movie culture and had a fun time doing so. This approach is greatly helped by the participants: people like Barry Humphries and Brian Trenchard-Smith are natural raconteurs and their witty tales of making their films lend an engaging feel to the proceedings. From tales of Dennis Hopper's wild behavior on the set of Mad Dog Morgan to the tormented tale of the production of Razorback, there's plenty of intriguing tidbits that even veteran fans of Aussie films might not know about. Non-Aussie filmmaker Quentin Tarantino also chimes in with some interesting fan-level observations that help establish a context for those not familiar with these films. Director/writer Mark Hartley gives the tales of interviewees an appealing framework by keeping the pace fast and punctuating the narrative with plenty of outrageous clips from the movies being described. In short, Not Quite Hollywood is a blast because it captures the go-for-broke spirit of the films it discusses and this makes it an ideal introduction to the world of "Ozsploitation.." ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi