DOWN UNDER THE RADAR 

                                                                   Part 2

Gallipoli (1971) is director Peter Weir's memorial to World War I from Down Under. Mel Gibson is one of the featured actors; this was before he came to America and became rich and famous. The youthful exuberance of the lads on their way to the front plays nicely against what we know waits for them there. For three-fourths of the film the war seems like a great adventure, a lark. We, and they, are jerked up short by the last reel. This is a splendid film.

An excellent young-woman-growing-up film is My Brilliant Career  (1979). It stars the wonderful Judy Davis as a spunky girl determined to be Somebody. Her treatment in turn-of-the-century Australia is harsh, but she refuses to buckle. We wince, and we cheer for her. 

     Phar Lap (1983) is about the great Australian racehorse of the same name. To Australians, he is a legend larger than Secretariat is to us. He died in a mysterious fire in the U.S. in 1933, after whipping all comers. This is a good story with very good racing shots.

    Tony Colette has a grand time as the title character in Muriel’s Wedding (1994). Muriel is a socially awkward young woman, ridiculed by her only friends. She dreams of a storybook wedding, which seems most unlikely to happen. Her trip from social hanger-on and wannabe to responsible woman is both humorous and touching. This is a most unusual movie with an unusual story.

    Look Both Ways (2005) features an ensemble cast you will not have heard of, with several divergent stories that nicely come together. A young man finds out he has a deadly cancer and on his way home meets a mentally fragile young woman who has just witnessed a train wreck. This accident is a central point of the film, as if affects every member of the cast in very different ways. Toward the end there is a scene where the engineer who was driving the train shows up at the home of the victim’s family, full of remorse for a terrible thing that is not his fault. He will break your heart. The 2022 American film with the same name is nothing like the Australian and not nearly as good. 

And for a good time, check out The Castle (1997) in which the Kerrigan family happily lives on the edge of Melbourne Airport. The airport wants to expand and take the Kerrigan home. They fight it in court, but their dreadful lawyer’s argument that the taking destroys “the vibe” of the constitution doesn’t work. When all seems lost, they’re befriended by a retired Queen’s Counsel attorney who represents them before the Australian High Court. 

    All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.

                                                       DOWN UNDER THE RADAR

For whatever reasons, Australian movies don’t do much business here. Our loss. Fortunately, lots of excellent Aussie flicks are available for home viewing. 

The Dry (2021) is a whip-smart Australian murder mystery. Eric Bana stars as Aaron Falk, a federal agent returning to his hometown for the funeral of a friend. The deceased friend is believed to have died in a murder-suicide action, killing his wife and  child and himself.  The friend’s parents believe their son was innocent and ask Aaron to stay in town and look into it. It turns out that Aaron had left town under a cloud. Most townspeople believe he was responsible for the death of his then-girlfriend Ellie. The word “Grant” turns out to be a major clue. That’s all I’ll give.

Walkabout (1971) is a weird, beautiful masterpiece. A teen-age girl (Jenny Agutter) and her younger brother are left on their own in the Outback by their demented father. They are saved by an aborigine boy who soon falls in love with the girl. The contrast between the two cultures is constant and holds our interest. There is danger and humor aplenty. When it is over none of them will ever be the same. We might not, either. In a real sense, this great movie is a capsule version of Australia. 

Breaker Morant (1980) introduced Aussie super-star Bryan Brown to Americans. It is based upon a true story of three soldiers in the Boer War accused of cowardice in a trumped-up charge to further Great Britain's political requirements. Remindful, and as good as, Paths of Glory.

Strictly Ballroom (1993) is a world of fun. It is the story of people who take ballroom dancing seriously. When the handsome lead loses his beautiful partner just before the big contest, he has to make do with a klutzy Plain Jane. Of course, we all madly pull for her. The swishy contest director is a hoot, and the dancing and the gags are a joy. 

        Proof (1992) is almost impossible to describe. I saw this when it came out and breathlessly waited 12 years for it to come out on DVD, eager to see if it’s as good as I remembered. It is. Hugo Weaving is a blind man who takes pictures, then asks others to verify what is in the picture. An incredibly young Russell Crowe becomes his friend and verifier. I can’t give away much more, but I assure you this is a really good one. 

They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) is full of both good intentions and Hell. In the last century, the Australian government decided it would be a good idea to force Aboriginal children to go to state boarding schools. Actually, they were kidnaped by the police and shanghaied to the schools, hundreds of miles from their homes and families. This is the story of two little girls who wanted to go home. Kenneth Branagh is the only notable actor. You will never forget this incredible film.

All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. Strictly Ballroom is fine for 8 and up. The rest are for adults.

                                                            WOLFGANG PETERSEN 

Wolfgang Peteresen, who died recently at 81, was born and raised in Germany. His Dad was a naval officer and that influenced his interest in the sea and figures in several of his films The first bunch of films he directed are German. Frankly none are very memorable.. And then came Das Boot (1981). It got him noticed and an Oscar nomination. He lost to Richard Attenborough for Ghandi.  In 1987 he moved to California and for a while was an A-list director with a string of popular films. He very deliberately made movies people would want to see. And they did. 

Das Boot (1981) is a first-rate suspenser about a German submarine's war. In one unforgettable scene, the boat has to dive far below its limit to avoid detection. Rivets start popping like gunshots. We're chewing our nails, and suddenly realize we're pulling for the enemy. The essential humanity of these sailors, and the ironic ending, place Das Boot squarely in the forefront of war movies. Jurgen Prochnow is superb as the captain. The director's cut is available. I usually much prefer subtitles to dubbing, but the dubbing in this one is excellent.

The Never-Ending Story (1984) is a real charmer. A bookish preteen(Bastian) discovers a magic book that transports him to Fantasia, an idyllic place unfortunately being attacked by The Nothing. He is enlisted by the residents to help them and he does amid adventures galore. This is Petersen’s first film in English. 

A complete change of pace is the nail-biting In The Line Of Fire (1993) with Clint Eastwood as U.S. Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan, wracked with guilt by his failure to save John F. Kennedy from the assassin’s bullet in Dallas. He is assigned to help guard the current president who is running for re-election and touring the country. Horrigan’s identity and detail are hacked by the villainous Booth, who says he will kill the president. That’s all I’m telling. 

         The world was scared witless by Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone, crafted into an equally scary movie, Outbreak (1995), directed at fever pitch by Wolfgang Petersen. Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo are physicians trying to curb the spread of mobata, which is thinly disguised ebola. There are good and bad guys galore as the couple races to save humanity. 

The special effects, even on a small screen, are alone worth the trip to see The Perfect Storm (2000). George Clooney is the captain of a commercial fishing boat caught at sea during a combined hurricane and nor’easter (hence the title). After a particularly bad streak of fishing, he decides to try once more though the storms are close at hand. Various rescue attempts fail and waves intensify. Then a rogue wave higher than a skyscraper rolls toward the little boat. 

Mr. Petersen’s directing skills are also on view in Shattered (1991), Enemy Mine (1985) and Air Force One (1997). 

His remake of The Poseidon Adventure (1972) was so awful it knocked him out of any meaningful work. You can see Poseidon (2006) and decide for yourself if it's really that bad. It is and He made one more film in Germany before his death.

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.  

                                                         WHO SAID THAT? 

                                                                    Part 4

Yet another fun (I hope!) quiz about famous movie quotes. This one may be a little harder than the previous ones. Answers at the bottom. No peeking!

1. Oh, Jerry, don’t ask for the moon. We have the stars.

2. One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.

3. A boy’s best friend is his mother.

4. Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.

5. As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.

6. Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!

7. Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you?

8. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.

9. Here’s Johnny!

10. They’re here!

11. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers. 

12. Hello, gorgeous.

13. Tell ‘em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper.

14. A martini. Shaken, not stirred. 

15. I’m king of the world!

ANSWERS

1. Bette Davis to Paul Henreid in Now, Voyager (1942)

2. Groucho Marx (who else?) to everyone in Animal Crackers (1930)

3. The extremely creepy Anthony Perkins to Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960)

4. Michael Douglas to Charlie Sheen in Wall Street (1987)

5. Vivian Leigh to the whole wide world in Gone With The Wind (1939)

6. Oliver Hardy to Stan Laurel  in Sons Of The Desert (1933)

7. Dustin Hoffman to Anne Bancroft in The Graduate (1967)

8. Humphrey Bogart to Dooley Wilson in Casablanca (1942)

9. Jack Nicholson to his terrorized family in The Shining (1980)

10. Heather O’Rourke (the little girl) to the family in Poltergeist (1982)

11. Vivian Leigh to Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

12. Barbra Streisand to Omar Sharif in Funny Girl (1968)

13. Ronald Reagan ( yes, him!) to Pat O’Brien in Knute Rockne, All-American (1940)

14. Sean Connery to a bartender in Goldfinger (1964)

15. Leonardo DiCaprio to Kate Winslett in Titanic (1997)

12-15 Cinephile

9-12 Fair

                                                                ANNE HECHE

        Poor Anne Heche died at only 53 years old as a result of a tragic automobile accident. She had lots of good parts, and lots of work. In fact, she had around eight projects running at the time of her death. Here’s a look at her cinematic highlights.

    She portrays young attorney Beth in Return To Paradise (1998). Three men are vacationing in Malaysia when they buy marijuana from a local. Tony and Sheriff return to New York but Lewis remains behind. Beth tells them Lewis has been arrested and is imprisoned and will receive the death sentence unless they return to share the blame. After they return she reveals that Lewis is her brother and she has been playing them. Things don’t go well in the Malaysian court and Lewis is sentenced to die.

In Six Days, Seven Nights Heche plays Robin, a high end fashion photgrapher. She and her fiancé Frank (David Schwimmer) go on vacation to a tropical island. She hires rough-hewn bush pilot Quinn (Harrison Ford) to fly her to a photo shoot. Their plane crashes on an uninhabited island in a storm. There are pirates and other adventures. 

Wag The Dog (1997) stars Anne Heche as a presidential aide tasked with diverting public attention from a sex scandal involving her boss. She hires spin doctor Conrad (Robert DeNiro) who in turn employs film director Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman). They concoct a fake news show about a fake war in Albania and the media buys it. Best line: “Of course it’s true- I saw it on TV”. 

Joe Pistone (Johnny Depp) is an undercover cop who infiltrates the Mafia for the FBI. His marriage to Maggie (Anne Heche) becomes more and more shaky as he advances further into the mob. He uses the assumed name Donnie Brasco (1997) and succeeds spectacularly. Though his marriage suffers due to his lengthy absences and the stress of his job, his Maggie sticks with him. They are still a couple at the end, living in an undisclosed location with a half million dollar price on his head. 

The Juror (1996) is based on George Dawes Green’s crackerjack novel of the same name. Annie (Demi Moore) is selected as a juror trying a mafia hit man. She is threatened into voting to acquit and the mob decides she is now a loose end and has to go. Her friend Juliet (Anne Heche) pays the ultimate price for their friendship. Annie and her son try to hide from the mob in Guatemala but don’t completely succeed. 

Anne Heche  can also be seen to good effect as Brooke in tOpening Night (2016), and as Joan in the very complicated but enjoyable Cedar Rapids (2011).

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.

                                                                 2021 SLEEPERS

                                                                         Part 3

Here’s another bunch of films from last year that are quite good but didn’t get noticed much. You might find one or two to try.

The Duke is one of my favorites from 2021. I was able to watch it only recently but it’s widely available now. It stars two of the absolute icons of British movies: Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren. They are the Buntons. She is hardly recognizable as the dowdy, stodgy housewife. He is the pocket socialist who decides to make things better for the poor by stealing Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the British Museum and distributing  the reward money. Of course he gets caught and the fun part of the film is his trial in the Old Bailey. And- it’s hard to believe, but this film is based on a true story!

How great would it be for a woman to have a boyfriend who fulfilled her every want and need, almost before she wants it? Actually it may not be as great as it sounds. In I’m Your Man, scientist Alma agrees to evaluate a robot programmed to satisfies her every need. And he does. Handsome, charming, sensitive Tom’s only drawback is that he is not a human being. Alma’s reactions might not be what we think ours would be. Or maybe they would?

    Well, of course in this same article we have to review I’m Your Woman, which is absolutely nothing like the prior film. Jean (Rachel Brosnahan) is married to Eddie, a professional thief. They have long wanted children but haven’t been able to conceive. One day Eddie comes home with a baby he says they can have and raise. Eddie vanishes and a colleague gives Jean a bag of money and tells her to relocate at once. She does so, taking baby Harry with her. As you might guess, it ain’t over!

The Water Man is a modern fairy tale in which tweens Gunner and Jo go on a search for the mythical title character, in the hope he can cure Gunner’s mom of her lethal leukemia. Their trek through an enchanted forest is fraught with peril. The ending may not suit everybody, but it is at least interesting. 

Strangely enough, this year’s sleepers contain two movies about truffles. Pig with Nicholas Cage is reviewed in an earlier sleepers column. The Truffle Hunters is an Italian documentary about old guys who hunt the epicurean treats. These men use specially trained dogs to find the elusive truffles. The white Alba truffles they seek are extremely rare and valuable and have resisted all efforts to cultivate them. 

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All except I’m Your Woman are okay for all ages, though kids probably won’t care for most of them.  

                                                     WHO SAID THAT? 

                     Part 3

Here’s another installment of famous quotes from movies for you to test your trivia IQ, or just to have a little fun. Answers at the bottom. No cheating!

1- I coulda been a contender.

2- Wait a minute! You ain't heard nothing yet!

3- I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

4- Love means never having to say you’re sorry.

5- I am your father.

6- Made it, Ma! Top of the world!

7- I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!

8- I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.

9- Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?

10- After all, tomorrow is another day.

11- You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.

12- You’re gonna need a bigger boat!

13- I’ll be back.

14- Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

15- If you build it, he will come. 

ANSWERS:

1- Marlon Brando to Lee J. Cobb in On The Waterfront

2- Al Jolson to the audience in The Jazz Singer (first talking movie!)

3- Robert Duvall as Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now

4- The dying Ali McGraw to Ryan O’Neal in Love Story

5- Darth Vader (David Prowse body, James Earl Jones voice) to an astonished Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in Star Wars

6- James Cagney to Margaret Whycherly (his ma) in White Heat

7- Peter Finch as crazy newsman Howard Beale in Network

8- Gloria Swanson to William Holden in Sunset Boulevard

9- Mae West to Cary Grant in She Done Him Wrong

10- Vivan Leigh to the world at large in Gone With The Wind

11- Lauren Bacall to Humphrey Bogart in To Have And Have Not

12- Roy Scheider to Robert Shaw in Jaws

13- Arnold Schwartzenegger to a cop in a police station in The Terminator

14- Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig in The Pride Of The Yankees

15- A mysterious voice to Kevin Costner in Field Of Dreams (he came)

12-15 Cinephile

9-11 Fair