Petra Yared Movies
- 2002
Clinging to their youthful recklessness before hurdling headlong into the dreaded world of adulthood responsibility, the graduating high school class of 70,000 head to the Gold Coast to live it up at the Australian phenomenon known as Schoolies and party themselves into oblivion. Whether by train, bus, car or limo, Blurred just goes to show that getting there is half the fun as a variety of characters experience the youthful rush of youthful abandon. Set to a frenetic pace and taking on the madness of Schoolies for the first time, director Evan Clary's freshman effort offers a rare glimpse into the wild world of Australia's equivalent to America's spring break antics. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matthew Newton, Craig Horner, (more)
- 2000
Coma meets Heathers in this Australian black comedy about crime, revenge, and kidney thieves. Brad (Matt Day) and Gregor (Jason Barry) are eager med students struggling to make ends meet. Thanks to government cutbacks, they are forced to share a cockroach-infested one-bedroom apartment, which they rent from their odious landlord (Reg Evans), and they're even forced to share the same bed (an inflatable sex doll in a nurse's uniform divides the mattress and reasserts their nervous heterosexuality). Their living situation is made even worse by their obnoxious neighbors; one guy who lives upstairs (Robert Carlton) engages in loud parties and noisy lovemaking at all hours of the night while another guy's car alarm constantly goes off. Unable to sleep or eat, much less study, the two are on the brink of giving up their studies. To make matters even worse, they are up to their stethoscopes in debt to gangster/western-enthusiast George Roy Rogers (Chris Haywood). Though his penchant for cheesy western memorabilia and silly hats seems a bit daft, he is deadly serious about collecting, and his two muscle-bound thugs Dale and Trigger are hell-bent on enforcing the debt. Brad and Gregor's luck changes when they learn of a noted surgeon, Marcus Browning (Rod Mullinar), who is willing to pay top dollar for organs, just before a sharply-dressed yuppie takes a flying leap and splatter-lands at their feet. Thinking quickly, Brad yanks out a kidney, crams it in an ice cream carton, and carries it over to Browning. Counting their cash, they realize that they have happened upon a neat little way of getting out of the red. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matt Day, Jason Barry, (more)
- 1999
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Like the 1959 theatrical feature of the same name, the two-part cable movie Journey to the Center of the Earth was loosely adapted from the Jules Verne novel (also of the same name). The first part of the TV version faithfully follows the chronology of the earlier film, with famed archeologist/explorer Professor Theodore Lytton (Treat Williams), his nephew, Jonas (Jeremy London), and adventurer-for-hire, McNiff (Hugh Keays-Byrne) embarking upon an expedition to the earth's core. The three men are following in the footsteps of Casper Hastings (Bryan Brown), who disappeared during a similar expedition several years earlier. Coming along for the ride is Casper's wife (or perhaps, widow), Alice Hastings (Tushka Bergen). Upon the foursome's arrival at the titular center of the Earth in part two, the plot goes off on a new, Apocalypse Now-inspired tangent, with the "lost" Casper Hastings reigning as a god over a subterranean (and cannibalistic) native tribe. Directed by George Miller (of The Man From Snowy River fame), Journey to the Center of the Earth made its first American TV appearance courtesy of cable's USA Network on September 14 and 15, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, Tushka Bergen, (more)
- 1998
In the tradition of Babe and Paulie, this Australian family fantasy-adventure features mouthy macaw Mac (portrayed by Tango and three bird stand-ins). Mac, who once witnessed treasure buried on a South Sea Island, is owned by elderly eccentric bird collector Ben Girdis (Jason Robards). His son Rick Girdis (Joe Petruzzi) plans to pay off Ben's debts by putting him in a nursing home and selling Ben's house. Ben's 15-year-old grandson Sam (Jamie Croft), who wants to save Ben's home, discovers that Mac can speak (with a Spanish accent). After Mac proposes a search for the buried treasure, Sam, the bird, and anthropologist Lance Hagen (John Waters) set off on an expedition. Unfortunately, a luxury hotel has been erected directly over the treasure, causing feathers to fly as the determined Sam and Mac continue to seek the treasure while eluding hotel staffers. The film was directed by Mario Andreacchio, who previously made the talking-dog movie Napoleon. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jamie Croft, Jason Robards, Jr., (more)
