James Currie Movies
A slick Los Angeles callboy finds love and redemption in Paul Schrader's ultra-stylish drama. High-living prostitute Julian Kay (Richard Gere, stepping in for John Travolta) has it all: the Mercedes, the clothes, access to Beverly Hills' swankiest establishments, and a stable of rich, older female clients. But it all falls apart after he does a favor for his former pimp (Bill Duke) and the trick turns up dead a short while later; Julian's actual client won't give him an alibi, and police detective Sunday (Hector Elizondo) doesn't believe the gigolo's denials. The one person who can help him is frustrated politician's wife (and sole non-paying bedmate) Michelle (Lauren Hutton), if only Julian could let down his defenses and accept her gesture of love. Mixing his admiration for European art cinema with a voyeuristic view of the seamier side of sex and affluence, Schrader renders Julian an inscrutable, emotionally disengaged purveyor of pleasure, decked out in Giorgio Armani clothes coordinated with Ferdinando Scarfiotti's meticulous production design. Amid critical doubts about its artiness and distanced eroticism, American Gigolo surprised everyone by not dying on the box office vine. With some audiences reportedly showing up for repeat viewings of Gere's seductive charms, it became a moderate hit, turning Gere into a star and Armani into the new fashion sensation. Whatever reservations one may have about the movie, it provided two indelible images of 1980s decadence to come: Gere's perusing his "artist's palette" of shirts, ties, and jackets, and Gere's cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway in his convertible to the New Wave strains of Blondie's "Call Me". ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, (more)
- 1987
As can easily be ascertained by the title, this Australian documentary focuses upon that most tortured of artistic geniuses, Vincent Van Gogh. Filmmaker Paul Cox utilizes Vincent's "Dear Theo" letters to his brother as the dramatic spine of this visual feast. Van Gogh's fiercely impressionistic paintings alternate with "real life" images of the places and faces that the artist wished to convey. John Hurt reads Van Gogh's words in a manner than can be characterized as controlled turbulence. Vincent: The Life & Death of Vincent Van Gogh would make an excellent companion piece to Robert Altman's like-vintage Vincent and Theo -- or, for that matter, the 1955 Hollywood romanticization Lust for Life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hurt
This Australian cult film draws extremely dark humor from the story of Bubby, a man who has spent the first 35 years of his life locked in a disgusting basement by his abusive, controlling mother. Having been taught that the outside air is poisonous and that leaving home is sinful, he only realizes the truth when his long-absent father returns to disrupt the already twisted family unit. A tragic confrontation follows, forcing Bubby into the real world. Knowing nothing about life, and undoubtedly suffering from mental disturbance, he stumbles about the city, speaking in a rambling monologue made up mainly of overheard phrases. His behavior is interpreted in different ways by the people he encounters: some think him insane, while others equate his strange speech and erratic behavior with brilliance. The edgy lead performance by Nicholas Hope is key to the film's success, managing to make Bubby a figure that is both sympathetic and at times quite frightening. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicholas Hope, Ralph Cotterill, (more)
Aimed at children, this live-action Australian adventure follows an adorable golden retriever puppy on a cross-country search for the dingoes who comprise his doggy roots. Though the cocky young puppy's real name is Muffin, he prefers to think of himself as Napoleon. His quest begins at a children's birthday party where he frolics gaily with the children until he lands in a basket that has several helium balloons tied to it and is suddenly carried away. Eventually he lands on the rocky shore of distant Sydney Harbor. There he is befriended by a parrot-like galah named Birdo Lucci (other sly in-jokes for film buffs abound in the story). Together, the two buddies head into the bush in search of Napoleon's forebears. Along the way, they encounter a variety of native Australian critters including a koala, a kindly mother kangaroo, a hissy frill-necked lizard, a mean snake and a terrifying black cat who mistakes Napoleon for a giant mouse. Eventually, Napoleon meets his distant relatives too. Like the animals in Babe, this film's closest relative, the animals in this outing are endowed with human voices and qualities. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Croft, Philip Quast, (more)
- 1994
The cultural and philosophical significance of bullfighting is chronicled in this Dutch-British documentary. Much of the film chronicles the banner year (1992) in the career of Enrique Ponce, a 20 year old matador. It also examines the qualities that make an exceptional bullfighter such as charisma, bravery, feelings about death. Also explored are the religious aspects of bull fighting through film clips of dying matadors, mentors, funerals, baptisms, and working with the bulls before the fights. The tone of the film is objective. It culminates with a major bullfight between Ponce and a bovine foe so brave that the matador spares its life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elena Mandalis, Dora Kaskanis, (more)
- 1996
This caustic Australian comedy is meant to burn those commercial interests who sponsor artists for tax breaks. It also a sexually unresponsive wife's revenge against her cheating husband. Heiress Georgina Oliphant, the daughter of pharmaceutical magnate George Oliphant is on a mission to find a sculptor suitable of her father's sponsorship. Normally, George doesn't give a hoot about art, but tax time approaches and he needs a big deduction. Since large bronze statues are 100% deductible, that's what he wants. Georgina comes through with the lesbian sculptor Lily Carmichael who suggests a detailed male nude, sans fig leaf. For her model, lily chooses unemployed hunk Karl-Heinz Applebaum who at first doesn't realize he is to model totally nude. Fortunately, coquettish Georgina is around to convince him to shed those clothes. He soon begins looking forward to the sessions much to the dismay of his frowsy, sexually frosty wife Cecilia, a devout member of the "Center for Synchronic Awareness," an esoteric religious cult which is headed by the oily, avaricious Baba Charles whose picture Cecilia has placed throughout her home (Aussie film buffs may recognize the photo as that of director Rolf de Heer, a rival of this film's director Paul Cox). Soon enough, her husband and Georgina become lovers causing Cecilia to hatch an elaborate plot for revenge, a plot in which the financially beleaguered George Oliphant unwittingly assists by having her pose with her husband for an even larger, more tax deductible sculpture. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
This is a quite short independently produced film about a homecoming. Rosie (Cate Blanchett) returns to Adelaide for her father Cliff's funeral. Some of the wry humor in this drama is underscored by the use of Chamber of Commerce-type promotional films about Adelaide, made in the '50s and '60s. Cliff (Tony Martin) left Rosie's mother some time before the story begins, and in the intervening years she hasn't spent much time with him. Cliff's mistress (Carmel Johnson) invites Rosie to stick around a while. She does and begins investigating his life during the time they were apart. There are hints that though he was a policeman, he was somehow involved in the drug trade. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
This thoughtful Australian sci-fi film was shot on location on a spectacular dry salt lake at Woomera, where the Australian military used to test its rockets. The story is set in an environmentally ravaged, desolate future. For the first time in 40 years the warring New Territories and the Federal Republics have reached a tentative peace thanks to the secret machinations of the Central Union, a powerful group comprised of industrialists from both sides. As part of the deal, Central Union is allowed to monopolize all communications. Anne, the pregnant wife of New Territories army training officer Leo Megaw, works for CU as one of their leading security coders. To prove her prowess, she one day decides to prove to her skeptical boss that she can crack his supposedly uncrackable security code. In so doing she learns that an outer security zone has suffered a terrible accident resulting deadly contamination. Not long after her discovery, Anne "accidentally" dies under suspicious circumstances. Leo is devastated and nearly succeeds in killing himself. Eventually, he masters his grief enough to allow his pal Seton, a CU worker, to send him to isolated Zone 39 to man a lonely outpost to guard the border. He is ordered to shoot anyone moving into the zone and to carefully monitor the activities of the Federal Republics guard Pagett. It is an unpleasant duty and Leo's predecessor killed himself. People do wander into the zone, and all of them are "classified," and contaminated by something. When not on duty, Leo takes small comfort in a drug that allows him to converse with his wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Novelist Richard Flanagan (Death of a River Guide) rewrote his screenplay for this film into his second novel, published in 1998. He also made his directorial debut with this Australian drama about European refugees who sought a new way of life in Australia. Flanagan lives in Australia's island state of Tasmania, the setting for this tale of a father seen from his daughter's viewpoint. Back in Hobart after a 20-year absence, unmarried 36-year-old Sydney resident Sonja Buloh (Kerry Fox) is pregnant and planning an abortion. The sight of her alcoholic father Bojan (Kristof Kaczmarek) recalls her childhood, and the film flashes back to show Bojan arriving from Slovenia with wife Maria (Melita Jurisic). One winter she abandons Bojan and three-year-old Sonja and vanishes into the night. Employed by Tasmania's hydroelectric company on remote corners of the island, Bojan is forced to have friends watch Sonja, but after a molestation of the eight-year-old Sonja by Picotti (Jacek Koman), Bojan begins working in Hobart to take care of her himself. He finds happiness with kind-hearted Jean (Essie Davis), owner of an apple orchard, but Sonja's objections to her father's lover, end the affair. When the bitter Bojan turns to alcohol, his drunkenness eventually prompts the teenage Sonja to flee. Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kerry Fox, Rosie Flanagan, (more)
- 1999
- NR
Based on the true story of a priest who risked his life in order to help people no one else would touch (a wager he would eventually lose), Father Damien stars David Wenham as the titular Belgian saint. In 1872, Damien, a young Catholic priest serving as a missionary near Hawaii, volunteers to spend three months working in a colony for victims of leprosy on the island of Molokai. When he arrives, he discovers the lepers have been herded to a barely inhabitable part of the island where they're treated like animals. Damien is shocked, and makes it his crusade to improve the lives of the lepers, planting trees to help buffer the island's strong winds and building huts to house the sicker members of the tribe. Damien also concerns himself with their spiritual needs, restoring a sense of dignity and self-respect among the diseased and urging them away from drinking, sex, and other sinful behavior. At first, Damien's pleas to the mainland for medicine, supplies, and medical help fall on deaf ears, but soon the press picks up on Damien's story -- which only angers the Hawaiian government, who would prefer the plight of the lepers be forgotten. Damien is destined to spend the last years of his life on Molokai when he contacts the disease himself, working to ease the pain of his fellow victims to his last breath. Father Damien boasts a star-studded supporting cast, including Sam Neill, Peter O'Toole, Leo McKern, Kris Kristofferson, and Derek Jacobi. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Wenham, Kate Ceberano, (more)
Lovers in Belgium during WWII, Claire (Julia Blake) and Andreas (Charles Tingwell) are shocked to discover that, after a 45-year separation, they are neighbors in the same Melbourne neighborhood. Andreas has been a widower for 30 years, while Claire is happily though not passionately married to John (Terry Norris), whom she hasn't slept with for two decades. Andreas and Claire resume their heady sexual relationship, much to the disapproval of their loved ones. Director Paul Cox cuts between footage of the couple in the present and the past, examining how they have and haven't changed over the years, and the bond that continues to keep them together. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Blake, Charles "Bud" Tingwell, (more)
Experimental director Rolf DeHeer's film The Tracker depicts a controversial moment in the Australian justice system, in doing so taking on a popular topic among Australian filmmakers--the complicated and too often racist relationship between Aboriginals and locals. When an Aboriginal tracker (David Gulpilil) leads the manhunt for a fugitive native, a series of atrocities are performed on the ancient tribe by a sadistic policeman participating in the search party. The line between savage and civilian is blurred beyond recognition when Fanatic (Gary Sweet), the policeman, massacres a large group of peaceful Aboriginals. It eventually becomes clear that the tracker, who purposely keeps the Aboriginal a half-day ahead of the search party, is in control of the operation and has his own mysterious agenda. DeHeer takes a unique approach in the direction of this film; opting to show graphic paintings by artist Peter Coad during violent moments in lieu of filming bloody scenes among the actors. The drama itself is often contradicted by haunting, plaintive songs with lyrics written by DeHeer himself. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Gulpilil, Gary Sweet, (more)
Rolf de Heer's psychological thriller Alexandra's Project captures a turning point in a very unhappy marriage. Steve (Gary Sweet) and Alexandra (Helen Buday) have two children and numerous grievances against each other. After a birthday in which Steve received a birthday cake and a raise at his job, Steve arrives home to find his family is gone and a videotape awaiting his viewing. On the tape, Alexandra lists all of her frustrations and begins to strip for the camera. She then reveals that she suffers from breast cancer. Before the now emotionally reeling Steve can recover, he learns that Alexandra has paid to have the neighbor he hates change the locks in the house. Steve is trapped inside with little to do but think about what he has done to his wife, and his only company is the video that continues to provide disturbing information. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Sweet, Helen Buday, (more)
- 2003
After having spent quite a bit of time feeling like little more than a corporate slave, Mark (Damon Gameau) is slightly excited after finding out that his horoscope predicts a new opportunity would present itself to him after passing a series of tests. Sure enough, Mark is called to attend a board meeting on the seldom seen 13th floor, where he's greeted by a man known simply as Sir (Shaun Micallef) and 12 other employees. After informing Mark and the rest of the contenders that they were destined for greater things, Sir assigns them a several tasks that, if completed successfully, would assure one of them a seat at the board room table. Although Mark was eager to accept the challenge, he quickly realizes he may be in over his head -- his tasks include firing one of his friends and delivering a package he expects contains a ticking time bomb -- and his newly complicated existence becomes even more so after beginning an affair with Minerva (Rebecca Havey), the 13th floor's mysterious receptionist. The 13th House was directed by Shane McNeil. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Damon Gameau, Shaun Micallef, (more)
- 2003
Australian writer/director Kathryn Millard makes her feature-length debut with the drama Travelling Light. Set in the Southern Australian town of Adelaide during the 1970s, the film is concerned with a group of bored teenagers. Leanne Ferris (Pia Miranda) lives in the suburbs with her parents, Betty (Heather Mitchell) and Don (Marshall Napier), while her sister Bronwyn (Sacha Horler) has already gotten married. Leanne spends her time with aspiring actress Debra (Anna Torv) and next-door neighbor Gary (Tim Draxl). The friends are soon introduced to a different lifestyle when stranger Lou Bonetti (Brett Stiller) blows into town claiming to be an American beat poet. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pia Miranda, Sacha Horler, (more)
- 2004
A man on the edge of collapse falls into a well of despair in this psychological drama from Australia. Tom White (Colin Friels) is an architect who is emotionally reaching the end of his rope. Edgy, confused, and losing touch with reality, White finds himself obsessively working on a project from which he was removed weeks before, and his hands shake so badly he can barely hold a pencil. Tom's superiors suggest he should spend a few days away from the office to regain his bearing, but instead of returning home to his wife (Rachael Blake) and children, he goes on a bender. After getting beaten in a fist fight, he wanders into a gay club and strikes up a conversation with a hustler named Matt (Dan Spielman). Matt lets Tom stay at his flat for a few days before Tom moves on and drifts into an affair with Christine (Loene Carmen), who runs a carnival-sideshow shooting gallery. Tom sinks deeper and deeper into hopelessness and depression, and eventually finds himself living on the streets and running with Jet (Jarryd Jinks), a troubled teenager who blots out his misery by sniffing glue. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
A man teaches his younger brother an important lesson through an ancient fable in this period comedy-drama shot in Australia, and the first feature film made in the Aboriginal language of Ganalbingu. As narrator David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu sets up the story, we watch a group of tribesmen led by elder Minygululu (Peter Minygululu) set out on an expedition to gather bark for canoe building and collect the precious eggs of the magpie geese. It has become clear to Minygululu that his younger brother Dayindi (Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu) is infatuated with the youngest of his three wives, and Minygululu wants to be sure Dayindi doesn't do something he'll regret later on. To teach his brother a lesson, Minygululu shares with him a long story about Ridjimiraril (Crusoe Kurddal), a warrior who finds his brother Yeeralparil (also played by Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu) has become a rival for the affections of his bride. However, while Minygululu's story caries a clear message for his brother, it also goes on long enough with enough twists, turns and digressions that it gives Dayindi little opportunity to get into mischief during the trip. Ten Canoes received its world premier at Australia's Adelaide Arts Festival, and was first screened in North America at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Crusoe Kurddal, Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu, (more)
- 2007
A man who is trying to escape his past as a criminal must decide who he can trust in this gritty independent drama from Australia. It's the day after Christmas, and Chris (Richard Green) is an ex-convict who is waiting out the last part of his jail sentence under house arrest at the suburban home he shares with his teenage daughter Brooke (Misty Sparrow). While Chris wants to turn his back on his life of crime, his old friend Owen (Stuart Clark) isn't as determined, and tries to persuade Chris to let him stash drugs at his place. As Chris struggles to convince Owen this is a bad idea, Chris finds he has guests -- his former wife Donna (Tammy Anderson) has stopped by with her new boyfriend in tow, Dave (Syd Brisbane). After the four chat for a while, Owen takes Chris into the other room and tells him he's met Dave before -- they were both in jail, where Dave was doing time for child molestation. While Owen is an old friend, Chris isn't certain how far his word can be trusted; at the same time, shouldn't Donna know if there's reason to doubt Dave's character and good intentions? Shot in a series of long, uninterrupted takes, Boxing Day was directed by Kriv Stenders and written by Stenders and Richard Green, who also plays Chris. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2007
Acclaimed Australian filmmaker Paul Cox directs this intimate drama about the unlikely bond between a prostitute and a bible scholar. Natalia Novakova plays Irina, a Russian immigrant forced to sell herself out of necessity. Bruce Myles is Barry, a man married to a religious zealot who leaves him unfulfilled and seeking solace in the arms of Irina. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Myles, Natalia Novakova, (more)
