Geraldine Turner Movies
- 2000
Australian stand up comedy and TV star Nick Giannopoulos makes his cinematic debut with this wacky comedy about slackers looking for sex. Steve Karamatsis (Giannopoulos) is a gainfully unemployed lay-about who has been called "Wogboy" since childhood thanks to his Greek lineage. He and his Italian buddy Frank (Vince Colosimo) model themselves after John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever ("the biggest wog of them all") and go cruising the local clubs for blonde beauties. Frank, who runs a pizza parlor, is particularly adept at the art of seduction. Later, when Steve's car is involved in a fender bender with a limo of the Federal Minister for Employment, Raelene Beagle-Thorpe (Geraldine Turner), Steve demands compensation even though the accident was clearly his fault. Instead, the minister sicks a tabloid TV reporter on him, hoping to expose him as a welfare cheat. The scheme backfires when Steve's beguiling charm and honesty wins over the reporter. Steve soon finds himself as the poster boy for Australia's unemployed. Trying to get the best spin on the situation, Beagle-Thorpe reluctantly hires Steve as an assistant alongside the comely and blonde Celia (Lucy Bell). ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Colosimo
Set in Australia in the 1930s, this drama stars Nicholas Gledhill as P.S., a six-year-old boy who lives with his Aunt Lila (Robyn Nevin) and Uncle George (Peter Whitford). P.S.'s mother died in childbirth, so her sister Lila took him in, and while George and Lila don't have a lot of money, they've always done the best they can to give the boy a good home. One day, Lila's other sister Vanessa (Wendy Hughes) arrives after spending several years touring the world; Vanessa is quite wealthy, and upon her return to Australia, she expresses an interest in taking custody of the child. Lila is willing to let Vanessa visit with P.S., and his rich aunt is able to turn his head with limousine rides and lavish gifts. But when Vanessa decides she wants the boy full time, Lila decides to fight her in court. The case is complicated by the arrival of P.S.'s long-absent father, Logan (John Hargreaves), an alcoholic who loves his son but is incapable of caring for him. Careful He Might Hear You won eight Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Hughes), and Best Supporting Actor (Hargreaves). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendy Hughes, Robyn Nevin, (more)
- 1977
An Australian film directed by Ken Hannam, this is one of the lesser-recognized movies of the Australian New Wave of the 1970s. It's about an urbane schoolteacher, Simon Robinson (Nick Tate), who takes a job on a small island off the Australian coast after the schoolteacher there has mysteriously vanished. It's a spooky place, and the locals are unhelpful as Robinson tries to piece together the puzzle of his predecessor's disappearance. Robinson realizes that he's in increasing danger as he begins to discover the mystery, but he feels compelled to continue his investigation. The pace is slow and the mood is haunting in this story of an outsider's attempts to break the code of a local culture. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Tate, John Waters, (more)
- 1977
- R
This Australian drama, set in 1915, follows a restless ex-soldier's journey through self discovery. He is currently the editor of a small town newspaper. Though once a thriving gold-mining town, his home is now rundown and sleepy. The editor lives with his pregnant wife. He walks with a limp as he was crippled while serving in the Australian army. He was part of the Gallipoli landings in 1915. His disability is the source of his difficulties at home and in the community. He seldom talks meaningfully to his wife. Instead, he prefers to hobble off to the river every morning before work. There he remembers his childhood. At the river he meets a beautiful painter; they soon become involved. He goes to a picnic with her and her urban pals, but he feels intimidated by them. He gets drunk and stumps off sans cane. He falls into an old mine shaft, and there, relives Gallipoli. He remembers that he crippled himself, and he also sees that the painter can live without him. He therefore, comes to a certain peace and returns to his normal life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sara Kestelman, Andrew McFarlane, (more)
- 1975
Though this movie is based on an Australian TV series, The Box stands successfully on its own. In the movie, Channel-12 owner Sir Henry Usher (Fred Betts) has engaged the services of Dr. Winter (Cornelia Francis), an efficiency expert, in the forlorn hope of having the station turn a profit. When Dr. Winter arrives on the scene, she is confronted with the station's efforts to produce a hopelessly awful adventure drama, "Manhunt." Efforts on the part of station personnel to placate, appease and please this implacable (so they imagine) authority continually go awry. Inveterate schemers, the station's personnel manage to have as many romantic misadventures as they have job-related ones. Eventually, they get a clue, and things begin to look rosier for this madcap bunch. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Mallaby
