Basil Clarke Movies
A socially inept young woman slowly learns to overcome her insecurities in this sleeper hit from Australia. The unconventional Muriel (Toni Collette) is deeply unsatisfied with her life, stuck in the nowhere town of Porpoise Spit and feeling rejected by her friends and family. Believing herself unattractive and worthless, she seeks meager solace in ABBA songs and fantasies of gorgeous weddings, with herself as the bride. Muriel's life takes a turn for the better, however, when she befriends the carefree Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths), who encourages her to take control of her life. Together, the two women travel to Sydney, where a series of liberating experiences help Muriel develop self-esteem and take the first steps towards maturity. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Toni Collette, Bill Hunter, (more)
Blood of Heroes features a sport that you're not likely to see on ESPN. It's called "juggers", and Rutger Hauer is the champion jugger in the post-apocalyptic world; he goes from village to village with his entourage, brutishly taking on all comers. The action culminates in the bloody "league championship." Joan Chen costars as Hauer's apprentice in the film, which was released in Australia as Salute of the Jugger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rutger Hauer, Joan Chen, (more)
The life of legendary scientist Albert Einstein is re-imagined as a slapstick farce in this comic fantasy. Changing Einstein's country of origin from Germany to Tasmania, the film shows the scientist's eventful youth as he creates rock & roll and discovers the secret of splitting the beer atom. Director and star Yahoo Serious loads the film with slapstick comedy, absurd sight gags, and even sneaks in a romantic subplot in which Einstein courts Marie Curie. The film was a huge hit in its native Australia but a major box-office disappointment in the United States, where audiences largely ignored the display of nonstop silliness. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yahoo Serious, Odile Le Clezio, (more)
In a slightly padded but well-acted and relevant drama, an Australian mining company and a group of aboriginals go to court to settle a dispute over sacred land that the company wants to mine. When the Ayers Mining Company sets out to begin construction of its mine with bulldozers and earth-movers, the Aboriginals physically block the work because the site is exactly where the green ants will gather to dream (a 40,000-year-old legend) and it cannot be disturbed. The company tries the usual means of getting their way -- through bribes and arguments -- but nothing budges the men who came to defend the land. Once in court, it is quickly apparent that tribal laws and customs and beliefs are very different than Western laws -- and how the issue will be resolved is sticky indeed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Spence, Wandjuk Marika, (more)
- 1984
This Australian children's story centers on a ten-year-old boy from Sydney. Young Orville Ryan just loves old airplanes. Unfortunately, the other kids reject him and refuse to let him fly model planes with them. Instead, he begins helping a curmudgeonly old pilot restore an antique DeHavilland Tiger Moth. As they toil, they are assisted by three ghostly pilots. These ghostly guardians protect the two from a gang of hoodlums who want to wreck the plane. Eventually they finish and are rewarded with a thrilling flight over Sydney. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grant Navin, Gordon Poole, (more)
- 1980
This slice-of-life musical is set on London's Portobello Road and focuses on life in a ramshackle boardinghouse. Among the argumentative boarders are a Jamaican family trying to make ends meet and a teen couple hiding out from parental disapproval. These characters are complemented by a tipsy Irish bartender, his girlfriend, and hippie-types whose main occupation is smoking weed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Fishwick, Peter Farrell, (more)
Frances Hodgson Burnett's children's classic The Secret Garden has been filmed several times, most successfully by MGM in 1949. The 1975 version of Secret Garden is a serialized TV adaptation, first telecast in England. Sarah Hollis Andrews stars as the insufferable little girl sent to live with her eccentric uncle. Neglected by her parents, Andrews has built a wall of selfishness from her. In the company of a handicapped boy, Andrews wanders into a wondrous secret garden, where she learns that true happiness is gained by helping others. This seven-episode version of Secret Garden was run in the US over the Public Broadcasting System, courtesy of a grant from McDonald's. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Hollis Andrews, John Woodnut, (more)
- 1972
Henry VIII and His Six Wives is a feature film based upon the 1971 BBC miniseries The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Keith Michell weathers several makeup changes as the much-married titular monarch. While the miniseries was able to explore the political and personal reasons for the selection (and sometimes rejection) of the wives, the shortened version concentrates chiefly on such highlights as the birth of Queen Elizabeth and the execution of Anne Boleyn. The film is constructed in flashback form, with an aged Henry recalling his marital record. Side note: Donald Pleasence appears as Thomas Cromwell in Henry VIII and His Six Wives; Pleasence's daughter Angela had played Katherine Howard, Bride No. 5, in the original Six Wives of Henry VIII. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keith Michell, Donald Pleasence, (more)
