Genevieve Mooy Movies
In this comedy, as American astronauts prepare to make one giant leap for mankind, a small Australian town stumbles through its own small steps to help. In the summer of 1969, Cliff Buxton (Sam Neill) leads a team of scientists overseeing the operations of one of the world's largest radio telescope dishes, nestled in a New South Wales community of sheep farmers. As NASA prepares for Apollo 11, the first manned voyage to the moon, Buxton and his crew are asked if they will allow their telescope's dish to be used as a backup receiver for the television transmission from the moon, should the main receiver in California fail. Buxton and his men are more than happy to help, and the village is agog as they gear up for their own small part in one of the world's greatest adventures. Mayor McIntyre (Roy Billing) and his wife May (Genevieve Mooy) are thrilled to be greeting a small but steady stream of important visitors, though many of the locals are not especially good with etiquette, and several members of Buxton's team, most notably high-strung Mitch (Kevin Harrington), are less than enthusiastic about Al Burnett (Patrick Warburton), the know-it-all NASA technician brought in to oversee the Australian operations. When a change in Apollo 11's schedule means the Australian dish will have to pick up the vital broadcast from the moon, Cliff, Mitch, and Al must put aside their differences to pull the show together. Though played for laughs, The Dish was inspired by actual events. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Neill, Kevin Harrington, (more)
Guy (Richard Roxburgh), a lonely bachelor, meets the woman of his dreams in Lizzie (Cate Blanchett), an impossibly beautiful doctor with elegance, style, and sophistication. Their six-week courtship leads to marriage, and the wedding is a big one, with 100 guests and a posh reception that never ends. It's during the reception that Guy begins to have flashbacks -- and second thoughts -- about Jenny (Frances O'Connor), the free-spirited woman who was his first love and who is the opposite of Lizzie. The more he thinks about warm and fun-loving Jenny, the more he sees Lizzie as cold and remote. Although it's a little late in the game to be getting cold feet, that's exactly what Guy has.
~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Roxburgh, Cate Blanchett, (more)
Also known as Behind the Frontline and Breaking News, this satirical series offered behind-the-scenes glimpses of a typical Australian TV current-affairs show. The point of the series was to skewer media-journalist claims of objectivity, demonstrating how opinions could easily be swayed by any number of political and commercial considerations. In the same vein, the journalists depicted in the series were not above exploiting human suffering and misery for an extra ratings point or two. A team of talented Australian sketch comedians, led by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, and Rob Sitch, wrote the scripts and enacted the main roles. The 39 episodes of Frontline were broadcast by Australia's ABC network from May 9, 1994, to May 19, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Director Carl Schultz and screenwriter David Williamson's character study of an aging Australian man's second marriage boasts a robust performance by Leo McKern. McKern plays Frank, a man in his seventies, who used to be something of a firecracker, but who now, his best days behind him, prefers to putter-around, play chess, and get under the skin of his new wife Frances (Julia Blake). Frances, forsaking her old family ties (which her family resents her for), marries Frank and agrees to move with him to Queensland. Frank and Frances pack their things and head north, settling into an easy life of fishing and relaxation. They immediately make friends with a lonely neighbor, Freddie (Graham Kennedy) -- and also the local doctor, Saul (Henri Szeps), who informs Frank that he has a bad heart and hasn't much longer to live. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo McKern, Julia Blake, (more)
With a touch of comedy, this Aussie film ("Our Home" spelled backwards) chronicles the unnerving experience of a young couple buying a home when their income is already stretched thin. Terri and Des (Joy Smithers and Martin Sacks) live on a beach with their son Les, and life is difficult, but the scenery is stunning, and their son has playmates, the children of others camped out there in the same circumstances. Both parents work, Terri ironically cleans houses for others, and Des drives a bus. One day Terri gets fed up with not being able to afford a home and contacts an agency specializing in financing such projects, and soon Terri is cleaning house for her own family. But life in suburbia is far from ideal -- Les has no playmates, his father has to leave for work before the crack of dawn because they live so far from the city, and their neighbors are busybodies. Barely making it on their shoestring budget, neither Terri nor Des plan for any unexpected setbacks -- a serious error, it turns out.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joy Smithers, Martin Sacks, (more)











