Debra Choate Movies
In this small Australian comedy, Michael Caton stars as Darryl Kerrigan, a contented, mildly eccentric family man with an easy laugh and a quick compliment for his wife's cooking. Darryl, his wife, and his four children live in domestic bliss in a ramshackle yet proud domicile neighboring the airport. But that serenity is threatened when the government issues a compulsory acquisition order, which means the Kerrigans must vacate their home to make way for an airport expansion project. And even though he makes a hobby of buying useless junk as long as he gets it for bargain price, no amount of compensation money will convince Darryl to relinquish his "castle," which stores the family's collective memories and symbolizes their unique character. Darryl organizes the other affected neighbors, hires a bumbling attorney/family friend, and pursues his battle in court. However, he soon discovers he needs more than gumption and spitfire earnestness to support a case in front of the magistrates of Australia's high courts. The Castle was the first feature for director Rob Sitch (The Dish), who rose to prominence directing episodes of the satirical Australian television series Frontline. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- 1995
From the same team responsible for the Australian magazine show spoof Frontline, Funky Squad was a screamingly funny send-up of such 1960s and 1970s youth-oriented cop shows as The Mod Squad and Starsky and Hutch. The series' seven half-hour episodes chronicled the adventures of a group of hip young police officers, all of whom were decked out with garish outfits, big hair and oh-so-cool dialogue. In keeping with the satirical spirit of the series, the actor/writers playing Funky Squad members Grant, Cassie, Stix, and Poncho were billed under fictional real names rather than their own names. Thus, Tim Ferguson was credited onscreen as Blair Steele, Jane Kennedy, was known as Verity Svenson-Hart, Santo Cilauro was identified as Joey Alvarez, and so on. Funky Squad was seen over Australia's ABC network from April 24 to June 5, 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
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
