Stephen Curry Movies
- 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
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
- Starring:
- Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, (more)
- 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
Molly Ringwald stars in this Australian Scream-like horror flick that lodges a tongue in the cheek as much as a knife in the gut. The film opens in 1988 when director Hilary Jacobs (Australian uber-icon Kylie Minogue) is working on a slasher movie called "Hot Blooded" starring plucky American icon Vanessa Turnbull (Ringwald) as a teen who is being chased by a psycho with a mask and some wicked cutlery. After the climactic scene is shot, Jacobs shouts "Cut!" and then harangues the actor playing the killer. That night, the actor stabs the director and almost offs Turnbull. The film is never completed, and when a male director who takes over the project ends up dead too, "Hot Blooded" achieves a hallowed status in student film legend. Fast forward to the present -- Jacobs' assistant director Lossman (Geoff Revell) teaches at a film school and tells his favorite students -- Raffy Carruthers (Jessica Napier) and Hester Ryan (Sarah Kants) -- of his experiences on the doomed set. Raffy, who is itching to be the next Jane Campion, sets out to finish the notorious flick. She enlists Hester as a producer, assembles a crew of fellow students and manages to get Vanessa Turnbull, who hasn't worked much lately, to revisit her role as the film's main character. Of course, as soon as shooting commences, the killing begins anew. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Molly Ringwald, Jessica Napier, (more)
One of the most expensive miniseres ever assembled for Australian television, Changi covered a time-span of nearly 60 years. The story was told in flashback as a group of six former POWs, arranging a reunion, recalled their experiences in a Singapore prison camp. Though all six suffered mightily at the hands of their Japanese captors, all managed to survive the ordeal and remain friends even after cessation of hostilities. Still, each man had retained a deleterious "side effect" from his imprisonment, which threatened to cast a tragic pall on their reunion. Running an exhaustive gamut from comedy to horror, Changi sustained its believability by having each of the main characters played by two actors -- one young for the WWII scenes, one old for the postwar scenes. Though critics and the general public were impressed when the series first aired on Australia's ABC network from October 14 to November 12, 2001, there were a number of real-life prison camp survivors who condemned the project as unrealistic and offensive (and never mind that at least one of the lead actors on the show had himself weathered six years in a Japanese stockade). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Australian director Bill Bennett (Kiss or Kill) adds broad slapstick comedy to his repertoire with this rags-to-riches tale of luck and greed. The Nugget follows three pals whose occasional searches for gold in the outback are little more than an inane hobby. That is, until a sign from above directs them to an actual reserve of the precious metal hidden in the hills. Overcome with avarice, the trio bickers over how to split up the booty, all the while not noticing that two other enterprising men are waiting in the wings to steal their find. The Nugget stars future Hulk actor Eric Bana in a leading role. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Bana, Stephen Curry, (more)
- 2002
Extremely popular amongst Australian TV fans in particular and comedy devotees in particular, Flipside offered a potpourri of zany sketches, music, monologues, and mockumentaries. The talented ensemble cast served up a bizarro world in which the normal was abnormal and vice versa. Though many of the segments were cleverly scripted, just as many more were spontaneous and off-the-cuff. Telecast by Australia's ABC network, the first of Flipside's seven half-hour episodes was seen on May 4, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Marc Gracie's Australian comedy Take Away concerns a business rivalry between fast food entrepreneurs. Starting with a segment that shows the birth of fast food, the film quickly establishes the relationship between Tony (Vince Colosimo) and Trevor (Stephen Curry). The anal Tony runs a fish and chip stand more or less right next to the free-wheeling Trevor's more exotic stand that offers calamari burgers. The two have known each other forever, as their fathers owned a restaurant together. They had a falling out and the feud has been passed down to the sons. After they learn that a large fast food corporation, Burgies, is coming into the area, Tony and Trevor work together to stop them. John Howard portrays the head of the Burgies company. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Colosimo, Stephen Curry, (more)
Australian filmmaker Paul Goldman directs the comedy The Night We Called It a Day, based on the actual events during Frank Sinatra's 1974 tour stop in Sydney. Joel Edgerton plays Rod Blue, a long-haired rock promoter in Australia during the '70s. He hopes to save his floundering career by spending all his money booking Frank Sinatra (Dennis Hopper). But when Sinatra arrives with his girlfriend Barbara Marx (Melanie Griffith), he insults the locals by calling reporter Hilary Hunter (Portia de Rossi) "a two-dollar whore." Union leader and future Australian prime minister Bob Hawke (David Field) tries to cancel the tour unless he apologizes, and it's up to Rod and his assistant Audrey (Rose Byrne) to step in and save the tour. Tom Burlinson performs Sinatra's vocal parts. The Night We Called It a Day was shown at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Melanie Griffith, (more)
Thunderstruck begins with the death of a boy who shared with his closest friends an affinity for the music of the rock band AC/DC. The survivors pledge to pay tribute to their fallen friend by burying him next to the late lead singer of the band Bon Scott. Over a decade later the survivors reunite to follow through on their commitment, but soon learn that the intervening years have affected them and their relationships. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Damon Gameau, Stephen Curry, (more)
A handful of tourists looking for adventure get more than they bargained for when they cross paths with a massive man-eating beast in this thriller. Pete McKell (Michael Vartan) is a writer for an American travel magazine who has been assigned to write a story about vacationing in rugged Northern Australia. Pete signs up for a cruise along a river that's home to a large crocodile population, with tough but pretty Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell) serving as guide. Pete soon finds he's roughing it in the Aussie wilds with an eclectic variety of travelers, including Russell (John Jarratt), who is dealing with the death of his wife; Simon (Stephen Curry), a tactless amateur photographer; and Allen (Geoff Morrell), a member of the British upper crust making the trip with his ailing spouse (Heather Mitchell) and their rambunctious daughter (Mia Wasikowska). While Kate's former husband, who also works on the river, makes a pest of himself in the early stages of the voyage, the travelers soon find they have more to worry about when their craft is attacked by a massive 25-foot crocodile, who is just clever enough to know how to trap its prey before enjoying them for dinner. Rogue was written and directed by Greg McLean, who made a splash among horror fans in 2005 with his debut film, Wolf Creek. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, (more)
