Rob Sitch 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)
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
- 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
