Mick Molloy Movies
With the 2006 MacBeth, controversial Australian director Geoffrey Wright (Romper Stomper, Metal Skin) launches his fourth big screen outing and continues the trend of reinventing Shakespeare by contemporizing the bard's plays. As in other recent efforts (Richard Loncraine's Richard III (1996), Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (2000)), Wright uses a distinctly postmodern context to extract related themes from the original work. Here, Wright reworks the brutal tragedy Macbeth, retaining its Elizabethan dialogue, but resituating the events within the arena of modern Australian gang violence. His Macbeth (Sam Worthington) is a drug baron and pimp, his Lady Macbeth a Valium-addicted, narcoleptic burnout and manipulator, his Duncan the head of Melbourne's criminal underground. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murder Duncan in cold blood (framing the servants as responsible), but soon after Macbeth takes the throne, he is undone - and beheaded - by usurper Macduff. Like former adapter Roman Polanski, Wright ups the quotients of bloodletting, sadism, and underlying iciness. He filmed much of the picture with HD photography - thus capturing a broader range of imagery and a much blacker darkness in his nighttime sequences - and lit a pivotal action scene exclusively with red laser gun sights. The result is a thoroughly unique and unprecedented work. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Worthington, Victoria Hill, (more)
- 2003
A pair of Melbourne detectives working in the Zero Tolerance Unit set out to uncover a web of corruption in the directorial debut of famed Australian comic Tony Martin. Though a highly publicized accident involving a dead magistrate quickly relegates dedicated lawmen Ben Kinnear (Mick Molloy) and Mike Paddock (Bob Franklin) back to lowly uniformed duty, the pair can't help but notice an odd link between the accident and the questionable business associations of a suspicious casino boss they had been investigating. Realizing that they can no longer accept the widespread corruption that surrounds them, Ben and Mike set out to bust the crooked casino hustler and rid their city of the criminal element. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin, (more)
- 2002
Pressured by moneyhungry Bernie (John Clarke) to redevelop their club and install poker machines when the begin having financial difficulties, Cityside Bowling Club members Stan (Bill Hunter), Len (Frank Wilson) and Eileen (Monica Maughan) make a last ditch effort to enter a tournament and win the prize money needed to stay afloat. Desperate to form a winning team, the ageing trio quickly learns that dispite his lack of presence, young Jack Simpson (Mick Molloy) has held a membership for years for the sole purpose of maintaing a cheap parking spot - not to mention renting out a few on the side for a little profit. Finally called on to serve his duty as an actual member, will Jack pitch in to save to club from certain extinction, or simply drive a few extra blocks to find another parking spot. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mick Molloy, Bill Hunter, (more)
- 2000
A documentary that offers viewers the singular opportunity to watch two Australian blokes prod their plumbing into a variety of imaginative poses for an audience of appreciative women, Tackle Happy is just that: a happy-go-lucky profile of self-described "puppeteers of the penis" David Friend and Simon Morley. See David and Simon travel across Oz, bringing joy and hope to the fair denizens of their native land through such poses as the hamburger, the Loch Ness Monster, the nuclear explosion, and the fruit bat! Watch as they squash their scrotal sacs to success at the Melbourne Comedy Festival! And prepare yourself for their climactic piece de résistance in the city of Cairns, where our heroes endear their endowments to an enthusiastic crowd of 1,000 carnally-minded women! ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simon Morley, David Friend, (more)
