Brendan Cowell Movies
- 2008
A family reunion stirs up some painful memories for a young man in this drama from Australia. Elliot Christie (Daniel Frederiksen) is a wealthy and respected self-made businessman who lives and works in Sydney. Elliot is returning home to Adelaide for the first time in ten years to attending the christening of his nephew. While this might seem like a happy occasion, Elliot isn't looking forward to seeing his family -- his father Ross (Geoff Morrell) is an angry and abusive man with a serious drinking problem, and his brother Brett (Tom Budge) has sunk into a crippling depression since his career as an athlete came to and end. Elliot left home in order to make something of himself, but while he's come back at the request of Diane (Lucy Bell), his late mother's sister, the familial conflicts he left behind are still there, and Elliot still has plenty of issues with his father and brother. Ten Empty was the first directorial credit for actor Anthony Hayes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Frederiksen, Geoff Morrell, (more)
- 2008
A trio of sailors about to be sent off to war hit the town for one last party in this semi-improvised drama from actor and filmmaker Matthew Newton. Sam (Ewen Leslie), Dean (Toby Schmitz), and Harry (Matthew Newton) are members of the Australian Navy who have orders to board the HMAS Dignity and set sail for duty that will eventually send them to Iraq. With 24 hours of liberty before they report for duty, Harry suggests they hit Sydney and party. However, despite plenty of booze and a visit from some friendly hookers, it's hard for the men to relax and enjoy themselves. Sam isn't sure he can handle the stress of war, and has a one-night stand with a waitress (Gracie Otto) while wondering if he'd be better off deserting. Dean takes some time out for a dinner with his wife-to-be and her folks, but drinking loosens his tongue and he says some things he should have kept to himself. And Harry, the wild man of the group, doesn't seem so jovial when his day comes to a close. Three Blind Mice received its world premiere at the 2008 Sydney Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Newton, Toby Schmitz, (more)
A Melbourne police officer with impaired hearing tries to take control of his social and professional life in this drama from Australian writer-director Matthew Saville. On the same night that a grisly train shooting takes half a dozen lives, patrolman Graham McGahan (Brendan Cowell) collapses on a nearby escalator -- just the latest symptom of his tinnitus, a medical condition characterized by a high-pitched ringing in the ears. Considered damaged goods, McGahan is shipped off to the night shift in a police trailer set up in a sleepy suburb; he's essentially the on-duty secretary should anyone come forward with news about a different case, involving a murdered local girl. Steadily entrenching himself in this unusual community, yet frustrated by both the desk job and his growing disconnect with reality, McGahan takes it out by arguing with his live-in girlfriend (Katie Wall). Meanwhile, the lone surviving witness of the train attack (Maia Thomas) starts believing that if the gunman left her alive, it wasn't for long. As the seemingly unrelated cases intertwine, and McGahan both seeks his purpose and loses his grip, the killer sends the message that he's still lurking. Noise, which uses its sound design to examine its central theme, had its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brendan Cowell, Maia Thomas, (more)
A narcissistic psychopath and neglectful single mother concocts a deadly scheme to sell the family house, and the only thing standing in the way is her still-breathing father in a cynical and serious-minded suburban soap-opera from director Paul Goldman and first-time screenwriter Alice Bell. Kat (Emily Barclay) is a nineteen-year-old single mother whose life revolves around manicures, cell phone conversations, petty crime, and cheap sex. She lives in a typical suburban home in a typical small town, and she has long since grown bored with her vanilla-flavored surroundings. Kat's brother Danny (Laurence Breuls) is currently serving a life sentence for murder, and the dangerously unpredictable hellion is now forced to move in with her father John (Robert Morgan) or face a life of destitution. Despite the fact that she is utterly dependent on her dad, her hatred for him reaches a breaking point when he informs her that he will sever her financial support and turn her child over to social services unless she finds a job. Subsequently unloading her toddler on her latest boyfriend Rusty (Michael Dorman) before embarking on a sex-fueled bender with Danny's decidedly slow-witted friend Kenny (Anthony Hayes), the enraged Kat soon cooks up a scheme to manipulate one of the men in her life to murder her father so she can sell his home, collect the cash, and carry on in her wild ways. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emily Barclay, Steve Bastoni, (more)
Three young skaters desperate to drop out of suburbia and land a sponsor defy the rules to take part in skateboard legend Tony Hawk's beach-bowl competition in an ollie-popping, rail-sliding tale that shows just how far a little determination and a healthy dose of persistence can go in life. As word spreads through the suburbs that 12-time world champion skater Hawk is making the rounds to scout for upcoming talent, three skilled young street sharks who know they have what it takes to make the cut vow to enter the competition at any cost. Their bid for skateboard stardom hits a notable roadblock, however, when the trio learns that not only is the competition miles away, but that their desperate determination to succeed is only exceeded by the determination of their disapproving parents and teachers to ensure that they don't venture outside of the neighborhood. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Kennedy, Richard Wilson, (more)
- 2002
A clever blend of the reality show and mystery genre, this weekly Australian series was set in the fictional Queensland community of Fat Cow. Each episode featured a new murder or mystery, which in its own small way, revealed a secret about the titular village. Advertised as Australia's first interactive program, the series lived up to its billing by allowing the viewers to solve clues via telephone and internet, and on some occasions permitting the fans to cast the next episode or determine the outcome of the story at hand. Broadcast on the Austar pay-TV cable network, Fat Cow Motel debuted in 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
David L. Cunningham follows up on his acclaimed Beyond Paradise with this Bridge Over the River Kwai-like POW drama. Following Japan's surprise invasion of Singapore during the waning days of 1941, a small British battalion headed by Lieutenant Colonel McLean (James Cosmo), Major Campbell (Robert Carlyle), Captain Gordon (Ciaran McMenamin), and Lieutenant Tom Ridgen (Kiefer Sutherland) are captured and imprisoned in a camp deep in the Burmese jungle. Soon after arriving, Major Campbell starts to an uprising. Worn down by an exhausting march through the woods, brutal daily beatings, and a lack of food, the troops are in no mood for a coup and the scheme collapses. Captain Gordon copes with the camp's extreme conditions in a polar opposite manner -- by forgiving his captors and seeking spiritual salvation. Soon a split occurs within the camp between those who follow Campbell's tireless efforts for physical freedom and those who follow Gordon's more transcendent pursues. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ciarán McMenamin, Robert Carlyle, (more)
Six characters go in search of meaningless pleasure over the course of one night in Brisbane. At a fast-food pizza joint called Speedie, chef Dom (Sullivan Stapleton) kicks things off by trashing the place, sticking the body of a dead cat in the oven, and behaving in a less-than-genial manner. Misha (Ryan Johnson) boasts to co-workers that he had sex with his last pizza delivery customer; when his colleagues don't believe him, he runs off to the apartment of Sophie (Jessica Napier) and goes about seducing her. Meanwhile, fellow deliverers Robert (Brendan Cowell) and Erin (Kellie Jones) are best friends, but Erin, unknown to Robert, would like to be more. Their manager Katie (Haley McElhinney) amuses herself by having sex with someone wearing a Mr. Speedie mask, and Stacey (Megan Dorman) occasionally works at Speedie but prefers to spend most of her time hanging out with thugs. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sullivan Stapleton, Ryan Johnson, (more)
