Tara Morice Movies
This wildly off-beat comedy is about a male dancer (Paul Mercurio) who refuses to follow the accepted rules of ballroom dancing and creates his own style of choreography, which infuriates the ballroom dancing establishment. Before he's scheduled to compete in the Pan-Pacific ballroom championships, he's forced to take up a new partner (Tara Morice), a beginner who initially seems without promise. With his help, she turns into an assured and wonderful dancer. Baz Luhrmann's visual style may be too bright, gaudy and exaggerated for some tastes, yet he treats his characters with compassion, which makes Strictly Ballroom such an engaging comedy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, (more)
The one-upmanship of middle-aged men, bragging to one another that "when I was a kid, I was so poor that..." will never happen to Joe, even though the stories he could tell would put them to shame. In this melodramatic youth story, Joe lives with his demented father in a shanty, and he has been unemployed for a very long time. Eventually he gets a new job and, along with it, a social life of sorts. He would like to make some headway with either of the cute girls at work, but every time he tries, he finds his co-worker Dazey has gotten there ahead of him. Dazey does introduce him to the big teen sport of the region, and the two are soon involved in a keen drag-racing rivalry. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aden Young, Tara Morice, (more)
- 1995
- R
This Australian drama is an adaptation of Hannie Rayson's award-winning play. It is the tale of the three Moynihan sisters, Hilary, a widow who lives in the family "hotel" with their father and her teenage son; Pippa, who lives in New York; and Meg, who lives in London. After a long absence, the three gather in their familial home in Sorrento, a coastal town near Melbourne, for their father's funeral. Many of the town's most prominent citizens are terribly impressed that Meg has just published an award-winning book that is actually a thinly veiled vicious attack on the town, its people, and her family. It is not a happy reunion, as old hurts and rivalries amongst the sisters immediately begin resurfacing. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1998
The thriller A Difficult Woman features Caroline Goodall as Anne, a pathologist for a multinational drug corporation. Her good life takes a turn for the worse after her best friend is killed. Anne decides she must solve the mystery of the murder and starts applying her scientific skills to the evidence. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Di Drew directed the family-friendly film Hildegarde. Life has been difficult for Kim Powell (Tara Morice) and her three children ever since the family patriarch passed away. After a pair of local bird smugglers "ducknap" their pet Hildegarde, Kim's children -- Chris (Sam Geer), Jeremy (Dayne Hudson), and Isabel (Gezelle Byrnes) -- team up to stop the illegal poachers and save all their feathered friends. Hildegarde was screened at the Brisbane Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Tom Long, (more)
- 2003
Although she may remain virtually unheard of today, Australian swimmer, diver, vaudeville entertainer, and silent film star Annette Kellerman was one of the most famous women of the early 20th century. Initially taking up swimming in an effort to overcome a childhood bout with rickets, Kellerman eventually learned to utilize her aquatic skills to entertain and inspire. Later moving into vaudeville and film after conquering the Yarra, the Thames, the Seine, and the English Channel, Kellerman's remarkable life was eventually adapted into the 1952 biopic Million Dollar Mermaid starring Esther Williams. Utilizing interviews and restored archival footage of Kellerman, filmmaker Michael Cordell brings the legend of one of the entertainment industry's most enduring figures into the next century, reminding viewers of her legacy and inspiring those who have yet to hear her story. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annette Kellerman, Esther Williams, (more)
- 2006
- Add Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance to QueueAdd Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance to top of Queue
The curious world of children's dance competitions is raked over the satiric coals in this comic mockumentary. Mr. Jonathan (Ben Miller) is a dance teacher and choreographer who is preparing a group of his current students to take part in the Sanosafe Troupe Spectacular, a major regional competition for pre-teen dancers. Mr. Jonathan has been frustrated in his effort to bring home a first-place trophy, in part due to his ambitious themes, as his young charges are forced to take part in his interpretive pieces on war, economic injustice, environmental issues and the like. Mr. Jonathan's strongest adversary is Miss Elizabeth (Jane Hall), who has a constant smile and a will of iron as she weeds the "fat, lazy and untalented" from her ranks. However, this year Mr. Jonathan is determined to defeat her, and Justine (Kerry Armstrong), an overeager stage mother who claims she almost passed the audition to become a Spice Girl, is more than willing to help, as long as her daughter Tenille (Shayni Notelovitz) is featured prominently in Jonathan's latest extravaganza. Mr. Jonathan suffers through Justine's "assistance" until Tenille loses her star billing to Grace (Clancy Ryan), a plucky youngster with more talent. Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance received its American premiere at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kerry Armstrong, Ben Miller, (more)
