Nicholas Bell Movies

In this drama, a daughter defends her aging father against scandalous accusations. Joseph Mueller (Max Von Sydow) was born in Germany but emigrated to Australia shortly after the end of World War II. Joseph is happily spending the autumn of his years doting on his two grandchildren and giving friendly business advice to his daughter Anne Winton (Carol Drinkwater) and son-in-law Bobby (Steven Jacobs), who have inherited the hotel that Mueller founded. One morning, as Joseph walks his grandchildren to school, he discovers that a camera crew is following him from a distance, led by reporter Leah Zetnick (Julia Blake). A few days later, Leah broadcasts a report alleging that Joseph is in fact Franz Kessler, a former member of Hitler's S.S. and a war criminal responsible for the death of Leah's parents, among many others. Suddenly besieged by the media, Anne and Joseph go into hiding after authorities issue an indictment against him. Joseph eventually steps forward to stand trial, defended by attorney George Coleman (Tom Robertson). After George calls Leah's credibility into serious question in court, Joseph is cleared of all charges, and a seriously distraught Leah commits suicide in front of Joseph and Anne. But Joseph's casual reaction to Leah's shocking act makes Anne wonder if Bobby's suspicions about her father's past might have a basis in fact. Max Von Sydow and Julia Blake both won Australian Film Institute awards for their performences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A teacher's life is nearly destroyed when his deranged student cries rape in this Australian drama. The new philosophy professor at an all-girls' academy, Professor Justin Thorne (Jimmy Smits) has it all: a great job, a solid wife (Sarah Chadwick) and family, and the adulation of his impressionable students. But when one particularly imaginative and alluring student takes a shine to him, Thorne finds himself in court fighting for his future. Jennifer Carter (Naomi Watts), the daughter of the school's widowed headmaster, throws off her loutish boyfriend and throws herself at Thorne. Meanwhile, she keeps a diary of imaginary encounters with a phantom lover. Cornered in his office one night, Thorne gets his blood up desperately rejecting Jennifer's advances. The passion is so strong that he finds himself making love to her almost involuntarily. Soon, Jennifer shows up battered and bruised, claiming Thorne raped her, and the police seize on her diary as proof of a twisted affair. Soon, the discredited professor must suffer through character assassination in court while attempting to unravel Jennifer's tortured psyche and stay out of jail. Adrian Wright co-stars as Kenneth Carter, the accusor's stern, secretive father. The film's director, George Miller, is not to be confused with the other Australian George Miller, who directed Mad Max. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

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

The true story of a gifted Australian piano prodigy, this biographical drama was nominated for seven Oscars, with actor Geoffrey Rush winning for Best Actor. Rush stars as David Helfgott, a pianist with a history of mental problems. As a fragile boy genius at math, chess, and piano, David is driven hard by his overbearing father (Armin Mueller-Stahl), a tyrant who forbids him to accept a scholarship offered by the great violinist Isaac Stern. Although he studies briefly in London under tutor Cecil Parks (John Gielgud), David has a nervous breakdown after performing Rachmaninoff's daunting "Piano Concerto No. 3" (known as the "Rach 3"). Years later, the adult David keeps up a steady patter of nervous stammering at all times and has been reduced to playing in a bar. Through a friend, he meets astrologer Gillian (Lynn Redgrave), and falls in love with her. With Gillian's help, David embarks down the road to regained fame and mastery of the "Rach 3." The international popularity of Shine caused a sensation leading to a musical tour for Helfgott, whose performances were less adroit than many audiences expected, sparking criticism that writer-director Scott Hicks had exaggerated his subject's talent for dramatic purposes. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

John Ruane directed this Australian romantic comedy in which lonely Alice (Miranda Otto), seeking her long-lost father, begins working in the same dead-letter office that keeps returning her letters to him. The office is run by a political refugee from Chile, Frank (George DelHoyo), and Alice and Frank eventually become a twosome amid the undelivered mail. Barry Otto, Miranda Otto's father, makes a brief appearance. Shown at 1998 film festivals in Brisbane and Melbourne. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Young street performer Michael DeVane (Charlie O'Connell) is selected by mysterious magician Simon Magus (Peter Firth) to take over from Magus in his never-ending battle against the forces of evil. Endowed with powers far beyond those of your average stage illusionist, Michael does his best to live up to his new responsibilities. Alas, the villain of the piece, the drug-dealing vixen Regina (Kimberly Davies), has won Michael's own sister over to the Dark Side. Obviously intended as the pilot for an unsold series titled The Magicians, Showdown in Magic Town made its UPN network debut on March 10, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

Scottish-born director George Miller (The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter, The Man from Snowy River) helms the gore-drenched Sci-Fi Channel creature feature Attack of the Sabretooth, starring Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds) and Stacy Haiduk (CSI: Miami). Multimillionaire Niles invests in a jungle theme park known as the Valalola, which offers the spectacle of live, genetically-cloned prehistoric beasts, "caged in" by electricity. He invites a ragtag band of college students as his initial tourists, but fails to anticipate a minor malfunction that pulls the plug on all the animal cages and sends a mammoth, carnivorous sabretooth cat racing across the island. Desperate to satiate itself with human blood, it makes a beeline for the terrified visitors. Brian Wimmer and Nicholas Bell co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A teenage girl from the coastal town of Robe in South Australia realizes that hoping for change just isn't enough as she sets out in search of the father she never knew. Seventeen year old Emily (Victoria Thane) lives with her single mother Susan (Susie Porter) in a sleepy seaside town. Emily never knew her father, a man her mother claims was just a drifting summer tourist who wandered into town one day before disappearing without a trace. Susan's devoutly religious parents were mortified when their daughter got pregnant at the age of fifteen, and ever since she had Emily she's been struggling to forget the past. Kindly local Stephen lost his wife and baby daughter in a tragic accident, and remains haunted by the incident to this very day. In Stephen Emily sees a surrogate father, and in Emily Stephen sees the daughter his baby daughter could have grown into. Though Stephen's sister Elizabeth is married to local policeman Carl, she suspects that her husband is currently engaged in a clandestine extramarital affair. Could Carl be Emily's real father? If so, what would that mean for Emily's relationship with Elizabeth and Carl's teenage son Joel? Perhaps by summoning some much needed courage, Emily can bring about the change in her life that she so desperately craves. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide