DCSIMG
 
 

Helen O'Connor Movies

1987  
 
Add The Everlasting Secret Family to Queue Add The Everlasting Secret Family to top of Queue  
"Everlasting Secret Family" is the name of a sub-rosa homosexual brotherhood in this riveting Australian film. Two of the ESF members are a middle-aged politician (Arthur Dignam) and a boarding-school student (Mark Lee). The younger man begins chafing at the "plaything" status imposed upon him by the older members of ESF. His resentment culminates in a battle of wills between himself and the senator's politically expedient "straight" wife (Heather Mitchell). Dispensing with subtlety, Everlasting Secret Family suggests that, like the so-called mainstream political scene, the gay lifestyle can become a dangerously manipulative power trip in the wrong hands. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Arthur DignamMark Lee, (more)
 
1988  
R  
A mysterious killer is preying upon professional women in Sydney in this psychological horror feature. All of the victims are found murdered and with their eyes removed. Detective-Sergeant Whitaker (John Clayton) and his partner Sergeant Delgano (John Ley) are put in charge of solving the case. Composer David Gaze (Mark Hembrow) has premonitions of the grisly deaths and tries to warn the victims, but all the women he approaches doubt his ability to see into the future. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Mark HembrowTessa Humphries, (more)
 
1990  
 
The Australian children's adventure show The Girl From Tomorrow was the saga of Alana (Katharine Cullen), a teenaged girl from the year 3000. Through a wrinkle in time, Alana found herself hurled backward to 1990, along with a time-travelling villain named Silverthorn (John Howard), who hailed from the 26th century. With the help of her "contemporary" friends, Jenny (Melissa Marshall) and Petey (James Findlay), Alana tried to retrieve her space capsule from Silverthorn's clutches. Making its Australian Nine Network debut in 1990, The Girl From Tomorrow lasted two seasons and 24 half-hour episodes. The second season, which aired in 1992, was officially titled The Girl From Tomorrow: Tomorrow's End. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

 
1991  
PG  
John Seale directed this lively, though overly familiar, adventure tale. Frank Flynn (Mark Harmon) is a jazz musician who travels to the South Seas to look for his missing brother Charlie. Once there, he takes up with an attractive hitchhiker named Anna (Deborah Unger). When he finds out that his brother has been bludgeoned to death by a group of natives, Frank decides to investigate the case on his own. Frank meets Charlie's former business associate, Robert "Viv" Vivaldi (Jeroen Krabbe) and his insouciant manner causes Frank to suspect he may have had something to do with his brother's death. Anna then reveals herself to be Viv's ex-wife and Frank's badgering of Viv causes both Frank and Anna to flee into the jungle, where they come upon some curious gold bars. Frank then recalls their father had mentioned something to Charlie about an American bomber that had crashed in the jungle, loaded with gold. Viv then catches up with the duo and, although Anna is captured, Frank befriends a group of natives who teach him the ways of the South Pacific Islanders. They also lead him to the location where the plane full of gold went down; they then help Frank lay siege to Viv's home. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Mark HarmonDeborah Kara Unger, (more)
 
1993  
R  
Pop star Phil Collins abandoned his usually sunny persona for a more sinister role in this unusual comedy thriller from Australia. Jonathan Wheats (Hugo Weaving) and his best friend Michael Allen (Peter Mochrie) have a fondness for pranks and a childish sense of humor that is a frequent source of aggravation for his wife Beth (Josephine Byrnes). One night, Beth arrives home in the midst of a robbery. She impulsively grabs a crossbow and kills the masked intruder, who appears to be Michael. While the law clears Beth in what is judged to be an accidental death, Jonathan files the claim on the stolen property including a silver cutlery set. But the insurance company sends out Roland Copping (Collins) to investigate the crime; Copping has a strange kind of wit to rival Jonathan's, as well as a bitter and vengeful streak against the couple who he feels are trying to cheat him. Frauds was the debut feature for writer and director Stephan Elliott, whose next film would be the international hit The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Phil CollinsHugo Weaving, (more)
 
1995  
 
Add Babe to Queue Add Babe to top of Queue  
A young pig fights convention to become a sheep dog -- or, rather, sheep pig -- in this charming Australian family film, which became an unexpected international success due to superior special effects and an intelligent script. The title refers to the name bestowed on a piglet soon after his separation from his family, when he finds himself on a strange farm. Confused and sad, Babe is adopted by a friendly dog and slowly adjusts to his new home. Discovering that the fate of most pigs is the dinner table, Babe devotes himself to becoming a useful member of the farm by trying to learn how to herd sheep, despite the skepticism of the other animals and the kindly but conventional Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell). Because technically impeccable animatronics and computer graphics allow the farm animals to converse easily among themselves, first-time director Chris Noonan can treat the film's menagerie as actual characters, playing scene not for cuteness but for real emotions. The result is often surprisingly touching, with Noonan and George Miller's script, based on Dick King-Smith's children's book and, indirectly, a true story, seamlessly combining gentle whimsy and sincere feeling. These same qualities are embodied by in Cromwell's beautifully understated performance as Farmer Hoggett, which anchors the film. Despite its unlikely premise and low profile, Babe's inspirational story was embraced by audiences and critics, and the movie became an international sleeper that won an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. It was followed in 1999 by the less successful Babe: Pig in the City. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This rental contains both Babe and Babe: Pig in the City

 Read More

Starring:
James CromwellMagda Szubanski, (more)