Donna Akersten Movies
- 1998
Danielle Cormack plays a dual role of twin sisters in this comedy drama from New Zealand. Chrissy Dunn (Cormack) exits the bed of a strange man while her twin sister, Olympic swimmer Carol (also Cormack), wins an major race and prepares to swim for the gold. Back home, TV director Brian Stanning (Brian Sergent) spearheads a local TV station's plan for a satellite hook-up to reunite the entire dysfunctional Dunn family (including the widowed mother and two other sisters). Chrissy states her intention not to cooperate and finds that TV cameraman Paul (Karl Urban) is the stranger she slept with that night. Director Andrew McCarten made his directorial debut with this film, shown at the 1998 Melbourne Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Danielle Cormack, Timothy Balme, (more)
- 1994
- R
- Add The Last Tattoo to Queue
A virulent strain of gonorrhea is loose in New Zealand and it is up to a nurse to find the carrier in this Kiwi thriller set in WW II. New Zealand was a popular shore-leave locale for battle fatigued American sailors. Kelly Towne is a nurse from the Hygiene Department. Her assignment is to help keep the spread of VD in check. She works with both the troops and the local brothels. In the film's beginning a Marine has been murdered and his girlfriend, a former hooker, has disappeared. Kelly becomes involved in the mystery after she finds out that both the missing girl and the wife of a local politician carry this new, deadly strain of gonorrhea. With the help of U.S. Marine Capt. Michael Starwood, she sets off to find the girl and is surprised that her trail leads to the highest ranks of the New Zealand government and the American military where a conspiracy is taking place. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kerry Fox, Tony Goldwyn, (more)
- 1991
Although the Maori have fared perhaps the best of all the indigenous peoples who have had their homeland overrun by Europeans, many of their ancient cultural artifacts were stolen in the early years of colonization and were shipped all over the world. In this story, an old Maori woman remembers the story of some carvings which were stolen in this fashion and is campaigning for them to be returned. At the same time, a Maori writer visiting Berlin feels something which makes him feels that his ancestors are present with him in the German city. He eventually tracks down the source of these feelings in the form of the carvings, which are being kept in a museum. The writer and his uncle, who is also in the city, band together with others to liberate the carvings and return these beacons for the ancestral spirits to their proper home. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Günter Meisner
- 1989
- NR
Bearing the same relationship to The Muppet Show that Fritz the Cat does to Felix the Cat, Meet the Feebles is a gleefully rude, decidedly adult comedy about the backstage goings-on amongst an eccentric group of puppets the day before their televised variety special. Made by director Peter Jackson, creator of Bad Taste and Heavenly Creatures, the film features a wide ensemble of creatures known as "The Feebles," led by a walrus named Bletch, the show's gruff, corrupt producer. Amongst the central figures are Heidi the Hippo, the show's prima donna singer; the fey fox Sebastian, who acts as the show's director; and the lovable (and love-struck) Robert the Hedgehog. Other cast members include a sex-crazed rabbit suffering from VD, a junkie frog prone to Vietnam War flashbacks, and a rat who directs porno movies in the theater's basement. Romantic jealousies, drug deals gone wrong, murders, and other scandalous activities all threaten to wreak havoc amongst the cast, with all these problems reaching their climax on the evening of the big show (which comes complete with musical numbers). The film's extremely dark sense of humor is supported by skillful gross-out effects and a winningly irreverent attitude. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Donna Akersten, Stuart Devenie, (more)
- 1982
- NR
Jack Thompson plays Stan Graham, a tragic and notorious figure of New Zealand's war years. Not the most easygoing person in the world to begins with, Graham is pushed over the edge when his farm is foreclosed. With seemingly no other options, he turns into a homicidal maniac, killing everyone he considers an enemy -- in short, everyone who crosses his path. Graham's murder spree plays right into the hands of Nazi propagandists, notably British turncoat Lord Haw-Haw. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Thompson, Carol Burns, (more)
- 1979
Grant Tilly stars as Colin, a fortyish New Zealand schoolteacher. Colin is promoted to principal, which normally would be cause for celebration. Unfortunately, the teacher is undergoing several midlife crises, not least of which is his obsession with gorgeous fellow teacher Judy (Donna Akersten). At a dinner party hosted by Colin and his blase wife Elizabeth (Dorothy McKegg), the truth is painfully--and hilariously--brought to the forefront. Middle Age Spread is based on a popular play by New Zealand author Roger Hall. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Grant Tilly, Donna Akersten, (more)
- 1977
Director Roger Donaldson's directorial debut was also a breakthrough film for New Zealand filmmakers, being the first film from New Zealand to open in the United States. Sam Neill stars as a man named Smith who lives in a near future of economic collapse in New Zealand. Smith is a husband who discovers that his wife has been having an affair. Unable to deal with it, he decides to move out and live by himself. But the precarious political chaos in New Zealand has created a right wing backlash, with repressive government forces murdering opponents to the government's policies. Smith finds himself joining a group of freedom fighters that sets out to preserve democracy. Opposing Smith and the freedom fighters are the government thugs and an apolitical soldier of fortune named Willoughby (Warren Oates). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sam Neill, Bernard Kearns, (more)
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