Helen Thomson Movies
- 2002
The eight-episode Australian seriocomedy Bad Cop, Bad Cop used police corruption as a target for savage satire. The series took place in a fictional Sydney suburb, where plainclothes cops Lilywhere (Michael Caton) and Knutt (Daniel Wylie) held sway over both the local citizenry and their fellow peacekeepers. Ever looking out for themselves, Lilywhite and Knutt were more interested in financial perks and creature comforts than in rounding up criminals. And besides, some of their best friends were on the wrong side of the law. Created by Ian David, Bad Cop, Bad Cop was seen on Australia's ABC network in early 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caton, Daniel Wylie, (more)
- 2000
Even as security is beefed up in Australia in anticipation of the 2000 Olympics, someone manages to slip a deadly nerve gas device -- and a detonator -- on a 747 jet bound from Sydney to L.A. The authorities are uncertain as to whether the person responsible for this outrage is a terrorist or merely a lunatic; whatever the case, they scour the world in search of the perpetrator. Meanwhile, the 747 may well be unable to find a suitable landing place before the detonator goes off, forcing pilot John Prescott (Jack Wagner) and copilot Kim McGee (Christine Elise) to make some extremely tricky life-and-death decisions. As for the 300 passengers -- well, each one has his or her own story to tell, and the viewer hears practically all of them before the almost unbearably suspenseful denouement. The made-for-cable Nowhere to Land debuted March 12, 2000, on the TBS superstation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Wagner, Christine Elise, (more)
Guy (Richard Roxburgh), a lonely bachelor, meets the woman of his dreams in Lizzie (Cate Blanchett), an impossibly beautiful doctor with elegance, style, and sophistication. Their six-week courtship leads to marriage, and the wedding is a big one, with 100 guests and a posh reception that never ends. It's during the reception that Guy begins to have flashbacks -- and second thoughts -- about Jenny (Frances O'Connor), the free-spirited woman who was his first love and who is the opposite of Lizzie. The more he thinks about warm and fun-loving Jenny, the more he sees Lizzie as cold and remote. Although it's a little late in the game to be getting cold feet, that's exactly what Guy has.
~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Roxburgh, Cate Blanchett, (more)
This silly Australian slasher film concerns a psychopath strangling students at an elite Catholic girls' school run by a strange married couple. Myles and Virginia Sheffield have sexual problems, and the viewer is led to believe that Myles is relieving his impotence by garotting the nubile students with barbed wire. There's also a nun, who disapproves of her girls getting friendly with the boys of the nearby Winchester school, and some hostile townies who are feuding with the prepsters. When a townie boy and a schoolgirl fall in love, the reactions from all quarters are such that there are suspects aplenty. Since the murders are all pretty much the same, at least the viewer can take interest in the mystery, right? Wrong. In fact, Alec Mills' direction is so clumsy and Robert Brennan's script so obvious that one is hard-pressed to find any reason at all to watch this film. At least Mills' follow-up -- the equally weak Dead Sleep -- had Linda Blair. This film has nothing!, but actually played theatrically in its home country to widespread apathy. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Lissek, Christine Amor, (more)
