Lee Robinson Movies
- 1999
Musician Michael Galinsky of the group Sleepyhead co-directed (with Suki Stetson Hawley) this look at one music fan's troubled life. Unai (Unai Fresnedo) is a young man from Spain who lives for rock and roll, spending his days listening to "music about problems" and bringing notable bands from America and Europe to his country for tours. However, things start going bad for Unai one day -- a club owner refuses to pay Unai for shows he booked, his drug dealer wants cash and wants it now, and Come, an American band Unai is bringing to Spain, are waiting to be picked up from the airport. Stuck on all sides, Unai opts to blow off everyone and hits the road with his friends Ignacio (Ignacio Fernandez) and Mary (Katy Petty) in hopes of finding something better down the highway. Radiation features concert footage from Come, Stereolab, Will Oldham, and El Inquilino Communista. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Unai Fresnedo, Katy Petty, (more)
- 1998
This London-based film, the feature directorial debut of North American director Benson Lee, brought a 1998 Sundance Film Festival acting award for stage actress Andrea Hart in her first film. Beginning in black-and-white, the story opens with screenwriter Roman (James Hicks) failing to construct a serious social drama around career-woman Marianne (Julie Alanagh-Brighten), who successfully competes with men in the business world. With a switch to color, Roman awakens, creatively blocked, and heads to the financial district to find inspiration. There he encounters Gloria (Hart), who drops her cell phone and key. This enables him to enter her house and assemble a profile of her life by looking over her clothing, books, photos, and diary. Then he gets an even more intimate, voyeuristic glimpse by hiding in her closet when she returns. Shown in the Market section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrea Hart, James Hicks, (more)
- 1990
- R
Most of this provocative made-for-cable television drama, takes place in the courtroom where a young white, female attorney tries to prosecute an African American ex-con for the assault of a prostitute. He is not only the prime suspect, he is also the only witness. Unfortunately, he may not get a fair trial, for the prosecutor may be using the case to settle a personal score. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Grey, (more)
In this slasher, a group of businessmen try to buy an abandoned slaughterhouse owned by Lester Bacon (Don Barrett) and his son Buddy (Joe Barton). After a radio station promo prompts curious college students out to visit the abandoned facility, Lester and Buddy proceed to pig-out on the human victims. Both students and businessmen end up on the slab when the slaughterhouse is slated to be sold for back-taxes. Occasional moments of black humor garnish this routine horror feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sherry Bendorf, Don Barratt, (more)
- 1984
- R
The Australian Highest Honor is comparatively little-known outside its country of origin, which is a shame. Set during World War II, the film details the unusual relationship between an Australian army captain and his captor, a Japanese security officer. The war has made these kindred spirits "enemies," and we, like the protagonists, are never allowed to forget the seriousness of the world conflict. Still, we are shown how even the exigencies of war cannot completely snuff out such qualities as honor and decency. John Howard plays Captain Robert Page, while Astuo Nakamura co-stars as Winoyu Tamira. Highest Honor is based on a true story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Some of the complexities involved in the murder of 5,000 Chinese in Singapore during World War II are considered in this joint Japanese-Australian film. After the British surrendered Singapore to the Japanese, the Imperial Japanese Army unit known as the kempei-tai or a kind of military police, were responsible for most of the brutality against captured Allied forces and the "ethnic cleansing" of Chinese based on the claim that their guerrilla forces were a threat. The hero of the film is Minoru Tamiya (Atsuo Nakamura) who worked as an information officer at the Japanese mission in Singapore before the outbreak of World War II. In this story, Tamiya was educated at Cambridge and argued for the humane treatment of prisoners of war against the harsh, often fatal, and degrading methods used by the kempei-tai. The difficulties of his position come to a climax in a melodramatic ending, in which the fate of a group of Allies and the fate of the Japanese themselves are symbolically bound together. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Atsuo Nakamura, Kinya Kitaoji, (more)
Force Z is a crack Australian military corps during World War II. When a plane carrying a high-profile Japanese defector crash-lands somewhere in the South Pacific, it's up to Force Z to find it. Complicating matters is a traitor in the good guys' midst. John Philip Law heads the cast of Attack Force Z, but some video companies have bestowed top billing upon Mel Gibson, originally listed 3rd in the cast. The film also features an early leading peformance by Sam Neill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Phillip Law, Mel Gibson, (more)
- 1971
In this drama, a pub owner who lives in the Australian outback stakes a claim to an area where nickel is found. An American company buys her out on the condition that she not sell her shares in the company for a year, giving the company head a chance to make false reports and overvalue the company's shares. The pub owner lives it up with a gigolo for a while before settling down with a long-time admirer. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- 1960
A daring escape from prison whips open this actioner right at the beginning, and though the action continues from that moment onward it does not sustain the same break-neck pace. Matt Kirk (Aldo Ray) is in jail, wrongly accused of a crime, and along with three other inmates he escapes by hiding out in an ambulance. Circumstances then lead Matt and the others to set off in a small boat that ends up drifting toward an island called Pinchgut in Sydney's harbor. As the fugitives hole up on the island, Matt devises a way to call attention to his demand for a retrial that instead calls attention to more police... and a siege of the island begins. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aldo Ray, Neil McCallum, (more)
- 1957
Australian film favorite Chips Rafferty is both star and producer of Walk Into Hell. Filmed on location in New Guinea, the story concerns the cultural clash between Australian laborers and the local natives. Rafferty plays Steve McAllister, whose job it is to supervise construction of an airfield for the convenience of a New Guinea-based oil company. Any hopes that Steve harbors for peaceful coexistence with the natives are dashed when white hunter Jeff Clayton (Pierre Cressoy) thoughtlessly kills a sacred white bird. Highlights include an edge-of-chair snake attack and an authentic tribal dance ceremony (scenes of bare-breasted native women were judiciously trimmed for American audiences). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chips Rafferty, Françoise Christophe, (more)
- 1954
Popular Australian film star Chips Rafferty heads the cast of King of Coral Sea. His character name, in fact, is King, Ted King to be exact. Our hero lives and works on Thursday island, center of Australia's pearling industry. The pearl-diving element of the story is forgotten as King confronts a gang of crooks who are busily smuggling migrant workers onto the island. The supporting cast is largely made up of local Australian stage and radio celebrities, whose fame meant little to American audiences. The one tangible selling angle of King of Coral Sea is its superb location photography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chips Rafferty, Charles "Bud" Tingwell, (more)
- 1953
Australian film favorite Chips Rafferty is virtually the whole show in The Phantom Stockman. Rafferty plays the Sundowner, a "good bad man" who robs from the rich and gives to the poor -- after keeping a slice of the loot for himself, of course. Aligning himself with heroine Kim Marsden Jeanette Elphick, The Sundowner (Rafferty) routs a gang of cattle rustlers and hunts down a murderer. And he does it all in 67 minutes, so the audience can get home early and happy. Featured in the cast of Phantom Stockman is famed Aboriginal painter Albert Namatijira, as "himself." For unknown reasons, the film is often omitted from the official printed resumés of star Chips Rafferty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chips Rafferty, Henry Murdoch, (more)
