Australian/New Zealand movies: 1987

Another large batch of movies to go through, slightly more than in 1986 so there's a need to make two updates for the year. Some crazy concepts in this lot (Hard Knuckle is a real baffler) plus a mixed bag of horror movies. Also some good nudity in movies like dancing drama Belinda, slasher horror Cassandra and barely a movie Hungry Heart.

1987

Around the World in 80 Ways

Comedy about a prodigal son Wally (Philip Quast) who comes home after his business goes bust to find his father (Allan Penney) is near-blind in a retirement home while his mother has run off with his father's most hated rival on a round-the-world trip. When the father finds out about his wife, he wants to go after them accept he has no money except in a secret account. So Wally and his chronically unemployed brother Eddy (Kelly Dingwall) hatch a plan to fake that Eddy and the father's nurse (Gosia Dobrowolska) are going after them while Wally plays various 'local' characters. Things go surprisingly well until their father gets his sight back and decides to have a little fun. Ridiculous idea but surprisingly funnier than I thought it would be as whole countries are elaborately recreated to convince his father that he's chasing after his wife.

Judith Fisher briefly shows her breasts.

You can find a synopsis with VHS videos from Around the World in 80 Ways here. A preview is below.

Judith Fisher in Around the World in 80 Ways

   

 

 

Australian Dream

Queensland-set dramedy about put-upon housewife Dorothy (Noni Hazlehurst) who watches her butcher husband Geoffrey (Graeme Blundell) go into politics. At a sex toy party, Dorothy meets the stripper Todd (John Jarratt) and instantly begins to dream about him and starts to write about him in her stories for a writing class she is taking. She then meets him again and decides to hire him to play music for her party which has been taken over by Geoffrey's political business. Dorothy dresses provocatively at the party which stuns Geoffrey's ultra conservative party members then Todd and his band arrive and the night is just getting started. The movie tries pretty much anything to get a laugh but not a lot of it works particularly the attempts at raunchy humour. Hazlehurst tries her best carrying the movie but she doesn't have a lot to work with.

Some brief nudity from Noni Hazlehurst, most of which is behind a shower screen. 

You can find a synopsis with collages and VHS videos from Australian Dream here. A preview is below.

Noni Hazlehurst in Australian Dream

   
   
   

 

 

Bachelor Girl

Glass half empty romantic comedy about thirtysomething soap opera writer Dorothy (Lyn Pierse) who's struggling to find a man to be with romantically until she meets old university friend Karl (Kim Gyngell) who seems like he's the one as he possesses the same type of nervous energy she has. But the more she learns about him, the more uninterested she becomes in Karl. Pretty simple movie that never tries to get bigger than it is and also decides not to go with the happily-ever-after ending which would probably be a put off for romantic comedy enthusiasts. It's a slightly different take on the romantic comedy, only a little successful at conveying it.

There's no nudity in Bachelor Girl but we do see Lyn Pierse in her underwear in one long scene.

Lyn Pierse in Bachelor Girl

44996kb 2min 46sec 768x528 (bra, plenty of cleavage in nice dress, very lengthy)

 

 

Belinda
aka Midnight Dancer

Heavy dancing drama where a young ballet dancer Belinda (Deanne Jeffs) gets a gig as a dancer at a nightclub where she's taken under the wing of head dancer Crystal (Mary Regan). Things start out fine even with the rampant sexism and her parents give their reluctant approval but the dark side of the industry rears it's ugly head and Belinda struggles to handle it. This all ends when the show is unexpectedly cancelled as the nightclub is turning into a disco and things go from bad to worse. Pretty standard young girl thrown into the deep end of entertainment industry and comes out a different person story and Deanne Jeffs is well cast as the  naïve young dancer. The ending is so melodramatic with some very obvious things and John Jarratt's appearance as a sort of mentor/lover for Belinda is baffling. No idea what he was doing there.

Plenty of nudity throughout the movie from the likes of Mary Regan, Kaaren Fairfax, Kahti, Elizabeth Lord, Robyn Moase and Yvonne Hall. There's also plenty of sexy scenes too especially from Deanne Jeffs.

You can find a synopsis with collages and VHS videos from Belinda here. A preview is below.

Mary Regan in Belinda

   
   
   

 

Kaaren Fairfax in Belinda

   

 

Kahti in Belinda

   
   

 

Robyn Moase in Belinda

   

 

Elizabeth Lord in Belinda

   
   
   
   

 

Yvonne Hall in Belinda

   

 

 

Bullseye

Light comedy western about a couple of bounders (Paul Goddard and John Wood) who find a missing prize bull and then accidentally stumble onto a massive cattle muster, which they then do at little accidental cattle rustling and accidentally make a shitload of money. Meanwhile Lily (Kathryn Walker), a dainty young woman who used to live on a station with the bounders, moves to town and has to take a job working at a brothel. She sees the girls getting way more money being sex workers, so she decides to try it. And her first customer turns out to be one of the bounders who 'rescues' her. A movie so slight you wonder how it got made at all except this is in the 10BA era and that's all you need to know. Also has an awful ending, just a completely forgettable movie.

Brief side-boob from Kathryn Walker plus some nudity from some of the sex workers at the brothel but this being a PG rated movie it's very mild and brief.

You can find a synopsis with videos from Bullseye here. A preview is below.

Kathyrn Walker in Bullseye

 

Various Unknowns in Bullseye

   
   

 

 

Cassandra

Slasher horror movie about Cassandra (Tessa Humphries) who is having dreams about a young boy, believed to be her brother, murdering someone she believes to be her mother. Her parents tell her it's just a dream but then people start getting killed including a model (Susan Barling) who is having an affair with Cassandra's father then he is also murdered. So is her long-lost killer brother back in her life or is someone else doing the murders? Stock-standard horror movie with a fairly obvious killer and some pretty ordinary killings. Not a lot happens in the movie either.

A fair bit of nudity from Susan Barling in a number of scenes throughout the movie before her character is bumped off.

You can find a synopsis with collages and videos from Cassandra here. A preview is below.

Susan Barling in Cassandra

   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

 

Coda
aka Symphony of Evil

Female-driven stalker horror movie, the debut feature from South Australian genre director Craig Lahiff. Two music students Kate (Penny Cook) and her friend Sally (Liddy Clark) are caught in the middle of a murder plot carried out by a masked killer who is killing various female students in their class run by Dr. Steiner (Arna-Maria Winchester). At first, Kate's brother is arrested for the murders but then killings continue with Kate and Sally very much in the killer's sights. Lahiff was never a subtle director and here he delivers something stylish with a bombastic orchestral score, a love of throwing women out the window and a few Hitchcockian flourishes. It's not a bad movie but it does suffer from being overdramatic when it should've been more suspenseful.

No nudity in the movie but there's a long scene with Penny Cook and Liddy Clark in bathing suits.

Penny Cook and Liddy Clark in Coda

41446kb 2min 20sec 736x568 (both in one piece bathing suits, lengthy)

 

 

Contagion

Queensland-made horror thriller where a meek real estate agent Mark (John Doyle) is driving home one night on a country road and sees a hitchhiking woman being attacked by a redneck. He goes to help but is then attacked by another redneck before he kills him. Mark then has a blackout and when he wakes he is helped back to a house that is inhabited by a reclusive millionaire Bael (Ray Barrett) and two beautiful blonde women Helen and Cleo (Pamela Hawkesford and Nathy Gaffney). Bael tells him if he comes back to the house after he recuperates, he can help him get lots of money and have his way with the two women. Which he does and Bael then tells him he must get rid of obstructions in his life which inevitably leads to his fiancée Cheryl (Nicola Bartlett) who discovers that Mark has made a Faustian bargain with Bael. A movie that wants to be more than the usual slasher film, but the plot and the plan aren't all that coherent and at times it just seems to be an excuse to increase the body count. The movie tries hard, but is done in by an undercooked story and incoherent plot and a want to be incredibly ugly.

Full frontal nudity from Pamela Hawkesford and Nathy Gaffney shows her breasts while Donna Jan Newby shows her breasts after her top is ripped open.

You can find a synopsis with collages and VHS videos from Contagion here. A preview is below.

Pamela Hawkesford in Contagion

   
   

 

Pamela Hawkesford and Nathy Gaffney in Contagion

   
   
   

 

Nathy Gaffney in Contagion

   

 

Donna Jay Newby in Contagion

   
   

 

 

Dark Age

Creature horror thriller finally released in Australia over 20 years after it was made. A crocodile that has being around since the Aboriginal Dreamtime is attacking the locals starting with a couple of poachers. Local ranger Steve (John Jarratt) is brought in to fix the problem and tries to balance environmental concerns with keeping the area safe. That is until a young Indigenous boy is taken by the crocodile and everyone starts to panic and local hunters go berserk killing every crocodile in sight but not the one doing the damage. Steve decides to consult with a local elder (Burnham Burnham) who helps them catch the crocodile and take him back to his land but when a poacher finds out, he'll stop at nothing to kill the croc. Solid croc thriller with some genuinely nasty scenes especially the one involving the child. The movie is not without it's limitations but for what it is, there's a lot to like about it.

Nikki Coghill briefly shows her breasts in a sex scene.

You can find a synopsis with collages and HD videos from Dark Age here. A preview is below.

Nikki Coghill in Dark Age

   
   

 

 

Frenchman's Farm

Time travel mystery where law student Linda (Tracey Tainsh) goes back to her mother's farm on the hottest day of the year when she passes a property called Frenchman's Farm. Then her car begins to play up and she gets off the road to get help at the farm where she finds a newspaper that says that the date is 1944 and then stumbles on two men arguing. She witnesses one man swing a pick into the head of the other man. She runs back to her car and back to the present day where she calls her boyfriend Barry (David Reyne) and tells him what she saw but he doesn't believe her although he decides to go along with her story. Linda finds out that there was a murder on the farm on the day the newspaper said it was, They go back to the farm and find it's owned by drunken lush Harry (Ray Barrett) and after the find out that the farm house had been moved on the property, Linda and Barry get Harry's permission to let them dig and they find a box full of old French money and Napoleonic war memorabilia which they decide to share between the three of them. But the killer is not having any of that and enters the present day to get back what's his. Surprisingly pedestrian movie that feels like a teenage mystery as they unravel the clues to the murder and decades long mystery but still an intriguing movie. The mystery is relatively easy to follow although there's a lot of exposition throughout the movie, probably way more than there should be, but it isn't that big of an issue. Much better than it could have been.

Some brief nudity from Tracey Tainsh as she has a swim.

You can find a synopsis with collages and VHS videos from Frenchman's Farm here. A preview is below.

Tracey Tainsh in Frenchman's Farm

   

 

 

Gallagher's Travels

Action comedy about international journalist Gallagher (Ivar Kants) who is looking for a big story and stumbles across a prominent German scientist (Stuart Campbell) who smuggles snakes in his pants and convinces his editor that he needs to go to Australia and find out about this animal smuggling ring that also involves Chinese Triads. In Australia, Gallagher is guided by photographer Sally (Joanne Samuel) who follow the scientist and the Triads across the country to catch them out. Basic concept that's pretty silly and the comedy doesn't quite hit. Nothing much to recommend here.

There's a scene at the end of the movie where Joanne Samuel is in a bathing suit but there's no nudity in the movie.

Joanne Samuel in Gallagher's Travels

15412kb 48sec 744x568 (one piece bathing suit, skirt)

 

 

Hard Knuckle

Mad Max in a pool hall! In a post-apocalyptic Australia, Harry (Steve Bisley from Mad Max) is a pool hustler whose come back into town to get his sidecar motorbike back from Top Dog (Gary Day) and the only way to do that is play a brutal form of pool called Hard Knuckle. But Top Dog is not going to make it easy for him and makes Harry go through a series of pool events to get enough money before he can play him for the motorbike. With the help of 'definitely not his kid' Eddie (David Jay) they hustle some nearby pool halls full of ruffians before the big game takes place. Baffling idea where the only violence comes in the form of getting fingers guillotined off for hitting an obstruction on the table and apparently the only form of entertainment left in the world is pool halls. Just a very strange, utterly ridiculous premise to try and sell to an audience.

There's some brief nudity from Elizabeth Burton as a dancer at one of the pool hall, one of only two women in the whole movie.

Elizabeth Burton in Hard Knuckle

22024kb 1min 19sec 744x560 (breasts, G-string, plenty of cleavage in nice dress)

 

 

Hungry Heart

Melbourne-set moody drama about a doctor Sal (Nick Carrafa) who returns home to find his father struggling after the death of his wife and his friends have all moved on, not necessarily in a good way. He then meets flaky Katie (Kimberley Davenport) who he instantly falls for and drops everything and move in with her and her flatmate and best friend Jane (Lisa Schouw). But the relationship doesn't last long. Meanwhile, one of Sal's friends wants him to help steal some dogs. That's about it for plot, nothing much happens and the characters are pretty forgettable.

Extensive nudity from Kimberley Davenport, who also has some good nudity in Chances. Also Lisa Schouw briefly shows her breasts.

You can find a synopsis with collages and VHS videos from Hungry Heart here. A preview is below.

Kimberley Davenport in Hungry Heart

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

Lisa Schouw in Hungry Heart

   

 

 

Initiation

Survival thriller where American boy Danny (Rodney Harvey) is forced to live his father Nat (Bruno Lawrence) on his farm in Australia after his mother dies. Nat lives with his new wife (Arna-Maria Winchester) and her teen daughter (Miranda Otto). Turns out the farm is not doing well so Nat has been smuggling a bit of marijuana for a local drug dealer on his plane. One time he takes Danny with him and they end up crashing the plane and Nat is badly injured so Danny must find a way to get help for Nat. Pretty basic thriller that doesn't reach any great heights.

There's no nudity in Imitation but there's a sexy scene featuring Miranda Otto available here.

 

 

Jilted

Thirtysomething adult drama from director Bill Bennett about a bunch of people who work on a Queensland island resort. Al (Richard Moir) is the long time chef who's burnt every bridge and about to burn his last one with the owner of the resort Bob (Steve Jacobs). He's having a fling with waitress Cindy (Helen Mutkins) but that doesn't look like lasting. Harry (Jennifer Cluff) arrives on the island and intrigues Al but she just wants to be left alone as she just broke up with the husband but after a while she succumbs and they sleep together. Also on the island Paula (Tina Bursill), who runs the place and hate all men while desperately trying not to fall for the interested Bob. Then Harry's husband arrives and it stirs things up between her and Al, whose given up his ticket off the island to be with her. Fairly uninteresting movie about a bunch of people stuck working at the world's worst restaurant and a bunch of relationship stuff that mostly familiar. Harry seems interesting until she inevitably falls for Al and there's a bizarre obsession with her short haircut.

Some brief nudity from Jennifer Cluff in a couple of scenes although it's all shot very close so you don't really see much.

You can find a synopsis with VHS videos from Jilted here. A preview is below.

Jennifer Cluff in Jilted

   

 

 

The second half of the Australian movies for 1987 plus the only New Zealand movie to make the list, bizarrely the PG-rated The Leading Edge. There's extensive nudity in the brothel drama Kiss the Night and bizarro comedy Pandemonium plus a whole slew of dramas.

 

Kiss The Night
aka Candy Regentag

Drama about a sex worker Candy (Patsy Stephen from Chances) at a Kings Cross brothel who is going through a tough time with her boyfriend and other friends who are basically leeching off of her and she is considering whether to quit. After going for a night on the town with her co-workers, she comes across Reg (Warwick Moss) who helps out when a fight breaks out and he falls instantly for Candy and is told to find her at the brothel. Reg visits Candy at the brothel and she forms a connection with him and thinks that he may be her way out but he's only there for a quick fuck. So things are going to end badly. A grim and depressing look at prostitution with two good performances from Stephen and Moss but because the movie is so grim, it ends in a way that doesn't feel like it would be plausible despite Candy's desperation.

A fair bit of nudity from Patsy Stephen throughout the movie.

You can find a synopsis with collages and VHS videos from Kiss the Night here. A preview is below.

Patsy Stephen in Kiss the Night

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

 

The Leading Edge (NZ)

Comedic remake of an Oscar-nominated documentary where the entire dialogue is done in post-production. Canadian skier (Mathurin Molgat) comes to New Zealand to experience the skiing and the lifestyle and gets himself into a number of scrapes with fellow skiers in between some spectacularly shot skiing exhibitions. No real plot and the dialogue is not much more than mumbles including from comic Billy T. James in a cameo as a crazy pilot. Absolutely baffling watch and best seen for the incredibly well-shot skiing scenes as anything else is superfluous.

Strangely there's some brief nudity from one of the female skiers in the movie, Melanie Forbes, as the group steal a moment in a jacuzzi.

Melanie Forbes with Christine Grant in The Leading Edge

5258kb 24sec 640x480 (Melanie brief shows breasts and in towel also Christine in towel, both 'nude' in jacuzzi)

 

 

Les Patterson Saves the World

Barry Humphries lets his characters loose in this slipshod spy comedy. Notorious drunkard Sir Les Patterson (Barry Humphries) is banished to being ambassador in an unnamed Middle Eastern country after an incident at the UN. The US President (Joan Rivers bafflingly as herself) hopes he'll be killed off but a nicely timed coup welcomes Les. Meanwhile, a local doctor, Dr. Charles Herpes (Henri Szeps) has, with his assistant Veronique (Pamela Stephenson), developed a nasty disease for the KGB who are going to use it to put on toilet seats in the Pentagon to infect the high-ups. But the coup leader has stolen the disease and it's up to Dame Edna Everage (also Humphries), who's an undercover spy for the CIA, to save the day. Ridiculous movie with only a few laughs (the ending at a rotating restaurant is pretty funny) and more than a few embarrassing moments for those involved with a plot not worth mentioning. Even the way Dame Edna is shoehorned in is way too contrived to work. A total mess.

There's no nudity in Les Patterson Saves the World but there's a few sexy scenes which can be found here.

 

 

The Marsupials: The Howling III

After directing Howling 2, Philippe Mora came back for more and dragged the Howling series kicking and screaming to Australia. Now a comedy, it follows Jerboa (Imogen Annesley) who escapes from her cult-like family after the leader makes a play for her and decides to head to the big city. She discovered in Sydney by Donny (Leigh Biolos) who gets her a role in a cheesy horror movie directed by Jack Citron (Frank Thring). Jerboa and Donny fall for one another but there's something different about her like her general hairiness and the pouch. After an incident, a professor Harry Beckmeyer (Barry Otto) thinks he's found the mysterious creature he's been searching for. Oh and Jerboa is pregnant and the government now wants to get it's grubby hands on her and weird creature she's given birth to. A wild divergence from the previous Howling movies, this isn't really a horror movie, isn't really a werewolf movie and is really hard-to-describe. A wild journey that sometimes works, sometimes doesn't and is never not completely wacky. Philippe Mora strikes again.

Imogen Annesley shows her breasts during the birthing scene.

You can find a synopsis with collages and HD widescreen/fullscreen videos from The Marsupials: The Howling III here. A preview is below.

Imogen Annesley in The Marsupials: The Howling III

   
   
   
   
   

 

 

A Matter of Convenience

French co-production telemovie set mostly in St. Kilda about a French bounder (Jean-Pierre Cassel) who gets a younger woman who he has a thing for Valma (Deborra-Lee Furness) to help him with his scam of helping immigrants get married so they can stay in Australia. The bounder convinces Valma to get her on-again off-again partner Joe (John Clarke) in on it by 'marrying' French-African woman Fayda (Kym Amad) so that the bounder can get closer to Valma, who's none too happy about the arrangement and is only doing it for the money being waved at her. Then the authorities set their sights on the bounder. Light comedy with a few laughs in the silliness of the concept plus the three leads are pretty likeable throughout.

Brief full frontal nudity from Kym Amad as she gets out of the shower.

Kym Amad in A Matter of Convenience

2451kb 8sec 748x576 (brief full frontal nudity)

 

 

Pandemonium

Batshit crazy comedy about an unnamed dingo girl (Amanda Dole) who arrives on a beach semi-naked and wanders off to a closed off building where she is spied by nutter Kales (who else but David Argue) who follows her as she breaks into the building owned by wheelchair bound P.B. de Woolf (Arna-Maria Winchester). P.B. is angry that dingo girl is back in her life after abandoning her all those years ago. Her husband, E.B. De Woolf (Esben Storm), is a struggling filmmaker who is advertising for an actress to finish his movie when the dingo girl comes into his life and he become enraptured with her. Also boarding at the house among others are in sync twins who are desperate to be impregnated by their uncle Little Adolph (Ashley Grenville), a feeble descendant of Hitler. Everyone becomes obsessed with dingo girl particularly when they find out she's a virgin but also possibly the Second Coming of Christ. Near impossible to get a handle on the movie (I guess the title is appropriate) with every character in the movie except dingo girl being incredibly shrill and highly annoying and there's so many people in the movie it becomes incredibly crowded. Lots of jokes about Azaria Chamberlain, Hitler has one ball and the Second Coming, none of which are funny. May be the most unwatchable Australian movie ever made.

Frequent nudity from Amanda Dole as Dingo Girl (in her final movie), further nudity from sexpot Mercia Deane-Johns plus Kerry Mack and Rainee Skinner have their breasts exposed in a dress.

You can find a synopsis with collages and VHS videos from Pandemonium here. A preview is below.

Amanda Dole in Pandemonium

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 

 

Mercia Deane-Johns in Pandemonium

   
   

 

Kerry Mack and Rainee Skinner in Pandemonium

   
   

 

Unknown in Pandemonium

 

 

The Right Hand Man

Period drama where Lord Harry Ironminster (Rupert Everett) gets into a buggy accident where he keels over while driving and ends up killing his father. The local doctor Dr Redbridge (Arthur Dignam), helped out by his dutiful daughter Sarah (Catherine McClements) look into it and find out that he has diabetes which in the 1880s is basically a death sentence. His mother Lady Ironminster (Jennifer Claire) thinks that this is the end of the family's legacy which is not helped by her not loving the move to Australia. One day, Harry sees stagecoach driver Ned Devine (Hugo Weaving) skillfully control a coach and asks him to be his driver but at first he isn't interested until he's fired by Cobb & Co. after avoiding a serious accident. He goes to Harry and they strike up a friendship while Harry falls for Sarah but he becomes more sickly. Harry, Ned and Sarah become friendly with Ned and Sarah a little more so which the sickly Harry notices and he talks Ned and Sarah into 'making his child' before he dies. Standard love triangle drama except for the odd twist involving a sickly Harry wanting to leave his mark on the world by getting his friends together. There's also a lot of exciting looking stagecoach driving, some quite high speed stuff too. Also a rare movie where Hugo Weaving gets to play the swarthy love interest.

Catherine McClements is nude in a couple of scenes.

You can find a synopsis with collages and HD/VHS fullscreen videos from The Right Hand Man here. A preview is below.

Catherine McClements in The Right Hand Man

   
   
   
   
   
   

 

 

Shadows of the Peacock
aka Echoes of Paradise

Phillip Noyce-directed drama about Maria (Wendy Hughes), the wife of a politician (Steve Jacobs) with two kids who discovers that her husband is having an affair and that it seems to be perfectly fine for this to happen. But Maria isn't happy so she goes on holiday to Thailand with her friend Judy (Peta Toppano).  Maria then meets Raka (John Lone from The Last Emperor), a former Balinese dancer who now runs a restaurant and she falls for him to such an extent that she decides to extend her stay in Thailand indefinitely, much to the annoyance of her husband. From there, a relationship develops even when Raka's former lover (Gillian Jacobs) warns her about him. That's when Maria's husband decides he wants her back. Not a bad movie about a woman trying to find herself after getting stuck in a rut, the perfect role for Wendy Hughes.

A very brief bit of nudity from Wendy Hughes during a sex scene.

You can find a synopsis with videos from Shadows of the Peacock here. A preview is below.

Wendy Hughes in Shadows of the Peacock

 

 

Slate, Wyn & Me

Drama about two brothers Slate (Martin Sacks) and Wyn (Simon Burke) who rob a local bank but in the process of getting away come across a local cop who Wyn shoots dead. Blanche (Sigrid Thornton) sees the whole thing from the back of the police car so the brothers kidnap her and go on-the-run. Along the way the three bicker as they hide out in the middle of nowhere and eventually the brothers fall for Blanche and this causes friction between the two of them. A movie that feels like it should be a comedy but there's no attempt to harness that energy after the shock of the cop being shot dead. The movie loses any momentum from there and focuses on a boring love triangle full of bickering and a bizarre ending where Wyn turns into a killer and hunts down Blanche. The tone of this movie is right off, a total misfire.

No nudity in the movie but Julia MacDougall is in her underwear plus there's an upskirt from Sigrid Thornton.

Sigrid Thornton in Slate, Wyn & Me

6598kb 20sec 744x568 (upskirt)

 

Julia MacDougall in Slate, Wyn & Me

6102kb 22sec 744x568 (bra and panties, stockings and suspenders)

 

 

Those Dear Departed
aka Ghosts CAN Do It

Appallingly misjudged comedy where renowned stage actor Max Falcon (Garry McDonald) is in the process of being killed by his wife Marilyn (Pamela Stephenson) during a performance of his play Fraud! The Musical. But he stubbornly survives so Marilyn keeps trying to kill Max while continuing her affair with his driver Richard (Marian Dworakowski).  After accidentally poisoning Max's agent Norda (Su Cruickshank), the police, including Inspector Jerry (John Clarke) and his sergeant Steve (Jonathan Biggins) become involved and place the blame on Max. Well until Marilyn and Richard fake Max's suicide and finally off Max. Max goes to 'theatre heaven', where with Norda and his long lost father, they contrive a way from the afterlife to get Marilyn to confess to Max's murder but all it results in is Marilyn falling in love with Max again and the death of Richard when he starts seeing their ghosts. A great comedy cast has been assembled but material they're given is appallingly bad. McDonald's character is a terrible bore and hedging the movie on this annoying character was a major error. Stephenson's character gets the only good stuff in the movie, which isn't much, but one scene involving her sniper shooting one of the cops is badly misjudged and belongs in a different movie. 10BA was both a blessing and a curse.

The only nudity in the movie is from various dancers in the musical from the opening of the movie. There's also a few sexy scenes featuring Pamela Stephenson.

You can find a synopsis with collages and videos from Those Dear Departed here. A preview is below.

Dancers in Those Dear Departed

   
   
   

 

 

The Time Guardian

Sci-fi thriller set in the 41st century when humans try to save humanity from a bunch of evil cyborgs called Jen-Diki. Time travellers have decided that 1988 is a safe time to go back to and they send two operatives Ballard (Tom Burlinson) and Petra (Carrie Fisher) to set up for the move but the cyborgs can also go back in time. In 1988, Ballard meets a geologist Annie (Nikki Coghill) who he enlists to help after Petra becomes incapacitated (um, they ran out of money to pay Carrie Fisher...). While waiting for Petra to get well enough to return, Ballard has resistance from local cops. A flagrant rip-off of The Terminator, that's needlessly confusing and spends most of its running time in boring old 1988 being harassed by comic relief instead of shooting up some cyborgs and when the shooting starts it's pretty lame. An obvious attempt to get in on the American market that fails miserably not helped by also costing more than The Terminator to make without any of that movie's innovation to show for it. Got to be a tax write-off...

Nikki Coghill is nude again as she was in Dark Age.

You can find a synopsis with collages and HD videos from The Time Guardian here. A preview is below.

Nikki Coghill in The Time Guardian

   
   

 

 

Tudawali

Biopic of Indigenous actor Robert Tudawali (Ernie Dingo) who came to fame when he was cast by Australian auteur Charles Chauvel (Frank Wilson) in his final movie Jedda. Being cast in the movie is both a blessing and a curse for Robert as it gives him the opportunity to experience a life he never had but he also has to face up to local responsibilities including with his perpetually sick wife Peggy (Jedda Cole). Tudawali attempts to continue acting but is struck down by bouts of tuberculosis, alcoholism and virulent racism including from white people he's 'friendly' with. He also strikes up a friendship with aspiring documentarian Harry (Peter Fisher). Interesting story but there's too much of focus on Harry's character when the story is about Tudawali plus there's a conspiracy angle in regards to his death that's never really explored and probably didn't happen. A modest movie at best.

Some brief nudity from Jedda Cole during a sex scene.

Jedda Cole in Tudawali

7920kb 28sec 752x576 (breasts, sex scene)

11984kb 43sec 752x576 (plenty of cleavage in petticoat)

 

 

The Umbrella Woman
aka The Good Wife

Melodrama about Marge (Rachel Ward), a midwife and Sonny (Bryan Brown), a lumberjack, who are very much in love with each other then Sonny brings his troubled brother Sugar (Steven Vidler) into their home. Sugar takes a shine to Marge and she sees this and cheekily suggest that they have sex, which Sonny allows. After an incident where Sugar blurts out that he's seen Marge naked, word starts to get around about the three. Then new barkeep Neville (Sam Neill), a furious womaniser, arrives and spies Marge and attempts to get with her but she rejects him and Neville tells her that's the only chance she will get with him. This sets off Marge, who completely loses herself and desperately wants to get with Neville but he's too busy getting with other woman in the town. Marge then leaves Sonny in one final desperate attempt to get Neville. An OK if a tad frustrating melodrama that is well acted by the main cast, but Bryan Brown's character is such a wuss and I can't believe the things he lets Marge do, only to continually take her back. Marge's desperation is also pretty off-putting considering her certainty before Neville's proclamation to her.

Susan Lyons very briefly shows her breasts also there's plenty of sexy stuff from Rachel Ward.

You can find a synopsis with videos from The Umbrella Woman here. A preview is below.

Susan Lyons in The Umbrella Woman

   

 

 

Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train

Ludicrous drama from bloviator Bob Ellis where a Catholic high school art teacher (Wendy Hughes) moonlights as a prostitute on the Sydney-to-Melbourne train one night a week. She does it because she needs extra money to help feed her disabled brother's morphine addiction. She has sex with various men including a disgraced football coach, a soldier worried about his upcoming wedding, a retired salesman and a well-known singer. Then a mysterious man (Colin Friels) piques her interest to the point that she falls for him but he is using her to set up an assassination of a prominent right wing politician (Grant Tilly), which he coaxes her into doing. Very slight movie that is basically just brief boring encounters until a cockamamie political assassination is added in the third act so that something exciting can happen. Feels more like rejected Paul Cox movie, a theory helped by three of his regulars featuring plus it's written and directed by Ellis who wrote a couple of Cox's movies. Basically an excuse for Ellis to get Wendy Hughes naked which he failed to properly do.

Some very brief nudity from Wendy Hughes but she is mostly covered up throughout the movie.

You can find a synopsis with collages and videos from Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train here. A preview is below.

Wendy Hughes in Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train

   

 

 

With Time to Kill

Avant-garde detective thriller where a policeman (Ian Scott) is chasing after a killer who is bumping off many in the Melbourne underworld. It turns out that it's his partner (writer/director James Clayden) but it takes him a while to work it out and so many of the underworld are killed in the process. Hard-to-describe the plot deeper as it's not much more than that plus a bunch of wacky scenarios that play out like the partner and his wife only communicating with one another via video messages they leave each other. And so many people are killed, it has a horror movie worthy number of kills and impressively all in under 70 minutes. Very offbeat with lots of weird scenes and local Melbourne cameos.

Lin Van Hek shows her breasts and bottom during a shower scene.

You can find a synopsis with VHS videos from With Time to Kill here. A preview is below.

Lin van Hek in With Time to Kill

   
   

 

 

The Year My Voice Broke

Coming-of-age drama about two young friends Danny (Noah Taylor) and Freya (Loene Carmen) who are growing up in a small country town in the early 60s. Danny has always had a crush on Freya and she knows it but she doesn't like him in that way. Then hyperactive rugby full back Trevor (Ben Mendelsohn) comes along and takes a shine to Freya and she falls for him. But, Freya and Trevor's relationship is doomed because of who they are; Freya because of the well-known 'secret' of who her real mother is and Trevor because he's into stealing cars and racing them around the local race track. Danny tries to accept their relationship which is not helped when Freya becomes pregnant, but that isn't the least of the complications as it was always going to end in tragedy. Directed by John Duigan, this is one of my favourite Australian movies ever, a great coming-of-age story that was doomed from the start with three great characters with an interesting story to tell.

No nudity in The Year My Voice Broke but there's plenty of sexy stuff from Loene Carmen which can be found here.

 

 

There's also a bunch of movies that have nothing to cap in them including the Judy Davis/Claudia Karvan starring thriller High Tide, the war drama The Lighthorsemen, nuclear conspiracy thriller Ground Zero, Dickens' adaptation Great Expectations: The Untold Story, middle-aged romantic drama Travelling North, gangster comedy Running from the Guns, vampire movie Outback Vampires, moody drama With Love to the Person Next to Me, Disney Australian Christmas movie Bushfire Moon, Paul Cox directed docudrama about Vincent van Gogh Vincent, wacky comedy I've Come About the Suicide, comedy about a small-time actor The Bit Part, Bill Bennett comedy about getting a credit card Dear Cardholder, Lee Majors starring telemovie Harris Down Under aka Danger Down Under, low budget oddball comedy Brainblast and two animated movies featuring Dot: Dot Goes to Hollywood and Dot and the Smugglers. There's also Western Australian drama The Pursuit of Happiness that has unknown extras flashing breasts and drama The Place at the Coast which has no nudity but might have some sexy stuff to cap.

Some New Zealand movies with nothing to cap include Peter Jackson's debut Bad Taste and Peter Phelps starring drama Starlight Hotel.

It is unknown whether there's anything to cap in the Jacqueline McKenzie debut Wordplay (but my memory seems to think not as it's set in a school over a day) and other movies Hot Ice, Perhaps Love and To Market to Market. Also unknown is the New Zealand movie Ngati.

I'm quite a bit behind on the 1988 update so it might be a struggle to get the update done by next weekend. I still got to look through at least 30 movies so who knows.

 

Tags: Lyn Pierse, Penny Cook, Liddy Clark, Joanne Samuel, Elizabeth Burton, Jedda Cole, Kym Amad, Melanie Forbes, Christine Grant, Sigrid Thornton, Julia MacDougall