Australian/New Zealand movies: 2001

Things are about to drop off in regards to nudity over the next little while. Very mild year with no movies with extensive nudity and a number of movies with just sexy scenes and when there is nudity, it's pretty mild. Only 5 of the 14 movies in today's update have any nudity and it doesn't get better in the next update. Having said that there is some decent nudity from Jaime Passier-Armstrong in the New Zealand movie Crooked Earth.

2001

Bodyjackers

Another of those South Australian million dollar movies, this time a horror comedy where a meteorite lands in a small town. A small town ambulance driver Walter (Hugh Sexton) and his trusty offsider Brendan (Dan McInnes) find a slime that seems to have cloning properties. Three months later, drifter O'Grady (Gary Sweet) and his lover Loretta (Elissa Elliot) are passing through but get pulled over by the local cop Hannigan (Vince Poletto) who is overly aggressive towards them, almost sexually assaulting Loretta before O'Grady intervenes and in the ensuing struggle he accidentally shoots Hannigan, who then gets run over. O'Grady tells Loretta to run away while he decides stays in town trying at the pub owned by Audrey (Alyce Platt) who lives with her goth daughter Simone (Charlotte Rees) to get his bearings. A series of incidents occur including Loretta's arrival in town that leads O'Grady to believe that Walter and Brendan are up to something and he finds out they are cloning the townsfolk and turning them into their own creations. Corny comedy that relies more on the comedy, which is lacking, than the horror part of the equation. Seems to have a slightly bigger budget featuring more well known actors (Gary Sweet is a massive step up from who the other movies had) and they seem to be in on the joke. It's just a shame that joke just isn't very funny.

No nudity in Bodyjackers but there's a few videos from the movie here.

 

 

Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles

Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan) is back again for one more go at it, this time with a young son Mikey (Serge Cockburn). When Sue (Linda Kozlowski) is asked by her father to run the newspaper in Los Angeles, Mick and their son Mikey decide to join her. Mick and Mikey try to adapt to living in the weirdness of Los Angeles and when those ideas run thin, Mick uncovers an art smuggling ring and foils it. Also his Mick's outback mate Nugget (Gerry Skilton) comes over to be the 'nanny' for Mikey. There's also lots of talk of Mick and Sue finally getting married plus an unusual amount of 'gay cowboy' talk. Diminishing returns, some jokes land and then when the movie starts to go nowhere, it ends with a B-grade plot involving art smugglers that is almost as bad as the drug smuggler shoot-out ending of the second movie. The original really was 'lightning in a bottle'.

No nudity in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles but there's a quick video from the movie below.

Clare Carey in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles

37151kb 41sec 1920x1088 (sports bra, shorts)

 

 

Crooked Earth (NZ)

Thriller where Will (Temuera Morrison) has been dishonourably discharged from military service and comes home for the funeral of his father and meets up with his daughter Ripeke (Jaime Passier-Armstrong). The death of the patriarch has left a struggle for the head of the family between Will and his brother Kahu (Lawrence Makoare). Will is reluctant to take over as he had left this life, so Kahu has no problem taking over as it allows him to flaunt his power for his growing criminal empire. When a local land deal that was first struck up by their father is hijacked by Kahu, Will is forced into action to stop his brother wreaking havoc in the area with his new drug dealing friends. And Kahu is not going down without a fight, even if it means killing his brother and his niece. Not bad movie about the new ways mixing with the old way but Once Were Warriors did that way better. Good, but not great.

A couple of scenes where Jaime Passier-Armstrong shows her breasts.

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

Jaime Passier-Armstrong in Crooked Earth

    
    
    
    
    
 

 

 

Cubbyhouse
aka Hellion: The Devil's Playground

Horror movie where Lynn (Belinda McClory) comes back to Australia after divorcing her American husband with her three children including teenage daughter Bronwyn (Lauren Hewett). Lynn buys an old house to be near her sister but the house has a history involving satanic rituals. It seems that the evil is coming from the cubbyhouse in the backyard and Lynn's two youngest kids have come under its spell. Meanwhile, a young man Danny (Joshua Leonard from The Blair Witch Project) takes an interest in the house and Bronwyn. Silly horror movie from prolific director Murray Fahey who probably had his biggest budget with this movie as he mostly made cheapies.

Brief nudity from Belinda Gavin while Lauren Hewett has a scene where she covers her breasts with her arm. This was her last movie after a prolific career through the 1990s as a child actor.

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

Lauren Hewitt in Cubbyhouse

    
    

 

Belinda Gavin in Cubbyhouse

    
    

 

 

The Diamond of Jeru

Didn't watch the movie as I could only get a Russian overdub but it's Billy Zane back in Australia after Dead Calm and The Phantom. Also nice to Paris Jefferson in another Australian movie after being in the Panther movies in the late 80s.

Paris Jefferson in The Diamond of Jeru

5228kb 18sec 688x512 ('nude' under water)

 

 

Elixir (trailer only)

Lost movie, never released as far as I can tell. But there's a near 5 minute trailer from the movie that has a brief moment where you see Laurie Foell's breasts. Movie may never be released but strangely the director of the movie put up behind-the-scenes footage from the movie on YouTube a fortnight ago, so who knows?

The original update is available here.

Laurie Foell in Elixir (trailer)

    

 

 

 

The Finder

Thriller where Rebecca (Anja Coleby) is taken from her car and kidnapped by Lew (Alan Cinis), who takes her in his kombi van to a remote location. Rebecca's father Bob (Barry Langrishe) receives a tape and decides to get in touch with Les Kearney (Simon Westaway), a former cop turned private investigator who works out of the local surf lifesaving club. Les visits her boyfriend Rick (Dieter Brummer) who tells her about an incident where a gang of drug dealers called the Natoli brothers including Leo (Paul Mercurio) and Sam (Callan Mulvey) drugged Rebecca and almost raped her before Rick saved her and copped a slashing for his trouble. Rick is then killed. Les gets his car salesman mate Ace (Alan Lovell) to do some errands for him while he goes an visits Rick's mother Irene (Rowena Wallace) and she tells him that he was going to propose to Rebecca yesterday morning before she was kidnapped. Rebecca is then taken by a second kidnapper Paul (Tim McCunn) who probably killed Rick and that isn't even the half of it. OK thriller but is riddled with a bunch of ridiculous stuff and a complicated plot that needs a whole lotta explaining and I'm not sure makes sense. There's a whole bunch of odd moments throughout, no more so than the kidnapper using a paraglider to find a fleeing Rebecca which just looks like something the makers put it because they had access to it. All in all, the plot moves along quite nicely which makes the movie fairly watchable but it's so complex and probably doesn't make sense.

No nudity in The Finder but there's some videos from the movie available here.

 

 

Getting the Dirt on Trish

Adelaide-made low budget slacker comedy, this time told from the female perspective. Trish (Caroline Farmer) is her own worst enemy. She is in a sort-of relationship with Mark (Tommy Darwin) but is sleeping with Michael (Robertto Karas) who's already in a relationship with Clare. When she writes a career-ending review of her ex-boyfriend Johnny's (John Martin) band's new album, he comes after her in vengeance so Trish hides out with her sister Jodi (Gail Kovalseff). Well, they don't exactly get along then Trish ghosts Mark who finds out she's cheating on him and now he's after her. Meanwhile, Jodi hits it off her neighbour Darcy (Simon Robb). Eventually Trish's chickens come home to roost and she can't hide forever. Mildly amusing movie, Trish is such a mess that it's hard to like her but she does leave a somewhat amusing amount of carnage behind with a number of frustrated men. As with most slacker movies it's pretty modest and never reaches any great heights. Had never heard of this movie before I went looking for it.

Very brief glimpses at Caroline Farmer's breasts, never more than a second or so a few times throughout the movie.

Caroline Farmer in Getting the Dirt on Trish

3356kb 29sec 636x480 (brief breasts/side-boob)

15934kb 1min 40sec 636x480 (brief breasts/side-boob, bra, lengthy)

1686kb 18sec 636x480 (implied nudity)

 

 

Hard Knox

Action comedy pilot where a private detective Niki Knox (Kim-Maree Penn) is getting married but her father (Lee Majors) hasn't arrived because he is being attacked by Delicious Malicious (Simone Kessell) and a couple of goons who want a gemstone that he is supposed to have. Niki goes to help him but she doesn't get there in time and her father is dropped from the roof of his building while she barely survives an explosion. Niki decides to go after Delicious Malicious and gets help with an unlucky cop Steve (Thomas Calabro) who just quit his job and just happens to be in the right place at the right time. Well, Delicious Malicious still wants that gemstone for her boss as when joined with the other two gemstones he has in his possession, he will be given great powers. Oh and the boss (Jason Chong) just happens to be the man Niki was going to marry. Silly, low-rent movie made for the American market so it's dodgy accents ahoy except from the main character who seems to be dubbed but still with an Australian accent. Also made in the most non-American looking city ever in Sydney. The action is pretty good mainly because the lead is a martial arts champion and knows her stuff and Simone Kessell is good too as a real shitty villain but the plot is ridiculous, Lee Majors comes back as ghost, Calabro is lumped with some real anti-comedy and someone forgot to tell the lead it's a comedy and she plays it way too seriously. Hard to believe this comes from John Edwards who would become known for much better shows like Love My Way and Puberty Blues.

I've upgraded the videos from Hard Knox to HD which are available below. You can find the original update here.

Kim Maree Penn in Hard Knox

17141kb 18sec 1920x1088 (plenty of cleavage in nice dress that rises up to reveal panties)

93941kb 1min 44sec 1920x1088 (plenty of cleavage in nice dress that she rips off to reveal panties, lengthy)

2200kb 2sec 1920x1088 (bra)

 

Simone Kessell in Hard Knox

93549kb 1min 44sec 1920x1088 (bra and panties, lengthy)

 

Natalie Mendoza in Hard Knox

49344kb 54sec 1920x1088 (in towel, 'nude' in bath)

 

 

He Died with a Felafel in His Hand

Slacker comedy based on a very popular cult Gen-X book. Danny (Noah Taylor) moves from share house to share house across a number of states where he meets a wide variety people. Along the way we comes across French woman Anya (Romane Bohringer) who he falls for but she is an enigma that he can't quite crack. Haven't seen this movie in a while but the book and play were a staple for twentysomethings in the 1990s so it's strange that this movie feels past it's used-by date despite it's pretty decent cast and well chosen director. The movie just doesn't work for some reason, I don't know what it is.

No nudity in He Died with a Felafel in His Hand and not much to cap at all but there's a couple of videos where Romane Bohringer and Emily Hamilton kiss available here.

 

 

Instant Karma

Low budget thriller where Scott (Amos Szeps) and Samantha (Emily Stewart) are getting married but have spent all their money on getting a deposit for their new home and have nothing left for their wedding. Despite that their friend Danny (David Gambin) helps out by 'borrowing' wedding clothes for them. After their honeymoon, Scott and Samantha arrive home to an empty house as someone has cleaned them out. Then Scott says that he forgot to pay the insurance so they're stuffed. Except Samantha hatches a plan to pay the insurance late then call the police about the robbery. Which would've been the easy solution until Samantha notices a teenage boy wearing Scott's jacket and with Danny, they grab the boy off the street and bundles him up at their house. When Scott comes home he's disgusted with what they've done but more disgusted at the boy and in a tussle, ends up killing the boy. And then a twist-of-fate is about to make things a whole lot worse for the three. Clumsy but not all that bad little thriller that has a few good ideas but also too many coincidences and an ending which is all too convenient. The protagonists get a little too confident in their plan so the movie is never boring and worth a look.

No nudity in Instant Karma but I've made a couple of videos from the movie of Emily Stewart which are available below.

Emily Stewart in Instant Karma

8607kb 35sec 1192x700 ('nude' in bath)

36614kb 1min 25sec 1190x720 (plenty of cleavage in nice dress/petticoat, nippy)

 

 

Jumping Ship

Disney movie starring the three Lawrence brothers that was made in Australia. Plot is pretty silly something about three kidnappers (including New Zealand actress Jaime Passier-Armstrong who has some decent nudity in Crooked Earth) who attempt to nab the rich older Lawrence brother for ransom but their boat capsizes and the three brothers are stranded on a deserted island. Yawn!

Somehow there's a sexy scene in this kids movie with Carly Movizio in a bikini which is available below.

Carly Movizio in Jumping Ship

2246kb 18sec 848x480 (bikini top, skirt)

 

 

Lantana

Ensemble drama from director Ray Lawrence, his first movie since the excellent 1985 movie Bliss. Police detective Leon Zat (Anthony LaPaglia) begins an affair with Jane (Rachael Blake), who met during a salsa dance class which Leon takes with his wife Sonja (Kerry Armstrong). Sonja is seeing a psychiatrist Dr. Valerie Sommers (Barbara Hershey), trying to work out the problems in her marriage. Valerie is releasing a book about the murder of her young daughter and her husband John (Geoffrey Rush) is not happy about it and seems very distant in their relationship. Valerie is having a very difficult time with a patient Patrick (Peter Phelps), a gay man who is in a relationship with a married man and after a problematic session with Patrick, Valerie loses herself and goes for a drive and has an accident, leaving her stranded. While waiting for roadside service, Valerie stops a car to get assistance and is never seen again. Leon and his partner (Leah Purcell) are investigating her disappearance and suspect John. Jane sees her next door neighbour Nik (Vince Colosimo) arrive home in a worrisome state and throws something into the lantana bush and she finds that it's a woman shoe. She calls the police and Nik is arrested but things are never that simple. Gripping story about a group of people all seemingly going downhill in their lives. Is at its best when on the disappearance of Valerie and is all very grim with no one coming out unscathed and the end is a total 'everything's fucked' scenario. If the story wasn't that good, I'd probably hate Lantana for it's ridiculous improbability of how everyone is connected but it succeeds with a great cast and a sheer force of will.

Very brief nudity from Rachael Blake.

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

Rachael Blake in Lantana

    

 

 

Lawless: Beyond Justice (NZ)

Another in the Lawless telemovie series with Kevin Smith playing a former cop now private detective who solves crimes. This one co-stars American actress Jennifer Rubin.

Brief nudity from Shelly Edwards in an early 2000s web video.

You can find a synopsis with videos from Lawless: Beyond Justice here. A preview is below.

Shelly Edwards in Lawless: Beyond Justice

    
    

 

 

Continuing with a soft year for nudity but there's still good nudity in the polyamorous drama Summer of Love and the New Zealand comedy Stickmen. Everything else is all very brief.

The Man Who Sued God

Comedy that drops that charade and turns into a courtroom drama. Steve (Billy Connolly) watches his boat and home get struck by lightning almost killing him in the process and then gets screwed out of an insurance pay out by the 'Act of God' clause which pisses him off no end. So broke and without home, he decides to sue God in the name of the union of Churches which is treated as a joke by the media. But struggling tabloid columnist Anna (Judy Davis) sees it as an opportunity to get back to writing bigger stories even after she had a run in with Steve previously. She helps him with his case which seems like a long shot but Steve isn't giving up without a fight also he and Anna fall for one another. There's an interesting idea here but probably not one to sustain an 100 minute movie which may explain why there's barely any comedy after the first 20 minutes and the only comedy is forced slapstick which feels out-of-place with the rest of the movie. Also has a very corny 'fuck insurance companies/religious awakening' ending. Emily Browning's first movie playing Connolly's daughter although she'd done plenty of TV before that. Very middle of the road.

No nudity in The Man Who Sued God but there's a scene where Judy Davis has her skirt ripped off which is unexpected for a movie like this.

Judy Davis in The Man Who Sued God

8774kb 31sec 960x400 (skirt ripped off revealing panties)

6660kb 29sec 960x400 (various down blouses)

 

 

Moulin Rouge!

Baz Luhrmann strikes again, this time a pop-infused musical love story set around the Moulin Rouge where a struggling poet Christian (Ewan McGregor) falls for Moulin Rouge's main attraction Satine (Nicole Kidman). I'd be lying if I said I've watched but back when I capped it, I watched the first 20-odd minutes and quit when the cast improvised a show, that was enough for me...

There's a scene where Nicole Kidman's nipple slips outside of her dress which is the closest thing to nudity in the movie. I have made a few videos from Moulin Rouge! which you can find here. A preview is below.

Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!

    
    

 

 

Mullet

Drama about Eddie (Ben Mendelsohn) known by everyone as 'Mullet' who arrives back in his hometown and stirs up trouble like he did before he left. That's about all I remember, I'm afraid.

No nudity in Mullet but there's an underwear scene from Belinda McClory which you can find here.

 

 

The Old Man Who Read Love Stories

Rolf de Heer's only international production to date. Drama set and made in French Guiana, about Antonio Bolivar (Richard Dreyfuss) who's lived in the marshlands for over 40 years. One day, a white man is found dead in the water with a massive slash mark down his body. Local cop/mayor Luis (Timothy Spall) thinks it's the tribespeople but Bolivar is convinced that it's a rogue female jaguar getting revenge on a poacher. When a second body turns up with the same slash marks, Luis gets itchy and decides to send out a posse to kill the jaguar which includes Bolivar and dentist Rubicondo (Hugo Weaving) amongst others. But the jaguar proves a wily beast to kill and brings Bolivar to the brink of madness which causes him to come to love the animal he's supposed to kill. He also remembers his lost love Josefina (Cathy Tyson) who enabled his love of reading, Not a bad little tale with mostly Dreyfuss by himself for a fair portion of the second half of the movie. Both Spall and Weaving put on dreadful accents but you gotta sell the movie with recognisable names I guess. Let's face it, de Heer was never going to make a Hollywood blockbuster and this is more in his comfort zone.

Only nudity in the movie is from some unnamed local tribeswomen in some dream sequences.

Unknowns in The Old Man Who Read Love Stories

4246kb 20sec 960x400 (various women showing breasts)

 

 

One Night the Moon

Devastating musical mystery set in the 1930s about a young girl who goes missing but her father (singer Paul Kelly) refuses the use of Aboriginal tracker Albert (Kelton Pell) to help find his daughter. Albert stews about not being able to help as the white folk go off and don't end up finding her. The girl's mother Rose (Kaarin Fairfax) waits at home and finally allows Albert to find her daughter but is it too late? Interesting way to tell the story with music/song and barely any dialogue or plot and it works surprisingly well. Interestingly, Kelly and Fairfax, who were married while making the movie, split up after making this movie.

Brief side-boob from Kaarin Fairfax while she takes a bath.

Kaarin Fairfax in One Night the Moon

2828kb 10sec 960x544 (side-boob, 'nude' in bath)

 

 

Rain (NZ)

Drama that is seen through the eyes of a 13 year-old girl Janey (Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki) who watches her family fall apart over summer at their holiday house with her mother (Sarah Peirse) flirting and then having an affair with a local man Cady (Marton Csokas). Janey begins to resent her mother and starts to become insistent on Cady, attempting to get him to take photos of her. Then one day it all comes to a head with a family tragedy. Disturbing drama where the final act is incredibly bleak and the whole movie is hard to watch but the two female leads are very good particularly Fulford-Wierzbicki but the male roles are very weak and depending on your proclivities, the final act might be too much.

Brief nudity from Sarah Peirse and Alison Routledge.

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

Sarah Peirse in Rain

    

 

Alison Routledge in Rain

    
    

 

 

Russian Doll

Romantic comedy where Russian woman Katia (Natalia Novikova) arrives in Sydney to be a mail-order bride but finds that the man she was to marry has died and now she's stranded without knowing anyone. She then meets Ethan (David Wenham) and they fall for one another but there's one problem: he's married to Miriam (Rebecca Frith). Ethan needs somewhere to set Katia up and finds it in his best friend Harvey (Hugo Weaving), a meek private detective who has just found the woman he was to marry cheating on him. Ethan comes up with a plan to pay Harvey to 'marry' Katia so that she can have somewhere to stay while they have their affair. Harvey accepts only because he now has money to quit his job and write full time. And wouldn't you know it, over time Harvey and Katia fall for one another as Ethan becomes more flaky. Silly little comedy, all very predictable and not all that funny despite being an attempt at being a screwball comedy.

No nudity in Russian Doll but there's a few sexy scenes featuring Natalia Novikova and others which you can find here.

 

 

Serenades

Drama set the late 19th century where a girl is born of Indigenous mother and Afghan father and spends her youth living in both worlds, struggling to find her way. As an adult, Jila (Alice Haines) falls for Johann (Aden Young). That's all I remember from the movie.

Franchesca Cubillo briefly shows her breasts during a sex/rape scene.

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

Franchesca Cubillo in Serandes

    
    

 

 

Snakeskin (NZ)

Thriller where Alice (Melanie Lynskey), a woman who is obsessed with American culture and wants to have a big adventure but that isn't happening in Christchurch. Her best friend Johnny (Dean O'Gorman) wants a normal life but humours her dreams with his American car as they pick up hitchhikers on the side of the road, looking for fun. At a petrol station, they meet Seth (Boyd Kestner), a American cowboy who seems to be possessed by a snake and they give him a lift and their fun is about to begin. Turns out Seth is being chased by a bunch of skinheads and they are followed in an ice cream truck driven by a hippy couple, Nelson (Taika Waititi) and Daisy (Jodie Rimmer), who Seth stole drugs from and also their boss Tama (Gordon Hatfield), who wants his money. Alice is about to get the big adventure she always wanted and she's not going to like it. Shallow and uninteresting road movie thriller that goes around in circles until nearly everyone dies in the inevitable final confrontation. I have no idea where anyone is going in this movie and they seem to catch up with one another so quickly that really does seem like they are doing laps of the town until 80 minutes is up for the final confrontation. And by 2001, Snakeskin feels like a latecomer to the ripping off Tarantino trend. The movie is indistinguishable from an American movie of the period save for the New Zealand accents and scenery.

No nudity in Snakeskin but there's a few sexy videos featuring Melanie Lynskey available here.

 

 

La Spagnola

Spanish melodrama written by actress Anna Maria Monticelli set in Australia amongst the immigration influx of the 1950s. Lola (Lola Marceli) is abandoned by her husband for an Australian woman and she is left to fend for herself with her sullen teenage daughter Lucia (Alice Ansara). She's also pregnant then her husband dies suddenly and now Lola's really in trouble. Then Lucia turns on her, siding with her father and blames her mother for his death so she decides to get revenge on her while her mother desperately tries to hold onto her own sanity in a country she doesn't want to be in. Not a bad attempt at a Spanish melodrama, better than I remember it being and the two leads are very good.

No nudity in La Spagnola but there's a few collages and videos of Lola Marceli and others here.

 

 

Stickmen (NZ)

Guy Ritchie-inspired comedy about three friends Jack (Robbie Magasiva), Thomas (Paolo Rotondo) and Wayne (Scott Wills) who hustle pool together and are spotted by local fixer Holden (Kirk Torrance) who gets pub owner Dave (John Leigh) to sign them up for the city wide underground pool tournament. Meanwhile Thomas, who already has a girlfriend, attracts the interest of waitress Sara (Anne Nordhaus) and they hit it off immediately. Jack also attracts interest from Karen (Simone Kessell) and it turns out that Karen and Sara are working on a plan of their own with the boys. As the boys keep winning against wackier opponents, pressure comes onto them from mob boss Daddy (Enrico Mammarella), who runs the tournament, to up the stakes with their victories because he's laid a big bet against them winning. Flashy movie very much in the vain of Guy Ritchie's early movies but with a New Zealand flavour. The Sara and Karen angle is handled clumsily and doesn't really work but for the most part the movie is pretty enjoyable as it rollicks along.

Nudity from Simone Kessell and Angie Meiklejohn. I've redone the videos from the movie and made a collage which are available below.

Simone Kessell in Stickmen

14412kb 1min 02sec 960x512 (breasts, bra and panties)

 

Anne Nordhaus in Stickmen

2124kb 8sec 960x512 (plenty of cleavage in bodysuit)

 

Angie Meiklejohn in Stickmen

12956kb 1min 01sec 960x512 (breasts/side-boob, bum, sex scene)

 

 

Summer of Love

Romantic drama where Amanda (Natalie Laing) joins her boyfriend Tom (Scott Corfield) on the South Australian coast after the funeral of her father hoping to move on. Instead, she contemplates leaving Tom or at least have more sexual experience with the suggestion of an open relationship. At the shops, Amanda meets American artist Michael (Ryan Miller) who is in town for a big art project, though nothing comes of their brief encounter until the next day when they bump into each other at the beach. Michael convinces Amanda to swim over to the caves and while there, they have sex. Amanda tells Tom about this and he can't believe that she would find someone else to have sex with so quickly and contemplates leaving her. Amanda continues to see Michael while Tom decides to have a chat with Michael and ends up becoming friends with him. After a dinner together, the three have sex and it goes so well that they decide to have a polyamorous relationship. Things continue to go well for a while but a visit from her mother causes Amanda to reassess the relationship. Directed by Wayne Groom of Centrespread and Maslin Beach fame so you already know where this movie's going although strangely this movie is better handled than those movies but not by much. The movie feels more like a soap opera and the acting isn't exactly astounding. Neither of the male characters are interesting, not even the American artist and a big deal is made of Amanda's mood swings and she has plenty of them making her pretty annoying. The exploration of the polyamorous relationship is interesting and is handled fairly well, if only the male characters were worth the effort.

Nudity from Natalie Laing and Bree Maddox.

You can find a synopsis with collages and HD videos from Summer of Love here. A preview is below.

Natalie Laing in Summer of Love

    
    

 

Bree Maddox in Summer of Love

    
    
    
    
    

 

 

WillFull

Comedy about Catherine (Anna Lise Phillips) who works for and is in love with American motivational speaker Nat Wolff (C. Thomas Howell) and is then given the news that her estranged mother Katya (Anne Looby) has died and Catherine doesn't know how to feel. She comes home for the funeral and to take care of arrangements with her mother's partner Martin ('Bud' Tingwell) but still struggles to feel anything until Katya's ghost appears and causes havoc in her life, offering her advice as to what to do especially when Catherine finds out she's pregnant. And over time, Catherine will work out what has been bugging her about her mother and come to terms with her death as Katya has a little fun attempting to lighten Catherine up. Silly, modest but somewhat entertaining movie about a daughter coming to terms with the death of her mother that she despised. Anne Looby does a good job and so does Anne Lise Phillips in holding the movie together but the addition of American actor C. Thomas Howell might've helped sell the movie but he makes very little impact and is at best harmless.

Brief nudity from Anne Looby (or most likely a double) while riding a horse naked.

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

Anne Looby in WillFull

    

 

Quite a lot of movies had nothing to cap in this year including corporate thriller The Bank, old folks with a greyhound drama Dalkeith, another greyhouse drama Silent Partner, comedy thriller Let's Get Skase, revenge thriller Four Jacks, music comedy Spudmonkey, drama about Indigenous boys finding their way Yolngu Boy, student portmaneau movie And She Said..., telemovies Border Patrol and Curse of the Talisman, Neil Johnson directed sci-fi drama Konstrukt 3, true crime telemovie My Husband My Killer and kids movies Hildegarde and When Good Ghouls Go Bad.

There's also quite a few New Zealand movies with nothing to cap including thriller When Strangers Appear, horror thriller No One Can Hear You, low budget drama The Waiting Place, rural dramedy Back River Road, short drama Love Mussel, another in the Lawless telemovie series Lawless: Dead Evidence and silly kids movie Ozzie.

I wasn't able to look at the following movies: Abschied in den Tod, The Bad Samaritan, Big Shots, Blue Neon, Breaking Point, Break the Silence, Finding Hope, Forever After, Hostage to Fate, The Inside Story, Jet Set, The Letter, Low Fat Elephants, Neophytes and Neon Lights, Rooms for Rent, Sisters in Blood, Spatch and The Walk. There's also the New Zealand movies: Beauty of a Straightjacket, Kung Fu Vampire Killers and Still Life.

There's a real drop-off in 2002 so much so that there will probably be only one update for the year. The 2000s on the whole are a real mixed bag.

 

Tags: Clare Carey, Paris Jefferson, Caroline Farmer, Emily Stewart, Carly Movizio, Kim Maree Penn, Simone Kessell, Natalie Mendoza, Judy Davis, Kaarin Fairfax, Simone Kessell, Anne Nordhaus, Angie Meiklejohn