Cinemascape

Once again for any Sydneysiders out there I'll be on Eastside 89.7 FM's Cinemascape show at 17:30 on Thursday April 20th. This time around I'll be reviewing The World's Fastest Indian starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and written and directed by Roger Donaldson.

Supervixens DVD review

Russ Meyer had his fingers burnt with the major studios. The success of Vixen had led to a fractious relationship with Twentieth Century Fox, which produced Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and the little seen The Seven Minutes. Both films had been financial failures and drove Meyer back into independent filmmaking with Supervixens.

Supervixens plays like a Russ Meyer best of. All of his quirks are visible on screen; nazi’s, square jawed heroes, rapid fire editing, ribald dialogue, sex in the desert and girls with unfeasibly large breasts. The film is full of familiar faces for Meyer afficiandos; Haji from Good Morning and Goodbye!, John Lazarr from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Stuart Lancaster from Faster Pussycat Kill Kill! and the legendary Uschi Digard from Cherry, Harry and Raquel.

The film received a lot of criticism for its violence. The scene where Harry Sledge murders Super Angel in the bathtub is very graphic and jars with the rest of the film. Saying that, Charles Napier is fantastic as Sledge, an impotent cop seething with macho rage. The women, all of whom have Super in their name, are all extraordinary and Shari Eubank excels in her dual role of Super Angel and Supervixen. Her venomous dialogue is spat out with searing rage as she taunts Sledges advances. The film comes alive when the duo is on screen; their verbal sparring is a high point that the film never quite matches. The film does meander along at times and some segments could have been easily excised, Ramsey’s desert go-carting escapade for example. Supervixens is Meyer’s road movie and Road Runner cartoon rolled into one; even down to the “Meep Meep” sound effects. It’s a bit too episodic in its storytelling and outstays it welcome but when it works it shows the director at the height of his powers.

Since he passed away Meyer’s films have, at last, been given the special edition treatment on DVD they deserve, its great to see Madman have included Meyer in their Director’s Suite series.

Check out www.cinephilia.net.au for full review

Latest News

As the release date of Superman Returns draws ever closer Starburst has begun to publish reports from my visit to the set last year. Starburst Special #74 features a set report and Starburst #336 will feature my interview with Kevin Spacey who plays Lex Luther. The more I hear about the film the better it sounds, can't wait until June 29th. Starburst will feature much more from my set visit in future issues so keep your eyes on the shelves over the next few of months.

The first issue of Smoke and Mirrors has hit the shelves and looks great. The issue features my Rogue set report and a profile of UK company Framestore CFC.

Issue 5 of Cinema Retro is due out soon and will include my look at the exhibition Stanley Kubrick: Into the Mind of a Visionary Filmmaker including excerpts of my interview with Malcom McDowell and Christianne Kubrick.

Cinemascape - Eastside 89.7FM

This Thursday marks my first day as part of the Eastside 89.7FM Cinemascape team. Each week we will review three new release movies and this week I'll be looking at the film version of Alan Moore's graphic novel V For Vendetta starring Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving. The show goes out every Thursday between 5:30 and 6:00pm.

Interview wirh Roger Donaldson, director of The World's Fastest Indian

Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing director Roger Donaldson. A passing glance at his résumé shows an eclectic and varied array of films that show a man not afraid to try out every genre. From Cocktail to Species, The Getaway to Thirteen Days, there’s something for everyone. We met up to discuss his new film, the fabulous The World’s Fastest Indian starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. It tells the true story of Burt Monroe, an obsessive biker who spends his whole life building an “Indian” motorbike with one aim, to break the land speed record. Thanks to Charlotte Greig for arranging the chat.

How was it returning to New Zealand to make The World’s Fastest Indian after years working in Hollywood?

That’s one of the reasons I made the film, I was looking for an excuse to go back and do something that was relevant to own history really. Because this movie started out as one of the very first films I ever made as a documentary on Burt Monroe. I was at the very beginning of my film-making career, I was in my early twenties so it just had a lot of personal stuff in it for me. In fact one of my daughters saw the film and said, “oh my God Dad, you’ve made a film about myself!” which probably I have in a funny way.

I saw the film last night and apart from trying to break the land speed record it was my Dad, the garage, the motorbikes.

You know, I think that’s what it was for me to. It was really, in its own funny way, a homage to my own father, who’s still alive. But I think everyone has that kind of relationship with his or her Dad. You know the little kid in the film in a way is me. I used him as a vehicle to ask those questions that I was asking as a young twenty year old. I remember being impressed with this guy. I can still remember what he had to say and what he did; he’s attitude to life and all that. When I look at the documentary I realise there’s a lot I actually took verbatim from the documentary and reworked for the movie.

Anthony Hopkins is fabulous in the film, how close is he to the real Burt Munroe?

Tony (Hopkins) took his body language, his speech patterns, his accent and he’s done an amazing job. But then also a lot of the movie is fictitious as well, even though it’s very true to the spirit of the sort of character he was. I was never there when he first turned up at the Salt Lakes, or what he though or what he said. I took things that he talked about and tried to put them into the context of a road movie.

How did you discover Burt Monroe?

I not quite sure how I discovered him other than me and my filmmaking partner Mike Smith, who lives up in Brisbane now, we both had motorbikes. I guess through our interest in bikes we heard about this guy on the grapevine because he wasn’t that well known really. Maybe if you were into racing motorbikes you would have heard about him more than we had. We were just casual motorbike enthusiasts. Anyway, I remember we wrote to Burt and he invited us to go down and see him. We lived up in Auckland at the time and he lived in the most southern city in New Zealand on the South Island. Anyway, I remember we got there at 10 o’clock at night and we had this address. We arrived in the suburban street, then we got to Burt’s property and there’s nothing there. It was just waist high grass and this shed. I was like “oh, we must have got the address wrong,” we checked and it was the right place. We knocked on the door of the shed and this crusty old guy emerges from the shed and he’s really fired up with enthusiasm. He had a sparkle in his eye and said “let me show you my bike.” He wheels it out and cranks it up and it screamed. I mean our bike (in the film) made a lot of noise but his was a 200mph monster. Ours was just a replica that was meant to go all day and everyday so it was a much more detuned version but his bike screamed! He was revving the guts out of her, the lights were coming on in neighbours houses and people were hurling abuse over the back fence and Burt was as deaf as a post as he is in the movie. He couldn’t hear a darned thing. We were just killing ourselves laughing and excited that we had really discovered a treasure here.”

A full version of the interview will be published soon, keep posted for details.

Ra Choi news update

I am happy to report that the sold out world premiere of Ra Choi at the London Australian Film Festival went down a storm and paves the way for a busy next few months on the festival circuit. The film will now also be playing at the prestigious Rome Independent Film Festival (April 7-13) http://www.riff.tv and the Worldfest Houston Film Festival (April 21-30) www.worldfest.org

For any Australian readers we are pleased to announce that director Michael Frank will be appearing on The Movie Show on SBS, he will be interviewed by the shows host Megan Spencer. The interview will be screened on Wednesday 22nd March at 8pm.

After being named best film at the Australian Writers Guild awards, Ra Choi has been awarded ‘Commended’ at the Australian National Literary Awards.

“The National Literary Awards attract hundreds of entries from every state of Australia and success in this award is a reflection of both the quality of the entry and strength as a writer” – Gail Blundell, Co-ordinator, National Literary Awards.

Between the Covers

Once again, for any Sydneysiders reading I'll be on the "Between the Covers" book review show on Eastside 89.7FM. This time I'll be looking at Scorcese: A Journey Through the American Psyche published by Plexus and edited by Paul. A. Woods. I'll be on air at 11:30 am on Tuesday 14th March.

Revolver DVD review

Any film starring the late great Oliver Reed is a winner in this humble reviewers opinion and Revolver is no exception. Reed, the charismatic drunkard was known for attacking difficult roles with relish. From his early days with Hammer Films in The Curse of the Werewolf to his long-standing association with Ken Russell in the likes of Women in Love and The Devils, Reed exuded a rugged charm that won him many fans. In fact Russell was the only director who truly let the actor run riot on set

He brings his tough guy persona to the fore in Revolver as the cop who will stop at nothing to find his kidnapped wife. Joined by Italian heartthrob Fabio Testi, star of Four Gunmen of the Apocalypse and The Big Racket, the duo make an unlikely alliance that makes for a winning cinematic combination. Both actors seem to enjoy the challenge and director Sollimo keeps Reed’s tendency to over act to a minimum. Revolver joins a series of tough cop thrillers that proved to be box office gold in the 70s and 80s in Italy.

Every Italian director worth his salt tried his hand at the genre. Lucio Fulci inevitably hit the screens with the ultra gory Contraband and the genres stalwart Enzo. G. Casterelli gave us The Heroine Busters. Sollimo became an expert of the harsh city streets with such thrillers as Run Man Run and Violent City. The interesting thing about the Italian approach to the cop thriller was that the good guys were often as corrupt as the criminals they hunted. Revolver draws a very fine line as the Warden engulfs himself into the criminal underground and that’s what makes the film so interesting. The Warden is just as corrupt as the prisoners he spends his life incarcerating. The pounding soundtrack by maestro Ennio Morricone is the icing on the cake on this highly recommended thriller.

For full review please check out www.cinephilia.net.au

Bowie bonus

As anyone who knows me will attest I'm a huge David Bowie fan so I just couldn't resist in sharing this wonderfully camp clip from The Cher Show originally broadcast in 1975. They perform Young Americans which segues into a delerious medley of classics from Motown and The Beatles. It takes a while to load up and the picture isn't too great but its quality entertainment!

Latest News

I’ll be interviewing two more of Russ Meyer’s leading ladies; Kitten Natividad starred in Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens and appeared with Raven De La Croix in Russ Meyer’s Up! Both actresses will be chatting about the forthcoming Australian DVD release of the films and the pre-production of the new documentary Bosommania: Herstory - The Women. Check out http://www.bosommaniathemovie.com/ for details. The interviews will appear in a forthcoming issue of Filmink.

In other news Ra Choi will now also be screening at the Rome Independent Film Festival and the Worldfest in Houston. For Australian readers, director Michael Frank will also be interviewed by Megan Spencer on The Movie Show on SBS broadcast on March 22nd.

My second preview of my Superman Returns set visit will be the cover feature in Starburst #334. It will feature excerpts of my interviews with Bryan Singer, Kevin Spacey and Brandon Routh.

RA CHOI world premiere in London

We are proud to announce that the World Premiere of Ra Choi will take place in London at 20:30 on March 6th as part of the prestigious London Australian Film Festival. The screening will take place at The Barbican and will be introduced by director Michael Frank. He will also be holding a Q&A session after the film. Other films being shown include The Proposition, Three Dollars and Little Fish.

Literally "coming out to play" in Vietnamese, Ra Choi follows four homeless kids struggling for a life worth living on the mean streets of a Sydney suburb. Teenagers Dac Kien, Lahn, Trinh and Lucy are the most modern and tough of 21st century urban families, in this raw feature debut from M. Frank, whose experimental shorts have reaped awards and critical praise on both sides of the equator. (Excerpt from Australian Film Festival website)

For ticket details and availability please go to http://www.barbican.org.uk/

The film’s European tour will also take in the Cinemasia Festival in Amsterdam on April 8th where Ra Choi closes the event. For festival details and screening times please check http://www.cinemasia.nl/.

As I have previously mentioned I am handling the publicity on Ra Choi, if any media publications are interested in covering the film, interviews with the cast and crew or any other details please do not hestitate in contacting me on davemichaelbrown@yahoo.co.uk. Also check http://www.rachoi.com/ for new screening announcements.

Nightmares and Dreamscapes set visit

I’ve just returned from a brief sojourn to Melbourne visiting the set of Stephen King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Having walked around the set of the Battleground episode starring William Hurt and seen Melbourne’s Prince’s Park transformed into London’s Crouch End I must say the series looks like it may well be a winner. My report on the eight episodes based on short stories by Stephen King will run in Shivers later in the year. Thanks as always to Fiona Searson for arranging the trip.

Tommy DVD review

Visually stunning and full of fantastic music Tommy brings new meaning to the phrase directorial tour de force. Director Ken Russell was no stranger to musical biographies; Mahler, Elgar and Tchaikovsky had all been given the Russell treatment and anyone familiar with The Devils and the rest of his work knew that Tommy was going to be something special.

Based on the rock opera Tommy by The Who the film stars lead singer Roger Daltrey as the titular Tommy, the deaf, dumb and blind kid who sure plays a mean pinball. The rest of the members of the band make small appearances, but it’s the late great Keith Moon who shines as the sleazy Uncle Ernie. The cast is a who’s who of rock and film legends. Jack Nicholson, Oliver Reed, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner and Elton John all make memorable appearances although Reeds singing voice does leave a little to be desired at times. Reed was a regular collaborator of Russell’s also starring in Woman in Love, The Devils and The Debussy Film amongst many.

The musical numbers have become iconic to say the least, Elton John’s rendition of Pinball Wizard clad in giant bother boots and glasses and Tina Turner’s Acid Queen are exceptional. The music from the Who’s album has been re-recorded for the film and sounds wonderful in this new restored print. There are some great touches like the toy trumpets during Tommy Can You Hear Me the church of Marilyn Monroe during Eyesight for the Blind and the guitar as Tommy breaks loose during I’m Free. It’s a musical that will draw in even the most cynical of viewer.

The films use of flash frames, animation and strange abstract imagery pre-dates the pop video by years. Russell’s directorial style is perfectly suited to Townsend’s epic muse. The resulting film is a very British affair, Robert Powell, Ann Margaret, Paul Nicholas and Reed all support Daltrey with aplomb. Margaret in particular hurls herself at the role in one classic moment writhing around in gallons of baked beans. Russell and Daltrey worked so well together that the singer was given the lead in Russell’s next film, the much maligned Liztomania.
This reviewer wholeheartedly loved every second of Tommy. As a huge fan of The Who and the work of Ken Russell it’s a marriage made in heaven. Its exuberant style may alienate fans of the gritty scooter filled thrills of Quadrophenia but there is still much acid fueled delirium to be enjoyed.

For full review see www.cinephilia.net.au

Latest News

Happy New Year to you all. Well 2006 looks like it will be as busy if not busier than last year so here goes. The first issue of Smoke and Mirrors; the Australian special effects magazine, is almost with us. The first issue will see my report from the set of Rogue and a profile of UK company Framestore cfc, the men and women behind some breathtaking imagery in the recent Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Doom and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Many thanks to Matt Hearn, David Lightfoot for their time and Ayisha Davies for making the set visit possible; from what I've seen so far Rogue will prove that Wolf Creek was no one off. Also thanks to Steph Bruning at Framestore for her gracious help.

Starburst issue #333 will feature part one of my preview of my Superman Returns set visit. The actual report will be featured around the film's release in July and will include my interviews with Bryan Singer, Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Parker Posey and Kevin Spacey. Issue 4 of Cinema Retro includes a brief news piece on the recent Stanley Kubrick exhibition, the full report will appear in the next issue. I've also just sent off the third DVD Down Under report for DVD World so look out for that soon.

Twitch of the Death Nerve DVD review

Not content with inventing the Giallo thriller with Blood and Black Lace, Mario Bava way back in 1972 made a film that was to become the blueprint for every slasher film known to man. Twitch of the Death Nerve, also known as Bay of Blood, will seem strangely familiar to those readers who are huge fans of Friday the 13th, especially Part Two but then that sequels director Steve Miner has always declared that Bava’s blood thirsty thriller was a major influence but watching Twitch of the Death Nerve again it looks more like wholesale stealing. Any of these murders sound familiar; a young man opens a door only to get a machete in the face, a fornicating couple are speared together. The murders are copied almost frame for frame.

The big difference between Bava and the directors who followed in his footsteps is obviously talent. Twitch of the Death Nerve looks fabulous. Knives glisten in the sunlight, everything is beautifully lit and despite the fact that he invented the “have sex, will die” style of filmmaking, the storyline to this film is a pitch-black whodunit that comments on greed, family and exactly how far people will go for a few lire. The films twisted finale is hilarious and will leave most viewers with a startled look of surprise. In fact the playful tone of the film has more in common with Danger Diabolik than his other horror films such as Shock! and Blood and Black Lace.

The performances are suitably twisted, Bond girl Claudia Auger of Thunderball fames exudes a sultry sexiness and the rest for cast seem happy to disrobe or die or both. The squid obsessed fisherman is a fantastically bizarre character, infact there are very view normal folk on display. Everyone we are introduced to has a hidden agenda led by greed and corruption. Bava’s film is more a comment on what man will do man for money than a mere horror film.

Full review available on www.terroraustralis.net

Rogue set visit

No sooner as I'm back and I'm heading back to Melbourne to visit the set of Greg McLean's Rogue. McLean's previous film, the awesome Wolf Creek was a huge hit and hopes are high for his latest, all we know at present is the brief plot outline on IMDB, An American journalist on assignment in the Australian outback encounters a man-eating crocodile. Rogue stars Wolf Creek bad guy John Jarrat, Melinda and Melinda star Rhada Mitchell and Sam Worthington.

Real Horrorshow

It’s shaping up to be a very busy end of the year. Whilst in Melbourne as well as witnessing Ra Choi’s victory at the AGWIE’s I attended the press launch and gala opening of Stanley Kubrick - Inside the Mind of a Visionary Filmmaker. The exhibition is awe inspiring; items on display include Alex’s cane from A Clockwork Orange, ape costumes, space suits and the Starchild from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the typewriter and the axe from The Shining, costumes from Spartacus and Barry Lyndon and Tom Cruise's venetian mask from Eyes Wide Shut, the list is endless. We even get to see the great directors research work for his two great unmade films; Napoleon and The Aryan Papers. His library on Napoleon is the biggest in the world. With over 1000 artefacts on display you do indeed feel like you are walking through film history. If any readers can get to Melbourne before the end of January I heartily recommend you pay ACMI a visit. Malcolm McDowell was a warm and funny interviewee; the enthusiasm in which he still talks about A Clockwork Orange and Kubrick was a pleasure to hear. A Big thank you to Justin Rogers at ACMI for arranging everything.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a WINNER!

In a piece of Fantastic news, Ra Choi, against all the odds, beat Cate Blanchett's Little Fish, Three Dollars and the AFI winning Look Both Ways to win the BEST FEATURE FILM award at the AWGIE awards. Congratulations to writer, director and producer Michael Frank, Associate Producer Milli Howson and the rest of the cast and crew.

RA CHOI preview screening tonight

Just a reminder to all those in the Sydney area that the first preview screening of RA CHOI - Coming Out to Play is taking place tonight at Film Australia in Lindfield. The screening is at 7:15 and anyone interested in attending should email me at davemichaelbrown@yahoo.co.uk. RA CHOI has been nominated for best film at the Australian Writers Guild awards; the AWGIE'S will be handed out on Friday 25th November.

Viddy well my brother

I'll be heading to Melbourne on November 23rd to cover the opening of the Australian Centre for the Movie Image's Stanley Kubrick inside the mind of a visionary filmmaker exhibition. It promises to be an unmissable event featuring over 1000 props, posters and models spanning his entire career. I'll be interviewing Kubrick's wife Christiane along with Jan Harlan; producer of Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket, and the star of A Clockwork Orange Malcom McDowell. My coverage of the event will appear in a forthcoming issue of Cinema Retro. I'll also be doing a retrospective piece to mark the 35th Anniversay of A Clockwork Orange for Film Review next year. I'll be making a report on this site soon so keep posted.

In further news my interview with Tura Satana, the star of Russ Meyer's Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill! will be appearing in next months Filmink along with my delayed interview wth Bob Clark, the man who directed Black Christmas and Porky's. Joining my semi-regular DVD Down Under column in DVD World I will also be doing a regular Vox Pops piece from various Sydney cinemas for Film Review magazine. In more magazine news I'll soon be contributing to a new magazine Smoke and Mirrors. An Australian publication, the magazine will cover movie special effects and make-up and is aimed at both industry and movie goers alike. I'm very excited to be part of Smoke and Mirrors at such an early stage and look forward to telling you more, the first issue will be published in February 2006.