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Not Quite Hollywood Reviews
Featured Review
October 6, 2009 at 11:15 am
Pros: Great documentary; excellent a/v; informative extras
Cons: None to speak of
Cons: None to speak of
Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment
Rated: R
Film Length: 103 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 (film clips at various ARs)
Audio: English DD 5.1; English DD 2.0
Subtitles: Spanish
MSRP: $26.98
Package: Keepcase
Insert: None
Original Release Date: Aug. 28, 2008 (Aus.); July 31, 2009 (U.S.) (2 screens)
DVD Release Date: Oct. 6, 2009
Introduction:
Barely given a U.S. theatrical release, this rollicking documentary about the heyday of OZploitation films comes to DVD with terrific extras and plenty of film clips featuring (as the box cover promises in a rare case of truth-in-advertising) “gratuitous nudity, senseless violence, car crashes . . . and a bit of kung fu.” They forgot to mention the gore, which as one interviewee notes, is great because it’s cheap. Say the word “documentary”, and people imagine something sober and boringly didactic. This film, a labor of love by writer/director Mark Hartley, is the perfect antidote.
The Film:
Our host is a familiar connoisseur of junk cinema, Quentin Tarantino. Indeed, the opening titles for Not Quite Hollywood look like something created for the Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez project Grindhouse. The film itself is a rapid-fire assembly of interviews from a rogue’s gallery of subjects – directors, producers, writers, cinematographers, actors, critics – cut together with generous selections from the films they’re discussing. Most of the films will be unknown to any but the most intense film geek, though a few are familiar, either because they’ve become classics (like the original Mad Max, directed by George Miller, who would later win an Oscar for Happy Feet, of all things) or because they continued a franchise (like Howling III: The Marsupials – to this day, the title cracks me up).
As Hartley tells it, Australia had no film industry as the Seventies began, but that changed very quickly as a result of several factors. First, a Canadian director, Ted Kotcheff, made Wake in Fright, a kind of Australian variation of The Lost Weekend, and many Australians objected to the portrait that this foreigner had painted of them (mostly, the various interview subjects suggest, because it was true). This prompted local creative minds to start creating their own portrayals, either self-portraits or, more aggressively, satirical portraits of popular targets like the British. The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972), co-written by Barry Humphries (a/k/a “Dame Edna”) illustrates these inspirations (in this instance, to commercial success).
Second, the budding film industry was fortunate enough to have sympathetic ears in government, which greatly simplified funding. At its most generous, government support resulted in the so-called “10BA” program introduced in 1981, which provided such enormous tax incentives for film investors that securing financing became one of the least onerous parts of filmmaking. (Think about that for a minute, given today’s environment.)
Third, the introduction of the R rating eliminated what had previously been a highly restrictive censorship policy. The door was now wide open to just about anything, and filmmakers gleefully embraced the possibilities. Some were limited by taste. Generally, those are not the filmmakers whose careers are chronicled in Not Quite Hollywood. The more typical attitude is that embodied by John Lamond, who gives his interviews reclining on a sofa next to a stripper pole. And yes, the pole is in use.
(As we learn in the deleted scenes, Lamond is the kind of pushy upstart who not only ripped off Raiders of the Lost Ark for a film called Sky Pirates, but also sent a copy of the finished product to Steven Spielberg for comments. History does not record whether Spielberg responded.)
The final factor, of course, is the seismic shift in manners and morals that began in the Sixties and continued well into the next two decades. Despite geography, Australia’s culture remains firmly anchored in the western world. The same forces of sexual liberation, rebellion against authority and paranoia that wind through so much of American Seventies cinema clearly are on display in the work of even the most cynical of the OZploitation films. As if to stress the American connection, we get an extended treatment of the making of Mad Dog Morgan, for which Oz imported that avatar of American counterculture, Dennis Hopper. Hopper, who was then at the height of his substance-abusing phase, proceeded to give his Aussie employers a lesson in true excess, and the shoot was a nightmare. It’s clear in Hopper’s contemporary interview clips that his memories of that time are extremely sketchy.
There isn’t a dull moment or personality in this brisk 103 minutes, which includes chapter titles like “Comatose Killers and Outback Chillers”. And one of the most useful lessons to come out of this exploration of shlock is the reminder that, in order for any film industry to grow, develop and create masterpieces, it also has to try a lot of crazy things and spit out a lot of junk. There are montages of failed films in Not Quite Hollywood that left me with the firm conviction that Ed Wood’s title as the Worst Director in History is probably undeserved. Somewhere in the annals of OZploitation, there is a worthy contender who has been sadly overlooked. Maybe Not Quite Hollywood will be the first step on his road to rediscovery.
Video:
The interview footage is hi-def video, and it looks terrific. Detail, black levels and colors are as good as you could want from DVD. No doubt Blu-ray would improve the image, but I’m not sure the improvement would add much.
Quality of the films excerpts is all over the place, which reflects the variety of sources. Given the low-budget origins and the lack of any restoration budget, we’ll just have to assume that everything looks as good as it can, given the source material.
Audio:
I listened to the DD 5.1 track. The recorded interviews and voiceovers are clear and easy to understand (unless, that is, Australian pronunciation throws you off). The rest of the channels are taken up with the alternately raucous and jaunty, but always upbeat, musical score. No matter how dark, twisted or evil their subject matter, these filmmakers were having fun, and the soundtrack wants to make sure you know it. It’s a well-mixed and well-presented track.
Special Features:
The video for all special feature is enhanced for 16:9.
Commentary with directory Mark Hartley and various participants. Writer-director Hartley leads a rotating panel of commentators, some of them on the phone. The stories are fascinating, but one of the drawbacks of having so many participants is that you’re not always sure who’s speaking, even though Hartley makes an effort to identify them. Given the number of speakers and the complexity of the subject, Hartley does a remarkable job of steering the discussion and eliciting comments that supplement what’s on screen instead of just repeating it. The stories of Grant Page, a legendary stuntman, about working on Mad Max – including his frank impressions of its young and then-unknown star, Mel Gibson – are worth the price of the disc alone. But there’s much more.
Deleted and extended scenes (58:55). There are 21 in all, and most of the material just couldn’t fit in the film, but it’s great stuff. I especially enjoyed the scenes from early films featuring veteran Jack Thompson, only one of which (Wake in Fright) gets extensive treatment in the main feature. Now best known in America for the occasional character part in films as diverse as Broken Arrow, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil or Star Wars II: The Clone Wars, in his heyday Thompson was the reigning male sex symbol of Australian cinema. One of the deleted scenes covers Scoobie Malone, which, among other things, featured one of the two women with whom Thompson was living at the time. (Of course, Thompson observes slyly, “that’s true of every second movie, really.”)
Quentin Tarantino Interviews Brian Trenchard-Smith (12:59). Trenchard-Smith is the Australian director to whom Tarantino dedicated the Australian opening of Kill Bill at a glittering premiere in 2003, thereby scandalizing the assembled critical big-wigs. Clips of Tarantino sitting with Trenchard-Smith are scattered throughout the film, but this is a sustained conversation. Since it’s Tarantino, he does at least as much talking as the director he’s supposed to be interviewing. Then again, he probably knows Trenchard-Smith’s films as well as he does.
Audio Interview with Director Richard Franklin (22:46). An audio-only interview with Franklin in front of what sounds like a film school audience. Franklin, who died in 2007, attended USC film school at the same time as John Carpenter, George Lucas, John Milius and other wunderkinder of 70s filmmaking, and he even managed a minor career on the fringes of American cinema, making Psycho 2 and F/X 2: The Deadly Art of Illusion. He tells wonderful stories about fascinating people, both famous (including Jamie Lee Curtis) and not so famous.
Audio Pitches from Quentin Tarantino and John D. Lamond (1:23). Nothing subtle. The message is: We need money for this film!
Image gallery (5:03). A series of images set to music. Some appear to be production stills, while others resemble lobby cards. Many of the images will be familiar from films profiled in the documentary.
Trailers. The film’s theatrical trailer is included. Also included, both on the features menu and before the menu loads are trailers for Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, The Canyon, World’s Greatest Dad and HDNet and HDNet Movies. These are skippable via either the menu button or the chapter skip button.
In Conclusion:
Anyone familiar with world cinema knows that Australia produced masterpieces during this period, as well as the pop junk chronicled in Not Quite Hollywood. But don’t let the possibility that you may never want to see any of the films put you off seeing the documentary itself. The characters interviewed are as entertaining as any you’re likely to meet in a piece of fiction, and the film has been assembled with a storyteller’s gift for pacing and drama. Not every film they made worked, but this one does.
Equipment used for this review:
Denon 955 DVD player
Samsung HL-T7288W DLP display
Lexicon MC-8
Sunfire Cinema Grand amplifier
Monitor Audio floor-standing fronts and MA FX-2 rears
Boston Accoustics VR-MC center
SVS SB12-Plus sub
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October 6, 2009 at 9:24 am
THE FLICK
Exploitation cinema refers to a film genre which cashes in on some sort of lurid, perhaps sexy, element. Blaxploitation may be the most well known iteration of this genre with films like Superfly, Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song and Blacula. These films don't rely on a "name" star or special effects to draw in the crowds; rather, they use over-the-top marketing techniques and outrageous statements to generate ticket sales. Slasher films, like Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street, can be considered exploitation films with their small budgets and and graphic kills. However, no one ever mentions Ozploitation, a group of films written, shot and released in Australia by Australian filmmakers. These films were largely created after the introduction of the R certificate (similar to the "R" MPAA rating in the United States) in 1971 and feature gratuitous nudity, sex and violence. Not Quite Hollywood traces the evolution of the genre, as well as its major cinematic entries, for the uninitiated.
Mark Hartley's film takes a no-holds-barred approach to the material, demanding the audience follow along without being pandered to. That isn't as much a problem as the fact most Americans will be unfamiliar with the names and films being talked about. Yes, film can usually transcend languages, countries and culture, but when the subject matter deals with obscure productions, it needs to slow down just a bit to frame the narrative properly. There are moments when Hartley does a spectacular job using the interviews and film clips to create a picture of a nascent Australian film industry and its relative success over the decades, though Not Quite Hollywood is squarely aimed at audiences with a working knowledge of film history.
As an example, late in the production, one-time James Bond actor George Lazenby is brought on to speak about The Man from Hong Kong, a 1975 film starring Yu Wang. While hardcore filmgoers will know Lazenby's claim to fame is portraying 007, Hartley makes no mention of the background. Any number of other films are name dropped, including Jaws, Piranha and Psycho...but not On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Lazenby's only stab at the character)? Did MGM require a clearance or license fee to use the name or did Harley assume the audience would know who he was? The actor also burned his hand during filming and, while footage of the stunt from the film is shown, there is no accompanying insert shot of the hand. Regardless of whether or not it has healed completely, it would have added to the story.
Roughly broken down into four divisions (sex, action, monsters and martial arts), Hollywood almost giddily revels in it's B-movie subject matter. Be warned, this doc isn't for the faint of heart or easily offended with a plethora of naked breasts, full frontal nudity (male and female), generous discussion about "boobies" and "titties," cursing, misogyny and violence. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Because there was no Australian film industry, the films which went into production had very low budgets, reducing the overall quality of the work. Each director laments this inevitability, though none of them really apologize for their films. In every interview, there is an overriding sense these men reinvigorated the profession and took it back from foreigners who were making films about Australia without knowing the land. Funnily enough, when Aussies began to use their country as it was, audiences began mortified, afraid the rest of the world would believe it really was a desolate wasteland like Mad Max or full of bimbo's and sex-starved citizens.
Throughout the dozens of interviews, participants and film clips, one thing Hartley is unable to do is place the Ozploitation films within historical context. Surely other Aussies were making higher quality, mainstream films at the same time these B-movie, bargain basement flicks were on the screen. What were they? How did the other films incorporate the R certificate? Was there an audience backlash against the nudity and profanity? (Critics has issues with both of these things, but the audiences are rarely spoken about.) See, nothing occurs in a vacuum; there is always cause and effect, a push and pull. Hartley's sole focus is on the films which make up this sub-genre to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Surely someone was influenced by these stories and made their own homage. An unauthorized Italian sequel to Patrick doesn't really count. Where are those anecdotes?
It's funny, in a way, that few of the people involved with the Ozploitation era comes off as embarrassed or apologetic for their work. This is despite knowing the production values are relatively poor, behind-the-scenes issues or the general reaction to the film itself. Even when the shooting schedule and budget were severely slashed (as in Roadgames and Turkey Shoot), there is a sense both films deserve awards. If anything, there's a hubris to the creative talent which is unable to see the forest for the trees. Perplexing to be sure and just slightly dishonest.
What can not be questioned is the depth and breadth of the information presented in Not Quite Hollywood, especially the inclusion of Quentin Tarantino. An uber-film buff if there ever was one, Tarantino is the marquee interviewee (though both Lazenby and Jamie Lee Curtis make appearances) displaying unbridled, wide-eyed enthusiasm for each and every film mentioned. To see him almost jump up and down in his seat while discussing Dead-End Drive Inn or Roadgames is nearly worth the price of admission on its own.
THE LOOK
Like any other documentary, Not Quite Hollywood's visual performance is largely at the mercy of the footage it uses. On the whole, the film looks incredibly good with shifting aspect ratios, stock footage mixed with new interviews and even some black and white film. The film is mainly presented in anamorphic widescreen format without any major problems. Fleshtones of interview participants tend to be a touch bright from time to time, though the blacks are generally spot on. The new footage is otherwise clean of blemishes or other problems. It's the movie clips and vintage interviews which pose a problem. They sport all manner of defects from pops and wear lines to downright blurriness and general picture softness. This shouldn't be held against the disc, considering the state of Australian cinema when they were produced.
THE SOUND
Normally, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Magnolia Home Entertainment provides both an English 2.0 and 5.1 mix on the disc. What's wrong with that, you might ask? Well, this is a documentary, a dialogue-driven film by definition. There isn't much to gain by pumping audio through five speakers instead of two. In most cases, creating a surround sound mix hampers the film by stretching the available audio information too broadly. Here, though, both versions work equally well in bringing the dialogue across without distortion. Naturally, the 5.1 mix has more bass throughout, especially as cars or buildings begin exploding in film clips. There aren't many directional sound effects and both options can be more than a bit forceful at times. The only real issue is the lack of English subtitles; Spanish subs are provided.
THE STUFF
Not Quite Hollywood comes in a regular black keepcase with no inserts. Upon start up, trailers for Ong Bak 2, The Canyon, World's Greatest Dad and the HDNet network play (they are also available under the Special Features menu). The film itself is broken down into a dozen chapters.
Director Mark Hartley moderates a spliced together commentary track featuring many of the directors and personalities seen in the film itself. These men-whether in the recording booth or by phone-seem more open and free to discuss the Australian film industry. In particular, they're more than happy to discuss being pigeonholed as the "sex director" or perhaps being too happy in pushing the new R certificate. Some films (Turkey Shoot, for example) find themselves defended-this was a flick with a slashed budget and shooting schedule many cast members disowned during production-while none of the filmmakers have a love for critics.
Hartley collects deleted and extended scenes on the disc. In fact, there's 21 separate pieces, ranging in run time from under a minute to over five. (A play all option is included.) It's really a shame these cuts had to be made for unspecified reasons. Among the films profiled, 1986's Sky Pirates is among the most intriguing. A near rip off of Indiana Jones, writer John Lamond apparently had a running feud with Steven Spielberg over box office success. Suffice to say, Sky Pirates didn't do as well as the Indy flicks. Interestingly, a segment about E.T. alum Henry Thomas' film Frog Dreaming is completely cut.
Quention Tarantino and director Brian Trenchard-Smith hang out in a movie theater and talk about each other. Tarantino's personality is larger than life, completely overshadowing Trenchard-Smith because of his exuberant love of film. The piece is billed as Tarantino interviewing Trenchard-Smith but it comes off as being a conversation among friends. Topics range from the intentional similarities between Patrick and Psycho and a brief mention of a combined cut of Kill Bill. Tarantino returns, this time with John D. Lamond, in two funding pitches for this film-essentially asking investors to put money up for the film.
An audio interview with director Richard Franklin (22:47) is also included, adding even more trivia and information to the film. Here, he's able to talk more about catching former Bond George Lazenby on fire and the issues with the Jamie Lee Curtis/Stacey Keach film Roadgames. The audio volume is a bit low, but extremely serviceable. An image gallery running for over five minutes and the theatrical trailer are also included.
Exploitation cinema refers to a film genre which cashes in on some sort of lurid, perhaps sexy, element. Blaxploitation may be the most well known iteration of this genre with films like Superfly, Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song and Blacula. These films don't rely on a "name" star or special effects to draw in the crowds; rather, they use over-the-top marketing techniques and outrageous statements to generate ticket sales. Slasher films, like Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street, can be considered exploitation films with their small budgets and and graphic kills. However, no one ever mentions Ozploitation, a group of films written, shot and released in Australia by Australian filmmakers. These films were largely created after the introduction of the R certificate (similar to the "R" MPAA rating in the United States) in 1971 and feature gratuitous nudity, sex and violence. Not Quite Hollywood traces the evolution of the genre, as well as its major cinematic entries, for the uninitiated.
Mark Hartley's film takes a no-holds-barred approach to the material, demanding the audience follow along without being pandered to. That isn't as much a problem as the fact most Americans will be unfamiliar with the names and films being talked about. Yes, film can usually transcend languages, countries and culture, but when the subject matter deals with obscure productions, it needs to slow down just a bit to frame the narrative properly. There are moments when Hartley does a spectacular job using the interviews and film clips to create a picture of a nascent Australian film industry and its relative success over the decades, though Not Quite Hollywood is squarely aimed at audiences with a working knowledge of film history.
As an example, late in the production, one-time James Bond actor George Lazenby is brought on to speak about The Man from Hong Kong, a 1975 film starring Yu Wang. While hardcore filmgoers will know Lazenby's claim to fame is portraying 007, Hartley makes no mention of the background. Any number of other films are name dropped, including Jaws, Piranha and Psycho...but not On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Lazenby's only stab at the character)? Did MGM require a clearance or license fee to use the name or did Harley assume the audience would know who he was? The actor also burned his hand during filming and, while footage of the stunt from the film is shown, there is no accompanying insert shot of the hand. Regardless of whether or not it has healed completely, it would have added to the story.
Roughly broken down into four divisions (sex, action, monsters and martial arts), Hollywood almost giddily revels in it's B-movie subject matter. Be warned, this doc isn't for the faint of heart or easily offended with a plethora of naked breasts, full frontal nudity (male and female), generous discussion about "boobies" and "titties," cursing, misogyny and violence. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Because there was no Australian film industry, the films which went into production had very low budgets, reducing the overall quality of the work. Each director laments this inevitability, though none of them really apologize for their films. In every interview, there is an overriding sense these men reinvigorated the profession and took it back from foreigners who were making films about Australia without knowing the land. Funnily enough, when Aussies began to use their country as it was, audiences began mortified, afraid the rest of the world would believe it really was a desolate wasteland like Mad Max or full of bimbo's and sex-starved citizens.
Throughout the dozens of interviews, participants and film clips, one thing Hartley is unable to do is place the Ozploitation films within historical context. Surely other Aussies were making higher quality, mainstream films at the same time these B-movie, bargain basement flicks were on the screen. What were they? How did the other films incorporate the R certificate? Was there an audience backlash against the nudity and profanity? (Critics has issues with both of these things, but the audiences are rarely spoken about.) See, nothing occurs in a vacuum; there is always cause and effect, a push and pull. Hartley's sole focus is on the films which make up this sub-genre to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Surely someone was influenced by these stories and made their own homage. An unauthorized Italian sequel to Patrick doesn't really count. Where are those anecdotes?
It's funny, in a way, that few of the people involved with the Ozploitation era comes off as embarrassed or apologetic for their work. This is despite knowing the production values are relatively poor, behind-the-scenes issues or the general reaction to the film itself. Even when the shooting schedule and budget were severely slashed (as in Roadgames and Turkey Shoot), there is a sense both films deserve awards. If anything, there's a hubris to the creative talent which is unable to see the forest for the trees. Perplexing to be sure and just slightly dishonest.
What can not be questioned is the depth and breadth of the information presented in Not Quite Hollywood, especially the inclusion of Quentin Tarantino. An uber-film buff if there ever was one, Tarantino is the marquee interviewee (though both Lazenby and Jamie Lee Curtis make appearances) displaying unbridled, wide-eyed enthusiasm for each and every film mentioned. To see him almost jump up and down in his seat while discussing Dead-End Drive Inn or Roadgames is nearly worth the price of admission on its own.
THE LOOK
Like any other documentary, Not Quite Hollywood's visual performance is largely at the mercy of the footage it uses. On the whole, the film looks incredibly good with shifting aspect ratios, stock footage mixed with new interviews and even some black and white film. The film is mainly presented in anamorphic widescreen format without any major problems. Fleshtones of interview participants tend to be a touch bright from time to time, though the blacks are generally spot on. The new footage is otherwise clean of blemishes or other problems. It's the movie clips and vintage interviews which pose a problem. They sport all manner of defects from pops and wear lines to downright blurriness and general picture softness. This shouldn't be held against the disc, considering the state of Australian cinema when they were produced.
THE SOUND
Normally, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Magnolia Home Entertainment provides both an English 2.0 and 5.1 mix on the disc. What's wrong with that, you might ask? Well, this is a documentary, a dialogue-driven film by definition. There isn't much to gain by pumping audio through five speakers instead of two. In most cases, creating a surround sound mix hampers the film by stretching the available audio information too broadly. Here, though, both versions work equally well in bringing the dialogue across without distortion. Naturally, the 5.1 mix has more bass throughout, especially as cars or buildings begin exploding in film clips. There aren't many directional sound effects and both options can be more than a bit forceful at times. The only real issue is the lack of English subtitles; Spanish subs are provided.
THE STUFF
Not Quite Hollywood comes in a regular black keepcase with no inserts. Upon start up, trailers for Ong Bak 2, The Canyon, World's Greatest Dad and the HDNet network play (they are also available under the Special Features menu). The film itself is broken down into a dozen chapters.
Director Mark Hartley moderates a spliced together commentary track featuring many of the directors and personalities seen in the film itself. These men-whether in the recording booth or by phone-seem more open and free to discuss the Australian film industry. In particular, they're more than happy to discuss being pigeonholed as the "sex director" or perhaps being too happy in pushing the new R certificate. Some films (Turkey Shoot, for example) find themselves defended-this was a flick with a slashed budget and shooting schedule many cast members disowned during production-while none of the filmmakers have a love for critics.
Hartley collects deleted and extended scenes on the disc. In fact, there's 21 separate pieces, ranging in run time from under a minute to over five. (A play all option is included.) It's really a shame these cuts had to be made for unspecified reasons. Among the films profiled, 1986's Sky Pirates is among the most intriguing. A near rip off of Indiana Jones, writer John Lamond apparently had a running feud with Steven Spielberg over box office success. Suffice to say, Sky Pirates didn't do as well as the Indy flicks. Interestingly, a segment about E.T. alum Henry Thomas' film Frog Dreaming is completely cut.
Quention Tarantino and director Brian Trenchard-Smith hang out in a movie theater and talk about each other. Tarantino's personality is larger than life, completely overshadowing Trenchard-Smith because of his exuberant love of film. The piece is billed as Tarantino interviewing Trenchard-Smith but it comes off as being a conversation among friends. Topics range from the intentional similarities between Patrick and Psycho and a brief mention of a combined cut of Kill Bill. Tarantino returns, this time with John D. Lamond, in two funding pitches for this film-essentially asking investors to put money up for the film.
An audio interview with director Richard Franklin (22:47) is also included, adding even more trivia and information to the film. Here, he's able to talk more about catching former Bond George Lazenby on fire and the issues with the Jamie Lee Curtis/Stacey Keach film Roadgames. The audio volume is a bit low, but extremely serviceable. An image gallery running for over five minutes and the theatrical trailer are also included.
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