‘Promised.’
Most of the new releases in Australian cinemas last weekend had bombed or under-performed in the Us weeks or months ago, so their fates were probably sealed.
Splatter comedy Ready or Not, Ron Howard’s homage to the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti, English musical dramedy Blinded by the Light and indie Us drama After the Wedding were among the Halloween strugglers.
The top-grossing title at the Lavazza Italian Film Festival, writer-director Nick Conidi’s Promised opened on 45 screens via Umbrella Entertainment. The weekend take for the 1950s-set drama starring Tina Arena, Paul Mercurio, Antoniette Iesue, Daniel Berini and Mirko Grillini was a modest $57,000 but the total including festival screenings is a decent $198,000.
The top 20 titles generated $11.3 million, down 21 per cent on the prior frame according to Numero, getting some uplift from Indian imports Bigil and, to a lesser extent, Housefull 4.
Facing minimal competition, Todd Phillips’ Joker led the field for the fourth consecutive weekend,...
Most of the new releases in Australian cinemas last weekend had bombed or under-performed in the Us weeks or months ago, so their fates were probably sealed.
Splatter comedy Ready or Not, Ron Howard’s homage to the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti, English musical dramedy Blinded by the Light and indie Us drama After the Wedding were among the Halloween strugglers.
The top-grossing title at the Lavazza Italian Film Festival, writer-director Nick Conidi’s Promised opened on 45 screens via Umbrella Entertainment. The weekend take for the 1950s-set drama starring Tina Arena, Paul Mercurio, Antoniette Iesue, Daniel Berini and Mirko Grillini was a modest $57,000 but the total including festival screenings is a decent $198,000.
The top 20 titles generated $11.3 million, down 21 per cent on the prior frame according to Numero, getting some uplift from Indian imports Bigil and, to a lesser extent, Housefull 4.
Facing minimal competition, Todd Phillips’ Joker led the field for the fourth consecutive weekend,...
- 10/27/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Simon Brew Feb 3, 2017
When Basic Instinct hit big, Hollywood went hunting for more erotic thrillers. Er, it found some. Includes Kevin Spacey with odd hair.
When a movie hits big out of the blue, it’s unwritten Hollywood law that the imitators aren’t too far behind. That’s why, after American Pie brought Porky’s-esque sex-tinged (late) teen comedies back to prominence in 1999, the box office was flooded with similar fare for years after. The Blair Witch Project, meanwhile, hit out of nowhere, and found footage horror is only now dying away. The late Wes Craven, meanwhile, wryly noted just how quickly Hollywood had cashed in on the success of 1996’s Scream, when spoof Scary Movie popped out the year after.
See related Lara Croft Tomb Raider 1 & 2: What went wrong? Walton Goggins interview: The Hateful Eight
Going back to 1992, though, and it was the turn of the erotic thriller to enjoy its resurgence.
When Basic Instinct hit big, Hollywood went hunting for more erotic thrillers. Er, it found some. Includes Kevin Spacey with odd hair.
When a movie hits big out of the blue, it’s unwritten Hollywood law that the imitators aren’t too far behind. That’s why, after American Pie brought Porky’s-esque sex-tinged (late) teen comedies back to prominence in 1999, the box office was flooded with similar fare for years after. The Blair Witch Project, meanwhile, hit out of nowhere, and found footage horror is only now dying away. The late Wes Craven, meanwhile, wryly noted just how quickly Hollywood had cashed in on the success of 1996’s Scream, when spoof Scary Movie popped out the year after.
See related Lara Croft Tomb Raider 1 & 2: What went wrong? Walton Goggins interview: The Hateful Eight
Going back to 1992, though, and it was the turn of the erotic thriller to enjoy its resurgence.
- 1/30/2017
- Den of Geek
Keyframe an interview with Oscar winner Dorothy Malone (Omg) who is now 92. Mambo!
Pajiba adorable family Force Awakens cosplay from Utah
Eno Glenn Close is starring in the revival of Sunset Blvd through May 7th. If you're in London, please go and tell us how it is!
The Movie Scene Criterion's blindspot for female filmmakers. (I know it's uncool to be critical of Criterion excpet in these rare cases of agreed upon issues -- but they have other blindspots too, like the musical genre)
DListed Ginger Feud: Susan Sarandon and Debra Messing having words over Sanders/Clinton. (Everyone is fired up of late.)
Comics Alliance argues that the bland costumes in X-Men: Apocalypse are a key problem with that franchise -- it's true you could mistake it for a Hunger Games poster.
BuzzFeed "The Unbearable Sadness of Ben Affleck" a good long read by Anne Helen Petersen who also did...
Pajiba adorable family Force Awakens cosplay from Utah
Eno Glenn Close is starring in the revival of Sunset Blvd through May 7th. If you're in London, please go and tell us how it is!
The Movie Scene Criterion's blindspot for female filmmakers. (I know it's uncool to be critical of Criterion excpet in these rare cases of agreed upon issues -- but they have other blindspots too, like the musical genre)
DListed Ginger Feud: Susan Sarandon and Debra Messing having words over Sanders/Clinton. (Everyone is fired up of late.)
Comics Alliance argues that the bland costumes in X-Men: Apocalypse are a key problem with that franchise -- it's true you could mistake it for a Hunger Games poster.
BuzzFeed "The Unbearable Sadness of Ben Affleck" a good long read by Anne Helen Petersen who also did...
- 4/3/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Interesting thing about the movies I (we?) tend to watch again and again: They are often the most formulaic. I’ve seen The Devil Wears Prada, a tragicomedy about Anne Hathaway‘s bangs, more times than I recited the Nicene Creed in Sunday School, and that movie is almost Disney-esque in its adherence to familiar plotting. That’s just what I like in rewatchable cinema: a gentle retread of everything I understand to be a normal, comforting movie arc. Sigh. I want to pop corn just typing that.
Enter Strictly Ballroom, Baz Luhrmann‘s debut film that cannot hit you hard enough with “ugly duckling” movie tropes. If we judged this movie based on plot alone, we’d be hard-pressed to find anything resembling the unexpected. It even concludes with a triumphant dancefloor lift, a la Dirty Dancing. But what matters — and this goes for Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge...
Enter Strictly Ballroom, Baz Luhrmann‘s debut film that cannot hit you hard enough with “ugly duckling” movie tropes. If we judged this movie based on plot alone, we’d be hard-pressed to find anything resembling the unexpected. It even concludes with a triumphant dancefloor lift, a la Dirty Dancing. But what matters — and this goes for Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge...
- 11/13/2013
- by Louis Virtel
- The Backlot
Blu-ray Release Date: April 30, 2013
Price: Blu-ray $14.99
Studio: Lionsgate
The acclaimed 1992 comedy movie Strictly Ballroom was director Baz Luhrmann’s first film, before he wowed audiences with the visually stunning Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge! and Australia.
The romance follows maverick dancer Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio, TV’s Adrenalin Junkies) who risks his career by bringing on a new, unknown partner (Tara Morice, TV’s Dance Academy) and performing an unusual routine.
Based on an idea by Luhrmann, the movie was co-written by the director and Craig Pearce, Luhrmann’s writing partner on Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!.
Strictly Ballroom was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Comedy/Musical.
On Blu-ray, the independent film comes with these special features:
featurette “Strictly Ballroom: From Stage to Screen”featurette “Samba to Slow Fox Dance”deleted scenedesign gallery with narrationaudio commentary with Lurhmann, production designer Catherine Martin and choreographer John “Cha Cha” O’Connell.
Price: Blu-ray $14.99
Studio: Lionsgate
The acclaimed 1992 comedy movie Strictly Ballroom was director Baz Luhrmann’s first film, before he wowed audiences with the visually stunning Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge! and Australia.
The romance follows maverick dancer Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio, TV’s Adrenalin Junkies) who risks his career by bringing on a new, unknown partner (Tara Morice, TV’s Dance Academy) and performing an unusual routine.
Based on an idea by Luhrmann, the movie was co-written by the director and Craig Pearce, Luhrmann’s writing partner on Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!.
Strictly Ballroom was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Comedy/Musical.
On Blu-ray, the independent film comes with these special features:
featurette “Strictly Ballroom: From Stage to Screen”featurette “Samba to Slow Fox Dance”deleted scenedesign gallery with narrationaudio commentary with Lurhmann, production designer Catherine Martin and choreographer John “Cha Cha” O’Connell.
- 2/8/2013
- by Sam
- Disc Dish
A stage version of Strictly Ballroom will premiere in Sydney. The Australian city defeated competition from London and New York to win the rights to turn the 1992 dance movie, which starred Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice and Bill Hunter, into a theatre show. Baz Luhrmann, who directed the original film and chose the location for the stage premiere, told Aap: "Of all my shows, Strictly Ballroom is the most personal." New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell added: "Producers in London and New York have been pursuing the rights for Strictly Ballroom for many years. It is a major theatrical coup that Sydney has secured the premiere ahead (more)...
- 5/24/2011
- by By Rebecca Davies
- Digital Spy
Sonia Kruger has issued a warning to the latest addition to the Dancing with the Stars judging panel. The Australian television host, who presents the reality TV show with Daniel Macpherson, said that new judge Joshua Horner should make sure he agrees with fellow panel member Helen Richey if he wants to keep his job. Kruger gave the message for Horner to The Daily Telegraph, saying: "If you don't agree with Helen, you're gone." Original judge Paul Mercurio was axed from the programme, then Mark Wilson was dropped earlier this year. He said (more)...
- 5/3/2011
- by By Rebecca Davies
- Digital Spy
DVD Playhouse December 2010
By
Allen Gardner
America Lost And Found: The Bbs Story (Criterion) Perhaps the best DVD box set released this year, this ultimate cinefile stocking stuffer offered up by Criterion, the Rolls-Royce of home video labels, features seven seminal works from the late ‘60s-early ‘70s that were brought to life by cutting edge producers Bert Schneider, Steve Blauner and director/producer Bob Rafelson, the principals of Bbs Productions. In chronological order: Head (1968) star the Monkees, the manufactured (by Rafelson, et al), American answer to the Beatles who, like it or not, did make an impact on popular culture, particularly in this utterly surreal piece of cinematic anarchy (co-written by Jack Nicholson, who has a cameo), which was largely dismissed upon its initial release, but is now regarded as a counterculture classic. Easy Rider (1969) is arguably regarded as the seminal ‘60s picture, about two hippie drug dealers (director Dennis Hopper...
By
Allen Gardner
America Lost And Found: The Bbs Story (Criterion) Perhaps the best DVD box set released this year, this ultimate cinefile stocking stuffer offered up by Criterion, the Rolls-Royce of home video labels, features seven seminal works from the late ‘60s-early ‘70s that were brought to life by cutting edge producers Bert Schneider, Steve Blauner and director/producer Bob Rafelson, the principals of Bbs Productions. In chronological order: Head (1968) star the Monkees, the manufactured (by Rafelson, et al), American answer to the Beatles who, like it or not, did make an impact on popular culture, particularly in this utterly surreal piece of cinematic anarchy (co-written by Jack Nicholson, who has a cameo), which was largely dismissed upon its initial release, but is now regarded as a counterculture classic. Easy Rider (1969) is arguably regarded as the seminal ‘60s picture, about two hippie drug dealers (director Dennis Hopper...
- 12/20/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Strictly Ballroom is an interesting film. It takes the timeless tale of The Ugly Duckling and sets it in a ballroom dancing atmosphere. Conceived by Australian writer/director, Baz Luhrmann, Strictly Ballroom is the first installment in The Red Curtain Trilogy, a trio of films that feature theater-related romance. The other films in the trilogy include Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge!.
Originally a stage musical, Strictly Ballroom tells the story of a ballroom dancer named Scott Hastings played with very little affect by Paul Mercurio. He has his own style of dancing which puts him in a little bit of trouble with his family and friends. His dance partner ditches him during tryouts for a ballroom dancing competition and it is then up to Scott to find another partner to practice with. He eventually finds help in Fran (Tara Morice), an “ugly duckling” who frequents the dance studio. Together they...
Originally a stage musical, Strictly Ballroom tells the story of a ballroom dancer named Scott Hastings played with very little affect by Paul Mercurio. He has his own style of dancing which puts him in a little bit of trouble with his family and friends. His dance partner ditches him during tryouts for a ballroom dancing competition and it is then up to Scott to find another partner to practice with. He eventually finds help in Fran (Tara Morice), an “ugly duckling” who frequents the dance studio. Together they...
- 12/18/2010
- by Randall Unger
- JustPressPlay.net
"Strictly Ballroom" star Paul Mercurio has led tributes to his actor father Gus who died on Tuesday, December 7. The 82 year old passed away in Melbourne, Australia after suffering complications during an operation to treat a chest aneurysm.
Mercurio confirmed the sad news and remembered his father in a statement, which reads, "He was a larger-than-life bloke. He was passionate. He was driven. He had a great, a wonderful confidence... he was a pain in the a**e quite often because of that and yet he lived with such fervor that he was magnetic."
American-born Gus Mercurio rose to fame after moving Down Under and swapping his job as a professional boxer for a role on camera. He starred in many Australian TV shows and a number of movies throughout his long-running career, including "Crocodile Dundee II" and "Lightning Jack" with Paul Hogan.
Mercurio is survived by his partner and six children.
Mercurio confirmed the sad news and remembered his father in a statement, which reads, "He was a larger-than-life bloke. He was passionate. He was driven. He had a great, a wonderful confidence... he was a pain in the a**e quite often because of that and yet he lived with such fervor that he was magnetic."
American-born Gus Mercurio rose to fame after moving Down Under and swapping his job as a professional boxer for a role on camera. He starred in many Australian TV shows and a number of movies throughout his long-running career, including "Crocodile Dundee II" and "Lightning Jack" with Paul Hogan.
Mercurio is survived by his partner and six children.
- 12/8/2010
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
Mercurio Pays Tribute To Late Father
Strictly Ballroom star Paul Mercurio has led tributes to his actor father Gus who died on Tuesday.
The 82 year old passed away in Melbourne, Australia after suffering complications during an operation to treat a chest aneurysm.
Mercurio confirmed the sad news and remembered his father in a statement, which reads, "He was a larger-than-life bloke. He was passionate. He was driven. He had a great, a wonderful confidence... he was a pain in the a**e quite often because of that and yet he lived with such fervour that he was magnetic."
American-born Gus Mercurio rose to fame after moving Down Under and swapping his job as a professional boxer for a role on camera. He starred in many Australian TV shows and a number of movies throughout his long-running career, including Crocodile Dundee II and Lightning Jack with Paul Hogan.
Mercurio is survived by his partner and six children.
The 82 year old passed away in Melbourne, Australia after suffering complications during an operation to treat a chest aneurysm.
Mercurio confirmed the sad news and remembered his father in a statement, which reads, "He was a larger-than-life bloke. He was passionate. He was driven. He had a great, a wonderful confidence... he was a pain in the a**e quite often because of that and yet he lived with such fervour that he was magnetic."
American-born Gus Mercurio rose to fame after moving Down Under and swapping his job as a professional boxer for a role on camera. He starred in many Australian TV shows and a number of movies throughout his long-running career, including Crocodile Dundee II and Lightning Jack with Paul Hogan.
Mercurio is survived by his partner and six children.
- 12/7/2010
- WENN
Chicago – A few weeks ago, we acclaimed the beauty of the Blu-ray releases of Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!” and “Romeo + Juliet.” Oh what a difference a studio can make. While Fox treated those Luhrmann films with HD respect, Disney has decided to release his first film, the great “Strictly Ballroom” in a lackluster standard DVD special edition that would have been great in 2006 but times have changed.
DVD Rating: 3.0/5.0
The most terrifying thing about the “Strictly Ballroom: Special Edition” may not be that it’s lackluster in comparison to the great Blu-rays of “Moulin Rouge!” and “Romeo + Juliet” but that it appears to not be a tie-in to those releases but something far more terrifying. The back of the DVD case says “The Film That Started the Dancing With the Stars Phenomenon!” Really?!?! A 1992 Australian film that made $12 million inspired “Dancing With the Stars”?!?! What’s next? A...
DVD Rating: 3.0/5.0
The most terrifying thing about the “Strictly Ballroom: Special Edition” may not be that it’s lackluster in comparison to the great Blu-rays of “Moulin Rouge!” and “Romeo + Juliet” but that it appears to not be a tie-in to those releases but something far more terrifying. The back of the DVD case says “The Film That Started the Dancing With the Stars Phenomenon!” Really?!?! A 1992 Australian film that made $12 million inspired “Dancing With the Stars”?!?! What’s next? A...
- 12/1/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Film review: 'Welcome to Woop Woop'
Aussie filmmaker Stephan Elliott follows up his hit "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" with another out-there Down Under outing. "Welcome to Woop Woop" retains the camp sensibility, but without all the colorful drag, the result is, simply, a drag.
Mired in heavy-handed grotesquerie, this forced farce goes irretrievably off from the get-go. Aside from some limited potential as a cult curiosity item -- like those horrible traffic accidents that some can't help but gawk at -- expect "Woop Woop" to rapidly outstay its theatrical welcome.
Based on novelist Douglas Kennedy's "The Dead Heart" and adapted by Michael Thomas ("Backbeat"), the picture concerns the antic exploits of one Teddy (Johnathon Schaech), a New York con man who finds himself in a lot of hot water back home and seeks refuge in the untamed Australian wilderness.
He ends up in the proverbial frying pan when a lusty fling with a nympho hitchhiker named Angie (Susie Porter) has nightmarish consequences. He awakens from a drugged stupor to find himself locked in a barn, having been unconscious during a formal marriage to Angie and trapped in a remote, dusty town presided over by her tyrannical father, Daddy-O (Rod Taylor), who's undying love of anything by Rodgers & Hammerstein prohibits the local radio station or outdoor movie nights from playing anything else.
Discovering that would-be escapees end up with a bullet in their backs, Teddy nevertheless plots a dramatic getaway with the help of Angie's less-crazed sister Krystal (Dee Smart), who was widowed after her hairdresser husband (Paul Mercurio) failed in his freedom-finding bid.
Director Elliott heaps on the garishness, apparently going for a Fellini-on-the-outback vibe but minus any of that master's carefully measured, poetic surrealism. As a consequence, most of the potential for humor is submerged by all the weighty excess.
As for the cast, Schaech ("That Thing You Do!") isn't required to do much more than spend a great deal of his performance parading around in his underpants between bouts with the sex-crazed (and just-plain crazed) Angie, spiritedly played by Porter.
Portraying the outrageous Daddy-O, Taylor bears scant resemblance to the rugged leading man known from such '60s classics as "The Birds" and "The Time Machine", while the rest of the cast -- including Mercurio ("Strictly Ballroom"), Rachel Griffiths ("Muriel's Wedding") and Tina Louise -- is similarly squandered.
Even behind the scenes, Oscar-winning costume designer Lizzy Gardiner does nothing as clever as anything in "Priscilla", for which she collected her award wearing that infamous credit card dress.
The soundtrack, meanwhile, is jampacked with enough Rodgers & Hammerstein tunes to warrant an intermission.
No such luck.
WELCOME TO WOOP WOOP
MGM
Goldwyn Entertainment Co.
and the Australian Film Finance Corp.
in association with Scala Prods.
A Scala/Unthank production
Director: Stephan Elliott
Producer: Finola Dwyer
Screenwriter: Michael Thomas
Based on the book "The Dead Heart" by: Douglas Kennedy
Executive producers: Nik Powell and Stephen Woolley
Director of photography: Mike Molloy
Production designer: Owen Paterson
Editor: Martin Walsh
Costume designer: Lizzy Gardiner
Music: Guy Gross
Color/stereo
Cast:
Teddy: Johnathon Schaech
Daddy-O: Rod Taylor
Angie: Susie Porter
Krystal: Dee Smart
Blind Wally: Barry Humphries
Reggie: Richard Moir
Midget: Paul Mercurio
Sylvia: Rachel Griffiths
Ginger: Maggie Kirkpatrick
Bella: Tina Louise
Running time -- 97 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Mired in heavy-handed grotesquerie, this forced farce goes irretrievably off from the get-go. Aside from some limited potential as a cult curiosity item -- like those horrible traffic accidents that some can't help but gawk at -- expect "Woop Woop" to rapidly outstay its theatrical welcome.
Based on novelist Douglas Kennedy's "The Dead Heart" and adapted by Michael Thomas ("Backbeat"), the picture concerns the antic exploits of one Teddy (Johnathon Schaech), a New York con man who finds himself in a lot of hot water back home and seeks refuge in the untamed Australian wilderness.
He ends up in the proverbial frying pan when a lusty fling with a nympho hitchhiker named Angie (Susie Porter) has nightmarish consequences. He awakens from a drugged stupor to find himself locked in a barn, having been unconscious during a formal marriage to Angie and trapped in a remote, dusty town presided over by her tyrannical father, Daddy-O (Rod Taylor), who's undying love of anything by Rodgers & Hammerstein prohibits the local radio station or outdoor movie nights from playing anything else.
Discovering that would-be escapees end up with a bullet in their backs, Teddy nevertheless plots a dramatic getaway with the help of Angie's less-crazed sister Krystal (Dee Smart), who was widowed after her hairdresser husband (Paul Mercurio) failed in his freedom-finding bid.
Director Elliott heaps on the garishness, apparently going for a Fellini-on-the-outback vibe but minus any of that master's carefully measured, poetic surrealism. As a consequence, most of the potential for humor is submerged by all the weighty excess.
As for the cast, Schaech ("That Thing You Do!") isn't required to do much more than spend a great deal of his performance parading around in his underpants between bouts with the sex-crazed (and just-plain crazed) Angie, spiritedly played by Porter.
Portraying the outrageous Daddy-O, Taylor bears scant resemblance to the rugged leading man known from such '60s classics as "The Birds" and "The Time Machine", while the rest of the cast -- including Mercurio ("Strictly Ballroom"), Rachel Griffiths ("Muriel's Wedding") and Tina Louise -- is similarly squandered.
Even behind the scenes, Oscar-winning costume designer Lizzy Gardiner does nothing as clever as anything in "Priscilla", for which she collected her award wearing that infamous credit card dress.
The soundtrack, meanwhile, is jampacked with enough Rodgers & Hammerstein tunes to warrant an intermission.
No such luck.
WELCOME TO WOOP WOOP
MGM
Goldwyn Entertainment Co.
and the Australian Film Finance Corp.
in association with Scala Prods.
A Scala/Unthank production
Director: Stephan Elliott
Producer: Finola Dwyer
Screenwriter: Michael Thomas
Based on the book "The Dead Heart" by: Douglas Kennedy
Executive producers: Nik Powell and Stephen Woolley
Director of photography: Mike Molloy
Production designer: Owen Paterson
Editor: Martin Walsh
Costume designer: Lizzy Gardiner
Music: Guy Gross
Color/stereo
Cast:
Teddy: Johnathon Schaech
Daddy-O: Rod Taylor
Angie: Susie Porter
Krystal: Dee Smart
Blind Wally: Barry Humphries
Reggie: Richard Moir
Midget: Paul Mercurio
Sylvia: Rachel Griffiths
Ginger: Maggie Kirkpatrick
Bella: Tina Louise
Running time -- 97 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 11/16/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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