The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) - The outback gets a festive make-over

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The three stars in gorgeous costumes have their backs turned to us on the open road under a sweltering sky on this poster for Stephan Elliott's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Two drag queens and one more or less honorable, aging transsexual decide to head way inland in Australia to stage shows, and they buy an old bus they name Priscilla for the occasion, which is regrettably not always trustworthy...

 

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is written and directed by Stephan Elliott (Frauds (1993)).

The three leads: Hugo Weaving (We're All Going to Die (2017, short)), Guy Pearce (Without Remorse (2021)) and (especially fabulous) Terence Stamp (Bitter Harvest (2017)), - as the three eternally bitching 'disco age' cliche gays are all in high-spirited form and give lots of life to their characters. Bill Hunter (Australia (2008)) is also outstanding as the gentleman Bob, who decides to join the trio on their adventures. 

Whether the film is as funny and good as its similarly long-titled To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) and also content-wise very similar American film that was made apparently coincidentally (incredible as it may seem) at the same time, is up to each audience member's individual taste. (Mine lead me in favor of the American saga.) In any case: Whoa, is Pearce in strapping form here!

Priscilla both shows a bright corner of an easier, less judgmental future while also brimming with the unbeatable spirit of the LGBT world. It gives a damn about realism in favor of concept and world-class glitzy costumes, wigs and makeup that is out of this world. It is a very gay-positive cult movie that wins on heart and good moments of which it has many.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 2 mil. $

Box office: 29.7 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 14.85 times its cost)

[The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was released 30 January (Spain) and runs 103 minutes. Shooting took place from September - October 1993 in Australia. The film opened #14 to a 219k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it grossed 11.2 mil. $ (37.7 % of the total gross). It earned 16.4 mil. $ (55.2 %) in Australia. The box office record is likely missing information, and the world gross is likely higher than reported here. The film won the Best Costumes Oscar. It also won 2/7 BAFTA awards, was nominated for 2 Golden Globes, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Elliott returned with Welcome to Woop Woop (1997). Weaving returned in Exile (1994); Pearce in Dating the Enemy (1996) and Stamp in Mindbender (1996, TV movie) and theatrically in Tiré à Part (1996). The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert? 

The Proposition (2005) - Stars and images stand out in Hillcoat's outback western

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A man on a high-point pointing a gun towards something unseen - along with cast pictures - make up this poster for John Hillcoat's The Proposition

1880s Australia, British colonization of the enormous land still in process: The Burns brothers are by nature it seems merciless killers. A small town has a captain that wants to expand civilization. He has a proposal to one of the brothers.

The Proposition is written by Nick Cave (Ghosts ... of the Civil Dead (1988)), who also co-composed the film's score, and directed by Australian master filmmaker John Hillcoat (To Have & to Hold (1996)), whose 2nd feature it is. 

The ending is a bit provocative, but also rather predictable, - especially for those with a bit of existing knowledge of screenwriter Cave's lyrical universe as a dark rock musician, the man's main calling. The film is centered around very visual violence and somewhat pretentious poetry, (again courtesy of Cave's pen.)

But The Proposition impresses with is ensemble cast of Emily Watson (On Chesil Beach (2017)), Guy Pearce (The Seventh Day (2021)), Ray Winstone (Jawbone (2017)) and John Hurt (Jackie (2016)) as a Darwin-skeptical racist, among others. Benoît Delhomme's (Minimata (2020)) cinematography is another beautiful feature to the film, which is carefully tinted in post production. Watson's milky-white skin has rarely been more beautiful than in The Proposition.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 2 mil. $

Box office: 5 mil. $

= Even (returned 2.5 times its cost)

[The Proposition premiered 12 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place in Australia. The film opened #46 to a 32k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #19 and in 200 theaters, grossing 1.9 mil. $ (38 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 1.5 mil. $ (30 %) and the UK with 1.1 mil. $ (22 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Hillcoat returned with 3 music videos prior to his theatrical return The Road (2009). Pearce returned in First Snow (2006); Winstone with a voice performance and in 2 TV movies prior to his theatrical return in Breaking and Entering (2006); and Danny Huston (Marlowe (2022)) in Covert One: The Hades Factor (2006, miniseries) and theatrically in Marie Antoinette (2006). The Proposition is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Proposition?

The Piano (1993) - Campion's enthralling Maori period romance

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+ Best $ Return of the Year: 20 times the cost + Best Erotic Movie of the Year + Best New Zealand Movie of the Year + Best On-screen Couple of the Year: Holly Hunter & Harvey Keitel + Best Romance of the Year

 

A striking, almost ethereal still from the film makes up this poster for Jane Campion's The Piano

A mute woman from Scotland arrives to New Zealand with her daughter and her piano, as she has been married off to a frontier man there, who is a stranger to her. Gradually, however, she falls in love with another man of the new land, who lives in the forest with the native Maori people.

 

The Piano is written and directed by New Zealander master filmmaker Jane Campion (Sweetie (1989)), whose 3rd feature it is.

It is a highly esteemed film about love with beautiful long takes - that are never too long still, (cinematography by Stuart Dryburgh (Gifted (2017))), fabulous nature and music (score by Michael Nyman (Everyday (2012))). 

The actors are also eminent: Anna Paquin (The Irishman (2019)) as the young daughter is brilliant; Holly Hunter (Succession (2019, TV-series)) and Harvey Keitel (Saturn 3 (1980)) as the odd couple are the same. SPOILER A devastatingly tragic ending is averted, (Campion has later divulged that this ending was her original choice), and instead The Piano ends on a life-affirming note.  

 

Related post:

 

Jane Campion: 1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 7 mil. $

Box office: Reportedly 140 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 20 times its cost)

[The Piano premiered 15 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 117 minutes. Shooting took place from May - July 1992 in New Zealand. The film opened #18 to a 151k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #7 and in 671 theaters (different weeks), grossing 40.1 mil. $ (28.6 % of the total gross). The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes (shared with Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine), making Campion the first female recipient in history. It was also nominated for 8 Oscars, winning for Best Actress (Hunter), Supporting Actress (Paquin) and Script. It lost Best Cinematography to Janusz Kaminski for Schindler's List, Costumes to The Age of Innocence, Director to Steven Spielberg for Schindler's List, Picture to Schindler's List and Editing also to Schindler's List. It also won 3/10 BAFTA nominations, 1/6 Golden Globe nominations, a César award, was nominated for a David di Donatello award, won 2 National Board of Review awards and the Best Actress award at Cannes (Hunter), among scores of other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Campion returned with The Portrait of a Lady (1996). Hunter returned in The Firm (1993); Keitel in Rising Sun (1993); and Sam Neill (Rams (2020)) in The Rainbow Warrior (1993, TV movie) and theatrically in Jurassic Park (1993). The Piano is certified fresh at 90 % with an 8.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Piano?

The Hunter (2011) - Man wants to kill Tasmania's last tiger

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Lush mountain scenery and a family situation lurks on this star-centered poster for Daniel Nettheim's The Hunter

A professional huntsman arrives to a remote part of Tasmania, where it is his mission to shoot and bring home with him a tiger that was thought to be extinct. But in the process he falls for a woman in the area, - and for the tiger.

 

The Hunter is written by Alice Addison (The Silence (2006, TV movie)), with Wain Fimeri (Pozieres (2000, TV movie)) and co-writer/director Daniel Nettheim (Angst (2000)) making contributions. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1999 novel by Julia Leigh (Disquiet (2008)).

An unusual story and a strong cast, which keeps us guessing, speaks in favor of The Hunter. Frances O'Connor (Best Man Down (2012)) has that special sympathetic quality and is good here, and Finn Woodlock (Neighbours (2013, TV-series)) as her son also brings sensitivity to the part. The Tasmanian nature and animals are also fascinating. These qualities keep The Hunter afloat and exciting for the most part.

But (understandably) we never really care for Willem Dafoe's (The Florida Project (2017)) title character due to his mission and engagement with a mysterious, evil company. He walks around and kills animals throughout the film SPOILER and ends up shooting the beautiful tiger, only to cremate it. An incredibly unsympathetic behavior, - and it changes little that he becomes a stepfather for the boy. SPOILER Throughout The Hunter Dafoe's character stands as a swaying leaf between the environmentalists and 'tree-huggers' of the story, - and I didn't buy the proposed change in him in the film's ending, which I really hated.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown, projected 4 mil. $

Box office: 1.6 mil. $

= Uncertain, but likely a mega-flop (projected return of 0.4 times its cost)

[The Hunter premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 102 minutes. Shooting took place around October 2010 in Australia. The film opened #68 to a 19k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #57 and in 17 theaters (different weeks), grossing 176k $ (11 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. Its biggest were Australia with 947k $ (59.2 %) and the UK with 367k $ (22.9 %). If made on a low 4 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a mega-flop. Nettheim returned with 22 TV credits but has not returned to theaters since. Dafoe returned with a voice performance in Gauguin: Maker of Myth (2011, video), and theatrically in John Carter (2012).  The Hunter is fresh at 72 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Hunter? 

Newcastle (2008) - Overly laid-back surfer boy guilty pleasure

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Four well-shaped surfer boys very closely knit together on this poster for Dan Castle's Newcastle

A group of friends take the gay twin/black sheep along with them for a weekend trip in the dunes with surfing on the menu.

 

Newcastle is written and directed by debuting Dan Castle (...Lost. (2000, short)).

It is a surfer movie with handsome surfing footage - and (too) much of it. But the film's problem more lies in the story around the surfing, which is too scattershot and drowsy to awaken significant engagement from an audience.

The pretty, swearing Australian cast are cultivated, - especially the well-shaped guys, - by the camera, but the story isn't chiefly about Fergus the gay dude, (who regrettably doesn't get to have a romance.) It is a bit about the former star big brother Victor; a bit about the sexual exploits of the heteros, - including one scene of unsafe sex, which isn't followed up on, in a kind of reckless manner. It is also a bit about a coming surfing competition and a bit about the group's good-looking klutz, who has a driving accident with the tent dragged after the automobile! Israel Cannan (Home and Away (2004-05)) is sexy as the insecure character and truly looks like a pretty but not too bright surfer bum.

Newcastle is a harmless skin-centered flick, a bit of unfocused diversion.

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 260k $

= Uncertain but likely a huge flop (projected return of 0.52 times the cost)

[Newcastle premiered 25 April (Tribeca Film Festival, New York) and runs 107 minutes. Shooting took place around April 2007 in New South Wales, Australia. A projected low budget cost of 500k $ would rank the film as a huge flop theatrically. Australia was the film's biggest market with 138k $ (53.1 %); Japan 2nd with 114k $ (43.8 %); and UAE 3rd with 4k $ (1.5 %). Figures from the North-American release are unreported; the film's 4th and last (minor) market was Lebanon. Castle has since made a documentary and B/W Hollywood romance Can't Be Undone, which hasn't been released. Newcastle is fresh at 61 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Newcastle?

Mary Shelley (2017) - Al-Mansour stumbles badly in inauspicious second work

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Title star Elle Fanning has a strangely green-colored eye on this otherwise almost uniformly grey poster for Haifaa Al-Mansour's Mary Shelley

Young Mary Godwin falls in love with young poet Percy Shelley as she mysteriously authors her masterpiece Frankenstein (1818).

 

Mary Shelley is written by Emma Jensen (I Am Woman (2019)) and great Saudi-Arabian co-writer/director Haifaa Al-Mansour's (Wadjda (2017)), based on the true conception of Frankenstein.

Though failed in almost every way, I still give this surely well-meant (and harmless) second feature from Al-Mansour a generous 2 hearts. We don't get any the wiser on the creation of Frankenstein, and the romance between the two youths, - which is poetical rather than carnal, - never becomes interesting. - For one thing they both seem too young for the dramatic observations that fall out of their mouths.

The actors do nicely and pull the film up, though it is a weak script handled by a director with no discernable independent direction for her film.

 

Related posts:

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

Wadjda/ وجدة‎ (2012) - Bold and powerful first Saudi-Arabian film 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 2-2.7 mil. $ (different sources)

= Uncertain - but likely a huge flop

[Mary Shelley premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 121 minutes. 15 governmental support organs and production companies collaborated in the financing and making of the film. Shooting took place in France, Luxembourg and Dublin, Ireland. The film opened #58 to a 12k £ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #49 and in 30 theaters, grossing 108k $ (4 % of the total gross). The film's 3 biggest markets were France with 557k $ (20.6 %), Italy with 422k $ (15.6 %) and Spain with 360k $ (13.3 %). Apparently the film was not screened in Al-Mansour's own country Saudi-Arabia. If made on a likely 5 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a huge flop or possibly even a mega-flop. Al-Mansour returned with The Wedding Singer's Daughter (2018, short) and theatrically with Nappily Ever After (2018). Elle Fanning (Super 8 (2011)) returned in I Think We're Alone Now (2018). Mary Shelley is rotten at 39 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mary Shelley?

Analyze This (1999) - Analyze what, Ramis?

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+ 3rd Worst Movie of the Year

+ Most Overrated Movie of the Year  

 

Robert De Niro in what could look like a Marlon Brando 'Godfather' impression beside Billy Crystal as a shrink on the packed poster for Harold Ramis' Analyze This

New York's Italian-American gangster boss has a panic attack and falls upon a psychiatrist, whom he designates his new life-saver.

Analyze This is written by Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count On Me (2000)), Peter Tolan (Guess Who (2005)) and Illinoisan master filmmaker Harold Ramis (Caddyshack (1980)), whose 7th feature it was.

The basic premise isn't dumb, (and it looks a lot like what had shortly prior the film debuted as gangster TV-series masterpiece The Sopranos (1999-07))), but there isn't much of a plot to back it up in Analyze This. The film isn't really about shrink Billy Crystal's (This Is Spinal Tap (1984)) fiancée, his son, his meetings with the gangster Robert De Niro (The Good Shepherd (2006)) or the FBI, but they are all in the film anyway.

Analyze This swings between a notion that we should take its characters seriously and then utterly farcical tomfooleries, which is mixed with mighty thick cliches, such as Crystal curing over-acting De Niro, which is a joy and a blessing to him (despite going to jail!)

But the idiotic, deeply inane script and its empty construct here is the worst part of the film. Ramis really hit the gutter with Analyze This.

 

Related posts:

Harold Ramis: 1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Groundhog Day (1993) - Rubin, Ramis and Murray's irresistible comedy masterpiece 

Ghostbusters II (1989) - Reitman's unjustifiably maligned sequel (co-writer/co-star)

Ghostbusters (1984) - Reitman and Co. conjure up the gleeful pomp and circumstance of the 1980s (co-writer/co-star)

Caddyshack (1980) - And you thought golf was boring? 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 30 mil. $ (some sources claim 80 mil. $)

Box office: 176.8 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 5.89 times its cost) - unless the wildly different cost is accurate, in which case the return was 2.21 and the film a flop

[Analyze This was released 5 March (USA) and runs 103 minutes. De Niro was paid 8 mil. $ for his performance. Shooting took place from May - July 1998 in Florida, including Miami, New Jersey and in New York. Box Office Mojo and IMDb mysteriously list an 80 mil. $ budget, while several other sites lists what I find the more realistic 30 mil. $ budget. It is more realistic also in light of the fact that the film was considered a hit, (at 80 mil. $ it would have been a flop), which gave a go-ahead for a sequel, the double-budgeted (60 mil. $, which is fairly standard studio practice for a successful film's sequel) Analyze That (2002), with returning stars and director, a major flop on the other hand. The film opened #1 to an 18.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained #1 for another weekend and stayed in the top 5 for a total of 9 remarkable weekends, grossing 106.8 mil. $ (60.4 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. Ramis returned with Bedazzled (2000). De Niro returned in Flawless (1999); Crystal in 2 TV movies and an uncredited cameo prior to his theatrical return in America's Sweethearts (2001). Analyze This is fresh at 69 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Analyze This?

Lion (2016) - An incredible true story brought to vivid, touching life

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+ Best Australian Movie of the Year

The young, fresh-faced stars cut through by en evocative photo of a rail track and a search engine bar adorn this poster for Garth Davis' Lion

Saroo is just a small boy, when he in 1986 gets lost from his family in India and winds up in a place he doesn't know and later gets adopted from there to Australia.

Lion is written by Luke Davies (Life (2015)), based on real-life Saroo Brierley's 2013 autobiography about his life, A Long Way Home, and directed by debuting great Australian filmmaker Garth Davis (Top of the Lake (2013, TV-series).
The first approximately 50 minutes of the film, which follows Saroo as a boy, are enormously captivating. Sunny Pawar (Love Sonia (2018)) is formidable as Saroo, and his brother and mother are also played convincingly. The momentum dives shortly, as we jump forward in time to Saroo as an adult, but it is soon picked up again, thanks to Dev Patel's (Slumdog Millionaire (2008)) deep-felt, strong performance. Rooney Mara (The Social Network (2010)) gives fine support, and Nicole Kidman (The Others (2001)) makes a statuesque mother figure here, SPOILER even in the somewhat strange scenes, in which she confesses to have had a vision as a 12 year-old, which told her that she would be adopting a brown child.
The score by Volker Bertelmann (Hotel Mumbai (2018)) and Dustin O'Halloran (Equals (2015)) is fantastic and adds to the simple force that drives the film. Was all of this not a true story, Lion might have been rejected. But it is a true and amazing story: Lion beats the more successful and comparable Slumdog Millionaire in quality and is perhaps the year's most touching film.

Related post:

Garth Davis: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 12 mil. $
Box office: 140.3 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 11.69 times the cost)
[Lion premiered 10 September (Toronto International Film Festival, Ontario) and runs 118 minutes. Shooting took place in India and Australia from January - May 2015. The film opened #32 to a 123k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 1,802 cinemas (different weeks) and grossed 51.7 mil. $ (36.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 22.3 mil. $ (15.9 %) and the UK with 15.4 mil. $ (11 %). It became the 6th highest-grossing Australian film ever in Australia. The film was nominated for 6 Oscars: It lost Best Picture to Moonlight, Supporting Actor (Patel) to Mahershala Ali in Moonlight, Supporting Actress (Kidman) to Viola Davis in Fences, Adapted Screenplay to Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for Moonlight, Cinematography (Greig Fraser) to Linus Sandgren for La La Land, and Score to Justin Hurwitz also for La La Land. It was also nominated for 4 Golden Globes, won 2/5 BAFTA nominations, was nominated for a Grammy and several other honors. Novelist and critic Salman Rushdie publicly lauded the film. Davis returned with Mary Magdalene (2018). Patel returned in Hotel Mumbai (2018), Mara in The Discovery (2017), Kidman in How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017), and David Wenham (Oranges and Sunshine (2010)) in Iron Fist (2017, TV-series) and theatrically in Beyond the Known World (2017). Lion is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Lion?

Lake Mungo (2008) - Anderson's bone-chilling mockumentary horror

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+ Best Horror Movie of the Year + Best Mockumentary of the Year + Best Australian Movie of the Year

A disturbing, distorted video feed in B/W provides the background for this poster for Joel Anderson's Lake Mungo

Teenage girl Alice drowns in a lake in a tragic accident, which haunts her parents and brother for years after. - But are they also actually haunted by her ghost, and if so, is it trying to tell them something...?

Lake Mungo is written and directed by feature-debuting Joel Anderson (The Rotting Woman (2002, short)). It is a successful mockumentary horror, which manages to create a realistic scenario and manipulate skillfully with us its audience.
A large part of the reason it works is good casting and acting from the cast of unknowns, paired with a very strong and nerveracking score by David Paterson, who, incredibly, hasn't made another score before or since.
Several sequences in Lake Mungo, - which drives on the fear of a parallel spirit world and souls living on among us, - are very frightening. The real Australian Mungo location is used handily towards the film's conclusion.
One reservation that might be raised against Lake Mungo is that the family it revolves around seems to circle as if spellbound around their lost daughter and sister even years after her demise.

Related posts: 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Reportedly 1.1 mil. $
Box office: 29k A$, approximately 20k $ (Australia)
= Box office disaster (returned 0.18 times the cost)
[Lake Mungo premiered 18 June (Sydney Film Festival, Australia) and runs 89 minutes. Anderson deliberately wrote a low-budget script, which he has described as an "exploration of grief". The script had no dialog, so the actors had to improvise. Shooting took place in Australia in 5 weeks. The film's only listed gross is from its country of origin Australia. Beside this, it was only screened at festivals in 4 other markets. Anderson has not returned with anything since. Lake Mungo is fresh at 93 % with a 7.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Lake Mungo?