To celebrate the fact that Monique Brumby has now been added to the line-up at the first Dogapalooza to be held in Melbourne Subculture Entertainment’s Dave Griffiths caught up with Monique to talk about music… and well dogs.
You can listen to or download our Monique Brumby interview right here.
Dogapalooza Details
Sun 27 Sept – Burnley Park, Richmond
11.30am – 5.00pm
$28 +BF Adults
$15 + BF Concession/Students
$10 + BF Children (12yo & under)
Featuring Animal Extra’s Walter Collins (MC).
More acts to be announced.
ON SALE NOW viz Oztix
Ticket info : http://tickets.oztix.com.au/?Event=55044
Thanks to DC and Warner The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show has copies of Arrow Season 3 to giveaway. Two lucky winners will recieve a copy of Arrow Season 3 which is released on home DVD and Blu-Ray on the 23rd September, 2015.
This week on The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show Adam, Dave, Greg and Nick take a look at new release films ‘Oddball,’ ‘How To Change The World,’ ‘Everest,‘ and ‘Blinky Bill The Movie.’ This episode also contains interviews with Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Shane Jacobson, Robert Leeshock (Star Leaf) and Cerise Howard (Czech Slovak Film Festival).
Also make sure you are listening this week as the boys announce a very special partnership that The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show has started with DC Comics and Warner Home Video. We kick off this brand new partnership by giving you the chance to win a copy of Arrow Season 3 on DVD or Blu-Ray.
To listen to the show or can download it for free from our Podcast Channel – Listen/Download here.
Summary: Blinky Bill (voiced by Ryan Kwanten) the mischievous koala is devastated when his father, Bill Koala (Richard Roxburgh) leaves their home town and goes exploring in the outback but hasn’t returned after twelve months. Despite promising his mother (Deborah Mailman) that he won’t Blinky heads off to look for him.
Soon Blinky is joined by an accidentally freed zoo koala named Nutsy (Robin McLeavy) and a crazy filled neck lizard called Jacko (David Wenham) as he battles the dangerous outside world in a bid to find his Dad. The journey is made even more dangerous by the fact that they are being pursued by a cranky cat (Rufus Sewell) who wants to make the koalas his dinner.
Year: 2015
Australian Cinema Release Date: 17th September 2015
Australian DVD Release Date: TBA
Country: Australia, USA
Director: Deane Taylor, Noel Cleary, Alexs Stadermann, Alex Weight
Screenwriter: Not listed
Cast: Toni Collette (Beryl/Cheryl (voice)), Barry Humphries (Wombo (voice)), Ryan Kwanten (Blinky Bill (voice)), Deborah Mailman (Blinky’s Mum (voice)), Robin McLeavy (Nutsy (voice)), Barry Otto (Mayor Cranklepot (voice)), Richard Roxburgh (Bill Koala (voice)), Rufus Sewell (The Cat (voice)), David Wenham (Jacko (voice))
Runtime: 91 mins
Classification: G
OUR BLINKY BILL THE MOVIE REVIEWS & RATINGS:
David Griffiths:
Blinky Bill is one of those children’s characters that never seems to go out of fashion. Created by author Dorothy Wall in 1933 generations of Australian children have grown up loving Blinky in the countless television shows, books and two movies that have told the larrikin koala’s stories over the years. Now in 2015 Blinky gets a resurgence and unlike so many other characters that have been re-invented for the kids over the years this is one character’s story that still holds up.
Aside from trying to make a character cool for the younger generation that has been around for over 80 years there are a few other hurdles that director Deane Taylor has had to overcome with Blinky Bill The Movie. First of all is trying to get kids who have grown up on the slick animation of Pixar to warm to a movie that uses some old fashioned style animation. The key it seems in this case was to come up with a story that transcends generations and here the filmmakers seem to have done that well. Not surprisingly when you consider that Taylor has worked on some legendary animation projects over the years including Popeye, Casper, The Flintstones, Pink Panther, Footrot Flats and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas the film does conjur up that simple old time animation story of a character on an adventure while being pursued by a character wanting to put an end to it – yes Sewell’s cat here is like the Will-E Coyote or Elmer Fudd characters of old.
Taylor brings a simplistic style to the film’s storytelling and it ends up working. To be honest there is nothing new here but for some reason the audience finds themselves barracking for the little koala and his friends and while some of the gags are a little childish there are some other humorous moments in there that are obviously designed to bring a smile to older audience members. Like the Ginger Meggs stories there are some things about Blinky that are a little questionable about whether today’s parents are okay with their children watching it but for the most part this is a fairly innocent film. Some serious issues around refugees and conservation does get a look in with the screenplay but just like Oddball this isn’t a film that you are going to walk out of and feel like you have been preached at with.
One of the obvious things about Blinky Bill The Movie is that this is a film that seems to be aimed at an international audience rather than just an Australian audience. The inclusion of big name actors like Toni Collette, Barry Humphries, Ryan Kwanten and Richard Roxburgh do give this film a lot of credibility while the inclusion of so many lovable forms of Australian wildlife could just give this film a life outside of Australia if it is marketed right.
Blinky Bill The Movie does nothing wrong. A simple story that has you barracking for the young koala as he outruns the villainous cat is very Looney Tunes like, while the script is smart enough to also include some touching moments about the relationship between a father and a son. Blinkey Bill The Movie is mainly for younger children but certainly won’t put an adult to sleep, it’s just innocent fun.
Average Subculture Rating (out of 5):
IMDB Rating:
Other Subculture Entertainment Blinky Bill The Movie reviews: Blinky Bill The Movie with be reviewed in an upcoming episode of The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show.
Summary: Middle Island was once a flourishing penguin population but sadly over the years the numbers have dropped from a few thousand down to around ten due to the fact that foxes have worked out how to get to the Island. This has now caused problems for Emily Marsh (Sarah Snook), Jack Jones (Richard Davies) and Zoe (Tegan Higginbotham) who have been told they will lose their jobs if the Island is no longer considered a sanctuary.
As the nearby town of Warrnambool works hard at becoming a tourist destination by having the local council including Mayor Lake (Deborah Mailman) working with an advisor named Bradley Slater (Alan Tudyk) to come up with new tourism ideas. But when Bradley’s idea means the future of Middle Island is doomed a local chicken farmer named Swampy Marsh (Shane Jacobson) and his granddaughter, Olivia (Coco Jack Gillies) decides it is up to them and a mischievous dog called Oddball to come up with a way to fix everything.
Year: 2015
Australian Cinema Release Date: 17th September 2015
Australian DVD Release Date: TBA
Country: Australia
Director: Stuart McDonald
Screenwriter: Peter Ivan
Cast: Terry Camilleri (Judge Burns), Richard Davies (Jack Jones), Coco Jack Gillies (Olivia), Tegan Higginbotham (Zoe), Shane Jacobson (Swampy), Dave Lawson (Sergeant Gosch), Deborah Mailman (Mayor Lake), Sarah Snook (Emily Marsh), Alan Tudyk (Bradley Slater), Frank Woodley (Dog Catcher)
Runtime: 95 mins
Classification: G
OUR ODDBALL REVIEWS & RATINGS:
David Griffiths:
This has been the year when the Australian film industry has hit back with vengenance. Amongst the good drama films that have surfaced Aussie cult cinema has led the way around the world with films like Kill Me Three Times and Wrymwood making the charts in America while Mad Max: Fury Road seemed to thrill action film lovers as well. Of course one of the biggest Australian films over the past few years has been Red Dog – a family film that surprised everybody. Not surprisingly many Aussie filmmakers thought they had just discovered the best way to make people watch your film and that was to create a family friendly film about dog. Several projects fitting that description have fallen by the wayside but now Oddball manages to make its way to the big screen.
Yes I’ve made the clichéd comparison between Oddball and Red Dog so now let’s take a look at whether or not the film is actually any good. The answer to that question is a solid yes because director Stuart McDonald (who over recent years has worked on all of Chris Lilley’s projects) and screenwriter Peter Ivan have been brave enough to make Oddball a little bit different to the thousands of dog movies over the years. When the opening to Oddball boasts that this is a fairy tale they aren’t joking. Yes this is a true story that saw the people of Warrnambool embrace a Maremma dog but together these talented filmmakers have told the story in a fairy tale style which incorporates a smart script with a little bit of pantomime acting, especially from comedian Frank Woodley who plays the mean dog catcher. In the past this style of filmmaking has led to some pretty woeful Australian films, I’m looking at you Welcome To Woop Woop, but here it makes a refreshing difference and makes Oddball the kind of film that could be enjoyed by the whole family.
Ironically when watching Oddball the old fart joke and over the top dog chase does have a bit of a feel of a Paul Jennings story and sure enough a quick check of Peter Ivan’s bio shows that he was one of the writer’s on Two Twisted, a show based on Jenning’s work. Somehow this script manages to incorporate that kind of humor with a dramatic storyline revolving around how greed can impeach on nature and also explores the fractured relationship between father and daughter when it comes to things between Swampy and Emily. Yes Ivan and McDonald together have somehow created a film that will actually have you laughing one moment and tearing up the next.
The key to this film working as well as it does though is through it’s casting. Shane Jacobson does a great job in the lead role of Swampy. He made the character of Kenny famous all those years ago and while his comedic talent is held back a little here he now has also made Swampy a much loved Australian character. He is well supported by Alan Tudyk who plays the pushy American but the scenes here are stolen by Sarah Snook who once again shows why she is an Australian actress on the rise and young Coco Jack Gillies who here shows the world that she is a child actress with a huge future ahead of her.
Oddball is a genuine treat. It is a film that has a strong conservational message but doesn’t get bogged down in preaching to its audience. A great script that manages to mix humor and drama together well without becoming to adult for children is a rarity these days, but here it works well and allows it’s talented cast to really show there skills. Different but smart, cute but dramatic Oddball will surprise more than a few people who take the time to watch the film.
NETFLIX has acquired the acclaimed Melbourne-made series SMALL TIME GANGSTER for UK, Australia and New Zealand with more territories to be announced shortly.
Directed by Jeffrey Walker, with a stellar cast including Steve Le Marquand, Gia Carides, Sacha Horler, Geoff Morrell and Gary Sweet, SMALL TIME GANGSTER follows the misadventures of Tony Piccolo, outwardly a devoted family man who earns his living cleaning carpets – who in reality is the toughest underworld enforcer in Melbourne. But when Tony suddenly develops a conscience and his two worlds threaten to collide, he’s going to need more than just cleaning fluid to clear up the mess.
Gareth Calverley and Joss King created and wrote the show’s 8 episodes.
Producer Gareth Calverley commented, “We’re delighted that some of the 63 million people who subscribe to NETFLIX the world over will now have the opportunity to see the show.”
Distributed globally by DRG UK, the show was produced in 2010/11 by Melbourne-based production company Boilermaker Pty Ltd in partnership with Burberry Productions. SMALL TIME GANGSTER was produced for The Movie Network by Gareth Calverley and Andrew McInally, with Peter Jenetsky, Tony Forrest, and Ewan Burnett as executive producers.
Producer Andrew McInally added, “It’s a testament to the quality of SMALL TIME GANGSTER that a few years down the road it has been acquired by NETFLIX worldwide and successfully remade as “UMBRE” by HBO Europe.”
After generating record audiences for The Movie Network in 2011/12, SBS Australia screened the series in 2013/14. SMALL TIME GANGSTER was developed in partnership with Film Victoria and filmed on location in Melbourne, Victoria.
Jeffrey Walker was nominated for Best Director at the 2011 AACTA Awards for SMALL TIME GANGSTER and the show won the AWGIE for Best Original Mini-Series in the same year.
Here you go Divergent fans The Divergent Series: Allegiant trailer has just been released. The film which is directed by Robert Schwentke and stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Jeff Daniels, Octavia Spencer, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Mekhi Phifer, Daniel Dae Kim and Naomi Watts will be released in cinemas in March, 2016.
With the monumental film Everest about to hit cinemas tomorrow we take a look at some behind-the-scenes Everest featurettes which you can view below.
Everest is directed by Baltasar Kormakur and feature an all star cast including Jason Clarke, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Josh Brolin and Jake Gyllenhaal. It is in Australian cinemas tomorrow.
