Aussiesploitation

seeing as Australian cinema is Tarantino’s second favourite cinema i thought of starting this topic. (i was so exciting when i heard this because our film industry is in a bit of a slump now :frowning: )



nowadays though in my opinion besides arthouse films Australia really only makes aussiesploitation because technically it is just a film that exploits popular Australian culture to attract viewers and just about every Australian film is a bunch of guys sitting around drinking beer and making larrikin wisecracks whilst wearing short shorts.



cause face it guys, that is what we Australians do lol…or not…



The Castle in my opinion fits into this category and that would have to be my favourite

I want to ask a question about Crocodile Dundee. Preferrably to the French on this board, but basically to anyone.



This is taken from Wikipedia:

[quote]The film was one of the greatest hits of the year, even in the non-English speaking world. In Paris a cinema had the unusual policy of screening it in two auditoriums instead of just one. Queues lined up round-the-block and the auditorium was packed.
[/quote]

I want to ask your opinion of the film and why it became one of the biggest films of the year around the world. Basically because I don’t see the appeal the film would have to the French and the rest of the non-English speaking world.

Presumably it as something to do with the ending where Mick Dundee walks over people’s heads to get to the girl. This is most people’s ‘favourite bit’. I wanted to see it at the time because of Paul Hogan. When Channel 4 began in 1982 one of the programmes they broadcast was ‘The Paul Hogan Show’ which became so popular (five year old’s sandwich, ‘Pot Belly’ etc) that his Hoganness came over and did a couple of shows in Britain. He also advertised Fosters although I understand you lot down under prefer Coopers.

I think the popularity of Crocodile Dundee was due to the humor that came from Paul Hogan’s character discovering life beyond the Outback. He had an innocence and a likeability that attracted all kinds of viewers too. I saw the film at the movies back in 1986 and I really enjoyed it.

[quote=“WinslowLeach”]
I think the popularity of Crocodile Dundee was due to the humor that came from Paul Hogan’s character discovering life beyond the Outback. He had an innocence and a likeability that attracted all kinds of viewers too. I saw the film at the movies back in 1986 and I really enjoyed it.
[/quote]

I totally agree. A great couple of movies for a young audience and yeah I think if I’d watch it now I’d enjoy it again…

[quote=“Clinton Morgan”]
He also advertised Fosters although I understand you lot down under prefer Coopers.
[/quote]

Haha, I find that hilarious. No one in Australia drinks Fosters. I wonder why they did so well oversees. They sell it like the Australian beer. But we don’t drink it. We drink XXXX, VB and Tooheys.

XXXX? I would never trust beer with a name like that. It sounds like they put coke or some other drug in the beer.

Good advertising campaign, ‘Australians Wouldn’t Give A XXXX For Anything Else’ which becomes shit when spoken out on television, “wouldn’t give a Castlemaine Four X” indeed! I did a cartoon parody of it as a kid, ‘Drink Hogan’s Fuck’. Fosters is good for making larger shandies. Half lemonade, half beer although a shandy originally consisted of ginger beer and beer. In ‘Janet Lives With Mel and Griff’ there was a parody of XXXX with a picture of some delapidated prefabricated home in the outback with the slogan, ‘If you lived in a shitehole like this you wouldn’t give a XXXX what you drank either.’ When Toohey came over here they used the DJ Jono to advertise it in a mock up Australian daytime show on a mock Australian channel called (wait for it!) Channel Toohey. What’s funny about that? Still they did a soap parody where the action got obscured by the beercan. “Strewth! Charlene from next door’s going skinny dipping!”

[quote=“LetsGoToWork”]
XXXX? I would never trust beer with a name like that. It sounds like they put coke or some other drug in the beer.
[/quote]

They say it is called XXXX, because they couldn’t spell beer. They basically say that because it is the beer that the lower class yobs drink.



http://www.xxxx.com.au/main/main.html



That aside, I do see the attraction of those things talked about in Crocodile Dundee, but what I really wanted to know is why it would be popular in non english-speaking countries. Do the jokes translate well to other cultures. Do you miss a lot of subtle jokes that make sense to Australians or Americans (and the British too)?

I saw Crocodile Dundee back when I was in Elementary School…I have to say I didn’t really like it all too much. Maybe I should watch them again 8) lol.

The Castle was my favorite…even got to waste a whole lecture watching it for ''educational purposes’in Constitutional Law class. Dear god, it apparently is now a perfectly valid argument these days to say that somethin is expressed ''in the vibe" of the constitution.

The first full length feature film ever made called ‘The Story of The Kelly Gang’ (1906) has been restored and will be shown with live piano accompaniment at the Australian Film Festival in London’s Barbican Centre on March 24th. More details here <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.barbican.org.uk/film/event-d … sp?ID=5321”>What's on – Cinema | Barbican</LINK_TEXT>



Any Australians reading this should notify their relatives living in Earl’s Court.

[quote=“Clinton Morgan”]
The first full length feature film ever made called ‘The Story of The Kelly Gang’ (1906) has been restored and will be shown with live piano accompaniment at the Australian Film Festival in London’s Barbican Centre on March 24th. More details here <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.barbican.org.uk/film/event-d … sp?ID=5321”>What's on – Cinema | Barbican</LINK_TEXT>



Any Australians reading this should notify their relatives living in Earl’s Court.
[/quote]

I believe that Madman is also releasing a DVD of the film.

There is a brilliant book called ‘TV Cream’s* Anatomy of Cinema: The Films That Criticism Forgot’ written and illustrated by Phil Norman and Chris Diamond which has a section called ‘Down Under’ about Australian and New Zealand cinema



Here’s the list of Australian movies described in the book:



The Overlanders (1946)

The Sundowners (1960)

They’re A Weird Mob (1966)

Walkabout (1971)

Outback (1971)

The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972)

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

Don’s Party (1976)

Harlequin (1980)

Malcolm (1986)



and for New Zealand



Runaway (1965)

Sleeping Dogs (1977)

Smash Palace (1981)

Skin Deep (1978)

Utu (1983)

The Quiet Earth (1985)

Death Warmed Up (1985) which is described as the first sicko splatter flick from New Zealand and that “it plays like a slightly more warped version of a Peter Jackson film, if such a thing is possible.”


I dont know if anyone is interested, but we’re covering Ozsploitation on the new site. If you would like to write a review or maybe an article on the whole Ozsploitation genre history, it would be great! Thanks!