Not Quite Hollywood

Fantastic! A great documentary focusing on a long unsung faction of cult cinema known as Ozploitation. Tarantino features heavily as an expert of the genre. As an Australian, it's scary watching how a foreigner could have so much knowledge and enthusiasm for films that have been almost purposely forgotten in their own homeland.

Like any good documentary, it's a real eye opening experience to get an insight into the lost world of blood, bikers and boobs. The directors, actors and those influenced (Greg McLean (Wolf Creek/Rouge), James Wan and Leigh Whannell (Saw)) share the stories of a fledgling film industry that embraced a Guerrilla style of film-making that stuck it to the stuffy cinema elite that wished they would disappear.

An absolute must watch for anybody who thinks they're an expert on cult/trash cinema.

as a lover of 'Ozploitation" films from way back, (hell im a card carrying member of the Turkey Shoot fanclub hahha) to say that Not Quite Hollywood was going to be essential viewing is quite an understatement. And so i finally made the 3 hour trek to Melbourne to see this thing and all i can say is WOW! Mark Hartley has done good with what was available to him, however there were a few other films that never got a mention that are quite vital to the "ozploitation" story.

To my knowledge COSY COOL was the first independent Aussie exploitation film, and it never even got a mention! (admitedly its not a really great "film", but is still an interesting watch).

1979 slasher flick ALISON'S BIRTHDAY never received a mention either, and quite crucially RUNNING ON EMPTY is only shown in a collage of car crashes, but nothing is said about it at all. And don't even get me started on the absence of genuine classics like STIR, THE MONEY MOVERS, LAST OF THE KNUCKLEMEN.

However it all really comes down to time. 2 hours is only really long enough to just skim the surface, which is what NQH does, and does a commendable job of it.

In my eyes there are only 2 problems with NQH, one which is inevitable.. it has to end sometime. The second is why does everyone hate Turkey Shoot so bloody much? It is a genuine classic and is definitely one of the most entertaining films to come out of Australia! In summary a commendable effort and hopefully we will get all of these films appearing on DVD (and yes i already know that most of them are)

FILE THIS ONE UNDER.... "DIFFERENT"!

BUT BEFORE DIVING IN: Let us FOCUS on the Title's Content & Context!

If you like Quentin Tarantino, you'll simply Love NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD! There are many contributing/participating narrators, but Tarantino has, by far, the most ON-SCREEN time. (Storyline Blurb doesn't even mention his crucial participation!)

This extremely entertaining and informative low-budget documentary traces the revival of the Australian film industry, which all but died at the mid-30's Pacific onset of WWII, from its fledgling late 60's re-birth, through its multi-faceted heyday in the 70's and early 80's.

Initially, HOLLYWOOD seemed determined to go in the direction of a soft-core documentary, but this was only during the initial 20 to 25 minutes.

In the early and mid-70's, the AUSTRALIAN industry saw nudity and sex as an easy road to making big Aussie Dollars! Be forewarned, however... There's a LOT of frontal nudity and some mildly simulated sex during this opening segment! So probably better for viewers 16 or over!

Throughout, CLIPS from SCORES of films appear, some from movies considered rather mainstream like MAD MAX and RAZORBACK, but the vast majority are from obscure cult classics like '78's PATRICK and '79's LONG WEEKEND, or totally unknown, never released in the U. S. or on DVD, titles like The CHAIN REACTION-'80 and MANGO TREE-'77.

HOLLYWOOD is truly a veritable treasure trove of early Aussie Titles! I'm not the BIGGEST Tarantino fan on the planet, but most of his films are, I reluctantly admit, GREAT!

On a PERSONAL level; he's one of my favorite famous people. Talk about not being affected by fame! He's a joy to watch! Despite being in his mid-40's, he's the same rather nerdy, little-kid-at-heart, goof-ball genius he was when he burst onto the entertainment scene nearly 25 years ago, God Bless him!

An ABSOLUTE Must See for ALL "GENRE" and History of Cinema Buffs!

9*********.....ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!

This is an excellent documentary on the "Oz-ploitation" films of the 1970's and 80's. It covers a number of genres from sexploitation comedies ("Alvin Purple") to horror ("Patrick", "Long Weekend") to Down-Under Westerns ("Mad Dog Morgan") to auto-obsessed action flicks ("Mad Max"). They interview many of the directors/producers of these films including Brian Trenchant-Smith, Richard Franklin, Tony Ginane, and John Le Monde. They also interview a number of the English and American "name" actors (Jamie Lee Curtis, Stacy Keach, Dennis Hopper, Steve Railsback, George Lazenby) that came to work in Australian exploitation during this time. They all have some funny stories to tell (a drug-addled Dennis Hopper managed to wreak havoc even in the hard-drinking Australian outback). They even interview many of the local Aussie stuntmen and T-and-A queens, who certainly made their own daring contributions to these films. Moreover though, there are A LOT of clips from these films, and they serve to make this documentary more fast-moving and entertaining than most of the movies it covers.

It's unfortunate that many of the important figures from that era have died, like actor/director David Hemmings, but even they show up in archival footage. It also might have been nice to hear from people like Jenny Agutter and Olivia Hussey, who both made some memorable films Down Under. The omnipresent Quentin Tarantino, on the hand, had nothing to do with Australian films, but he certainly is VERY knowledgeable about them.

The only disappointing thing about this is the short shrift it gives to the more arty Australian films of this era--"Walkabout" is represented only by a single full-frontal still of Jenny Agutter, and some of the interviewees refer disparagingly to films like "Picnic at Hanging Rock". It's understandable that some of these "exploitation hacks" would resent the more arty, "culturally important" Australian films that received most of the international recognition (and government support), but the line between exploitation and art is a lot less clear than it's made out to be sometimes. Peter Weir who directed art films like "Picnic" and "The Last Wave" also directed much more straight-forward 70's genre films like "The Cars that Ate Paris" and "The Plumber". And if you look at the career of someone like Canadian David Cronenberg, it's certainly possible in many countries to start out as a genre/exploitation director and become an arty, more mainstream one. These resentments were more the result perhaps of the Australian film financing policies of the era than of any real differences between the two kinds of film. Whatever the case, this definitely an entertaining documentary. Don't miss it.

Subtitled "The Wild, Untold Story of Ozsploitation", and that's what we get: a 100-minute cavalcade of all (?) the dizzy highlights of Australian exploitation cinema. The parceling into sex comedy/horror/action subheadings serves the material quite nicely, giving us a broad view of the aesthetic: ideologically working class, plain-spoken, and very male. That latter point is given just enough emphasis as the female participants offer their diverse bewildered reactions to the paces the filmmakers put them through, without getting all superior; the one pompous ass film critic who tries THAT trick is roasted on a spit. There's a lot of initiative, energy, and inspiration on display in this exhausting avalanche of quick clips; I was writing down titles like a mad man, there's a lot of stuff I'd never heard of that I'm dying to see. Genre film-making is presented, rhetorically, as a polar alternative to the classy upmarketing of familiar exports like Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford et al...even though Beresford was responsible for the Barry McKenzie series and Weir bequeathed us The Cars That Eat People. But dichotomy or not, I can tell you with certainty that Patrick has now jumped The Last Wave on my must-see list. Quentin Tarantino is dispensed in quantity, but I didn't get annoyed; he knows of what he speaks, and he's well-mixed with the folks who were there.