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Documentaries are often hit-or-miss. While some are brilliant and tell stories both more informative and entertaining than fictional films (Man on a Wire anyone?), some are down right awful and do little to help viewers understand the reason for their creation (Hell House...really?)
Thankfully, Magnolia Home Entertainment has released what many will consider the best film documentary ever about making films down under. Not Quite Hollywood gives viewers a full-frontal, no-holds-barred, shot to the face regarding the creation of films in Australia in the 1970s and 1980s.
When OZploitation may instantly conjure up images of Mad Max, there are a bountiful number of other nameless Aussie films with gratuitous sex and violence that no one has ever heard of...until now...
Enter writer/director Mark Hartley, whose film - Not Quite Hollywood - does exactly what it is intending to do: tell us why Austrailian films in the 1970s and 1980s were important, all the while entertaining thanks to the likes of interviews with actors, directors, and writers like Quentin Tarantino, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dennis Hopper, George Lazenby, James Wan, and Stacy Keach among others.
Intertwined between talks with actors and directors, scenes from non-classic Aussie films like Roadgames, Patrick, BMX Bandits, Stork, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie and others give viewers exactly what they're looking for: plenty of terrible stories, poor acting, raunchy relations, and vicious violence.
Numerous special features on the DVD include commentary with writer/director Hartley as well as a number of "OZplotation Auteurs," a number of deleted and extended scenes, an interview of Brian Trenchard-Smith (BMX Bandits) by Tarantino, audio commentary with director Richard Franklin, funding pitches from Tarantino and John D. Lamond, the original theatrical trailer for the film, and an image gallery.
While it might not win any "best documentary" awards, it's sure a treat to watch, especially for those of us who pride ourselves on our film knowledge. Sit back, grab a drink, and enjoy the plethora of knowledge, nudity, and violence in this terribly entertaining documentary.
- Jess Horsley