With the success, errr… release of Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez’s “Grindhouse,” you knew a bunch of new B-movie/grindhouse documentaries, celebrating terrible inept, low-budget films would come down the pike and Australia’s verions, “Not Quite Hollywood,” hit last year, making its debut at the Toronto Interntional Film Festival. Here’s the synopsis:
Not Quite Hollywood is the wild, untold story of “Ozploitation” movies – a time when Australian cinema got its gear off and showed the world a full-frontal explosion of sex, violence, horror and foot-to-the-floor, full bore action! Jam packed full of outrageous anecdotes, lessons in maverick filmmaking and a genuine, infectious love of Australian movies, “Not Quite Hollywood” is a fast moving journey through Aussie genre cinema of the ’70s and early ’80s – an unjustly forgotten cinematic era unashamedly packed full of boobs, pubes, tubes… and even a little kung fu
We saw it on a lark at TIFF on the last day of the festival, when frankly, the lesser films always are scheduled, and appropriately, it was a lesser film. The doc features Stacey Keach, Aussie director Fred Schepisi, Jaimie Lee Curtis, Dennis Hopper and of course, Quentin Tarantino. Geeks and B-movie enthusiasts will probably love this documentary, but dubbed a “rockumentary,” by its director Mark Hartley, it’s as vulgar, crass and dunderheaded as the original films it documents. Dunno, we just don’t get the celebration of terrible films. Sure, we understand the value and sociological implications of DIY, making things on the cheap and making your own infrastructure, and the picture is semi-interesting on those levels, but it’s just more interested in rockin’ with its cock out; as one of our friends remarked after we saw it, “that’s something you watch at home on IFC for free,” not something you go pay for in theaters. Perhaps appropriately loud and boorish (just like the content), it also comes off as an an AC/DC song cranked up 11 the entire time and is rather obnoxious. But constituents of this type of thing will surely love it. Not sure if there’s an official U.S. release date yet. Doesn’t look like it and it won’t surprise us if it goes straight to DVD as it just skews far too niche.
