'Not Quite Hollywood' review

Nudity! Violence! Nostalgia!

By Geoff Berkshire

Posted July 30, 2009

Metromix

A love letter to Australian exploitation cinema (or Ozploitation), covering the country’s sex comedies, slasher films, biker flicks and one memorable kung fu epic produced between the 1970s and mid-‘80s.

The buzz: Aussie director Mark Hartley has built his career on music videos and DVD special features--having been involved in crafting featurettes for Australian DVD releases both classy (“Picnic at Hanging Rock”) and lowbrow (“Razorback”). He called on those connections to help craft the ultimate tribute film to an important but underdocumented chapter in Australian film history.

The verdict: Worthy viewing for film buffs, but never quite transcendent enough for casual viewers, “Not Quite Hollywood” is as energetic but limited as an IFC Channel documentary special. Hartley loads up on amusing war stories from filmmakers and actors (it seems like every director or producer involved in Ozploitation has someone happy to slander them on camera, and a section on daredevil stuntman Grant Page is full of shenanigans that even the “Jackass” guys wouldn’t try), while the legacy of these seemingly disposable films is begrudgingly acknowledged by critics and passionately argued by enthusiastic fans (none more enthusiastic than legendary trash cinema fiend Quentin Tarantino, who becomes the de facto star). Provided your range of cinematic interests is broad enough to include exploding heads and full frontal nudity , you’ll find “Not Quite Hollywood” has a lot in common with the movies it documents: it’s rude, crude and improbably entertaining.

Did you know? Although Hartley persuaded Jamie Lee Curtis and Dennis Hopper to discuss their turns in Ozploitation pics “Roadgames” and “Mad Dog Morgan,” he apparently couldn’t secure Nicole Kidman to reflect on her humble beginnings in “BMX Bandits.”