334* Australian films (extended list)
Not to be confused with my non-poll related original list of Australian movies which I rate or are reminders for me to watch:
http://www.imdb.com/list/DzjzMdh1q-c/
I'm adding today (02/05/2014) box office results for these films via information from Wikipedia. I'll try and add data about how many AFI (i.e. Australian Film Institute) Awards some of these films got as well...but I won't be fanatical about this.
N.B. The A.F.I. Awards are now knows as AACTA Awards! Wikipedia states:
"The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Awards".
Hopefully the following URLs are useful for people looking for box office information on Australian movies:
Various all time box office records:
http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/boxoffice.aspx
http://www.mpdaa.org.au/customers/mpdaa/mpdaa.nsf/HistoricalBoxOffice?ReadForm
http://www.moviemarshal.com.au/
Current weekly box office results and archives from early 1997:
http://www.urbancinefile.com/home/boxoffice.asp
Weekend and yearly takings from 2000 onwards:
http://boxofficemojo.com/intl/australia/
Year on year total admissions and total box office results:
http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/wcboadmission.aspx
I initially started out giving Wikipedia box office results in Australia for a small number of films but am now using the Screen Australia link for top 100 Australian movies of all time box office returns...which I think Wikipedia maybe citing in any case. The all time box office ranking also comes via Screen Australia's list of the top 100 grossing Australian movies of all time, in Australia.
*N.B. I should point out that the order of box office takings films would no doubt change once you adjust for inflation...which these rankings aren't...see an example of this in my entry for "Crocodile Dundee".
AFI Best film winners and nominees:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AACTA_Award_for_Best_Film#Winners_and_nominees
Related sites:
http://www.ozmovies.com.au/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_films
[P.S. I've added the number to my list heading as sporting cultural reference. One of these days I'll work on this list to make it 'end' with that number of films in it but to do that I'll probably have to remove some titles and mention them in other titles, e.g. where the removed film was a sequel and I mention all sequels in the entry for the first in the series. Maybe a good final list is one that ends for the year 2025 with all Australian best film award winners included. N.B. IMDB's "Save list order" feature is a troll when it comes to tinkering with the order to alphebatise it.]
http://www.imdb.com/list/DzjzMdh1q-c/
I'm adding today (02/05/2014) box office results for these films via information from Wikipedia. I'll try and add data about how many AFI (i.e. Australian Film Institute) Awards some of these films got as well...but I won't be fanatical about this.
N.B. The A.F.I. Awards are now knows as AACTA Awards! Wikipedia states:
"The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Awards".
Hopefully the following URLs are useful for people looking for box office information on Australian movies:
Various all time box office records:
http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/boxoffice.aspx
http://www.mpdaa.org.au/customers/mpdaa/mpdaa.nsf/HistoricalBoxOffice?ReadForm
http://www.moviemarshal.com.au/
Current weekly box office results and archives from early 1997:
http://www.urbancinefile.com/home/boxoffice.asp
Weekend and yearly takings from 2000 onwards:
http://boxofficemojo.com/intl/australia/
Year on year total admissions and total box office results:
http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/wcboadmission.aspx
I initially started out giving Wikipedia box office results in Australia for a small number of films but am now using the Screen Australia link for top 100 Australian movies of all time box office returns...which I think Wikipedia maybe citing in any case. The all time box office ranking also comes via Screen Australia's list of the top 100 grossing Australian movies of all time, in Australia.
*N.B. I should point out that the order of box office takings films would no doubt change once you adjust for inflation...which these rankings aren't...see an example of this in my entry for "Crocodile Dundee".
AFI Best film winners and nominees:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AACTA_Award_for_Best_Film#Winners_and_nominees
Related sites:
http://www.ozmovies.com.au/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_films
[P.S. I've added the number to my list heading as sporting cultural reference. One of these days I'll work on this list to make it 'end' with that number of films in it but to do that I'll probably have to remove some titles and mention them in other titles, e.g. where the removed film was a sequel and I mention all sequels in the entry for the first in the series. Maybe a good final list is one that ends for the year 2025 with all Australian best film award winners included. N.B. IMDB's "Save list order" feature is a troll when it comes to tinkering with the order to alphebatise it.]
List activity
18K views
• 25 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
- 251 - 334
- 334 titles
- DirectorDaina ReidStarsSarah SnookLily LaTorreNeil MelvilleWhen her young daughter starts behaving strangely, a fertility doctor who believes firmly in life and death must challenge her own values and confront a ghost from her past.
- DirectorBrian Trenchard-SmithStarsJim BelushiAlan David LeeSimon WestawayAn American tank crew retreating from Tobruk in the Libyan desert picks up a motley crew of stragglers while fleeing a Nazi battalion. They must defend an abandoned fortress with an almost dry well. Remake of the 1943 Bogart classic.Brian Trenchard-Smith film.
I've not included his two previous films, chronologically, because they're U.S. produced:
Night of the Demons 2 (1994)
Leprechaun 3 (1995)
Both sound interesting and potentially watchable. Have noticed that "Leprechaun 4" (1997) doesn't even seem to have that going for it, as far as BTS films go. - DirectorMario AndreacchioStarsHelen NevilleNatalie VansierThea GumbertA young girl obsessed with watching the heavens takes a bet with the bully of the 12 year old set that their oddly acting new neighbors are not aliens from outer space. The bet is her telescope. As might be expected the girl and her new neighbor becomes best friends.Antony I. Ginnane film. Wikipedia states:
Box office: A$1,291,802
Ginnane's previous film was the Canada, USA and Japan co-production "Screamers", in 1995. - DirectorWarwick ThorntonStarsRowan McNamaraMarissa GibsonMitjili Napanangka GibsonA glue-sniffing boy and his girlfriend escape the government-controlled no-hope Aboriginal community they live in and go to the city, Alice Springs, looking for a better life.2009 AFI Best film winner.
About two troubled Aboriginal teens.
Wikipedia states:
"Samson and Delilah grossed $3,188,931 at the box office in Australia". - DirectorWayne BlairStarsChris O'DowdDeborah MailmanJessica MauboyIn 1968, four talented young Australian Aboriginal girls learn about love, friendship, and war when their all-girl group The Sapphires entertains the US troops in Vietnam.Musical based on a true story.
2012 AACTA Best film winner.
A$14,475,640
#15 Australian movie, all time.
Wikipedia states:
Budget: $8–10 million
Box office: A$20,423,628 - DirectorCatriona McKenzieStarsDavid GulpililCameron WallabyJoseph PedleyTen-year-old Pete lives with his grandfather in an old abandoned outdoor cinema in the desert. When the old drive-in is threatened with demolition by developers, Pete and a friend set off on an epic journey in the hopes of saving his home.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsDiane FranklinRoger WilsonJon GadsbyThere's a new wager between Heaven and Hell. Devil bets God that if God were to pick two young people to be the new Adam and Eve, they'd sin again. God accepts and sends a college couple to various eras, starting with the Garden of Eden.Produced by Antony I. Ginnane.
Wikipedia states:
"Second Time Lucky is a 1984 comedy about God and the Devil making a bet which sees a couple plunged back into the Garden of Eden, Ancient Rome, World War I and the 1920s".
New Zealand/Australia co-production. - DirectorArthur Greville CollinsStarsCharles McCallumPat McDonaldSandra JaquesEthel Turner's well-known Victorian period family novel is updated to the (then) present in this version for the screen.Based on the classic chidlren's novel. Not seen it but I have seen the last mini-series based on the book, which I recommend. Am surprised to read in Wikipedia that the BBC also made an earlier mini-series of the novel, in 1953.
- DirectorDick RossStarsGeorgia LeeDickie JonesJimmy Little"Shadow of the Boomerang" is the story of American brother and sister Bob and Kathy Prince, who move to Australia to manage a cattle station owned by their father. Bob has a racist attitude and always has a negative word to add. Kathy, on the other hand, is a sincere, lovable character who provides a reasonable balance. But after hearing a message by evangelist Billy Graham on the radio, Bob has a change of heart and learns to accept the Aboriginal people. "Shadow of the Boomerang" incorporates the Christian message into cinema. Seeing a person turn and make an active decision to follow Jesus doesn't happen in many films. Many have explored the issues of spirituality, religion and God, yet Shadow of the Boomerang makes it clear that Jesus is the focus, not an ambiguous "spiritual meaning."Wikipedia has an interesting article on this title...it was made by the US evangelist Billy Graham and featured American actors but Australian aboriginal singer Jimmy Little made his film debut here. Hmm...Billy Graham actually acts in this film too!
"A Christian Western"
Budget: £75,000 - DirectorScott HicksStarsGeoffrey RushArmin Mueller-StahlJustin BraineDavid Helfgott, a gifted pianist, struggles through childhood as his dysfunctional father abuses him and his siblings. Years later, he suffers a mental breakdown but manages to return as a legend.Wikipedia states:
Budget: A$6 million
Box office: A$35,892,330
1996 AFI Winner Best film
Oscar: Best actor, Geoffrey Rush
BAFTA: Best actor, Geoffrey Rush
Multiple other awards too, domestic and international. - DirectorLeslie NormanStarsPeter FinchDana WilsonElizabeth SellarsAfter Jim Macauley finds his wife with another man, he takes their young daughter and they hit the road. With a young child as his responsibility, he finds he can't be quite the fancy-free wanderer that he had been.A British film starring Australians and filmed in Australia.
- DirectorBrian Trenchard-SmithStarsWings HauserR. Lee ErmeyRobert ArevaloA tough U.S. sergeant and his sidekick roll into a demoralized firebase, where they attempt to rebuild morale and fortifications amid a climactic battle with the Viet Cong.Brian Trenchard-Smith film. Wikipedia states:
"Although the film was written, produced and directed by Australians it was not considered Australian for the AFI Awards". - DirectorRaymond LongfordStarsHarry ThomasNellie BrooksGwil AdamsWikipedia states that this is a lost silent film and has a:
Budget: £400
Box office: £5,000 - DirectorKen G. HallStarsJohn LongdenCharlotte FrancisConstance WorthAfter serving 20 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, a man returns home to take revenge on a local pastor who knew he was innocent but did nothing to clear his name. He discovers that things aren't exactly what they seem.Wikipedia states that:
"It was one of the most popular Australian movies of the 1930s" and:
Budget: £10,000
Box office: £33,000 (Aust)/£40,000 (UK)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Australia#Other_popular_Australian_films - DirectorSophia TurkiewiczStarsGosia DobrowolskaIvar KantsAnna Maria MonticelliAfter World War II, 4,000 Polish families came to Australia. They were Jews, Fascists, anti-Communists, and others dispossessed. In a large hostel, where even married men and women were housed in separate barracks, the adults lived for two years while they worked off the government's payment of their passage. Even though he is married to Anna and has a son, Julian falls in love with Nina and she with him. As they and others face the new situations and prejudices that await immigrants and as they take on aspects of Australian culture, old-country values reassert themselves. Julian decides what to do about love and family, and Nina must find a way to move on.This was mentioned in last week's At The Movies (22/07/2014), with fill-in hosts Judith Lucy and Jason Di Rosso. It was made by the same woman who made the documentary they were discussing, "Once my mother". One of the hosts mentioned that the film maker, Sophia Turkiewicz, felt guilty for using her mother's story as the basis for her drama.
Wikipedia states:
Budget:
A$2.3 million
Box office
A$197,839 (Australia) - DirectorJohn DuiganStarsHugh GrantTara FitzgeraldSam NeillWhen a painting is termed blasphemous, a young minister and his wife visit the artist... and the three sexually playful models living with him.I remember quite liking this film, despite now seeing that it was negatively reviewed.
Wikipedia states:
Box office: A$2.8 million, US$7.7 million in the U.S., £2,640,396 at the UK box office - DirectorKen G. HallStarsRon RandellMuriel SteinbeckJohn TateAn Australian biopic about the life of pioneering aviator Charles "Smithy" Kingsford-Smith.Wikipedia states:
"It was the third most popular movie released in Australia in 1946...Harry Cohn, head of Columbia...arranged for Smithy to be drastically re-cut and re-edited for its US release, calling it Pacific Adventure, a[nd] removing references to Australia, along with Pery's credit."
Budget: £53,000 or £73,000
Box office: over £50,000 (Australia)/£50,000 (USA)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Australia#Other_popular_Australian_films - DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsKerry CarlsonDiana DomanJosie PetersenFirst in a Seven Up! (1964) like series examining the lives of three teenage girls in South Australia during the 1970s. A sort of 14Up Australia, the series has spawned three more installments and looks at issues such as boys and sex, abortion, marriage, pregnancy, career paths, and education.Gillian Armstrong's first paid job as a director, according to Wikipedia. This documentary had follow up documentaries called:
Fourteen's good, eighteen's better
Bingo, bridesmaids and braces
Not fourteen again
Love, lust & lies - DirectorJustin KurzelStarsLucas PittawayDaniel HenshallLouise HarrisBased on true events, 16-year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.Based on an actual gruesome killing spree.
Wikipedia states:
Box office: US$8,452 - DirectorsHerbert BoothJoseph PerryStarsBeatrice DayHarold GrahamMr. GrahamThe plot outlined the story of the early Christian martyrs with a compendium of horrors guaranteed to jolt audiences into an awareness of terrible suffering for the sake of Christianity. Contained maulings at the Colosseum, crucifixions, beheadings, savage hackings and burnings at the stake, burnings in the limepit, the spectacle of human torches in Nero's garden. Overall "soul stirring stories of the martyrs, illustrated by the most beautiful living pictures by kinematograph and limelight and never before witnessed in this or any other country.https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/Who-We-Are/History-and-heritage/Australias-first-film-studio/
"First narrative drama film presentation, consisting of an ingenious mix of moving film, glass-slides, oratory and music. Soldiers of the Cross premiered at the Melbourne Town Hall in September 1900". - DirectorCate ShortlandStarsAbbie CornishSam WorthingtonLynette CurranA young girl flees her hometown and arrives in the Australian Alps, where new experiences help her learn the differences between sex and love.2004 AFI Awards Best film winner.
Wikipedia states:
Budget: A$4 million
Box office: A$2,158,574 - DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsMichael PateKen WayneTommy BurnsThe story of five brothers who homestead, with other settlers, on the virgin plateaus of the Australian bush country. In addition to being beset with the obstacles and difficulties with the land and nature, another complication arises when two of the brothers fall in love with the same woman.Wikipedia states:
Budget: £120,000 or £500,000
Box office: over £50,000 (Australia)
An Australian release date of 16/12/1949 is also given, as well as a heavily edited version being released in the U.S. with another title. - DirectorGary L. KeadyStarsRob HartleyRoz WasonJeff DuffIn a futuristic Australia, a scheme to blow up the Sydney Opera House is discovered. The only way to stop it is to send an agent back in time to prevent the plotters from hatching it.#9 in the magazine FilmInk's list of the top 10 Australian sci-fi movies of all time (May/June 2015 issue). Described in the magazie as: "Australia's only heavy metal time travelling post-apocalyptic sci-fi musical mini-epic"!
I'm not sure if I remember this film getting a lukewarm response from David & Margaret in whatever movie review show that they had at the time on Australian tv..."At the movies"? Then again, as noted in Wikipedia:
"It won official selection at the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film and was a finalist at the Festival of the Imagination, Clermont Ferrand, France in 1989".
Wikipedia states:
Budget: A$3 million - DirectorsKeith GategoodWilliam GreenStarsKeith GategoodWilliam GreenSam Harris"Gallipoli" was a catastrophe for Australian troops during World War I. It becomes a pivotal founding myth of the birth of our nation.
