Not Quite Hollywood

In the 1970s, the Australian New Wave took the world by storm, ushering in a new national cinema with films like Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock and Gillian Armstrong's My Brilliant Career. But that's not the subject of Mark Hartley's unabashedly affectionate tribute, which instead celebrates the disreputable genre films that emerged Down Under in the ‘70s, which built the industry that made the New Wave possible: softcore sex comedies, gross-out farces, horror films, outback actioners, and car culture outlaw thrillers—all of which became the coin of the grindhouse realm. Combining colorful anecdotes, witty observations, cheeky attitude, and a “best of” treasure trove of film clips (with copious nudity, violence, and outrageous bad taste), Not Quite Hollywood is a documentary testament to Harley's passion for these exploitation flicks (including Mad Dog Morgan, Mad Max, Patrick, and Turkey Shoot). Not all of these films are good, of course, but Harley does make a solid case that we have some of these uncelebrated and neglected gems to thank for helping to create a distinct Australian cinema. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Mark Hartley and The OZploitation Auteurs (including Brian Trenchard-Smith, Antony I. Ginnane, and others), deleted and extended scenes (60 min.), an audio interview with filmmaker Richard Franklin (23 min.), “Quentin Tarantino Interviews Brian Trenchard-Smith” (12 min.), “Funding Pitches from Quentin Tarantino and John D. Lamond” (2 min.), an image gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a winning doc.] (S. Axmaker)