Reviews

Definite return-to-form for John Waters, after the disappointment of 'Pecker'. If you liked 'Serial Mom', you'll like this. I've never heard Melanie Griffiths talk so filthy, and it's hilarious! See it!

I remember seeing this on Australian TV in 1987 (when I was 13 years old) and it still sticks in my mind as being one of the best, blackest, funniest, most twisted stories ever portrayed. I have since read the novel (which is fantastic) many times, and yes, have even hired out that trashy Roseanne version (which has an entirely different and blanded-out ending), but I have not seen this version re-emerge since I originally came across it. How can people let such a brilliant production slide pass the attention of the majority of the viewing public?? Release it on DVD and Video and let the viewing public witness Ruth's REAL revenge!! By the way, I think IMDb may have the production date wrong, I did indeed see this well before 1990.

I have only flicked through the previous ten or so comments, but

"over-rated" seems to be the most common thing said. Well,

maybe it is, but I have seen it three times since it was released,

and it still manages to keep me glued to the screen for all three

hours. What we have here is all the elements that make a good

epic film - a good solid storyline, an involving love story, and a

disaster! Nothing new by any means, but the way all the elements

interact works beautifully, and Kate Winslet's performance is

flawless. This is bound to become a classic. I wouldn't give

Titanic any awards for originality, but it is an extremely well-made

film with plenty of suspense and emotion that kept me on the edge

of my seat throughout, each time I saw it. And this is from

someone who CAN"T STAND Leonardo Dicaprio. If you want to

see a bad film, take a look at Kate Winslet's next film, Hideous

Kinky, which lives up to at least the first word in its title.

This one failed to hold my attention span at times and had me

constantly popping into the kitchen to make a cuppa. But I

begrudgingly kept trudging back to the TV, because, after all, this is

one of those films that you're "supposed to see". Okay, so now I've

seen it. It's boring. It's got no interesting characters. Even the

prostitutes are dull. The only character with a personality was

Jodie Foster's pimp, and he gets killed off. The scenes are

over-long with too much dialogue. Granted, the film has some

interesting shots, but this is ruined by the tossy musical score.

And I just can't believe that Travis Bickle murders all those people

and is touted as a hero at the end. Surely he would have been

thrown in the slammer for years, if he did indeed survive all those

gunshot wounds. Definitely a boys film, very macho, and very

serious. Nothing a tiny bit of humour wouldn't fix.

Yeah, I agree with the previous comment that this film was probably meant as a serious way to reach teenagers at the turn of the 80s, but now is surely filed in the 'cult' section of most video stores and hired out by trash-lovers as a nifty snapshot of suburban middle-class Sydney and surfie-culture in the late 70s. Classic lines include: 'don't hurt him, i'll screw ya, i'll screw the lot of ya's!!', 'aw, she's just a moll', and 'comin' out the back for a root?' Embarrassing-skeletons-in-the-closet awards must go to Tim Finn (Split Enz etc.) for writing the title song, and Les Gock (currently of Popstars fame - you know, he's the one that manages new pop sensation Scandal-us) who was also responsible for some of the music. Fans of Aussie trash such as Prisoner CBH will love this - everyone else, steer clear, you'll just think it's boring and crap.

...along comes something that knocks the last vomit-inducing

feature off its pedastal. Human Traffic is yet another film to jump

on the rave/clubby/drug/youth culture bandwagon that is probably

for today what grunge was yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I'm a

dedicated clubber myself, (and probably a bit too old to appreciate

this film, being 27) but this film had the most annoying, stupid,

boring and pointless characters I have ever seen. A night out

clubbing with these losers and I'd definitely be on the verge of

slitting my wrists before even reaching the afterparty. Memo to

Justin Kerrigan: if you write a film, it helps to have a plot in mind.

Completely ego-driven film. Nothing real about it. Will probably

appeal to a few uni students out there. Definite 0 out of 10.

Being a fan ever since I used to sneak out of bed as a kid to watch it, I guess I'm pretty fortunate to be living in the city where Prisoner was made! This means I've been able to go and visit the site where Prisoner was filmed (the old Channel 10 building, which still looks exactly the same, but without the stuck-on windows), and have also bumped into the woman who played Meg Jackson/Morris in a bike shop! (She is exactly the same in real life as in the show). Friends of mine have also stood behind Val Lehman in a social security line, and have met the late Sheila Florence, who was dead posh in real life - the total opposite to her character Lizzie. It was also great to see some characters, including Joan Ferguson, resurrected in the Aussie comedy 'Pizza' (look up 'Pizza (2000)' on IMDb). A definite cult favourite, Prisoner was not always known for its great acting and quality storylines, but has endless camp/cult value with some classic characters, hilarious one-liners and some fantastic bitchy scenes. It was also very daring for its time: a soap containing almost all female cast and many lesbian characters was a big thing for Australian mainstream TV in 1979. In fact, I doubt you'd see a soap like that today at all. So check it out on cable if you can, and relive one of the trashiest, exciting and bitchy dramas to ever hit TV! "Miss Bennet, send Smith to solitary!" "With pleasure, Mrs Davidson!

What I love the most about this comedy is the way it embraces ALL character stereotypes you could ever imagine and puts them into one show. This takes Australian humour into the 21st century, and without sounding like i'm taking it too seriously, it is actually very indicative of the current state of multiculturalism in Australia, and especially Sydney. I love the way it explores virtually all subcultures around today - ethnics, celebrities, gays, models, goths, druggies, criminals, whatever... The cameo appearances are very funny, and seeing Bernard King playing himself was a definite highlight for me, as well as the characters from Prisoner Cell Block H. I especially love Maria Venuti as the interfering Italian mother, and the character of supermodel Claudia MacPherson is a total crack-up. The (probably intentionally) bad acting only serves to make this show even funnier. Check this show out when it returns to SBS in mid-2000, it's hilarious.

I watched this film last night for the first time since 1994, and boy, did it make me cringe. It's one of those hey-gay-people-really-are-normal films, aimed at dimwitted heterosexuals to assist in swaying their homophobic views. There are absolutely no interesting characters in the film, Russell Crowe's character is boring, but then again, Rusell Crowe is boring in any film. Jack Thompson is not much better, playing the same character he has played in Aussie films for the past 25 years. I can't believe this film has an M-rating (R in some countries), when it is such a family film with no kick, no bite, and an insipid storyline straight out of Walt Disney. Where were all the drag queens, trannies and effeminate men? How come Russell Crowe doesn't have a sex life?? Russell Crowe's monologues are terrible, are indicative of a screenplay that has been adapted straight from a stage production with no imagination whatsoever. The film's only saving grace is the subplot of the old lesbian couple, which gives a touch of real-ness to an otherwise embarrassing film.

I have nothing to add other than: Pulp Fiction wasn't the first

film I thought of when watching this. Run Lola Run was the first

thing that sprang to mind, then Trainspotting (the drug thing, I

guess). I'm not overly impressed with American Gen-X films, but

this was mildly entertaining and helped speed up a boring

afternoon. If it had've been made ten years ago I'd have been

impressed. 6/10.

I liked this enough to see twice, and think it may actually surpass Once Were Warriors in quality. If people are expecting more of the same, forget it - this is primarily about one man's personal journey, to which the gang subplot ties in nicely. Temuera Morrison steals the show with his amazing performance and stunning presence and charisma, as does newcomer Clint Eruera as his estranged son. This film is a lot more Hollywood-style (ie more action) than Warriors, but really takes you on an engrossing emotional journey along the way - a few scenes had me close to tears. It's absolutely criminal that this film didn't make a bigger impact than it did - what were people expecting, Once Were Warrio

Like the main protagonist in this film, I am a "poofter", a "wog", and live in Melbourne. But after seeing it three times (I told you I wanted to like it!) I just have to come to the conclusion that this is yet another film trying really desperately to be oh-so-shocking and harder-core-than-thou. The sex scenes are completely devoid of any passion and are *so* over the top, not to mention *really badly* acted. Also over the top is the excessive drug-taking which I'm convinced was put it solely for shock value. As far as the plotline goes, it's just flat - there is no climax whatsoever, and it just ends

(if you can call it an ending) on a completely depressing note. I know a lot of people will say "well, not everything in the garden is rosy", but I'm just sick of seeing violent, aggressive gay films which speak nothing about my life. Only saving grace was the character of Johnny/Toula, brilliantly played by Paul Capsis (and the only hint of camp in the entire film) and the family scenes, which seemed the only thing genuine and truly touching - the only parts I could *really* rel

I think a lot of people have missed the joke with this film - it doesn't pretend to be anything but silly inane rubbish with a thin plotline. This to me is completely obvious. I loved the trashy characters, it really reminded me of my experiences going to niteclubs frequented by the ethnic population in Melbourne. The soap opera grabs ('Dos Vidas') are the highlight, great dramatic over-the-top dialogue and the film is an absolute hunk-fest. Hey, sometimes you just want to tune out and not have to think!

Not much to add except that it's a remarkable film that I think is probably most of the world's first glimpse of Maori culture. Very tragic, but a very powerful ending which offers a glimmer of hope. I think it's interesting to note though, all my Maori friends hate the film, but I guess it's pretty much aimed at a white audience. And one last thing - Julian Arahanga (Nig Heke) is an absolute babe!