To Die For

The bridge from Mad Max to Kill Bill crosses years, but not much distance: A starstruck Quentin Tarantino admits to being an unabashed fan of the ´70s explosion of exploitative Australian films and unapologetically copied them. A genre set off when repressed Aussie filmmakers were freed from the shackles of...

By Susan Froyd

June 18, 2009

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The bridge from Mad Max to Kill Bill crosses years, but not much distance: A starstruck Quentin Tarantino admits to being an unabashed fan of the ´70s explosion of exploitative Australian films and unapologetically copied them. A genre set off when repressed Aussie filmmakers were freed from the shackles of censorship and allowed to make films that boiled over with sex and violence, as well as intellectually stimulating fare, it represented a shift that included everything from Brian Trenchard-Smith's kung fu action flick The Man from Hong Kong to art films like Picnic at Hanging Rock. That's a fact not ignored by the Aussie documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!, in which director Mark Hartley recounts the unhinged cinematic decade down-under - outrageous, informative and full of unbelievable footage and frank interviews with Tarantino, Dennis Hopper, Jamie Lee Curtis, Barry Humphries, George Miller and others, the film packages the birth of a genre in a manner that's anything but boring.

So why haven't you seen this movie yet, Mad Max and Kill Bill aficionados? The deal is that you have only two nights to catch Not Quite Hollywood as it comes to the end of a one-week run at the Chez Artiste, 2800 South Colorado Boulevard. Showtimes are at 9:15 p.m. both nights; for tickets, $7.25 to $9.75, log on to www.landmarktheatres.com or call 303-352-1992 for information.
Aug. 14-20, 2009

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Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

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