Not Quite Hollywood

Category: Documentary  |  Tags: documentary

posted by: Edan Matssob 96 days ago          

The opening night film of the recent Melbourne Film Festival was Mark Hartley’s documentary NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD about the exploitation and genre films that were either panned or celebrated in Australia in the 70’s and 80’s.

At the centre of the film is die-hard fan Quentin Tarantino. Hartley interviewed many of the filmmakers involved at the time who obviously enjoyed remembering the good old days.

Having been around the film industry when many of these films were being made I thoroughly enjoyed the stories, some of which came as a complete surprise.

Without a doubt it is a celebration of films that were often dismissed at the time. You have to hand it to Mark Hartley for the depth of his research and for creating a wildly entertaining film experience.

If I have a complaint, it’s that some of the action is just too fast and furious, a little restraint in the editing would have been good. I’m not sure how this will appeal to a general public but for those of us who remember the films, NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD is a blast.