1.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
2.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
3.
Snowtown (film)
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In the poor Adelaide suburb of Salisbury North, 16-year-old Jamie lives with his distressed mother, Elizabeth Harvey, and his brothers — including Troy, who rapes Jamie. One day, his mothers boyfriend takes indecent photographs of the boys, when the police are reluctant to intervene, Elizabeth is contacted by Barry, a gay man who introduces her to John. John, who despises paedophiles and homosexuals, continually harasses the boyfriend until he moves away, John begins to assume the role of Jamies father figure. Barry tells John the names and addresses of paedophiles in the area, Jamie finds himself slowly drawn into Johns homophobic and violent tendencies, unable to escape his charismatic and intimidating dominance. On one occasion, he has Jamie shoot his dog, John meanwhile influences the rest of the neighbourhood with his extremely homophobic views, and separates Barry from his younger boyfriend Robert. Only Troy seems to dislike John, Barry soon disappears, leaving behind only an answering machine message saying that he is going to Queensland. John brings Jamie in as the member of his small team who bury men. Shortly afterward, Jamie visits his drug-addicted best friend Gavin with John, later one night, John and Robert take Jamie into his garden shed and show him the bodies of Barry and Gavin. Distressed, Jamie lashes out at John but remains under his influence, when John learns that Jamie has been abused by Troy, he and Robert torture Troy. Jamie later kills the brutalised Troy in an act of mercy, now desensitised, Jamie assists John in carrying out several murders. John and his store the bodies in the vault of an abandoned bank in the town of Snowtown. Jamie is persuaded by John to lure his half-brother Dave to the bank building, Jamie drives with him to the town, vaguely conscious of what he is doing, and leads Dave into the building, where he is met by John and Robert. Unaware of what is going on, Dave watches Jamie shut the door of the bank, the film was produced by Warp Films Australia, a collaboration between Warp Films and distributor Madman Entertainment. Peter Campbell of Warp Films Australia had to get the remaining suppression orders lifted so the film could be premiered, Snowtown is Kurzels first feature-length film as director. His short film Bluetongue was shown at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, apart from Henshall and Greene, the actors were locals with no acting experience, whom Kurzel had found in the area where the murders occurred, with most from Davoren Park. Kurzel himself grew up in the area and felt that using locals would move the film from being a one dimensional horror show to a human story showing what happens when people are disadvantaged. Davoren Park is considered one of the most violent and dysfunctional suburbs in Australia, according to Kurzel, far from the wow, Im going to be a movie star attitude that he had expected, he had some difficulty convincing them to take part. The film was shot in Smithfield Plains, South Australia, an suburb of the Adelaide metropolitan area
4.
Justin Kurzel
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Justin Kurzel is an Australian film director and screenwriter, best for his work in the film Snowtown, for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Direction. Kurzel was born in Gawler, South Australia to a family of immigrant roots, his father hailing from Poland and his 2015 film Macbeth was selected to compete for the Palme dOr at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. He directed the film Assassins Creed, based on the game franchise of the same name. Kurzel is married to actress Essie Davis and his younger brother, Jed Kurzel, is a blues rock musician who has scored most of Justins films. Justin Kurzel at the Internet Movie Database
5.
AMC (TV channel)
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AMC is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by AMC Networks. The channels programming, similar to that of FXM, primarily consists of released films. The channels name originally stood for American Movie Classics, but since 2002 the full name has been de-emphasized as a result of a shift in its programming. As of July 2015, AMC was received by approximately 94,832,000 households in the United States that subscribe to a pay television service. In March 2015, Dish Networks Sling TV announced it would begin making AMC channels available to cord cutters, including AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV. American Movie Classics, as AMC was originally known, debuted on October 1,1984 as a premium channel, AMC was originally operated as a joint venture between Rainbow Media and cable television provider Tele-Communications Inc. During its early years, it was not uncommon for AMC to host a marathon of Marx Brothers films, in 1987, the channel began to be carried on the basic cable tiers of many cable providers. By 1989, AMC was available to 39 million subscribers in the U. S, on December 1,1990, AMC began operating on a 24-hour-a-day schedule. Beginning in 1993, AMC presented an annual Film Preservation Festival to raise awareness of, portions of the festival were often dedicated to all-day marathons focusing on a single performer. During its fifth year in 1998, Scorsese credited the Festival for creating not only a greater awareness. In 1996, curator of the Museum of Modern Art Mary Lee Bandy called the Festival the most important public event in support of film preservation. By its tenth anniversary in 2003, the Festival had raised $2 million from the general public, the following year, Time Warner also attempted to acquire at least part of Liberty Medias stake in AMC. Turner owns rights to the RKO Radio Pictures film library and licensed RKOs films to AMC in a deal that was slated to last through 2004. Under the terms of the deal, AMC would obtain the RKO titles in exclusive windows, around this time, General Electric/NBC owned a stake in AMC – which it divested in the early 2000s. From 1996 to 1998, AMC aired its first original series, Remember WENN, the show was well received by both critics and its enthusiastic fans, but was abruptly cancelled after its fourth season following management changes at the channel. Despite a well publicized campaign to save the series, the show was not renewed for its originally scheduled fifth season. One popular AMC program was American Pop. which ran from 1998 to 2003, the majority of the films presented on AMC during the 1990s had originally been released by Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, and Universal Studios. The channel also showed classic silent films
6.
Turn: Washington's Spies
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Turn, Washingtons Spies is a period drama based on Alexander Rose’s book Washingtons Spies, The Story of Americas First Spy Ring, a history of the Culper Ring. The series debuted on AMC on April 6,2014, on July 26,2016, Turn, Washingtons Spies was renewed for a fourth and final 10-episode season, which will premiere in 2017. The series begins in October 1776, shortly after British victories recapture Long Island, Staten Island, the first episodes introductory card titles read, Autumn 1776. Insurgents have declared war against the Crown, following a successful naval landing, His Majestys Army has forced Washingtons rebels into the wilderness. New York City serves as base of operations for the British. The Loyalists of nearby Long Island keep vigilant watch out for sympathizers, the show takes considerable liberties with the biographies and activities of the historical personalities. For example, Abraham Woodhull is portrayed as having broken an engagement to Anna Strong, in order to wed his brothers betrothed and by so doing, satisfy his father, a staunch Loyalist. This plot device is driven by the fictional claim that the younger Woodhull had felt responsible for the death of his elder brother. The show portrays Woodhull and Strong as carrying on an affair during their involvement in the Spy Ring. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes rated the season 52%, based on 33 reviews, the sites consensus reads, Turns uneven treatment of the American Revolution is more frustrating than exciting and memorable. On Metacritic, the first season scored 61 out of 100, based on 29 critics, the second season received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 80%, based on 5 reviews, on Metacritic, the season has a score of 68 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews. The first season of TURN, Washingtons Spies was awarded the 2014 Media & Entertainment Award by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The first season of TURN, Washingtons Spies was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 17,2015, the second season was released on DVD on March 22,2016 and became available on Netflix on April 11,2016. The third season was released on DVD on November 8,2016, official website at AMCTV. com Comics series, Steve Ellis. Neuman, Clayton & Morgan, LaToya & Hunt, Chris & Colden, Kevin & Plummer, Shay & Lindemann, cS1 maint, Uses authors parameter TURN, Washingtons Spies at the Internet Movie Database Turn, Washingtons Spies at TV Guide
7.
Bong Joon-ho
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Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. His films include South Korean hits Memories of Murder, based on a serial murder case, monster movie The Host. Korean film industry insiders have nicknamed him Bong Tae-il, which, pronounced in Korean, though he displays a fascination for strong subject matter, his films are filled with humor and sudden mood shifts. Bong Joon-ho was born in Daegu in 1969 and decided to become a filmmaker while in middle school and his father was a designer and his grandfather was a noted author. He majored in sociology in Yonsei University in the late 1980s and was a member of the club there. He was then a fan of Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, in the early 1990s, he completed a two-year program at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. While there, he made many 16mm short films and his graduation films Memory Within the Frame and Incoherence were invited to screen at the Vancouver and Hong Kong international film festivals. He also collaborated on works with his classmates — most notably as cinematographer on highly acclaimed short 2001 Imagine. Aside from cinematography on Hur Jae-youngs short A Hat, Bong was also lighting director on an early short Sounds From Heaven and Earth by Choi Equan, after graduating, he spent the next five years contributing in various capacities to works by other directors. Shortly afterwards Bong began shooting his first feature Barking Dogs Never Bite under producer Cha Seung-jae, the film, about a low-ranking university lecturer who abducts a neighbors dog, was shot in the same apartment complex where Bong had lived after getting married. Although now remembered fondly, at the time of its release in February 2000 it did not stir up much interest among audiences, response from critics was positive but slightly muted. Nonetheless, the film was invited to the section of Spains prestigious San Sebastian International Film Festival. Bongs second film, Memories of Murder, a much larger-scale project, was adapted from a stage play centered on a real-life serial killer who terrorized a rural town in the 1980s. Production of the film was a long and arduous process, but with the weather providing unexpected help with some stunning skyscapes and it was released in April 2003 and proved an immediate critical and popular success. Although passed over by the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, the film received its international premiere at San Sebastian. The film also received a strong critical reception on its release in foreign territories such as France. Following this, Bong took some time to short films to two omnibus projects. Influenza is a disturbing 30-minute work acted out entirely in front of real CCTV cameras stationed throughout Seoul and his films Memories of Murder, The Host, Madeo and Snowpiercer were re-released as a film series in April 2015 in the Jacob Burns Film Center in New York
8.
The Babadook
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The Babadook is a 2014 Australian-Canadian psychological horror film written and directed by Jennifer Kent in her directorial debut, and produced by Kristina Ceyton and Kristian Moliere. The film stars Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West and it is based on the 2005 short film Monster, also written and directed by Kent. The Babadook was initially not a commercial success in Australia and was given a limited release in art house theatres. However, largely after its reception at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. It was a success, gaining $7.5 million over a $2 million budget. Sam begins displaying erratic behaviour, he becomes an insomniac and is preoccupied with an imaginary monster, Amelia is forced to pick up her son from school after Sam brings one of the weapons there. One night, Sam asks his mother to read a pop-up storybook and it describes the titular monster, the Babadook, a tall pale-faced humanoid in a top hat with pointed fingers who torments its victims after they become aware of its existence. Amelia is disturbed by the book and its mysterious appearance, while Sam becomes convinced that the Babadook is real, Sams persistence about the Babadook leads Amelia to often have sleepless nights as she tries to comfort him. Soon after, strange events occur, doors open and close mysteriously by themselves, strange sounds are heard and she attributes the events to Sams behaviour, but he blames the Babadook. Amelia rips up the book and disposes of it, at Sams cousin Rubys birthday party, Ruby bullies Sam for not having a father, in response to which he pushes her out of her tree house and breaks her nose in two places. Amelias sister Claire admits she cannot bear Sam to which Amelia takes great offence, on the drive home, Sam has another vision of the Babadook and suffers a febrile seizure, after which Amelia makes a successful plea for sedatives to a paediatrician. The following morning, Amelia finds the Mister Babadook book reassembled on the front door step, new words taunt her by saying that the Babadook will become stronger if she continues to deny its existence, containing pop-ups of her killing her dog Bugsy, Samuel and then herself. Terrified, Amelia burns the book and runs to the police after a phone call. However, Amelia has no proof of the stalking, and when she sees the Babadooks suit hung up behind the front desk. Amelia starts to become isolated and shut-in, being more impatient, shouting at Samuel for disobeying her constantly. One night, Amelia sees a vision of Oskar, who agrees to if she gives him Sam. Fleeing, Amelia is stalked by the Babadook through the house until it takes over her and finally possesses her, breaking Bugsys neck, eventually luring her into the basement, Sam knocks her out. Amelia awakens, tied up in the basement, with a terrified Sam nearby, when she tries to strangle him, he lovingly caresses her face, causing her to throw up an inky black substance, an action which seemingly expels the Babadook
9.
Jennifer Kent
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Jennifer Kent is an Australian actress, writer and director, best known for her horror film The Babadook, which was her directorial debut. Kent was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and she says that she put on her first play when she was seven and also wrote stories. In her late teens, she chose acting as she wasn’t really aware at that stage that women could direct films and she graduated in 1991 from the National Institute of Dramatic Art for performing arts. In a promotional interview for Kents 2014 film, The Babadook, the girl that was obviously the best girl at the whole school. Kent began her career as an actress, working primarily in television and she was a main cast member of Murder Call, from creator Hal McElroy, playing Constable Dee Suzeraine in all 31 episodes of the series. She also appeared in episodes of other Australian TV series such as All Saints, Police Rescue. Kent also had a role in Babe, Pig in the City. She has also been a teacher for 13 years at major institutions such as NIDA. After losing interest in acting, Kent was inspired after seeing Dancer in the Dark to pursue a career as a filmmaker and she wrote to director Lars von Trier, asking to study under him and explaining that she found the idea of film school repellent. In 2002 von Trier allowed her to assist him as part of an attachment on the set of his film Dogville starring Nicole Kidman. In 2006 Kent directed an episode of Two Twisted, an Australian series following in the tradition of The Twilight Zone, in 2005 Kent directed her short film Monster, which was screened at over 50 festivals around the world. In 2014 she adapted her short into a feature-length film The Babadook starring Essie Davis whom Kent had known through drama school. The film tells the story of a mother played by Davis who must confront a sinister presence in her home while dealing with the death of her husband. The Babadook premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in the prestigious Midnight section, the film was quickly picked up for distribution in the U. S. by IFC Films. Kent did five drafts of the script, received most of her funding from the Australian government. Kent has been vocal in the press about the lack of directors in horror cinema. It will shift, as the world shifts, women do love watching scary films. It’s been proven, and they’ve done all the tests, the demographics are half men, half women
10.
DreamWorks
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DreamWorks Pictures is an American film production label of Amblin Partners. It was formerly distributing its own and third-party films by itself and it has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each. As of October 2016, DreamWorks films are marketed and distributed by Universal Pictures, DreamWorks began in 1994 as an attempt by media moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to create a new Hollywood studio of which they owned 72%. Currently, DreamWorks operates out of offices at Universal Studios, in December 2005, the founders agreed to sell the studio to Viacom, parent of Paramount Pictures. The sale was completed in February 2006, in 2008, DreamWorks announced its intention to end its partnership with Paramount and signed a $1.5 billion deal to produce films with Indias Reliance ADA Group. Reliance provided $325M of equity to fund recreating DreamWorks SKG into DreamWorks Studios, after the formation of Amblin Partners in 2015, the studio entered into a distribution agreement with Universal Pictures. DreamWorks animation arm was spun off in 2004 into DreamWorks Animation SKG, which owns the DreamWorks trademarks. Spielbergs company continues to use the DreamWorks trademarks under license from Universal Studios, the original company was founded following Katzenbergs resignation from The Walt Disney Company in 1994. Katzenberg approached Spielberg and Geffen about forming a live-action and animation film studio, which had not been done in decades due to the risk and expense. They agreed on three conditions, They would make fewer than nine movies a year, they would be free to work for other studios if they chose, and they would go home in time for dinner. They officially founded DreamWorks SKG in October 1994, with backing of $33 million from each of the three partners and $500 million from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Their new studio was based at offices in the Universal Studios lot, despite access to sound stages and sets, DreamWorks preferred to film motion pictures on location. Usually, the company would film in a soundstage or set in a major studio, as of 2016, DreamWorks is still based in Universal. In 1995, traditional animation artists from Amblimation joined the new studio, which led to DreamWorks buying part of Pacific Data Images, both were software divisions, and would merge later on. For then, DreamWorks had the traditional animators working for their animation department. These films were distributed by DreamWorks Pictures, the same year, PDI/DreamWorks produced its first full-length animated features, Antz and The Prince of Egypt, which were also distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. DreamWorks SKG continued to distribute PDI/DreamWorks productions through their name until 2004. In 2000, DreamWorks was planning in building a studio backlot after buying 1,087 acres of land in the Playa Vista area in Los Angeles and it was to be complete with 18 sound stages, with many office buildings and a lake
11.
Paramount Pictures
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Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film studio based in Hollywood, California, that has been a subsidiary of the American media conglomerate Viacom since 1994. In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor contracted 22 actors and actresses and these fortunate few would become the first movie stars. Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving studio in the world after the French studios Gaumont Film Company and Pathé, followed by the Nordisk Film company. It is the last major film studio headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount Pictures dates its existence from the 1912 founding date of the Famous Players Film Company, hungarian-born founder, Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeons, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time. By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success and its first film was Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth, which starred Sarah Bernhardt. That same year, another aspiring producer, Jesse L. Lasky, opened his Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish, the Lasky company hired as their first employee a stage director with virtually no film experience, Cecil B. DeMille, who would find a site in Hollywood, near Los Angeles, for his first feature film. Hodkinson and actor, director, producer Hobart Bosworth had started production of a series of Jack London movies, Paramount was the first successful nationwide distributor, until this time, films were sold on a statewide or regional basis which had proved costly to film producers. Also, Famous Players and Lasky were privately owned while Paramount was a corporation, in 1916, Zukor maneuvered a three-way merger of his Famous Players, the Lasky Company, and Paramount. Zukor and Lasky bought Hodkinson out of Paramount, and merged the three companies into one, with only the exhibitor-owned First National as a rival, Famous Players-Lasky and its Paramount Pictures soon dominated the business. It was this system that gave Paramount a leading position in the 1920s and 1930s, the driving force behind Paramounts rise was Zukor. In 1926, Zukor hired independent producer B. P. Schulberg and they purchased the Robert Brunton Studios, a 26-acre facility at 5451 Marathon Street for US$1 million. In 1927, Famous Players-Lasky took the name Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation, three years later, because of the importance of the Publix Theatres, it became Paramount Publix Corporation. In 1928, Paramount began releasing Inkwell Imps, animated cartoons produced by Max, the Fleischers, veterans in the animation industry, were among the few animation producers capable of challenging the prominence of Walt Disney. The Paramount newsreel series Paramount News ran from 1927 to 1957, Paramount was also one of the first Hollywood studios to release what were known at that time as talkies, and in 1929, released their first musical, Innocents of Paris
12.
Ghost in the Shell (2017 film)
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The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Takeshi Kitano, Michael Pitt, Pilou Asbæk, Chin Han and Juliette Binoche. The film premiered in Tokyo on March 16,2017, and was released in the United States on March 31,2017, in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D, the film has grossed $76.9 million worldwide against a production budget of $110 million. In the near future, the vast majority of humans are augmented with cybernetics, enhancing various traits like vision, strength, and intelligence. Hanka Robotics, the leading developer of augmentative technology, establishes a secret project to develop a mechanical body, or shell. A young woman named Mira Killian, who is the survivor of the cyberterrorist attack which killed her parents, is chosen as the test subject after her body is apparently damaged beyond repair. Over the objections of her designer, Dr. Ouelet, Hanka CEO Cutter decides to use Killian as a counter-terrorism operative, a year later, Killian has attained the rank of Major in the anti-terrorist bureau Section 9, working alongside operatives Batou and Togusa under Chief Daisuke Aramaki. The team successfully thwarts a terrorist attack on a Hanka business conference, Killian, who has been experiencing hallucinations that Ouelet dismisses as glitches, is becoming increasingly bothered by how little she remembers about her past. After learning that the geisha was hacked by an entity, known only as Kuze, Killian breaks protocol. The entity attempts a counter-hack, and Batou is forced to disconnect her, using the information she was able to gather, the two trace the hacker to a Yakuza nightclub, where they are lured into a trap. The resulting explosion destroys Batous eyes, and leaves Killians body severely damaged, Cutter is enraged by Killians actions, and threatens to have Section 9 shut down unless Aramaki keeps her in line. Kuze tracks down Section 9s Hanka consultant, Dr. Dahlin, the team links her murder to the deaths of other senior company researchers, and realize that Dr. Ouelet is the next target. Kuze takes control of two workers and sends them to kill Ouelet. Batou, now with eyes, kills one of them while the repaired Killian subdues the other. During interrogation, Kuze briefly speaks through the surviving worker before compelling him to commit suicide, Togusa traces the hack to a secret location, where the team discovers a large number of humans mentally linked together as a makeshift signal network. Killian is captured, and Kuze reveals that he is a failed Hanka test subject from the project that created Killian. He urges her to question her own memories before freeing her, Killian confronts Ouelet, who admits that Killian was in fact the 98th test subject, the only one to survive the process, and her memories are fake implanted ones. Cutter has decided that Killian is too much of a liability, instead, Ouelet gives Killian an address and helps her escape. Cutter kills Ouelet, but blames Killian, saying that she has gone rogue and he subsequently informs Aramaki and the team that Killian must be terminated by any means necessary
13.
Scarlett Johansson
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Scarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer. She made her debut in the fantasy comedy North. Johansson subsequently starred in Manny & Lo, and garnered acclaim and prominence with roles in The Horse Whisperer. She shifted to roles with her performances in Girl with a Pearl Earring and Lost in Translation. Since 2010, Johansson has also portrayed the Marvel Comics character Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and she won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in the 2010 Broadway revival of A View from the Bridge. As a singer, Johansson has released two albums, Anywhere I Lay My Head and Break Up, Johansson is considered one of Hollywoods modern sex symbols, and has frequently appeared in published lists of the sexiest women in the world. As of February 2017, she is the actress of all time in North America. In 2016, she added another $1.2 billion to that box office record and her father, Karsten Johansson, is an architect originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, and her paternal grandfather, Ejner Johansson, was an art historian, screenwriter, and director. Her mother, Melanie Sloan, a producer, comes from an Ashkenazi Jewish family from the Bronx, Sloans ancestors were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Minsk in the Russian Empire. Scarlett Johansson has a sister, Vanessa, also an actress, an older brother, Adrian, a twin brother, Hunter. She holds both United States and Danish passports and citizenship, Johansson grew up in a household with little money, and with a mother who was a film buff. She and her brother attended PS41 elementary school in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. Johansson began her training by attending and graduating from Professional Childrens School in Manhattan in 2002. Johansson began acting during childhood, after her mother started taking her to auditions and she would audition for commercials but took rejection so hard her mother began limiting her to film tryouts. She made her debut at the age of 9, as John Ritters daughter in the fantasy comedy North. Following minor roles in the mystery thriller Just Cause, as the daughter of Sean Connery and Kate Capshaw, and If Lucy Fell, she played the role of Amanda in Manny & Lo. Her performance in Manny & Lo garnered a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female, after appearing in minor roles in Fall and Home Alone 3, Johansson garnered widely spread attention for her performance in the film The Horse Whisperer, directed by Robert Redford. She received a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress for the film, in 1999, she appeared in My Brother the Pig and in the neo-noir Coen brothers film The Man Who Wasnt There
14.
These Final Hours
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These Final Hours is a 2013 Australian apocalyptic thriller film written and directed by Zak Hilditch. It was selected to be screened as part of the Directors Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and it stars Nathan Phillips, Angourie Rice, Jessica De Gouw, Daniel Henshall, and Kathryn Beck. James and his lover, Zoe, are having sex for the last time at her beach house, not wanting to feel his inevitable death, James disregards Zoes news and leaves for the party to end all parties. After having his car stolen, he comes across two men who have kidnapped a girl and are planning to rape her. James kills them, and rescues the girl, the girl, named Rose, explains that she was separated from her father in Malaga en route to her aunts house in Roleystone. Not wanting to waste petrol, James instead plans to leave her with his sister and her children. But upon arriving, he finds his sister and her dead in the shower. James then heads to the party, with Rose in tow, the party is overflowing with people, a game of Russian roulette is being played, and an orgy is going on inside the house. James meets with the host of the party, Freddy, whose sister is James girlfriend, James leaves Rose in the pool while a heavily intoxicated Vicki shows him a bunker built underneath Freddys garage. Emotional and angry, he tells her it wont work and that they all die anyway. This upsets Vicki, and Jamess thoughts on the bunker anger Freddy, meanwhile, outside, a drug-affected woman follows Rose, claiming that she is her daughter, Mandy. She coerces Rose into taking a pill, claiming that she can help Rose find her family. When James finally comes back outside to find Rose, she is hallucinating and vomiting, James tries to leave the party with Rose, pushing the erratic woman away, leading an intoxicated Freddy to believe that James is physically abusing the woman. He then holds James at gunpoint, before Vicki calmly takes the gun and shoots the woman, James drives Rose to his estranged mothers house, with whom he reconciles whilst Rose recovers. She gives James petrol and Rose some old clothes, and the leave for Roses aunts house. Upon arrival, nobody seems to be home, but James finds the bodies of Roses family, including her father, although hysterical at the news of her fathers death, Rose insists on seeing him. James comforts her and brings her his body, and they lay him by a pond with flowers as she tells him that her dad wanted them to be together for the end. James then confides in Rose about his relationship with Zoe and her pregnancy, Rose convinces him to make amends with her while he still can
15.
Around the Block (film)
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Around the Block is a 2013 Australian drama film directed and written by Sarah Spillane. The films stars Christina Ricci, Hunter Page-Lochard, Jack Thompson, the films revolves around an American drama teacher who develops a friendship with a sixteen-year-old Aboriginal Australian boy during the 2004 Redfern riots. She meets a 16 year old Aboriginal student named Liam, who lives around the block in Redfern and lives a life of drugs, Christina Ricci was in Australia for the four week shoot. The film received mixed reviews critics and audiences, earning a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 57%. Around the Block at the Internet Movie Database
16.
Any Questions for Ben?
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Any Questions for Ben. is a 2012 Australian comedy film created by Working Dog Productions, directed by Rob Sitch. It stars Josh Lawson, Rachael Taylor, Felicity Ward, Daniel Henshall and it was written by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch. It posted a modest opening weekend at the box office which grossed $608,731 for Roadshow on 235 screens. By the end of the first week, the film had grossed only A$917,000, by the end of its cinema run in Australia, the film had grossed only A$1. Overall, the film ranked 102 on the list of most successful films at the Australian box-office in 2012, leigh Paatsch, writing in the Melbourne Herald-Sun, felt that the films strongest point was the banter between the characters which was funny and engaging. But Paatsch said that Lawsons central performance was marred at times by an air of self-satisfied smarm, but as a romance, Ryan felt that film failed to convince. The problem for the film-makers is maintaining dramatic interest whilst he sorts out his quarter-life crisis and their solutions, alas, arent especially satisfying. And the endless montages of Melbourne make our city look beautiful, the whole thing made me nostalgic for Working Dogs sharper days. Working Dog have made precisely that – a dog, however, Jim Schembri, also writing in the Age, praised the film as very enjoyable, character-rich and thoughtful. Any Questions for Ben. at the Internet Movie Database
17.
Not Suitable for Children
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Not Suitable for Children is an 2012 Australian romantic comedy film directed by Peter Templeman and written by Michael Lucas. It was released on 12 July 2012 and it stars Ryan Kwanten, Sarah Snook, and Ryan Corr. Jonah is a man without a care in the world. At one of his parties, the power goes out because Jonah has not paid his electric bill, Jonah meets up with Becky and they retreat up to his room away from the party, only for Becky to find a lump in Jonahs testicle. Jonah goes to see a doctor, who reveals that Jonah has testicular cancer and he tells Jonah that they can remove it in time, but Jonahs upset that he wont be able to father children. The doctor suggests that Jonah uses a bank in the event that he would like to have children after the operation. Now at a bank, Jonah is left in a room to privately produce his semen. After he is finished, he returns home to his best friends and fellow party hosts, Stevie, when Stevie arrives home from work, Gus blurts out that Jonah has cancer, much to Jonahs dismay. Gus asks if he would still like to have the party scheduled for the coming Friday, Jonah receives a call from the sperm bank and goes in for a meeting. The nurse explains that Jonah falls into a percentage of men whose sperm cannot be frozen because of biological complications. Jonah asks what other options there are, now worried that he will never have children. The nurse replies with, Well, do you have a girlfriend, Jonah then begins the complicated journey of finding a woman to carry his child. He first approaches his ex-girlfriend Ava who is disgusted with Jonah for even contacting her and he then tries Becky who rejects him by claiming she never thought of her and Jonah as a couple. Jonah never tells the girls he asks that he has cancer, Jonah goes back to the doctor to ask for more time and moves his operation three weeks. Meanwhile, Gus, Stevie, and Jonah realize that hosting parties could be their job. After the power went out in the party and party-goers pitched in to help pay. Jonahs first paycheck is worth over $700, Jonah then begins making lists of all the women he has ever dated or known and asks them if they would ever consider after his child. He is rejected by all the women he asks, Stevie suggests adoption and Jonah looks into it, but soon figures out that in order to be a candidate for adoption you must have a clean health record, and Jonah has cancer written all over his
18.
Marrakech International Film Festival
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The Marrakech International Film Festival is an international film festival founded in 2001 and held annually in Marrakech, Morocco. The 14th edition was held from December 5 to 13,2014, since its inaugural year, the FIFM has been one of the biggest events devoted to Moroccan cinema. It is also the site of the photography of many international productions. The festivals jury gathers important international writers, actors and personalities, the International Film Festival of Marrakech is chaired by Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco. Film festivals in Africa Official website 10e FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM DE MARRAKECH3 -11 Décembre 2010
19.
Rake (Australian TV series)
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Rake is an Australian television series, produced by Essential Media and Entertainment, that first aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporations ABC1 in 2010. The fourth series started on ABC TV on 19 May 2016 and it stars Richard Roxburgh as rake Cleaver Greene, a brilliant but self-destructive Sydney barrister, defending a usually guilty client. The show airs in the United States on DirecTVs Audience Network and is available on Netflix in the UK, Ireland, Canada, the United States, and Australia. The Fox Network in the US commissioned an American version, starring Greg Kinnear as the lead character, Richard Roxburgh as Cleaver Greene, a brilliant but self-destructive criminal defence barrister. The character is based on Sydneys most colourful barrister and author Charles Waterstreet. At the end of the series, he successfully obtains a seat as an independent Senator. Russell Dykstra as Barney Barnyard Meagher, Cleavers instructing solicitor and best friend, after Cleaver sleeps with his wife Scarlet, there is tension between their relationship. In the second series, he begins an affair with Cleavers secretary, at the start of the third series, it is revealed that Barney and Nicole had a child together, and that Barney is receiving treatment for testicular cancer. Danielle Cormack as Scarlet Red Engles SC, Barneys wife, a criminal prosecutions barrister, in the second series, she works part-time for Cal McGregor, the Attorney General, before returning to the bar as a criminal defence barrister in the third series. In addition to this, during the series she has a short-lived affair with David Potter. Matt Day as David Harry – Sorry, David Potter, a tax lawyer suing Cleaver Greene, in series 2, Potter is a Member of Parliament of the Australian Labor Party and is Shadow Attorney General. In the third series, he has become the Leader of the NSW Australian Labor Party, in the fourth series, he runs as a Senator for the Australian Greens. By the end of the series, she reveals her identity as Jane Tanner to Cleaver and David. In series 2, she writes a book based on her life in prostitution under the name of J. M. Doolan, in series 3, the book based on her life is made into a film. In series 4, she returns to Australia after a hiatus in America, in the end of series 4 she is pregnant with Finnegan Greenes child. Caroline Brazier as Wendy Greene, Cleavers ex-wife, who is a psychologist in a psychiatric ward. At the end of the series, she starts dating Roger, an osteopath. Keegan Joyce as Finnegan Fuzz Greene, Cleaver and Wendys teenage son, by the end of the second series, he has started dating Tara, an evangelical Christian, and during the third series is planning on doing aid work in the Congo
20.
The Hamster Wheel
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The Hamster Wheel is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television station ABC1. It is created and presented by the satirical group The Chaser, in July 2011, TV Tonight reported that The Chaser were working on developing a new television show. In August 2011, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation announced the Chaser team would return in a new show titled The Hamster Wheel, the first of eight episodes aired on 5 October 2011. In November 2011, it was confirmed that The Chaser would return to television in 2012, however, on 31 August 2012, ABC announced The Hamster Wheel would return for a second series. On 26 September 2012, the series premiered on ABC1. The Hamster Wheel is set within a large cage, with a small hamster. The locations of Horace are revealed on The Hamster Wheel website shortly after the airing of the episode, News of the Week - This starts with Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel and Chris Taylor sitting at their Hamster-shaped desk, talking about stories that made headlines in the past week. Inside the Wheel - Usually followed by News of the Week, politics with Cats - A segment in season 1, Hansen describes a political story of the week using a selection of YouTube cat videos. In the Media - A segment in season 2, Hansen, standby Obituaries - Julian talks about the death of an Australian political or another famous person for when they die. Julian talks about from when they were born to the present day, initially, the return of The Chaser team to television was welcomed, however, many criticised the lack of Chaser-esque stunts in The Hamster Wheel. Paul Kalina from the Sydney Morning Herald stated The Hamster Wheel was one of their best outings yet, david Knox from TV Tonight commented that by the time show was over I felt a bit exhausted but only having enjoyed a handful of laughs. Throughout the first series, The Hamster Wheel retained an average viewing audience of approximately 860,000 viewers, ranking it first for its slot for all. The second series debuted to an audience of 784,000, ranking 3rd for the timeslot
21.
Rescue: Special Ops
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Rescue, Special Ops is an Australian television drama series that first screened on the Nine Network in 2009. Filmed in and around Sydney, the program is produced by Southern Star Group with the assistance of Screen Australia, the series focuses on a team of experienced professional paramedics who specialise in rescue operations. It premiered on Sunday 2 August 2009, and the finale of the first season aired on Sunday 25 October. A second season screened from 28 June 2010, the third and final season consisting of 22 episodes screened from 30 May 2011. The Nine Network has confirmed it will not be renewing Rescue, Rescue, Special Ops follows the work of a team of experienced paramedics involved in complex search and rescue operations. The job brings them face to face with life and death situations every day but just like anyone else, they juggle life, love, brothers Dean Gallagher and Chase Gallagher are competitive alpha males who are part of the Special Ops team. List of Australian television series Rescue, Special Ops at the Internet Movie Database Nine Network – Cast of Rescue, Special Ops
22.
Out of the Blue (2008 TV series)
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Out of the Blue is an Australian serial drama commissioned by the BBC, produced by Australias Southern Star Entertainment. It began screening on BBC One on weekday afternoons on 28 April 2008, the programme attracted lower than desired ratings figures, prompting the broadcaster to shift it to its second channel BBC Two from 19 May 2008. The BBC eventually decided not to commission a series. An investigation follows as the attempts to discover which one of them was the killer. The BBC announced the commissioning of Out of the Blue on 30 November 2007 as a replacement for Neighbours, produced by John Edwards and Julie McGauran of production company Southern Star Entertainment, filming began in early 2008, with the BBC initially ordering 130 episodes. The show launched on 28 April in the UK, on 29 January 2008, Network Ten announced that they had gained the rights to air Out of the Blue in Australia. The show started airing on the network on 17 November 2008 at 10. 30pm, from January 2009, due to lower ratings compared to TEN Late News, it was moved to a weekly Sunday slot. Early on in 2009, Ten would air episodes that were classified M on a late Sunday night slot, the series made its Irish debut on 5 May 2008 on RTÉ One. Screening the show five days a week, RTÉ went on to overtake the UK and began to premiere individual episodes, the series has been airing all over Africa on the GO channel, a satellite TV channel. Five episodes are shown on Wednesday evenings, repeated at various times during the week, on 5 January 2009, the series started to air on NET5 in the Netherlands. The series is shown at 2pm, on the same day, Net 5 started to show Home and Away which airs twice a day at 2. 30pm and 6. 30pm. Nevertheless, the stated that the BBC hoped for the show to be a long-stay resident of the daytime schedule. Other early reviews were generally positive. The Daily Telegraph said that the show looked quite promising and described its murder mystery hook as quite neat, a reviewer for The Daily Mirror wrote, Oo-er. Meanwhile, The Guardian remarked upon the difference in style between Out of the Blue and Neighbours, writing, Au-ssies, stepping into Neighbours slot is something a little more grown up, with drink, gangs and even a murder. In November 2008, the shows Australian premiere attracted a response from critics. A review in The Australian criticised the programme for having clunky dialogue and over the top villains, however, The Daily Telegraph was more positive, predicting that the show would prove popular for Aussie soap fans who prefer their fare more grown-up than Neighbours. The shows UK premiere, which consisted of two episodes broadcast back-to-back, attracted 1. 2m viewers, the BBC described this performance as encouraging, but noted that it would take some time to consider whether viewers would accept the show in the long-term
23.
All Saints (TV series)
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All Saints was an Australian television medical drama that first screened on the Seven Network on 24 February 1998. It was produced by John Holmes alongside Jo Porter, MaryAnne Carroll, the final episode aired on 27 October 2009, completing its recording-breaking 12-year run. All Saints follows the lives of the staff at All Saints Western General Hospital, until its closure in 2004, the show primarily focused on the staff in Ward 17. Known as the ward as it took all the overflow from the other wards, Ward 17 was run by compassionate nun. Her staff included her nurses Connor Costello, Von Ryan, Bronwyn Craig, Jared Levine and Stephanie Markham, Luke Forlano and Peter Morrison were doctors who frequently worked with Terri and her staff. Ben Markham was an officer who worked closely with Luke. Bronwyn left Ward 17 and became an officer at the end of 1998. After the death of Dr. Mitch Stevens and the departure of Bron Craig in 2003, in February 2004, John Holmes told The Age journalist Debi Enker that All Saints would be undergoing major surgery when the focus shifted from Ward 17 to the Emergency Department. He also stated that while four familiar faces with be leaving, Holmes recalled a statement that he made in May 2003 in which he said, we were seeing the scripts and watching episodes and we were feeling that there was a little bit of a sameness in it. We started to think, Dont know about this, maybe weve had a few too many people through the door of Ward 17 on a trolley and had the Hi, Im Von, Im your nurse. After tossing up between cancelling the show and using it as the foundation of a series, Holmes. Ward 17 would then close and the show would be relocated to the Emergency Department, as a result of the shift, several cast members decided to leave the show. Paula Morgan, Luke Forlano, Alex Kearns and Sterling McCormack were all out of the show. Former Always Greener star John Howard signed a deal and was added to the cast as the cranky head of Emergency. Other new faces included Wil Traval as Dr. Jack Quade, Adrienne Pickering as nurse Sophia Beaumont and they would then bring those patients back to the ED and the staff there would assist in their treatment. In June 2009, after months of rumours that the cancellation of All Saints was imminent, season twelve of All Saints would screen 24 episodes instead of the usual 40 episodes and that production would cease in August instead of November. In July 2009, exactly one month later after the first announcement, Tim Worner and he told Michael Idato of the Sydney Morning Herald, All Saints is a show which Seven and viewers have loved. However, a shift and increased production costs are behind this tough decision
24.
IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
25.
Bruce Spence
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Bruce Spence is a New Zealand actor, having spent most of his career performing in Australia. Spence was born in Auckland, New Zealand and attended Henderson High School in West Auckland, bruces two younger brothers Bill and Ross are the founders of Matua Wines. He is best known for his roles as the Gyro Captain in Mad Max 2, as Jedediah the pilot in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and he won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1971 comedy Stork. At six feet, seven inches tall, Spence is one of the tallest actors to have played a leading role and he acted as the palaeontologist alongside fellow actor Felix Nobis, in the Australian performance of BBCs Walking with Dinosaurs, The Live Experience. In his role, Spence narrates the activities of life-sized mechanical dinosaurs operated by teams of puppeteers and drivers, the show ran for two seasons. In 2014, Spence played prison inmate George Corella in episode 3.1 of Rake, - Scav Gyro, Sir Dennis, Tony Van Adobe, Tony Slows, Taunting Scav #2 Enter the Matrix - The Trainman Bruce Spence at the Internet Movie Database
26.
Jack Thompson (actor)
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Jack Thompson, AM is an Australian actor and one of the major figures of Australian cinema. He was educated at University of Queensland, before embarking on his acting career, in 2002, he was made an honorary member of the Australian Cinematographers Society. He is best known as an actor in several acclaimed Australian films, including such classics as The Club, Sunday Too Far Away. He won Cannes and AFI acting awards for the latter film and he was the recipient of a Living Legend Award at the 2005 Inside Film Awards. Thompsons career began with the soap opera Motel, and guest appearances on Homicide and he then took the lead role in spy drama series Spyforce, playing the role of Erskine. He eventually moved into feature film lead roles and he has also acted in television miniseries and appeared as the host of the Channel 7 factual series Find My Family. Thompson was the first nude male centrefold in Cleo magazine in 1972 and he has also appeared in television commercials, including as the face of the Bank of Melbourne for a decade, and for Claytons. Thompson is featured in a series of recordings of Australian poetry, reciting poems by Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson, C. J. Dennis, Patrick Joseph Hartigan and John OGrady. Interviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald he explains his love of poetry, noting that Poetry is sometimes seen as too arty, born John Hadley Pain, Manly, a suburb of Sydney, Thompson was educated at Sydney Boys High School. Thompson was 4 years old when his mother died, leaving his father and he was then sent to an orphanage by his aunt and was subsequently adopted by John and Pat Thompson and changed his surname. The film reviewer Peter Thompson is his adopted brother, Thompson featured in the first episode of the Australian version of Who Do You Think You Are. Thompson married Beverley Hackett in 1963 and the marriage produced his son Patrick Thompson. He then entered into a 15-year polyamorous relationship in the 1970s and 1980s with both Leona King and her sister Bunkie and he stayed with Leona following the birth of his second son, Billy. Thompson used to own Hotel Gearin in Katoomba, Blue Mountains and he sold the hotel in June 2011
27.
Simon Burke
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Simon Gareth Burke AO is an Australian actor, active in films, television and theatre. He remains the youngest person ever to be honoured with this award, since then he has enjoyed great success both in Australia and internationally in film, television, stage, concert appearances and cabaret. In 2014, Simon starred in Matchbox Pictures/NBC-Universal’s highly acclaimed mini-series Devil’s Playground in which he reprised the role of Tom Allen that he created as a 13 year old. He is the co-creator and executive producer of the project, which this year won both the AACTA and Logie Awards for Most Outstanding Telefeature or Mini-Series and he has since starred in numerous film, television and theatre productions in Australia and the UK. He starred as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music at the London Palladium alongside Connie Fisher and he also played the role of Mr Banks in Mary Poppins in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland. Burke was Federal President of Actors Equity Australia 2004–2014 and he is currently a Vice President of the International Federation of Actors, a global federation of performers’ trade unions, guilds and professional associations. In 2016 he publicly identified himself as a member of the LGBTIQ community, the Moving Picture Boy, An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich, Michael Russell,1996, p.338, Simon Burke at the Internet Movie Database Official website
28.
John Meillon
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He also voiced Victoria Bitter beer adverts. Meillon was born in Mosman, New South Wales and his younger brother was director Bob Meillon. He began his career at the age of eleven in the ABCs radio serial Stumpy. He joined the Shakespeare Touring Company when he was sixteen, like many actors of his generation from 1959 to 1965 he worked in England, but while working in Britain he consciously steered away from Australian roles. Meillon claimed that he learnt discipline while working in theatre and that television was not a good a medium for training and he had a recurring role in the TV series My Names McGooley, Whats Yours. He featured in two episodes of Skippy in 1968 and 1969 appearing as Nimble Norris, in 1976, he won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role of Casey in the film The Fourth Wish. With his rich baritone, Meillon was used extensively in voice-over work—most famously in his work as the you can get it any old how Victoria Bitter narrator. He married Australian actress June Salter in 1958 and they had one son, John Meillon, Jr. Meillon, Meillon married actress Bunny Gibson on 5 April 1972, they also had a son. Meillon was appointed an OBE in the 1979 Queens Birthday Honours, in June 1980, his favourite pub, The Oaks at Neutral Bay, opened The John Meillon OBE Bar in his honour. Meillon continued to frequent the bar over the decade, including visiting in the week before his death from cirrhosis. His body was found in his home at Neutral Bay on 11 August 1989 and he was awarded the Raymond Longford lifetime achievement award posthumously. John Meillon at the Internet Movie Database, John Meillon profile, AusStage. edu. au, accessed 27 December 2015. John Meillon profile, National Film and Sound Archive, accessed 27 December 2015
29.
Bill Hunter (actor)
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William John Bill Hunter was an Australian actor of film, stage and television, who was also prominent as a voice-over artist. He appeared in more than 60 films and won two AFI Awards and he was also a recipient of the Centenary Medal. Hunter was born in Ballarat, a son of William and Francie Hunter and he had a brother, John, and a sister, Marie Ann. During his teens, Hunter was a swimmer, and briefly held a world record for the 100 yards freestyle until his record was broken by John Devitt in the very next heat ten minutes later. Hunter had qualified for the Australian swimming team in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, Hunter made his film debut as an extra in 1957 film The Shiralee. An introduction to Ava Gardner saw him gain a job as an extra and swimming double in the Hollywood film On the Beach, which was filming in Melbourne. Hunter claimed that he was inspired to take up acting after watching one of the leads do 27 takes of a scene and he took an intensive drama course in Melbourne, and then won a two-year scholarship to the prestigious Northampton Repertory Company in England. In 1966, he made his debut in an uncredited role in two episodes of the Doctor Who serial The Ark. In 2007, he reprised the role of Bob in the Australian touring stage production of Priscilla and he also provided the voice of the dentist in Finding Nemo and the voice of Bubo in Legend of the Guardians, The Owls of GaHoole. He portrayed United Nations Secretary General Spencer Chartwell in the American science fiction series Space, Above and his last film role was in The Cup. Of acting, Hunter said, As long as the director told me where to stand and what to say, anyone who says theres any more to it than that, is full of bullshit. It is a craft, but theres no art involved, what you need is common sense and a reasonably rough head. You put on the makeup and the wardrobe, and that is half the performance and that upsets the purists, but never mind, they dont work as much as I do. Hunters first marriage was to Robbie Anderson from 1963 to 1973, with whom he had a son and his next marriage was to actress Pat Bishop, in 1976. According to writer Bob Ellis, the marriage was short-lived after Hunter ran off with their marriage celebrant and his third marriage was to artist and television presenter Rhoda Roberts, from 1993 until their divorce in 1999. On 15 May 2011, Hunter was admitted to Caritas Christi hospice in Kew after refusing to go to a hospital, surrounded by family and friends, he died of liver cancer on 21 May 2011, aged 71. A memorial service for Hunter was held at Melbournes Princess Theatre on 26 May, close friend and co-star Mick Molloy paid tribute to Bill Hunter on stage at the 54th Logie Awards in April 2012. Hunter won the 1978 AFI Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Newsfront, in 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal for service to acting
30.
Mel Gibson
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Mel Colmcille Gerard Gibson AO is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Peekskill, New York, and moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia and he studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art. During the 1980s, he founded Icon Entertainment, a company which independent film director Atom Egoyan has called. Director Peter Weir cast him as one of the leads in the critically acclaimed World War I drama Gallipoli, the film also helped to earn Gibson the reputation of a serious, versatile actor. He later directed and produced the successful and controversial, biblical drama film The Passion of the Christ. He received further critical notice for his work of the action-adventure film Apocalypto. Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, the sixth of eleven children, and the son of Hutton Gibson, a writer. One of Gibsons younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor, because of his mother, Gibson retains dual Irish and American citizenship. Mel was twelve years old at the time, Gibson was educated by members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers at St Leos Catholic College in Wahroonga, New South Wales, during his high school years. Gibson gained very favorable notices from critics when he first entered the cinematic scene. In 1982, Vincent Canby wrote that Mr. Gibson recalls the young Steve McQueen, I cant define star quality, but whatever it is, Mr. Gibson has it. Gibson has also likened to a combination Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart. Gibsons roles in the Mad Max series of films, Peter Weirs Gallipoli, later, Gibson expanded into a variety of acting projects including human dramas such as Hamlet, and comedic roles such as those in Maverick and What Women Want. He expanded beyond acting into directing and producing, with, The Man Without a Face, in 1993, Braveheart, in 1995, The Passion of the Christ, in 2004, jess Cagle of Time compared Gibson with Cary Grant, Sean Connery, and Robert Redford. Connery once suggested Gibson should play the next James Bond to Connerys M. Gibson turned down the role, Gibson studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. The students at NIDA were classically trained in the British-theater tradition rather than in preparation for screen acting. As students, Gibson and actress Judy Davis played the leads in Romeo and Juliet, and Gibson played the role of Queen Titania in an experimental production of A Midsummer Nights Dream. After graduation in 1977, Gibson immediately began work on the filming of Mad Max, but continued to work as a stage actor, and joined the State Theatre Company of South Australia in Adelaide
31.
Chris Haywood
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Chris Haywood is an English Australian-based film and television actor/producer. Haywood was born in Billericay, Essex, England and he spent his early childhood in Chelmsford before moving to High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire where he attended High Wycombe Royal Grammar School from 1959 to 1965. He then started working in the cellars of a local wine shipper before gaining a place at E15 Acting School and he was the Artistic Director of the Pros and Cons Playhouse at Parramatta Jail for two years. He established the service on Kiribati National Radio. Haywood appeared in Neighbours as Walter Mitchell in June 2013 and he garnered three Logie Awards for his work on television-for Essington, Good Thing Going and Janus. Most recently he won the Best Actor award at the Tampa Bay Film Festival in Florida, brian McFarlane, Geoff Mayer, Ina Bertrand. The Oxford companion to Australian film, melbourne, Australia, New York, Oxford University Press. CS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Chris Haywood at the Internet Movie Database
32.
Leo McKern
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Reginald Leo McKern, AO was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. Notable roles he portrayed include Clang in Help and he also portrayed Carl Bugenhagen in the first and second installments of the The Omen series. McKern was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the son of Vera and he attended Sydney Technical High School. After an accident at the age of 15, he lost his left eye and he first worked as an engineering apprentice, then as an artist, followed by service as a sapper with the Australian Armys Royal Australian Engineers during World War II. In 1944, in Sydney, he performed in his first stage role, having fallen in love with Australian actress Jane Holland, McKern moved to the United Kingdom to be with her, they married in 1946. He soon became a performer at Londons Old Vic theatre. McKerns most notable Shakespearean role was as Iago in Othello, in 1952, in 1955 he appeared in The Burnt Flower Bed by Ugo Betti directed by Peter Hall at the Arts Theatre Club in London. He also portrayed Subtle in Ben Jonsons The Alchemist in 1962, in 1965, he played the eponymous villain in Bolts The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew, and Disson in Harold Pinters Tea Party. He appeared at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in Uncle Vanya in 1977 and in Crime, McKerns film debut was in Murder in the Cathedral. His other more notable appearances included the science-fiction classics X the Unknown, The Day the Earth Caught Fire. He was presented with the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Travelling North, in Monsignor Quixote, he co-starred as Sancho Zancas opposite Alec Guinness as Father Quixote. One of McKerns earliest television roles was in the 1950s black-and-white series The Adventures of Robin Hood, during the 1960s, he was one of several Number Twos in the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed TV series The Prisoner. Along with Colin Gordon, McKern was one of two actors to play Number Two more than once. He first played the character in the episodes The Chimes of Big Ben and Once Upon a Time, in 1976 McKern narrated and presented The Battle of the Somme, a British Broadcasting Corporation documentary produced to mark the 60th anniversary of World War I battle. He played the Earl of Gloucester in the Granada Television production of King Lear with Sir Laurence Olivier, in 1983 also starring in most episodes of the mini-series Reilly, Ace of Spies as Zaharov, director of Vickers with Sam Neill. A series of the name, comprising 44 episodes, was produced for ITV between 1978 and 1992. According to Mortimer, he not only played the character Rumpole—he added to it, brightened it, although he enjoyed the role, McKern expressed doubts about its popularity and the extent to which his life was becoming intertwined with Rumpoles. McKern was often unhappy, decrying his television fame as an insatiable monster and he stressed that his Peer Gynt was a greater performance and lamented, If I get an obit in any paper, they will say
33.
John Waters (actor)
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John Russell Waters is an English-born film, theatre and television actor, singer, guitarist, songwriter and musician best known in Australia, to where he moved in 1968. He is the son of Scottish actor, Russell Waters, John Waters has been in the industry for over 40 years, and was part of the Australian childrens television series, Play School, for almost 20 years. Waters was born in London, England, Waters is an accomplished musician, and since 1992 has toured many times with his one-man show Looking Through a Glass Onion. Co-written with friend and musician, Stewart DArrietta, the show is a tribute to John Lennon featuring numerous examples of Lennons music, words, in addition to many Australian tours of this show it also played six months in the West End, London. In 2014, it played 120 performances at the Union Square Theatre in Manhattan and he was in the original Australian production of Theyre Playing Our Song, which opened on 23 August 1980 at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. It starred Waters and Jacki Weaver, with Rhonda Burchmore as one of the Inner Voices, an Australian cast recording of the show was later released by Festival Records. In 2000, Waters appeared in a production of The Sound of Music, in which he played the part of Captain von Trapp, in 2005, Waters starred in David Williamsons play Influence as shock jock Ziggi Blasko. The play was performed in Sydney during March/April 2005 and in Melbourne in June/July 2005, in 2008, he played The Narrator in Richard OBriens Rocky Horror Show at Star City Casino, Sydney. Waters has toured Australia in an acclaimed role alongside Brett Tucker in The Woman in Black. In 2010 he starred in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of The Swimming Club, in 2013 Waters starred in The Addams Family musical as Gomez Addams. The production premiered in Sydney on 24 March 2013 and closed on 9 June 2013, many Australians still remember Waters best from his nearly 20-year stint on the Australian childrens series Play School, appearing from 1972 until 1991. During his tenure with Play School, he narrated various childrens video trailers for ABC-TV, among his best known television roles is that of the brooding Sergeant Robert McKellar in the 1974-76 television series Rush. Waters also appeared in the 1983 Australian miniseries All the Rivers Run as Brenton Edwards, in 2002, he had a role in the short-lived drama, Young Lions. He played Perry Luscombe in Fireflies, which lasted for one season, on ABC-TV in 2004. Waters joined the cast of All Saints in June 2006 as Mike Vlasek and he remained with the show until its cancellation in late 2009. In 2010, Waters was a guest star in Sea Patrol as Sgt, in 2012, Waters starred in the ABC TV mini-series, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, adapted from the novel by English writer Fergus Hume. He currently appears on the Logie-award-winning television series Offspring, which completed filming its season in 2013 and has been renewed for a further two seasons. From September 2015, Waters joined the cast of the season of the ABC TV series Rake
34.
Sam Neill
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He won a broad international audience in 1993 for his roles as Alisdair Stewart in The Piano and Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, a role he reprised in 2001s Jurassic Park III. Neill also had roles in Merlin, The Hunt for Red October, Peaky Blinders. In 2016, he starred in Hunt for the Wilderpeople alongside Julian Dennison and he holds New Zealand and British nationality, but identifies primarily as a New Zealander. At the time of Neills birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland and his fathers family owned Neill and Co. the largest liquor retailers in New Zealand. In 1954, Neill returned with his family to New Zealand and he then went on to study English literature at the University of Canterbury, where he had his first exposure to acting. He then moved to Wellington to continue his education at Victoria University. In 2004, on the Australian talk show Enough Rope, interviewer Andrew Denton briefly touched on the issue of Neills very bad stuttering and it affected most of his childhood and as a result he was hoping that people wouldnt talk to so he would not have to answer back. He also stated, I kind of outgrew it and you can still detect me as a stammerer. Neill first took to calling himself Sam at school there were several other students named Nigel. After working at the New Zealand National Film Unit as a director, following this he appeared in Australian romance My Brilliant Career, opposite Judy Davis. In the late 1970s, his mentor was James Mason, later, Neill was also one of the leading candidates to succeed Roger Moore in the role of James Bond, but lost out to Timothy Dalton. Among his many Australian roles is playing Michael Chamberlain in Evil Angels about the case of Azaria Chamberlain, Neill has played heroes and occasionally villains in a succession of film and television dramas and comedies. In the UK he won fame, and was Golden Globe nominated, after portraying real-life spy Sidney Reilly in mini-series Reilly. An early American starring role was in 1987s Amerika, playing a senior KGB officer leading the occupation and division of a defeated United States, Neill has occasionally acted in New Zealand films, notably The Piano, Perfect Strangers, Under the Mountain, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He returned to directing in 1995 with documentary Cinema of Unease, A Personal Journey by Sam Neill which he wrote and directed with Judy Rymer. In 1993, Neill co-starred with Anne Archer in Question of Faith, in 2000, he provided the voice of Sam Sawnoff in The Magic Pudding. In 2001, he hosted and narrated a series for the BBC entitled Space. He portrayed the wizard in Merlin, a miniseries based on the legends of King Arthur
