Movies in Other Words - an Aussie Version! Quiz

Answer: Siam Sunset

This 1999 film features Linus Roache as Perry, a dissatisfied English chemist in a paint company. He is trying to invent a paint color called Siam Sunset. After the death of his wife in a freak accident, Roache travels to Australia and takes a bus trip to the 'outback' where he meets the troubled Grace (Danielle Cormack).

This black comedy, written by Andrew Knight, Jan Marnell and Max Dann and directed by John Polson, received mixed reviews in its attempts to depict several colorful characters of the Australian outback while following the developing relationship between Grace and Perry.

Answer: Two Hands

Written and directed by Gregor Jordan, the 1999 movie 'Two Hands' is a fast-paced gangster thriller infused with Aussie comedy, set in Sydney's seedy King's Cross. It stars Heath Ledger as Jimmy, a strip club bouncer, Bryan Brown as his boss, and Rose Byrne as his new love interest.

The criminal life does not go smoothly for Jimmy with double-crosses and a farcical bank robbery. The movie was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival in the USA and performed extremely well at the Australian box office.

The movie won several Australian Film Industry awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Brown).

Answer: Chopper

Based on autobiographical material, the 2000 movie 'Chopper' tells part of the story of brutal criminal turned author, Mark 'Chopper' Read. At one stage while serving a sentence in Pentridge Prison's notorious 'H Division' he cut off his own ears so he could be moved to another location. The movie starred Eric Bana as Chopper, Simon Lyndon as Jimmy Loughnan and Vince Colosimo as the fictional drug lord, Neville Bartos (but based on a real-life person). At times maligned for its horrific violence, fans of 'Chopper' have praised its insight into the life of Read and Bana's powerful performance. Read later said that Bana played Chopper better than he did himself.

The movie won several national and international awards including the 2000 Australian Film Industry's Best Actor (Bana), Best Supporting Actor (Lyndon), Best Direction (Andrew Dominik); these awards were matched by the Film Critics Circle of Australia who added Best Film. Bana also received a Best Actor Award from the Stockholm International Film Festival.

Answer: The Castle

Since its release in 1997, 'The Castle' has become an Australian cult classic, with many of the movie's lines used humorously in everyday situations. Conceived and written by the Working Dog comedy team of Rob Sitch, Jane Kennedy, Santo Cilauro and Tom Gleisner, 'The Castle' tells the story of an ordinary suburban family's battle to save their modest home from being compulsorily acquired to enable expansion of the local airport. Michael Caton stars as head of the family Darryl Kerrigan who refuses to bow to the seemingly inevitable, Anne Tenney is his wife Sal, and veteran actor Charles 'Bud' Tingwell is Lawrence Hammill, a QC who represents the family free of charge. Tiriel Mora is hilarious as bumbling lawyer Denis Denuto. The story is narrated by younger son, Dale (Stephen Curry).

The Working Dog team, who are also responsible for some of Australia's best TV satire and comedy, received the Best Adapted Screenplay award from the 1997 Australian Film Industry. The movie and its stars were also nominated for a range of awards both locally and internationally.

Answer: Dirty Deeds

The Australian movie 'Dirty Deeds', written and produced by David Caesar, is not to be confused with the 2005 American movie of the same name. This Australian movie is another that is set in Sydney's King's Cross underworld and involves Chicago mobsters (Tony Testano - John Goodman and Sal Cassella - Felix Williamson) trying to muscle in on the lucrative casino slot machine racket of Barry Ryan (Bryan Brown), who isn't prepared to give up without a fight. Barry's also dealing with his overbearing wife Sharon (Toni Collette) his mistress (Kestie Morassi) and a corrupt cop (Sam Neill).

The movie soundtrack, produced by musician and actor Tim Rogers, was nominated for Best Original Soundtrack in the 2002 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards. Unsurprisingly, the AC/DC song 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' was a key feature and was performed here by Rogers' band 'You Am I'.

Answer: Crackerjack

Written by brothers Mick and Richard Molloy and directed by Paul Moloney, 'Crackerjack' is an Australian comedy that focusses on events and characters at the Cityside lawn bowls club. A large cast of Australian actors and comedians led by Mick Molloy as Jack, Judith Lucy as Nancy, Samuel Johnson as Dave, Bill Hunter as Stan and the wonderful John Clarke as the villain Bernie, play out the classic small entity (the local bowls club) being harassed by a larger organization. Jack only joined the club to get a free car parking spot but over time gets coached in bowls and life; in the end he has to play a remarkable shot (the 'Flipper' in homage to cricket great, Shane Warne) to win the bowls tournament and save the club.

'Crackerjack' received two 2002 Australian Film Industry Award nominations, for direction (Paul Moloney) and screenplay (Molloy brothers) and was the highest grossing local film that year at the Australian box office.

Answer: The Hard Word

Three bank-robbing brothers (Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton and Damien Richardson) spent a lot of time in jail, often plotting the next job on the outside with their lawyer (Robert Taylor) and corrupt police. This next big job is loosely based on the real-life 1976 'Great Bookie Robbery' in Melbourne. Complicating matters further is the affair between the lawyer and the wife (Rachel Griffiths) of Dale Twentyman (Pearce). Written and directed by Scott Roberts, the title of this 2002 movie comes from the prison language spoken by the brothers.

Answer: Better Than Sex

Written and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, this 2000 film starred David Wenham (Josh), Susie Porter (Cin) and Catherine McClements. This is the story of Josh and Cin who embark on a purely sexual relationship, but before long realise they both want something more.

The film won an award from the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) for Best Film Score, which included Kylie Minogue's 'Stay This Way'. The film was also nominated for Best Actor, Best Actress and several other awards from the Film Critics Circle of Australia and the Australian Film Institute.

Answer: Dating the Enemy

Employing the familiar trope of body-swap comedy, 'Dating the Enemy' follows Tash (Claudia Karvan) and her partner Brett (Guy Pearce) who wake up one morning to find they've exchanged bodies just when their relationship is foundering. Tash is a serious science journalist while Brett hosts a TV gossip show.

This comedic movie explores how they manage to keep the other's career going while they learn more about each other through those travails. Written and directed by Megan Simpson Huberman, the movie was released in 1996 to generally very positive reviews.

Answer: The Year of Living Dangerously

Co-written by David Williamson and Peter Weir, and directed by Weir, this 1982 movie has been called a romantic drama, as the central love story is played out in Jakarta during the major political and social turmoil of the attempted coup against President Sukarno in 1965.

The plot focusses on the blossoming relationship between an Australian journalist (Mel Gibson) and a British Embassy assistant (Sigourney Weaver) as political tension and violence increases around them. Linda Hunt plays a diminutive man, Billy Kwan, who assists Gibson's character to gain access to important people but is outraged by the poor treatment of the people by the government. Hunt's amazing portrayal of the highly intelligent and principled Billy earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1983.

The story was based on a book by Christopher Koch.