Goodbye Pork Pie director helped put his country on the cinematic map in the early 80s before moving to Hollywood
Geoff Murphy, the film-maker who was a key pioneer in the development of the modern New Zealand film industry, has died aged 80, the New Zealand film commission has confirmed. With hits such as Goodbye Pork Pie and The Quiet Earth, Murphy stood alongside Roger Donaldson as a central figure in the creation of a homegrown industry.
Born in Wellington in 1938, Murphy made his mark playing the trumpet in travelling performance co-op Blerta in the 70s, performing at festivals and living as part of a commune. Having made TV shorts in the early 70s, Murphy’s first feature, Wild Man (1977), grew out of his friendship with Blerta founder Bruno Lawrence – who would go on to act in a number of Murphy’s films as well as Donaldson’s 1981 hit Smash Palace.
Geoff Murphy, the film-maker who was a key pioneer in the development of the modern New Zealand film industry, has died aged 80, the New Zealand film commission has confirmed. With hits such as Goodbye Pork Pie and The Quiet Earth, Murphy stood alongside Roger Donaldson as a central figure in the creation of a homegrown industry.
Born in Wellington in 1938, Murphy made his mark playing the trumpet in travelling performance co-op Blerta in the 70s, performing at festivals and living as part of a commune. Having made TV shorts in the early 70s, Murphy’s first feature, Wild Man (1977), grew out of his friendship with Blerta founder Bruno Lawrence – who would go on to act in a number of Murphy’s films as well as Donaldson’s 1981 hit Smash Palace.
- 12/4/2018
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Geoff Murphy.
Producer, director and screenwriter Geoff Murphy, a leading figure in New Zealand cinema’s renaissance of the late 1970s and early 1980s, died in Wellington on Monday. He was 80.
Murphy was best known as the director of Goodbye Pork Pie, Utu and The Quiet Earth. Action-comedy Goodbye Pork Pie, a road movie starring Kelly Johnson, Tony Barry and Claire Oberman, became the first local film to gain blockbuster status at the box office in 1981, according to the New Zealand Film Commission.
“He deserves every ounce of credit for the brilliant things he did with The Quiet Earth,” writer-director Sam Pillsbury told Stuff Nz. “He was a genius and one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever worked with and I learned a lot from him.”
He was was a founding member of Blerta, the musical and theatrical co-operative that toured New Zealand in the early 1970s. His first feature,...
Producer, director and screenwriter Geoff Murphy, a leading figure in New Zealand cinema’s renaissance of the late 1970s and early 1980s, died in Wellington on Monday. He was 80.
Murphy was best known as the director of Goodbye Pork Pie, Utu and The Quiet Earth. Action-comedy Goodbye Pork Pie, a road movie starring Kelly Johnson, Tony Barry and Claire Oberman, became the first local film to gain blockbuster status at the box office in 1981, according to the New Zealand Film Commission.
“He deserves every ounce of credit for the brilliant things he did with The Quiet Earth,” writer-director Sam Pillsbury told Stuff Nz. “He was a genius and one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever worked with and I learned a lot from him.”
He was was a founding member of Blerta, the musical and theatrical co-operative that toured New Zealand in the early 1970s. His first feature,...
- 12/3/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Cannes 1988 (L-r) John Maynard, whose feature The Navigator was in competition, Nzfc chief executive Jim Booth, Lindsay Shelton and distributor/producer Barrie Everard.
Many of our earliest highlights were at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 1980 we took New Zealand films to the market at Cannes for the first time. We persuaded Geoff Murphy to rush completion of Goodbye Pork Pie and it became New Zealand’s first commercial hit in terms of sales: Six contracts for distribution in 20 countries.
John Laing’s Beyond Reasonable Doubt and Roger Donaldson’s Smash Palace earned success in the market in our second year – with Roger’s film getting one of our first deals for theatrical release in the USA.
In 1982 New Zealand earned official selection at Cannes for the first time with Sam Pillsbury’s The Scarecrow in Directors’ Fortnight.
That was followed in 1983 by Geoff Murphy’s Utu in official selection out...
Many of our earliest highlights were at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 1980 we took New Zealand films to the market at Cannes for the first time. We persuaded Geoff Murphy to rush completion of Goodbye Pork Pie and it became New Zealand’s first commercial hit in terms of sales: Six contracts for distribution in 20 countries.
John Laing’s Beyond Reasonable Doubt and Roger Donaldson’s Smash Palace earned success in the market in our second year – with Roger’s film getting one of our first deals for theatrical release in the USA.
In 1982 New Zealand earned official selection at Cannes for the first time with Sam Pillsbury’s The Scarecrow in Directors’ Fortnight.
That was followed in 1983 by Geoff Murphy’s Utu in official selection out...
- 11/21/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Smash Palace
Blu ray
Arrow Video
1982 / 1.85:1 / Street Date May 28, 2018
Starring Bruno Lawrence, Anna Jemison
Cinematography by Graeme Cowley
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Smash Palace is the wryly grandiose name given to a New Zealand junkyard run by Al Shaw, a tight-lipped workaholic up to his elbows in axle grease and resentment. It also describes the wreck Al has made of his own marriage.
At the beginning of Roger Donaldson’s 1982 film, Shaw and his wife Jacqui are already nearing the end of their rocky alliance – both work at the family business but the family is all Al’s – Jacqui has finally come to terms that she wants no part of it.
Shaw, a burly pub crawler with deep set eyes and the thinnest of skins is an occasional auto jockey who appreciates a finely-tuned V8 but understands little about the niceties of married life. Jacqui is tired of Al...
Blu ray
Arrow Video
1982 / 1.85:1 / Street Date May 28, 2018
Starring Bruno Lawrence, Anna Jemison
Cinematography by Graeme Cowley
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Smash Palace is the wryly grandiose name given to a New Zealand junkyard run by Al Shaw, a tight-lipped workaholic up to his elbows in axle grease and resentment. It also describes the wreck Al has made of his own marriage.
At the beginning of Roger Donaldson’s 1982 film, Shaw and his wife Jacqui are already nearing the end of their rocky alliance – both work at the family business but the family is all Al’s – Jacqui has finally come to terms that she wants no part of it.
Shaw, a burly pub crawler with deep set eyes and the thinnest of skins is an occasional auto jockey who appreciates a finely-tuned V8 but understands little about the niceties of married life. Jacqui is tired of Al...
- 7/10/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Smash Palace (1981) is currently available on Blu-ray from Arrow Academy
Premiering at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, Smash Palace was Roger Donaldson’s second feature following the success of Sleeping Dogs, a film which had heralded the arrival of the New Zealand New Wave.
Smash Palace concerns itself with the marriage of former racing driver Al and French-born Jacqui. The pair had met when she nursed him back to health following a career-ending injury. They married, returned to Al s native New Zealand to take over his late father s wrecking yard business the Smash Palace of the title and had a child. But over time stagnation has set in, Jacqui s resentment of Al has grown, and things are threatening to spill over…
Playing out as a darker, more haunting New Zealand variation on such Us separation movies as Kramer vs. Kramer or Shoot the Moon, Smash Palace offers a brilliant,...
Premiering at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, Smash Palace was Roger Donaldson’s second feature following the success of Sleeping Dogs, a film which had heralded the arrival of the New Zealand New Wave.
Smash Palace concerns itself with the marriage of former racing driver Al and French-born Jacqui. The pair had met when she nursed him back to health following a career-ending injury. They married, returned to Al s native New Zealand to take over his late father s wrecking yard business the Smash Palace of the title and had a child. But over time stagnation has set in, Jacqui s resentment of Al has grown, and things are threatening to spill over…
Playing out as a darker, more haunting New Zealand variation on such Us separation movies as Kramer vs. Kramer or Shoot the Moon, Smash Palace offers a brilliant,...
- 5/30/2018
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“God blinked, and the whole world disappeared.”
The Quiet Earth (1985) screens Wednesday, January 4th at 8pm at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, Mo 63143) as part of Webster University’s Award-Winning Strange Brew Film Series.
Scientist Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) wakes up on an apparently normal day, to find that all living things on earth have simply vanished from the face of the planet. It transpires that the secret project that he has been working on, called Operation Flashlight, has backfired, and somehow altered the state of the universe. The first half of the film is all about Zac; the discovery that he is all alone, the documenting of his decline from resigned sole survivor to near-madman as the realization of his total solitude bites hard, and how he eventually turns this around in his efforts to contact another living soul. The second half has two more survivors (Joanne,...
The Quiet Earth (1985) screens Wednesday, January 4th at 8pm at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, Mo 63143) as part of Webster University’s Award-Winning Strange Brew Film Series.
Scientist Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) wakes up on an apparently normal day, to find that all living things on earth have simply vanished from the face of the planet. It transpires that the secret project that he has been working on, called Operation Flashlight, has backfired, and somehow altered the state of the universe. The first half of the film is all about Zac; the discovery that he is all alone, the documenting of his decline from resigned sole survivor to near-madman as the realization of his total solitude bites hard, and how he eventually turns this around in his efforts to contact another living soul. The second half has two more survivors (Joanne,...
- 1/2/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Remember the warning to avoid ‘crossing the streams’ in Ghostbusters? Director Geoff Murphy enjoyed a world-wide release for this eerie sci-fi fantasy about a scientist who becomes unstuck in time-space, alone in an empty world.
The Quiet Earth
Blu-ray
Film Movement
1985 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 91 min. / Street Date December 6, 2016 / 39.95
Starring Bruno Lawrence, Alison Routledge, Pete Smith
Cinematography James Bartle
Production Designer Josephine Ford
Art Direction Rick Kofoed
Film Editor Michael Horton
Original Music John Charles
Written by Bill Baer, Bruno Lawrence, Sam Pillsbury from the novel by Craig Harrison
Produced by Sam Pillsbury, Don Reynolds
Directed by Geoff Murphy
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
New Zealand was indeed quiet on science fiction filmmaking before the massive production Lord of the Rings. When Geoff Murphy and Bruno Lawrence surfaced in 1985 with The Quiet Earth it was received as a pleasant surprise, a brainy alternative to the Australian Road Warrior series. Distinguished...
The Quiet Earth
Blu-ray
Film Movement
1985 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 91 min. / Street Date December 6, 2016 / 39.95
Starring Bruno Lawrence, Alison Routledge, Pete Smith
Cinematography James Bartle
Production Designer Josephine Ford
Art Direction Rick Kofoed
Film Editor Michael Horton
Original Music John Charles
Written by Bill Baer, Bruno Lawrence, Sam Pillsbury from the novel by Craig Harrison
Produced by Sam Pillsbury, Don Reynolds
Directed by Geoff Murphy
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
New Zealand was indeed quiet on science fiction filmmaking before the massive production Lord of the Rings. When Geoff Murphy and Bruno Lawrence surfaced in 1985 with The Quiet Earth it was received as a pleasant surprise, a brainy alternative to the Australian Road Warrior series. Distinguished...
- 11/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
1985 was the year of Back To The Future, Rocky IV and Rambo II. But what about these 20 movies, that also deserve a fair share of love?
Thirty years ago, Marty McFly was riding high with the smash hit Back To The Future, while Sylvester Stallone enjoyed his most successful year yet with the one-two punch of Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rocky IV. It was an era of family sci-fi and teen comedies and bullet-spraying action, where The Breakfast Club and Teen Wolf rubbed shoulders with Death Wish 3 and Commando. Then there were low-key dramas like Out Of Africa and The Color Purple, which were both awards magnets at the Oscars.
Away from all those big hits, 1985 saw the release of a wealth of less successful movies, some of which found a second life on the then-huge home video circuit. Here's our pick of 20 underappreciated films from the year of Rambo,...
Thirty years ago, Marty McFly was riding high with the smash hit Back To The Future, while Sylvester Stallone enjoyed his most successful year yet with the one-two punch of Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rocky IV. It was an era of family sci-fi and teen comedies and bullet-spraying action, where The Breakfast Club and Teen Wolf rubbed shoulders with Death Wish 3 and Commando. Then there were low-key dramas like Out Of Africa and The Color Purple, which were both awards magnets at the Oscars.
Away from all those big hits, 1985 saw the release of a wealth of less successful movies, some of which found a second life on the then-huge home video circuit. Here's our pick of 20 underappreciated films from the year of Rambo,...
- 9/2/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
The new J.J. Abrams film Super 8 opens this week, and it stars Kyle Chandler as a small town sheriff who has to cope with mysterious happenings and inexplicable events that could foretell an alien invasion, or worse ... the end of the world.
That got us thinking about other apocalyptic heroes throughout the years, and how their glowing hotness was used as a beacon to help guide us through to safety.
Or was the last thing we saw before the world ended.
Either way, we're glad these guys were on our side, and present this tribute to the Hunks of the Apocalypse!
Note - You may be wondering why two of the most popular end-of-the-world films, Armageddon and War of the Worlds are not included.
Well, Armageddon sucks. And after watching that scene where Ben Affleck rolls animal crackers on Liv Tyler's naked stomach while "I Don't Want To...
That got us thinking about other apocalyptic heroes throughout the years, and how their glowing hotness was used as a beacon to help guide us through to safety.
Or was the last thing we saw before the world ended.
Either way, we're glad these guys were on our side, and present this tribute to the Hunks of the Apocalypse!
Note - You may be wondering why two of the most popular end-of-the-world films, Armageddon and War of the Worlds are not included.
Well, Armageddon sucks. And after watching that scene where Ben Affleck rolls animal crackers on Liv Tyler's naked stomach while "I Don't Want To...
- 6/7/2011
- by snicks
- The Backlot
If you have Netflix and are a horror fan in need of something to watch this Labor Day weekend, one look at this gargantuan list I compiled of the new terror titles Netflix has added for instant streaming in just the first three days of this month should keep you busy until Labor Day next year. You'll find something for everyone, from older titles to recent releases, famous to obscure, classic to not-so-classic, monsters to maniacs - you name it.
For the record, I considered compiling this list in alphabetical order or by year of the film's release, but then I realized I had already spent well over an hour just sorting through the massive catalogue of titles Netflix has now made available for instant streaming and realized Labor Day would be over by the time I finished arranging this list in any kind of order. Ready? Here you go.
For the record, I considered compiling this list in alphabetical order or by year of the film's release, but then I realized I had already spent well over an hour just sorting through the massive catalogue of titles Netflix has now made available for instant streaming and realized Labor Day would be over by the time I finished arranging this list in any kind of order. Ready? Here you go.
- 9/3/2010
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
With Piranha and Humanoids from the Deep getting all the love lately in the news, we'd be remiss if we did not mention two other Corman cult classics that are poised to make their special edition double-feature DVD debut from Shout! Factory.
From the Press Release:
Brace yourself for twice the fun, twice the adrenaline rush, and twice the traction as Shout! Factory, in association with New Horizons Picture Corporation, is set to release a dynamic duo of Roger Corman classics on one double-feature collector’s edition DVD. August 3, 2010, will see the release of Deathsport/Battle Truck Collector’s Edition, which marks the first time Deathsport is being presented in a widescreen format as well as the first-ever DVD release of Battle Truck (released theatrically as Warlords of the 21st Century). This double-barreled dose of high-octane excitement decisively marks the latest summer installment from fan favorite Roger Corman’s Cult Classics home entertainment series.
From the Press Release:
Brace yourself for twice the fun, twice the adrenaline rush, and twice the traction as Shout! Factory, in association with New Horizons Picture Corporation, is set to release a dynamic duo of Roger Corman classics on one double-feature collector’s edition DVD. August 3, 2010, will see the release of Deathsport/Battle Truck Collector’s Edition, which marks the first time Deathsport is being presented in a widescreen format as well as the first-ever DVD release of Battle Truck (released theatrically as Warlords of the 21st Century). This double-barreled dose of high-octane excitement decisively marks the latest summer installment from fan favorite Roger Corman’s Cult Classics home entertainment series.
- 5/26/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Year: 1983
Director: Luc Besson
Writers: Pierre Jolivet/Luc Besson
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Amazon: link
Review by: agentorange
Rating: 9 out of 10
Before dazzling us with genre favorites like Subway, Nikita, The Professional, and The Fifth Element, Luc Besson made a full length post-apocalyptic film called Le Dernier Combat in 1983. Beautifully shot in black and white and without a lick of dialog, Le Dernier Combat is not only one of the most interesting films of the genre, but one of the most striking works of art I've seen in a really long time. Seriously, what is it with French directors and their ability to harness all the cliches of a certain genre (which in the case of Pa read as; mystery, adventure, horror, action, suspense, etc) without ever loosing sight of the work's artistic aspirations? Well anyway, watching Le Dernier Combat again last night reminded me of why I fell in...
Director: Luc Besson
Writers: Pierre Jolivet/Luc Besson
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Amazon: link
Review by: agentorange
Rating: 9 out of 10
Before dazzling us with genre favorites like Subway, Nikita, The Professional, and The Fifth Element, Luc Besson made a full length post-apocalyptic film called Le Dernier Combat in 1983. Beautifully shot in black and white and without a lick of dialog, Le Dernier Combat is not only one of the most interesting films of the genre, but one of the most striking works of art I've seen in a really long time. Seriously, what is it with French directors and their ability to harness all the cliches of a certain genre (which in the case of Pa read as; mystery, adventure, horror, action, suspense, etc) without ever loosing sight of the work's artistic aspirations? Well anyway, watching Le Dernier Combat again last night reminded me of why I fell in...
- 8/5/2008
- QuietEarth.us
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