Harold Hopkins (Left, with Jack Thompson in The Club) - 1944-2011

Australian actor Harold Hopkins has passed away.

Mr Hopkins has significant roles in Australian films The Club, Gallipoli, and Don’s Party, and according to recent reports had auditioned for a role in Bazz Lurhmann’s upcoming film version of The Great Gatsby. A graduate of NIDA, Hopkins appeared in a number of films throughout his career, including Age Of Consent, The Year My Voice Broke, Ginger Meggs, and Monkey Grip, as well as television series’ from The Young Doctors, The Dirtwater Dynasty, Blue Heelers, Police Rescue, Moby Dick (1998), All Saints, and most recently in Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities.

Mr Hopkins passed away in the early hours of this morning, aged 67.

Harry Morgan - 1915-2011

Harry Morgan, best known for his portrayal of Colonel Sherman T Potter in the long-running television series M*A*S*H, has passed away.

Morgan made his screen debut in the 1942 film To The Shores Of Tripoli, as well as the Glenn Miller based Orchestra Wives the same year. Other film roles for Morgan include appearences in High Noon, The Glenn Miller Story, The Far Country, How The West Was Won, and The Shootist. Morgan would play Bill Gannon in the TV version of Dragnet, before landing the role of Colonel Potter in M*A*S*H. His later career saw appearances in a number of TV roles, notably reprising his Dragnet character in the Dan Ackroyds starring vehicle of the same name.

Harry Morgan passed away on December 7th. He was 96.

Bill McKinney - 1931-2011

Bill McKinney, who famously asked Ned Beatty to “squeal like a pig” in the 1972 film Deliverance, has passed away.

McKinney appeared in a number of films during his life, the most notorious of which was the aforementioned Deliverance, although he also made a name for himself appearing in a number of Clint Eastwood projects, including Thunderbolt & Lightfoot, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Gauntlet and Pink Cadillac, among others. He had a role alongside John Wayne in The Shootist, and a number of cameo roles in films such as Back To The Future Part III, First Blood, and The Green Mile. His television appearances included roles in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Murder She Wrote and Columbo.

Mr McKinney passed away peacefully on December 1st, aged 80.

Mr McKinney in 1999's The Green Mile.

Ken Russell - 1927-2011

British film director Ken Russell, whose 1969 film Women In Love received a number of Oscars as well as generating plenty of controversy, has passed away.

Russell is best remembered for Women In Love, Tommy, and Altered States, as well as one of my early favorites, The Music Lovers, which focused on Tchaikovsky. Russell’s Women In Love courted controversy (and was banned in Turkey) due to its depiction of male genitalia in a mainstream film, something which hadn’t been done before – fear not gentle reader, it was in the context of a wrestling match between Oliver Reed and Alan Bates. Other films in his oeuvre include Lisztomania, The Devils, Crimes Of Passion, Prisoner Of Honor, Whore, Gothic, and The Lair Of The White Worm (with Hugh Grant), among others.

Mr Russell passed away on November 27, aged 84.

John Neville - 1925-2011

X Files and Terry Gilliam fans will be saddened today, to learn of the passing of British actor John Neville.

Neville made a name for himself playing The Well Manicured Man in the 90′s sci-fi series The X Files, as well as playing the title role in Terry Gilliam’s fabulous The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen. He had cameos in a large number of films, including The Fifth Element, Little Women, The Man Who Sued God, Spider, Crime & Punishment, István Szabó’s Sunshine (1999), and Separate Lies. Mr Neville was also an accomplished stage actor, with acting credits in productions of Henry V, Romeo & Juliet, Pygmalion, Sherlock Holmes, and The Tempest, and directorial stints with productions of The Importance of Being Ernest, Antony & Cleopatra, Hamlet and Othello, among the many, many others.

Mr Neville passed away on November 19th, aged 86.

Sarah Watt - 1958-2011

Sad news over the weekend, as we learned of the passing of wonderful Aussie director Sarah Watt. Watt directed the AFI Best Picture film, Look Both Ways, during which I had the pleasure of spending time on set while they filmed key scenes at my apartment a few years ago. Look Both Ways is a stunning, low-key Aussie film, and anybody who has yet to see it, can I urge you to do so. Watt also directed My Year Without Sex, released in 2009, a film I have yet to see, although I can only assume it was of the same high caliber as Look Both Ways.

I met Ms Watt on the set of Look Both Ways, and she struck me as quiet and thoughtful – it was during production on this film that she was diagnosed with cancer, a fact I would not discover until much later. Regardless, she held herself well in the rigors of on-set filming, and I always have fond memories of her at that time.

Ms Watt was married to fellow Aussie, actor William McInnes. She passed away on November 4, aged 53.

This year’s Beneath The Earth short film competition was an undoubted success – just check out the quality of the entrants and short list of films to choose from. While perhaps not achieving the same broad-spectrum appeal as, say, Tropfest, BTE gave us some truly extraordinary short films this year, each with a style and individuality unique to their respective filmmakers. That’s the thing about short films, I guess: the filmmaker responsible has the ability to tell the story he/she wants without the constraints of studio interference or hindrance.

The two winners, one winning the judges prize and the other voted for by the public, are equally deserving of their place, although only one of them (I believe) is truly the best of the bunch. You can click here to see all the entrants and learn who won, but I’m about to cast a critical eye across both of the winners and let you know what I think, without prejudice.

Judges Choice: Photographs – Directed by Brendan Clogher & Christina “Kiki” Manrique

This short film tells the story of an elderly woman traipsing around a town taking photographs of herself. Sounds boring if you say it fast, but this is one hell of an elegant short film, a heartbreaking, wonderful, uplifting essay into loss, memory and revelation. Stunningly animated, Photographs is one of those shorts that transports you to your own childhood via the parallels of its own narrative, capturing the essence of time passing by with consummate ease. The old woman, taking photographs around town, is trying to recapture the memories of her younger days, as seen in one of the final sequences of the short, and it’s this that brings the moving elements of the short into focus (small photographic pun there!).

If there’s one thing any aspiring filmmaker can take from Photographs, it’s that animation doesn’t always have to be Pixar level quality or even realistic – the crux of a good animation is the story you have to tell, and Clocher/Manrique have got a good one. Simple, well told, Photographs is a short film that’ll stay with you long after you’ve watched it.

Audience Vote: After Ever After – Directed by Jeff Pinilla

While this film didn’t connect with me emotionally, at least compared to the other films on offer, I did appreciate the attempt to dissect a relationship breakdown. I felt After Ever After was a solid effort, even if I didn’t appreciate the story it was trying to tell. Visually, it’s quite modern, with abrupt angles, focus and color enhancement adding to the stylish, often claustrophobic nature of the imagery. I think Pinillia has tried to give the film a sense of emotional grandeur to which it’s unable to achieve, but I commend him for trying.

If I could be so bold as to mention my own personal favorites, they would have to be 2 Ambassadors and It’s Natural To Be Afraid – two exemplary examples of the short film genre. 2 Ambassadors is funny as hell (well, it struck a chord with my sense of humor) and Be Afraid is slick and stylish and so sexy-cool. It would be great if you could also check them out.

I’d like to thanks to organizers of BTEFF for asking me to participate in the judging, I had a great time watching and enjoying all the selected films, with special thanks to Antonia for her hard work behind the scenes. I do so hope to be a part of it next year!

All the films from this year’s festival are up on the main site until November 15th, so get in quick to watch some great up-and-coming talent in action! Click on the logo at the top of this post to go to the BTE Main Site!

Gilbert Cates - 1934-2011

Long time Hollywood producer, and legendary man behind-the-scenes of many an Oscar ceremony, Gilbert Cates, has passed away. Cates, who directed a number of films in the 70′s and 80′s, including O God Book II and The Last Married Couple In America, was best known as the man who reinvigorated a stale and steadfastly dull Oscar broadcast during the 90′s. After a decidedly bizarre Oscar’s ceremony in 1989, the Academy gave Cates the job of reinventing the formula for presenting this industry’s top gongs, and consequently the modern Oscar ceremony was born – thanks to the introduction of Billy Crystal and a focus on film clips. Cates went on to produce the Oscar ceremony 14 times over 18 years.

For his work behind the scenes at the Academy Awards, we salute Mr Cates today. He was 77.

Can I admit that this Top Ten List wasn’t my idea? Al K Hall, over at The Bar None, gave me the idea to do a list of Top Ten Films They’ll Play In Hell after I posted a comment listing Saw VI as a film that might fit the bill – his review on it can be read here. That said, I had a little think about the idea, and decided it could possibly be done quite easily – the biggest of the crappiest films that would annoy people the most. You see, Hell isn’t a nice place to be. Apparently. According to religious iconography and theology, Hell is a place of eternal damnation, a place where people are tormented and tortured for eternity (quite the punishment for 80 or so years of life up here, right?), often with things that are important to them. Music lovers in hell could be consigned to listening to the complete works of The Firm or even Rick Astley, over and over again. TV fans would be made to watch endless repeats of Survivor, but only showing each episode in reverse order. So the question was asked: what are the top ten films they’d show in Hell to torment the evil film fan? It’s an interesting one, to be sure. Do you throw in a few bad sequels, most of which would be eminently worthy of inclusion, to pad the list out? Sure, there have been bad films down the years, but I think the ones in the list below indicate a special level of torment for which there can only be one result. Films they show in Hell. Cue BWAA HAAA HAAA here!

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