The Australian entertainment industry has boomed in recent years, with new films and music emerging and Television shows being broadcast overseas.

Films


Famous Australian films include Shine, Crocodile Dundee, Babe, Mad Max, and Strictly Ballroom.

SHINE
The movie shine is about the life of David Helfgott, a pianist.It was directed by Scott Hicks and was produced by Jane Scott. Geoffrey Rush won a best actor oscar for his leading role.

BABE
A recent film about a pig who wanted to be more than Christmas Dinner. Babe became a sheep-pig (like a sheepdog, but a pig) and this feelgood family flick had enormous box office success here and overseas. A sequel 3 years later was rather disappointing and failed to capture the feel of the first film.

MAD MAX
A film from the early eighties, Mad Max was about an apocalyptic future and one man within it; Mad Max- Road Warrior. Mad Max was played by one Mel Gibson, and has 2 sequels out.

STRICTLY BALLROOM
Not a personal favourite, but successful none the less, Strictly Ballroom starred Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice and directed by Baz Luhrman. Luhrman went on to direct Romeo & Juliet.

CROCODILE DUNDEE
Crocodile Dundee, starring Paul Hogan, gave Australians an image to relate to- a bar-brawling, crocodile hunting, suntanned man from the outback. It was very successful and spawned a sequel



MUSIC


The Living End
Are an Australian Band led by Chris Cheney. They are a mix of punk and heavy metal and are one of my favourite bands. Their album The Living End produced 4 hits, Prisoner of Society, Second Solution, All Torn Down and Save The Day.

Silverchair
are another rock band, led by Daniel Johns. They have 3 albums out, Frogstomp, Neon ballroom and Freak Show. They have had several hits, including Freak, Cemetery, Anthem for the year 2000 and Ana's song.

Jebediah
A relatively new band, consisting of Kevin Mitchell (vocals, guitar) Chris Daymond (guitar, vocals) Vanessa (Bass) and Kevins brother on the drums form Jebediah. They have an album called Someday Shambles.

Grinspoon
A fairly new grungy rock band with a few hits, Their most recent being Black Friday. They also have an album out, titled Guide to better living. they are currently working on their second, Easy.

John Farnham
is a relatively old solo artist with a long list of hits. He was born in 1949. Some of hits are Pressure Down, Everytime you Cry, Chain Reaction, Sadie, Don't you know it's Magic, Playing to win, You're the voice, and Burn for you.



TELEVISION

Hey Hey it's Saturday
is a show nearing it's 30th Anniversary, but is only weeks away from the chop. Regulars include Daryl Somers, host, Red Symonds, musician and gonger, Wilbur Wilde, musician and regular on celebrity heads and other games, Molly Meldrum, Russell Gilbert, and Ozzie Ostritch.

Blue Heelers
is a police show nearing its 250th episode. It stars Lisa McCune, Martin Sacks, Tasma Walton and others. It is about a smalltown police force that gets murder, fraud, more murder, robbery, murder, drugs, stealing, fraud, murder and all manner of other crimes.

Water Rats
is a police show made to compete with blue heelers. It has developed into a good show in tis own right, but it has killed off too many of the main characters, such as frank, goldstien and franks girlfriend. Christie is on the verge of leaving and the boss has serious health problems. The stars are (or were) Steve Bisley, Catherine McClements and Colin Friels.

The Great Outdoors
is a travel show with friendly host Ernie Dingo, plus a host of Channel 7 personalities from other shows. It has been running for quite a while.




Sport in Australia is a really big thing. From our very own game of AFL, to our champion teams in Cricket, Hockey, Netball, Rugby and Tennis. In this section I am not going to rant on about the rules of these games but rather give you an idea of Australias role in them.

Cricket-
The success of the Australian Cricket team in recent times has been astounding. Holding both the one day and test crowns, and packed full of superstars like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Michael Bevan, Steve and Mark Waugh and Adam Ghilchrist the current combination looks to continue this success.

AFL-
Australian Rules Football is a game unique to Australia. It si similar to other forms of football (gaelic, Rugby, Soccer etc.) and was invented to keep cricketers fit in the winter. It has developed into a national pastime, and is looking to break onto the international scene. Some of the stars of the game are Wayne Carey, Robert Harvey, Tony Lockett (retired), Ashley McIntosh, Peter Matera, Matthew Lloyd, Shane Crawford and Nathan Buckley.



Soccer-
Australian Soccer has never looked so good. With European stars like Mark Bosnich, Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka taking the field, Australia are a great chance to make the world cup in 2002. The NSL is also thriving.


Tennis-
Australia has just won the Davis cup, with the combination of The Woodies, Mark Phillopousis, and Leyton Hewitt winning over the french in the abscence of star Pat Rafter due to injury. With plenty of rising stars tennis' future looks rosy in Australia.





Here is a link to FortuneCity. FortuneCity
The home of Australian Cricket Baggy Green
Oz Culture Homepage (please visit!) The Real Australia
Official AFL website Official AFL Site
Yahoo Australia Australia and NZ search
Flaming Text- where I got the cool logos from Flaming Text


This page has been visited times.