Ned Lander’s Molly (1983) was a journey. I went from begrudgingly liking Molly , to wanting to begrudgingly like Molly, to begrudgingly watching Molly and actively wanting it to end over the course of its short but at times ceaseless 90-minute runtime. Not to be confused with the Samuel Johnson-starring miniseries of the same name about Australian pop commentator Molly Meldrum, Lander’s Molly instead focuses on the titular singing dog who befriends Maxine (Claudia Karvan, age circa 10-11, in her film debut), a young girl who recently lost her mother. Molly’s particular set of skills attract the nefarious, Svengalian intentions of Jones (Garry McDonald), a disgruntled former-entertainer-turned-cook who dognaps Molly with aspirations of reviving his own thwarted career. The above description paints Molly as an amiable goofy family film, and at times it is. Going into Molly , there are multiple component parts I like: I like dogs, singing or otherwise; I li...
Australia has an impressive and eclectic national cinema, but too often its films struggle to attract attention, receive brief theatrical runs, are ignored by audiences, and simply fall through the cracks. Down Under Flix was created to shine a light, show some love, and where necessary throw shade at obscure, forgotten, neglected, or under-appreciated Australian films