25 years.
I was already a bit of an Aussie film fan by then. "Breaker Morant". "Man From Snowy River" and heaps more to follow in the ensuing years.
I'm pretty sure it's one of the only films I ever saw at the theatre in Suttons Bay, MI. During the Suncoast years, when we were up in Traverse City.
The cineplex in the mall there was pretty good & we went to the State on Front St a bit.
But we had a great Disney rep & these were prime Miramax years. She would offer us loads of screeners & was great about making sure we knew about films like this.
I played it a ton at work. What a pleasure to have something this quirky & interesting that was 'mall friendly'.
A kid named Mike worked at the Nascar kiosk in front of our store. I think he was as obsessed as I was. He was a good kid. We got to be friendly with him. He went back & got his GED & eventually we were able to hire him. After I left, he was moving up into management.
Even thought those stores are all gone, I hope it gave him a good start & chance to be something more than mall dude in TC.
I just remember how much he loved this film. I don't think he'd known anything like this could exist.
I love it for many reasons and still love seeing the cast pop up in stuff.
But it's for sure one of my fonder memories of that time.
If you're one of my British pals, it's on the BBC iplayer. if you're elsewhere, seek it out. This, "Muriel's Wedding" & "Adv. of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" were a helluva back to back (to back) set for the venerable Bill Hunter there. It's worth a look for that alone.
Traverse City seems like a different life time, but this still feels like a fresh discovery to me.
Thanks for the memory. Handy that Christopher just brought me that U&I Lounge glass. I can have a Michigan beer while I watch.
AACTA Strictly Ballroom 25 years
