RickBennette Reviews

Turkles (2011)

Great Movie, but Producers Scammed by Distrinutor

[18 August 2016]

The film itself is wonderful. An important thing to consider is that this film was created on a budget of nine thousand dollars. As such, the production quality and acting are superb and far above what is to be expected for a production budget this low.

The sad part of this is that the film's distributor manipulated the sales income enough to create a breach of contract with the film's investors. The film has been seen by tens of thousands of viewers, yet the distributor has failed to forward even one dollar of those funds to the producers of the movie. Most of the actors are young children who have been cheated out of receiving even a nickle for their arduous contribution to this film.

In addition, the distributor cut many portions of the film that elicited tender moments between the actors, so what you are seeing is a chopped up version of the original movie as created by the producers.

Empire of the Ants (1977)

Empire of the Ants referenced in the 2009 film, Turkles.

[30 March 2011]

It is a little known fact that one of the extras in this film, Steven Cohen, would later have a supporting role in Frank Eberling's feature film "Turkles" in 2009. In the movie Turkles, Steve plays one of four knucklehead turtle egg poachers. During a comical scene, Steve refers to his "illustrious" 1977 acting career in a dialog with the three other knuckleheads. He tells them as a young actor, he had a one word line in the movie "Empire of the Ants". Most of us on set thought the film's writer, Frank Eberling, made up the title "Empire of the Ants". We were surprised to discover this was a real movie, and indeed, Steven's reference to the film itself was not only true, but it was also true he had one word in this film as an extra. It was a scream.

Danny Deckchair (2003)

Slow start, but a heartwarming film.

[21 July 2009]

The film starts off very slowly with what seems like an all too simple plot. The title suggests a mediocre film where the viewer might be led to think the only high point (pun intended) is Danny's launch into the air on a balloon laden deckchair. Admittedly, up until this event, I was tempted to remove the DVD from my player. But I'm glad I kept watching. The flying chair is only the vehicle which transports Danny to a new and exiting life where he is loved and respected. While the plot is simple, it's somewhat more involved than one might be led to think from the title. There is enough comedy and romance to hold the attention of viewers who enjoy this genre of film. There is a scene which shows the beauty of the Australian countryside that may tempt you with desire to visit this part of Australia.