Court of Lonely Royals
Court of Lonely Royals
| 21 August 2007 (USA)
Court of Lonely Royals Trailers

A group of disaffected twenty-somethings occupy a dystopic, hyper-urban Australia. They spend their time eating udon noodles, listening to Swedish pop music and committing mass executions for the police.

Reviews
Woodyanders

In a bleak near future murder has become a commonplace occurrence. Hired killers Holden Janicowsky (well played with stoic resignation by Damon Gameau) and Hunter Thompson (a solid performance by Ayse Tezel) find themselves in considerable jeopardy after they cross paths with innocent lass Camille (an endearing turn by Leah de Niese) and vengeful prostitute Charlene (a winningly saucy portrayal by the foxy Samantha Noble).Writer/director Ronan Michael Hoole keeps the gripping story zipping along at a breakneck pace, maintains an uncompromisingly grim tone throughout, offers a vivid depiction of a shockingly dark, amoral, and dangerous world, and delivers a provocative central point on the massive spiritual toll ending human lives takes on one's soul. Moreover, Hoole's flashy and dynamic style, Marc Windon's splashy and dynamic cinematography, and the pulsating score by The Midnight Juggernauts all give this film an extra exciting and invigorating raw vitality. Worth a watch.

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ksf-2

Interesting concept... kind of a Star Chamber, but here the Aussie police use a bunch of Gen X-ers to do their dirty work. Written, directed, produced by Rohan Hoole, and it looks like this is the only thing he has done so far. Lots of special effects going on -- liberal use of airbrushed, soft lighting, tricks with lighting, negative film, black and white photography. Also lots of prostitution, explicit sexual activity and drug use. And that's all within the first ten minutes! Two chicks meet up in a hotel, on different errands, and they become besties, going on special "assignments". We're not always sure what's going on, but that's part of the charm, I guess. Are they friends? Lovers? Co-workers? A whole lot of cussing. Weird lighting. Lots of killing. Kind of a "Week in the Life of...." diary. Pretty entertaining, but those who need a clean, straight forward plot probably won't like this one. There are some funny lines in here, but sadly, there are so many blanks in the IMDb character list, we're not sure who said which lines. Not a bad first project for Hoole. Script is a little weak, but the acting is pretty good. Probably didn't need all the special effects, but it's entertaining enough.

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alansmithee04

You know what's more annoying than sparkly vampires? Mopey killers, as this film so amply proves.Undiscernably set in the near future, the film follows a pair of disaffected, twentyish emo contract killers who work for a cop that hangs out in a food court. In between unbearably long periods of staring off into space, our apathetic assassins kill people using their lethal powers of ennui. Well, that and a number of ridiculously staged coincidences. But even after the miserable murderers find girlfriends (as improbably as that sounds) the film still can't find a pulse and we're treated to another eternity of anguished aimlessness before the final non-conclusion puts us out of *our* misery. Stay away from this one unless your an emo teen. Or comatose. Or both.

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p d

This was one of eight Australian made and produced films I saw during last year's Adelaide Film Festival. It was easily my favorite, and I have been waiting (apparently in vain) for director/writer Rohan to release his second film ever since.I thought the way the film was cut together was both highly creative and original and the plot line was as dynamic as its characters/actors. Seeing works like these makes me feel proud to call myself Australian. The fact that Rohan Michael Hoole received such little attention either then or later on for his debut feature leaves me wanting to defect.I consider myself a discerning viewer and as a consequence have never owned a television. I was introduced to SBS and foreign films via my German-born father at an early age and I have attended the opening of almost every Australian-made film since 2001. My favorite director/writer/camera man team is Bergman/Nykvist.Why am I telling you this? Because I think that: a) if you haven't seen this film you need to and, b) if you see it and don't like it, you're suffering a case of the green-eyed monster.

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