cafm Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Aussie Park Boys (hereafter APB) is how the inexperience of writer/director Nunzio La Bianca, and his lack of knowledge about making action films and the finer points of representing gender on screen, has unintentionally manifested a gay porn aesthetic. Homoeroticism and homosexual tension in tough guy action films is a mainstay. Obvious examples include 'Tango & Cash'; 'Bad Boys'; 'Point Break'; and 'Lethal Weapon'. Normally filmmakers introduce such narrative devices as heterosexual romance, active homophobia (mudslinging and homosexual panic), or other devices that attempt to legitimate male intimacy on screen (death scenes are one such device that permit men to be emotionally and physically intimate) while simultaneously disavowing the homoerotic elements of men's bodies on display to one another and to male cinema audiences. The absence of devices of disavowal in APB indicates an underdeveloped awareness on the part of La Bianca about the unwritten, unacknowledged "rules" of action cinema. Consequently, APB displays flagrant homoeroticism that is never disavowed. Between fight sequences, dialogue is scant and the silences between words are occupied by lengthy drawn-out shots of men's bodies: walking, posturing, waiting, climbing stairs, riding trains, working out, gazing at themselves and each other. Indeed, there is so much on screen male- gazing that the film inadvertently implies that these normative homosocial relationships are homosexual. In addition, the long shots, tight close ups, tilts, shot-reverse-shots of men staring at one another, and tight shots of muscles and eyes creates a porn aesthetic. Lots of bloggers find this film hilarious, and some describe it as gay. I argue that it is because of the film's porn aesthetic, together with its male homosocial relations that audiences find it so humorous. There may not be any erect penises or explicit sexual contact on screen (despite an extreme close-up crotch grab during the opening titles sequence), but there is certainly an abundance of man-on-man physical action, as well as displays of semi-naked men (especially the leather-clad skinheads in their black B&D costumes) and men violently penetrating each other with phallic knives, fists and fingers. APBs porn aesthetic is further suggested through the use of muted electronic music that underscores most of the film. It is the muted and repetitive quality of APBs music in particular that suggests the porn aesthetic. As a rule, music in porn is generally written and recorded as cheaply as possible. Typically it is muted so that the sounds of sex (slaps, grunts, moans, sighs) are not drowned out by a throbbing score. The monotony of such scores also means that they can be looped and repeated without drawing attention to themselves, or distracting viewers from the action on screen. The music used in APB has much in common with porn. For instance, rather than build character, highlight on screen action or create suspense, the music in APB simply plays over the top of the action as an accompaniment in much the same way as porn. On a different point, some reviewers have suggested that the music used in APB is like that used in gay nightclubs. However, I would like to point out that the music played in nightclubs (gay or otherwise) is usually a rousing combination of pop anthems, infectious musical motifs, throbbing bass and driving beats that shift and overlap in order to create and sustain various states of excitement and arousal. The music in APB is achingly dull in comparison. It appears that those reviewers who claim that the music in APB resembles nightclub music must have noticed the electronic score and conflate this with gay nightclub culture. While this is rather simplistic (and naive), it does however reinforce the point that the homosocial action in APB constitutes homoerotic imagery. How else would this conflation otherwise be made? Finally (although one could rant endlessly about the porn aesthetics of APB) the narrative of the film - commented on and criticized by a great many bloggers - lacks the linear causality one usually sees in action films. There is a clear absence of causality between scenes in the film. Certainly within scenes themselves, their is hermetic causality, but this is rarely carried from scene to scene. Characters thus wander in and out without clear motivation or explanation for their presence, and what little narrative exists is there to simply connect one sequence of violence to the next. This again resembles an aesthetic particular to porn films. Porn is infamously less concerned with story that it is with jumping from one sex sequence to the next. Likewise, APB makes a number of inexplicable narrative jumps that - like porn - allows it to move from one sequence of fisticuffs to the next. If ever you get the opportunity to see Aussie Park Boyz again (or if you're an APB virgin), do take the time to look twice and see what happens when a budding action filmmaker gets it really wrong. It's nothing short of mesmerising and, as others have noted, jolly funny. I would go so far as to argue that this film's lack of attention to issues of gender performativity actually increases its significance.

Dermot Cahill I'm not prone to ranting and my expectations were low to start with, but how did this seem like a good idea? Just because you have a camera, some big ugly friends for actors, and delusions of talent, does not mean that you should go out and make a film. This should have been the cinematic equivalent of singing in the shower, i.e. it should never have seen the light of day. However, somehow this rubbish found a distributor to help it escape the confines of a 3 by 4 foot cubicle. It goes from bad to worse. Talk about low budget, one torture scene consists of a guy getting a mug of coffee thrown over him while he's tied to a chair. Evidently this is very painful because the big baby proceeds to scream in agony....maybe he ordered decaf!! The acting is worse than wooden (I could possibly watch a tree for 30 seconds before becoming completely bored, if you can look at this rubbish for that long you're a better man than I!) and the fight scenes would be at home on a kindergarten play yard. Do not touch this movie, unless you enjoy pain (in which case you should try spilling lukewarm coffee over yourself). I'd like to say it's so bad it's good, but really this is just awful.

spydre_rogue Let's face it, a truly awful movie, no...I mean a "truly" awful movie, is a rare, strange, and beautiful thing to behold. I admite that there is a special place in my heart for films like Plan 9 From Outer Space, Half Caste, Species, etc. And although I'm giving this film a 1, I highly urge anyone who enjoys a bad film for what it truly is (a bad film) to find a friend, snacks, something to drink, and make the special occasion it deserves out of: Aussie Park Boyz. From the very first moments of the lead actor's side to side eye-rolling performance as he attempts to inject intensity directly into the film without ever looking at a camera (a slice of ham straight out of silent pictures--eat your heart out Rudolph Valentino) to the sudden hey-we're-out-of-film conclusion, you...will...not...stop...laughing. To sum the film up, its a poor man's Warriors down under, complete--and that description alone should be enough, but then comes the wonders of "the spaghetti eating scene", "the 'We've got their tickets; they won't be leaving town now' scene", "It's the Asians! Run!!" and more. The only truly objectionable part is a gratuitously filmed rape. Outside of this, I dare you to watch this film. And I dare you to find evidence of acting, or lines, or direction, or any of those other boring and superfluous elements that so-called critics say a film needs to be judged as good. If this movie doesn't cause fits of uncontrollable laughter before it ends, all I can do is roll my eyes menacingly from side to side at you and shout, "You dog! You dog! You dog!"

The3Extremes Aussie park boyz is a beat 'em up film. Made mostly with a hand-held camera, the acting is the worst you've ever seen and the story...well there isn't much story, a gang of illegal boxers think they can go around smacking people's heads in and are proved wrong by other, nastier gangs. The moment the film starts you know it's gonna be pretty shabby but the point is the fact that it is enjoyable. Its a film about fighting so lets focus on the fighting. The fight scenes are surprisingly not that bad, they are unrealistic but they are good and tense.Then there is a scene that is probably most shocking because it is unexpected - the rape scene is incredibly realistic and very grim with the music making it even more unsetling. Thankfully, the part of the rape that involves a sledgehammer is implied.Enjoyable but nothing special. six out of ten