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Aussie Big Things – Collection 2

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If you don’t know what an ‘Aussie Big Thing’ is – these are large sculptures (or structures) of Australian flora and fauna, as well as iconic local symbols, that are positioned by major roads and highways to serve as tourist attractions.

Despite the term ‘kitsch’ often being used to describe them, a number of these roadside gems are featured on one-dollar coins; with the first ‘Aussie Big Things’ collection being released back in 2023. The latest series – which I am going to show in detail shortly – came out in September 2025.

There are ten different ‘big things’ featured in the newest edition; and were chosen to represent every state and territory – except the ACT. To be honest, I think a couple of these attractions are a little lame, but nevertheless I have presented the photos of all ten places below – using Google Street View for consistency and showing the real location alongside the $1 coin for comparison.

THE BIG GALAH – Kimba, South Australia.

This attraction is positioned at the halfway point across Australia – from east to west.

THE BIG MANGO – Bowen, Queensland.

Some pranksters actually stole this entire mango a couple of years ago – if you want a good laugh then I suggest you look up the story.

THE BIG PRAWN – Exmouth, Western Australia.

This is a weak entry to be honest, as there is a ‘bigger’ Big Prawn in Ballina, NSW – as seen in the photo below.

THE BIG ROCKING HORSE – Gumeracha, South Australia.

It’s weird, but it’s BIG – I will give them that!

THE BIG STRAWBERRY – Koonoomoo, Victoria.

This is not big – compared to some of the others – but it’s big for a strawberry, I suppose.

THE BIG PENGUIN – Penguin, Tasmania.

According to the local tourism websites, this stands three metres high. Hmm…

THE BIG MERINO – Goulburn, NSW.

Now this is BIG! There’s also an awesome bakery across the street.

THE BIG GOLDEN GUITAR – Tamworth, NSW

For those unaware, Tamworth is Australia’s country music capital – our equivalent of Nashville.

THE BIG BARRAMUNDI – Wanguri, Northern Territory.

Be careful with this one, as I think it is on the property of a primary school – note the fence.

THE BIG WHEELBARROW – Wedgefield, Western Australia.

This is positioned in a remote mining town, so I guess it makes sense.

The Aussie Big Things – Collection 2 is available to purchase from post offices and coin dealers, and there’s a one-in-ten chance to find a coloured Big Strawberry coin. The set comes with a folder and sealed tube of uncirculated coins – and will set you back $34.

Screenshots courtesy of Google Maps.

Crocs Cave: – Real or Fantasy?

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The enigmatic Crocs Cave was brought to my attention a week ago, having noticed it for the first time on Google Maps – which was odd because I study these areas regularly and had not seen this marker before.

With Google, Apple and Randonautica all showing this location on their maps, I felt compelled to take on the bush trails around North Parramatta to solve this mystery once and for all.

I began my quest at Lake Parramatta, and made my way to the northern tip of the water (see photo below) before heading east into the King’s School Grounds.

At this point, it is the same route that I took on my previous walk to North Rocks, but a different path would be needed once having reached the private school’s property.

As you can see in the above shots, this ended up being a well-worn path – not a battle through thick bushland as I expected. And with such a flat and easy track to walk on, it did not take long to reach the mysterious Crocs Cave*.

*Note: For the sake of consistency, I will spell the location as ‘Crocs Cave’ – and not ‘Croc’s Cave’ – as this is how it is represented across multiple maps.

And as simple as that, I can confirm that this is a real place.

To be fair, there are caves – and then there are caves, right? Most of the bushwalks around Parramatta do feature small caverns where the lower part of a rock face has been hollowed out, but these are not ‘caves’ – so I wasn’t expecting to find The Mines of Moria.

However, Crocs Cave was better than I expected, and would be a great place to take a rest before continuing on with the track – but be mindful that a large pool of water takes up most of the area here, so one would need to jump across to reach the drier spots.

I continued along the path towards the lower part of North Rocks, and there were no major difficulties here – although it may have been fenced off at one point, but those barriers now have gaps wide enough to drive a car through.

The trail is also littered with these colourful plants, which at first glance I thought were Sturt’s Desert Pea – until closer examination. They are in fact Ochna thomasiana – better known as Mickey Mouse Plant – and are native to parts of Africa but considered an invasive weed here.

If you do want to go off-track in these parts, please be wary of snakes because the foliage was thick and tall – and some were bound to be present. Make sure you create enough noise – stamping your feet and so forth – to frighten any of these buggers away.

The Crocs Cave track ends at the base of the big dipper on Bettington Road, North Rocks – where Pennywise the Clown might feel at home.

Directly across the street is the beginning of a new walking path – North Rocks Wildlife Sanctuary – which can link up to the Balaka Falls track before making its way to Carlingford.

There’s a good chance this will be my next assignment.

The Crocs Cave track is a good walk – and not too physically challenging – and can be accessed at either the northern end of Lake Parramatta Reserve or on Bettington Road at the bottom of the steep dip.

All map screenshots are courtesy of Google, Apple and Randonautica.

‘Island Of The Lizard King’ and ‘Scorpion Swamp’

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It’s been a while since I showcased (and critiqued) any artwork from the Fighting Fantasy book series, so let’s now check out entries seven and eight: – ‘Island of the Lizard King’ and ‘Scorpion Swamp,’ which were both released way back in 1984.

For me personally, I remember when I was twelve years old and feeling that these classics were beginning to drop away a little at this point, having peaked with earlier stories such as ‘City of Thieves’ and ‘Deathtrap Dungeon’. In fact, to this day I consider ‘Island of the Lizard King’ to be the last title in a brilliant sequence of fantasy adventures (not counting ‘Starship Traveller’) from books one through to seven.

Anyway, let’s get on with giving each story a quick overview before diving into the artwork that played such an important role in enhancing these iconic and imaginative tales.

‘Island of the Lizard King’ by Ian Livingstone is set in the same fantasy universe as ‘City of Thieves’ and ‘Deathtrap Dungeon’ – with the events of the story taking place not far from Port Blacksand and Fang – two locations that are well-known to fans of the series.

As the story goes, Lizard Men have been raiding towns and villages, kidnapping young men to be put to work as slaves in the brutal mines of Fire Island – which is under the merciless rule of The Lizard King. Of course, it falls to you – the great adventurer – to set sail and sort this slave-driving bastard out once and for all!

The cover art for this book is by Iain McCaig, who provided the artwork for the previous two entries into the series – the highly regarded and aforementioned ‘City of Thieves’ and ‘Deathtrap Dungeon.’ The illustrations within the pages of ‘Island of the Lizard King’ are from Alan Langford, and we shall now focus on some of his amazing drawings.

From these opening two pictures alone, one must conclude that Langford is an artist of immense talent – in fact, his work does bear resemblance to Iain McCaig’s contributions from those earlier books.

And respect to the guy for treating teenage fan-boys with some hot chicks!

That being said, Langford’s drawings of monsters are not too shabby either.

I remember ‘Island of the Lizard King’ as being a difficult adventure to defeat, with countless foes – both man and beast – trying to kill you from all angles. Not only that but success depended too highly upon pivotal moments in the story, such as deciding to take a chained monkey with you or not: – the one seen in the picture below.

Overall, Alan Langford’s artwork is right up there among the best in the Fighting Fantasy series. From what I have seen so far, only Russ Nicholson and Iain McCaig have done it better.

We now move onto ‘Scorpion Swamp’ from Steve Jackson, which to be honest was a book that I couldn’t really get into back in the day. Taking a look at it again all these years later, I think my lack of enthusiasm could have had something to do with the illustrations.

Before I continue – and to be fair to the artist Duncan Smith – my scanned copy was not of the highest resolution, but even with this concession the artwork in this book is nowhere near the quality seen in the previous title. Not only that, but if you want to engage with a predominantly male reading group, I would keep the wimpy stuff out: – note the following examples.

What the heck was going on at Scorpion Swamp?

It wasn’t only these illustrations that were seriously undermining whatever menace and excitement may have been in the story – I mean, check out the following efforts…

This could be a sketch drawn by a member of The Dog Lover’s Society.

And why do I feel like singing the theme song from ‘Cheers!’ when I look at this picture?

And these two blokes look like English cricket selectors.

But all jokes aside, there were a few standout pieces from Duncan Smith, and I would prefer to finish on a high note – so here they are.

Overall, the seventh and eighth entries into the Fighting Fantasy series – ‘Island of the Lizard King’ and ‘Scorpion Swamp’ – are two books that in terms of visual quality could not be any further apart.

While every illustration in ‘Lizard King’ oozed danger and captured perfectly the chaotic elements of the story, the more light-hearted offerings from ‘Swamp’ might have you believing that the adventure was one big picnic – with a couple of bad guys thrown in here and there. But let me finish by saying that Duncan Smith is a top artist – not as good as Alan Langford in my view – but perhaps his style was not as well-suited to blood and guts fantasy books.

Anyway, that’s a wrap for these two titles and next on the list are ‘Caverns of the Snow Witch’ and ‘House of Hell’ – both released in 1984.

Artwork courtesy of Fighting Fantasy, Alan Langford and Duncan Smith.

The North Parramatta to North Rocks bushwalk

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Combining an exciting mix of leafy suburban streets with the grit of an Aussie bushwalk, the 4km course from North Parramatta to North Rocks Shopping Centre – via Lake Parramatta – is a satisfying challenge that isn’t too hard to conquer.

Beginning at the Iron Street shops at North Parramatta, the first part of the journey is a slightly uphill ten-minute walk to the lake reserve, as seen on the map below.

Taking the bush tracks around the eastern side of the lake, this next section of the walk is by far the most picturesque, but can be a little rough underfoot at times. The path becomes more rugged once you pass the northern end of the reserve as it winds its way through part of The King’s School grounds until eventually re-entering suburbia at Tallwood Drive, North Rocks.

There is an interesting marker at around the halfway point of the walk, and that is a unique spiral staircase belonging to one of the houses near North Rocks Road. The lengthy stairs wind their way down from the rear patio of the home to the creek bed at the base of a cliff, yet one could easily walk by without noticing it.

The last part of the bushwalk is an uphill hike through The King’s School property and onto Seville Reserve at North Rocks. I should point out that the route is not entirely clear here, and it’s best to use the map on your phone to guide you in the right direction, and locate where the path crosses the creek (see photo below). From here, it’s a simple matter of hiking up to where the trail ends at Tallwood Drive: – but watch out for the hidden cameras!

Alas, the Fun Police strike again: – but these rules won’t affect you if you are simply walking through. That being said, if I earned a dollar for every mountain bike that rocketed past me whilst enjoying this peaceful walk…

Anyway, once back among the suburban streets, the final stretch of the journey is a mostly flat walk along North Rocks Road, all the way to the shopping centre.

It all ends at North Rocks, and if you’ve kept up a decent pace – even allowing a few breaks to enjoy the scenery – the adventure should have taken just over an hour to complete.

Back at the starting point, there is plenty of available parking (not ticketed) around the streets near the Lake Reserve at North Parramatta, so it’s possible to perform a round trip to North Rocks and back within three hours. The return walk would be mostly downhill, and you can always grab a bite to eat or something to drink at the shopping centre while you are there.

Again, make sure you use the map on your phone to navigate through some of the trickier sections; remembering that there are many paths that will take you safely out of the bushland and back to suburbia if you happen to lose your way.

‘Kingdom of the Spiders’ is a cool movie!

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Headlined by the legendary William Shatner, this 1977 horror flick is surprisingly good: – with a decent story line and impressive use of thousands of live tarantulas. In fact, around one-tenth of the entire film’s budget was spent on handling so many spiders, which is an incredible statistic.

My understanding is that tarantulas are fairly docile creatures – especially around humans – so it was quite an achievement for the film-makers to have the spiders appear to chase or attack people in this movie. The use of off-screen fans were utilised to great effect to have the arachnids move in the direction and manner desired, and it certainly paid dividends with some wonderful yet frightening sequences being brought to the big screen.

The story is set in the town of Camp Verde, Arizona where livestock are suddenly dropping dead, and tests later reveal that this is due to lethal amounts of spider venom. The local vet ‘Rack’ Hansen (played by William Shatner) along with an arachnologist soon discover a massive spider hill on a local farm, and the decision is made to set it on fire. Big mistake!

But before we explore the consequences of upsetting thousands of spiders, I should point out that it wouldn’t be a William Shatner movie without a little romance – and the great man is in fine form here!

Anyway, the locals would pay a heavy price for attempting to destroy the spiders’ nest, as a swarm of angry tarantulas descend upon the town; even ambushing some of the folks by crawling into trucks and planes as part of their ultimate revenge!

But the most unnerving moments were saved for the film’s final act, and you have to appreciate how difficult it would have been to pull off some of these scenes. Remember: No CGI involved – only real tarantulas with the odd rubber spider thrown in.

Now as creepy as some of these screenshots are, the following sequence is perhaps the most disturbing in the entire movie. Credit goes to the very young actress here!

‘Kingdom of the Spiders’ is a solid film that builds suspense nicely throughout and goes out of its way to explain the aggressive – and rather unscientific – behaviour of the tarantulas, before delivering a truly exceptional ending that I will not spoil here.

The charismatic but serviceable performance of William Shatner helps the movie along, with second-billing going to the ridiculous number of hairy arachnids that share the screen with him. In summary, this is a movie worth watching, and despite being a low-budget production, I would still rate it seven out of ten!

Screenshots courtesy of Dimension Pictures and MeTV.

When David Warner lost his head

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I’m referring to the late, great English actor – not the Australian cricketer.

David Warner, who sadly passed away in 2022, was an English actor who popped up in many films and TV shows over the decades. Perhaps his most famous roles would be the villainous Dillinger in ‘Tron’ (1982) and the overly-suspicious bodyguard Lovejoy in ‘Titanic’ (1997). Most movie buffs would probably recognise Warner – and say “Oh, that guy” – but wouldn’t know much else about him, which is unfortunate because he truly was a master of his craft.

However, it is Warner’s performance in the 1976 horror classic ‘The Omen’ that I wish to focus on, and in particular his character’s unforgettable demise.

*** BLOOD AND GORE ALERT ***

I’m about to show some rather spicy screenshots of a decapitation scene that is incredibly realistic, despite these practical effects being filmed almost fifty years ago.

So, let’s set the stage: – Robert Thorn (played by Gregory Peck) throws a mystical set of daggers away in a fit of rage, forcing his colleague Keith Jennings (David Warner) to walk along an alleyway and into a construction site to retrieve them. Of course, as soon as Jennings bends down to pick up the knives, we all know he’s in serious trouble.

The handbrake on a parked truck then slips, and the vehicle begins rolling toward the unsuspecting Jennings – who I have to say is in no hurry at all to pick up the sacred daggers.

Did you see the sheet of glass on the back of the truck? Well, that’s about to come into play…

*** LAST CHANCE TO LOOK AWAY ***

The director of ‘The Omen’ was Richard Donner, who would later helm ‘Superman’ in 1978, ‘The Goonies’ in 1985 and ‘Lethal Weapon’ in 1987, to name but a few of his works. To say that Donner knows a thing or two about camera angles and special effects would be a vast understatement, and this incredible death scene was shot from multiple sides – top, bottom, left and right – and most likely completed over a number of takes.

In the final cut of the movie, some of these sequences are even slowed down a little – a strong indication of how happy the editors were with both the realistic dummy of David Warner and the way these incredible shots turned out.

Even by today’s standards of film-making, I think this holds up pretty well.

I should also point out that the corresponding scene in the 2006 remake is also quite gruesome, with David Thewlis being the actor on the receiving end of a freak accident.

I have added a link below to the 1976 scene – courtesy of La Casita del Horror de Pipendorf YouTube channel.

To end on a brighter note, it was great to see David Warner’s likeness appear in ‘Tron: Ares’.

Shame about the rest of the movie.

Screenshots are courtesy of 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company and Paramount Pictures.

David Warner’s portrait is courtesy of Rory Lewis Photography.

There’s an Australian painting in ‘Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness’

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While this game is widely-regarded as one of the worst Tomb Raider adventures ever, there are locations within that are quite interesting and worth exploring in a little more detail. One such place is Vasiley’s apartment located in Prague, and you will encounter this eye-catching locale during the ‘Monstrum Crime Scene’ level.

It was just as well that I allowed a few minutes to approach every piece of art to discover what was on show, for located in a corner of this large room – and tucked away behind the spiral staircase – was an unexpected surprise.

In the image above, the Tomb Raider reproduction is on the left, with the real painting on the right – and there is no doubt that they are meant to be one and the same.

As for the painting itself, it is titled ‘Interior with figures, The Grange’ by Emma Minnie Boyd (1858-1936), who was an Australian artist based in Melbourne. It is worth noting that this particular piece of art was painted in 1875 – which meant that Boyd would have been sixteen or seventeen years of age at the time.

‘Interior with figures, The Grange’ is currently on display at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

Usborne’s ‘The World of the Unknown’

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These three books were essential reading for kids back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Whether they were constantly borrowed from school libraries or purchased from book clubs, thousands of children all around the world loved these masterpieces.

And the good news for anyone seeking a nostalgia rush or trip down memory lane is that these titles have been reissued (as of a couple of years back, so I am slow off the mark) and can be ordered online from Amazon and eBay.

I won’t go into too much of a review here, as I will focus instead on the artwork featured within; some of which terrified me when I was young. These amazing illustrations were a major feature of these books, and simply by looking at them again all these years later still triggers a response – but this time around as a fond memory, rather than scaring the wits out of me.

So, let’s begin with the ‘Monsters’ book.

These first eye-catching samples feature monsters from Greek Mythology: – Cyclops, Medusa and The Minotaur.

This illustration is from ‘Beowulf’ and shows Grendel attacking the Feast Hall.

Of all the pictures in these books, this would be the one that I remembered most from my childhood, probably due to its gruesomeness. I believe it is a depiction of the Lambton Worm, an old English folk tale.

The book does cover a wide range of deadly creatures, from sea monsters to those seen in modern cinema, which is more than enough content to satisfy most readers. I should also point out how similar some of the artwork is to that of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ and ‘Fighting Fantasy’ – especially the larger standalone illustrations.

Now let’s take a look at some of the best pictures from the ‘Ghosts’ book.

Again, the illustrations are of a very high standard, but I always felt that the stronger artwork was seen in the ‘Monsters’ book, perhaps due to the subject matter: – sharp teeth, blood and guts and so forth. That being said, perhaps the best feature of ‘Ghosts’ would be the ghost stories themselves, and there are a few cracking tales within these pages!

‘UFOs’ is the final book in the series, and whilst the pictures were great, the content was less frightening and based more upon science and speculation.

See what I mean? You’re not going to have any nightmares over these pictures – although I wouldn’t want to encounter that glowing orange UFO.

It’s still an interesting and informative book, especially if you’re into aliens and flying saucers – including hoaxes – with the photos below being a great example.

Back in the day, there was also a larger book released that combined all three volumes into one, and was titled ‘Mysteries of the Unknown.’ To my knowledge, this has not yet been re-released, and the only available versions are second-hand copies from various online dealers such as eBay.

As I mentioned earlier, all three books can be purchased individually on eBay or Amazon – and in brand-new condition for a very decent price.

I also have to mention Usborne Publishing, and thank them not only for the use of their images, but for re-releasing these wonderful books for a new generation to enjoy!

I found some new coins – but only a few

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As far as my coin collection is concerned, the Coles self-serve checkouts did not deliver the goods over the past couple of months, with only a handful of special coins being issued randomly amongst my change.

But despite luck not going my way, here are some of the collectables – both uncirculated and commonly issued – that I managed to pick up.

Two uncirculated AFL $1 coins, with the Western Bulldogs (top photo) belonging to the 2023 collection, and the West Coast Eagles (bottom photo) coming from the 2024 series. You can tell the difference between the two collections by the shape of the grandstand surrounding the team emblem.

Both of these limited-circulation $1 coins originate from the 2022 A-Z Great Aussie Coin Hunt. I have found many of these coins in my change – across all three series that were released in 2019, 2021 and 2022 – and they are easily mistaken for regular coins unless you are paying close attention.

I am scraping the bottom of the barrel here by including this worse-for-wear $2 coin commemorating the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but I did say that it was a quiet month.

The next couple of coins are not rare or collectable in any way, but they are ‘new’ in the sense that we are now seeing shiny 50c and 20c denominations featuring King Charles III enter circulation. To date, I have not come across any 10c or 5c coins displaying the change of monarch – but they can’t be too far away.

I strongly recommend to anyone who either collects coins or is considering dabbling into this pastime to check your change at the Coles or Woolworths self-serve registers, as there are great treasures to be found!

I was too harsh on John De Hart

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A couple of years ago, I wrote a scathing (but accurate) article about the 1993 B-Movie ‘Champagne and Bullets’ – starring the amazing John De Hart.

For those not aware of this brilliant film, ‘Champagne and Bullets’ is an action/romance/revenge flick that was fully funded by Mr De Hart out of his own pocket. Not only was John the director, but he cast himself as the main star, and also sang most of the songs on the soundtrack. Needless to say, the end product was a masterpiece of poor cinema, and is regarded by fans of bad movies to be one of the all-time greats – with Wikipedia describing De Hart’s performance as “amateur and inexplicable.”

Anyway, I’m not sure what the reasons are, but my John De Hart write-up from 2023 has seen an increase in views over the past few days. With this in mind, perhaps it is time to share a few more thoughts about this one-time action star; focusing more on the man himself and being a little ‘nicer’ this time around.

So, let’s break down the indomitable screen presence of John De Hart – action star, romantic leading man and overall legend – beginning with how smooth this guy is with the ladies.

Romance is clearly one of John’s strongest suits, and he is well-known for punching above his weight. De Hart always follows the same successful routine; kicking things off with a classy dinner – as seen in the photo above – before moving on to more ‘comfortable surroundings.’

It’s all too easy for a man of such talents…

But even a superstar like John De Hart needs a little help sometimes – and it’s great to have a friend close by to hold your champagne flute just as things start to heat up!

I love your work, John – but that extra hand is creepy!

John De Hart is also a certified fashion icon, and throughout ‘Champagne and Bullets’ he graces our screens with some remarkable outfits. It’s best to simply let the pictures below do the talking, but I must say that his black leather costume – as seen in the second photo – is out of this world!

But perhaps the most impressive combination John wears in the movie would be his white and navy blue-striped wedding tracksuit.

Despite his many talents, John De Hart is first and foremost an action man – whether it be fighting the forces of evil or taking to the stage to perform his signature hit song – ‘The Shimmy Slide.’ This man can do it all – hot damn!

When it comes to eliminating the villains, De Hart has a ‘particular set of skills’ at his disposal to get the job done. Be it a crossbow, a gun, or simply his lethal martial arts powers – John De Hart excels in all disciplines and the bad guys should know better than to mess with him!

I will finish off this glowing tribute to one of Hollywood’s quiet achievers by touching on his remarkable acting ability. With a range on par with Pacino or Brando, John De Hart delivers a broad spectrum of emotions – and has been known to recite Shakespeare so flawlessly that even Sir Laurence Olivier would feel belittled by such raw power.

If you haven’t seen ‘Champagne and Bullets’ – which sadly turned out to be the only film John De Hart ever made* – then I strongly recommend that you do. It’s bad – really bad – yet has a magnetic appeal that makes it almost impossible to stop watching. De Hart himself is front-and-centre throughout most of this insanity, yet strangely enough comes across as a likeable guy who just seems to be ‘having a go’ – an attribute that we Aussies appreciate.

I happened to find the full movie on YouTube that has all the nudity blurred out, and trust me – that’s not a bad thing. I have added the link below, courtesy of DDF: Movie Day – but as it is age restricted, you might have to sign in to view it.

*Note: John De Hart made a cameo appearance in the 2006 film ‘The Champagne Gang.’