“Badland Rising” (** out of four) was a joyless suspense melodrama set in the Australian outback in which an ordinary bloke (Jake Ryan) is taking a long ride home and realizes he’s being pursued by two dangerous criminals (Nathan Phillips and Steve Mouzakis) who want him dead at all costs. Pretty Australian scenery is nicely captured by cinematographer Timothy Carr but it upstages the limited dramatics and banal drama onscreen. Even still, this won several international awards at various Australian film festivals.