Baz Luhrman's 'Australia'

[twcpfan1]

Firebird alerted me a few weeks ago that this movie is about to come out. Decided to see it today. Without a doubt one of the best films I've ever seen. It had everything. A definite departure from Luhrman's previous work with the somewhat off center stuff and made it more for mainstream American audiences. Usually screws up a film when somebody does that but not in this case. Probably would have been better off with Australian based Australian actors playing the lead roles as opposed to Hollywoodized Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, but also understand that it's a business and they need to turn a profit. Both usually do their best work in Australian themed films however, as opposed to the fake accents they use playing American parts. In this film, both were very good. Take your wives/girlfriends (boyfriends for the girls and fruits :D ) to see this. It's worth it.

[Firebird]

I saw this over Thanksgiving and I really liked it. There was quite a bit of over the top melodrama, but then again it was designed that way. It's not a film for jaded, ironic, cool postmodern critics, but it has sweep and emotion and I thought it was great. Kind of an Australian Gone With the Wind. I really enjoyed it and think that in an earlier generation it would have been a shoo in for best picture. I kinda think that we are the worse for being unable to appreciate just a good old fashioned epic.

[twcpfan1]

I saw this over Thanksgiving and I really liked it. There was quite a bit of over the top melodrama, but then again it was designed that way. It's not a film for jaded, ironic, cool postmodern critics, but it has sweep and emotion and I thought it was great. Kind of an Australian Gone With the Wind. I really enjoyed it and think that in an earlier generation it would have been a shoo in for best picture. I kinda think that we are the worse for being unable to appreciate just a good old fashioned epic.

Actually the first Aussie film that I can remember that deals quite a bit with a very ugly part of that country's history.

[DragonWatcher]

I saw this over Thanksgiving and I really liked it. There was quite a bit of over the top melodrama, but then again it was designed that way. It's not a film for jaded, ironic, cool postmodern critics, but it has sweep and emotion and I thought it was great. Kind of an Australian Gone With the Wind. I really enjoyed it and think that in an earlier generation it would have been a shoo in for best picture. I kinda think that we are the worse for being unable to appreciate just a good old fashioned epic.


I think we can appreciate these old fashioned epics they just pale in comparison to the modern epic. I'm looking forward to Australia, I think it will be good but I have a feeling due to contrived melodrama I'm going to end up thinking WALLE was a better movie. I've never been that huge of a GWTW fan, always thought scarlett was a little bit of a prissy, well you know. I can only think of around five old fashioned epics that have affected me as much as their modern counterparts. imho Films like the original All Quiet on the Western Front, Ben Hurr, Sparticus, Lawrence of Arabia etc hold up against time because there was a lot of real truth in the characters. You felt Lawrence's frustrations, the despair of paul in aqontw, redemption and triumph of good in benn hurr and sparticus's hope for the future when seeing his new son while he's strung up on a cross. I never felt anything like that in GWTW, The English Patient, Titanic, etc... They're still good movies, many win best picture but you don't feel what you felt in saving private ryan, or schindler's list or American Beauty; and i'm most certainly not a postmodern critic. I just think the overdramatic epic wins on melodrama and not on actual merit. That includes modern day wins like Gladiator over Traffic.

[HomeofChampions'06]

I'm actually really excited to see this. However, it better not be too good because then the Oscar hype will start coming its way and not toward The Dark Knight.

As long as Heath Ledger gets his Oscar...I'm alright.

[Firebird]

I'm actually really excited to see this. However, it better not be too good because then the Oscar hype will start coming its way and not toward The Dark Knight.

As long as Heath Ledger gets his Oscar...I'm alright.

Ledger will not win an Oscar. Bank on it.