Australia Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It remains to be seen what Mad Max fans will think, but the businesses of Australia are excited that work on Mad Max 4: Fury Road will begin immediately, according to a story today in the Daily Telegraph. There is no confirmation as to who will be starring in the film, but it will most likely not be Mel Gibson. The likeliest candidate as of now is Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation) (not Tom Hardy), with Charlize Theron as the leading lady. Original Mad Max director George Miller -- who most recently gave us Happy Feet -- will once again helm.

Either way, the locals are thrilled. Some of the locations used on the previous three films, Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2 (a.k.a. The Road Warrior) (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), have become local attractions. The owner of one such attraction, the Silverton Hotel, said, (insert Australian accent here): "This is bloody huge. Absolutely magnificent. Silverton depends on the film industry, it survives on the film industry, and if Mad Max is going to be filmed here it's going to be just tremendous."

The production is expected to provide more than 500 local jobs and funnel tens of millions of dollars into the local economy. Pre-production begins immediately, with shooting scheduled to begin next year.

UPDATE: Watch a video after the jump of director George Miller introducing some of the vehicles being used in the new Mad Max movie, as well as addressing some of the casting rumors. According to the man himself, nothing is definitive yet and he still has a lot more people to see.

There's no doubt Baz Luhrmann is one of the more colorful writer-directors in Hollywood. His latest film, Australia (now out on DVD), has just recently become the second biggest Aussie flick of all time, while his other films -- like Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet and Strictly Ballroom -- have gone on to become huge fan favorites around the world. Because we have so many Baz fans here at Cinematical, we decided to do a little something different and allow several of our writers to contribute questions ranging from Baz's work on Australia to the much talked-about musical number he put together for this year's Academy Awards. We also touched upon the writer-director's future film slate, including his planned adaptation of The Great Gatsby and whether he'd like to once again dabble with the musical-movie down the line.

Contributing to this interview were Scott Weinberg, Peter Martin, Elisabeth Rappe, Jessica Barnes and Erik Davis.

Cinematical: When Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman's characters were being developed for Australia, did you have any particular classic Hollywood pairings in mind?

Baz Luhrmann: I very overtly drew inspiration from the films that inspired me to make this one as they were classic romances. The coupling of the main characters is the most important decision that you can make. Indeed in Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman I was looking for a Gable/Leigh, Bogart/Hepburn, Redford/Streep - like chemistry.

Cinematical: What's the toughest part about producing a film that "performs" below expectations?

BL: Of course when you work on a movie with many people for a very long time it was sad that in the US we failed to get an audience in on the opening weekend. Having said that, I am pleased that the film has gone on to do so well throughout the rest of the world and in our home country

Australia
This felt like it would be one of those epic films that came, saw, and conquered. In the past, Baz Luhrman has made some impressive shows, from star-crossed lovers to sexy dancing and pop tunes, but Australia never knew what it wanted to be, and suffered for it. As JMA wrote in his review: "It's too bad that he had to waste the all-encompassing title Australia on such a mixed mess." Skip it on DVD and Blu-ray.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Jeffrey M. Anderson's Review

Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Where one like Australia fizzled, Beverly Hills Chihuahua shocked even Eric D. Snider: "[it] isn't the braying, garish nightmare that the trailers make it out to be, or that we've come to expect from Disney's live-action-excrement factory." Rent it on DVD and Blu-ray.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Eric D. Snider's Review

Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective
I can only hope that this film isn't the first in a long line of comedic offspring: Zoolander: Mini Male Models, Step Brothers: When Kids are Kids. Unsurprisingly, Cinematical never reviewed this gem of a film, but you can read through our news about it here. Skip it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic
Right in time for the long-awaited release of Watchmen, we're getting the complete motion comic. Now this isn't an entirely animated film, but rather the comic amped up with some movement and a voiceover. DVD Talk says: "these motion comics offer up a unique presentation of the material that is just about as faithful as anything short of a reprint could be, while still offering something new." But there are faults, like Tom Stechschulte voicing ALL of the characters, even the women, but it still looks worthwhile. Rent it on DVD and Blu-ray.

Buy at Amazon

400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

The Oscars are on Sunday and awards season is almost over. The flavor of the month this season has been almost all war movies and biopics, as it has been roughly since 9/11. Though this year we have the occasional mention of Hurricane Katrina (which kind of falls in both categories). For example, Baz Luhrmann couldn't bring himself to make pure entertainment like he did with Moulin Rougue. This time he had to make Australia (110 screens), which starts out as a lightweight entertainment, and then morphs into a heavy war movie, and drags on too long in the process.

At least three movies managed to combine biopic and war elements: Edward Zwick's Defiance (442 screens) managed to please some viewers, but most critics as well as the Academy voters couldn't get past its awkward filmmaking to embrace the powerful true story hidden somewhere deep inside. On paper, Steven Soderbergh's Che (20 screens) seemed tailor-made for Oscars. Both the director and star (Benicio Del Toro) are former Oscar-winners, and the film runs four hours and encompasses both war elements and a true story. Many critics went bonkers for it, but Academy voters resisted it, possibly because of the length, but more likely because it doesn't spell out precisely what it wants you to think. It's a hugely complex, very intelligent, slightly aloof essay-like film rather than an emotional rise-and-fall story like most biopics.

How do you spice up the Academy Awards this year? How about adding more Judd Apatow! That's exactly what show organizers plan to do for the Oscar telecast on February 22, as the director of films like Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin and this summer's Funny People has created a brand new short film to debut during the ceremony along with "fresh live material on stage." While we don't yet know what the film will be about, apparently "filmmakers of all stripes will participate" and it will air during a special tribute to comedy.

Apatow isn't the only one producing fresh content for this year's Oscars; last week we were informed that Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!, Australia) would be creating a production number featuring show host Hugh Jackman, and Capote director Bennett Miller is tossing his own film sequence into the yay basket. We kid, of course, but if they want to get this show back on track, a good place to start would be by bringing a bunch of talented filmmakers together to create ... fun content. Stuff to entertain us in between having to watch multi-millionaires accept gold statues while thanking their agents and managers and dog nannies.

What do you think: Does Apatow's involvement make you want to watch the ceremony just a tiny bit more?

[via USA Today]

I think critics should start boycotting the yearly Christmas Family Comedy. It's amazing: these movies are never good. I can't think of another distinct subgenre with such a poor track record over the last decade. And of course, I went and saw Four Christmases, of my own free will. I'm an idiot.

In any event, it was silly of me to imply that Four Christmases didn't have the muscle to win the weekend; high-profile Christmas movies almost always do well. The $31.7 million three-day is one of the best openings ever for a movie of this kind; last year's Fred Claus, also starring Vince Vaughn, only managed $18.5 million in early November. Four Christmases even squeaked out Elf. Its five-day gross was an impressive $46.7 million.

Australia, on the other hand: oh boy. Baz Luhrmann's ultra-expensive, ultra-long epic made $20 million over the five days, which is less than inspiring -- especially considering it has now basically exited the Oscar race. Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge! only ended up with around $57 million at the end of its domestic run -- but it didn't cost $130 million, either.

Transporter 3 -- the weekend's best new offering, for my money -- did okay with $12.3 million over three days and $18.5 over five. The three-day is a slight decline from what Transporter 2 did three years ago, but overall I'd put them even. This franchise continues to be profitable.

Twilight fell considerably, which isn't too surprising given the rabid-fan phenomenon that packs theaters opening weekend. Around $160 million is looking like the endgame. Meanwhile, Bolt, facing no new kid-centric competition over the weekend, held up almost miraculously well, actually gaining slightly over the three-day weekend. The folks at Disney have surely turned last weekend's frown upside down.

Slots 10 and 11 on the weekend's chart are occupied by limited releases: Milk and Slumdog Millionaire, on 36 and 49 screens, respectively. Their success bodes well for their Oscar chances.

The full five-day estimates after the jump.

The vampire romance Twilight kicked serious butt with the fifth biggest November opening in history. Last week's other newbie, Bolt, took a somewhat disappointing third place with Quantam of Solace outselling the Disney feature by a mere half million. Here's the top five:

1. Twilight: $69.6 million
2. Quantum of Solace: $26.7 million
3. Bolt: $26.2 million
4. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: $15.6 million
5. Role Models: $7.3 million

This week, a historical drama, a holiday-themed comedy and an action sequel are vying for your Thanksgiving weekend box-office dollars.

Australia
What's It All About: Set in the months after Pearl Harbor, Nicole Kidman plays an aristocratic British cattle rancher with Hugh Jackman playing a cattle driver who helps drive her herd across hundreds of miles of Australian outback.
Why It Might Do Well: The cast is definitely a plus and Kidman and Jackman appear to have good chemistry.
Why It Might Not Do Well: 47% rotten at Rottentomatoes.com suggests a less than bright future for this one.
Number of Theaters: 2,600
Prediction: $17 million

Four Christmases
What's It All About: When a couple played by Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn find their vacation flight has been canceled, they are forced to visit all four of their divorced and remarried parents on Christmas Day.
Why It Might Do Well: The holiday season is almost here, so the Christmas angle may appeal to some.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The plot has a been-there-done-that feel, Vaughn appears to be playing the same character we've seen him do countless times before, and Rottentomatoes.com gives it 23%.
Number of Theaters: 3,200
Prediction: $26 million

With his previous feature film Australian director Baz Luhrmann came within tasting distance of a Best Picture Oscar, as well as several other awards. Moulin Rouge! (2001) did win two, for Costume Design and Art Direction, but all the glory that year went to other things. He must have taken notes; The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring cleaned up in the technical categories with four Oscars, and Black Hawk Down took two more. Two serious, disease-of-the-week dramas won in the "upper" categories: A Beautiful Mind and Iris. The following year, Luhrmann must have watched while the jaunty Chicago won Best Picture, and Roman Polanski won Best Director for his lengthy Holocaust drama, The Pianist.

So Luhrmann set out to work on his fourth film, Australia. Maybe it started out once, many years ago, as a 90-minute pop-Western about driving cattle and saving the farm. This entire section is bright and quick and exciting -- and lots of fun. But then perhaps he decided that that just wasn't enough, or at least it's not enough for anyone who wants to win a great big Best Director trophy. So at the 90-minute mark, Australia more or less stops, transforms itself into a giant-sized World War II drama, complete with grayness, dropping bombs and angel choruses, and keeps going for another interminable hour. But is it enough to fool Academy voters?