Why Don’t I Love This?
(BAZ LUHRMANN’S EPIC “AUSTRALIA”)
Baz Luhrmann wrote and directed this upcoming film; Nicole Kidman (usually a solid actress) stars alongside Hugh Jackman; the story feels in parts whimsical, and in others epic. So why am I not thrilled for Australia to come out? Let’s start at the top.
(1) I just had vision of Jackman coming out of a saloon full of banditos and carving a giant ‘C’ on another bandito’s blouse with his retractable metal claws, then proclaiming he is Zorro’s second cousin Carcayú (Wolverine en español).
(2) Man, I hope Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsdale don’t have a kissing scene in this movie. It was hard enough watching it happen the first time in Pearl Harbor.
(3) Marcus Aurelius would be proud. So would Ridley Scott. And the dozen or so multi-vitamin commercials that have also used this masterful cinematic hand-grazing-wheat moment.
(4) “There’s a whole ocean of oil under our feet, and no-one can get at it but me!” Oh wait, that was a different movie, with a better actor. Whoops.
