Australia: The Cold & Flu Revu

[tealin]

OK, OK, I know none of the critics liked it, but I wanted to see it anyway, because all I wanted from it was epic escapism and some accents and visual reference for Jack and Ellis.

Good thing I went to go see it while souped up on decongestants and beset by the worst cold I can remember ... I don't know if it made the movie better or worse, but it made me not care that I was distracted or confused or couldn't keep characters straight. So here is my scintillating and intellectual review:

There were cows. Lots and lots of cows. And a boy who I thought was a girl because I am that ethnically ignorant.

Australia is really really dry, except for when Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are in love. Then there's so much water, like, you can't even move for the water.

Faramir looks more like Sean Bean's brother in this than in LotR. Go fig.

Beards.

Gotta give points to the guy who said 'You know what? Enough with this realistic CGI stuff, that's no fun. Let's just make it look cool!' I am referring to the wharf and ships at Darwin not the ... stampede and cliffs and stuff.

Too much kissing! Just ... stop ... kissing already. And it's all in closeups too! Ugh.

They died ... but then, they didn't! And then they did, and then they didn't! It was very exciting and I have no idea what happened.

Comments

[conga-chili.livejournal.com]

I thought the movie should've ended an hour before the ending!

[uberklutz.livejournal.com]

I felt like there were three distinct cadences where the movie could have ended--which must've been hard to get through if you were in the depths of a medicated cold.

Besides the incredibly LENGTH, I was impressed at Nicole Kidman's ability to do humor. She played the ridiculous stiff-upper-lip superbly.

And Jackman was Jackman which = win. lol, the scene with the bucket pouring. Really? REALLY?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Australia is really really dry, except for when Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are in love.

I've heard this is true. It's Australia's best kept secret.

[tweakfox.livejournal.com]

I kinda feel the need to watch it now just so I can understand all the funny references you guys are all making...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Wait for the DVD. Then you can pause and get snacks or have friends over to get through the long parts and have an actual intermission between the two halves of the movie, which would have done it some good...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

True, there was a really obvious ending about halfway through ...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I thought at least an intermission after the Happy Farm Scene would have at least acknowledged the obvious bifurcation of the plot, but ... whatever. Even with the medicated cold this movie didn't feel half as long as Pirates III.

I liked the humour too ... watching the first ten minutes or so reminded me why I liked Moulin Rouge so much - it's silly, but it's knowingly silly, and there's still a genuine dramatic core. Unfortunately I think this petered out just a little bit before they reached Faraway Downs as he got distracted by OMG EPIC ... but I don't know if it would have made it better. Ehh [shrug]...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Not anymore! Ahahaha!

[rebelsketcher.livejournal.com]

You know the sad thing is the fact that majority of Australian films are usually 'short' films. Less than two hours. And are BETTER.

We specialise in low budget films...why Luhrmann ran off for a double digit million dollar affair...who knows. Way too long.

[conga-chili.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I still sit in that same general area... if you see a cube a girly and pink....ed out, that would be mine...heh. I got to draw some of Charlotte last week!! eeeeeeeeeee!


Feel better soon! And I hope that's the same tea you were raving about.

[musemistress.livejournal.com]

Funny thing about 'The Wet', we got it happening right now up north and it's flooding like hell up there (am waaaay down south-west), while elsewhere it's fires and drought. And now in Perth we're having one of the wettest summers on record...but not like it's doing much for the heat.

Gods. Anyone else who lives here in West Aust would know what I mean when I say I understand them joyous dancing in the flood rains and how love ensues. Finally you can kiss without getting stuck together from meltage. WOOT WOOT!!

(and yes, I saw Australia when it first came out. Expected an epic, long panning camera shoots, scenery, Aboriginal culture love story...and got just that. Was not dissapointed at all. Screw the critics. :P Get well soon!

[veronikamg.livejournal.com]

I heard somewhere that this film is a bit like Cold Mountain, which I hated with passionate hatred because the blond kid was so nasty, and most of the good guys died for real. (It reminded me of Scandinavian film, which is a good way of getting depressed.) Is it that kind of story line, because then I'll be more than happy to give it a pass. I'm not squemish about movie violence, it's drearyness I generally don't like (unless it's Dickens).

If it's not that kind of story, I may watch it to look at Faramir, eh... I mean David Wenham.

Site

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, sorry, this doesn't have anything to do with your post, but it looks like your website is down and there's a message saying "nocturnalsoldier.org expired on 01/06/2009 and is pending renewal or deletion". I don't know if you already knew this or not, so if you did, sorry for wasting space. =)

Re: Site

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Oo, thanks. That's really out of my control as I am hosted there out of the kindness of a stranger but I'll make a mention of it.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Cold Mountain but they never stopped talking about the book and then the movie on NPR, so I think I'm pretty safe in surmising that Australia is nowhere near as bleak. There's war, yes, and people being nasty, but it's in more of a ... a ... upbeat Western kind of way than a Scandinavian way.

There's plenty of Faramir to look at, rest assured ... but not as much of him as Hugh Jackman, if you get my drift.

[missuscarroll.livejournal.com]

Regarding (un)realistic CGI, did you see Benjamin Button? I didn't realize it was animated until after I watched the movie, and now I'm having a bit of a post hoc uncanny valley moment.

[uberklutz.livejournal.com]

bahahahah!

[gilded-garb.livejournal.com]

Where did you hear it was animated? I was 99% sure it wasn't.

*returns to lurking*

[enigmaticpengin.livejournal.com]

Ugh, you're sick, too?

It seems to be going around this week. o_O

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Urgh, NOT FUN.

If you've got it, I prescribe NyQuil (it may not ease the symptoms that much but at least you'll sleep through them) and Airborne (I don't care what the haters say, it makes me feel awesome) though not necessarily at the same time. Good luck.

[missuscarroll.livejournal.com]

Embarrassingly enough, I saw a demonstration of the technique on Access Hollywood.

[ubiquitouspitt.livejournal.com]

UGH! Pirates III. That movie could have ended when Norrington died.

|: )

[randeepk.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Sigh, forgot to sign my name.