Hello All!

Well, I'm glad to see that Stormbird and Skiergirl have become friends in order to form a united front to take down Mrs. Jackman! Good luck on that ladies --

I saw the movie on Wednesday, Nov. 19th. Okay, I hate to sound smug and brag, but since I hardly ever get to do either of those things, I'm gonna run with it!

I got to see it before any of the other 150 Premier Agents in the US and Canada, and even before Tourism
Australia (the L.A. office saw it on Nov. 20). This all happened by sheer dumb luck (pretty much the only kind I know) because the San Francisco Chronicle movie critic, Mick LaSalle, invited me to the screening for critics. That was pretty cool!

I'm not going to give anything away, I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but here are three things I will tell you:

1. Hugh Jackman is HOT in this movie! (not giving anything away there). Scruffy, dirty, stubble, or clean shaven, it doesn't make any difference. Wait until you see him on horseback going flat out.

2. Brandon Walters, who plays "Nullah" the young Aborigine boy has the longest eyelashes I've ever seen in my life!

3. The cinematogrophy is gorgeous and shows the how vast the Northern Territory is.

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

You Big Tease Melodie - come on will you at least tell us if you thought it was a good movie?

Oh what the heck, it doesn't really matter - Hugh is in it!

Yes Melodie, Skiergirl is my new best friend and if you get another invite like that again I'll be YOUR new best friend!(And on a plane quicker than you can say Hugh Jackman can pop his shoes under my bed any day!)

Hi Storm -

yeah, I've been called a tease before (well, not since I got married)!

I thought it was a good movie - not a great movie.

I'm probably not likely to get another invitation like that again; unless Baz makes "Australia II"!

Melodie

btw Melodie,
Quite a bit of the shotting occurred in Kununurra just over the border from NT in WA and I suspect that's where those vast open spaces could be, inland beyond the Argyle Dam on the Ord River.

At last count, the Argyle holds about 37 times the ammount of water that'd be in Sydney Harbour, and the original pioneering family (name slips tongue at moment)of good Irish stock drove a herd of cattle/horses all the way from Queensland to there in about 1880s I think it was - quite an amazing feat, especially with women and babes and babes on the way - would make for an even more amazing Australian story - and then if they could have had something of "All the Rivers run[well they do sometimes of late]" and "The man from Snowy River" in there with Tim Burlinson and Sigrid Thornton, a good movie may have become a great one.

Hey Bushranger!

Yes, I've got all the info on where everything was shot - you're an Aussie - have you heard of "Bowen"? That's what they used to re-create Darwin of that time period. I've got an interesting piece from Tourism Queensland about how the movie filming affected this little town.

The "Man from Snowy River" is one of my favorite movies, btw.

Melodie

Hi Melodie,
Yep, I know Bowen, got a great caravan park right on the beach there with cabins that open out just about right onto the beach.

It's alwats been one of those towns not really on the travellers/tourist itinerary but better for it like a lot of less visited spots that can get too overrun.

I didn't follow the filming of Australia all that much but one quirky thing about filming in Bowen was that in getting a guy to play an aussoe digger they got a german backpacker of all people - maybe he didn't have to say anything!

And I was surprised to hear they actually did filming in Kununurra area for I was over there in July this year and not a boo! from any of the locals that had done filming in the area.

And yes, the MFSR is one of a few different movies/TV series that show something of early Australia very well.

If you want to have a great laugh, see if you can find a copy of "On Your Selection", a real mad cap screamer of a movie - sort of set in the Aussie equivalent of how early Americans went out and had those land staking days, but not showing the wagon races etc. and more life after the staking of claims/registering title and developing the land.

Cheers

there was filming for the movie in Kununarra-premiere was held there there simultaneously with Sydney. Also Hugh was doing karioke (spelling!) with the locals.

You're killing me!!! I can't wait to see our guy next week in the flick. BTW Hugh is on the cover of the Italian Vanity Fair-if you go to perezhilton.com and keep scrolling you will come upon it. Best photo of him I have ever seen (and trust me I've seen lots!!!). SMOKIN HOT!!!!!

I wonder if he reads these boards....maybe we can do a Hugh GTG.

Ooooh my lordy Skiergirl H O T!!!
Thanks for posting (and sharing)

Still trying to track down a copy of that US mag People. Doh!

Hi, Stormbird. While you are waiting to track down a copy of "People", here's a link to their website which gives a few pictures and part of the interview with the newest "Sexiest Man Alive". http://www.people.com/people/package...241213,00.html
I got the magazine this week. (In fact, my DH got it for me.) The article was good, but there just weren't enough pictures!

Thanks for thinking of me Longhorn -I enjoyed that! No I LOVED that - had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading it!

We're trying contacts in Sydney to try and obtain a copy of the mag.

Look I hope the movie "Australia" brings more tourists Downunder than the Olympics did for Sydney. But I doubt it and I suspect it may be a great opportunity missed. The scenery is magnificent and I guess Hugh Jackman is a hunk, but the storyline is really a load of garbage and appears to be made up on the run. Now let's have a stampede, now let's have some aboriginal hocus pocus, now it's about time we bombed Darwin etc. etc.,"A Gone With The Wind" it ain't. And since when was Judy Garland and that song synonymous with the Aussie Outback? The only 5 stars that are deserved are for Baz Luhrmann's ability to con $180 million out of Hollywood, but next time I hope he puts it to better use!

I don't expect that Baz Luhrmann's intention when he made the movie Australia was to generate new tourist dollars into the country. He's a movie maker for heavens sake!

It's a movie - it's a movie folks - it's a Baz Luhrmann movie - why do so many take it all so seriously!

This subject has been thrashed to death over in the lounge.

Sheesh some people just need to take a pill!

Did I mention that Hugh Jackman was gorgeous in EVERY shot!

Good girl, stormbird. I rarely venture onto the lounge, its a minefield.

It is a shame that this movie was seen to be by some as the answer to the downfall in Oz tourism, no movie can do that. But who on earth was responsible for the spin-off commercials directed at international tourism?? I thought the "where the bloody hell are you" campaign was pretty pathetic, but these are abysmal.

I haven't seen any tourism oriented commercials, but I did see the movie last night.

I admittedly sent primarily to see the scenery (and that includes Hugh. Unfortunately, not enough scenery to my liking, but what it did show was beautiful (including Hugh).

On the other hand, what an awful movie. Nicole Kidman was horrible. It was incredibly disjointed. Yeah, he wanted to remake GWTW to the point of even starting and ending with the scrolling script, and starting with the shot of King George and Nullah silhoutted against a red sky sunset, to the burning desolations, blah blah blah blah. and Geez, really? The Wizard of Oz?

I really really really wanted to like it. But I didn't.

Thanks Pat,

I bet some of these people don't understand James Bond either! (Love you Daniel - not as much as Hugh but you're not bad).

Ooooh and I bet they believe that Elvis is dead!

No imaginations!

We saw "Australia" and thought it great. But I have a few questions. We live in Florida, so dont have any fellow Aussies to ask. We have been in Darwin once, and do not remember the hills they showed in the movie.
Also, didnt all the women and children get evacuated before the attack on Darwin?
Also, where could anyone be evacuated to. Was the Darwin to Adelaide road built back in 1941.
Also I heard the comment "those are the yanks" Were there American soldiers in Darwin in 1941. I am getting lots of questions, and do not know the answers. Can someone help, please.

Hi twoaussies , I hope I can be a little help in answer to your questions about the bombings in Darwin.

Darwin was a central Allied base for both naval and air suppport for forces defending Australia and for supplying the troops fighting in Timor and in Java.

The air raid shown in the movie is supposed to depict the first raid on 19th february 1942 (there were actually two raids on the same day), but this was actually only the first of over 60 Japanese raids on Darwin and surrounding areas, between 1942 and 1943.

I think everyone now forgets just how fast were the Japanese advances in 1941 (Singapore had fallen only a few days before), and how unprepared were isolated towns like Darwin, especially for full scale modern warfare.

The government had begun evacuating many women and children in the months prior to February, but there was some resistance to this . Many believed the Japanese could not get so far, many simply didn't want to leave in the hot and overcrowded evacuation ships which then had to escape through mine filled, Japanese controlled waters to an uncertain future in the South of Australia.So there were still women and children in Darwin on the 19th February.

After the raids there was mass looting and total chaos, although the degree to which this was as bad as we used to believe is now being revised by many historians. There was certainly panic and people were desperate to leave, even the equally shocked military, in whatever vehicle they could obtain. Many fled South to Alice Springs firstly and then onto other places such as Queensland and Adelaide. There were roads South, although not all paved some were mere tracks.

I'm not convinced of the accuracy of showing American (Army?) troops on the road in "Australia". There were certainly American Navy ships, and American merchant ships packed into Darwin harbour that February- and there were American Naval fatalities that day.The USS Peary was sunk and there may have been American airmen killed as they were stationed at the airfield outside the town.

I just saw the film today and can't say I enjoyed it, but as an Australian I certainly appreciated some attention being paid to an important part of our history. A part that I, as an ex history teacher born in the 1950's, am sad to say was never taught in schools until very recently. In fact, despite studying history for every year of my secondary education, majoring in history in my first degree and sub majoring in my second, I only studied Australian history for one year - not a good record of our past practices regarding history education!

Thanks for the heads up on this subject Libretto. I posted on this topic in the Lounge and admitted that I knew so very little about the details of the Darwin bombings and felt sure that it was not in our history books at school but wondered if maybe I'd slept through that bit.

I find it a great shame to have been kept in the dark about this and quite frankly, I don't understand why we were. It is an absolutely fascinating part of our history and I must confess that I am inspired to do some research and read up on that part of our history.

Hi Libretto,

I just saw your post - about the filming - so much of Darwin was bombed in the war that when rebuilt, it became the modern city you see today. Because of that they found another place to film, one that would have looked the way Darwin might have in the 40's, which is Bowen, in Queensland.

Hope this is helpful!

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist