Father Geek here with Tamsin down in Australia and her report for this Tuesday (USA Calendar)...
Hi All, Tamsin on board,
here is my report for this week...
AICN DOWNUNDER REPORT #26
** POTENTIALLY HOT NEWS? **
AICN DOWNUNDER REPORT #26
** POTENTIALLY HOT NEWS? **
I heard a rumbling of a rumour last week from one of my "insiders" that the film PETER PAN, which is due to shoot in Queensland later this year, is really a pseudonym for TERMINATOR 3. We'll have to keep an eye on this one and see how it develops.
THE NIGHT WE CALLED IT A DAY
A film about Frank Sinatra's 1974 tour of Australia, where he insulted Australian media, has been greenlit. During the tour, Frank attacked journalists and was then banned by all Unions, including those involved with the Airlines, until he submitted an apology. Sinatra didn't return to Australia for 14 years. THE NIGHT WE CALLED IT A DAY is to be directed by Paul Goldman (AUSTRALIAN RULES).
ACADEMY AWARDS
Congratulations to all those Aussies and New Zealanders involved in winning awards, including Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch (MOULIN ROUGE) Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie (MOULIN ROUGE) Best Costume Design, Andrew Lesnie (LORD OF THE RINGS), GMD Best Visual Effects (LORD OF THE RINGS).
AFI CLOSES
The AFI (Australian Film Institute) distribution arm has closed, due to lack of funding. This is a devastating blow to independent filmmakers and film students around Australia, as the AFI offered a chance for these films to be seen and presented as a part of Australian film history. The AFI has distributed more than 1300 titles, including AFTER MABO, and early shorts from filmmakers such as Phil Noyce and Gillian Armstrong.
LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS
LOTR has surpassed TITANIC as New Zealands all-time box office hit. In its 13th week it had grossed about NZ$13 million (US $5.64 million) compared with TITANIC'S NZ $12.9 million. And it's still going strong...
Some news from Clint from MOVIEHOLE:
Actress Claudia Karvan has just dropped some pretty big news about STAR WARS: ATTACK OF THE CLONES, on Aussie TV.
Talking to the Panel (Channel 10), Karvan, who plays Queen Amidala's older sister in the film, reveals she has been cut from the film altogether. "Last Week they told me my scenes were on the cutting room floor. They had to cut back", reveals Karvan. "I was playing Natalie Portman's older sister. Yeah, the older one with the kids and that. (laughing). It was a pretty weird scene for Star Wars anyway. Once we finished doing the scene everyone looked at each other and wondered if that was actually Star Wars". Of the role, Karvan expanded. "I had some kind of hybrid American accent going on". But will Lucas ask her to return for Episode III? "We'll he did send me a note, saying it was such a great pleasure to work with you", she laughs.
AND THIS...
Mick Jagger, who played Ned Kelly in the earlier film, has joined the cast of Gregor Jordan's movie, NED KELLY. It's not known whether it's any more than a cameo, but has signed on for a role none the less.
THE HARD WORD
Moviehole got an advance review for Guy Pearce's upcoming THE HARD WORD Like Chopper and to a lesser extent Two Hands, THE HARD WORD takes the funny side of Australian criminal culture dead seriously. Dale (Guy Pearce) and brothers Shane (Joel Edgerton) and Mal (Damien Richardson) are renowned bank robbers with a blemish-free record of bloodless stand overs. Blemish-free that is until their smarmy lawyer Frank (Robert Taylor) - who happens to be knobbing Dale's missus Carol (Rachel Griffiths) - blackmails them into taking on The Big One before they retire. It's a disaster, but it's only because things go so violently wrong that the brothers escape with their lives (and a meteorologist) and discover the full extent of Frank's treachery. The plot owes plenty to Stanley Kubrick's 1956 racetrack-heist classic The Killing (1956) but that's no bad thing: Scott Roberts' film looks great and plays out brilliantly. For once, here's an Australian film in which the quality of the humour is matched by real character depth, genuine suspense and some smart action sequences. Roberts (in his feature debut) tracks the action with tremendous authority - there's precious little in the way of unnecessary verbiage or visual flab and David Thrussel (Snog/Black Lung) contributes the pounding score. Guy Pearce chews much scenery as brains-of-the-outfit Dale, Joel Edgerton smoulders as the sexy but unhinged Shane and Damien Richardson is all heart as apprentice butcher Mal. The image of Rachel Griffiths' fantastically slutty soap-opera vixen Carol drawing a happy face with vaginal fluid will likely stay with you for a while. -
Jason Blake
url : http://www.moviehole.net
