News Bits 2004 - 8
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From Vincent in response to that older opinion on M&C I added on 12/29: So Hitchens reckons Weir got O'Brian wrong, eh? Well if you can rebroadcast fatuous comments from 13 months ago about my favourite film then you should be interested in more intelligent and up-to-date assessments ;o) : The Russell Crowe epic "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" peaked at $94 million in domestic grosses, but when released on DVD by Fox Home Entertainment became a $100 million-plus hit. http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20950~2623106,00.html [The Year's] Highs and lows... Ken Russell, film director / Master and Commander was the high note - it was simply the best film depiction of the sea I've ever witnessed. I was feeling quite wet in the front row of the Odeon - I could almost smell the salt. As an old sailor in the merchant navy, I can say it's the only film I've ever seen with a full crew. http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1374555,00.html [Funny.. ] But if there were a Sandman Award for Most Apocalyptic Nightmare it would be won by my younger son. And it is all my fault. I took the boys to see Master and Commander, figuring from the reviews that it was a stirring and historically accurate re-creation of naval life, with fine performances and a character-driven story. All that was true, but no review ever said: “Warning: alarming scene in which a 12-year-old boy is held down while the ship’s doctor saws off his arm without anaesthetic.” / Again, my son claimed to find this not in the least disturbing, complaining only that the plot was hard to follow. It must have been sheer coincidence, therefore, that the next morning he had the most remarkable dream to recount: “You were playing with fireworks, and then there was a great big bang, and fire, and the house fell down. The whole family was dead and there was blood, and I knew I had to get away but I couldn’t move my legs, and I had no arms because they got blown off, so I had to crawl along the pavement by pulling myself along with my chin.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-1407613,00.html And it
was chosen as the UK Telegraph's no. 1 DVD release of 2004 : Sumptuously
packaged in this double-DVD set, Peter Weir's endlessly thrilling nautical
chase film conveys life on the ocean wave during the Napoleonic wars
with the raw vividness of a documentary, while offering a deeply human
vision of heroism. The affecting, contradictory friendship of Russell
Crowe and Paul Bettany is central to the film's grand, stoical power.
http://tinyurl.com/4pjju
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Australian Associated Press General News: EUCALYPTUS By Jonathon Moran, National Entertainment Writer SYDNEY, Dec 16 AAP - Director Jocelyn Moorhouse would like to cast author Murray Bail in the film adaptation of his book Eucalyptus. Moorhouse spent a number of years working on the script for the film which will star Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Jack Thompson and Hugo Weaving. "Murray Bail just gave me his blessing (for the script)," Moorhouse said after the launch of the Australian Film Commission's new low-budget film initiative - Indi Vision. "I want to put him in the movie actually. I am trying to talk him into that and we continue to talk." Eucalyptus tells the story of a father (Thompson) who plants hundreds of varieties of eucalyptus trees and then decrees that only a man who can name every one of them may have his daughter's (Kidman) hand in marriage. A number of suitors appear, but his daughter falls for a storytelling stranger (Crowe), who shares with her tales of far away lands. Eucalyptus has won Murray Bail numerous prizes, including the 1999 Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Miles Franklin Award. "It is vanity isn't it," Bail said when asked if he was interested in appearing in the film. "It might just be an amusing little reference in the corner of one shot or something. "I can't imagine she'd want me to open my mouth. She probably means some sort of Hitchcock thing of walking past." The movie will reunite Crowe with Moorhouse and producer Linda House who worked with the actor on 1991's Proof, one of Crowe's earliest films. "I feel very excited and relieved that I have been able to get home at last, because I have been trying for many years," Moorhouse, who has been living in the United States with fellow director and husband PJ Hogan, said. "And it is great to come home with a movie and it is great to work with Australian actors again." Moorhouse's other films include How to Make an American Quilt with actors Winona Ryder, Kate Capshaw and Ellen Burstyn and A Thousand Acres starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange. "It has been a labour of love so I feel really, really confident," Moorhouse said of Eucalyptus. "It is the first film (script) I have written actually since Proof because the other two were written by other people." Eucalyptus will be made in Sydney and northern NSW and Moorhouse said she was pleased to be working on a unique Australian story. "It is actually a celebration of Australia," she said. "It is a very loving affectionate love letter in a way to Australian story telling so that is what I am trying to capture." Moorhouse and House were special guests at the AFC IndiVision launch, an initiative aimed at encouraging production of low-budget films. Eight hopeful filmmaking teams were selected for the project lab which will take place in February. The lab will focus on script, performance and cinematic storytelling with a range of leading filmmakers leading information sessions. |
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no show in Haberfield 9 December 2004 Inner-West Weekly - © 2004. News Ltd. All Rights Reserved. STICKY beaks and movie buffs will be disappointed a film starring two of the world's leading actors, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe, will no longer be shot in the Inner West. Ashfield Council voted against the idea and the film production company decided costs would be spent on studio time. The two Academy award winners and former Sydney residents were due to begin working on feature film Eucalyptus today at a Haberfield location. A application from Gum Nut Productions was sent to Ashfield Council in August for the location to be used on September 30 and October 1. However, this schedule was put back until today and tomorrow with shooting due to take place from 6am to midnight in Dalhousie St. The producers of the film, set in the 1940s, had initially hoped to include scenes from a period-style cafe located at numbers 56-58, between the Ella Centre and Winchombe Ave. It was to be converted into a 1942 fruit shop for the film. Due to the costs and inconvenience likely to be caused to residents and businesses, Ashfield Council decided to veto the application. The decision is a blow for inner-west residents hoping their patch would be seen in cinemas worldwide. A council spokesman told the Weekly: "The company will no longer film at Haberfield and has chosen to do those scenes at a Fox Studio location instead of on set. "Cost was also a contributing factor in the decision," he said. The production schedule would have meant parking restrictions to locals and businesses, traffic being rerouted and loss of income for shops and restaurants, which would have to close. St David's Uniting Church and its grounds would also have been converted into a production base and parking lot for location trucks, crew and equipment. Another contributing factor in the Eucalyptus project getting the thumbs down from council was there had never been a similar request where a busy retail strip would have been disrupted during a peak trading period. An additional $3665 parking and traffic levy was to be imposed, bring ing the cost to the production company to $6000 to use the Haberfield location for two days. Thanks, Crowe Fan |
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aims Tomahawks at bush sevens target By GREG PRICHARD The Sun-Herald Rugby League Page 118 December 5, 2004 THE USA Tomahawks are coming to Australia next month, but not for a return match with the Kangaroos. Instead they are going to hang out with actor Russell Crowe at his sevens tournament. Crowe is sponsoring the $15,000 event at Coramba Sports Ground - the home ground of the Orara Valley Axemen club he backs in the Mid-North Coast competition - on January 22 and 23. The Tomahawks will be taking on teams from NSW and Queensland, a Fijian side and a Barbarians outfit featuring Mark Carroll, Ryan Girdler, Mark Geyer and other former big name NRL stars. Carroll will captain-coach the Barbarians, having survived an injury scare last weekend. "I was clearing up around the yard at home when this huge branch fell on me," Carroll said. "It hurt a bit at the time, but I'm OK. "It'll be good experience for the Americans. They'll probably have a bit of a cult following out here, too, after what they did in the game against Australia the other day." The Tomahawks stunned the off-key Aussies in the first half in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Australia, coming to the close of a tough end-of-season tour and having celebrated long and hard after winning the Tri-Nations final against England only three days earlier, underestimated the Americans. They found themselves trailing 18-0 early and then 24-6 at halftime. They avoided the biggest embarrassment in rugby league history by lifting to win 36-24. Whether or not there is any point trying to foster the game in the US remains an open argument. In terms of this game, had the circumstances been different and the Australians been in tune it would have been a walkover. The Aussies have earned a break ahead of the 2005 NRL season, but the Tomahawks are gearing up to head Down Under and continue along the learning curve at a stage more in line with their phase of development. American National Rugby League chief executive David Niu put the result into perspective when he said: "We've had one good game against an Australian team that was tired and looking at it as a holiday, so we can't get too carried away. But there is no doubt that bringing the Kangaroos to the US was a success:" Niu said he was a bit disappointed with the crowd - variously estimated between 4000 and 8000 at the 52,000-capacity Franklin Field - but he remained very positive overall about the event. He said the main thing was that the game managed to break through some media barriers over there. 'The game got a good reaction as a spectacle and in the days after it there were still people becoming aware of it having been on because other people were talking about it," Niu said. "I think that gives us something to build on:" Niu said most of the Tomahawks who played against Australia would be out here for Crowe's tournament. As far as plans beyond that were concerned, he said: "I'd love to get the Aussies to come here as part of an annual event. "Maybe next time we could get them to play Great Britain here and have the Tomahawks and Russia play in the curtain-raiser." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Freddie foiled BRAD Fittler's comeback plans have been scrapped. The former Roosters captain was due to return in the Orara Valley sevens tournament on January 22 and 23 but has told organiser Mark Carroll that the event clashes with a friend's wedding. Fittler was to play in a Barbarians side with other former NRL stars including Carroll, Ryan Girdler, Cliff Lyons, Mark Geyer, Brad Mackay, Jack Elsegood and Jason Death. Actor and league lover Russell Crowe is a benefactor of the Orara Valley Axemen. |
