Hump Day Hottie, Baz Luhrmann

thanks to Kat and EO for the iTunes tip

Seems one of my favorite auteurs and yours, Baz Luhrmann, is still pushing envelopes. To get you salivating for his next motion picture Australia -- as if you needed any more encouragement --Baz has already unveiled both an intro and the first episode to a new vodcast available on iTunes that's also doubling as a filmmaking challenge for young movie dreamer hopefuls. Neat.

Before we get to the goodies, let's look at the goods:


It isn't said enough so here it is... Baz is a silver fox.

Directors are usually admired for some blend of creativity, nerve, intelligence, envelope pushing, audience rapport, storytelling clarity, style and the ability to conduct a nerve-wrackingly immense blend of instruments (design, cinematography, performances, sound, editing rhythms, etcetera) into one stirring orchestra. You can praise Baz Luhrmann for all of that, certainly. All three of his movies Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and his masterpiece Moulin Rouge! (see plentiful earlier posts) are rewatchable keepers. But he's also easy on the eyes. Which you can't say often enough about behind-the-scenes types. Not for lack of suitable candidates perhaps but for their elusiveness. If they're not on the screen itself most people ignore them. Not the true film fanatics, like you and I though. So let's let Baz be our first auteurial Hump Day Hottie. The intro episode gives you just a small peak at the grandeur ahead and several good hard looks at 45 years-young slim, metrosexual and talkative Baz. Bonus points: Aussie accents = adorable. Every time.

Australia runs the very modern risk of being one of those well publicized movies that you feel like you've seen in its entirety by the time it opens. But in this case, I'll take it. Just this shot alone of Baz directing Nicole Kidman is enough to leave me a mess of longing. Moulin Rouge! (sigh) seven years is a long time to wait for this reunion.

The first real episode of the vodcast (they're going to be pleasantly short -- always wrapping up while you're still totally into it) is all about the stills photographer. It's really worth seeing. This is an aspect of film set chaos that I had personally never even considered before. The name of their primary stills photographer here is James Fisher.

Baz explains why he hired James:

James has one of the favorite qualities I seek out in those people I collaborate with and that is that creativity is an adventure

James is also easy on the eyes and ginger like Nicole. Not that that had anything to do with his hiring. I'm just observing... You see I'm going a little crazy for this movie already. In every which way. help me. From the looks of things Baz hasn't given up his theatrical bent --he's just taken it in a Lean-er direction. There even appears to be a rugged man dance sequence! In this episode you'll see a lot of James agility as a photographer but the manly action is primarily coming from Hugh Jackman who looks like he'll be doing a lot of running, fighting, riding and sweeping (...of Kidman off her feet)


Filmmaking challenges will come with five particular episodes in this "on set" series (no clue as to when the others will happen but there's a new episode tri-weekly) are open to high school and college students only. You can go here for more info. Here's the first challenge which is due on May 5th. The prizes for winners are scrumptious, in particular the grand prize: a trip for two to Australia and Baz himself picks you up and you travel with him when you get there.

We've all picked friends up from an airport before but considering this man is also in charge of everything to do with an enormous multi-million dollar spectacle he sure does like to multi-task, doesn't he?

Here's some fine still photography from the set.


Mmmmmm. Australia! It's prettier than Baz. Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and the Northwest Kimberly region of Australia combined already made this orgasmically beautiful (in theory) before one frame was shot. Now that all of the frames have been shot --it's in post now --will this motion picture be the most beautiful anything of 2008. We shall see.

Meanwhile, if you're in high school or college (which you have to be to enter this contest, grrrr) are you going to pick up a camera and try to become a part of Australia and then go to Australia? They have a movie star manufacturing plant there, don'cha know --Blanchett, Kidman, Crowe, Jackman, Watt, Ledger, etcetera... It's my goal in life to discover its secret location someday. I promise to do lots of stealth still photography once I do.

previously on "Hump Day Hotties": Dennis Quaid, Drew Barrymore, Matthew Barney, Natalie Wood, James Marsden, Anne Hathaway, Rodrigo Santoro and more...
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