Baz Luhrmann

Started by Jon, January 25, 2003, 08:56:07 AM

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©brad

Quote from: Sigur RósI didn't hate it! I just didn't like the way they edited it. It was to "MtTv'ish". It nearly made my head explode!

You're getting old my friend.

Quote from: SHAFTRPeople like Luhrman ruin everything that is good and pure about film.

:?:

Teddy

Baz is great.  MOULIN ROUGE is fucking genius.
"I saved Latin.  What did you ever do?"

godardian

I'm in the anti-Rouge camp. Luhrmann seems to have more energy than actual enthusiasm or focus. It's just extremely boring to me, and annoying how often you hear him called an "artist" and a "great filmmaker." All his tricks are so graceless; who else can make a constantly moving camera seem so clumsy and blah? He has this really mindless, totally cumbersome, bludgeoning technique that I liken to that of Guy Ritchie. There's really no style, just persistence. God, is it persistent. But once I actually complete the chore of making it through one of his films, I always feel like he's built these beautiful sets, arranged everything just so, and then horribly mismanages it all- mis-frames, mis-composes, mis-edits, forces everything into gimmickry- until it just evaporates into a lot of tiresome nothing. He's the cinematic equivalent of a chronic premature ejaculator.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

modage

being a chronic premature ejaculator, i respectfully disagree.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

mina aphrodosia

luhrman´s visions are faszinating! in moulin rouge,you feel like you had to much LSD and  it was absolutly this feeling he wanted the peolpe to have. never forget that you are sitting in the cinema. this big, huge over-too-muchis simlpy wonderful
Let´s be happy that we´re alive

Rudie Obias

Quote from: taz.I JUST watched moulin rouge again. I think it gets better every time. I didn't really like it the first time i saw it.

dude, i so agree!  i didn't like MOULIN ROUGE! the first time i saw it but now i really love it!  i just watched it 3 times today, one viewing after another!  i was really amazed by the images, colors and the music.  i really wanna buy the red curtain trilogy now.  baz luhrmann is probably the only filmmaker i enjoy that is completely over-styled but the substance in his films make up for that.  with baz luhrmann, there is no such thing as an over-styled film.

Quote from: godardianI'm in the anti-Rouge camp. Luhrmann seems to have more energy than actual enthusiasm or focus. It's just extremely boring to me, and annoying how often you hear him called an "artist" and a "great filmmaker." All his tricks are so graceless; who else can make a constantly moving camera seem so clumsy and blah? He has this really mindless, totally cumbersome, bludgeoning technique that I liken to that of Guy Ritchie. There's really no style, just persistence. God, is it persistent. But once I actually complete the chore of making it through one of his films, I always feel like he's built these beautiful sets, arranged everything just so, and then horribly mismanages it all- mis-frames, mis-composes, mis-edits, forces everything into gimmickry- until it just evaporates into a lot of tiresome nothing. He's the cinematic equivalent of a chronic premature ejaculator.

i have to disagree here.  the difference between baz luhrmann and guy ritchie is that ritchie is completely unoriginal.  he banks off established style and rips it off.  he banks off established genre pieces and exploits their strong points.  whereinas luhrmann, is completely original with style and aesthetic.  in WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO + JULIET, he successfully adapts shakespeare and makes it, without question, his own.  he does the same thing in MOULIN ROUGE! where he takes top 40 pop and rock songs and puts it into this turn of the century, bohemian free for all.  again, he makes it his own.  MOULIN ROUGE! is a true masterpiece from a true artist.  ritchie falls flat with his inspiration and it genuinely shows in his works.

example: one piece of MOULIN ROUGE! which stands out for me is the beginning.  a silhouette of a conductor is standing in front of a red curtain.  the curtain opens and the 20th century fox logo appears and the fox theme music starts.  the conductor, conducts an unseen orchestra, then the curtain closes and re-opens with the start of the film.  this puts the audience in the mind set that they're in the theater and they're about to watch a play.  you get this feeling throughout the film.  you are no longer seeing a film but rather an over the top theater musical!  the film seems to go so far over the top that it, quite literally, pours out of the screen, flows through the audience and out of the building/theater.  it's very rare i get this feeling while sitting in my apartment in front of the fuckin' TV!  luhrmann is brilliant and i can't wait to see his next film about alexander the great.  leonardo dicaprio as alexander the great and nicole kidman as olympias.  brilliant!  brilliant!  brilliant!  

ps
i had no idea klyie minogue played the green fairy.  luhrmann gets cred for that in my book!  brilliant casting!
\"a pair of eyes staring at you, projected on a large screen is what cinema is truly about.\" -volker schlöndorff

godardian

I have the opposite impression: I thought Moulin Rouge was tolerable the first time, really boring the second, and I despised it the third time.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

NEON MERCURY

....i'm over the age of 13 so ..that means baz doesnn't appeal to me nor does his films...

his films are just "elaborate high school tap dancing recitals".......

Spike

"Romeo + Juliet" was one of my favorite movies when I was about 9 years old. I still like it.
"Moulin Rouge!" kicks ass.

"Strictly Ballroom" is still lying here in my room on VHS but I haven't watched it yet.
"We're gonna celebrate St. Suck-My-Big-Fat-Fucking-Sausage'a!!!"

MacGuffin

The Vine: Beattie penning Luhrmann epic
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Australian screenwriter Stuart Beattie, who offered moviegoers a new view of Los Angeles in "Collateral," is returning to more familiar turf and will pen an Australian-set, period epic for helmer Baz Luhrmann. The project, a romance that is being compared to "Gone With the Wind," is being kept under wraps. It looks, however, as if it could be part of a new trio of films that Luhrmann envisions. The director famously dubbed his three musical films -- 1992's "Strictly Ballroom," 1996's "Romeo + Juliet" and 2001's "Moulin Rouge" -- his Red Curtain trilogy. He then began talking about a trilogy of epics, which would include his film about the life of Alexander the Great as well as a Russian epic and an Australian epic. Luhrmann had been developing "Alexander" as a starring vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman, but that film now appears to have been shelved. Luhrmann -- who has close relations with 20th Century Fox and is repped by ICM -- has not said what film he will tackle next, though he has begun meeting with actors about the various film projects he has in mind, and the Australian epic appears to be among the active possibilities. Beattie has written such films as "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" as well as such upcoming projects as "Derailed," "30 Days of Night" and "Truce," which Vadim Perelman is directing for Warner Independent Pictures.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Gold Trumpet

Quote from: MacGuffinThe Vine: Beattie penning Luhrmann epic


Quote from: MacGuffinThe project, a romance that is being compared to "Gone With the Wind," is being kept under wraps.

I remember JB being interested in this project. I wonder if this tidbit killed it for him. Came pretty close for me.

MacGuffin

Crowe, Kidman Courted
Eyed for Luhrmann's Aussie epic romance.
 
Native New Zealander Russell Crowe and Australian-raised actress Nicole Kidman are being eyed by director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rogue, Strictly Ballroom) for his self-described "Australian epic romance," according to industry insider mag Variety. Details on the project are sparse, but it's been compared to Gone With the Wind.

Kidman and Crowe had been set to star together in Eucalyptus, but that project was kicked to the curb due to script problems.

Collateral and Pirates of the Caribbean scribe Stuart Beattie is writing the script for Baz's Fox-based film.

The picture is thought to be the first in a trio of new films from the acclaimed director, who topped off his "red curtain trilogy" with 2001's Moulin Rogue.

Other pictures on Luhrmann's slate include his take on Alexander the Great, which was indefinitely delayed after Oliver Stone's version went into production, and another film simply described as "a Russian tale."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Brazoliange

I just watched R&J last night for the first time. It was't perfect, but he did a lot of interesting and fun things with it. I loved the complete use of the text (instead of rewriting the dialogue, I mean).

Joining the "like" boat on Moulin Rouge
Long live the New Flesh

MacGuffin

Lurhmann rushes from 'Australia' to 'Gatsby'
Defends epic's boxoffice; moves quickly on timely project
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Baz Luhrmann's "Australia" may be doing some middling U.S. boxoffice, earning about $38 million since it opened Thanksgiving weekend, but the director is unrepentant as the movie nears its first month of release stateside.

In one of his first interviews since the movie opened, he sat down with The Hollywood Reporter and spoke out against "Australia's" critics and those he feels call him the "black hole of cinema." He also said he will move quickly on his next project, "The Great Gatsby," which he said will be a perfect parable for economic disaster.

"A lot of reviewers like 'Australia.' And we're making people cry; I know because they write to us," he said. "But there are those that don't get it. A lot of the film scientists don't get it. And it's not just that that they don't get it, but they hate it and they hate me, and they think I'm the black hole of cinema. They say, 'He shouldn't have made it, and he should die.' "

Asked why he thought the reactions were so passionate, he replied: "I know what it's about." The movie's detractors were used to movies that were neatly defined, he said. "This is not (simply) a romantic comedy for 40-year-old women or action movies for 17-year-old boys, and that's not OK with some people. It's not OK for people to come eat at the same table of cinema. But you look at movies like 'Gone With the Wind' and Old Hollywood classics, and they don't fit in any box.

"Corny Hollywood movies from the '40s freak out (the film scientists)," he added.

Speaking with THR at the Four Seasons, he struck a tone that was as unyielding as many of the creative choices in his movies but was also occasionally conciliatory. "I'm not whining, because when you do what I do, you expect to be covered in mud. But there seems to be a lot of misinformation."

Among those pieces of misinformation is boxoffice, he said; Luhrmann noted that "Moulin Rouge" has been on a similar pace as his latest epic, and that sticking it out for the long haul was not an uncommon experience for him. "I'm used to the waves crashing around me. And what I do is stick to a craggy rock as they keep coming. And if you stick to it long enough someone else will stick to it, too, and then someone else and then someone else."

(Indeed, "Rouge" was at $36 million through three weeks of release and finished with $57 million, though some might say the production budget of "Australia" necessitated a higher return.)

The director, as Risky Biz first reported last month, also said that he has officially acquired rights to "Gatsby." Luhrmann sees the pre-Depression story as a wake-up call as the economy comes crashing down and another gilded age, as he sees it, comes to an end.

"If you wanted to show a mirror to people that says, 'You've been drunk on money,' they're not going to want to see it. But if you reflected that mirror on another time they'd be willing to."

He added, "People will need an explanation of where we are and where we've been, and 'The Great Gatsby' can provide that explanation."

Luhrmann appeared as particularly interested in worsening economic times and attitudes -- noting a kind of glib wealth that came with "the Wall Street trader who has a house in the Hamptons as big as an airport" -- and he went on to say that the people needed to take the message of hope from "Australia."

He said that he wants to move quickly on the "Gatsby" project because of that timeliness. "I'm going to move faster than I have before. I'd be surprised if it's another seven years," he said, referring to the period between "Rouge" and "Australia."

The project also might not be with Fox. The director said he's "talking to everyone, and they're all interested" -- and paused a full 10 seconds when asked if his experience with Fox was a satisfactory one, before offering a noncommittal answer.

Luhrmann acknowledged his vision's sprawling ambition but said he was not being given enough slack. "There's this whole thing about he's all over the map and he's bonkers. And that may be true. But they're unwilling to see there might be a plan there."

He acknowledged that there are flaws in his picture but noted that when "you make a small-scale picture it's going to be easier. No large-scale movie doesn't have warts, just by its nature."

The director also cleared up the question over the ending. There were reports that Fox had asked him to keep Hugh Jackman's character alive, but the auteur noted he was a final-cut director and said he was contemplating several endings, including those where Jackman's character died, which he said scored well with younger women, but he ultimately decided against it because he wanted the movie to be left with hope, not tragedy.

Ultimately, Luhrmann said, the movie's verdict will be written by many of those he feels have not yet begun to speak. " 'Moulin Rouge' was supposed to go away," Luhrmann said. "Not only has it not gone away, but you can't read about modern musicals without reading about it. 'Australia' will not go away."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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SiliasRuby

I Love 'Moulin Rouge'. I just watched it again today Although I still agree with Godardian, that he really has more energy than focus but I think it really works for 'Moulin Rouge'. This is a film that would be great on Blu-ray. A story as old as time and yet it has enough life and flash to give you a jolt to the arm and a rush in your blood. I was dancing around my apartment during the can can. There's a love it or hate it vibe when it comes to this film and I guess it comes down to whether you enjoy the musical atmosphere thats done so well here and was so awkwardly done at the oscars.

I am still slightly weary of what he will do with 'Australia' and how he will make a strait up romance film. My Blu-ray of that film will be coming in soon.
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