Baz Luhrmann's "Australia" snubbed in home film awards
Australian director Baz Luhrmann's outback epic "Australia" was passed over on Wednesday for the top film awards in his home country, presented by the Australian

Australia snubbed in film awards
Australian director Baz Luhrmann's outback epic Australia has been passed over for the top film awards in his home country, presented by the Australian Film Institute. Australia , starring Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman who have carved out Hollywood careers, failed to make the list of nominees for the AFI best film award despite high hopes for the $130 million 20th Century Fox movie, the most expensive ever made in Australia. Neither Kidman nor Jackman were among the...

Shark Bites Shark In Half In Australia (VIDEO)
Beachgoers in Australia are understandably nervous about swimming after a great white shark was discovered that had been bitten in half. This has led to speculation that there could be a shark as massive as 20 feet roaming the shores of Australia. One shark expert remarked: "They'll eat anything - including their own kind." WATCH:

Hugh Jackman: 'Sexiest Man Title Better Than a Kick in The Teeth'
Hugh Jackman says being named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive of 2008 is "better than a kick in the teeth." The actor - who stars alongside Nicole Kidman in new Baz Luhrmann film Australia - says he doesn't pay too much attention to the accolade - because he is much more concerned on working hard rather than looking good. Jackman says, "I'm not going to kind of spend too much time worrying about it either way, you know? It's - on some level, it's better than a kick in the teeth. "I'm sure in a year

ANZ Banking Group annual profit drops 11 percent, says bad debt cycle continues in 2010
SYDNEY, Australia — ANZ Banking Group Ltd. on Thursday reported an 11 percent fall in annual net profit, saying the bad debt cycle would continue into 2010. The Australian-based lender said net profit fell to AU$2.943 billion ($2.64 billion) in the 12 months to September 30, from $3.319 billion the previous year. However, cash earnings increased 12 percent to $3.383 billion, from $3.029 billion. Chief executive Mike Smith said while fiscal 2009 had been a difficult year for bad debts for...

P!NK Releases Live DVD & Bonus CD “Funhouse Tour Live In Australia”: PHOTO
P!nk's dazzling live concert is captured on the new DVD Funhouse Tour Live In Australia plus bonus live CD, OUT NOW via Jive. The DVD features P!nk performing her enduring hits from the past decade and songs from her fifth studio album Funhouse, which has sold over 5 million units worldwide. The concert was filmed entirely in HD in Australia where she sold out a record-breaking 60 shows. The performance will also be available on Blu-ray on Dec 8.

Mischa Barton in trademark battle with handbag company over her name
ACTRESS Mischa Barton has another enemy besides drugs, alcohol and an ailing TV career - an Australian handbag maker.  Barton is trying to trademark her name, signature and logo in Australia but Mischa Accessories in Queensland has other ideas. The Gold Coast-based handbag company opposed Barton's efforts to register her trademark with IP Australia, in a reversal of the David-and-Goliath legal stoush between US singer Katy Perry and Sydney Fashion designer Katie Perry earlier this year....

Jim Caviezel saving London in terrorist thriller
Sotheby's achieved a respectable result on Tuesday at its… More 5 hours 1 min ago Play video I'm A Celebrity line-up revealed 6 hours 16 mins ago Palin says Couric questions weren't unfair 7 hours 2 mins ago Aniston: Jolie was 'really uncool' 7 hours 39 mins ago Baz Luhrmann "up against it" to finish… 8 hours 17 mins ago Aniston calls Jolie behaviour "uncool" 9 hours 44 mins ago E

Baz Luhrmann Ads Propose Australian Tourism as Salve for Shattered American Lives [Untruth In Advertising]
Baz Luhrmann's boundless ambition may have met its match in a new pair of TV spots commissioned by Tourism Australia, an organization still reeling from its failure to entice international visitors two years ago with its bikini-clad representative scolding, "Where the bloody hell are you?" This time around, the tourism board opted for the more cheerful specter of an Aboriginal child whose fistful of fairy dust cures everything from burnout to bipolar disorder, all graphically allayed against the backdrop of

Battle Studies Release Show in Sydney & UK Dates Announced!
BATTLE STUDIES RELEASE SHOW IN SYDNEY! In keeping with the theme of John's album release shows, we're pleased to announce a special event in Sydney, Australia! That's right, John will be performing at the Metro Theatre in Sydney on November 5th in support of Battle Studies . Tickets for this show are being first offered to members of the johnmayer.com mailing list. JANUARY UK DATES ANNOUNCED! Lastly, thank you for those of you that have participated in the album pre-order for John's...

Baz Luhrmann's "Australia" snubbed in home film awards
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian director Baz Luhrmann's outback epic "Australia" was passed over on Wednesday for the top film awards in his home country, presented by the Australian Film Institute. "Australia," starring Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, failed to make the list of nominees for the AFI best film award despite high hopes for the $130 million 20th Century Fox movie, the most expensive ever made in Australia. Neither Kidman nor Jackman were among the nominations for...

Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Australia’ With Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman Gets Lost in Own Cinematic Outback
CHICAGO– Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and newcomer Brandon Walters star in Baz Luhrmann’s “Australia”: a sweeping, grand epic in the tradition of “Gone With the Wind” that gets away from its talented director, the writers he worked with and the team he hired to film his passion project.Luhrmann and co-writers Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood and Richard Flanagan take an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to adding elements of classic romance, historical epic, cultural statement and war movie

Huffpost Gets It So Wrong On Australia Shark Story, I Puked In My Mouth: PHOTO
Is you live outside of the Unites States, there's a part-myth about how dumb American's are when it comes to the rest of the world. It's not completely

Luhrmann filling in as 'Dancing' judge: PHOTO
Los Angeles, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Australian film and stage director Baz Luhrmann is filling in for judge Len Goodman on U.S. TV's "Dancing with the Stars" this week. Luhrmann's movie credits include "Strictly Ballroom," " William Shakespeare 's Romeo & Juliet" and "Moulin Rouge!" The BBC said he appeared on Monday's edition of the U.S. reality competition show and is expected to return for Tuesday's installment, as well. Goodman usually travels back and forth between Los Angeles and London where...

Got Milk? I'll Take Vicky and Cristina in Barcelona! My Faves From '08
It suddenly occurred to me just before I started grinding out my year-end summaries and 10-best lists that I have been engaged in this activity for a very long time. If my increasingly faulty memory is correct, this marks the 50th anniversary of my published 10-best lists, dating back to Jonas Mekas’ Movie Journal in The Village Voice sometime in 1958 or 1959 for the New York releases of 1958. Mr. Mekas kindly offered the hospitality of his column to a few of his colleagues, of whom I was one, even though

Australia refuses to accept Tamil refugees rescued in Indonesian waters: PHOTO
Australia and Indonesia are locked in a stand-off over 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who are refusing to leave an Australian customs vessel that rescued them last week.

Movie review: 'Australia' too big to be controlled
Up to now, no movie was big enough to hold director Baz Luhrmann's overflowing emotions -- not the maniacal jukebox of "Moulin Rouge!," not even Shakespeare's young lovers in "Romeo + Juliet." With "Australia," a grand epic set in Luhrmann's native country, Luhrmann finally should have found a subject as big as his use-every-crayon-in-the-box sensibility. Instead, the opposite happens: The massive panoramas of wild Australia suddenly make Luhrmann's wild flourishes look puny. The story begins in September

Martin McDonagh celebrates Irish eccentricities
">In this image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Aaron Monaghan and Kerry Condon are shown in a scene from Martin McDonagh's 'The Cripple of Inishmaan,' now playing at off-Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company in New York. (AP Photo/Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Keith Pattison)Associated Press NEW YORK - Ah, Ireland! Martin McDonagh can't say enough about the eccentricities of the Emerald Isle in "The Cripple of Inishmaan," the playwright's darkly hilarious and

'Royal Family' to Open as Scheduled Despite Tony Roberts's Absence: PHOTO
Boneau/Bryan-Brown Jan Maxwell and Tony Roberts in a scene from “The Royal Family.”

Beautiful Kate: PHOTO
The story of a family whose all too human mistakes lead to tragedy, recrimination, guilt and finally salvation. Told in parallel strands of past and present, the film recounts the sexual awakening of three siblings growing up in isolation, interwoven with the emotional journey of reconciliation between an estranged father and son.

'Royal Family' Sunday Matinee Canceled After Tony Roberts Fell Ill: PHOTO
Boneau/Bryan-Brown Jan Maxwell and Tony Roberts in a scene from “The Royal Family.”

Second trailer from Australia
A second full trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming epic film Australia has debuted yesterday. Fox is releasing the movie, starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Jack Thompson, Bryan Brown and

Australia: Trailer C
This romantic drama from Baz Luhrmann ("Moulin Rouge"), which is set in pre-World War II Australia, stars Nicole Kidman as an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch, and Hugh Jackman as the cattle driver who helps protect her property from greedy English cattle barons.

The cad is back: 'Pal Joey' returns to Broadway (AP)
AP – In this image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Stockard Channing and Matthew Risch are shown in a scene … NEW YORK – Nearly 70 years after an unrepentant cad named Joey Evans first graced a Broadway stage in "Pal Joey,"

Madden vs. Madden: Who'd You Rather?!: PHOTO
Nicole Richie's baby daddy Joel Madden ( left ) and Paris Hilton's ex Benji Madden ( right ) bro'd out at the same event in Australia on Tuesday. Question is ... See Also