Do Reviews Have an Expiration Date?
I’m on a tear on this blog lately, and if I keep it up, I may actually meet my New Year’s resolution to blog more, maybe even a post a day, if you can believe it.
In that vein, I’ve been meaning to start posting my “now on video” reviews ever since I subscribed to Netflix and started catching up on all the movies I haven’t seen in the theater since we had a kid and stopped going to the movies. So here we go, short and sweet, one review per post, starting with my most recently viewed and going backwards.
Review: Australia
MightyThor’s Rating: 3 / 5 Didgeridoos
We watched Australia just a few nights ago, and it was pretty good. It wasn’t anything earth-shattering for good or ill, but I enjoyed it all right. Hugh Jackman was good, as was Nicole Kidman, especially once her character evolved past the stereotypical headstrong, obnoxious noble-born Brit. The Aboriginal kid Nullah really stole the show, but that was cool; the writers did right by him with his unique manner of speech, so he was fun to watch. I thought they played his part up just right, without overplaying it in a movie that would be classified as a saga, where everything is meant to be very Gone With the Wind-esque in its emotional impact.
I thought the film was pretty visually interesting too, fitting a certain style that seemed appropriate to the era depicted and the vision Baz Luhrmann was shooting for. It did have its own sense of high-mindedness about the treatment of the Aboriginal people, which was pretty much a backdrop to the story, but I didn’t feel so hit over the head with it as I might have, which was good. So all in all, I’d say I liked it. I wouldn’t run out and buy it, but I wouldn’t recommend against watching it either.
