Take a wild, wily trip to Australia

Goofy. Corny. Often cheesy as you could possibly imagine. All those words could just as easily apply to Baz Luhrmann's "Australia" as they could in my book to the movie he set out to emulate, "Gone With the Wind." And in their own unique ways, they're both also often great.

With Luhrmann's flick, however, it takes more than a little while to get there. The first 20 minutes or so, necessary to set up all the story that Luhrmann wants to bite into here, is just about unwatchable. The fish-out-of-water jokes with Nicole Kidman are clearly the point but are just the worst kind of forced humor, and Hugh Jackman fares poorly in this intro too. You might be thinking "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.", but you'll be seeing and hearing something that just misses that mark by miles.

Once the cattle drive that makes up the first hour or so of "Australia" gets going, however, Luhrmann comes surprisingly close to creating just what he set out to do: Make the kind of old-fashioned, grand adventure we just don't get to see any more (and at a cost of $130 million and 165 minutes, we may never again!) Kidman and Jackman never quite gel enough to achieve the epic romance he was clearly going for, and the cliches are piled on without pause or shame, but it's still a rousing ride complete with a stampede that ends at the edge of a cliff (did I mention cliches?)

As this first chapter comes to a close we hit the first point where Luhrmann could have learned from "Gone With the Wind," at least when I saw the most recent re-release in the theater: Please use an intermission. As he panned out across the grand vistas of Oz, I was sure he was going to give my bladder a break, but alas it was not to be.

And if he were inclined to choose just one story line, it also could have been the place to end an entertaining if slight little flick, but Luhrmann has no interest in that here; on top of the cattle trade, he adds the bombing of Australia in World War II and, of course, Luhrmann being Luhrmann, the epic love story. You might be thinking that sounds like more than a bit much, but I can promise that once it got started I was never bored (and would have never looked at my watch if I ever bothered to wear one.)

Now, don't get me wrong. By the time he gets to the war in the third (at least) chapter, it's a rather sanitized vision of conflict. He makes the bombing of Darwin, Australia, simply a backdrop to explore his favorite themes of the joys of music and the power of love ("The Wizard of Oz" and, in particular, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" play a prominent and charming enough role here that I was able to forgive the anachronistic fact that the movie probably didn't arrive in Oz until at least a year after this flick was set.) And as cheesy as all that sounds, it's not "Moulin Rouge" on the battlefield, but it's never "Pearl Harbor" either.

I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but what made this last bit just work for me was the young Aboriginal actor Brandon Walters. He's the kind of cute kid with a cache of catch phrases (expect a lot of talk about "cheeky bulls") which I normally just can't stand, but I guess he and Mr. Luhrmann just caught me with all my cynicism in check. The kid's just great, as is David Gulpilil as his Aboriginal grandfather King George.

And that, I think, sums up in a nutshell just why I liked "Australia" so much. In a fall season that's been devoid of both movies for adults (at least in the wide-release realm where I dwell) and completely uncynical flicks, Luhrmann manages to deliver on both fronts, so check it out if you're in the mood for that kind of thing. In six days I'm planning to hit Atlanta for Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" and will hopefully find another charmer to really get fall rolling right.

The grand art of the epic movie

I have serous doubts that Baz Luhrmann's "Australia" will ever end up on this list, but I'm still fairly certain that any attempt to create the Australian "Gone With the Wind" should at least be maddeningly entertaining when I get to see it tomorrow (since Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire," getting perhaps the slowest rollout of all time, won't even hit ATL until next week.)

Even though I'm certain that most of the rest of the world surely has better things to do than sit in front of a computer on the day after Thanksgiving, I have to work a half day so I thought I'd spend a little time on this beforehand.

And before anyone point out that my definition of epic is just too loose to even be considered (or that I almost completely omitted war movies, which just aren't my cup of tea in general), remember that this is my list, so I make the rules. So, in honor of the return of Baz Luhrmann (surely a reason to cheer in my little corner of the world), here are my 10 favorite "epic" movies of all time. Please feel free to add any of the many, many, many I have omitted.

"The Godfather"
Though I certainly have respect for the "The Godfather: Part II," the inclusion on this list ends with the first movie, which is still simply the best movie about a crime family ever made (though you'll soon see another on this list too.)

"The Last Emperor"
There's so much to recommend in Bernardo Bertolucci's tale of Pu Yi, the titular last emperor of China, but what I enjoy most each time I go back and watch it again is the humor that comes in the proposition of handing the supposed reigns of a crumbling empire to a child. Priceless.

"Seven Samurai"
If the traditional epic has to have at least one hero, I'd argue (and be far from alone) that Toshiro Mifune's Kikuchiyo is still the best of the bunch. And though it brings me no pleasure whatsoever, it's still my duty to share that the IMDB still has a "Seven Samurai" remake listed with this rather ominous synopsis: A town in Northern Thailand recruits seven Blackwater-type paramilitary contractors from around the world to defend against an imminent attack. Don't get me started ...

Once Upon a Time in America
My parents surely wish I wouldn't share this story, but when I was 14 (old enough, probably) and my brother 11 (surely not), they took us to see Sergio Leone's rather amazing but more than occasionally tawdry gangland saga in the theater. We ended up leaving as Robert De Niro's Noodles was raping Elizabeth McGovern in the limo, a fact which still shames me to this day, because there are very few better American crime stories on film, if you're old enough to appreciate it.

"Apocalypse Now"
"The Deer Hunter" almost made this list too, but as far as Vietnam movies go this one is rightly heralded as the best because no other war movie showcases the futility and - of course - madness of war quite like it.

"Boogie Nights"
Paul Thomas Anderson drew what I felt was at least slightly more acclaim than he deserved for last year's "There Will Be Blood," certainly an epic American tale in its own right, but one that just left me a little cold. A well-made movie for sure, and both Daniel Day Lewis and an underrated Paul Dano were exceptional, but I'll take the fun of those tawdry "Boogie Nights" (and Don Cheadle selling stereo equipment in Western attire) every time.

"Bonnie and Clyde"
Though it at first comes close to romanticizing a truly notorious pair of criminals (and how could you not with Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty on board?), but by the end Arthur Penn manages to craft probably the best movie about America's obsession with violence. And just still a lot of fun to boot.

"Malcolm X"
If you haven't seen Spike Lee's "Miracle at St. Anna" yet, I'd still recommend watching it on DVD, even though it's a maddeningly uneven movie. It shows touches of Spike throughout, but they were all harnessed into a single movie three times: For "Do the Right Thing," "When the Levees Broke" and here, in the movie that still stands as the single biggest Oscar snub ever in my book.

"The Fifth Element"
As long as we've been hearing the name Luc Besson, I was amazed to find he only has 15 finished or coming feature films to his credit as a director (though tons more as a producer), four of which are in the "Arthur and the ..." children's series he's now fixated on. I can still remember seeing "The Big Blue" in a French movie theater and falling for it instantly, but this goofy space opera that combines just about everything I love in movies is still my favorite Besson flick (with "Nikita" and "Leon" getting a very stylish honorable mention.)

"Nashville"
For a story that takes place over just a few days in one city, the late Robert Altman's flick captures America in a certain time and place as well as any I can think of, and though his skill at weaving multiple story lines into a single quilt is often imitated, it's never been close to re-created. Rest in peace, Mr. Altman.

So, there you have it. Please feel free to add any that hold a place in your movie heart, and have a great weekend.