Australia: Nov. 26
Like Julie Taymour and Julian Schnabel, Baz Luhrmann has a visual panache. Regardless of what you thought of his Romeo + Juliet music video/film (incidentally, why didn't Harold Perrineau get nominated for an Oscar?) it was at least pretty. Here he re-teams with his Moulin Roughe muse, Nicole Kidman, to tell the tale of an aristocrat and her WWII romantic dalliance with a grizzled cattle driver (Hugh Jackman). Late period Kidman (i.e. post-Maverick Kidman) is typically solid, Jackman is underrated, and Luhrmann is Australian, so that's something. Look for Darwin to get bombed, facial hair to go unattended, and dresses to rumple. Also, look for me on opening day, drinking tasty cola and eating gummy bears. -S.T.