If you would rather be Buried than watch Eat, Pray, Love...

So, I have recently returned from Egypt and I'm now spending a week or so in London and to my surprise what do I find? That Australian release dates are waaaay ahead of the UK! And here I was thinking it was the other way around. While we're apparently getting the freshest titles relatively quickly, the UK cinemas are playing flicks that were in Aussie cinemeas months ago. Months! I have a friend who works at Paramount in the UK and he informs me that because of the world cup all of the release dates got pushed back, which makes sense, but it still weirds me out a bit when I see posters advertising The Rebound over here. Anyway, one film that did not freak me out was the over-hyped Buried. Sure, it's still better than Julia Roberts (much as I love her) riding a bike over some bridge in Bali and finding herself but . . .well, let me make up your mind with my online video review HERE.

A-maze-ing

``You don't know me, but I know you. I want to play a game. . .'' These words were spoken by deranged serial killer Jigsaw in the first Saw movie as one of his many victims tried to find a way out of his horrific trap. It is a scenario not dissimilar to what brave punters will experience when they enter the Saw maze as part of Movie World's Fright Nights running throughout October on the Gold Coast, Australia.

But the Saw maze is just one third of the horrors in store, with A Nightmare On Elm Street and Psycho 3D mazes completing the experience. Combining cutting edge technology with haunted house theatrics, the mazes are the creation of Lynton V. Harris and his team of ghouls at Sudden Impact! Entertainment. Harris and his company have been bringing the biggest movie blockbusters to life for over a decade with live experiences created for hits such as Terminator, Van Helsing, The Mummy and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. He also took over New York's famous Madison Square Garden to create a massive horror maze titled Madison Scare Garden which sold more that a quarter of a million tickets.

It is no wonder the media have dubbed him the `scare master'. But for Harris, the best thing about his creepy creations is watching them take effect.
``Sometimes I will dress in black and just go to one of the mazes to watch people's reactions,'' he says.
``Everyone has a different scare barometer.
``I've see old ladies swear, tough guys who should have gone to the toilet before they went in and mothers push their kids in front of them.
``I've found over the years that laughter is one of the biggest reactions because after you're scared, you laugh.
``You laugh at yourself and you laugh at the person next to yous reaction.
``The thing about scaring people . . .the next big scare is always just around the corner.''

Harris says he understands `it's impossible to scare everybody' but his latest horror mazes are sure going to try. When designing them, Harris says he sat down and went through the films frame by frame.
``I look at the movies first with my production designer then we take key elements from within it.
``Like in Saw, one element that absolutely everyone knows is the bathroom scene.
``It's a game, the concept of Saw is a game, so you're never really sure what traps there are.
``It cool that such an iconic movie has its roots in Australia and although it's very Hollywoodised now, Australian audiences love to get scared by all of the things that go bump in the night.
``I want to be able to give the flavour and essence of the movie.
``Like in the killing scenes in A Nightmare On Elm Street where you see Freddy's hand ripping people apart.''

Although Harris' mazes are renowned for their high production values, they are just as notorious for their Scare School program. Actors are invited to audition and after being selected, they are put through an intensive workshop where they learn the fine art of scaring. Harris says around a dozen actors per maze are slipped into the attraction, waiting for the perfect moment to lurk out and deliver a fright.
``I would also like to have a few Danny's from The Shining on tricycles cycling around out the front and maybe some zombies on skateboards, but we will see what happens,'' says Harris.

Movie World's Fright Nights start on Friday, October 8 and run every Saturday night until Halloween weekend when they run Friday Oct 29, Saturday Oct 30 and Sunday Oct 31. Fright Nights run from 6 to 11pm and prices range.

Movie Mazz is taking a brief hiatus

Dear readers,

It is with great excitement that I inform you I'm taking a brief hiatus. Why? Well, in approximately 7 hours and 3 minutes I'm jumping on plane for a month long holiday. Yaaaaaaaaaaay! Destinations include Brunei, Egypt, UK and Ireland so needless to say my blogging time is going to be a tad restricted. BUT because I'm awesome and love you dearly, I have a bunch of stories up my sleeve which I will be posting over the next month. Roughly one a week, but rest assured, come November 1 I will be back with a vengenace.

Much movie love,

Movie Mazzupial x

Favourite movies with Daniel Alfredson

Just a few stories ago I interviewed Swedish director Daniel Alfredson about his films The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. Of course I also quizzed him on his favourite movies and this was his short, but sweet, answer:

"The simple answer is Stanley Kubrick, he is a favourite director of mine, I love most of his work and I tend to come back to most of his work often."

The Girl Who Played With Fire is out now and you can watch my video review of it here.

Monkey Business

Really, I just wanted an excuse to use this picture again.

CON-FREAKIN-GRATULATIONS to the folks at David Gould Studios on the Gold Coast. Head of the studio, David Gould, and his wife Agnes Gould have flown to New Zealand to start work on the $90 million Planet of the Apes prequel reboot, Rise of the Apes. Gould posted the news on Facebook and after getting the lo-down from Mediageek, I got in touch with the man himself. He said this is an email:

"Due to the confidential nature of the materials we can't work from the Gold Coast. I will be going back to WETA in New Zealand to be involved with the project. Initially just for three months then potentially longer."

For those of you playing at home, Weta Digital are the visual effects company co-owned by Peter Jackson. Gould worked with them previously as the 3D technical director/lighter on The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King and as the senior technical director on King Kong. Weta will again be responsible for doing the digital effects for the film, including digitally animated apes.Production on Rise of the Apes has already started at Mammoth Studios in Burnaby, Canada and the film stars James Franco, Freida Pinto and Andy Serkis (aka Gollum). It's being directed by Rupert Wyatt and the screenplay is by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who co-wrote The Relic and Eye For an Eye, both two of my personal favourites. Silver also penned The Hand That Rocks The Cradle.

Besides what information we already have, everyone is keeping the specific details on the film pretty close to their chest which is . . .refreshing! Call me crazy, but after the minty blast that was Inception, maybe less information isn't a bad thing. Anywho, for those of you living under a rock you can find out all about David Gould and his rad studio in my previous posts here and here. In the meantime, I raise my glass to you David Gould Studios.

Favourite Movie Friday with Mark Ronson

He is, in my opinion, one of the best and most inventive producers in the world. Mark `The Man' Ronson has the kind of resume that makes you feel inferior in every possible way and he and the Business International have a new album out today titled Record Collection. What better way to celebrate than with this exclusive look at his favourite movies of all time:

"My favourite movies? I have so many. I would say quite a few Woody Allen films, probably Annie Hall, Manhattan, Waiting for Guffman - a Christopher Guess film."

(when asked about why he likes Woody Allen films)

"I didn’t see them when I was a kid. Those movies have a romanticised ideal of New York and they’re from around the same time I moved there. That might be part of a reason why it strikes (a chord). It feels a bit warm and fuzzy in a way."

(More favourite of his movies….)

"American movie, a film doco about two guys trying to make a horror film on no money, and of course The Godfather and The Godfather II and Mean Streets. Oh and The King of Comedy is definitely one of my favourites, and Fargo."

His new album (below) is out today and trust me, it's sufficiently dandy.

Get rooted

It received a standing ovation when it closed the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year and now a critically-acclaimed French film shot in southeast Queensland is about to sprout in cinemas.

Writer/director Julie Bertucelli used a combination French and Australian crew on the production, including renowned French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (above) and Aussie rising star Tom Russell. It follows the story of an eight-year-old girl who is struggling to deal with the sudden death of her father. She soon becomes convinced that her father is speaking to her through the leaves of her favourite tree and he has come back to protect her family.

Bertucelli said although the story deals with death, it shows how grief can transport people to new places beyond their sadness.
"I think it is very interesting to see how when there are terrible things happening around you, you don't just have to be sad but that it is possible to take that and invent something else. . .to create something with that sadness, to try to be an artist with it,'' she said.

The film has been praised for its breathtaking cinematography and powerful performances, but the real stars are the towering Morton Bay Fig and Boonah country side. The Tree is released in cinemas on Thursday, September 30.

Fighting fire with fire

When Swedish filmmaker Daniel Alfredson started making the second film in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Played With Fire, he knew he was working with hot property.The books have become international bestsellers and the first film, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a global hit. With the inevitable Hollywood remake on the way and Oscar buzz surrounding actress Noomi Rapace for her portrayal of Goth hacker Lisbeth Salander, it’s hard to imagine there was ever any trouble getting the project off the ground. But that was not always the case according to Swedish director Daniel Alfredson (above).
“When we started out it was in such an early stage that the success of the novels wasn’t there yet,” he says.
“It was a Swedish project and our only hope to do it was to finance it as a TV series and then it also became the films.
“We worked with the same cast and crew during the same shoot, and we had two scripts – one for the show and one for the film.
“It was complicated and I haven’t ever done anything like that before.
“But on the other hand it was the only way to do it . . . we didn’t know that they’d be a huge success.
“We thought we could find an audience in Northern Europe and that that was the only thing we could manage.”

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo found an audience worldwide and, despite being in Swedish, took over $100 million at the global box office. Alfredson says although it came as `a surprise’ to him, others involved with the project were more optimistic.
“I know Niels Arden Oplev, who directed the first film, was very confident.
“He said to me `this is going to be huge and a big success’.
“But I was never that confident because Swedish is such a small language.”

If the hype surrounding the second film is anything to go by, it seems The Girl Who Played With Fire will be just as successful. The film delves deeper into the past and motivations of the film’s heroine Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and Alfredson says this is one of the many reasons he was drawn to directing it.
“The thing I loved about the books is the character of Lisbeth Salander, because when I read the novels in their very early stages I was fascinated by her,” he says.
“I hadn’t seen her before on screen.
“I was intrigued by her and her vulnerability, but she’s still being very strong.

"I fell for her.”
Alfredson says he and his leading lady Rapace (above) shared strong ideas about the character, who is one of the more original on screen heroines to date. He says Rapace was `fearless as an actress’ to take on the role of the bisexual, Goth, computer-hacker who has a dark and mysterious past.
“As you know, at the end of the second film Lisbeth’s stepbrother and father bury her and her hand shoots up out of the dirt as she climbs to the surface,” he says.
“We were filming that scene very early in the morning and it was cold and we only had 20 minutes to do it.

"So I said to Noomi that she should go home, go back to Stockholm and rest, we can get someone else’s hand to do it.
“She said to me `no, it’s Lisbeth’s hand, I’m playing Lisbeth so I’m going to do it, it has to be Lisbeth’s hand.’
“Then she crawled down into that tunnel and that’s actually Noomi’s hand you see in the film.
“She’s very determined and that’s the image I have of Noomi as an actress.”

Critics too have had that perception and already there is a flurry of talk surrounding Rapace’s chances for a best actress Oscar nomination. Although he has `no idea about how that stuff works’, Alfredson says it would be `fantastic’ if the Academy Award talk come to fruition.
“She would be worth it,” he says.

Alfredson also directs the third and final film in the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, which is to be released later this year. He says that as a fan of the books he has tried to stick with the sense Stieg Larsson creates in each saga of the story.
“I believe the first novel is a mystery drama in the way that it’s pace and the second one is more of an action drama.
“The third one is a courtroom drama and we have tried to show that with the dialogue and tried to speak to that when we were doing the film.
“It’s a way of being true to the novels.”

As for the novels, Alfredson (on set below) says it is a tragedy that author Stieg Larsson suffered a heart attack and died before he could ever see his works published and witness the phenomenon they have become.
“I think it’s so sad really.
“I never met Stieg.
“I read the novels before they were published, just a few months after his death.
“I wanted to ask him so many questions about the stories and about Lisbeth.
“I know he was writing a fourth novel and I’m curious to see what happened to Lisbeth and how the story goes.
“But I guess we will never know.”The Girl Who Played With Fire is out on Thursday, September 23.

Favourite movie Friday with Teresa Palmer

I interviewed delightful Aussie actress Teresa Palmer a few weeks ago about all of her juicy work and, of course, the Justice League debacle. Besides being surprisingly intelligent and very aware of the whole Hollywood trap, she was also quite funny and interesting to talk to. I say this because I haven’t been a huge fan of her past work, but after interviewing her I’m really quite impressed. Anyway, most importantly, we discussed some of her favourite movies. They are *drum roll please* -

"Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet and Labyrinth, from back in the day. They are two films that really connected with me. A film by Alfonso Cuaron called A Little Princess, I loved that when I was younger. American beauty is a classic and Girl Interrupted, Angelina Jolie’s performances is amazing."

Palmer's latest flick The Sorcerer's Apprentice is out now.

Stop, drop and roll

In April audiences were first introduced to one of modern cinemas most powerful and captivating heroines - Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Now, only a few months later, Lisbeth is back and being framed for murder in The Girl Who Played With Fire.
This is the second film in The Millennium Trilogy based on Stieg Larsson's hugely popular novels and continues to follow the tone and pace of the books.

After using her computer hacking skills to make off with millions of dollars from corrupt business man Hans-Erik Wennerstrom, Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) is living abroad on an exotic island. She quietly returns to Sweden where journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is investigating a sex-trafficking ring that soon begins to link to Lisbeth's past. But after being accused of a brutal double murder, Lisbeth goes on the run while Blomkvist works to clear her name before she takes justice into her own hands.

While the trilogy continues the story of Lisbeth in detail, each book has a different tone. For instance, the first is a thrilling drama, the second an action drama and the third, a courtroom drama. Director Daniel Alfredson maintains that formula to great effect, pumping in more action, big-budget thrills and violence into this second outing. The intelligent story also remains intact, however, what is missing is the subtle use of suspense and building-dread which made The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo such a brilliant piece of filmmaking. That's not to say there isn't plenty to impress the viewer this time around. Alfredson has made a fantastic, edge-of-your-seat movie that is powered by the Oscar-worthy performance of Rapace and a strong supporting cast in Nyqvist, Yasmine Garbi, Lena Endre and Hans Christian Thulin. In a nice touch that stays true to the book, Swedish ex-boxer Paolo Roberto plays himself as a friend and former training partner of Lisbeth. Did I mention he’s delicious? Well, he is.

But this film is all about Rapace, who continues to bring this fiery and original heroine to the big screen in a way that has enthralled audiences worldwide and launched her international career. The Girl Who Played With Fire doesn't quite live up to the first film, but it's a worthy sequel that gets close enough.

It is out in cinemas next Thursday, September 23 and stay posted for my exclusive chat with director Daniel Alfredson next week.

Today's forecast is shite, with a chance of Charlie St. Clouds

As Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron) and his younger brother Sean (Charlie Tahan) sail past the competition to win the local Yacht race, the awe-struck Tess (Amanda Crew) mutters "God that boy is good" from her second place-getting boat. If that scene does not set up the tone of the movie for you, then perhaps the two brothers hugging and celebrating against a sunset background will.But the Kodak moment is soon shattered when Charlie is driving Sean to a friends' and they are hit by a drunk driver. Sean dies in the car accident and it looks like Charlie will too when he flat lines in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. But the power of Ray Liotta's terrible acting as the paramedic brings him back to life.

Fast forward five-years and Charlie is now the undertaker at the local cemetery which, for some reason, is full of attractive young workers. His near-death experience has given him the ability to communicate with ghosts, including Sean whom he practises baseball with every afternoon. Tess is now a fully-fledged Jessica Watson wannabe and preparing to sail solo around the world. She still has a crush on Charlie, despite her coach assuring her he's "certifiable." But alas, somehow the two crazy kids bond, flirt and try to make it work. That is until Charlie's sixth sense starts to get in the way.After period dramedy Me and Orson Welles, this is another attempt by former Disney star Zac Efron to make the cross over into more serious roles. He does okay. He cries, he pouts, he smoulders, he broods and he takes his shirt off more than once which is everything an Efron fan could ask for. In fact, his lack of a shirt almost gets to the Jacob Black-level of ridiculous. For instance, the filmmakers manage to find a way for Efron to be shirtless and wet as he dives into the freezing water to rescue his love interest while one of the supporting characters can be heard yelling out in the background "it's ice cold Charlie, you'll freeze." Hypothermia be damned.
There is nothing about his performance that alludes to promise as a mature actor, but there is nothing that condemns him either. The big problems are created by director Burr Steers, whose past credits include 17 Again and the underrated Igby Goes Down. Steers is desperately trying to create a Nicholas Sparks tear-jerker crossed with The Ghost Whisperer. So be prepared for laughable dialogue, sickly sweet sentiments and more sunsets than you can stomach. Charlie St. Cloud is the kind of film where director Burr Steers cares more about making his leading man look like a Ken doll in a watercolour painting, than key elements like logic or plausibility. Let’s not even start with the necrophilia undertones.

Charlie St. Cloud is out on Thursday, September 23.

Wonderous Wednesday edition of Favourite Movies

That’s right, although Friday Favourite Movies might be catchier I’m going to save Teresa Palmer’s choices for the end of the week and bring you a director’s double up now. By that I mean the favourite movies of Oscar nominee and Boy director Taika Waititi and the man with the number one movie in the country at the moment, Stuart Beattie. For those of you playing at home, said movie is Tomorrow, When The War Began, which looks likely to make its budget back within the first month of Australian and New Zealand release.

Anywho, I spoke to both of the lads recently and here is what they had to say about their fave movies:

Taika Waititi -"My favourite period is 70s cinema. I love Korean cinema and a little bit of Japanese. I'm not really into my French films, perhaps a little of the British films but not really. But I'm mainly into Korean at the moment. I’m sure it's just the kind of filmmakers you would expect me to be into based on how my films are made. People say `oh, you must love Wes Anderson' and I do, but his films are way more stylish than mine. I like anything that's original. The only thing that I've seen recently that I really liked was The Hurt Locker."


Stuart Beattie -
"Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, Jaws, Jerry Maguire, Scent of a Woman, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, anything James Cameron, even the documentaries, Tootsie, The Fugitive, Die Hard, Ghost Busters, Back to the Future, Beauty and the Beast."

It's Avatarted

The Last Airbender is based on a popular children's cartoon on Nickelodeon titled Avatar: The Last Airbender and it is a shame it didn't stay in two dimensions. Writer, director and producer M. Night Shyamalan brings the big screen version to audiences in 3D with what he hopes will be the first in a trilogy. Fingers crossed this series begins and ends with one.

The film is set in a world where various groups of people have the ability to manipulate the natural elements; Earth, Air, Fire and Water. But most of this world is controlled by the tyrannical Fire Nation and all other `benders' of the elements have either been enslaved or exterminated. The only person who can restore balance is the Avatar; the latest reincarnation of a long line of warriors who can control all of the elements. But the Avatar has not been seen in over 100-years and most have lost hope of him ever returning. That is until consistently exasperated Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) accidentally come across an ice cube with the Avatar inside: 12-year-old Aang (Noah Ringer) (above). With the powers combined, Aang is like a miniature Captain Planet complete with Chopper Read's tatts.

They take him back to their village and after a bizarre discussion about responsibility; Katara and Sokka speak to their Grandmother who advises them "It is in the heart that all wars are won.'' How effective their `hearts' are against a flame-wielding army soon becomes the question and the trio make for Aang's home on his flying Beaver creature (below). Once he discovers that the temple of Air bending monks he was brought up by have been executed by the Fire Nation, Aang and the siblings decide to start `a revolution' by restoring power to the people and defeating the Fire Nation. Unfortunately this isn't the fun kind of revolution, with the burning of bras and rock music. This is the kind filled with bad acting, shakey direction, an uncomfortable flow and the most useless 3D in recent times. The film could have just as easily been in 2D and it would have made no difference whatsoever. What would have made a difference is casting a group of young actors who can actually act. Twilight star Rathbone looks so uncomfortable and constipated throughout the movie, that when he utters the word `wow' you can almost see his whole body tremble with concentration. Ringer sounds like he is reading his lines most of the time while Peltz' constant indignation would put any schoolyard brown-noser to shame. The only actor who emerges unscathed is Slumdog Millionaire alumni Dev Patel as one of the most interesting characters, Prince Zuko, the exiled son of the Fire Lord (far below).

The special-effects are cool, but there is only so much water-throwing and dust-blowing you can take before it gets boring and the oh-so-not-subtle environmentalist theme becomes irritating. Visually there is nothing to fault, but there are so many other flaws with The Last Airbender that you are not paying attention to the surrounds. For example, the moment when Prince Zuko calls to his uncle, yet his mouth doesn't move or when the camera pans around during an action scene and Sokka is seen waiting for his queue to do a stunt. On top of that you have what feels like a make-it-up-as you go storyline and a random voiceover that occurs in the last third.

The comedy that lights-up the cartoon series is completely non-existent in the big screen version, with everything taken seriously and straight-faced. When the film finally comes to an end, the conclusion is so abrupt and unexpected you are left thinking `oh, I guess that's it then?' At the start we are told the adventures we are about to witness are Book One: Water. Let's just hope the remaining books stay on the shelf.

The Last Airbender is out next Thursday, September 16. P.S. As a side-note, I’m one of those three film critics who actually defended M. Night Shyamalan over his last two movies because I quite enjoyed them and didn’t think they were bad at all. And yes, that includes The Happening. So when the media ruckus started about how bad The Last Airbender was I thought it was the press just taking another opportunity to poke the angry bear. Oh, how Shyamalan is such an entertaining bear to poke, considering he refuses to see any flaws or alternate points of view. However, this is truly a piece of shit. How the hell could he have let it out of editing suite in this shape? To back-track further, how could he have cast these actors? Seriously!

Creed is good

They say good things come in threes and that is certainly the case with British kidnap thriller The Disappearance Of Alice Creed. The film is shot in three locations and has only three actors; former Bond girl Gemma Arterton (above), Martin Compston and Eddie Marsan. It opens with former crims Benny (Compston) and Vic (Marsan) meticulously preparing an apartment to hold their kidnap victim Alice Creed (Arterton). Once abducted and chained to a bed in the apartment, Creed is repeatedly humiliated by her captives and forced to make a plea to camera begging her rich father to give the men the $2 million ransom they are demanding.

On the surface The Disappearance Of Alice Creed sounds like your standard kidnap caper. But within 15 minutes writer/director J Blakeson is throwing more twists at you than the Col de Turini. He clearly has a very dark sense of humour and he has laced this intense film with black comedic moments. Blakeson has made an astounding first feature and he squeezes every bit of potential out of his story with the minimalist camera work and competent performances. Arterton is especially captivating, despite spending a large portion of the movie topless and chained to a bed.

Yet it is Blakeson who emerges as the true star in this gritty, unpredictable and raw thriller that will have you second-guessing your assumptions again and again. For instance, what you could assume about his attitudes towards women the first half, dramatically begin to evolve in the second as the short and sweet flick powers toward a `Final Girl’-esque ending.

The Disappearance Of Alice Creed is out now.

Palmer lights up Hollywood

They say when one door closes, another one opens and that was certainly the case when George Miller's Justice League movie was cancelled just a few weeks into rehearsals. Adelaide actress Teresa Palmer (above) was to play super villain Talia al Ghul in the superhero mash-up alongside Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman. Although she was `devastated', the weeks in rehearsal gave her the opportunity to bond with American actor Jay Baruchel, who is best known for roles in Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder.
``It was fortunate for me because I got to know Jay. . .and when we did a chemistry test for The Sorcerer's Apprentice we had already worked together and I got the part,'' says the 24-year-old.
``It's very surreal actually; I never expected to be in a Jerry Bruckheimer film starring across from Nicolas Cage.''

The film sees physics nerd Dave (Jay Baruchel) recruited as the new apprentice to master sorcerer Balthazar Blake (Cage) in a battle to save New York City from the evil Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Palmer plays Dave's love interest, Becky, and says the shoot was a unique opportunity to get to know some Hollywood heavyweights, especially Cage.
``Nic is very intriguing person, he has so many layers to his personality - he's funny, delightful, interesting, quirky and so off the beaten track,'' she says.
``And he's just a funny character because he's really intense and quite humourous, and can be quite serious.''

It is the third big Hollywood role for Palmer, after The Grudge 2 and Bedtime Stories, as well as parts in Australian films such as 2: 37 and December Boys alongside Daniel Radcliffe. She says her growing popularity overseas is largely thanks to the work of other Australian actors.
``Americans have really embraced the Australians,'' she says.
``It might have something to do with the wonderful actors before us like Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, and Naomi Watts, who helped paved the way because they were so focussed and wonderful in their work.
``It opened the doors for us.''

Doors are continuing to open for Palmer, who just finished shooting romantic comedy Kids In America (alongside boyfriend Topher Grace) and the Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg produced blockbuster I Am Four. Set on Earth, the alien action film is new territory for Palmer, who says she got to do her own stunts and `play an alien who kicks major bad-alien butt'.
``We're getting pursued by the bad aliens, but my character is sick of running away so she turns around and the hunters become the hunted.
``I got to do my own stunts and I had someone film this one amazing stunt I did.
``I was attached to a harness which was attached to a 60 foot crane and when they said action I had to run and the harness, that was attached to just my leg, would pull me back and I would go flying 60 feet up in the air.
``I had to act like this huge alien, a Piken, was pulling me up and I would be kicking and screaming and trying to stab it with this dagger.''
Palmer is set to make a return to Australian film when she stars alongside Joel Edgerton in Nothing To Say, which begins filming later this year. In the meantime, she is travelling to Africa with charity organisation The Happy Africa Foundation to film a documentary on their work at an orphanage.The documentary will be Palmer's directorial debut, but that doesn't mean she's giving up acting anytime soon.
``Directing, well I'm so interested in filmmaking and philanthropic and this is a nice way to merge it all together,'' she says.
``I'm going to dip my toes in the water with it and hopefully I will be good at it, but I always want to keep acting.
``I'm so ecliptic in every aspect of myself, in my clothes, my taste of music and my taste of film, that I'm all over the shop.
``I love comedy, action, romance, drama, I don't have one specific genre and by being willing to try anything it keeps you mentally stimulated.
``Hopefully I will be able to keep doing that with my career.''

Speaking of career, Hollywood is the graveyard for many a promising young star, with fame and fortune corrupting the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Kirsten Dunst and Winona Ryder, to name a few. But Palmer, who has been based in Los Angeles for several years now, is keeping her feet firmly on the ground.
“Hollywood can be a very addictive drug and it can be a very dangerous world,” she says.
“There are ways to avoid it and sympathise with actors who have peaked early then spiralled out of control.
“It’s an easy thing to happen if don’t have good judgement and aren’t protected by your managers and agents.
“For me it’s surreal to meet these actors and filmmakers that you’ve looked up to for so long.
“I recognise how lucky and blessed I am and I would never take it for granted.
“It keeps me grounded, especially in Hollywood when there is so much temptation.”

It would be easy to let all the recent success go to her head, but Palmer says her friends help her keep a grasp on reality.
“I don’t let work define who I am,” she says.
“I have work and then I have my life.
“I find it relatively easy because I only work for six months of the year then you have rest of time off hanging with friends.
“When I’m working I stay in touch with them through Skype.
“As soon as they call action I’m creating a character, but when they call cut, I go home and I step back into myself.
“A lot of actors do method acting and that doesn’t really work for me.
“I just try to switch off at the door and when I come home for the day I be myself and enjoy life.”

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is out on Thursday. You can watch my video review of the film HERE. Note how I have fulfilled my journalistic ambitions by slipping in the phrase `bat-shit crazy’. Hooray!

For your viewing (dis)pleasure

You have been pining for it and now, TA DA, I bring you my video review of The Other Guys here. If you don’t get some enjoyment out of watching me squirm Lindsay Lohan in a courtroom, then you have no soul. Also, you can read my exclusive interview with Mark and Will here, or you can watch a video of my red-carpet coverage here and for assorted The Other Guys news click here, here and here.

The Other Guys opens on Thursday.

Something borrowed, something blue

The term `New Zealand romantic comedy' isn't one you hear often, but Kiwi actor Ryan O'Kane says he hopes it is something people will start to get used to. He stars in Second-Hand Wedding, which falls into the above genre and opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday.
``It's a bit like The Castle, it's very heart-warming,'' he says.
``The two countries, New Zealand and Australia, are very similar in the sense I know they both seem to enjoy each other's films.
``This is one of New Zealand's first forays into the family romantic comedy and I think people will really enjoy it.
``It was such a fun project to be a part of and there are some really beautiful performances.''

Second-Hand Wedding sees Cheryl (Holly Shanahan) and her boyfriend Stew (O'Kane) tying the knot, but Cheryl's mother Jill (Geraldine Brophy) could ruin the wedding with her insatiable bargain-hunting. O'Kane says the film is filled with a lot of `nice family moments' which is a relief for his relatives who went along to see it.
``I've had some trouble with some of my roles because I did a few television shows in New Zealand and I may have forgot to mention a few explicit scenes to people who were watching it,'' he says.
``My brother was sitting in between my mum and dad watching it and it was very awkward, he had to excuse himself to get a cup of tea and get out of there.''

O'Kane currently has a recurring role in Australian cop drama City Homicide, with his first episode screening on Wednesday, and says it has been fantastic to play `a regular character'.
``I've been shooting with them since March as one of the leads,'' he says.
``It's amazing and has such a strong cast with likes of Shane Bourne and Noni Hazlehurst.
``It's always been a dream since I was a little boy to run around with a gun and badge, kicking doors in.''

O'Kane says he finishes up on City Homicide in November and will then work on several film and TV projects.
``It's exciting because there's so much happening in the Australian film and TV industry at the moment, there's a lot of options.''
You can check out the Second-Hand Wedding trailer below.

The scales of Justice League

It would have been the Aussie movie that brought together Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman on the big screen. But Justice League's supervillain was the Global Financial Crisis which wiped the project out just weeks before shooting was about to get underway. Australian actress Teresa Palmer has spoken out about the film, in which she was to star as one of the villains.

Currently back in the country to promote her new film Sorcerer's Apprentice, with Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel, Palmer said the cast were devastated about the failed project.
``I know Megan Gale had even got to try on her Wonder Woman costume and it was the same with the Batman and Superman costumes,'' she said.
``I played a villain so I didn't get to start trying on my costume, but we were all in Sydney rehearsing for a few weeks.
``It was fortunate for me because I got to know Jay (Baruchel) who was also playing a villain and when we did a chemistry test for the Sorcerer's Apprentice we had already worked together and I got the part.''

Australian filmmaker George Miller, best known for the Mad Max franchise, was directing the project which is based on DC Comics series of the same name. It sees prominent superheroes within the DC universe unite to fight crime.The film would have included characters such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Green Lantern. Palmer said she was to play supervillain Talia al Ghul and that like the storyline in the comics, there was a love interest between her and Batman.
``There were a few romantic sparks (in the script),'' she said.
``It would have been great because Batman was played by the strikingly handsome Armie Hammer.
``It was very disappointing and I would still love to be involved in it if something ever did happen again.''The Justice League cast included a batch of relative unknowns in the roles, including supermodel Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, rapper Common as Green Lantern, OC alumni Adam Brody as The Flash, D.J Cotrona as Superman, Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman, Hugh Keays-Byrne as Martian Manhunter, Palmer (above) as Ghul and Baruchel as unknown villain.

Now that Marvel Studios have got Buffy creator Joss Whedon working on an Avengers movie, rumours have been circulating that Justice League might go back into production. Palmer said if Miller and the same studio were involved, she would not hesitate to rejoin the project.
``It was an amazing role,'' she said.
``I got to know George quite well and we did some intense workshops and got to spend a lot of time together.
``It was amazing to spend time with him because he's such a veteran and a prestigious filmmamker and an icon in Australia.
``It was flattering to be working with him so closely.''

Palmer said they discussed working together on his fourth Mad Max film Fury Road but `unfortunately' she was not able to do it due to scheduling conflicts. Mad Max: Fury Road too has hit financial difficulties and although filming was supposed to begin in Australia this year, it has been pushed back to February, 2011. In the mean time, stay poised for full interview with Palmer coming in the next few days and her tell-all about Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay produced alien-actioner I Am Number Four.