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Tag: Baz Luhrmann

  • Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix show ‘The Get Down’ gets its leading lady

    Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix show ‘The Get Down’ gets its leading lady

    MUMBAI: Following on the heels of Claire Danes, Nicole Kidman and Carey Mulligan, Baz Luhrmann has discovered his new leading lady, who will make her acting debut in The Get Down, Luhrmann’s new Netflix Original Series set to debut in 2016. 

     

    Herizen Guardiola will star as Mylene Cruz, a shining, tenacious girl with a voice from God who dreams of disco stardom from the confines of her family’s fiercely religious church walls. An 18-year-old singer/songwriter, Herizen will make her acting debut in The Get Down. 

     

    Says Luhrmann, “So many really talented actors were seen to play the lead female role of Mylene Cruz, daughter of Reverend Ramon Cruz and niece of Papa Filipe Fuerte Cruz in The Get Down. It’s always thrilling to find a fresh unknown talent, particularly one who is not only a terrific actor but a magnificent vocalist. The entire The Get Down team welcome Herizen Guardiola into our story.” 

     

    Previously announced cast members include Justice Smith, Shameik Moore, Skylan Brooks and Tremaine Brown, Jr. 

     

    The Get Down will focus on 1970s New York City – broken down and beaten up, violent, cash strapped – dying. Consigned to rubble, a rag-tag crew of South Bronx teenagers are nothings and nobodies with no one to shelter them – except each other, armed only with verbal games, improvised dance steps, some magic markers and spray cans. From Bronx tenements, to the SoHo art scene; from CBGBs to Studio 54 and even the glass towers of the just-built World Trade Center, The Get Down is a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco – told through the lives and music of the South Bronx kids who changed the city, and the world…forever. 

     

    Luhrmann, will direct the first two episodes and the season finale and serve as executive producer. The series is also executive produced by Catherine Martin, Paul Watters, Thomas Kelly, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Shawn Ryan and Marney Hochman. 

     

    The 13-episode music-driven drama from Sony Pictures Television will debut in all Netflix territories in 2016.

  • ‘The Great Gatsby’ leads Australian Academy nominations

    ‘The Great Gatsby’ leads Australian Academy nominations

    Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, based on F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, leads the nominees for the third annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) honors, scoring a total of 14 nominations in almost all categories, including best film and best director.

     

    The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan who have both picked up best acting nominations, while Joel Edgerton, Elizabeth Debicki and Isla Fisher are nominated in the supporting actor and actress categories.

     

    Other best film nominees include Satellite Boy from Catriona McKenzie, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this year; Ivan Sen’s Outback crime drama Mystery Road, and Tony Krawitz’ Greece-set drama Dead Europe.

     

    The 3rd AACTA Awards will be held on 20 January in Sydney.

  • Baz Luhrmann, Leonardo DiCaprio and Scott Fitzgerald to inaugurate the Festival de Cannes

    Baz Luhrmann, Leonardo DiCaprio and Scott Fitzgerald to inaugurate the Festival de Cannes

    It is on The Great Gatsby by Australian director Baz Luhrmann, that the curtain will rise at the inauguration of the 66th Festival de Cannes, on Wednesday 15th May, in the Grand Théâtre Lumi?re of the Palais des Festivals, out of Competition in the Official Selection.

    Adapted from the famous novel by American author Francis Scott Fitzgerald and set against the roaring twenties on the East Coast of the United States, the film depicts the romantic and tragic figure of Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), as narrated by his friend Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire). Carey Mulligan is Daisy Buchanan, whose husband is played by Joel Edgerton. This prestigious occasion will also be graced with the presence of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, as well as the American pop star, rapper Jay-Z.

    "It is a great honor for all those who have worked on The Great Gatsby to open the Cannes Film Festival. We are thrilled to return to a country, place and festival that has always been so close to our hearts, not only because my first film Strictly Ballroom was screened there 21 years ago, but also because F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside Saint-Raphaël."

    Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, the film was scripted by Baz Luhrmann and his faithful co-screenwriter Craig Pearce, based on Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel.

    The opening film will be screened in 3D – for the second time during the history of the Festival, following Up by Pete Docter, in 2009.
    On the same day the Festival gets underway – Wednesday 15th May – The Great Gatsby will also open in cinemas nationwide. Both in France and internationally, the film will be distributed in 2D and 3D by Warner Bros. Pictures and in certain regions by Village Roadshow Pictures.

    Born in 1962 in Australia, Baz Luhrmann has twice been honoured by the Festival de Cannes for Strictly Ballroom (Un Certain Regard in 1992) and for Moulin Rouge! at the 54th Festival, in 2001, at an opening which is unlikely to be forgotten any time soon.

    Leonardo DiCaprio (Jay Gatsby) has rarely been seen on the Croisette. He returns to Cannes for the first time since the 2007 presentation of The 11th Hour, a documentary on ecological issues which the actor himself produced.

  • BBC to air 400th episode of ‘Talking Movies’

    BBC to air 400th episode of ‘Talking Movies’

    MUMBAI: BBC World has announced that its film based show Talking Movies looks back over more than seven years of news, views and interviews this week to celebrate its 400th episode.

    The distinguished cinema correspondent Tom Brook hosts the show which began in 1999 and has been praised for its fresh approach to film by actors including Michael Caine and Russell Crowe and directors such as Baz Luhrmann. With reviews, in-depth interviews, and behind-the-scenes reports, Talking Movies is regularly filmed from New York with specials from Hollywood and the Cannes, Sundance and Toronto international film festivals. Tom is currently celebrating his 22 year of reporting on the US film industry for the BBC, and has attended every Academy Awards ceremony during this time.

    The BBC says tha Talking Movies has interviewed most of the big names in modern cinema. In this special anniversary episode, the Talking Movies team trawls its archives for some classic interviews featuring Michael Caine; Woody Allen; Julia Roberts; Terry Gilliam; Woody Harrelson; Lauren Bacall; Holly Hunter; Dame Judi Dench; Mike Figgis; Robert Redford; George Clooney; and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

    Brook says, “We try to be different from mainstream movies shows. We take a serious, independently-minded journalistic approach in our coverage that sets us apart from our competitors. Our reports have ranged from examining the role of the movie publicist to taking an in-depth look at the Indian film industry. I’m very proud of our programme. I am blessed with a dedicated team of talented picture editors, shooters and reporters who have enabled me to present each episode of Talking Movies since we began in January 1999.”

    BBC says that the show has earned respect from key industry players and has a growing number of fans around the globe. As well as endorsements from celebrities such as Martin Scorsese, Hugh Jackman and top Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, the team regularly receives emails from viewers in countries as far apart as Ghana, India, Israel, New Zealand and Singapore. It also has its own webpage at bbcworld.com/talkingmovies where viewers can watch the programme online.

    This special anniversary edition will transmit on BBC World from 8 November at 4 pm, 9 November at 9 pm and 10 November at 2 pm.