Check Out the International Trailer for Baz Luhrmann's 'Australia'

Apparently, our gift to you this Independence Day is movie trailers. We feature a lot as it is, but this makes three pretty big flicks in one day. You have to admit, it sure beats no money down no interest for 90 days on a new Subaru Impreza.I've been waiting for Australia for a long time. It might be premature to call Baz Luhrmann one of the world's great directors, but he's certainly ambitious, knows what he wants, and won't compromise on that vision. I think this is much preferable to an Alexander the Great epic, especially since Oliver Stone pissed in that well already. But Australia is epic, too, and in its scope and some of the thematic elements, it reminds me a lot of Giant, the underrated George Stevens film with Rock Hudson, Liz Taylor, and James Dean. Australia stars Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, as you might suspect from the above photo. It's from a gorgeous pictorial by Annie Leibovitz, and you can see more of those photos here. Just hearing the score (which I can't place, so feel free to help me) and seeing the level of detail in Luhrmann's well-shaped scenes indicates a huge passion on the part of the filmmaker, and more often than not, that kind of dedication can give you amazing results. Of course, it can also be damned frustrating as anyone who watched Terrence Malick's The New World would tell you, but I'd still rather have a director making a dream project every time out instead of an assignment, especially when they can do with film what Luhrmann can.This is a new international trailer for the film, and it has a few things I haven't seen before, plus you get those groovy French title cards and the overdubs. I said it might be too early to call him one of the world's great directors. It might be five months early.

Australia arrives November 14th.