Posterized: "Mad" George Miller, an Australian Oddity
Friday, May 15, 2015 at 3:00PM George Miller, the 70 year old director reportedly putting much younger action directors to shame with Mad Max: Fury Road, hails from Australia and he's never quite left. He never went full Hollywood so to speak or, at least, his movies retained their oddity even when he did (Witches of Eastwick). Speaking of odd. His only Oscar is for Best Animated Feature though that's hardly what he's known for.
My favorite peculiarity about his filmography is that you can neatly divide it into three consecutive parts... at least until he comes circling back to Mad Max this very weekend.
- Mad Max
- Susan Sarandon
- Talking Animals
How many have you seen?
* Strictly speaking he has two other directorial credits but one of them is only a segment in an omnibus film (Twilight Zone: The Movie) and the other is one of those title only outliers that you just kind of have to trust IMDb that it exists at all
Reader Comments (14)
I say put his hands together-let's see a Mad Max film with Susan Sarandon that involves talking animals. I would pay a solid amount of money to see that.
Sarandon's reaction to being gossiped about in Witches is everything.
Seen all except Fury Road.
No Susan Sarandon and no talking, but a dog and lots of pigs were featured rather prominently in the original Mad Max trilogy. As a last resort, I think Mel Gibson would qualify as a talking animal, so we do get two out of three in the first three films.
Let's talk about Lorenzo's Oil.
Or more specifically, let's talk about the child performance in that movie. According to Academy and cinematic history, that actor should've been a slam dunk for a Best Supporting Actor nomination. I always felt like the radio silence from awards bodies (including Young Artist and Young Star Awards) was tacit acknowledgement that that little boy was aggressively bad.
I would love to see George Miller take on one of these superhero franchise pictures. He would definitely bring some artistry and perspective to the tired concept. He could change the cinematic landscape with one fell swoop.
PS Just saw a blurb that they're going to reboot Spidey again. Holy shit.
I've seen 3.5. I found Babe: Pig in the City unbearable and turned it off. It traumatized my boy.
John T -- BRILLIANT. let's kickstart it.
I've seen 5. I think I must have seen The Witches of Eastwick like 14 times.
I would say that Lorenzo's Oil is one of the few movies that doesn't sugar code the shitstorm that a serious illness causes in a family. I respect that. Sarandon gives a spectacular performance. Plus, it was my introduction to two of my favorite ladies, Laura Linney and Margo Martindale.
I've seen The Witches of Eastwick, Lorenzo's Oil, Babe-Pig in the City and Happy Feet.
I loved The Witches of Eastwick (Sarandon is my MVP there), Lorenzo's Oil was quite moving, but I'm not a fan of the second Babe movie and Happy Feet is my least favorite Animated Oscar win ever.
I'm not really interested in any Mad Max movie, but that could change.
I've seen them all except for Fury Road. Pretty sure Babe: Pig in the City is my favorite of the bunch, a perverse, nightmare refraction of the first film.
Miller is a longtime favorite - the dude absolutely has no fucks to give, does his own thing every time, even when wasting tens of millions of studio dollars (see aforementioned pig movie) in the process, and has delivered some of most indelible imagery of my lifetime.
All, but, gawd, I hated Happy Feet, and really hated Happy Feet Two and Babe-Pig in the City so so SO much. Except for the fact I love Tom Hardy in everything and appreciate Charlize Theron's bad-assness, and enjoy car chases, I would never rush out to see Fury Road. That trailer is awesome but I think it may give away too much.
5 of 'em. No interest in the Happy Feets and Lorenzo's Oil and seeing the new Mad Max next week.
7.2 which is the highest proportion I have ever seen in posterized. No Lorenzo's Oil and part of Pig in The City.
Pam,
If you thought the Fury Road trailer was awesome, then try it for two hours on the big screen. It is about the action and visuals not plot, so nothing to give away.
Someone mentioned a superhero franchise ... Miller was all set to make Justice League about 7 years ago. It was written, cast, pre-produced and then it fell apart. Interestingly it was going to feature both Hugh Keays Byrne aka Toecutter and Megan Gale, who wound up in Fury Road. What if eh?
Also, I know it's not film but Miller's other part is Oz TV. As a kid growing up in the 80s in Australia it seemed like half our dramas were Kennedy Miller productions, usually starring either Nicole Kidman or Hugo Weaving. TV has been a significant part of his career - he did it after Mad Max and went back to it after being scarred by Hollywood on The Witches of Eastwick.