1. Watch Out for David Michôd
Australia has long fought above its cinematic weight, delivering to the world a wealth of film talent disproportionate to its small population. The “World Cinema” section of next year’s Sundance will unveil “Animal Kingdom,” the debut feature of the latest Aussie A-list director in the making: David Michôd. I visited the Melbourne set earlier this year was mightily impressed by Michôd’s vision for his crime drama, which stars Guy Pearce, Ben Mendelsohn and newcomer James Frecheville. Confirming Michôd’s wide-ranging talent, he also wrote “Hesher,” Spencer Susser’s directorial debut, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman, and which premieres in Sundance’s main competition. To get a measure of their talent, watch their collaboration, zombie-short “I...

1. Sam's Boots Were Made for Walking
With just a month to go until “Avatar” makes him one of the biggest -- and bluest -- stars in the movie world, Sam Worthington's having himself a fun victory tour of his native Australia. This week he was named “Man of the Year” by the Down Under version of GQ magazine and lauded at the Inside Film Awards. Showing he's keeping it real, Sam wore his “lucky” old workboots -- the ones he kept on during the entire “Terminator Salvation” shoot -- to both the magazine's glittering function and the awards show and after-party. When a paparazzi called him on it, the rising star's response was colorful. “Mate, f---ing ease up, f---ing take it easy, or that's the last pic you get,...

1. 2012 = BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

Roland Emmerich’s mega disaster mash-up does exactly what it says on the tin. His puree job of every end-of-the-world movie ever made – with big dollops of “Airport," “The Poseidon Adventure” and “Titanic” thrown in for good measure – is spectacular and a terrific popcorn entertainment. It’s also one of the best comedies of 2009, although it’s open to debate how intentional the laughs are.

http://www.empireonline.com.au/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=135843

Not sure about a TV series spin-off, though, unless it can star Tina Fey and...

1. Rockwell for Oscar
If you’ve seen “Moon,” you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, you should and then you will. Rockwell’s lunar performance is stellar in one of the best-reviewed films of the year. Writer-director Duncan Jones, the man behind this sci-fi masterpiece -- which is all the more welcome for having emerged in a year of giant effin’ robots and salivating terminal cases -- has thrown his weight behind a grassroots campaign to get Rockwell Oscar-nominated. “If you stare at the graphic we’ve done up for a while, you kinda get hypnotized,” he laughed this week. “You can hear the voice, ‘Vote Sam.’” ...