Review: You can’t help but be swept up in this eye-popping visual feast that deserves its comparisons to great movies such as Gone With the Wind and Out of Africa.

Story: Australia is like no other movie this year – or even this century, for that matter. Its heart and soul live in conjuring up memories of the kind of epic movie they just don’t make anymore. The incomparable Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) proves nobody does this kind of thing better. The story begins just at the brink of World War II, as a prim and uptight Englishwoman Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels to the distant and uncharted Northern Territory of Australia in order to deal with her husband’s supposed infidelity. When she finds him murdered, however, the only way she can save their ranch Faraway Downs is to join a strapping “drover” (Hugh Jackman) in driving 1,500 head of cattle to the Australian port Darwin, where the military can buy them. Trying to interfere with their mission are the evil land baron, King Carney (Bryan Brown), and his henchman Neil Fletcher (David Wenham), who are determined to add her ranch to their collection. As inevitable romance rears its head, Lady Ashley must also protect a precocious aboriginal kid, Nullah (newcomer Brandon Walters), a half breed she is determined to adopt before he is turned over to the state for re-education. Meanwhile, the Japanese loom closer.

Acting: Luhrmann provides a grand showcase for a wonderful array of actors from Down Under, including Kidman and Jackman. Kidman, who has had a recent dry spell in films, is back in form as the rigid Brit, who is transformed by her visit. It’s the kind of role Katharine Hepburn did so well in movies like The African Queen. Newly crowned People magazine “Sexiest Man Alive,” Jackman lives up to the title, all brawn and bravado, the epitome of the rugged cowboy who becomes the dashing hero. Together, the two actors steam it up and redefine what it means to be a matinee idols. As the half-caste kid Nullah, 13 year-old Walters is a marvel and steals the show. Veteran aussie actors Brown and Wenham (Lord of the Rings) are properly menacing and hateful, while the group accompanying Jackman and Kidman are splendid, including: legendary Jack Thompson (Leatherheads) as the gregarious over-the-top Kipling Flynn; Drover’s aboriginal partner Magarri (David Ngoombujarra); and the mystical King George (David Gulpilil), Nullah’s grandfather, who seems to show up at the oddest times.

Direction: There can be no question Baz Luhrmann is the most flamboyant, old school director working today. After completing his Red Curtain Trilogy of musicals, including his Oscar-nominated Moulin Rouge, he goes above and beyond with Australia, throwing in everything – including the kitchen sink. Baz loves old movies and you can tell. Maybe more like Lawrence of Australia, this films is a mind-boggling wonder with epic scope and splendor. The spectacular CGI-driven cattle drive and the bombing of Darwin are all done in large strokes. He even throws in an homage to The Wizard of Oz that takes the film to the kind of sentimental heights fans will probably eat up. How contemporary audiences will react to this throwback to Hollywood’s heyday of big, brawny cinema is anyone’s guess, but the singular vision of Luhrmann is to experience Australia and fall in love with the possibility of grand movies all over again.

Bottom Line: Hollywood.com rated this film 3 1/2 stars.

Review: All decked out in awesome 3D animation, Bolt is hilarious and action-packed, the perfect holiday movie.

Story: Walt Disney animation’s first foray into 3D ’toon making isn’t just a technical triumph, it thankfully also tells the clever story of Bolt (John Travolta). He’s a superstar TV canine who believes the superpowers he displays weekly on his series are for real – especially when it comes to the protection of his master and co-star Penny (Miley Cyrus). One day, however, the dog is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City. Lost, alone and confused on the streets of the Big Apple, Bolt is still living the show, vowing to get to Penny who he believes has been kidnapped by the “green-eyed man.” And so he embarks on a cross-country journey to L.A. to save Penny. Along the way he is joined by an abandoned, wily housecat Mittens (Susie Essman) and a TV-loving hamster, Rhino (Mark Walton), who believes everything he sees on the tube is ALSO real. Of course, Bolt is in for a rude awakening when he finds out he is just a regular dog, but he still needs to get to Penny – even if it means she might not be there for him when he returns.

Acting: Disney is not a studio that generally depends on superstar voices for their animated films, but in casting Travolta and tween queen Cyrus, they have scored a bullseye. Travolta’s Bolt is a delightful cross between the self-assured superstar and a pooch in denial. The actor doesn’t phone it in but instead creates an original and loveable dog that stands proudly in Disney’s large canon of canine greats. The action scenes created for Bolt’s TV series are lots of fun and the interactions with his traveling companions are choice. As Penny, Cyrus is sympathetic, sincere, and she even gets to sing a duet with Travolta, “I Thought I Lost You,” which she co-wrote. The show is nearly stolen, though, by comedian Susie Essman (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) as Mittens – a smart, determined and emotionally wounded pet cat abandoned by her owners and forced to wander the streets alone. And by Mark Walton, as the hilarious Rhino, the obsessive fanboy hamster who rolls around in his ball. Walton is actually an animator in real life who happened to be so good at voicing Rhino during tests, they just gave him the job.

Direction: Disney vets Chris Williams and Byron Howard capably usher the venerable Disney label into the brave new world of 3D animation, and the results are promising – putting the audience right in the center of Bolt’s universe. The TV series action set pieces are particularly effective in using the technology. It’s not even necessary to see the film in 3D because the whole CG process has come a long way in a few short years, and Bolt is one of the best looking, most accomplished animated films in memory – glasses or no glasses. Williams and Howard expertly blend humor, pathos and blockbuster-style action scenes effortlessly giving Bolt an appeal beyond just the target kid demo.

Bottom Line: Hollywood.com rated this film 3 1/2 stars.