His absence could be bad news for the box office, good news for local talent. Including local leaders. Steve Bracks, when you think about it, has that dark Bela Lugosi look. And I'll bet he cuts a fine figure in a cape. In or out of costume, the Premier should think some more about this project before talking it up even further.
Movies inevitably reflect on the city in which they're set.
Nobody realised this at the time, but it's clear now that the movie is a metaphor for the Sydney Olympics. In Melbourne, meanwhile, more than 40 years have passed since Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck came to town to make On The Beach. Yet there are still those who snigger about its appropriateness for an apocalypse. Locally produced films such as Malcolm gave them trams and skylines and gardens. Queen of the Damned will, I suspect, be all gloomy back alleys and turrets.