Australia

The Pitch: Nicole Kidman plays English rose Lady Sarah Ashley, who travels to the land Down Under to save the cattle ranch she inherited with help from a dreamy Drover, played by Hugh Jackman.

What it Really is: A self-impressed epic with grandiose vistas, flat characters, and a subplot about Native Australians and the Stolen Generations of children who were half-white and half-Aboriginal that serves to exoticise the people it means to humanize. Luhrmann and Kidman's work together on Moulin Rouge! was equally over-the-top, but it had a sense of humor. Also, Australia is way too f*cking long.

The Hook: Hugh Jackman's muscular torso and a few torrid scenes with Kidman.

My Mom's Opinion: I'm a chick-flick fan, so I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. Nicole Kidman was wonderful, as was Brandon Walters as Nullah, the orphan she adopts. I loved the cast, and I'd give four stars to Hugh Jackman for the shower scene alone. The movie gets three stars because it was too long. [ed note: My mom is horrified by my rating of 1.5 stars.]