Haven't we all at some point in time fantasized about stepping through a cinema/TV screen and into the world of our favourite movies and television shows? I certainly have!

With its modern, urban setting and stunning harbour, it is easy to see why Sydney leads the way as an ideal and versatile shooting destination. Movies shot here have been set in New York (Godzilla: Final Wars, Kangaroo Jack), Chicago (The Matrix and sequels), London (Birthday Girl), Seville (Mission Impossible 2), Bombay (Holy Smoke), Darwin (Australia), Myanmar (Stealth), Mars (Red Planet) and the fictitious city of Metropolis (Superman Returns, Babe: Pig in the City).

Whether popular landmarks or off the beaten track locations that are often hard to find, you can now explore Sydney in a fun and unique way with the SYDNEY ON SCREEN walking guides. Catering to Sydneysiders as much as visitors, the guides have something to offer everyone, from history, architecture and movie buffs to nature lovers.

See where productions such as Superman Returns, The Matrix and sequels, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Candy, Mission Impossible 2, Mao's Last Dancer, Babe: Pig in the City, Kangaroo Jack, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Muriel's Wedding, The Bold and the Beautiful, Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure and many more were filmed.

Maps and up-to-date information on Sydney's attractions are provided to help you plan your walk. Pick and choose from the suggested itinerary to see as little or as much of the city as you like.

So, come and discover the landscapes and locations that draw filmmakers to magical Sydney, and walk in the footsteps of the stars!

A GREAT ALTERNATIVE TO EXPENSIVE TOURS, YOU CAN NOW ENJOY EXPLORING SYDNEY FOR UNDER $10 WITH THE SYDNEY ON SCREEN WALKING GUIDES. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT US AT SYDNEYONSCREEN@HOTMAIL.COM

Subscribe to the blog and keep up with all the latest Aussie film and entertainment news. Read about what the stars are up to, who's in town, what movies are currently filming or being promoted. Locate us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sydneyonscreen and "like" our page!

Sydney on Screen walking guides now on sale!

Click on the picture above to see a preview of all four walking guides and on the picture below to see larger stills of Sydney movie and television locations featured in the slideshow!

Copyright © 2011 by Luke Brighty / Unless otherwise specified, all photographs on this blog copyright © 2011 by Luke Brighty


Sydney on Screen guides are now available for purchase at the following outlets:

Travel Concierge, Sydney International Airport, Terminal 1 Arrivals Hall (between gates A/B and C/D), Mascot - Ph: 1300 40 20 60

The Museum of Sydney shop, corner of Bridge & Phillip Streets, Sydney - Ph: (02) 9251 4678

The Justice & Police Museum shop, corner of Albert & Phillip Streets, Sydney - Ph: (02) 9252 1144

The Mint shop, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney - Ph: (02) 8239 2416

Hyde Park Barracks shop, Queen Square, Sydney - Ph: (02) 8239 2311

Travel Up! (travel counter) c/o Wake Up Sydney Central, 509 Pitt Street, Sydney - Ph (02) 9288 7888

The Shangri-La Hotel (concierge desk), 176 Cumberland Street, The Rocks, Sydney - Ph: (02) 9250 6018

The Sebel Pier One (concierge desk), 11 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, Sydney - Ph: (02) 8298 9901

The Radisson Plaza Hotel Sydney (concierge desk), 27 O'Connell Street, Sydney - Ph: (02) 8214 0000

The Sydney Marriott Circular Quay (concierge desk), 30 Pitt Street, Sydney - Ph: (02) 9259 7000

Boobook on Owen, 1/68 Owen Street, Huskisson - Ph: (02) 4441 8585


NSW, interstate and international customers can order copies of Sydney on Screen using PayPal. Contact us at sydneyonscreen@hotmail.com to inquire about cost and shipping fees.


All four volumes of Sydney on Screen are available to download onto your PC or Kindle at:
Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.es and Amazon.it


Not just a pretty face

Still from the film Any Questions for Ben? (2012)
 Charmed life ... Rachael Taylor.


Gary Maddox, The Age, reports

Rachael Taylor sets her ideals high in Any Questions for Ben?

"I do like a movie movie,'' Rachael Taylor says.

The Australian actress is talking about her two most recent Australian films, the feel-good hit Red Dog and now the comic romance Any Questions For Ben?

''I think all different types of films have a place but it's just nice to be part of two films that are Australian and warm,'' she says. ''Warm is a very important quality to me.''

The Los Angeles-based Taylor, who has appeared on US TV in the medical drama Grey's Anatomy and the short-lived series Charlie's Angels, is back in Australia for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards and the Any Questions launch.

In a return to cinemas for the Working Dog team, she plays a dedicated human rights lawyer, Alex, who is based in the Middle East.

Any Questions centres on Ben (played by Josh Lawson), a 27-year-old who seems to have the perfect life - good looks, career success, plenty of friends and a love life that includes flings with a leading tennis player and a vodka model.

But when he goes back to his old school to talk about his achievements, the students only want to know about Alex and her work in Yemen. The quiet girl from university has blossomed into something he isn't - an adult who is making a difference.

The film also features Daniel Henshall as one Josh's best friends, a very different role from playing a serial killer in Snowtown; comic Felicity Ward (Thank God You're Here); Lachy Hulme (Offspring, Let's Get Skase); and Christian Clark (Neighbours, Home and Away), with comic cameos from the likes of Alan Brough, Rob Carlton and Ed Kavalee. ''The thing I love most about the character of Alex is that this is a woman with standards,'' Taylor says. ''From the moment I read the script, I just went, 'Man, this is a girl who has very high standards for herself and how she expects to be treated.' She has this kind of self-respect and she believes in love but she only wants it if it's going to work for her.''

A former teenage model who had a role in the first Transformers movie, Taylor has done some growing up since the time she tended to be offered ''eye candy'' roles. ''I remember when I started out at 18, 19, 20 and when I was in Los Angeles at 21, the idea of the ingenue was something that fit a little better,'' she says. ''But this really exciting thing is happening in the last couple of years where I'm appropriate for roles that have a bit more depth, probably because I've developed my own natural depth. As you get older, you tend to.''

As her career has built, Taylor's personal life has settled as well. After a high-profile split with troubled actor Matthew Newton, she is now dating Lawson and, not surprisingly, warmly praises his performance in Any Questions.

''The first thing I noticed was that he is so professional and such a gentleman,'' she says. ''Really, he's one of those young actors that is capable of leading and carrying a film and that's quite a rare quality. It's a difficult task to be in every scene of a movie and be able to build a performance that has a beginning, a middle and an end. And Josh is capable five times of doing that.''

While it's a comedy, Taylor likes that the film deals with the complexities of being in your 20s.

''Young adults in their late 20s are confronted by so many choices - there are so many different paths to choose,'' she says.

''Sometimes I think we just fill our lives with stuff so we don't really make any choice at all, which is certainly incredibly luxurious. This idea of how to choose the path that's right for you as a person is a very moving and complicated subject matter for a movie.''

The Working Dog team, whose successful TV shows have included current affairs satire Frontline, chat show The Panel and improv comedy Thank God You're Here, has a two-hits-from-two-films record with The Castle and The Dish.

On Any Questions, Rob Sitch directed, with Santo Cilauro and Tom Gleisner co-writing the script with him and Jane Kennedy handling casting and music.

Taylor found them an impressive bunch. From first reading the script, she wanted to be involved in the film.

''It's just such impressive writing - and refreshing writing as well - for an actress at my level to be given an opportunity to play a young woman like that,'' she says. ''It's very easy to oversimplify female journeys, particularly when they could be seen as playing the girlfriend. But with Alex, they just hit a really good note with her. She's vulnerable and she has integrity but it was her sense of standards that really impressed me most.''

ANY QUESTIONS FOR BEN?

GENRE Comic romance.

BUZZ The makers of The Castle and The Dish are back with a film about a 27-year-old with a charmed life who questions what he has achieved.

STARS Josh Lawson, Rachael Taylor.

DIRECTOR Rob Sitch.

RATED M.

RELEASED Thursday.

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