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Alex First

Alex First is the editor of The Blurb. Alex is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He also contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.

Apollo 11 – movie review

While watching Apollo 11, I felt immense pride in what Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and the entire NASA team managed to achieve 50 years ago – on 20 July 1969. The never-before-seen footage lifts the lid on exactly what happened from the final hours before take-off until the three astronauts returned safely to…

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The Lion King – movie review

Disney gives The Lion King a Jungle Book treatment, turning animation into a blend of live action and computer-generated imagery. The visual effects are spectacular. If you haven’t seen the 1994 original cartoon version, I suspect you’ll be satisfied with this 2019 representation of the story of young Simba’s rise. Director of The Jungle Book,…

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Autocannibal (Theatre Works)

Imagine you’re the last person alive and all Earth’s resources have been depleted.  Autocannibal explores this premise in a confronting one-person play created and performed by the highly talented Mitch Jones. It’s performance art mashed with circus skills and clowning. Jones is agile, powerful and bold. His character adopts a survival-at-any-cost mentality, with options fast…

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Solaris (Malthouse) – theatre review

Through the centuries, mankind’s tendency has been towards total control. Malthouse Theatre explores that tendency in the sci-fi drama Solaris. The play is a theatrical adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s philosophical novel about extraterrestrial intelligence. Movie adaptations followed in 1968, 1972 and 2002. Drs Snow (Fode Simbo) and Sartorius (Jade Ogugua) have been on a space…

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An Unexpected Love – movie review

Ricardo Darín (Wild Tales) and Mercedes Morán (The Motorcycle Diaries) play Marcos and Ana in An Unexpected Love. The long-married couple are led to question the true meaning of love after becoming empty-nesters. Their son Luciano (Andres Gil) is leaving his Argentine homeland to study abroad. When Marcos and Ana arrive at the airport to…

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After – movie review

After is a film that knows its audience and delivers to it. Tessa Young (Josephine Langford) is a dedicated student and dutiful daughter to her single mother Carol (Selma Blair). She’s a loyal girlfriend to her high school sweetheart Noah (Dylan Arnold). When Noah and Carol drop off Tessa for her first year of college,…

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