Adrenalin pumping action and a big-name cast feature in Fast X. The film is the tenth in the Fast and Furious franchise, which began in 2001. The pretence for Fast X goes back to 2011’s Fast Five. You might recall from the earlier movie that Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew took out nefarious…
Today, deteriorating mental health is spoken about far more often than it used to be, which is a good thing, but what does it look like up close and personal? Based on her own experiences, Chelsea Plumley’s insightful work takes us there. 41-year-old Shelley (Petra Glieson) is quite a handful. She always has been. She has…
Tony Burge, who assumes the role of lead FBI agent Carl Hanratty chasing boyish con man Frank Abagnale Jr. excels in Cloc’s production of Catch Me If You Can. He is strong vocally and as an actor, with a fine command of comic timing, which is a key ingredient in the musical. With book by Terrence McNally,…
The ‘50s and ‘60s continue to resonate as Shake Rattle ‘N’ Roll gives us a cavalcade of song, movement and colour. The fuse is re-lit and burns for more than two hours, thanks to a poised, polished and preened cast of four singers and 10 dancers. The pretence is the re-creation of famous, gravelly voiced American DJ…
A couple of bumbling, small time crims luck out in the farcical comedy The Wrong Horse. I speak of best mates Noddy (Darren Mort) and Big Ears (Dom Phelan). Big Ears – who has a “wind” issue – is forever sponging off Noddy … dropping in at his place all hours of the day and night, drinking…
Based on the novel Text for You by Sofie Cramer, Jim Strouse’s (The Incredible Jessica James) Love Again is a fantasy dramedy, where everything is carefully manufactured to get to the outcome you know is coming. That, of course, involves inevitable bumps along the road. Naturally, it’s the journey that counts – at least from…
Sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. That may well be the signature tune for 19-year-old unemployed, reckless, gay Australian Ari (Danny Ball), except that his “poison” is grunge and hip-hop. Ari is drawn to Melbourne’s gay clubs, unprotected sex, hard drugs (it is dead set easy to get hold of stuff) and thumping music. He distances and denounces…
Book Club: The Next Chapter is a feel-good sequel to the 2018 film Book Club. It concerns the ongoing fate of the four women at the centre of the original as they undertake a special girls’ trip. Vivian (Jane Fonda), perpetually single, has just been asked for her hand in marriage by her long-term, suave…
A brilliant slice of musical theatre, Once has an inspiring, ear and eye pleasing balance of heart and humour. Based on the 2007 movie by John Carney, it concerns a struggling Irish musician on the verge of giving up and an effervescent Czech woman. The latter (Stefanie Caccamo) sees the guy (Toby Francis), guitar in hand, singing…
Writer-director Elegance Bratton’s own story of overcoming fierce odds to become a US marine inspired his film The Inspection. We’re in New Jersey in 2005 and 25-year-old Ellis French (Jeremy Pope) leads a threadbare existence. Estranged from his mother, Inez (Gabrielle Union), he’s been on his own since the age of 16 and the one…
