A compelling and dramatic storyline and evocative score are matched by a series of stellar performances in MTC’s musical Kiss of the Spider Woman. The plot concerns the extraction of information through brutalisation and humiliation of prisoners held in an Argentine jail. More specifically, it involves the relationship between window dresser Molina (Ainsley Melham) and Marxist…
Love. Oil. Economic freedom. We come full circle from when oil was first discovered until it runs out in this drama with dystopian elements, appropriately named Oil. We move through five-time frames, from Cornwall in 1889 and Tehran in 1908 to Hampstead in 1970 in the first act, then Baghdad in 2021 and back to…
First up, an admission. Despite its fine pedigree, I was quietly dreading the prospect of seeing Ford v Ferrari. I figured the movie would be a drawn out against-the-odds motor racing story. But I need not have worried because it turned out to be pretty darn good, although I felt it was a tad long….
This colourful but corny reboot of the iconic Charlie’s Angels TV series has been kicked up a gear for a contemporary audience. It retains the basics of the original, but has a whole lot more attitude. Charlie’s Angels was a huge hit when it first aired on TV in 1976. It lasted five seasons and…
With its preposterous storyline, Tales of Hoffmann Ooh La La is an energetic mix of opera contemporised with modern references mashed with popular tunes … and it’s a beauty. Full of colour, drama and skulduggery, above all this Parisian jazz burlesque interpretation of Jacques Offenbach’s opera, which premiered in France in 1881, is fun. When…
In the tradition of Mafia movies like The Godfather (1972) and Goodfellas (1990) comes The Irishman. This tale is set around the fortunes of one man rising through the ranks of the organisation. And while the action centres on him, much of the plot concerns the fate of powerful Teamsters’ union boss Jimmy Hoffa. World…
Talk about a force of nature taking to a stage and theatrical space and making it her own. Meow Meow does so and how! She is a consummate performer with a golden voice and a smart mouth. First up a couple of musos run across the stage in shiny gold jackets and bright orange plastic…
Men treat women badly. Indigenous Australians are often unfairly targeted. Not all men. Not all indigenous Australians. Enough though to call it out … still, regardless of all that has been said and written about these subjects. She is Vigilante deals with these issues, with strength and purpose … with drama, pathos and humour. Seven…
Master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar has crafted an intricate personal story that spans more than 50 years in Pain and Glory. Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) is a veteran film director, afflicted by multiple ailments, the worst of which is his inability to continue filming. His physical condition doesn’t allow it and, if he can’t film again,…
Doctor Sleep is the latest Stephen King novel to be made into a motion picture. It picks up the story of Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) 40 years after his terrifying stay at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. Still irrevocably scarred by the trauma he endured as a child at the Overlook, Torrance has fought…
