I minored in art history at university, so The Last Painting of Sara de Vos reeled me in easily. From the opening, where the fictional painting’s description is entrenched in the mind of readers, I was captivated by the fascinating story of this painting, and the impact it had on three key characters. While I’d love…
During the Golden Age of Hollywood, which generally refers to the period from the late 1920s to the early ‘60s, with the peak in the ‘30s and ‘40s, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were regarded as royalty. Both were nothing if not colourful characters. Davis, whose maxim was “no guts, no glory” was wed four…
Writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson’s rigorous commitment to excellence in filmmaking (Magnolia) pays off again big time in One Battle After Another. Featuring stellar performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro and others, it is an epic, darkly comedic, dramatic, action thriller. As Pat Calhoun, DiCaprio is in a frenzied relationship with…
It’s one of history’s great rivalries. The intriguing story of Elizabeth I and her cousin Mary Stuart certainly has all the elements of a great movie – war, intrigue, family ties and treachery. But while Josie Rourke’s feminist retelling of the tale in Mary Queen of Scots hits the high points, it strays from the…
If you have money, just how far are you prepared to go and at what price? That is the question at the centre of the devilishly clever Never Have I Ever. Bisexual Jacq (Katie Robertson) and Kas (Sunny S Walia) is a couple. Together, they run a London restaurant named Masada, or at least they…
With a life span approaching that of many a dinosaur (30 years), the Jurassic saga comes to an end with Jurassic World Dominion. And as T. S. Eliot presaged, this fictional world ends not with a bang but a whimper. The franchise – having received a shot in the arm with Jurassic World in 2015…
Exiting the cinema having watched Super Troopers 2, I was stuck with a dilemma. How to describe a movie that’s so woefully bad, it should never have been made? Honestly, I can’t recall having seen the original from 2001. Perhaps if I had, I may have known to stay away from any sequel, no matter…
Half a century on, the Rocky Horror Show remains a delightful, bizarre and engaging romp that encourages audience participation. Opening night of the 50th anniversary Melbourne production saw plenty of “shout outs” from enthusiastic patrons, acknowledged by narrator Myf Warhurst. With music, lyrics and book by Richard O’Brien, the musical is a tribute to the science fiction and…
Sandgrown is the debut solo album from Ultimate Painting’s Jack Cooper. He also was in the band Mazes. Cooper has a super smooth voice that is in the same tone of Dean Wareham (Luna) or Stuart Lee Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian). His delivery is similar to his band Ultimate Painting, without his band mate James…
Director Azazel Jacobs (The Lovers) marks his territory in French Exit. That territory is squarely in the realm of Wes Anderson and his ilk, albeit with some of the quirkier edges buffed off. Coincidentally – and perhaps confusingly – Anderson’s new film is called The French Dispatch. Jacobs weaves a compelling story of love and…
