Experienced director James Kent (Testament of Youth) brings Rhidian Brook’s well-received novel to the big screen in The Aftermath. And while fans of the book will notice some glaring differences, the film nonetheless goes to some interesting places. Brook himself headed the scriptwriting team, collaborating with Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse to beef up the…
In the mid to late 70s, Neil Young had a particularly productive period in his songwriting, it was shortly after the release of the grief-ridden Tonight’s the Night, and Zuma, which featured “Cortez, the Killer,” and his too brief exploration with Stephen Stills that produced one album, Long May You Run. David Briggs, often Young’s…
One of the most creative and engaging plays I have had the good fortune to see, the moment it finished I wanted to see it again. What better recommendation is there? Put succinctly, North by Northwest is a beauty. So was the Alfred Hitchcock-directed movie, mind you, so the issue became how best to translate…
The Murlocs are part of the current wave of Australian psychedelia that keeps rolling on. The group has that 60’s swag of the 13th Floor Elevators and the bounce of the nice guys next door like The Association. Not experiencing the 60’s for some of us music fans feels like a total missed opportunity, so…
Having just sat through The World According to Dinosaurs, I am sorry to say I can’t really tell you much about the narrative, save for an extinction event. A big part of the reason is the verbiage in the work was frequently drowned out. Frankly, the sound mix was appalling. From the get-go, the narrator was swamped…
The Christmas Spectacular is the work of Silvers Circus. This top-notch circus show was my highlight of Santa’s Magical Kingdom, a colourful cavalcade of rides, games and interactive experiences, most inside the Big Top at Caulfield Racecourse. But the extraordinary prowess of the circus performers who feature in this production left my mouth agape. The…
R.L. Stine has been recognised as one of the bestselling children’s authors of all time with his Goosebumps books selling more than 400 million copies in 32 languages since it first went into print in 1992. This movie adaptation features dozens of Stine’s creations, with Jack Black as the famed writer. Initially though, the filmmakers…
While gay marriage was recognised in the United States some time ago, it hasn’t led to an influx of mainstream gay-themed movies. They remain few and far between. Something like the excellent Academy Award winner Call Me by Your Name remains in the art house space. Love, Simon breaks the mould – an openly gay…
Talk about creative writing that starts out in one tone and suddenly becomes something entirely unexpected. That’s what you get if you know nothing about American Ultra when you enter the cinema. Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) spends most of his time getting stoned, sitting behind the register of the local convenience store and writing a…
Frankie and the Witch Fingers had one of the better under the radar 60’s garage rock records released last year so there definitely was some excitement with such a quick follow up in Heavy Roller. The opening rocker “6000 Horns” is all you need to hear because it’s driving grind is classic sounding right down…
