Relationships can be complicated beasts. That is shown up in all its tangled glory (well, not so much glory) in Four Play. Rafe (Anthony Jacobsen) and Pete (Reuby Chip), both virgins when they met at university, have been in an exclusive relationship for seven and a half years. That’s when Pete puts forward an unusual…
Two shows run in parallel at Melbourne’s Gasworks in Albert Park until 23 August 2019. Ghost Quartet (Antipodes Theatre Co) A palpable chemistry exists between four excellent performers who bring a surreal musical experience to life. They are music director David Butler (on piano, synthesizer and spring drum), Melissa David (on keyboard, harpsichord and drum),…
So, when Ladies Day, by Alana Valentine, concluded the other evening, at the Griffin, my guest and I discussed: “What was the play about?” Says the Director, Darren Yap: Ladies Day is an important, honest and confronting play. It’s not only an intelligent piece about people living on the margins who don’t often get a…
Is there anything Hugh Jackman can’t do? The Mr Nice Guy, who completed the Wolverine franchise earlier this year, can act, sing and emcee with aplomb. He’s considered, intelligent and reflective. What a CV! So, I suppose it’s only fitting these qualities are neatly packaged up in The Greatest Showman. This fanciful musical tackles another showman, Phineas Taylor…
Every year when I get my hands on the Melbourne International Film Festival program and start selecting my films, the first strand I pore through is Night Shift, which contains some bizarre horror and cinematic oddities. And the offbeat Late Night With the Devil (MIFF ’23) offers a fresh take on the tired found-footage genre….
In our increasingly connected world, it’s ironically easier than ever to feel disconnected. How you deal with that disconnection is the subject of the disturbing comedy-drama, Ingrid Goes West. Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) is an unhinged social media stalker. She has a history of confusing “likes” for meaningful relationships. Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen) is an Insta-famous “influencer”,…
The ST. ALi Italian Film Festival is back and will screen (hopefully) nationally from 29 September. The flagship event will showcase Italian culture, stories and language in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Byron Bay at reduced capacity and then in Melbourne, when restrictions permit. The festival opens with a new live-action version of the…
Produced under the auspices of Blumhouse, which specialises in horror, The Invisible Man is a taut psychological thriller that effectively combines elements of sci-fi and horror. Written and directed by Melbourne filmmaker Leigh Whannell (a co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises), this serves up a refreshingly different take on the mad scientist character originally…
The comedic horror story Yoga Hosers is the second of what writer and director Kevin Smith has called the True North Trilogy. The first, Tusk (released in 2014), was based upon Smith’s weekly podcast in which he and his long-time producing partner Scott Mosier discuss current events and other random topics in a humorous way….
The history of the cinema is littered by well-intentioned but ill-thought-out attempts to bring stage plays to the big screen. The inherent contradiction between the theatre – where dialogue is the focus – and the cinema – where the emphasis is on visuals – sometimes does both the play and the movie in question a…
