Heavyweights Julia Roberts and George Clooney work together for the sixth time on the feel-good romcom Ticket to Paradise. And their chemistry remains strong. Twenty-five years ago a love story between David (George Clooney) and Georgia (Roberts) played out, which saw them marry and soon after have a child. That daughter, Lily (Kaitlyn Dever), is…
True Things is the sophomore feature for director Harry Wootliff, following 2018’s Only You. Kate (played by Ruth Wilson, who also produced the film alongside Jude Law) is a self-destructive woman in her early thirties who works as a clerk in a government welfare office. She is insecure, lonely, and a little bored with her…
David Bowie was unquestionably a creative genius for whom “safe” and “middle of the road” didn’t cut it. He was innovative. He pushed himself. He liked to live life on the edge and admired others who did. According to the family-endorsed documentary Moonage Daydream, he was heavily influenced by his older half-brother Terry Jones who…
In Halina Reijn’s Bodies Bodies Bodies, five 20-somethings gather at a “hurricane party” to see out an impending cyclone. The venue is David’s (Pete Davidson) family’s remote mansion. With the gathering underway, a couple of others walk in. Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) – David’s childhood friend – has had a stint in rehab and has a…
Greg Woodland’s debut novel The Night Whistler was one of the many new voices in the last few years producing Australian rural crime that sets itself a little apart by also having a historical edge (see also: Matt Nable’s Still, Maryrose Cuskelly’s The Cane and Hayley Scrivenor’s Dirt Town). Set in Moorabool, a New England…
It seems to be a film a year in the “After” teen-romance franchise, and now we’re onto the fourth. Unless you’ve seen the others you might find it difficult to follow the threads because the action just starts with a presumption of character knowledge. The series began with After in 2019, followed by After We…
Imagine what a dark place a world without music would be. That is the starting point for this bold, brassy and zany work, the brainchild of writer Brittanie Shipway, with original music from Jess Newman and Shipway. She straddles Nazi-era cabaret to a totalitarian regime with harsh dictates in 2043. Senser hits the right note figuratively and…
Like Sex and the City, Tiddas is a frank and warm look at female friendship. Far from the hustle and bustle of New York City, however, the story is set under the blooming jacarandas of 2022 Brisbane, which makes its world premiere as part of this year’s Brisbane Festival, especially appropriate. The page-to-stage adaptation of…
A widow with a 16-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son who prides herself on her scrupulous control and attention to detail is due to get married the next day. Her daughter is hardly enamoured by the idea and butts heads with her. Then everything changes when magically they switch bodies and have to step into each other’s…
A dramatic comedy, Bed & Breakfast is a brilliantly written, outstandingly realised double hander with many parts. The work of Canadian playwright Mark Crawford, this marks its international premiere. Frankly, a work of this quality, containing such important subject matter, should be seen globally. The action takes place in Melbourne, Ballarat and in a smaller regional setting,…
