Talent. Who has it and who doesn’t? It is a word readily bandied about, but it is fair to say that talent gets down to the eye (and ear) of the beholder. That is the subject at the centre of this absurdist, slapstick musical, first performed Off-Broadway in 1992. It is a rollicking spoof of classic shows…
I didn’t know much about the “sport” of calisthenics before entering the cinema to see this documentary. Calisthenics is a discipline unique to Australia, and it combines elements of ballet and gymnastics with colourful costumes and superb choreography. Calisthenics can be performed by individuals or by groups with perfectly choreographed routines. And every year an…
Slow moving but compelling, Felix and Meira is a Canadian drama concerns a young, unhappy Hasidic wife and mother, Meira (Hadas Yaron), who wants more out of life than the cards she has been dealt. She finds the strictures of her ultraorthodox upbringing are choking her vitality. Meira likes lively popular music – much to…
Madame is a romantic comedy set in Paris. But this one misses the mark and then some. Anne (Toni Collette) and Bob (Harvey Keitel) are a wealthy American couple in a waning marriage. They move into a manor house in the City of Light, where affairs are commonplace. While preparing a luxurious dinner for friends, Anne is…
We haven’t seen much from former film historian and critic turned director Peter Bogdanovich on the big screen for a long time, as he has spent much of the past two decades concentrating on tv movies and directing the odd music video and an occasional episode of The Sopranos. Bogdanovich was an auteur who made…
As much as it is iconic in Japan, you don’t need to travel that far to experience the splendour of cherry blossom season. Imagine up to 25,000 snow white, petalled trees in bloom in the Yarra Valley, at one of Australia’s foremost orchards. Now, stop imagining it and organise a visit to CherryHill Orchards in…
An epic adventure and love story featuring the key voice talent from the original mega-success (2013), Frozen II is a strong follow-up. If Frozen ended with happily ever after, this is effectively the day after happily ever after, when life gets in the way. All appears ship-shape in the kingdom of Arendelle, with Elsa (Idina…
The edgy, psychedelic 60s-themed drama, Aquarius is returning for its second season on the Presto on-demand service from 17 June. The show will kick off with a special three-episode premiere ahead of its weekly schedule. Episodes one to three will stream express from the U.S. on Friday, 17 June. Following the initial three episode drop,…
Power, passion and subterfuge make for a heady cocktail. And so it is in Opera Australia’s Tosca. It is a compelling thriller with a great deal of bite, being staged at Margaret Court Arena because the State Theatre is closed, while undergoing a three-year upgrade. Amidst the unrelenting drama, stirring arias and evocative set design predominate. With…
Both these films are in very limited release. 1945 On a summer day in 1945, an Orthodox Jewish man and his grown son return to a village in Hungary. The villagers are preparing for the wedding of the town clerk’s son. The townspeople expect the worst and behave accordingly. The town clerk fears the men…
