Undoubtedly one of the finest contemporary musicals and one I never tire of seeing because of its brilliant songs, narrative arc and passionate portrayals, Jersey Boys is back to delight anew. I first saw it at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne in 2009 and then again in 2013. Clint Eastwood directed an on-screen version. Now,…
The world has gone crazy. How often did you hear those words or similar utterances during COVID-19? It is May 2020 and the preposterous meets the absurd in the dark Western comedy Eddington, as conspiracy theories abound. The starting point is decidedly opposing views from the sheriff of seven years in a small town in…
Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810 – 1891) was the master of smoke and mirrors; the ultimate flimflam man. Although often down on his luck and short of money, he always managed to find a way out. That had something to do with his vivid imagination and a lot more to do with his grounded wife, Charity….
With police corruption at its dark heart, The Good Turn is another solid entry in a police procedural series that has been pure gold for crime fiction fans since the first book. Adjusting to the new reality of his long-distance relationship with girlfriend Emma, Cormac Reilly has less patience in the tank than usual to…
Fleur Kilpatrick’s stage adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse Five explores the horrors of war and the effects of PTSD. The play centres on the Allies’ firebombing of Dresden between February 13 and 15, 1945 in which tens of thousands of people died. The book’s narrator (and author), who’s also part of the play, has…
A boss oversteps the mark and the consequences are devastating in Ron Elisha’s incendiary Unsolicited Male. For the past two years Wendy (Kym Valentine), now 38, has been personal assistant to accountant Zeke (Russell Fletcher). She enjoys her job. Middle-aged Zeke has been good to her, grateful for how she has managed to transform the office. One night,…
A cleverly conceived and executed song cycle about the vicissitudes of life, Songs of the Northern River features six talented women who weave 12 graphic melodic tales. Some are harrowing, others amusing. They deal with pain, cruelty, kindness and achievement. Book, music and lyrics are by Alex J. Ridefelt. First up, a long-term worker has…
Plenty was left up in the air at the end of CK McDonnell’s second Stranger Times book This Charming Man. So for fans if this urban fantasy meets comedy meets horror series, the third volume Love Will Tear Us Apart could not come soon enough. Being the third book in a series this review is…
Thirty years ago, Tom Cruise played a cock-sure, gung-ho naval pilot in the classic Top Gun. Now he plays another hot shot pilot in American Made. This bizarre story about drug smuggling, gun running and money laundering again proves that quite often truth is far stranger than fiction. Cruise plays Barry Seal, a disenchanted pilot…
I must confess that I haven’t seen the first two films in the Terrifier series. But I was drawn to check out the third film in the slasher franchise out of curiosity due to news reports from the US about people fainting, vomiting and fleeing from the cinema due to the intense level of graphic…
