Canadian author J.M. Miro’s Ordinary Monsters, a gaslamp fantasy with powered children at a secret school, an implacable enemy and an inimical other-world has plenty of obvious antecedents. But Miro has managed to spin these familiar elements into an enjoyable, tense and sometimes surprising narrative. A glowing blue baby is rescued from a train carriage…
If you like books that warm your heart, make you cry and want to read it all over again, Our Song by Dani Atkins might just hit the spot. Here’s the blurb: This is the story of Ally and Charlotte, whose paths have intersected over the years though they’ve never really been close friends. Charlotte…
I saw a movie called G-Loc a while ago. And my first thought now was: “Why not try another SF?” [*sci-fi – ed.]. Not only because it’s one of my favorite genres. But because G-Loc was horrible and a disappointment in every way. And I wanted to forget this ordeal as soon as possible by…
Fans of Midnight Oil – one of Australia’s hardest rocking and most political bands who refused to compromise – will want to check out this informative and revealing documentary. They may not learn anything particularly new here, but they will certainly enjoy the music and the memories from their four-decade career. The Oils were formed…
If you spent your young days suffering from Saturday night fever, then this is a show to rock you in your seat. It’s 80 minutes of sheer disco and noise with flashing lights, mirror balls, glitter costumes, and screaming vocals. And with those vocals came amazing verve and energy from all the performers. But on…
Spectacular, colourful and creative headdresses, feathers and finery are front and centre as performers from Club Vegas hit the stage. Broad smiles, popular song and dance numbers, athletic, dare-devil acrobatics and comic interludes are the order of the day. It is a show that is dynamic, bold and brassy, and has the enthusiastic audience cheering throughout. For…
I find Ruben Östlund a polarising filmmaker. In my experience, you either “get” him or you don’t. While his 2014 film Force Majeure was well-received, his 2017 art world parody The Square left many cold. Even so, it picked up the Palme d’Or at Cannes; so obviously someone liked it. His latest film, Triangle of…
An audience giddy with anticipation clapped and cheered through opening night of the revival of the cult musical comedy, as well they might for the cast was in fine voice. When meek, down-and-out florist shop worker Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a new plant species that he names ‘Audrey II’ after his co-worker crush, it seems…
Paul Howarth’s debut Only Killers and Thieves was a confronting Australian-western that had at its centre the massacre of an Aboriginal community in late 19th Century Queensland. The book focussed on two teenagers, Tommy and Billy McBride, brought into this violent world following the deaths of their parents and sister and realising too late that…
Filled with humour, horror and bite, Brothers’ Nest stars the Jacobsen brothers, Clayton and Shane. Clayton also directs the film, as he did with Kenny, which really launched Shane’s career. With their mother (Lynette Curran) dying of cancer, two brothers – Terry (Shane) and Jeff (Clayton) – go to extreme lengths to protect their inheritance…
