When reviewing a new Stephen King book, you can only really compare such rich work to that of his own. There is no other writer, past or present, quite like him. King is the gold standard, the literary bar, a unique category. A problem other authors would no doubt like to have. If It Bleeds…
Song Sung Blue is a warts and all American biographical musical drama based around a couple of divorced tribute artists. When Mike Sardinia (Hugh Jackson) meets Claire Stengl (Kate Hudson) in 1987, she is singing Patsy Cline numbers. She gives him the idea of performing as Neil Diamond. Although there is a decade age difference…
Original homespun (literally) physical comedy, The Beaks: Stickybeak is a clever and creative look at everyday life in suburbia. It is the domain of four excellent exponents that turn the mundane into something special. I speak of Kimberley Twiner, Laura Trenerry, Patrick Dwyer and Jessie Ngaoi. They play a series of quick-change character roles that are repeated…
Not to be confused with the 1984 thriller that starred Drew Barrymore as a young girl who could start fires with her mind – Firestarter is a documentary that looks at Australia’s Bangarra Dance Company, one of the foremost indigenous dance companies in the world. The company was founded in Sydney in 1989 by Stephen…
Based on fact, Queen of Katwe is a colourful, feel-good picture about struggle and persistence. It concerns a family, and one girl in particular, overcoming a hand-to-mouth existence in the slums of Uganda. For nine-year-old Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga), life is a constant battle. She spends her days selling vegetables on the streets of Katwe,…
Until we heard it, FUZZ was a band we didn’t know that we needed. With their debut self-titled album, high school friends Ty Segall (drums, vocals), Charles Mootheart (guitar), and Roland Cosio (bass) poured hot and heavy with their worship of the Big Muff Pi and other fuzz/distortion devices, their homework of bands such as…
A fascinating, at times most humorous insight into a dystopian future, what is in play here is a power struggle. Ultimately, Control is about attempting to subvert a dehumanising system and allowing natural instincts to dictate the way forward. The play – a world premiere work written by Keziah Warner – is divided into three…
A decidedly offbeat love story between two troubled individuals, What If It Works? is a heap of fun. It’s the first feature film for writer, director and co-producer Romi Trower. Adrian (Luke Ford), an irrepressibly chirpy tech nerd, suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder … and how. He walks around wearing trousers that aren’t quite long enough…
The Wilds, which is the centrepiece of this year’s Rising cultural and artistic festival, is a sensory sensation that I would highly commend to you. You can readily complete a circuit around the “Bowl” in less than an hour. I chose to spend more time there, dwelling around certain installations and taking in the experience of the…
With overtones of the George Clooney action adventure drama The Perfect Storm, The Finest Hours is a slow moving story of courage and endeavour based upon fact. It starts out as a 1950s romance between a shy, respectful member of the US Coast Guard and the “say it as it is” love of his life,…
