Opening night saw Melbourne embrace the power, the passion and the perfection of one of the world’s great entertainers, Michael Jackson. Driven by his hard-edged father, Joseph, Michael sought excellence – faultlessness. That is behind his approach to his 1992 Dangerous World Tour, which plays out in rehearsals, as well as in a nostalgic look…
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…
Christmas. The period everyone is jolly again. Family reunions. A brown-baked turkey with a tasty filling that was squeezed through its smallest hole. Christmas trees full of sparkling baubles, angel hair and soft-yellow LED lights. Every few moments a Christmas song is being heard on the radio. Christmas presents are piling up. And everyone hopes…
How difficult is it to find the perfect match, the person you are prepared to commit to for the rest of your life? If you buy into the conceit of the new romantic drama Materialists, it is a shark pool out there and finding Mr or Mrs Right is the stuff of nightmares. That is…
The fifth in the animated action adventure series that began in 2002, it is once again saber-toothed squirrel Scrat’s epic pursuit of an elusive acorn that drives events in Ice Age: Collision Course. Scrat is catapulted into the universe, bounces off and through planets, pilots a flying saucer and wears a space suit, all the…
Disney’s latest animated offering, Ralph Breaks the Internet, just lifted the roof on what’s possible. It’s not only extremely clever, but funny and engaging for the whole family. Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by Jon C. Reilly) and Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) have been best friends since their previous misadventures (six years ago in Wreck-It Ralph), hanging…
One thing I’ve always admired about Liz Byrski is the way she tackles themes like friendship and ageing in a realistic, but warm, manner. After hearing good things about The Woman Next Door, I welcomed the chance to read a friend’s copy. Over the years, the residents of Emerald Street have become more than just…
“It was great to be able to go off and start making films because, all of a sudden the challenge was greater, and the emotional punch was greater,” says British filmmaker Mike Newell, who has just released his latest film, a lush adaptation of the best-selling novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society….
In her last few books, award winning author Ann Patchett has increasingly focussed on the domestic. From 2016’s Commonwealth which centred on a group of cousins growing up to 2019’s The Dutch House which focussed on siblings coming to terms with their family’s past. Her latest novel, Tom Lake, treads similar territory from a different…
Is there really nobody else wondering why the female characters in a King Kong movie are so attracted to this giant ape? Honestly, I’m always asking myself the same question. Is it because Kong “King of all places he appears in” is such an impressive appearance, radiating power and protection? Or is it its primitive…
