Ideal Home showcases the talents of Steve Coogan (The Trip to Spain) and Paul Rudd (Ant-Man). While bawdy, it proves to be a sometimes surprisingly touching comedic-drama. Colourful celebrity chef Erasmus (Coogan) and his partner Paul (Rudd) have a happy and rather self-indulgent life together. They live in a glorious home in Santa Fe. Erasmus…
4/4 is characterised by a series of complex movements and maneuverings against a stark stage and backdrop. It is black, white and grey all the way, save for the golden sun peeking through at the end. This, against a strong and dynamic sound bed. 4/4 is a highly expressive work, with eight performers paired off. Ostensibly dressed in black…
A sea change turns into a tsunami of grief in Sixty Seconds by Jesse Blackadder. Here’s the blurb: The Brennans – parents, Finn and Bridget, and their sons, Jarrah and Toby – have made a sea change, from chilly Hobart to subtropical Murwillumbah. Feeling like foreigners in this land of sun and surf, they’re still…
The expression “many hands make light work” immediately springs to mind when describing the specially created “night trail” through the Royal Botanic Gardens. An enormous amount of work has clearly gone into preparing the spectacular light and sound show known as Lightscape in the finely manicured surrounds. I wandered the meandering path, which spans 1.8 kilometres, stopping…
We take our hearing for granted – until we can’t. Sound of Metal charts a deeply personal journey for a young man who’s going deaf. Heavily tattooed drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) has had a troubled past. Although four years clean, he previously took all manner of drugs, although his poison of choice was heroin. Then…
John Misto’s witty and acerbic Lip Service translates to a top night of entertainment. The play concerns a battle royale between cosmetics giants between 1954 and 1965. It’s Helena Rubinstein versus Elizabeth Arden, with both under siege from Revlon. Misto has taken the truth and embellished it with sparkling effect. Don’t for a moment think…
A family secret is the elephant in the room when three generations of women share luxury hotel accommodation in Copenhagen as one of them prepares to accept a prestigious award. That is Emma (Kate Cole), a middle-aged author, who is about to receive the Hans Christian Andersen Award (the “Little Nobel Prize”) for children’s literature. She is…
As little films go, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl has pretty much swept all before it. After winning both the Grand Jury Prize and the audience award at Sundance, this charming and touching coming-of-age tale has proceeded to win over filmgoers around the globe (including taking out the audience award at…
The word gritty doesn’t do justice to Galveston. This hard-boiled, downbeat crime drama features a host of questionable characters and some bravura acting. Ben Foster never fails to impress and is perfectly cast as a 40-year-old debt collector with a major health issue. Elle Fanning adds to an already impressive resume as prostitute Rocky, who’s…
Annabelle Comes Home is the third film featuring the sinister doll from the Conjuring universe. Gary Dauberman, the screenwriter of the Annabelle films, makes his directorial debut. Determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) drive the possessed doll to the locked artifacts room in…
