If you’ve ever wondered how important the ABC is to Australia, watch Mystery Road. Forget about all the political posturing. Just take in how vibrantly this institution depicts and represents our country. This network has recently given us Rosehaven (set in Tasmania) and Harrow (set in Brisbane); and now Mystery Road takes us to remote Western…
For a long-running and successful franchise, you’d have to say the Mission: Impossible series has been one of the patchiest in memory. It kicked off well enough in 1996 as simply Mission: Impossible under the experienced hand of Brian de Palma, but the goodwill generated by that film was largely dissipated by the clunky sequels…
Set during the last great Ice Age in Europe some 20,000 years ago, Alpha is an epic adventure. This brutal tale of survival in a harsh wilderness is a bit like a prehistoric version of The Revenant. It’s also something of a coming of age tale as it follows a teen’s journey to manhood. There…
Club Vegas is a fulsome variety show that would be quite at home on casino stages around the world. It combines modern interpretations of hit songs with rolled gold classics and colourful, bejewelled, bedazzling costuming with feathered headdresses to die for. Quite the spectacle. I couldn’t get enough of it. The dancers take to the stage from the…
Driftwood: The Musical is a heart-wrenching and inspiring piece of musical theatre, reflecting a dark period of history that changed and destroyed the lives of millions. The starting point for creator Tania de Jong AM was her mother Eva de Jong-Duldig’s 2017 memoir “Driftwood – escape and survival through art”. The musical focuses on the true…
The Babysitter: Killer Queen is a hybrid of gory horror, coming-of-age tale and black comedy. It’s the sequel to 2017’s cult favourite The Babysitter. In that film, teen Cole (Judah Lewis) discovered his babysitter was involved in a satanic blood cult. Two years after the events of that film the angst-ridden Cole is still traumatised,…
California has gone to pot and Sister Kate is front and centre of the crusade in Breaking Habits. She calls herself a nun, but she created her own ministry after her husband blindsided her. Let’s just say life hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for this former corporate high achiever. As this doco written and directed…
We Live in Time may well be renamed The Cruel Price of Love, for this is a bittersweet romance, featuring striking performances. Set in London, Almut (Florence Pugh) is a 34-year-old master chef, highly dedicated to her profession. She used to be a champion figure skater. In short, Almut is not afraid to speak her…
If you’ve ever seen Karel Reisz’s superb The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981); or Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), you may find something familiar in Nicolas Bedos’ La Belle Époque. This brilliantly conceived drama of love and loss is inventive, poignant and compelling. Bedos is an actor who’s turned to directing. That…
It is Melbourne’s newest entertainment precinct (off Lonsdale Street), with a sizzling hot new show, involving seven spirited performers. I speak of Spiegel Haus Melbourne and the adults only, risqué cabaret Blanc de Blanc Encore. It is slick, sexy and in your face – in short, a walk on the wild side – with audience…
