Rachel Heng’s second novel, The Great Reclamation, takes on a slice of the twentieth century history of Singapore. Starting the middle of World War II and moving only into the 1960s, Heng charts the rise of Singapore as a modern state. In particular, she exposes the philosophy and the sacrifice that underpinned its startling modernity….
– The Chaperone – Only in cinemas from 25 April 2019 We have 5 double in-season passes thanks to StudioCanal Australia. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE The Chaperone takes place amid the backdrop of the tumultuous times of the early 1920’s. The life of a Kansas woman (Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey)…
It’s Halloween, so we’re checking out a little spooky action with the Netflix movie, Vampires vs The Bronx. This fun excursion into the supernatural won’t test your brain, but never wears out its welcome. Director Osmany “Oz” Rodriguez has an impressive CV in television, notably on A. P. Bio and Saturday Night Live. And he…
In Dog, a traumatised veteran, Riley Rodriguez (Eric Urbiztondo), has died. His parents want the specially-trained dog that worked alongside him to take pride of place at his funeral. That means a 2,400 kilometre road trip with the canine – a Belgian Malinois named Lulu. But through eight tours and seven years on the front…
Wickedly clever with lots of droll humour, Logan Lucky is a rare treat. Divorced and desperate for money, unemployed West Virginia coal miner Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) hatches a wildly elaborate scheme. He plans to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway in neighbouring North Carolina during a NASCAR race. He convinces his one-armed brother Clyde (Adam Driver),…
It is difficult to read of women’s lives being micromanaged by their domestic captors to the point of scheduled toilet breaks, and of young children being raised entirely behind closed doors. These are hard novels to take on. If you are reading this because you have heard Dear Child compared to ‘The Room’, you will…
While the idea of interpretation and interpreters as a way of exploring culture has had a successful run in science fiction (cf: China Meiville’s Embassytown and Ted Chiang’s The Story of Your Life) and fantasy (RF Kuang’s Babel) it is not one that has yet been overused in the crime genre. And with authors always…
What should and does one do if one’s loving husband/father turns into a wild animal – I mean literally a wild animal? In a nutshell, that is Wolf Man. It is 1995 and we are in remote woodland in Central Oregon. Former military man and single father Grady Lovell (Sam Jaeger) is bringing up his…
The church, religion and medical science have a lot to answer for in The Wonder. This is acclaimed director Sebastián Lelio’s first feature since Gloria Bell (2018). In 1862, nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) travels from England to small-town Ireland to watch an 11-year-old girl Anna O’Donnell (Kila Lord Cassidy). The reason soon becomes clear….
Love, loss and laughter are potent and enduring in composer William Finn’s (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) Elegies. Based around the importance of community, Elegies is a song cycle, namely a series of songs that hang together thematically, rather than through a narrative thread. Having said that, attendees at a regular, all male…
