Barbarity is brought into sharp focus in Silence, Martin Scorsese’s long-winded story about faith and religion. It is the tale of two 17th century Portuguese missionaries – Father Sebastian Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver) who undertake a perilous journey to Japan. They are searching for their missing mentor, Father Christavao Ferreira…
Stick five strangers together in a room for a week and see what comes out the other end. Are they themselves or acting out some fantasy to form a shield of protection or anonymity? If the latter, how long before the shield is lowered? Intolerance, disinterest and antagonism are par for the course in Malthouse’s…
Somewhere in cinema land there’s a space in between Ghost World, Superbad, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In that space, you’ll find Booksmart. Actor Olivia Wilde turns her hand to directing in this very funny but sharply observed teen comedy. It’s also – completely unexpectedly, one of the more empathetic films of…
Words on Bathroom Walls is an important movie. This mainstream dramatic teen romance normalises schizophrenia. While it’s often disturbing, it has an authenticity about it. That has much to do with the balance in the script by Nick Naveda – based on a novel of the same name by Julia Walton – and the calibre…
There is something deep in the shared global psyche that draws us to stories of prodigies, particularly those who have dragged themselves up out of obscurity. Amazon recently released the Indian film Shakuntala Devi based on the true story of a women who came from poverty to become a world renowned “human calculator”. The Queen’s…
Fleet Foxes return to Australia over New Years 2017-18, with national performances at the Falls Festival and a sideshow at Palais Theatre in Melbourne where they’ll be joined by Gordi. The visit follows their appearance as part of VividLIVE in May 2017. At VividLIVE, the band returned from a five-year hiatus for a series of performances at…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 29 November 2024. Good Morning have unveiled their eighth studio album, The Accident. The surprise release arrives on the heels of upcoming dates with Waxahatchee across Naarm / Melbourne and Meredith Festival. The album took shape in the background…
Kristen Stewart isn’t exactly on my list of favorite actresses. As I wrote in my review of Snow White and the Huntsman: “She shows almost no emotion and I’m convinced she dips her face in starch before walking onto the set”. But regarding Equals, she was most suited. A postwar society (indeed, again after a…
There have been many film versions of Shakespeare’s bloodiest and most cinematic play, from Orson Welles’ idiosyncratic 1948 version through to Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood in 1961, which reinvented the play as a samurai drama. More recently Australian director Geoffrey Wright (Romper Stomper) gave us a more contemporary take on the play, setting the…
Stella is the only child of Adam, a pastor, and Ulrika, a lawyer. Stella is now of legal age and looks forward to soon taking an Asian holiday with her best friend since childhood, Amina. The two teenagers have been through much together and of course, know a lot more about each other’s true selves…
