Based on a memoir by the late Timothy Conigrave, playwright Tommy Murphy has given us an up close and personal look at a 15-year gay relationship. It starts in the teen years and works its way through to the HIV/AIDS crisis of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Tim (Declan Clifford) has his eyes on the school football…
Nominated for eight Oscars, David Lynch’s 1980 dramatic biographical film The Elephant Man – featuring Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft and John Gielgud – remains seared into my consciousness. Now a clever and creative group of writers and composers (Marc Lucchesi, Sarah Nandagopan and Jayan Nandagopan) has taken the story’s essence, twisted it and turned…
Electrifying rhythm, dance, drums and more, Argentina’s Malevo is mesmerising machismo. 13 artistes extraordinaire and a four-piece band hold the audience in the palms of their hands for 80 minutes. Created by director, choreographer and dancer Matias Jaime in 2015, the all-male group specialises in what is known as Malambo. That is a traditional Argentinian folk dance…
A pugilist’s confessional, Shadow Boxing is tough, gritty and unrelenting. Samuel Addison features as the boxer, whose father, Errol Sebastian Flynn (who we never meet), also put on the gloves. His 47 fights produced only eight wins and his son recalls the vitriol directed at his dad as he lay spreadeagled on the canvas with…
Kenya Barris is probably the most popular TV producer you’ve never heard of. Barris made his name as a writer and producer on America’s Next Top Model. He followed that up with his “-ish” series – Black-ish, Mixed-ish and Grown-ish. Now he steps in front of the camera for probably the most meta show of…
Tapping into the guilt of parents everywhere who have all had their days where it simply went to hell on public transport, Little White Lies is a novel about repercussions, regret and the tangled webs we weave. The life of the White family moved on, as it had to, after the disappearance of young Abigail…
On the dark web, thousands of people connect. One such encounter involves a deeply troubled 14-year-old girl, played by Matilda Gibbs. She reaches out to see whether anyone can teach her about witchcraft, so she can cast a spell over those that choose to ignore her. She loves dancing, is depressed, invisible, friendless and keen to lose weight….
During the late 90s and early 2000s, the pioneering Blackberry – the phone with a keyboard – dominated the tech market. At its peak, the iconic device made up 45% of the cellphone market and had some 85 million subscribers. But then egos, hubris, corporate greed, shady business deals and rival tech companies and their…
The Kitchen Brigade is a modest but generally upbeat French comedy and underdog drama from filmmaker Louis Julien Petit, who has worked as a second unit director on a number of popular and successful Gallic comedies like Welcome To The Sticks. The film centres around Cathy Marie (Audrey Lamy), a sous chef who works in…
Urgent help needed – officer down. That’s the meaning behind the title of Triple 9, a gritty crime thriller directed by Australian John Hillcoat (The Road). Set in Atlanta, Georgia the film concerns a cadre of criminals conspiring with crooked cops (as portrayed by the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anthony Mackie) to rob a…
