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Tosca (Opera Australia) – opera review

Power, passion and subterfuge make for a heady cocktail. And so it is in Opera Australia’s Tosca. It is a compelling thriller with a great deal of bite, being staged at Margaret Court Arena because the State Theatre is closed, while undergoing a three-year upgrade. Amidst the unrelenting drama, stirring arias and evocative set design predominate. With…

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The Monkey – movie review

This is a film with heaps of dastardly monkeying about. Over the top. You betcha. It revels in beheadings, spearing, disembowelment and explosions. Human splatter is everywhere. No, I am not trying to turn you off, for this is a pitch-black comedy, based on a 1980 short story by Stephen King, written and directed by…

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Winchester – movie review

The promo says Winchester was inspired by true events. It’s 1906. On an isolated stretch of land near San Francisco sits reputedly the most haunted house in the world. Built by Sarah Winchester (Helen Mirren), heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune, construction continues 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s been like that…

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Rambo: Last Blood – movie review

It’s nearly forty years since Sylvester Stallone first shed blood as Rambo, the former Vietnam veteran and special services soldier who ran afoul of a redneck sheriff in the 1982 film First Blood. The character of Rambo was created by author David Morrell in the 1972 novel of the same name. The novel also explored…

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