It always mystifies me a bit when I hear the younger generation discussing early era British punk rock and rightfully so, groups like The Clash, Buzzcocks and the Sex Pistols are blurted out quickly but I hardly ever hear anyone talk about The Jam. Led by Paul Weller, this trio is very British but there…
I really enjoyed Nicky Pellegrino’s The Food of Love Cookery School so I was excited to receive her newest novel, One Summer in Venice. The blurb ticks a few boxes for me – food and Italy, for starters. Have a read: ‘This isn’t a mid-life crisis OK? For a start I’m not old enough yet…
The Second Mother is a film about a set of social rules, which have been in place in Brazilian culture since colonial times and which continue to affect its emotional architecture to this very day. Val (Regina Case) is the kind of live-in housekeeper who takes her work seriously. She wears a crisp maid’s uniform…
In New York, a crotchety, chain-smoking Chinese-American grandmother gets lucky after leaving a casino … and then all hell breaks loose. Sasie Sealy’s black comedy, Lucky Grandma, places granny in the middle of a turf war between rival gangs. It all starts when Lei Lei the Fortune Teller (Wai Ching Ho) tells Grandma (Tsai Chin)…
Formed in 2021, Louse have established themselves within the new-wave punk scene. The group consists of Sam Souders on vocals, guitar, and keys; Danny Lovell on bass; Connor Simpson on guitar; Max Enslen on keys; and Bradley Kennedy on drums. Together, they created a project that evokes a mix of nostalgic and experimental tendencies. Passions…
Produced under the auspices of Blumhouse, which specialises in horror, The Invisible Man is a taut psychological thriller that effectively combines elements of sci-fi and horror. Written and directed by Melbourne filmmaker Leigh Whannell (a co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises), this serves up a refreshingly different take on the mad scientist character originally…
British intelligence is under the microscope in Black Bag. George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is an elite operative at Britain’s closely guarded National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). He can’t stand liars. He seeks them out an exposes them. That has included his own father. Now there appears to be a mole in the ranks of the…
Oh, Canada is a confessional … a reckoning for a dying man. Writer and director Paul Schrader collaborated with actor Richard Gere 45 years ago on American Gigolo and it has taken them this long to reunite. Gere plays feted Canadian documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife at the end of his life, while Jacob Elordi is…
Swinging Safari reunites writer and director Stephan Elliott with key personnel from his The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (1994). They include producer Al Clark, production designer Colin Gibson, costume designer Lizzy Gardiner, editor Sue Blainey and composer Guy Gross. New to the team are hair and makeup designer Rick Findlater and cinematographer Brad Shield. It’s…
Cloverfield was a unique film. Lots of fans were looking forward to a sequel to this amusing found footage monster film. The sequel 10 Cloverfield Lane came 8 years later. It didn’t feel like this film had anything to do with the initial film. Till the end of the movie. It’s clear this one was…
