Performances worth of Academy Award nominations highlight a politically complex drama reminiscent of All the President’s Men. Foremost among them are Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford, with Noni Hazlehurst also showing the way in a small but telling scene. Written and directed by James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man), who makes his directorial debut, Truth is…
Maestro John Foreman met Casey Donovan, Paulini and Rob Mills on the set of Australian Idol more than 20 years ago. Foreman was the original musical director of the show and all four, including Foreman, have gone on to forge enviable careers. Put them together a couple of decades on and you have the makings…
Based upon the successful memoir and stage play of the same name, this is a true story of a 15-year love affair between two people who met at school. It is Australia in the ‘70s and Tim Conigrave, a budding actor at an all-boys Catholic school, has fallen big time for the captain of the…
Amanda Muggleton has the room in the palms of her hands as she assumes the role of actress and femme fatale Coral Browne (23rd July, 1913 – 29th May, 1991), who won the 1984 TV BAFTA for An Englishman Abroad. At just over an hour, this one person play, written by Maureen Sherlock, is the story…
One of the much-hyped books this year has been psychological suspense thriller The Nowhere Child by Christian White. The book was the winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and has been raved about for its intriguing premise (a child kidnapped in the US turns up years later in Australia). Here’s the blurb: ‘Her name is…
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…
If theatre is about making you think about life, then former QTC Artistic Director Michael Gow’s Once in Royal David’s City (his first play in seven years) is theatre at its best as it takes audiences on a beautiful and emotional journey through life’s phases of hearing, living and telling stories, in exploration of what…
Gloria Bell is a deliberately awkward film about the difficulties of making your way in the world. Especially if you’re a divorced middle-aged woman yearning for something more. Julianne Moore embraces the title role in yet another stellar performance. She finds Gloria’s vulnerability and, conversely, her strength and resilience. Gloria is a free-spirited divorcée who…
The contemporary heist Western Hell or High Water comes from British director David MacKenzie (the violent prison film Starred Up), who gives us a rather bleak picture of an economically depressed dustbowl area in rural Texas, where family farms are falling into disuse and disrepair and the roads are lined with signs offering debt relief….
Earwig and the Witch continues Studio Ghibli’s well-deserved reputation for excellence for its vivid and creative animated features. Dumped at a country orphanage as a baby, Earwig (the voice of Taylor Henderson) is the child of an English rocker with flaming red hair, who also happens to be a witch. That witch claims she’s being…
