I have not watched the British TV series The Office, so was not sure what to expect from this belated spin off feature length film. There have been many attempts to extend a 30 minute sitcom to feature length, such as the recent belated Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, which was unfortunately laboured, unfunny, past its…
It’s been five years since Neko Case’s last album, but it’s not as if she’s been silent since the release of The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. In 2016 she collaborated with k.d. lang and Laura Veirs on their fine trio album Case/Lang/Veirs, and…
Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge has never seen the likes of it. Take the classic tale A Christmas Carol and put a Jewish twist on it. That is what writer Elise Esther Hearst has done with Phillip Kavanagh … and they have absolutely nailed this world premiere. Oy Humbug! Channel Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) on the US TV series…
Dominique Wilson’s first novel The Yellow Papers was an outstanding read, and the same can be said of That Devil’s Madness. Her writing is finely crafted, her prose poetic and subtle, and a joy to read. That Devil’s Madness takes readers from Australia to Algeria, following the dual and interconnected stories of Nicolette, an Australian photojournalist in the 1970s, and…
Boys on the Verge of Tears is one of the toughest, grittiest plays I have come across. Having premiered at the Soho Theatre in London in 2023, it is an unrelenting 95 minutes of mainly toxic masculinity, in all its forms. These are boys and men, some grappling with their identity and feeling the pressure…
With overtures of Tomorrow When the War Began and the love triangle in The Hunger Games, yet another dystopian film franchise kicks off, this time starring Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass). Earth has been invaded by what are termed The Others; aliens whose mother ship hovers menacingly over the United States. At first that is all…
To Chiara is the brainchild of Jonas Carpignano and the third in his Calabrian trilogy. But you don’t need to have seen the other two to appreciate this latest instalment. We are in Gioia Tuara in Southern Italy with the Guerrasio clan. Chiara (Swamy Rotolo), 15, is the middle child of a close-knit family. Family…
The Goldfinch spends a great deal of time working out how the puzzle fits together. Theodore “Theo” Decker was 13 years old when his mother was killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Not surprisingly, it changed the course of his life. Moments before Theo’s attention was taken by a pretty, young…
When The Decemberists’ first single for I’ll Be Your Girl, “Severed” showed up on the appropriate alternative-friendly satellite radio stations a few weeks ago, I bet I wasn’t the only fan to begin worrying that the more modern Brit pop leanings of 2015’s What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World had led the Portland-based…
Fremantle singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly is definitely the current darling of the indie singer-songwriter scene in Australia. After a successful tilt at this year’s BIGSOUND conference, winning the inaugural Levis Music Prize, Donnelly has just announced plans to head out on a bunch of tour dates around the country. Stella Donnelly has already been announced on…
