Recently we’ve had a number of female-centric remakes of films with the likes of Ghostbusters, Ocean’s 8 and the atrocious What Men Want hitting cinemas, all of which were vastly inferior to the original. Now we get this female centric remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the hilarious 1988 comedy that teamed Michael Caine and Steve…
Navigating the vicissitudes in a relationship can be tricky at the best of times, but cross-cultural unions more often than not face additional difficulties. So it is with Ella (Eleanor Barkla) and Hasseb (Oz Malik). The pair meets at a performance workshop. They are from opposite sides of the Thames. He is a poet and she is…
It’s been a long time since I have read George Johnston’s 1964 Miles Franklin Award-winning My Brother Jack. However, through the lens of undergraduate literary-study nostalgia, I still recognise the seminal Australian novel’s place as part of our country’s canon, despite its challenge to our comfortable assumptions of national character. Still, like many I imagine,…
Nicole Trope has been compared to Jodi Picoult, and it’s not an unfair comparison – both write about topical issues and from multiple perspectives, giving readers more to think – and talk – about. Here’s the blurb of her latest book, Blame: ‘I am here because they suspect me of something. I am here because…
Another scintillating performance from Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is one of the distinguishing features of The Edge of Seventeen, a first rate coming-of-age story that also features Woody Harrelson in a memorable role. Growing up is the great equaliser. No matter your family situation, walk of life, or specific personal experience, anyone who has gone…
Fans of Americana with a long enough memory, will remember The Jayhawks as one of the best bands of the mid-90’s, when albums like Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass thrived critically and commercially thanks to the strong songwriting and harmony vocals of Gary Louris and Mark Olson. “Blue” is perhaps the best…
As the countdown to Christmas fast approaches, Queensland Ballet’s stunning presentation of The Nutcracker has arrived to unwrap the festive season in style. Queensland Ballet has been dazzling audiences with this iconic festive staple by Ben Stevenson OBE since 2013, featuring all the beloved characters alongside Tchaikovsky’s timeless score. Set on Christmas Eve, The Nutcracker…
Maverick filmmaker Terry Gilliam finally brings his long-gestating passion project about Don Quixote to the big screen. The struggles he faced have been well detailed in the fascinating 2002 documentary Lost In La Mancha. That film told of the storms that destroyed sets, the lack of financial support and the ill-health of its star, all…
Symbolic contrasts abound within The Curators’ stylish production of Angela Betzien’s Children of the Black Skirt, starting from its initial folly of youthful frolic and then soon-after stark at-attention responses of children in-fear. This establishes both the aesthetic sophistication and the narrative premise of the now-iconic work which is set in an abandoned orphanage that…
The new tween adventure Harmony is another walk down the dark side of fantasy. Harmony (Jessica Falkholt) is different … very different. She has the supernatural power to absorb others’ fear. Each person she touches literally loses their trepidation. She absorbs it as a black liquid that she later washes from her skin. So, healing…
