A compelling doomsday scenario underpins the dystopian drama, The Way Out. Mankind is hanging by a thread after a civil war 15 years earlier. The air is polluted. Facemasks are mandatory for survival outdoors. Unless sanctioned, travel is banned outside one’s “zone”. All clothing is synthetic. Food is of a low quality and in short supply, while much…
Samuel Langhorne Clemens – a.k.a. Mark Twain – visited Australia in 1895. Advertising posters labelled him the funniest man in the world and audiences loved his sense of humour. Chris Wallace, the man responsible for the book, music and lyrics in Huckleberry: A Musical Adventure, isn’t credited. But he “frocks up” as the great man…
We have all had to wait a long time, but surprise, surprise, a new play from William Shakespeare is being performed at Sydney’s Genesian Theatre. A manuscript from the greatest English playwright of all time has been unearthed from a carpark in Leicester and acts as a prequel to many of his famous lifetime literary works….
It is the winter of 1820 and the New England whaling ship Essex is assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story. In the Heart of…
Japanese novelist Kotaro Isaka hit on a great formula with his last book, Bullet Train. That was a fast paced, violent and weird battle between a group of idiosyncratic assassins on a train. Bullet Train was influenced by more than a little manga, plenty of early Tarantino and a whole lot of swagger. And while…
Make a wish and have it instantly granted – if only it were that easy. While the enticing idea forms the basis of the Disney animated feature Wish, things of course aren’t quite that straightforward. Magnifico (the voice of Chris Pine) has studied the magic of the world, and soon becomes a mighty sorcerer and…
One attends The Underpants with some trepidation. The title alone could be a turnoff for some as it’s not a garment widely discussed in finer circles. But then you discover the masterful Hollywood comic Steve Martin has adapted and etched his own style of wit into a German play from early last century called Die Hose, written…
Deeply entrenched racism is at the centre of a drama in which the result is never in doubt and the journey is designed to provoke outrage. First up, there is the political issue of a civilised society condemning felons to death. Regardless of your position on that, it is difficult to feel too much sympathy…
With their highly anticipated new album Wild Seeds out this Friday, Australian super-group Seeker Lover Keeper (Sarah Blasko, Sally Seltmann and Holly Throsby) have given us one more single in “Superstar”. The ethereal, piano and vocal driven song takes advantage of the group’s amazing vocal harmonies and makes me really excited for what else the…
Beyond Skyline is without a doubt one of the better low-budget SF films I’ve seen in recent years. Visually, that is. In terms of content, I thought it was only half successful. Until the part that takes place in Laos, it’s acceptable. From there on story starts to be pretty absurd. As soon as Mark…
